Pilot: For the Love of Singer
Pilot: For the love of Singer
It was a bright sunny day in Ponyville. The bright spring day was filled with beauty as the bright sky and the sun shone over the town, revealing the lovely flowers, happy animals and the beaming townsfolk of the lovely town of Ponyville. In the outskirts of Ponyville, in a small house located just a couple of miles away from Sweet Apple Acres, the blue furred, red maned stallion, Singer Case was spending the day preparing a nice dinner in his house.
But this wasn't just any ordinary dinner, no this was the dinner that he planned on sharing with his lovely marefriend, Violet Petals. Today was her birthday, and he was scrambling restlessly through his living room to fix the place up so it would be "perfect" for her party.
The couple hadn't been dating but about a month or so, and he was already giving himself fits about how his house looked and how he looked. Giving Violet the best was important to him and he wanted her special day to be amazing for her. He rushed to clean his slightly dirty house, and by rushed I mean he slid a few things under his couch, stuffed empty junk food bags in his counters and pantry, and even speed cleaned his pet gecko, Louie's, tank. Anything he could think of to make sure his place looked good for Violet's birthday dinner. He had the cake done, the ice cream in the freezer and the veggie soup(his mother's recipe) done and ready for eating.
His sidekick, Rain, who was also Violet's little brother was also helping him set up the small party. The small light blue furred pegasus colt, about the age of the CMC(perhaps a year or two older), blew up a few balloons and set them around the room while Singer did virtually everything else, aside from setting the table.
"Is this big enough, Singer?" he asked, holding the heavily inlfated ballon in front of his face.
Singer only chuckled in response, before speaking. "If you blew that one up any further, it'd explode, dude."
Rain let out a laugh before accidentally letting it go, causing the balloon to fly around the room. As it did it made a sudden turn for Singer's mouth and flew into his throat, choking him a bit and making him gasp for air for about ten seconds. Singer couldn't help but stand there and gag as he tried to cough it up.
Luckily, Rain was a quick thinker and moved quickly to perfom the heimlich manuever, which was enough to dislodge the deflated balloon from Singer's throat, allowing the singing pegasus to breathe once again.
"Sorry about that, Singer. I shouldn't have tried to blow that balloon up that big."
"It's alright, Rain." He said while regaining his breath. He then let out a smile. "You helped me get it out so I know you aren't conspiring to kill me. Ha ha."
Rain smiled lightly, now a bit embarrassed, as he continued to blow up the balloons, keeping it in his mind to be more careful about how much air he put in them, he wouldn't want another accident like that to happen again.
"So how was school today, Rainy?" asked the stallion to lighten the mood and get Rain's mind off of what just happened
"It was alright. It was just school. Same boring lessons, same boring boringness. How about you?" the young colt said.
"Been busy setting things up and such. Today's just been about making sure that your sister's birthday is perfect." Singer replied.
"Well, by the way she goes on, all she says she really wants is you... and all that mushy jazzy, nonsense. Bleck!"
"Hey, one day you're going to be doing the exact same thing, there Rainy boy, so I'd watch it if I were you."
"Meh, I don't need a filly in my life. I'm perfectly content with using my allowance to buy candy and toys, instead of buying dinner and gifts."
"True, the life of a single stallion does have more freedom, but the live of a colt who's found the love of his life is more... complete, I guess one would say."
"If you say so..." replied the unconvinced colt, who was blowing up the last of the balloons.
As Singer continued to hang decorations, and just finishing putting up the banner that simply said "Happy Birthday, Violet", he'd remembered something that had illuded his mind. Something very important that he was supposed to do BEFORE this day even started. Something that he'd procrastinated on.
"OH NO!" said Singer nervously. "OH NO! OH NO! OH CRUD!"
"What?!?" replied Rain.
"I... I... forgot to get Violet a present!" he said slapping his head repeatedly. "DANG I'M SO STUPID!"
"Singer, get a hold of yourself!" said Rain shaking Singer to get him to focus. "Just go get her one real quick, it shouldn't be that hard, should it?"
"Incredibly." he retorted. "I was supposed to do this ages ago. I don't know how I managed to forget, and I'm not sure what I'd get or where I'd go in such short notice. Oh, man! I've royally screwed up as a coltfriend!"
"No you haven't. It could've happened to anypony."
"Well I can't just not get her anything. It's her twenty first birthday! I really wanted to get her something nice!"
"Go!" yelled Rain.
"Huh?"
"Go, now! I'll take care of the rest of everything else. Just go! And please do it fast, she'll be here soon!"
"Are you sure you can handle everything, Rain?"
"I'll be fine, Singer. You need to get that present for Violet, and I've still got things to do, so I can handle the rest."
"You're the best, little future bro-in-law!" said Singer, bear hugging the young colt before running out.
"Anytime, Singer." he laughed as he leaned back on the couch for a small break, after Singer had darted out out the door. "I hope he hurries up and finds something. It won't be much longer, now."
Singer flew frantically through town, looking at every store he could think of. Everywhere he looked, he found nothing that seemed to fit his marefriend's taste. This disheartened him, greatly. She wasn't into fancy tea sets, dresses or things that most mares liked. She wasn't against them and would use them from time to time, but it wasn't exactly something that Singer would consider a 'special gift' to get her. But then, a thought came upon him. What if he got her a diamond? He couldn't think of anypony who wouldn't like a diamond. He didn't know what Violet thought of such things, but he figured it would probably be worth it to try and find out.
As he continued to look through each store, he looked and looked but there didn't seem to be a single store in Ponyville that sold diamonds. Straight up diamonds were usually found in mines, as he suddenly recalled. So now with a new destination in mind, he began to ponder how exactly he'd go about this. He then remembered something that he had heard Rainbow Dash talking about to Applejack a while back. Something about Spike the dragon and a diamond mine not far away from Ponyville and some other information about these creatures called diamond dogs. Singer rubbed his front hooves together, almost in the manner of a maniacle villain, as he formulated a plan to go and get one. However his thinking was interrupted by Pinkie Pie.
"Hi there, Singy!" said the pink mare popping up behind him, and startling him a bit.
"Oh, Pinkie you scared me. What's going on?"
"Just enjoying this wonderful day and spreading cheer throughout the town, and you?"
"Oh, I can't complain, I guess. Just wondering up and down the streets of Ponyville, looking for a present for Violet. Her birthday's today and..."
"BIRTHDAY? TODAY? Oooooooooooh, boy! It's party time!" she said shooting her party cannon at Singer.
"Pinkie! Keep it down, will ya?" said Singer covering her mouth with his hoof, removing it shortly thereafter. "I don't want the whole town to hear!"
"Why not?" said Pinkie Pie expressing confusion and a little bit of hurt in her features. "You don't want a big party? But you love parties! You can party down with the best of them!"
"While that's all true, I'm afraid this particular event is strictly a small thing. It's nothing personal, Pinkie. Honest. It's just that, Violet is a little bit... uh... shy around ponies she doesn't know all that well, and I don't want to overwhelm her with a lot of ponies around. At least not until she's been better aquainted with everypony."
"Oh..." said Pinkie, looking dejectedly down to the ground.
"Aw Pinkie..." Singer said, reaching a hoof over to try and cheer her back up. But what he wasn't expecting was her to instantly explode in his face with a new spark of optimism.
"That's okay!" she said suddenly perking up. "We can just throw her a party when she feels more comfortable. That sounds like a plan, right?"
"Uh... Sure Pinkie..." Singer smiled. "I really hate to cut this short, but..."
"Okie dokie lokie!" she said hopping up and down. "Good luck, Singy! I hope you find the bestest birthday present EVER for your sweet heart!" she said with a wink as she hopped off singing some random tune.
"Thanks...I'm gonna need it..." said the stallion as he continued through town and returning to the task at hand. He knew what he had to do. He decided right that second that he'd find Violet a diamond in the diamond mine. But he'd need somepony to help him out with that. To not only getting one but to find the place to get one. And he knew just who to go to. With a smile on his face, he turned course in the direction of the Golden Oaks Library, for there awaited the helper he sought.
On his way to the library, he saw a small white puppy standing in front of him, stopping him in his tracks for a few brief seconds. The breed appeared to be that of a Jack Russel Terrier, as the puppy was small and had a short stubby tail with pointed ears and black and brown markings on it's face and a big black spot on his back.
Singer looked down at the little thing, as it looked up at him with begging eyes.
"Sorry little guy, I don't really have any spare food on me. Stay empowered, though!"
As Singer flew off past, the puppy watched sadly as Singer continued to on, but then perked proceeded to follow him, determined to get his attention.
Singer trotted happily to the library in hopes that a certain somepony was there. More spefically, a certain some-dragon. He entered the library to see Twilight Sparkle and her coltfriend Dusk Noir, a small dark blue unicorn stallion with a neatly kept brown mane, wearing a black trilby hat on his head who were reading books, obviously studying for their respective teachers. His attention shifted to Spike who was sound asleep standing in a corner leaning on a broom. Singer chuckled to himself when he saw the dragon sleep standing.
His presence didn't go unnoticed for long, as Dusk looked up to see Singer standing there, chuckling at his fellow librarian assistant's sleeping position. "Good afternoon, Singer" greeted Dusk. "What brings you here today?"
"Oh... nothing much, Dusk. Actually, I was wondering if I could maybe borrow Spike for a bit."
Twilight was the next to perk up from her book at the mention of her assistant. "Whatever for?"
"Oh don't worry, I won't be borrowing him for long. I just need his help finding something. Something that I'm sure requires the expertice of a dragon."
Twilight, looked over at her assistant, taking note of his current state and couldn't help but giggle at the sight, before answering Singer. "Well, you might as well, he doesn't appear to be doing anything anyway. Spike, wake up!"
"Huh? What?" said the small dragon snapping out of his slumber, gripping his mop and holding it like a sword. "I didn't do it, Twilight! I'm not doing anything."
"Obviously." she said, then turning to Singer. "Well, I suppose it would be alright, Singer. Just so long as he isn't gone too long."
"Thank you, Twilight!" said Singer. "I'll have him back before you know it."
"Have fun, Spike." said Dusk. "And good luck, Singer."
"Yeah... uh... sure..." said the drowsy dragon as he walked toward Singer. "Wait, what are we doing, now?"
"I'll explain on the way, Spike. Later Dusk, Twilight!" said the pegasus, grabbing Spike and running out the door as fast as he could while Twilight and Dusk politely waved goodbye before zoning back into their studying. Dusk looked up once more to see that Singer and Spike had left the door open and he could have sworn he saw a small puppy standing at the door for a quick second, but after a quick blink it was no longer there. Dusk simply shrugged and went back to his studies, not paying it any mind.
As Singer flew in the air with Spike on his back, the dragon couldn't help but question his friend as to where they were going.
"So why do you need my help, again?" said Spike.
"Well... you see... today is Violet's birthday and I was hoping that maybe you might be able to help me find her a diamond. You can have any other gems we find for yourself. I just need the one."
"Alright! Not only do I get out of work for a while, but I also get to help you look for gems? What a great day!" But then realization dawned upon the drake as he and Singer progressed on their way, about how the gems had really been collected back in the day. "Um... small problem..."
"What is it?"
"I... um... I'm not the one who finds the gems, I just dig them up."
Singer came to a halt as he hovered in the sky, looking back at the dragon with a deadpan expression. "What?..."
"Rarity is the one who finds the gems, I just dig them up. She has this gem locating spell and-"
"R-R-Rarity?!?...." stuttered Singer, who sounded a bit nervous about the thought of asking her for help.
"Yeah. Sorry, Singer. I guess I should have mentioned that earlier."
"YA THINK?!? Oy...." he sighed, facehoofing himself. "Great. Not looking forward to this. I'm not the biggest Rarity fan."
"What's wrong with Rarity? She's smart, beautiful, generous and...."
"Scary and judgemental!" said Singer, getting a deadpanned facial expression from Spike.
"What?"
"How in the wide world of Equestria is Rarity scary to you?" the little dragon folded his arms and gave Singer a deadpan stare.
"Well..." said Singer as his mind traced off into a past memory of the day he had first met the mare in question.
Singer approached the Carousel Boutique early one morning, unsure of asking anypony for directions to anywhere as he was new to the town and all, but he had been told that she could help him so he'd figured it was worth a shot. He gulped as he inched toward the door. The building looked friendly enough, so he inched on.
Right now he was feeling a bit confident as he approached the door, not really seeing how this could go wrong. He loosened up his previously tense body as he finally made it to the door to knock on it. Once he had he stepped back a bit, he smiled confidently as he waited for somepony to answer the door. When he finally heard hoof steps approaching the door, he stood up straight so that when he addressed the mare he wouldn't appear to be a slouch.
As the door slowly opened, he looked at it with anticipation. He'd never been so nervous to meet somepony before, perhaps it was because he was new in town and he'd never been anywhere like Ponyville before. But he quickly dismissed these thoughts as the door opened.
What he saw though, startled him. A white mare came out the door wearing green mud all over her face and two cucumbers on her eyes, making her look a bit creepy. It all happened so fast, and Singer was already high strung enough at the moment to really grasp what was happenening here, so out of impulse upon seeing this he let out a frightful scream and flew away as fast as he could.
When he had gone, Rarity had leviated one of the cucumbers off of her eyes, and looked around.
"You silly colts! How many times must I tell you that your ding dong ditch games are no longer a laughing matter? It is highly immature and I'm growing rather tired of it. Good day, ruffians!" she said as she slammed the door behind her.
When she had gone, two unicorn colts popped their heads out of the bushes, a bit disappointed that somepony had beat them to the punch, as they were about to knock on the door.
"Darn it! That pegasus ruined it!" said a small stocky teal furred colt with a small orange mane, who actually had a camera ready to take a picture of Rarity when she opened the door.
"Aw well, time to go get pudding!" replied his skinny orange furred light blue mained companion, walking out of the bush, not bothered by their miss at all.
"HEY, wait up!" said the teal colt chasing after him.
"Singer! Singer!" yelled Spike while Singer was still shuddering over his flashback.
Singer snapped out of it and shook his head before responding. "Huh? What? Oh... Sorry Spike."
"Dude if you don't pay attention you might crash into something! And I really don't feel like getting hurt today, or like ever!"
"Right... my bad, there."
"You gonna answer my question?"
"Eh... I have my reasons. Let's just go talk to her so we can get this over with." he said as he made a sharp one hundred and eighty degree turn back to Ponyville, headed for the Carousel Boutique once again.
Singer was on edge again as they approached the door. He and Rarity hadn't previously gotten along too well, as there were a few other slightly less than pleasant meetings with the mare prior to this. But their relationship wasn't all bad and they both tried to be friendly around each other for the sake of their mutual friends, so there wasn't any need to feel super nervous about seeing Rarity this time around. But still...
"You do the talking, Spike." said Singer pushing him to the door.
"As if that will be a problem." said Spike, brushing himself off with his claw so he wouldn't look dirty for his sweet Rarity.
Singer began to grow impatient with him as he continued to waste time. "Hello, Equestria to Spike!" Singer yelled in his ear and lightly tapped his head, snapping him out of his little daydream he was having.
"Alright, alright! I'm doing it! Sheesh!" he said as he rang the doorbell on the door.
When Rarity answered, she was cheerful right away and happy to see Spike. The two hugged and shared a few mushy words while Singer was left in the background deadpanning the two. Not that he himself, was against the mushiness, for he had developed that sort or relationship with Violet, but he was in a hurry, and it showed in his hooves as he repeatedly tapped the ground with one of them as he waited for the odd couple to get their little pda session over with. Spike looked back at Singer and remembered why they had come, and wasted little time adressing the situation after that.
"Say Rarity, do you think you can help us out with something?"
"To the best of my ability my little gentledrake." she replied nuzzling him.
"Uh, well Singer and I were going to the gem mine and we were wondering if maybe you could help us with your gem finding spell that you do so well."
"Why of course, darling. What is the occasion?" she said, now looking up at Singer. "You're not already looking to propose to your marefriend are you, Singer? It's a bit early wouldn't you think?"
Singer's cheeks glew red. "No! What? No, no, no! We've only been dating a month! You see, it's her birthday today and I..."
"He pretty much procrastinated on getting her a gift." noted Spike followed by a smirk.
"I didn't procrastinate, I forgot. Big difference!"
"Well I'd be delighted to assist you both on finding gems. I am actually running low on them anyway, and I could use some for a project of mine that's coming up." said Rarity, breaking off the argument.
"Excellent!" said Singer. "And, uh... thanks Rarity." he said with a hint of anxiety.
"It's not a problem, darling." she politely replied as they all began towards the gem mines, seemingly oblivious to Singer's discomfort around her.
Once they made it there, they all immediately went to work digging through the dirt for the gems beneath them. Rarity would use her gem locating spell and Spike and Singer would dig them up.
Spike would sort through all of the ones he found and make a pile for Rarity, while eating every other one he dug up. He did so until Rarity caught him in the act and he stopped eating them, giving her a sheepish smile when she'd give him a deadpan stare.
Singer himself looked through the dirt for the gem he might deem perfect for Violet. He was a tough customer, but he had good reason to be. This was the pony he cared for the most and he wanted to get her the best gift that he could in as quick of a flash as he could. He would toss the discarded gems over to Spike who put them in a massive pile of gems.
"Rarity if we hadn't brought you along, I don't know how long this would have taken us. You sure have saved us a lot of work." praised Singer.
"My pleasure, Singer. I'm always willing to lend a hoof where my services are needed. Especially when it's for such a good cause as finding the perfect present for one's special somepony." replied Rarity, wiping her brow of a tiny bit of sweat that had began to cover her forehead. "Any luck?"
"Not yet, but I feel like I'm making progress. These gems keep getting bigger the deeper we dig."
"Well just remember, Singer. Finding gems can be very difficult when you look for a specific one so I'd suggest-" said Rarity as her sentence was cut off by Singer's excitedness.
"I FOUND IT! IT'S PERFECT!" he shouted with excitement as he pulled out a large blue diamond that was about the size of a baseball. "Violet's going to love this!"
He could just picture the excitement in Violet's eyes as he would give this diamond to her. The pleasant shock and the joy in her face would be enough to make Singer feel accomplished.
While he sat there revelling in his discovery, not far away in a bush hid three diamond dogs. Peeking through the holes in the bushes they watched as Singer pulled out the gem.
"Must take that gem!" said one of them. "It's one of the biggest stones we've ever seen dug up out here.
"Yes, we must take it to add to our collection!" said the second. "It is rightfully ours, anyway."
"We better grab it while we still can." said the bigger dog. "They don't look like they are going to stick around much longer."
"Offensive formations, now!" commanded the first as they each split up to get the drop on them from three different angles to lessen the chance of them getting away.
One of the diamond dogs ran around through the big rocks to sneak up on them from behind, while an other one ran quickly and quietly on the other side into the open area, and tried not to get spotted by the dragon or the ponies, succeeding as the targets were too busy counting their gems. And the leader stayed in the bush where he was. Once they were in their positions, they waited the leader to give the signal.
Acting fast, the leader stuck his paw up and out of the bush to signal the attack and they all charged out of their hiding places and ran toward the three friends. They didn't notice the diamond dogs heading their way until they were already right on top of them. Singer, upon noticing them, tried to fly into the air so he could come right back down and start kicking them away, but the big dog grabbed his tail, pulled hard and dragged him down and slammed him into the dirt, forcing him to drop his prize.
The diamond rolled over to the feet of the lead diamond dog, and he swiped it off of the ground, smirking while he did so.
"Like taking candy from a baby! Heh heh heh!" chuckled the lead diamond dog. "Now give us the rest of your gems and we won't harm you."
"I don't think so" said Singer as he kicked the big dog in the gut, forcing him to let go of his tail, flapped his wings and charged at the lead diamond dog, tackling him from the air, and wrestling him over the diamond.
"I am so sick and tired of being pushed around by anypony or any other creature who thinks that just because bigger than me, they can do what they want! It's go time!" said Singer. "Give me that diamond or I'll put you in a world of pain!"
"NEVER!" he screamed as he began to dig a hole, leading to his underground lair. All the while, caressing the large diamond.
"Oh no you don't!" said the determined stallion, who had the dog pinned down on his stomach, while he was standing on his back. He then stretched his limbs to try and take the diamond out of the dogs, extended paw. But one of the other dogs, the loppy eared dog, tackled Singer off of the leader to help him get away.
The big dog was focussing on grabbing as many gems as he could from Spike and Rarity, who were trying to put up a fight, Spike tried to grab the gems back, and Rarity tried to use her magic to wrestle them out of the diamond dog's grip but were just getting pushed out of the way by the large dog. Eventually though, they gave up, deeming it not worth the trouble.
"Silly little gem theifs!" said the dog as he grabed as much as he could carry in one arm and ran down the hole that the leader had already dug.
Singer wrestled the loppy eared dog around the new hole that the leader had just dug and escaped in, while the dog tried to escape Singer's grasp. But all of the wrestling led to Singer falling into the hole, the dog following suit only to close it. Singer would be outgunned and overpowered by himself anyway so the dog didn't see the need to keep the entry way open any longer.
Spike and Rarity tried to stop the dog from closing the entrance but he pushed the dirt up too fast, and they had just missed their opportunity.
"I'm getting a severe sense of Deja vu." said Rarity as she looked at the sealed up hole, remembering her first encounter with the dogs.
"Well this is just great!" said Spike sarcastically. "We're going to have to go down there after him, aren't we?"
"I'm afraid so, Spikey Wikey." she replied. "I don't think he understands what he's up against."
"Well then, let me start digging a tunnel..." said Spike, wasting no time tunneling downward.
Down in the lair of the Diamond Dogs, they had successfully over powered Singer. He had put up such a fight, that they couldn't try to make him pull their carts like the last time they'd tried that so they'd dug a hole and forced him in, burrying all but his head. Singer was not amused at this, not even he could put a positive spin on this or make a joke. He was angry. And it showed in his face.
"Alright!" he finally spoke. "I'm gonna give you until the count of ten to hand over that diamond or I'll put all three of you in a world of pain!"
The diamond dogs paused for a second before erupting in laughter.
"This little pony thinks he can take us all on, after we've already stuffed him in a hole!" laughed the big dog.
"Ten" Singer started to count down.
"Oh look, he's counting down. I think he's serious!" laughed the loppy eared dog, while wiping a tear from his eye from laughing so much.
"Nine"
"What a stupid pony!" laughed the leader. "You can struggle all you want to, but you're stuck in that hole!"
"Ei- Wait a second... what did you call me?"
"Stupid!" said the big dog. "He called you stupid, because that's what you are!"
"Oh look at me, I'm a stupid little pony, I'm stuck in the ground!" mocked the loppy eared dog, while the leader and the big dog laughed at the display.
"Seven, six, five, four, three, two, ONE!" said Singer as he tried bust free from the ground, but it was no use. They had stuck him in the ground too good.
As they continued to laugh and mock Singer, his anger only intensified. He didn't have time for this, he still needed to get back home for Violet's birthday party. He continued to struggle, but no avail as he tried to slither his way out of the hole.
The diamond dogs piled up their winnings for the day in one of the diamond carts, and on top was the big baseball sized diamond that he wanted to give to Violet. The dogs continued to laugh, while clumsily dancing around their prizes.
Singer's fury had finally reached it's breaking point, as he continued to struggle. Something inside him began to roar with anger as he watched the dogs mock him. This was the last raw! He mustered up as much strength as he could to attempt to escape one more time.
"I...said...ONE!" said the pegasus, as he exploded out of the ground, catching the dogs in shock. He immediately went to bucking them each in the head, while zipping around using his wings for air advantage.
He took his attention to the big dog first, repeatedly hitting him in the face, before kicking him and knocking him down. He then grabbed the loppy eared dog by the ears and tied them around his eyes, making it hard for him to see, before ramming him against the wall.
He then faced the lead dog who swung a bone at him, but Singer dodged all of the blows. This made the dog angry, forcing him to resort instead to pounce at Singer, who countered the attack by grabbing the dog's arm and throwing him off to the side.
"No one calls me STUPID!"
The pegasus, now satisfied, looked at his adversaries. But now guilt was starting to hit him. He didn't want to do this, but they'd pushed him too far. They took his gift to Violet, they had knocked him around, stuck him in a hole in the underground and laughed at him and called him 'stupid'.
"Maybe next time you'll think before you mess with any pony!" said Singer, failing to notice that one of the diamond dogs was now out of sight. Behind him the big diamond dog had regained himself and snuck behind Singer while he was gathering his thoughts, and took the oportunity to whack Singer on the back of the head with the bone that the lead dog had, knocking him down.
Singer lie on the ground, now humiliated and with a slight headache. The three diamond dogs now surrounding him.
"You should have thought twice before trying to take gems from diamond dogs!" said the leader. "Now bug off before we have to teach you this lesson again!"
"I say we make him work for us, Rover!" said the big dog finally revealing the leader's name.
"Rover, I say we get out of here!" said Spot, the small loppy eared dog. "We have what we want."
"I kind of like Fido's idea." said Rover.
"Leave him alone!" shouted a small voice from the other end of the underground cave, belonging to the baby dragon, covered in dirt.
"Hey, I know that dragon!" noted Spot.
"Then I suppose you remember me as well!" said Rarity, walking up behind Spike, joining him in glaring at the diamond dogs.
"Oh no! It's the whiny pony!" said Rover, covering his ears in fear. "Please don't do it! We'll do whatever you say!"
"I knew you'd see it my way" she smirked. "Now get away from our friend and give him his beatiful diamond back, and we will be on our way. In fact, you can have all of our gems as well. Just so long as our friend gets his diamond." Rarity smiled at Singer when she said that. Singer looked up and couldn't help but smile back in gratitude.
However the diamond dogs weren't willing to part with any of their gems. They backed away from the pegasus, but only to escape with their cart full of all of their gems.
"Hey!" protested Rarity.
"Sorry, pony! But that's not how negotiations work. Take your friend and get out of here!" said Rover.
"Hurry up Spot, push it out of here before she starts whining!" said Fido, making the smaller dog do all the pushing.
"I'm pushing! I'm pushing!" replied Spot, straining with pushing the large cart by himself.
Rarity and Spike rushed to Singer's side, helping him up off the ground. The pegasus' injuries were all minor as the dogs had shown a bit of restraint when they knocked him down. He was lucky they didn't seriously hurt him.
Singer looked up in defeat as the diamond dogs took off with what he was hoping to give to Violet.
Once they had returned to the surface, Singer stopped in front of them to thank them for their help.
"Thank you guys for your help, I couldn't have gotten this far without you guys."
"It's not a problem, darling. I only regret that we weren't able to help you get your diamond for Violet back."
"It's okay, Rarity. You both did what you could." he smiled warmly at his friends.
"Aw, it was nothing" said Spike. "Ya know, we can still find you another gem to take if you'd like."
"I'm afraid that I'm almost out of time. Violet is more than likely at my house at the moment, enjoying her birthday without me. I really should be getting back. I'll make it up to her somehow."
"I have a feeling that she'll be understanding, Singer." said Rarity.
"I do too. Oh and Rarity?"
"Yes, Singer?"
"I'm... uh.... sorry about how I've acted around you in the past. For some reason, I thought of you as scary and judgemental and never really took the time to get to know you. I was wrong. You're a kind and generous pony and I saw that today. You and Spike both came down and tried to help me when I was in trouble. I've severly misjudged you and I'm sorry."
"I appreciate your apology, Singer and I accept. Thank you for being truthful. You're not the ruffian I at first thought, either." she ended with a wink.
"I have a feeling that we'll get along alright, Rarity." he laughed.
"I do as well." she smiled back. "Now run along and get back to your marefriend! I think you've wasted enough time here already. Wouldn't want to keep your fair lady waiting forever." She followed up with a giggle.
"Right" agreed Singer beginning to hover in the air. "See ya around Rarity, see ya Spike!" he waved as he flew off in the direction of his home, where Violet would no doubt be waiting for him.
Upon arriving at his house, at a couple hours til dark, he could see through the window that Violet, the violet furred purple maned pegasus mare, had already arrived as she was sitting at the table with her father, who had arrived with her, and Rain. Violet was the first to see him walking to the door and she darted out to greet him with a hug.
"Happy birthday, sweetie!" he said as she rushed to give him a squeezing hug. "Sorry I'm late..."
"It's fine, Singer! I'm just glad that you're here! What kept you so long?"
"I... um..." he said, trying to think of something to say before letting out a sigh. "I remembered to do all of the important things for your party today...everything except get you a gift..." he began as Violet listened.
"So I went into town to find something for you, and-"
She cut him off upon seeing the same little puppy that had been following him around all day.
"You got me a puppy?!?" she exclaimed with joy, bending her front legs so she could pet her new dog, the dog responding by licking her on the face. "I guess that explains why you're all dirty! Having fun playing with the little guy and lost track of time huh?"
Singer's facial expression was shown to be momentarily confused, before shaking it off and deciding to roll with it. "Um... yes... I got you a puppy! I saw the little guy and thought of you! I know how much you just...love...dogs!" he chuckled sheepishly. It wasn't entirely a lie, he had been "playing" with dogs, though it wasn't the type of dog.
Violet once again threw her hooves around Singer's neck and hugged him. "You're so sweet! Thank you!"
"Hey, what can I say?" he chuckled before looking to the left of himself and...oh he's looking at us! "Shhhhhhhhhhh! Don't you dare ruin this!"
You're secret's safe with us, Singer.
"Are you two going to hug the whole time, or are we going to go inside and eat the cake and ice cream already?" asked Violet's father, a brown stallion with a black mane and tail and a small black mustach, while playfully laughing.
"Dad's right!" agreed Rain. "Let's go inside before the ice cream melts!"
"Alright, we're coming!" Violet replied, grabbing Singer's hoof and pulling him inside with her, following Rain and her father.
The rest of the evening would be filled with laughs as Violet, Singer, Rain and Violet's father gathered around Singer's small table in his kitchen visiting and enjoying the sweets of Violet's birthday party. Singer, especially felt good because he hadn't completely failed Violet. Sure, he didn't bring her a diamond, but perhaps the puppy would have been a better gift for her as she appeared to bond with the little guy. And it showed as she sat at the table petting him.
"So what are you going to name him?" inquired Singer.
"I don't know. He's a pretty chipper little fellow. And I've always liked the name, Spanky!"
"Sounds cool!" he replied, locking eyes with the puppy for a few brief seconds, thinking in his mind: 'you are one lucky dog, and I'm lucky that you were around'.
The pup just seemed glad to finally have a home, as he looked like he had been homeless for the entirety of his life, so things worked out for everypony.
Once Rain and Violet's father had departed for home, Violet, who was about to fly on back home to Cloudsdale as well, stood outside with Singer as they nuzzled against each other, before saying their goodbyes.
"Happy birthday, honey! I really hope you enjoyed it!" Singer said to Violet.
"I did, spending the evening with you was the greatest present of all. Though I have to admit, the puppy was great too!"
"Yeah, it's a shame he can't go with you to Cloudsdale. I guess it's fortunate that you come here to Ponyville almost every day, huh?"
"Indeed" she smiled at him. "I'll be by to visit you both regularly. Just try not to pay too much attention to him while I'm gone or your gecko might get jealous!"
"I'm sure he'll be fine. Happy Birthday, Violet. I'm glad that you had a great birthday. And even happier that I was able to contribute to it."
"Your contribution was the bulk of my perfect day" she said kissing him on the lips, both of them getting lost in the moment, while the puppy put his front paw over his muzzle at the sight. "Until tomorrow, my handsome stallion!"
"Until tomorrow, my lovely mare!"
She flashed him one last friendly smile before flying off home. Normally, Singer would have accompanied her, but he had a mess to clean up.
"Alright you..." he said to the pup. "If you're gonna stay here, we're going to have to go through some ground rules. Number one: my chair, is MY chair. You no sittie on it! Number two: No doing your business in the house! Number three..."
The puppy began to bark and wag it's tail in excitement, not paying Singer's rules any mind at all. Like it could understand him anyway.
"No...barking..." he sighed.