The Diamond Dog's Guide to Engineering

Chapters

Brawlers, Bruises, Business.
Comrades Capturing Chance
Decidedly Devious Devices
Fearful Final Feint
Grand Gratuitous Grasp
Heaps of Harmonious Hounds
Indignant Indigenous Individuals
Jostled Judging Jargon
Kennel of Keen Knowledge
Lousy Lots in Life
March of Misplaced Mania
Never Neglect Nature
Onset Operation Overstep
Proper Pup Property
Observe: Quintessential Quantum Quandries
Aaron's Adventure Awaits
Excitedly Encroaching Endgame

Brawlers, Bruises, Business.

For the second time today, Aaron found himself waking up in a weird place. Unlike the calm, refreshing wake-up earlier though, this one was filled with damp musky dogs of some sort. They spoke English for some reason, sure. No reason to hold that against them. They also walked around on two legs for the most part. Perfectly natural. They seemed to want to dig everywhere. Searching for stuff burying stuff, pretty normal for most dogs, right?

What worried Aaron was, that despite all the digging, some of which was done haphazardly through what he suspected were load-bearing walls, was that he was locked up in a cage that he could barely stand up in. Down here, with the dogs, heavens-knows how far beneath the surface. Slowly waiting for the moment when enough holes were made to weaken the earthen infrastructure and doom them all to a crushing death.

Seriously. Aaron was pretty sure that the cell door was the only thing holding up the place. The metal was only mostly rusted. the hinges could barely be defined as such, and the door itself didn't even fit in the doorway properly. Aaron was pretty sure that he wasn't a carpenter, or a blacksmith, but even he could tell that these creatures were downright awful when it came to anything other than their little excavation hobby.

There were other cages too, mostly in the same condition, but for the moment he couldn't see anything inside of them. They probably weren't meant to hold any of the dogs though, since they could probably dig their way out just as the did everything else.

Aaron briefly wondered if he should try the same or take his chances removing the pins in the hinges. A change in everyone's behavior got his attention, some of them muttering something about a 'boss'. He soon figured out why, when the normal dogs were eventually outnumbered with their larger, muscled cousins. Guards wearing armor that was in far better condition than the stuff his cell was made of, approached both sides of the dungeon.

Instead of one boss, there appeared to be three. All three seemed to be of equal standing, but Aaron ready to start questioning the hierarchy just yet.

"What meaning of this?" The light-grey one wearing a red vest asked.

"Found it outside boss." said one of the dogs standing behind them. Aaron thought he recognized him from earlier.

"Yes, but look at it. scrawny for slave, yes. But barely fit in cave!" said the shortest one bearing the blue vest.

"Tell me slave," This one was tawny female wearing a green vest. "can you dig?"

"Well I don't know, I've never-"

"Yes or no!" Shouted the shorty.

"Um, no, then. I guess."

"Then you know how to find gems, yes?"

"I, what?" Aaron replied.

The short one just growled.

'Wonder if napoleon complex is a thing with these guys.' Aaron thought to himself. "Right, um, no to that one too."

"Then what good are you as slave?" Asked the Female. "Maybe we just eat you instead, then eat Watch Dog for being dumb."

"Now, now. Now sense eating, um, anyone" Aaron gulped. "Surely you guys do something other than just digging and gem-finding right?"

The three just burst out laughing, while the guards tried their best to suppress a chuckle. Aaron would probably join in too if it didn't sound like a bunch of hyenas waiting for their next meal.

"Oh, funny thing." Said Red-shirt.

"Yes." said Napoleon.

"True." Tawny replied, wiping a tear from her eye. "We decide to keep you around, Funny Thing."

"...Great?"

"For now." The three said in unison as the turned in left. There was no doubt in Aaron's mind that it was a threat.

"Great." Aaron repeated, albeit dejectedly. If there was one thing he wasn't, it was a comedian.

~~~~~

Aaron felt at the tender bumps on the back of his head while wondering when he'd received that injury. Whatever the headache that particular event was causing was nothing compared the the headache he was giving himself trying to figure a way out of this mess.

'First things, first. Information.' He thought to himself. Besides those three, there are a bunch of guards and a crap load of the smaller ones. Diggers maybe? If they were slaves too, maybe they had full metal cages elsewhere? Aaron looked around his own cage in more detail. The door was likely heavy, but the hinges looked fairly weak. Removing the pins or breaking the hinges outright may be plausible, but the noise that would make was sure to attract attention.

There was a smaller alcove in the wall behind him, maybe a foot in diameter, but that wasn't going to be of any use. Which meant if he probably wasn't going anywhere unless his captors let him out.

Aaron hoped the dogs know what a knock-knock joke was. Or if they even know what knocking was.

The number of worker/digger dogs dwindled as the 'day' wore on. Not that Aaron could tell what time it was without his watch. Whether they took it when they brought him here or what he hadn't a clue, but that seemed to be the only thing missing from his person. Everything else he had with him, he'd left with his bag at the cave entrance. If it was even still there.

Some more guards walked by, and Aaron briefly wandered if his time as jester was starting, when the Dogs brought what could only be their slaves in tow. The unfortunate species seemed to be some sort of pastel-furred miniature horse of varying colors. All of the older ones had different symbols tattoos on their backsides. 'Some sort of Identification?' Aaron thought.

"Oh, what? You giving my cell to someone else? What gives?" Some sort of pony with light-green coat and green-and-white stripped mane. shouted as they led him opposite of Aaron's cage. "Whoah, what the hay are you?" it asked after getting a good look at the human.

"I'm human, I guess."

"What the heck's a human? Wait, hold that thought." The other slaves locked securely in their cells, the guards turned to leave. "Hey, Burly! Yeah, you, you giant moron. Give me back my spoon."

The largest of the guards turned to the green equine. "So you dig out more? No!"

"Aww, come-on man. Don't be like that." He said as the guard turned away, ignoring him.

"Damn. it took me months to dig that out. Oh well, third times the charm, right?" the other captive said as he pulled another spoon from somewhere in his mane.

"You were saying?" Aaron prompted.

"Oh right. Um, my names Speara Mint. You where Human right?"

"No, I am a Human. my name is Aaron. Aaron Wendel."

"That's a bit of a mouthful isn't it? So Aaron, do you mind If I call you Aaron? What brings you down here to the depths of Tartarus? Enjoying the view?"

"Well, actually-"

A squeaky cart came rolled past, startling Mint into almost dropping his spoon.

"Shouldn't you be waiting until night-time to do that or something?"

"Listen, it took me three weeks to get as far as I did in your cell. I don't have time to waste. What would a hu-man know about digging anyway?"

"I know that you don't know how to dig very well."

"You try digging a hole with a spoon in your mouth!"

"Yeah, no. I'll pass."

"Suit yourself."

"So what happens when you get through that wall? Do you even know how far you have to dig?"

"Well, no. Not really. I know how thick the wall is on your side, but over here..."

"Right, well then. Say you do get out of the cell, what then?"

"Why do you want to know so bad Mr. Doesn't-want-to-help-dig? Got a hot date tonight?"

"I'm not sure, actually. I think I did. I mean my memory-"

"Whoah, didn't mean to open the floodgates on whatever sappy story you've got tucked away in that round head of yours, buddy. Don't want to throw my whole digging-groove off. Heh, digging groove."

"Okay, fine. I kinda want to get out of here myself."

"Oh yeah, then what's the plan big guy? Wanna distract the guards with the whole 'sick prisoner gag' and swipe the keys? It won't work, because news flash: The Diamond Dogs don't care about us."

"Yeah, yeah, just humor me. I think I've got an appointment as the court jester or whatever these dogs call it, and I'm not a funny person."

"Coulda fooled me."

"Maybe I should tell them where to find a real joker before they eat me?"

"Ugh, fine. I haven't really gotten that far, alright. This whole place is one big maze. The walls change constantly what with all the digging going on."

"So is there a map or...?"

"No only another Diamond Dog could point you the way out of here. Every pack's got it's own way of marking their territory, and that includes the way to the surface."

"So we've just got to take one of the dogs as a hostage or something and have them lead us out?"

"Good luck with that. As soon as you smuggle one away from the others weird things start to happen."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, they get dumber, or something. It's kind of hard to explain, but once a they get separated, the lone dog only cares about getting back to his pack. At least the smaller ones do. This whole thing is pointless anyway, and I'm just wasting my time before I. Start. Losing. My. Mind!" Mint said punctuating his words with every stroke of his make-shift shovel.

"Hmmm..." Aaron thought for a minute. "Why not just capture two?"

"Good luck with that, tough guy, I'll give you three, maybe four, weeks to figure out how you're going to pull that one off."

"I could probably do it tonight." Aaron stated, matter-of-factly.

Speara MInt stopped his digging and turned around, "Oh yeah? How?"

"Easy, I just gotta borrow your spoon for a minute."

Comrades Capturing Chance

"You sure about this?"

"It's a little late to go back to digging your way out now. This spoon is almost done for."

"Alright then. Let's get this over with."

Speara Mint leaned his snout closer to the cell bars and shouted so that the guards could hear. "Hey, Mutts, and uh, other guy. Can I talk to you for a second?"

"You already talking now..."

"Well, yeah, but uh, I need you over here so that I can talk to you, because, it's, um-" Mint stumbled for an excuse, "It's a secret."

"Oh, why you not say so?" Mutts said as him and his partner approached the cage, standing just out side of reach. "Tell us the secret, pony."

"Okay, but first I have to ask you a question. What gets bigger, the more you take out of it?"

"Oh, oh, I know this one. Is it a hole?"

"Well I was going to say it's the space between your ears, but that works too."

"Hey, this better not be trick so you can steal keys!"

"What? No! I'd never. Frankly I'm shocked that you would think I was capable of something like that."

"Then spill secrets, pony, so we get back to guarding."

"Fine, you really want to know. I'm not the one trying to steal your keys, he is." Mint said as he pointed a hoof at Aaron's cage.

Aaron had just pried loose the last hinge's pin and nudged the door towards the guards as Mint finished stalling for time. With a loud thud, the heavy door smashed into the duo with enough force to render them unconscious.

"Really, a riddle?" Aaron said as he fished the keys out from under Mutts.

"It worked, didn't it? Now hurry and get us out before anyone comes to investigate."

They'd managed to free the remaining ponies and bind both guards in short order. The two dogs were now being carried between some of the larger escapees as the group tried to sneak through the maze of tunnels.

"Which way?" Aaron asked.

"I don't know, they don't let us work over in the upper levels."

The two guard dogs still lay fast asleep. "Try waking them up. They'll know the way out."

No manner of poking, prodding or splashing water on the dogs seemed to make them stir however. "What the hay? These two sleep like the dead!"

Before the group could think of another option, they were spotted by another group of Diamond Dogs, who promptly sounded the alarm.

Calls of, "The slaves have escaped!" rang through the tunnels, while shouts of "Run" and "Split up" echoed through the escapees.

Bolting in every direction, their only hope now was that at least one of them could make it outside and bring help.

In the mad dash that followed. Aaron actually managed to gain some sort of lead on his pursuers, only to be cut off by another group using a freshly dug hole. Completely surrounded, he had no choice but to surrender.

"Damn things move faster through dirt than on land."

One by one the rest of the escapees were recaptured and brought to the Boss's chamber.

"Well, what do slaves have to say, hmmm?" Napoleon dog started.

Murmurs were the only reply from the other captives, their short-lived hopes of freedom quickly and thoroughly dashed. Even Mint was beginning to hang his head dejectedly.

Aaron had to do something. Anything.

"Take them back to-!" The Tawny one began to order.

"Wait, um-" Aaron stalled for a minute. A thought occurred. The Diamond dogs were pack, right? They followed a strict heirerarchy, and they performed better in numbers, so all I have to do is-

"Out with it, Funny Thing!" Tawny shouted, irritated at being interrupted.

I just need to get them apart. "You can't order me around. I never agreed to being a slave."

Everyone present, at least the dogs and ponies, anyway, sounded off a synchronous "What?"

"I said, that I never agreed to be a slave. So you can't order me around."

A few hushed whispers from some of the denser dogs present boiled down to a "That makes sense." which only provoked the ire of Boss.

"Pups, quiet down, yes?" ordered the grey boss.

"Funny Thing is starting to not be so funny..." Tawny let out with a growl.

"What's funny, is that I think that I can lead this pack of Diamond Dogs better than you three ever could. What do you three even do that no-one else here can?"

"Aaron, what are you doing?" whispered a concerned Mint.

"I Strongest, yes." Said Grey.

"I'm fastest!" shouted Napoleon.

"And I am smartest of all Diamond Dog" Stated Tawny. "What could one Funny Thing do that is better than Boss?"

"For one thing, I'm a human, not a 'Funny Thing.' Even these ponies know that much." Mint shot Aaron another concerned look before nodding in agreement. "See, and that's not all. I bet that I can beat each of you in a challenge."

"Like you could ever challenge Boss!"

Now for the final blow. "Oh, well. I understand. If you don't think you can beat me then I'm sure no other dog here can either? What about you over there," Aaron pointed to Watch Dog. "Surely you could beat me in a contest of strength, right?"

"Duh, Watch Dog strong!"

"See? Even he thinks he can beat me, and if he can beat me, then surely the 'strongest, speediest, and smartest' Diamond Dogs around can do it better, right? It'd be a shame if it was never proven and other dogs started testing their strengths, no? Surely they would also never try to challenge the big Boss?"

Silence hung in the air as Boss shared uneasy glances with each other.

Stepping off their platform, "Fine, we accept your challenge, human. But do not think for a second that you can-"

"Ah, ah, ah. First, there are rules. I challenge each of you to a contest as individuals. Should I win all of the contests, then you have to set all of us free."

"Yes...?" Tawny said grudgingly. "And if we win?"

"Then I will be your slave, and we can pretend that none of this ever happened. I will however, need some time and supplies to construct the challenges I have in mind."

"Why should we help you? We just say that you are a slave already, yes?"

"And miss the chance to prove how strong and smart and fast you are to the whole pack? Isn't that point of winning such a challenge?"

"Fine, you may use the ponies for help. But we will be watching, Human. If you try to escape again, I will be sure that your time as slave is short." Tawny finished, with what sounded more like a promise than a threat.

Decidedly Devious Devices

"I may have gotten a little over my head here, but things seem to be working out, right?" Aaron asked Mint as the group set another wooden pillar into the floor.

"I'm still trying to figure out how you manipulated these guys into letting you do this at all, honestly. Sure beats the boring 'pony pull this', or 'pony push that' anyway."

"I think it's quite simple, actually. These dogs maintain an order. They see you ponies as nothing more than cheap labor, but me, I'm a mystery."

"That doesn't explain how you intend to beat them."

"Well, that's the beauty of this plan. Together, I'd stand no chance against Boss, but individually? You said it yourself, that they get dumber when you separate them. Hence finding the biggest room in the cavern to pull this off."

"Not to be a downer, but even that's enough to slow them down mentally, how do you plan to beat them physically? I know you can run pretty fast, but there's no way you can go face to face against a diamond dog's sheer strength. Even Earth ponies are outmatched one-on-one."

Aaron had already some assumptions about the strengths the few unicorn captures had possessed. Then there was the one poor pegasus, who despite loathing the underground environment, was quite adept at handling any work that was out of reach to those on the ground. Aaron had been wondering if that put the other two sub races above the normal ponies or if there was some sort of equilibrium between the three. He made a mental note to file that little bit of info for later.

"I guess well just have to wait and see, Mint. Besides, it's not like we've got anything better going on at the moment." Aaron said, ending his pause.

"Fair enough." Mint said as he finished stabilizing the pillar and moved on to the next post-hole.

True to their word, Boss was vigilant in keeping tabs on the group. Curiosity didn't seem to be their strong suit, thankfully, so as long as every member of the work-crew was accounted for, Boss stayed out of the way for the most part.

"This not take long, yes?" Asked grey during one of their many visits.

"Um no, not really. I think all that's left is some fabrication. Oh, and rope. I need a bunch of strong rope."

"Fabri-thing, what that?" asked Napoleon.

"It's where you take raw materials and make different things from them, kind of like taking iron to make the cages and your armor."

"We didn't make those." Tawny stated.

Aaron thought better than to ask for clarification on that particular front. 'One thing at a time,' he resolved. "Right, so, uh, about the rope."

"We get you rope." Boss said before they walked away.

The next post in place, Mint walked back up to Aaron. "What was that about?"

"Beats me."

"Okay... well anyway, that's the last pole for the, uh, three pole thing, I guess. What's next?"

"That just leaves the pillar and the platform over there, then all we have to do is fabricate some wheels with grooves in them and finish up with the two disc sets."

"Yeah, about that, what are all of those for again?"

"Think of it this way, Mint, the longer it takes for you to figure it out, the better our chances at winning this thing."

~~~~~

The next two days were spent toiling over the creation of the various odds and ends that would be required. The crude tools available to the ponies meant that the majority of their time was spent on the strength test's equipment. Since it would be under immense strain, Aaron had to make sure that the gear wouldn't fail during the challenge.

This led to sacrificing some details of the other two events' equipment, such as the stacks of discs being more square pallet-shaped objects than anything else, and the ropes had fewer-than-ideal number of knots in them. It was obvious that the Dogs passing through their workshop were getting either anxious, or excited, it was hard to tell, at the prospect of breaking up their day-to-day monotony with such an event, but more and more seemed to pass the large room than was strictly necessary.

~~~~~

By day three, the stage was set, and the crowds had gathered. The contest was about to begin. Three events, and Aaron needed to win all of them if he was ever going to get out of there.

"You sure about this?" Mint asked as he eyed the crowd of diamond dogs sitting in the makeshift stands.

"You really need to stop doubting every decision I make, Mint. Besides, I think we've gone way beyond the stage of backing out now, little pony."

"Right. Well then, good luck and all that."

"Hope I don't need it. Anyway, it's not exactly my strong suit, I think, but while I'm here I may as well put on a show."

"Yeah sure, don't let the fact that our one shot at freedom is being dangled, 'just out of reach', stop you. What could possibly go wrong?

"Oh, come on, don't be like that. It'll be fun, I promise." Aaron replied quietly as he headed out to the center of the stage, if one could call it that, and made his announcement. "Welcome, Dogs and well, Ponies, I guess. Who's ready to see feats of massive strength, mind-boggling speed, and incredible intellect?" Silence answered. "Um, I mean, Who's ready for a show!"

Shouts of agreement echoed through the chamber.

"So, Boss, which one of you wants to lose first?"

"We will end this nonsense quickly. Chaser will be first." Tawny Declared, ignoring Aaron's taunt.

Napoleon, or rather Chaser, stepped over towards the center stage. "We will beat human in any race, just name the start and finish."

"If you insist. We will start at the bottom of that tower." Aaron said pointing to the large T-shaped structure with two long, knotted ropes hanging from it.

"Yes, yes, and the finish?"

Aaron simply pointed up, "The top of the tower, of course. The first one to the top wins."

"That unfair. Diamond Dogs cannot fly."

"Neither can a human, so it seems fair to me."

Chaser struggled with that thought for a minute. "Fine, fine. I will still beat you human."

"We'll see about that. Mint?"

"Alright. On your mark."

Both contestants stepped next to the tower.

"Get set."

Aaron grabbed the rope, giving a quick, taut tug. Chaser copied him and did the same, but still seemed unsure about what he was supposed do with it.

"Go!"

Fearful Final Feint

"Alright, so this is how this is supposed to work." Aaron began his explanation, "You'll notice that the middle pole has these discs, or blocks, rather, and that they are in a certain order."

"Large on bottom, small on top, yes? Even a pup could see."

"Good, then the goal of this exercise is to move all eight blocks, the entire stack, onto one of the other poles. You can only move one block at a time, though-"

"How this supposed to be smart challenge?"

"Ah, you're getting ahead of me. You can only move one time, but the order cannot change. Any time there is more than one block on a pole, the order must remain, from the largest on the bottom, to the smallest on the top."

All Ears looked lost in thought for a moment.

"Okay, so the first one to move their stack from one pole to the other, wins. Any questions?"

"Does matter which pole we use?"

"Nope, feel free to use any one of your three poles."

"Okay, I ready." All Ears said resolutely.

"Alright, then. Mint?"

Mint took his place on center stage. "Ready."

Aaron and All Ears took their places opposite of each other, while the crowd quieted down.

"Get set."

Both challengers gripped the top-most block.

"Go!"

Aaron thought to himself that it might be unfair to use a puzzle that he knew the solution to all along, but All Ears had seemed to grasp the basic of the puzzle with relative ease. They were both neck and neck for the first few moves, but as the game wore on into the fourth and fifth size blocks, All Ears started mixing her mental steps up. It wasn't really enough for her to lose much ground to Aaron, but constantly watching the Diamond Dog's progress was slowing down his own moves.

It was time to switch tactics.

"You're pretty good at this, aren't you?"

"Of course. I am Smartest Diamond Dog in all pack." She replied matter-of-factly.

"Oh, I know. You're miles ahead of the other diamond dogs in terms of intellect, aren't you?"

All Ears remained silent.

"It must be a pretty hard job, being the smartest Dog around though."

"What you mean?"

"Oh nothing, it's just...."

"Just what?"

"Well, I was just thinking about how, what with you being so smart and all, that it'd be pretty difficult for you." Aaron continued. "I mean, you must make all of the real decisions around here."

"That what boss does."

"Yes, and no, I think. I mean, sure, the other two help you when it comes to decisions regarding best uses of strength and speed, but you and I both know that those are not nearly enough to run a pack like this."

"But that is what Smartest in Boss is for."

"That's precisely it though. You are the smartest around, every single dog here will listen to your orders without question. Have you ever wondered why? I'm sure you have, at least in part. Even if you haven't acknowledged it, the others aren't the smartest. Not even close. The reason they follow you is because they don't know better, they can't question you because they don't know that they can, and even if they could, they wouldn't know where to go from there."

"What you trying to say?"

"Just that I pity your position is all. No dog around can even hope to understand half of the things going through your head. You could tell them, sure, but they would never be able to understand. They only follow the smartest. They follow you because you are the smartest. Everything you do, is because you're the smartest Boss. If the Fastest or the Strongest finds something new or useful, they'd probably receive praise for their little moment of genius, but not you. Every accomplishment, every discovery you ever make would never be attributed to the hard work you put into understanding the world around you. The other dogs would never look into why you where searching for something at in a particular place. Why? Because you said it yourself, 'that's what the smartest does.' Never what All Ears does, never what All Ears wants, no. Face it, All Ears, you may be in a pack, but you are truly, utterly alone."

The steady shift-clack, shift-clack of the blocks skewering themselves onto their piles was interrupted as the piece that All Ears had been holding had clattered to the floor. Aaron looked up from his own nearly-finished puzzle.

Something was wrong. None of the bravado and fearlessness that the dog had always shown were present. The only thing that Aaron could see, as All Ears ran off the stage, were the tears that replaced them.

'Christ, was she actually crying?' Aaron thought absentmindedly as he shifted the last piece into place.

A final Shift-clack resounded through the room.

He'd won.

"Great job, Aaron. We're free thanks to you!"

"Yeah, great..." Aaron said vacantly as he stared at the whole where All Ears had vacated only moments before.

"What's the matter? You beat that Boss, right? That was the last one."

Aaron turned to the pony, tears forming at the edge of his own eyes. "That's just it, Mint. I didn't just beat her, I think I broke her."

~~~~~

"I can't just leave it like this."

"Yes you can, Aaron, these two said they don't need her approval to follow through on our deal. Trust me, she's just getting what she deserves, is all. So let's go up to the surface and let sleeping dogs lie, or lay, or whatever it is they do."

"You go on ahead with the rest then, Mint. I'm not going to force you to help me tie up my loose ends."

"After what you did to her, do you think she'd ever want to see your face again?"

"That's precisely why it has to be me. I'm responsible for this mess, and it wouldn't feel right if I just left her like that."

"You're crazy, Aaron, you know that?" Speara Mint said as he turned to leave.

"I'm just a human." Aaron replied. "But I guess, with a sample size like that, you'd probably think crazy was a defining characteristic of the species."

"Sure whatever, just don't die, okay. With everything you've done for us, you deserve a hero's welcome back in town."

"I don't plan on it. Dying that is. I'd appreciate any welcoming committee that doesn't chain me up first, for once."

"Yeah, well, it's not you I'm worried about..."

Grand Gratuitous Grasp

Aaron's search for the missing Diamond Dog was being met with quite a bit more difficulty than he'd originally expected. None of the dogs, not even the two remaining members of boss seemed to know where Long Ears had wondered off to. 'Or maybe they do know and they didn't feel like sharing that piece of information with the one who trounced their leaders in a rigged contest...' He thought to himself.

In the end, he was forced to put himself in her position. Since no-one was talking, either they were hiding her somewhere, which was unlikely, or she'd run off to some distant part of the tunnel system. She could have gone above ground, but seeing as they were prone to capture other sapient species to supplement their workload, Aaron had a feeling that a dog travelling alone would be treated with no small amount of hostility if found. No, she was too smart to do something which might be considered dangerous, he was sure of that. So, she must still be below the surface, somewhere safe where she still have some alone time. If everyone she knew shared a pack mentality, these kinds of places were probably few in number.

If she went further down into the heart of the earth, she was likely to run into the constant mining crews that roamed around in search of new gems. "In that case," Aaron asked the pair of Diamond Dogs standing before him, "I've got one more question for you two."

"Yes?"

"Where did you get the iron for the armor and the cell doors if you dogs didn't make them?"

~~~~~

Not only had his hunch been correct, that they'd pulled some of their resources, such as the iron and rope from the surface, but it had been All Ears who had discovered them. Using that little bit of detective legwork, Aaron was led to one of the far-off regions of the upper tunnels that acted as a surface access. The last time the chamber had been used for its intended purpose, however, was when they had scavenged their items from an abandoned castle on the surface. Since then, it had fallen into disuse.

Rounding the final few turns, Aaron could hear the sound of running water. Before long, the chamber in question came into view. He could see that a portion of the ceiling had caved in a bit, and a small waterfall had formed, one that terminated in a small pool that reflected enough sunlight to light up the room. All Ears was slouched near the pool, her ears rested flat against her head as she stared at her own reflection.

Aaron motioned his escort to stay put while he approached the chamber in as slow and as nonthreatening a manner as he could manage. "H-hey there All Ears..."

The Dog Jerked her head toward him and let out a soft, weak growl. "Go away Human. I have nothing to say to you." She said, emotion still evident in her voice.

"That's all right." Aaron said as he inched closer to the water. "You might not have anything to say to me, but I've got something to say to you. Is it all right if I talk for a while?"

All Ears nodded a cautious 'yes'

Sitting down next to the Diamond Dog, Aaron sat upright with his long legs edged close to the water. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. People, or ponies, rather, were relying on me to win the challenges, and in turn, their freedom. You were doing a pretty good job on that puzzle and I needed to cement my lead. Everything I said during the event was meant to distract you, not hurt your feelings."

Wiping the tear trails from her snout, All Ears lifted one of her namesakes towards him as a sign of her paying attention.

"Yep, I'm sorry for the mean things I said, and how they hurt you." Aaron continued. "However, you did do some pretty horrible things to those ponies while they were here. It's just not right to capture, and then hold, an intelligent creature against their will."

"B-but they ponies..."

"That's no excuse. They are sapient, they can talk, for crying out loud. It doesn't matter if you think you are better than they are at that point. How would you feel if I locked you up and made you do things you didn't want to do."

"You wouldn't-" All Ears said defensively.

"Let me finish. No I wouldn't. I apologized for hurting your feelings and all, but most of what I said was true. You are smart, and I'm not in the habit of enslaving other smart creatures. The same goes for you. No more capturing ponies or any other creature that can be considered sapient, like you or me. You got that?"

"But how we find enough gems for-"

"For what? if you need to capture ponies to do all of your work for you, you're doing it wrong. How many times do I have to say you're smart before you try and use that head of yours? I'm sure you'll think of something."

All Ears started crying again as something in the last exchange set her off.

"Hey, hey, now. Don't start that up again. Look I said I was sorry, just forget about what I said during the challenge. Okay?"

"W-hy you b-being so nice to-?"

Aaron simply sidled closer to All Ears and pulled her into a hug. "Why? It's probably because, if there's anyone around here who understands what you're going through right now, it's me."

All Ears, while unsure at what to do with the contact at first, attempted to return the gesture, only to begin balling into Aaron's chest.

"There you go. Let it all out." Aaron said as he briefly wondered what the whole spectacle probably looked like to the guide dog who was still hiding in the corner. "I used to think that no-one really cared for what I did either. Every time I busted my ass studying for an exam so that I could get the highest score, or when I built something that was useful, no-one seemed to wonder why I did those things. But the truth was that it simply didn't matter. I did those things because I wanted to. Sure, I may have just been doing what was expected of me in some instances, but in the end, what anyone else thought was of no consequence. Not everyone works the same way, All Ears. The ones that take the time time to understand, even if they never fully grasp a concept here and there, those are the ones that are important. Those are the ones you want to keep around."

Heaps of Harmonious Hounds

"Well, I think we've made some good progress here," Aaron quipped as he stood up from the water's edge, "but I'm pretty sure I'm no pychologist, so I think we should call it a day and head back? What do you say?"

"I say that I agree."

"Good, because I'm starting to feel sorry for Diamond Dog we left out of our 'touching moment' over there."

"What!? I thought you were alone!" All Ears started mumbling about the hit her reputation was going to take, and how to get back at Aaron for not telling her sooner.

"Um, No. You think I could just navigate these tunnels without help? If I could do that, then I wouldn't have needed to do the challenges in the first place."

"The contest! Almost forgot!" she said as she darted off back towards the Boss room. All Ears stopped in her tracks at the hallway and shouted for Aaron to follow her.

Aaron could hardly see why she'd be in such a rush, but her current behavior was far more agreeable than any of her earlier attitudes, so he decided to follow her lead for the moment. Besides, he was still free to go about his business, after all.

~~~~~

A short jaunt later, All Ears had led them both to the main auditorium. As she began talking excitedly with the other two members of boss, Aaron had the sudden, rising suspicion that he wasn't free to go.

"What are you going on about?" He asked as he finally caught up to the trio. "Cause, if you don't need me anymore, I'd like to go and catch up with the ponies before they get too-"

"Shhh!" The trio shushed Aaron in unison. "Wait!"

Aaron really wasn't liking the direction this seemed to be headed. "Okay..."

Once their short deliberation was finished, the three turned to Aaron with expectant looks on their muzzles. "We reached agreement. Yes?"

"We have, We have!" Shouted Chaser.

"So does that mean I can go now?" Aaron asked impatiently. He was pretty sure he'd get lost in the forest if it got dark before he left, no matter how good the directions of 'just follow the river' seemed.

"No, Aaron." All Ears declared.

"But I thought I was free to go?"

"No, you say ponies could go."

"What about the contest then? I won, so why can't I go?"

"Because challenges were for Boss of pack!" All Ears said excitedly. "We all agree that you win, so now we make you Boss!"

"Um, what...?"

"She say you Boss now, Boss."

"Boss give new orders, yes?"

"Whoa now, I think there's been a little misunderstanding, I can't be your boss, I barely know the first thing about you guys, for starters. How can you expect me to take on that big of a responsibility all of a sudden?"

"We watch you work whole time. You have no problem getting ponies to do things. Diamond Dogs same."

"Well, that may be, but there are so many things about you that I don't know. Things like what you guys eat, for instance. I'm pretty sure that you've threatened to eat me at least once while I was down here. And other than digging out gems thing I haven't a clue as to what else you guys seem to do down here. Wouldn't a Boss need to know these things before he was, well a Boss?"

"I will help," started All Ears. "We don't eat human, or pony. We only say that to scare. Diamond Dogs eat Gems."

"Only gems. Yes."

Aaron thought it over for a minute. "Well that kind of took the wind out of my sails." 'Crap, now how am I going to convince them that I can't do what they're asking...' he thought to himself. "It may be true that you eat gems, and not meat, but my diet requires something other than colorful minerals. I also need a healthy amount of sunlight. I'm not a Diamond Dog, so you guys are going to have to make some sacrifices if I'm going to stay alive down here. If you guys can't get me those things, then I could never be your leader. Not for long, anyway."

"No worry, Boss we get you all those things!" Chaser Chimed in.

"Besides," All Ears began, "You already save both me and Chaser. You worked hard to help me after challenge, also. You are Diamond Dog as far as pack care."

'Crap, there's really no getting out of this is there?' Aaron mumbled under his breath. "And what if I refuse?"

"You do that?" Chaser asked, his ears falling against his head.

"I'm just asking."

"Then we sorry, but we must break promise. With no pony, there not enough gems to feed whole pack for long time." All Ears admitted sadly. "We need them to bring gems from far reaches of mine."

"And I'm saying that there's still a better way to go about your mining without the ponies doing your work for you."

"Yes. You, boss. You help dogs find way. No you be Boss, then dogs must use old way."

Aaron thought long and hard about his decision. He couldn't just blow the dogs off and escape to the surface, not if it meant that they'd start taking prisoners again. Besides, they had been pretty amicable so far, with the exception of the whole slavery thing. Maybe the just didn't know better. Before his arrival, the pack didn't even think that the ponies were more than pack animals, and they promptly ignored any pleas. But with him there, maybe he could change that.

"Alright then. If we're going to do this, then there are going to be changes." Aaron declared, the onrush of new plans and ideas threatening to burst through his skull. "And I mean that there's going to be some drastic changes. Diamond Dogs, as a whole will never be the same when I'm done with you."

"Yes, yes. You can do what we can not."

"We follow all order from new Boss!"

"We accept your offer, Boss."

"Good, then for the first order of business, no more of this 'Boss' stuff." Aaron had to suppress the sudden urge to have them refer to him by some ridiculously ornate title. "You will refer to me by name, understand? Call me Aaron."

"Yes, Bo- I mean, Aaron, sir."

"Uh, what have I dug myself into..." was all he could say before he realized just how long the rest of his day was going to be.

Indignant Indigenous Individuals

A few days into the regime change, and it was obvious that some of Aaron's changes would be more acceptable than others. Breaking up the pack into shifts that shared the workload was seen as a good thing. Scheduling those shifts their own weekly bath schedule? Not so much, but at least they were still willing to try. Aaron wanted to do something about a rail system that would assist with the mine's transportation problem, but the Diamond Dogs were barely into their tool age, let alone the iron age.

Aaron's own problem was beginning to mount though, after a few more days on the stuff, the gruel that had been used for the formerly enslaved was simply not going to work long term. From what he'd been able to gather, he should be able to barter with the ponies in town for his meals, but the relationship between the canine and the equine races was strained at best. It wouldn't be a problem if he went alone, but he wouldn't be able to carry everything he needed to town and back. He'd have to bring some of the dogs with him, preferably some of the ones who haven't been skipping out on their bath time.

In the end, Aaron decided to take All Ears, or Allee as per her recently acquired nickname, Gruff, and two of the younger Diamond Dogs who haven't been assigned jobs yet.

"So what are we doing with the stuff?" Asked Allee, who was still getting used to being second-in-command.

"We're taking the portion of gems I've earned during my time here and trading them for things from the town downstream."

Every Dog present seemed to not understand what bartering was, or why one would do it to their food supply. "Look at it like this, I can't eat my portion of the gems, but where I'm from these kinds of things have value. I think we can trade some of them for some food that I can eat, and if we have anything left over, I can trade for some other stuff we need."

"Ooooohhh...."

They still didn't get it.

"We need bring all your gems? Yes?"

"Well, I have no idea how much they're worth around here, or anywhere, for that matter. Although I believe we'll need to use some of them as a sort of 'peace offering' to help smooth things over with the locals. I seem to recall that you were keeping some of them in cages until a few days ago."

"Oh, right. That." The two former boss members said, hanging their heads. At least they understood what they had been doing was wrong.

"Anyway, we need to start heading out before it gets too late. I have no idea how far away the town actually is. Think you can keep the pack in line while were gone, Chaser?"

"Yes, yes, now go. Make friends with ponies!"

"We'll certainly try." Aaron said as he led the group towards the tunnel entrance. He was still trying to map everything out, so it only took him getting lost twice before they finally found the exit. "Ah, sunlight at last! Oh how I've missed you!" He shouted as he ran outside.

Basking in the warm rays of the sun for the first time in what seemed like forever, Aaron was pulled out of his reverie by some commotion inside the cave.

"Aaron, sir, what is this thing." Asked Allee while cautiously poking the shiny black canvas of Aaron's backpack.

"Oh hey, I'd forgotten all about this. This is my bag. It kinda got left up here when Watch Dog captured me." Aaron said, inspecting it. The exterior remained dry so he assumed that the contents were still somewhat intact. He setting it back down, out of the way. "I wonder why the ponies left it here. Didn't they use this access point when they left?"

"They did. Yes."

"Hmm, maybe we'll ask Mint about it when we see him."

"We bring it too?"

"No, I don't need anything from it right now, better leave it here for when we come back."

And with that, the group continued their trek along the river.

~~~~~

The two-hour-long journey was uneventful, if not downright peaceful. The arrival, however, was punctuated with no fewer than three piercing screams.

"Come on now, we don't mean any harm. You may have had trouble with these guys in the past, but I hope to put all of that behind us." Aaron motioned for Gruff to drop his bag. When he did, a few of the gems spilled onto the ground.

The sudden motion cased a few ponies to jump, and at least one mare outright fainted.

"Skittish bunch of horses aren't they?" Aaron whispered to his group, "Look, we just want to trade. You guys do trade for stuff, right? Once we're done we'll be on our way."

"We don't want whatever junk it is that you dogs have to trade!" Said one enterprising individual with icon of golden grass on his flank. Cheers of agreement sounded of through the crowd.

"Calm down, Hayseed." Speara Mint shouted above the growing din of the crowd. "Aaron's the one I told you about, remember?" The stallion wedged his way in between the two parties. The older stallion and his supporters began to back down after seeing one of their own glare at them.

Seeing his work done as the other ponies made their retreat, Mint turned to Aaron. "About time you showed up, big guy. I was starting to get worried. Speaking of which," Mint motioned for his friend to lean closer to him and lowered his voice to a whisper, "what the hay are they doing here."

"Oh, man are you in for a story. For now though, lets just say that they'll do whatever I tell them."

"...Okay, sure, but what are they doing here, specifically."

"Right, sorry, you weren't here for that little spiel earlier. We hope to trade some of the gems we have for some supplies."

"What kind of supplies?"

"For now? Food mostly. Maybe some tools if you can spare them. I'm supposed to be sticking with these guys for the foreseeable future, but I need to make some improvements around their den before that can work."

"Hmm, well whatever you've got planned, Aaron, it's fine by me. I'll take you to the market, but make sure that the dogs don't go wandering off. Wouldn't want the likes of Hayseed to grow a spine again and do something stupid."

"That sounds reasonable. Shall we?"

"Yep. Just follow me."

~~~~~

During their shopping spree, Aaron explained the situation to Mint in detail, while the stallion helped keep the group from paying too many ridiculous prices. Many of the shopkeepers, while happy to take the gems on as a form of currency, were more than happy to take what Aaron surmised was a fake 'inter-species trade tax'. Gems themselves were worth a few bits a piece, depending on size, but that didn't stop some merchants from charging double just for doing business with the pack.

"So they really put you in charge? I guess that makes some sort of twisted sense."

"How so?"

"Well, for one thing, you managed to take charge of us ponies pretty well when you were building up those challenges. And I seem to remember that it was you that convinced the Diamond Dogs to participate in those challenges in the first place. Then there's that fact that that one, "Mint pointed a hoof toward Allee as she was busy placing some more gems on a carrot-seller's counter, " doesn't outright hate you. So you've got to be doing something right."

"I suppose so..." Aaron replied as his thought's trailed off for a bit.

"So what are you planning on doing with this stuff?" Mint asked, breaking the human out of his train of thought.

"Hmm, well I'm going to eat the food. As for the other stuff, well, it'll go towards building up the Diamond Dog's pack. If I can make them self-reliant, then you'll never have to worry about being used as slave labor again."

"That's kind of a lengthy project, isn't it?"

"You have no idea. The dogs have pretty much dug up the entire supply of gems nearest the den. At this rate the mining crews will be working several miles away from home just so that they can feed themselves."

"So that whole time you're going to be coming into town and buying your food from us?"

"Is that going to be a problem?"

"No, not really, I mean besides the fact that you're pretty much throwing the gem commodities off track for the foreseeable future. But couldn't you just grow the food yourself?"

The only thing Aaron could think of after that statement was why he hadn't thought of it.

Author's Note

The Metroid Prime OST is the best music to write to!

Jostled Judging Jargon

Aaron surveyed what had eventually turned into a garden of sorts. He'd gotten a substantial amount of help from Mint, who, while hesitant to return to the Diamond Dog's lair, was more than happy to be richly compensated for his services. Such an expense was still considerably cheaper than buying his every meal even from the ponies in town, even if Mint's assistance was only when he could make the trip to the tunnels. The Earth pony had given him instructions on how to properly care for his plants, and as an added bonus, had been infusing the crops with some sort of latent pony magic that his particular subspecies of pony possessed.

The Gardens occupied what once was Allee's hiding place, much to her dismay. Aaron promised himself that he would make it up to her someday, but for now it was the only chamber that met his needs for sustenance. She could still unwind by the pond, which had been left untouched, but the rest of the chamber had undergone some major reconstruction. One of the major changes consisted of a good portion of the ceiling had been replaced with shafts that let in the light. The shafts had been capped with a clear quartz, to keep the elements at bay. When Aaron had asked why the dogs had such a large stockpile of that particular gem, he was informed that they didn't taste like anything and that they weren't very filling to begin with. They worked well enough for the task at hand, though, and Aaron briefly considered if he could find any other uses for the stone.

There were a few other projects currently in the mix. The pack miners were relatively good at sniffing out some of the ore he'd been experimenting with, but it would be a few days until the first stone crucibles were ready for a test pour of molten metal. There was also the matter he needed to look into regarding the reason of why some cleared tunnels could be revisited after a time for re-mining. It was almost if the gems themselves were constantly 'growing,' for lack of a better term. Aaron had initially tried to dismiss such a silly idea, but thought better of it once he considered that magic might play a part in some unseen way.

Seeing nothing to do with the quartz stockpile though, Aaron sighed. "Nope, guess they'll just have to be make-shift windows for the moment." 'Although, maybe sinking some deeper light shafts will let us use natural light farther into the depths of the den. They could even be sunk in to the floors if the stone can-'

Aaron had his thought's interrupted by Chaser's rapid approach. "Aaron, sir. You have visitor!"

"That's odd, I'm not expecting Mint for a few more days."

"No Mint. Somepony else!"

Very odd, indeed. "Interesting. Alright then, You can bring them in."

"Yes sir. I will fetch him."

~~~~~

Aaron was soon introduced to a Unicorn-type stallion who appeared to be prepared to make a long journey, or was just returning from one based on his disheveled appearance. He had one thing going for him though, the Unicorn had a look in his eye that hinted at a sharp mind.

"This him." Chaser said, completing his fetch-quest.

"I've heard a great deal about you, Sir Aaron. But I can see that the description I've been able to derive from the rumors do you no justice."

"That's good, I think. Some of the townsfolk think of me as a down-right monster for staying down here."

"I find it in my experience that most ponies lack the wherewithal to judge only after they've gotten to know somepony else."

"So I've noticed, um, I don't actually know your name." Aaron replied sheepishly.

"Pardon my rudeness, my interests have been known to get the better of my manners. I am known as Starswirl."

"Well, Starswirl, welcome to the den. Any particular rumor bring you out here? We don't get many visitors, as I'm sure you can imagine."

"Yes, of course. A few months ago I was given a report that suggested that Diamond Dogs had been enslaving folks from around here, and seeing as I'm a mage for hire, I was dispatched to the area. Upon my arrival, the day before yesterday actually, I find that everypony has been accounted for. Were it a simple escape, with no reprisals from the canines, I'd be on my way, but then I kept hearing mention of a creature such as yourself. Some of the townsfolk don't think very highly of you, but after discussing the matter with some of the former captives, well, let's just say that you've earned my interest. I'm sure that we both have questions that we can ask of each other."

"Anyone that's willing to talk first, instead of fight, especially when the hearsay suggests that the situation is dangerous, deserves some respect." Aaron motioned for the gathered dogs to go about their tasks. "Would you like some tea while we discuss things?"

"I would love some."

~~~~~

Sitting near the garden's pond, the tea was served in a couple of small wooden cups that Aaron had carved himself, from a stone bowl he had heated with a small coal fire. Minty herbs had been some of the first things Aaron's Earth Pony friend had planted, making the drink a simple affair, but one that Starswirl seemed to enjoy.

"This is quite the set-up you've established here."

"I can't say that I've done it all by myself, the pack can do quite a bit with just the right amount of direction." Aaron mused.

"So it would seem, although don't be too quick to sell yourself short. I doubt I'd have the patience to deal with these canines for long."

"What makes you say that?" Aaron asked inquisitively.

"I've had what one would probably call dealings, with political figures. I suspect that, if the canines behave the same way, I'd likely end up banishing myself from the whole process, instead of the other way around."

"That sounds like a good story."

"It isn't, really, but that's a story for another time, I suppose." Starswirl stared at the liquid in his cup for just a moment too long. "What I'm currently interested in is you, surely there's a story about how you came to be here? I can't quite say I've ever heard of your species before. Where do you hail from?"

"From here as far as I know."

"You suffer from amnesia?" Starswirl asked with concern.

"Not quite. There are gaps in my memory, but, well, it's a little hard to explain."

"I've had more than my share of tales, Sir Aaron. Try me."

"Alright, I was hiking along a trail I knew fairly well, and after a quick lunch, I took a nap. When I woke up, I found that I'd lost the trail. So I looked around for a while, and I thought that, maybe I'd just head towards the river and make my way back to the city by following it. Next thing I know, I'm trying to get out of the rain, and I end up in an underground cell, property of the Diamond Dogs."

"Were you just disoriented, by a transportation spell perhaps?"

"Not that I know of, everything looked the same to me when I woke up. The mountains, the river, even the cave were mostly how I remembered them, I only seem to be missing names and faces. I've only very recently learned that the pony settlement lies in place of where I'd believed my own town to be. As for any magical intervention, as far as I know, Humans have never had any."

"That's very peculiar." said Starswirl as he eyed Aaron closely. "Do you mind if I take a closer look?"

"You're not going to ask for a dissection later or anything are you?"

"What? No!" Starswirl waved off as he he began digging into his saddlebag. "I just want to examine if any spells have been used on you. I haven't gotten a chance to test the full range of my detection spell yet, and your case may prove an excellent opportunity to do so." Pulling out a set of various gemstones, cut and placed into rather crude medallions, the stallion motioned for Aaron to stand up before placing them at several points around Aaron, encircling him. "Okay, now I need you to hold still for a minute while I cast the spell."

Starswirl's horn lit up with pure magical energy, which then refined itself into an elegant, flowing lightshow. The magic flowed up and over Aaron as a veil, drifting slowly towards the stones placed at his feet. Within moment, the light levels in the chamber soon returned to their natural state, marking the end of the arcane-looking ritual.

"There we go, all done." Starswirl said, carefully picking up his enchanted talismans. "You have my sincerest thanks for your assistance. I'll need a few days to examine these, but if I find anything, I'll be sure to let you know."

"What do you think you'll find?"

"Answers, mostly. There is so much in this world being kept from us, most Unicorns accept their lot in life, simply continuing as their families have done for centuries."

"But not you." Aaron pointed out.

"Sadly, yes. I may be the only one looking to solve such mysteries. I hope to classify the magic that is used by every unicorn, neigh, every pony!"

"That's a lofty goal, I suppose. I take it that your drive stems from that whole banishment thing?"

"I suppose you could say that. But only part of my approach is me doing what I must to correct certain wrongs. Not entirely unlike your own project here, I suppose." Starswirl surmised as he finished off the last of his tea.

"Which project would that be...?"

"Uplifting these Canines. As I said before, I haven't the patience for dealing with others, but I can respect any action that involves helping others, even the other races. Especially if it can keep the Tribunal on their toes. Guardians know they've grown complacent enough to start looking for trouble between our own tribes."

"Well then, I take it you'll need to be left to your work then? I'm sure we can find a place for you if you want to stay here for a while. The pack mostly sleeps in the main chamber anyways." Aaron chuckled lightly, thinking about the pack's odd sleeping arrangements.

"I appreciate the gesture, Sir Aaron, but that won't be necessary. I've already secured lodging back in town."

"Alright then, I suppose you'll at least stop again, even if you don't find anything?"

"Of course, it's not often I meet someone that doesn't try to set me on fire, or turn me to stone these days, and that's not even including the monsters that try to do the same!" Starswirl added earnestly.

"Well, I look forward to hearing back from you then." Aaron said as we waved for a dog to escort Starswirl back outside.

"That pony seem nice." Allee said, emerging from her hiding spot nearby.

"He's certainly friendlier towards us than most, anyway. Even if he seems to have his own agenda..." Aaron replied as Starswirl exited the cave with Watch Dog. "Anyway, how are those crucibles coming?"

"They are on sched-u-al, Aaron, sir." Allee answered happily.

"Good, let's go take a look then. We want to catch any flaws before we end up wasting time trying to finishing them." Aaron said as he stood up from his little tea party. With any luck, the pack would have started construction of the rail system before the end of the month.

Kennel of Keen Knowledge

What Aaron wouldn't give to have access to an X-ray machine. But with what he knew of Pony society, they had yet to discover proper alloys yet, let alone anything that might required electricity. An obvious flaw had been discovered on the first crucible, a vein of dissimilar material that would guarantee a failure, and it had since been abandoned. The dogs assigned to the remaining crucible were taking extra care whilst carving the second container from its own piece of rock. Their claws could cleave through stone fairly easily, so the extra caution was certainly warranted.

Once the manufacture of the crucible was complete, Aaron hoped to begin testing it with iron ore that had been gathered by the pack miners for just such a purpose. If the crucible held, then they'd pour the molten metal from the container and into some track molds that had been cut into the floor. Imperfections in the mold could be taken care of after the metal had cooled, which wouldn't be a problem. Aaron was just worried about the crucible breaking after it was full of molten metal.

In the meantime though, he could only plan for a worst-case scenario, build a cofferdam around the project, and make sure no dogs would be in any danger of getting too close.

But all of that could wait until later, as Mint had returned with some more seeds he wanted to plant in the garden. 'It seems as though Ponies haven't discovered greenhouses yet, either.' Aaron mused.

"I heard you guys had a visitor earlier. Is that true?"

"Some unicorn that goes by the name Starswirl came by. You know him?"

"I've only ran into him in town once or twice. I hear he's considered a hero in some parts. Some even say he's an heir to the Star Clan."

"Is that so? I had no idea he was so important."

"Yeah, he's saved some folks with his magic once or twice. Not so sure about the Unicorn family though, if he is then he'd be powerful enough to move the sun and moon."

"I find that hard to believe, seeing as how most celestial objects don't work that way."

"Of course they do, the Sun rises at the same time everyday and sets at the same time everyday. Same goes for the moon. The Star Clan is the Unicorn family that moves them everyday. They've been doing it for centuries, everypony knows that."

Aaron wanted to argue that such things were impossible but decided to let it go for the moment. "If you say so. What do I know? I live under a rock."

"So what did Starswirl want with you guys."

"Heck if I know. He said he was interested in how the dogs changed their behavior so suddenly, I guess. Then he performed some analyzing spell on me to see if he could figure out how I got here."

"What did he find out?"

"Don't know yet, he said it would take a few days for him to piece anything together." Aaron finished as they reached the gardens. "Anyway, Chaser said something about some new seeds you wanted to try?"

"Oh right, you said something about needing protein or something? I don't know what that is, but I did manage to bring those beans you asked for. You said they had protein in them, right?"

"Yeah they should be enough. Oh, and thanks for all the help by the way. You've been a great help around the garden."

"No problem. If helping you means that nopony gets captured again, then what kind of pony would I be to turn you down? Besides, you're paying more than Hayseed ever did, even if it is in gems."

"That's good to hear. Any other news from town other than that Starswirl showing up?"

"Not really. Town's been pretty quiet ever since Cirrus went back to her folk's place. You remember Cirrus, Right?"

"Was that the name of that Pegasus that was down here with us?"

"Yep, she had to go back to Pegasopolis and let her parents know that she's all right. With any luck, she'll get bored and fly back here before harvest season starts back up."

"Miss her already do you?" Aaron teased.

"Hey, it's not like that. The town could just use all the help it can get during harvest, is all." Mint sounded indignant.

"Well if everything goes smoothly here, I might be able to send some dogs up to help."

"I don't know. The merchants in town are okay with them being there, so long as they make some coin off of it. But Hayseed runs the harvest operations around here, and he still isn't too fond of you, or the Diamond Dogs."

"I'm sure we can figure something out."

Mint planted the beans in the row that had been recently furrowed, and fed a little water to them from the pond. Planting done, the Earth pony reared up and stomped his hooves into the ground next to the row. One by one, tiny little green shoots sprung from the ground fast enough to throw little specks of loose dirt everywhere.

"No matter how many times I've seen it, I'm still amazed that you can do that." Aaron stated in awe.

"Any Earth pony with the training can do it." Mint beamed. "We've got an innate connection with the earth that gives us both strength, and the ability to help plants thrive."

"Starswirl was saying something about how every pony race had some sort of magic in them. You've got that connection to the earth thing, Unicorns have spell-casting, I guess. Can the Pegasi do more than just fly around, or is that it?"

Mint paused for a moment. "Well, They can manipulate weather, for one. And the clouds they make are solid to them. Cirrus said that Pegasopolis was made almost entirely out of clouds. Oh, and Unicorn can levitate things too. Although, I heard that most magic spells are considered family secrets, and that they are usually closely guarded."

"What about the spell Starswirl used on me? Was that one of his family's spells?"

"How should I know? I mean, it's possible, but I don't know enough Unicorn ponies to know for sure."

Aaron thought for a moment. "Not even the ones that were held hostage?"

"Nope. Most Unicorn like to keep to themselves, even in dire situations, apparently." Mint admitted.

"Except Starswirl?"

"Except Starswirl." Mint replied simply as he tended the last few plants.

"Hmm, learn something new everyday..."

"You're telling me. Until you showed me this place, I never would have thought that you could grow plants underground!" Mint declared excitedly.

Aaron swept his arms towards the individual components that made up the garden. "Yep. As long as they're properly cared for, with proper amounts of light and water, I should be able to grow stuff here year round,even in winter. That should give me plenty of time to work out a better way to keep the pack fed."

"Yeah, having to go farther and farther away from home for your next meal doesn't sound very appealing. I wonder how other packs do it? I mean, I don't hear about too many Diamond Dogs roaming around looking for their next meal, you know?"

"I've wondered about that myself. It could just be that this pack is larger than normal, and outgrew the closest food supply, but it still doesn't explain why a pack wouldn't eventually have to move on. Gatherer societies need a steady, replenishing supply of food if they're going to stick around for very long. I know that the pack can return to an abandoned mine after some time and start digging again, but none of the dogs seem to know why they can find new gems in old locations."

"Do you think that the gems grow back after a while? Like rock-weeds or something?" Mint wondered aloud.

"You're the one with the 'connection to the earth', you tell me." Aaron asked in feigned mockery.

"Oh, hardy har har. Just because I'm an Earth Pony, doesn't mean I'm into rocks. Plants are more my thing."

"Fair enough. It's just one of those mysteries I'm going to have to work out later. So, any ideas about what the garden still needs?"

"The carrots are just about ready, I think. Another tending and they should be ready for harvest."

Aaron was impressed. "Already? That was pretty fast. Do your farm crops normally reach maturity so quickly?"

"What? No, not really. Normally it's enough to just use our magic to keep blight and pests away. Growing things like this takes a lot of energy, there just aren't enough Earth ponies working the fields to make that worth it. But you are paying me pretty well here, so I think I can work a little harder than normal, if that's what your're thinking."

"Well then, I'll say it again. Thanks for the help, Mint."

"No problem!"

Lousy Lots in Life

Aaron had gathered the dogs that had helped him with the crucible project. Once he had their undivided attention, he started his lecture. "Alright, so, it didn't quite go as expected, but we didn't expect it to be perfect on our first try. Nobody got hurt, so we just have to try again and again until we get it right. So as far as lessons learned go, the stone we used worked perfectly so long as we kept the whole thing hot. Once we poured about half of the iron out, The change in temperature from the top to the bottom, the temperature gradient, became too much for the rock, and it broke in a fairly neat circle around where the iron was still molten. We'll keep on the lookout for a good clay mix to try at some point, but the stone should be good for single pourings if we can make enough of them. Either that or switch to a metal that is easier to melt, I haven't decided yet."

"Second, the cast mold itself was carved into the floor. Which, while it did seem to work out for the trial, we had to tear up the floor pretty bad to get the rail out after it cooled. Our next attempt will be using fine, wet sand in the same shape. We'll either set this into the floor where the last form was, or just use wood frames to make the mold above floor level. Either way, we've got a lot more work ahead of us, so I'm making the crucible team start back up on the next set of containers, can you guys do that?"

The dogs in questions snapped their reply in immediate unison, "Yes, Aaron sir!" Before darting back off towards the staging area.

"While they're off doing that, anyone else have any questions?"

"There more type of metals?"

"Yes, I'm sure some of you have seen the uniforms that the ponies were wearing?"

A few of the gathered canines nodded their heads.

"Well the metal on their armor is a different kind than what you're used too. I think it's bronze or something. That's actually a combination of two metals that supposed to make the metal stronger. It's a little more advanced than what we can work with at the moment, but once we get things going we can come back and try to make our own alloys. Any other questions?"

The crowd had none.

"Alright, you all have your duties, get those done so that the forge is ready for the next set. Diamond dogs, dismissed!" As the gathering dispersed, Chaser pushed his way through them to Aaron "What do you have for me today, Speedy?"

"Magic pony is back. Want me to fetch him for you?"

"Yeah, bring him to the gardens, I'll be right over."

~~~~~

"Hello again, Starswirl. Any good news?" Aaron asked as he poured out portions of tea.

"I'm not entirely sure, to be honest." Came Starswirl's honest reply.

"What do you mean?"

Starswirl inhaled the scent of the beverage before taking a sip. "Well, the magical scan was supposed to trace if any remnant magic remained on you, but even after I double checked the amount of magic remaining in those gems, the results were the same. As far as I can tell there's never been a magic spell used on or by you, or if there was, then it's something I've never encountered before."

Aaron laughed earning him a 'what's so funny look' from the stallion. " Sorry, it's just that I suspected as much. Until I came here, I was certain that magic only existed in fiction."

"Regardless, I don't think I can help you return to wherever it is that you came from. Without trace of a spell for me to work with, there's simply nothing I can do."

Aaron sighed."Sounds about right. Thanks for taking the time to tell me anyway. Are you headed back to the Capitol right away, or are you staying for a bit?"

"Well I've exhausted my research opportunities here. None of the locals have any proprietary spells that I haven't seen before, anyway. So I'll probably head out in the morning."

"Actually, before you do, do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"I'd say that you just did," Starswirl said as he sipped some more tea, "but go ahead, I'm listening."

"Alright then, I know that the three pony subspecies have their own magics, but what about other races?"

"Well, sure they do, for the most part, with yours being the obvious exception. Dragons, for example, are known to have magical fire that is difficult to extinguish. It's also suspected that their fire is key to hatching their eggs, but that's probably just a rumor. Dragons, as you can imagine, aren't very easy to work with. Anyway, I take it you're wondering if Diamond Dogs have their own inherent magic?"

"Yeah. I've had my suspicions for a while now. Whenever they dig a tunnel, the structure doesn't seem to need the supports to keep it from collapsing. There are a few other things that they can do that don't seem to match up with physics as I understand them."

"Now that you mention it, I have noticed a distinct lack of support structures in my short time here. But you mentioned something about physics, the study of motion and force? I'd say that the study of those topics can safely be ignored when magic enters into the equation. While not quite as disused as, say, alchemy, the concepts involved can't be calculated in any useful way once magic is involved, at least not with current mathematics. Levitation, for example, seems to acts as a force opposite of gravity, in the simplest of systems, but it shouldn't really be simplified into a single force. In reality it's just altering the properties of the object in such a way that the basic assumptions of a system are altered enough to change the end result."

Aaron thought about that for a bit. "Alright then, what about those gems you used earlier, how do those work?"

"That's a little bit different. The gems themselves are just acting as a magic battery for a specific type of magic. I'm still messing with the basic theories behind it, but different stones absorb different alignments of magic spell. I then just take them and compare the gems to a baseline set of stones that weren't used in the scan spell. In your case, there wasn't any change between the enchantments here and the ones back at the inn."

"Okay, so gemstones can absorb magic, but what do they do with it. Could the gems be doing more than simple storage? In physics, there is no perfect system that allows for a zero-loss transfer of energy."

Now it was Starswirl's turn to mentally digest something. "Hmm, I'd say your lack of magical knowledge might have given you a substantially better grasp of physics than I'll probably ever encounter, but to answer your question, I don't really know. Was there something you had in mind?"

"Well, I suspect, and this is just a suspicion at the moment, but I believe that the gemstones in the mine actually grow in size."

"Interesting. Well, they do absorb ambient magic to a degree. I suppose, if left in the correct conditions, sufficient environmental magic supply would eventually have to go somewhere. But, with such low levels of ambient energy, it would take a tremendous amount of time for a physical change to occur."

"Again, I'm just going off of my observations of the Diamond Dogs' behavior. They seem to know that they can return to cleared part of the mine and manage to find more gems there." Aaron stated.

"Any idea about the time between such occasions?" Starswirl thought back to the Stone Family's mine. They hadn't seemed to encounter anything like this particular phenomenon.

"Not a clue. The dogs can't give me a straight answer either, but they don't exactly keep track of time beyond day and night."

"Well then, if you really want an answer to your quarry, you'll have to design an experiment that can prove whether or not such a thing is possible. If it is, and gems do grow like some sort of magical flora over time, then it's likely that you can maximize your yield, as it were."

"Guess that's just one more mystery whose solution is going back on my growing 'to do' list." Aaron admitted.

"Sorry I couldn't be of more assistance. But I think it's time I head back. You've given me quite a bit to think about on my end of things. If your theory about gems is true, then I may even be able to increase the effectiveness of my own enchantments." The stallion declared.

"At least something good may still come out of this, then." Aaron admitted before he motioned for Chaser. "I'll make sure that you don't get lost on your way back."

"Yes, it's been an interesting event, to say the least. I wish you luck on your endeavors, Sir Aaron."

"Same to you, Starswirl." Aaron waved his eccentric guest goodbye.

March of Misplaced Mania

"Fascinating. This doesn't look like the pony architecture in town. Is this where you found the metal, Allee?"

"Yes sir, Arron. Metal for armor found in that room" The canine said as she pointed to a room set into the deteriorating corner wall. "Metal doors found in small cave there. Cave full of water. Turn metal red."

"I think that's a basement, or a dungeon, I guess. The whole thing must have been here for ages. I'm surprised you found anything that's still intact. Judging by the looks of things though, I suspect that this structure was built by humans."

"Not Pony?"

"Nope. It's hard to tell at first glance, but look in there" Aaron pointed inside what looked like the remains of a large kitchen. "See what's left of those heavy doors?"

"I see they covered in moss..."

"Yes, but other than that, they're still mostly in one piece. Think about the last time we were in town. What was different between this door and the ones you saw on the ponies' houses."

Allee's face scrunched up in thought. "Ponies doors are half-doors?"

"Exactly. Granted, they may have just switched to that style recently and maybe some old pony-styled buildings still use the full-sized doors and we just haven't seen them yet. The only real way to find out would be to excavate the whole site. Catalog everything here and piece together who lived here, and more importantly, where they went. We'll see about setting that up after we've taken care of the forge, but for now, let's head back to the den."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, this stuff's been here for a long time. I doubt it's going anywhere anytime soon."

~~~~~

Aaron had been preparing for an experiment to see if and how the various gemstones were growing back after mining. He'd had the dogs carve out some small bowls, a task that was far less demanding than the accuracy required of the crucible project. Eventually, every one of the bowls would be filled with dirt and a small gem shard, the gems themselves a random distribution of the types found in throughout the den. After they were filled, they would be placed somewhere they wouldn't be disturbed. Then the waiting would begin.

Or at least that was the plan until Aaron was interrupted by Chaser "What's the rush?"

"Aaron, sir. It magic pony, he-"

"He does not like to be kept waiting when the situation does not allow for it." Starswirl himself came into the room, carrying Watch Dog within his levitation magic. "I'm afraid that standard protocol will have to be placed aside."

"Starswirl? What's going on? I thought you were leaving."

"So did I, but things back in town have become, well, problematic. In short, some Pegasi mercenary group flew into town only a few hours ago, and some idiot who goes by Hayseed has been whipping the townsfolk into a frenzy. They're looking to remove a certain pack of Diamond Dogs from the area."

"What about Speara Mint? He's calmed them down before. And the Merchants, some of them have been more than willing to work with us. Why did that change all of a sudden?"

"I believe it has something to do with the relationship between the Pegasus commander and one of the former captives that was held by your pack, another pegasus, I believe. Other than that, I wasn't able to gather any more information. Once they'd placed your friend Mint under 'arrest' for lodging his protest, I came here immediately to warn you of the situation."

"We can't just let things sit like this. He's only in that position because of us. We have to go and rescue Mint."

"You will do no such thing, Sir Aaron. These are not just some rowdy locals you'll be dealing with. These are seasoned Pegasopolis warriors. You may be able hold them off for a while, but they don't have to fight you directly. No, they'll try and herd the pack into smaller groups and weaken whatever home field advantage you may have, whittling down your dogs into single digit groups. After that it's a simple matter of whittling your numbers down until the pack is forced to dissolve and scatter."

"What can we do then?"

"If you truly care about this project, this pack. Then you must get them to flee. Dig a tunnel out of here, maybe to the West or North, just far enough way until you're no longer considered a threat. If you can last two weeks or so, the Pegasi will lose interest."

"Are you sure about that? What about you? Won't they just lock you up like they did Mint?"

"I'm associated with a rival group. I also have connections in the Capitol. As long as I don't directly participate in confrontation, they can't do anything about me."

"It doesn't feel right leaving Mint like that."

"I know, but I think you know how these political games work. The Pegasi don't really have authority to lock him up either, they'll have to release him eventually. As soon as this is all over, I'll make sure of that."

"Thanks, Starswirl. I appreciate it." Aaron said, somewhat relieved for his friend, but growing somewhat concerned about how, exactly, he was supposed to evacuate the pack. "How long do we have?"

"Maybe an hour, two at most. As soon as the Pegasi's main force has rested, they'll be on their way here. They've probably already sent out scouts to survey the den's entrances as we speak."

"What will you do?" Aaron asked as he signaled for his second-in-commands to approach.

"I'll head back to the entrance I used to get here and wait. I'll try to buy you as much time as possible, but it won't be much. Once they realize that neither they nor I can fight each other, they'll just ignore me and press on. I urge you to be gone by then."

"Thanks again, Starswirl. I owe you one. Good luck out there."

"No, good luck to you, Sir Aaron. I believe you will need it more than I." And with that Starswirl had left the way he came.

"What is matter Aaron, sir?" Allee asked.

"Ponies cause trouble!" Chaser replied, having been near enough for the entire conversation to grasp the situation.

"Yes. They want to split up the pack, maybe even kill us, but we're not going to let that happen."

"We do what Aaron tell us. Yes?" Gruff answered simply. The other two nodded in agreement.

"Good. Here's what I want you to do. Chaser, run as fast as you can to the mines and bring the mining team up to the Northwest sections of level three. They can bring whatever gems they can carry, but nothing more. Can you do that?" Chaser nodded and Aaron sent the dog about his task. "Gruff, take some off-duty miners with you and send them to the Northwest section of level three and tell them to start digging a straight line out of here, then take two more diggers and meet me at the east section of level two. Got all of that?" Gruff didn't really need to respond, and just nodded his understanding as he left to dole out the work.

"What about me, Aaron?"

"You've got the most important job of all. Gather up the rest of the pack, and every cart that isn't down in the mine. Fill them up with whatever gems we've got left. After that, take the bowls for that gem growing experiment and take them to the garden. Carefully scoop up the plants and put them in the bowls. Try not to damage the roots if you can help it. The other dogs can help you, but when you're done, get the pack and the carts into the Northwest tunnel behind the diggers. Once the carts are through you can start packing the tunnel entrance back up, make it look like the other walls if you can."

"What about you, Aaron, sir?"

"I'm going to make sure those pegasi think twice before they try underestimating me again."

Never Neglect Nature

Standing at a forward position, Gruff waved the signal that he could hear something above. A few moments later, and the dog standing nearest Aaron was hearing something too, his ears twitching in an attempt to locate the source.

"Aaron, sir. We ready at-" Allee whispered before being further shushed by everyone present.

'Almost there.' Aaron thought. It wasn't long before he could hear it too. Armor clinking against armor. Aaron put two fingers to his mouth and gave out a piercing whistle, signalling the operation.

He'd had the dogs spend the last hour rigging the trap. Aaron had them build up temporary supports down the center of the tunnel, which mirrored the one on the first level above. They then removed most of the walls, widening the shaft, until the ceiling above threatened to give way.

Gruff and the other dog, the largest of the three that were assisting him, were instructed to barrel towards Aaron as soon as they heard the signal, making sure to demolish the pillars as they stormed past.

The earth groaned as the supports dominoed into collapse, taking the surrounding terrain as they went.

"Run!" Aaron shouted as he pointed towards the south.

Allee did as instructed. Briefly wondering why he wasn't taking them towards the rest of the pack, before she let her instincts kick in. Then she saw it. more pillars, just at the crossroads. Aaron was going to take out more of the den to stop the intruders.

They stopped to knock down three more sets of pillars before the group stopped running, coming face to face with an already collapsed wall of the outermost cavern in the second level, east side.

Aaron stopped to catch his breath. "That should keep them busy for a while."

"You very good at making rockslides, Aaron, sir. Very calm."

"Thanks, Allee. Just let me catch my second wind." Aaron let himself breath as deeply as he could in the dust-ridden air before coughing it all back out. "Uh, right. Next step, start up a single-width tunnel here, if you would Gruff? Allee, think you can seal it up behind us?"

Allee nodded as Gruff started digging away.

"Try to be quiet from here on out, please. We don't want to give away our position."

Gruff slowed his digging a bit, but the effect was immediate. With the exception of a few more rocks losing their purchase, the den was ghostly silent.

Only a few moments later, the group was on the third level, walking in a round-about way back towards the pack's escape tunnel.

Only a small hole in the wall hinted at the path's existence. Allee had seen to it that the wall looked almost identical to the ones surrounding it. Once the group was inside, she sealed up the hole. No more Diamond Dogs were inside the den.

His voice barely above a whisper, Aaron congratulated his pack for getting everything out, they'd made their initial escape a success, but there was still a long ways to go. Until the Pegasi gave up and left them alone, they'd have to keep digging.

~~~~~

What was initially a mixture of fear and excitement as the pack traveled away from their home turned into a collective, somber realization that they could never return to that place. While the group had traveled three days through the earth, they had kept quiet for the most part, especially when they felt the need to dig a ventilation shaft to the surface. When that was not the case, however, murmurs spread through the group like wildfire, feeding upon rumors and uneasiness alike.

Aaron decided to do something about it. "My pack, I know this is a difficult time for us all. I wish it had never come to this, but there is no turning back now. I believe we must move forward, and find a new home. So, I want you to stop moping about while we march. Instead, keep your senses sharp. We need water, and we need gems. If we can find both in great enough quantity, then we can hope to rest there until this whole thing blows over. Only then, can we start to rebuild our home."

The pack could do this, Aaron was sure. So long as the Pegasi were unable to split them up they could survive and rebuild. He was, however, unsure whether he could survive the trip. Deep down he could feel himself getting weaker, and the dim, possibly magical, lighting of the tunnel wasn't what was giving his skin an unnatural pallor.

Of the plants they'd managed to salvage from the gardens, very few were going to survive much longer. Worst of all would be the loss of the protein-rich legumes that never really had the chance to thrive. His diet needed to be corrected, and soon, before he became to weak to fix it. A very real problem as it would force him to leave the safety of the tunnels to do so, an action which would very likely give away the pack's position.

"Anything wrong Aaron, sir?" Allee asked as she handed him his old backpack, the pack beginning to move along without them.

"Nothing's wrong at the moment, Allee. But I'll need to go above ground and get some food eventually."

"I will help!"

"No. You'll stay here and help the others. The more of us up there, the greater chances are that we'll be discovered."

~~~~~

The next day, and the digging team had pulled the tunnel near enough to a stream to divert some water for the pack. The rocky ground of the mountainside provided some additional cover from which Aaron was able to observe their surroundings. No Pegasi in sight, but then again, there was always the chance that they simply flew higher than he could see from his vantage point.

What he could see though, was a lush forest just downstream. Aaron gave the diggers new orders to dig down the slope, and to open up a new access shaft. His options were limited, but Aaron would make his scavenging run later that night. Hopefully the darkness and the overgrowth would be enough to keep him concealed from any unwanted pursuers.

~~~~~

Since the new tunnel entrance had been excavated, the pack had been able to continue several hundred meters in their original direction. At the access shaft, only Aaron and Allee remained.

"You sure about this Aaron, sir?

"Yes Allee. If I don't find what I'm looking for, then I won't be able to keep up with you guys much longer. So I'm going to scout around and see if I can find what I need."

"Then why you no want help?"

"Because, well, depending on what I find, it may not be something you non-predator species want to get involved with. I may have to hunt for some food."

"But we do whatever you say, even if it means that-"

"I know you would, Allee," Aaron said, patting the dog between her ears, "But there's also the fact that those ponies are looking for Diamond Dogs. None of them have seen me before, and that means that I've got the best chance of sneaking away from them. But because of the situation, I need you to stay here and do something specific for me. Can you promise me you'll do it."

"I already say I do anything for-"

"No, Allee, I need you to promise me you'll do what I tell you."

The canine sat there quetly for a moment. "I promise, Aaron. What you want me to do?"

"If I'm not back by sunrise. Seal this access tunnel. Take charge of the pack and make the tunnelers switch direction."

"But that would mean- I can't do that to-"

Aaron placed an open palm against her nose, silencing her. "You must keep your promise, Allee. The pack needs a leader. And if something happens to me out there, then it wasn't meant to be me." And with that, Aaron stood up and slipped into the dark.

Onset Operation Overstep

Aaron carefully tore his way through the underbrush of the forest, a cold sliver of the moon acting as his sole source of light. He'd been making some good progress despite the relative darkness, however. There were plenty of smaller plants that bore berries of various kinds, but the real treat had been a tree filled with pine-nuts. Well, mostly filled. Aaron had already made short work of the handful he'd scavenged.

He still needed more. And he wasn't ready to scavenge through the rest of the forest for a single, full meal of the seeds. Aaron pulled his backpack off and fumbled around until he felt the small round tin stowed in the lowest corner of the bag. A woefully inadequate 'survival kit', the tin still had a few items he could make use of. A magnesium fire-starter, a tiny survival candle, some fishing hooks, etcetera. The stream was far too small to fish in, even if he wanted to expose himself by standing in the same spot long enough for him to catch anything. Instead, he pulled a small thin wire from the tin and stuffed the container back in the bag.

The lack of light made it difficult, but Aaron still managed to find a few promising locations where he could place the snare. There were several small paths that carved meandering trails through the underbrush towards the stream. Once the trap was in place, Aaron only had to scare some tired forest creature into it, and dinner would be his. He just hoped that whatever he found wasn't sapient enough to keep him from snacking on it.

Trap in position, Aaron quietly circled around, grabbing a long, slender stick as he did so. Finding the trail again, Aaron turned towards the direction of the stream, and began walking forward. With every step, he would beat the brush on either side of the trail, hoping to spook out a meal.

His wait wasn't long. From the sound it made, it sounded like he'd scared out a blur of a rabbit from its den. Taking up a jog, Aaron gave an even shorter chase, as it only took mere moments before he heard the soft, yet piercing scream of the rabbit stuck in a trap. He quickened his pace. The rabbit was still struggling to untangle the snare by jumping around in spurts of energy, but it was no use. Every movement only served to make the trap pull tighter.

Seeing nothing but the perfectly normal rabbit actions performed by his prey, Aaron let out a sigh of relief. It was't smart. Psyching himself up, he grabbed the end of his stick, and ended the rabbit's struggle.

The deed was done, and Aaron pulled his backpack off once more, fishing through the side pocket for his knife. Steeling himself for the gruesome work to come.

In the end it all boiled down to one, singular thing.

Survival was at stake.

~~~~~

"Ugh", Swift Sleet groaned for what was probably the thousandth time. "Why did they put me on the midnight search team? Again?" Ever since the main group got hit with that rock slide, the commander had been exceptionally harsh on the troops who hadn't been injured in the tunnel. Swift could only imagine the hurt he'd have to endure if anypony had actually died during the raid.

Swift was tacking back and forth through the southerly wind. Eyeing the moon, he sighed again as he tallied up how much time he had left. He still had five hours until he could trade places with whomever was scheduled to replace him.

"I don't even know why the commander has us flying around out here. Those damn dogs probably just dug straight down or-" Swift stopped, his ears suddenly alert and pointed ground-ward.

There! He heard it again. A scream, from what he didn't know, but it was small, or muffled somehow. Swift dove towards the forest, when the screaming was suddenly silenced. Gliding just above the treetops, Swift lost track of the source of the noise. 'Probably just an owl or something... They hunted at night, right? Right. Probably just some small animal getting the short end of the Gaurdian's stick. These things just happen.' He attempted to assure himself.

Then he saw a glint in the darkness below. For a moment he thought he had imagined it, but then he saw it again, a silvery gleam lancing through the shadows. The moment it flashed again, Swift realized that he wasn't dealing with an owl or any other woodland creature that he knew of. None of them carried weapons.

Gliding as close to the treetops as he could before his hooves started clipping branches, Swift tried to get a closer look at whoever was wielding the knife. The darkness was hard to pierce, visually, but he was able to make out the silhouette of the creature. 'It certainly doesn't look like a Diamond Do-' His thought's cut short by the sudden realization. 'It wasn't a dog, it was the Human!'

If the human was out here, then that meant the Diamond Dogs must be close by. 'But weren't they supposed to be inseparable or...something...?' was all Swift could wonder about before he remembered the knife.

'What was the human doing with the knife?', 'Where are the dogs?', and 'What if they escaped while he left to get backup?' were three of the most prominent thoughts that rushed, simultaneously, through Swift's head.

The next few events occurred in a blur of twigs and pine needles as Swift Sleet charged the armed bipedal with everything he had, in a brazen attempt to subdue the creature.

~~~~~

Staking the knife into the dirt, Aaron had finished preparing the hare's carcass as best he could. The work was rough, but Aaron understood the basic concepts, even though he was unsure as to why. Briefly debating whether or not to try his luck with another hunt, in order to bolster his supply, Aaron came to the conclusion that he'd spent enough time out in the open as is. It was time to return to the tunnels.

Aaron barely had time to register the commotion behind him before their source smashed into him, right between his shoulder blades, and knocked him into a nearby tree. Suddenly out of breath, Aaron could barely see his attacker ready for round two through the stars in his eyes. The next hit knocked him unconscious.

"Ha! Take that! That'll teach you to mess with the Heaven's Lance outfit." Swift announced in triumph over the prone form of the human.
His adrenaline rush quickly faded when he realized that he hadn't really thought his next steps through. What was he supposed to do with the human now?

If Swift tied up his captive, then he might just be able to fly back to camp for reinforcements and get back here before any of the Diamond Dogs realized their master was missing.

Hopes of that plan succeeding were quickly dashed when he heard a deep, threatening growl just out of his range of vision. Swift caught sight of another shadowy figure just before it managed to dent the back of his helmet in with its attack, dropping the dazing the pony to his knees. Swift felt a small amount of irony at succumbing to the same tactic he had just used to subdue the human before a second blow knocked him out as well.

~~~~~

Swift arose to the smell of smoke and something else. He tried lifting a hoof to alleviate his headache only to realize he couldn't move it, or any other part of his body, at all. The stallion's eyes shot open, informing him that he was, in fact, buried up to his neck in dirt. Swift also realized, much to his horror, that the other thing he was smelling was the scent of cooking flesh.

"No, no nonononon... Please don't eat me!"

"Looks like pony awake, Aaron."

"So he is." Aaron replied as he sidled away from his small cooking fire. He placed himself directly between the warm fire and the stallion's exposed head. "So, little pony, what's your name?"

"S-swift S-s-ssleet..."

"Alright, Swift. I hope you can grasp the situation you're in right about now. You're probably afraid, for starters, and maybe feeling a bit helpless, yes?" Swift just nodded his head slowly in affirmation.

Aaron continued. "Good. That's what you should be feeling. It's perfectly natural for one in your position. Now, do you see this?" Aaron asked as he pulled out his knife. "This here is a finely machined piece of stainless steel. It is, without a doubt, one of the most technologically advanced pieces of hardware that currently exists in this world. It's pretty dang useful, let me tell you. With it, I could carve my name into that tree over there, or fashion a rope from it's bark. Heck, I could probably even use it to dig a trench through the dirt you happen to be stuck in. It wouldn't even be worse for the wear. Just a little sharpening, maybe hone the edge a little bit, and it goes back to being as useful as it ever was. Great thing, a tool like this. Why I bet I could even use it to easily skin you alive, much like I did the rabbit that's now cooking over that fire behind me. The tool wouldn't even care. That's what it was built to do."

Swift gulped. "Y-you'll never get away with this."

"We'll see. It's kind of my point, really. This tool was made for cutting things, plain and simple. But I'm not going to use it for that, use it on you. Not yet. Because, while you pegasi seem to still be trying to figure out how to deal with the Diamond Dogs. You believe that they're just some dumb creatures you can just 'take care of,' when someone believes that they're being a nuisance. So what did you do? You all just barged into our home and tried throwing your weight around. Now I think that the diamond dogs have earned some sort of retribution for what you've tried to do to them, but much like this tool, which would cut clean through you if I let it, the dogs would tear you apart If I let them. But you want to know something? While I am the one who holds all the cards here, I'm not going to kill, and/or eat you. I have no reason to. In fact, I plan to let you go."

"And why would you do that? What's to stop me from bringing the whole squad over here and, and after what you did back in the mine they'd-" Swift attempted to argue.

"Are you sure it's wise to argue with someone when they say that they'll let you go?" Aaron waited for Swift to stop and listen once more. "I thought so. Need I remind you that you were the ones trespassing into our home? You hoped to tear the pack apart, and I can assure you that I've done everything in my power to ensure the failure of that mission, and I will continue to do so for the foreseeable future."

Aaron continued, "The only reason that I have for letting you go, is that I want you to do precisely nothing. You will not tell the other Pegasi of our position. You will not tell them of anything that's happened here today. You will, however, remember this," Aaron leaned in close enough that only Swift could hear him. "You will never get the drop on me like that twice. If I ever see you again. I will not be as forgiving. No. If I see you again, I'll see to it that your family receives your feathers in the mail, one-by-one, as I pluck them from your hide."

Aaron sat back up from the stallion's blanched visage.

"Do you think you can remember that?"

Swift nodded slowly, his features still reflecting the workings of his imagination as he digested Aaron's words in their entirety.

"Good. Now that that's settled, I still need to finish up here. When we're ready to go, we will release you, until then, I suggest you sit tight."

"And what happens when my relief comes asking about where I've been?" Swift asked.

Aaron just flashed a smile at the pony, "Oh, Swift, I don't think you want to be reminded about how that isn't my problem. Not unless you want me to find a postmaster..."

Swift promptly lost his lunch.

~~~~~

"Are you sure it okay to let him leave, Aaron, sir?" Allee asked in earnest.

"Yes, this is the best option. If he doesn't return to his group, then more will come looking this way. At least this option leaves us with the chance that he follows through with our agreement." Aaron admitted.

"What you say to him anyway? He look pretty sick."

"Only what he needed to hear, Allee. Only what he needed to hear. But I have to say I went to a pretty dark place for it. Let's hope we don't have to do that again." Aaron said as he picked up his bag. his back erupting in a spasm of pain as he attempted to put it on. "Ah! Yeah, no." Aaron inhaled sharply, "That's not going to work."

Allee took initiative and stepped up to support Aaron as his balance faltered. "I help, Aaron sir. Let me carry bag."

"Thanks, Allee. I never got the chance to thank you for coming to help earlier, even if it was against my direct orders. I seriously owe you one, All Ears." Aaron said as he ruffled the fur on her head with his unsupported arm. "But you did disobey my orders, you promised me..."

Allee's ears swept downward at the comment.

"So, in light of your actions tonight, I think I know what your punishment should be: To help carry me back to the tunnel."

Allee's ears perked back up as she realized that it wasn't really a punishment.

"Let's go find ourselves a new home."

Author's Note

Next chapter probably won't make it on a daily release schedule. School just started back up for me, and my time is limited. The next chapter was supposed to be the last, but it was kind of rushed, so I'll be working to separate it into at least two chapters.

Proper Pup Property

Seeing as how the pack wasn't swimming in pegasus troops, Swift must have found a way to explain his run-in with Aaron and Allee that didn't involve mentioning either of them. And as far as Aaron was concerned, it could stay that way.

The pack traveled for weeks through the mountains, tunneling under ridge after ridge in search of the perfect location for their new den. When it became clear that the Pegasi were no longer pursuing the pack, Aaron was able to send out scouts ahead of the main group. The criteria of water access, and gem availability were still requirements, but in light of recent events, Aaron thought it prudent to make sure any new location was as difficult to reach as possible.

For all intents and purposes, the pack was going to disappear. Indefinitely. They'd already lost their homes once, and Aaron was going to make sure that it never happened again.

Then, one late fall day, one of the scouts returned with promising news. There was a valley carved out by long lost glaciers. A pristine lake still lay where the ice melted long ago. At the narrow end of the lake was a small waterfall that poured over a number of smaller basins cut out of one large bowl of jagged rock. The cut-out was nearly invisible from the lake, and best of all, the valley walls were precariously steep where they weren't heavily forested.

Aaron ordered a shaft be dug behind the waterfall, and the initial reports were promising. There were ample gem supplies, with hints at several ore veins buried deeper into the mountains.

"Well guys, I think this is what we've been looking for. I think we've found our new home." Aaron said to the gathered canines. The pack howled in agreement, and quickly got to work.

As they dug out the main chamber for their first night's shelter, he let the dogs eat every gem they could find. They'd earned their fill. Aaron camped himself just just beyond the waterfall for his own meal, and he let himself just absorb the view. The lake was peaceful and the air was calm. Even he could almost believe that he was at home here.

"What matter Aaron? Something Wrong?" Allee asked as she sat down beside Aaron, her pockets lined with any gem she could get her paws on.

"Hmm? No, nothing's wrong. Just thinking is all."

"About what?" She asked as she merrily munched on a mineral of reddish hue.

"A bunch of things, actually. We've only just arrived, but it'll be a while before we're back up to where we were at the old den. That's just the tip of the iceberg, as the saying goes. We've still got so much work ahead of us. Oh, but there is a bit of good news!"

"Oh?"

Aaron pulled out a small yellow gem from his pocket. It didn't really look any different than anything that Allee was carrying now, not to mention that it was barely half the average size. "I know it may not look like much, but I've got a feeling that this gem will be important."

"Why is that?"

He rubbed the smooth surface of the mineral between his thumbs. "This gem isn't much, but this little guy managed to hitch a ride all the way up here from the old den, buried in one of the bowls that had been re-purposed to hold my crops. Granted, we hauled a bunch of gems around with us on this trip, and most of those are gone now, but this one?" Aaron flipped it over, revealing a small symbol scratched into the surface, marking it as one of the stones from the original experiment. "This one was half this size when we left."

From that moment on, Aaron's Diamond Dogs would never be the same.

~~~~~

The images flashed through Aaron's mind in rapid fashion:

The forge, recreated. Making way for all sorts of metallurgical progress.

The gem farms reaching full capacity. Never again would the pack have to scrounge up a meal.

Some of the pack volunteering to help Aaron establish his own supply of food, leaving behind their traditional tunneling to assist in farming. Underground, of course. A few of them even volunteered to become assistant hunters for a time, though they were far less likely to stick with this routine for long.

Once the pack had established their new home, the ample food supply allowed for a marginal increase in canine population. Before it could get out of hand, Aaron put provisions in place that would not only curtail unwanted growth, but would also promote pairings that produced capable offspring. Aaron himself would never strip away their free will, but with such a limited starting population, he would be forced to implement a a system that promoted beneficial genetic traits, lest the dogs' capabilities suffer further damage. Each pairing was allowed to produce a single progeny, no matter what. Pairings that produced exceptional pups, however, were allowed to continue their procreation, provided that supplies could support it.

The first schools were formed, followed quickly by the first graduation, albeit at the elementary level. The next generation would be pushed to further their academics beyond that of their parents' abilities. Aaron had wished that he could spend more time with the training and less time dolling out work.

The realization that the pack members operated on a different lifespan than their leader. The eldest members, having completed their mortal cycles, had eventually began to return to the earth one final time. Out of all of the trials that he'd surpassed so far, these days were probably the hardest on Aaron. When it became time for the former Boss members to be laid to rest, Aaron had worked tirelessly in order to prepare the pack for his own departure, whenever that may be.

Aaron made it clear that he wanted no ceremony with which to acknowledge his demise. regardless of his wishes, the canines had other ideas. They would remember him forever, that much was sure, but the pack would have to be content with celebrating what they believed would be his eventual return.

The next generation eventually earning the opportunity to lead the pack in Aaron's stead. After that, he prepared a list of guidelines with which they could continue to better themselves. The pack ensured Aaron that his Master Edicts would be adhered to for generations.

His time somewhat more open than before, Aaron spent his days teaching the pups. With his help, they moved on to create their own written language, start studying arithmetic, begin building simple contraptions, and most importantly, observe the world with a curious eye. In time, their ancestors' weaknesses would be erased, replaced by knowledge that would place the Diamond Dogs, no the Canis Sapiens, above the other races which had once looked down upon them.

And the Canis would surpass the all of the others from their isolated home, hidden from the sun.

Author's Note

Decided that the story actually does end here for the moment.

The next chapter can be considered bonus material that ties into the Observations Series.

Observe: Quintessential Quantum Quandries

Aaron's time had finally come. He had spent no small amount of time preparing for it, but when the end finally came, he found he was not dead. Much like his arrival to this world, Aaron's departure was that of simple displacement. One moment he was there, the next, nothing. Although, this time, he noticed that something was different. Something had changed.

Suddenly aware of the situation, and despite the memories still pooling into his mind, Aaron reacted on instincts he had long since forgotten. He summoned a virtual console with the flick of his wrist and issued a single command. "System order: Pause simulation."

For the world below, time had ceased to flow.

Aaron was going to have to have a lengthy conversation with Sentinel, the AI tasked with maintaining the simulation, at some point in the near future. Maybe then he'd learn just what the hell was going on. His memories were still in a jumbled state, but were otherwise complete, his mind would need time to sort through the last few decades, however. In the meantime, Aaron needed to discover what had pulled him out of the world. That kind of direct action seemed a little beyond Sentinel's modus operandi.

That particular piece information was not hard to find, thankfully. Aaron didn't even need to scan the whole hemisphere to see it. System, and by extension, Sentinel, had already quarantined the cause. Just a few degrees from the surface, lay the unconscious entity, captured after only a few moments after it entered the void. Aaron recognized the entity as Starswirl, even though he had aged a fair bit since their last encounter.

In Starswirl's wake was a single gaping rift into the fabric of the world's underlying structure. 'That's new.' Aaron thought to himself as he surveyed the damage. According to the console, the hole that Starswirl created wasn't really a hole at all. The structural components were still there, but Starswirl had somehow managed to transcribe a null value to them. The forced error then seems to have begun to spread from the source point immediately after, likely stalled only by Aaron's immediate reaction upon his reawakening.

The breach had thrown Starswirl into the void, but had also freed Aaron in the process. Had Aaron not been there, the world might very well have been doomed. Sentinel wouldn't dirty his hands in an attempt to fix a single planet. It was content to watch and see what happened, which meant that if anything was going to be done, Aaron would have to be the one to do it. After having practically spent a lifetime there, he'd grown a little attached. The least he could do was fix it.

Taking data from a duplicate world, Aaron's original destination, he simply needed to copy over the erroneous data after he moved a few entities out of harm's way. Aaron briefly wondered why Sentinel was content to let the simulation fail and start over, it was probably still following some directive from the earliest iterations of the Sandbox. Either way, Aaron moved to the containment field around the old stallion. If anyone was going to break the news to him, it might as well be someone, or something, he knew.

~~~~~

After nearly 3 decades of work, Starswirl had finally constructed the greatest achievement of his scholarly career. He'd finally managed to build a device that could connect alternate worlds, proving that they actually existed once and for all. Or so he thought.

Starswirl was currently floating through a void, of sorts. It wasn't very empty, for starters, there were a multitude of planets arranged in a grid all around him, and he was pretty sure that there was surrounded in some sort of bubble at the moment. Granted, he couldn't seem to change his orientation enough to confirm any of his observations about that last part.

"Long time no see, old friend."

Craning his neck, Starswirl caught sight of the human, even though he was standing at an oblique angle that made the stallion's head swim. "Um Aaron, was it? Is that really you? My, it doesn't look like you've aged a day! Not that I know what an aged human looks like."

"That's true, I suppose. Oh, here. Let he give you a hand." Aaron said as he noticed Starswirl's discomfort. Aaron summoned his console and entered a string of commands. To the stallion, it simply looked as though Aaron was just waving his hands through the air, but the motion eventually created a small, barren island beneath Starswirl.

Starswirl let out a little yelp as the gravity suddenly kicked into gear, dropping him to the island's surface.

"Sorry about that. It's been a while since I've needed to mess with the physics renderer." Aaron said as he continued waving his hands around in gentle motions. Every action seemed to change something about the tiny island, such as spawning grass, or a tree, or a small pond. The last one even spawned a small cabin. "There, that should do for now. What do you think, Starswirl?"

"I think I remember saying that Humans couldn't do magic." the Stallion said dryly.

"I did say something like that, didn't I? Interesting."

"What do you mean, interesting? I'm sorry, but I haven't the slightest idea about what is going on around here."

"Hmmm? Oh, right! Where to begin? I suppose I should start with what this place is. This void is the staging area known as Sandbox. In it, we've been simulating an entire universe! Or, at least, we did. There aren't too many of us left these days..." Aaron declared with a pained look on his face.

"But, why?" Starswirl asked, referring to both of Aaron's statements.

"I'm afraid that the concepts may be a little far fetched at the moment, but everything as you know it is simply a collection of information. You haven't discovered computers as far as I know, but they are machines that process extremely large amounts of data. Data such as your individual identity traits, future whether patterns, even the different traits of a specific kind of rock, all of it is processed with these computers. Now you might be asking yourself 'why would humans need to build these things?' so I'll tell you. We wanted to know the answers to our questions. The question the Sandbox was supposed to answer was one of whether or not our own universe was a simulation."

"Is that why you are here? To answer a question such as that?"

"Yes and no. I'm here for a different reason. Humans are a dying race, Starswirl. We've already conquered the universe as we know it, but after that, we lost sight of something along the way, something important. I'd hoped to find it here, and save what's left of my people, but things didn't exactly turn out as expected."

"Your unusual amnesia?"

"In part, yes. I'm still not sure exactly what happened there." The answer to that quandary would have to wait until Aaron cornered Sentinel.

Starswirl walked towards the edge of the island only to be cut off by the mysterious field. Much to his dismay, even his magic seemed unable to influence the shield in any way.

Aaron observed the stallion's actions for a moment. "Yeah, sorry about the containment. You did manage to break out of your world back there. The system is treating you as a hostile entity. They're probably already patching the Sandbox to prevent what you did from happening again. Whatever it was you were doing down there left a pretty big mess? That hole I had to patch up was a bit of a doozy."

"After I witnessed an entire city disappear without a trace, I developed a theory that multiple worlds exist, as that was the only explanation that I could come up with to explain the situation. I was attempting to prove that theory when I opened up the gate. The gate got quickly out of hoof though. I tried to stop it, but, well, here I am. I do hope Surprise was able to escape before everything went south."

"I'm pretty sure that you're the only one who got caught up in that mess. Although, I did have to move a few entities before I fixed your gate. This Surprise was probably one of them."

"So how long am I going to be considered hostile?" Starswirl inquired.

"I'm sorry to say this, but it's likely that you'll be kept here indefinitely."

"But what about you? Can't you free me of this veil?"

Aaron shook his head. "Sorry Starswirl, but even I can't override system-level security features. I doubt there's anyone left who can."

Starswirl wasn't liking that prospect too much. "Then what am I to do? I've spent the last few decades trying to prove the existence of multiple worlds, and now that I've obtained my evidence, I can't leave? My whole life trying to reveal the nature of magic to world, and now, nopony will ever hear of my greatest discovery. Was all of my research for nothing?"

"Not quite, You did manage to accomplish something no other entity has ever done before. You broke out of the simulation. You want to return, but you can't. In all the years you were down there though, I'm sure you've helped many of your kind, even if they don't recognize it yet. In a way, I'm kind of envious."

"You wish to be locked up?" Starswirl asked incredulously.

"Not quite. As I said before, I was trying to find out how to help my people. Unlike you, I could return to my people, if I so wished it. But thinking about it now? I don't know if I'll ever go back."

His own fate may have been sealed, but Starswirl believed that there was no excuse for abandoning so many. "But what about your people? Do they not deserve to learn what you've discovered here?"

"No. During my time on your world, I discovered that, for the first time, I was truly happy. I had friends and, more importantly, a family. Out there, in the void of the Outerverse, space is empty. I can't remember the last time I've had a decent conversation. God, I don't even know what, exactly, I was looking for when I first came here. I was just following some vague notion that a solution might somehow exist here amongst the simulations, but I the only thing I've come to realize was one very important, crucial fact. Humanity is already dead, we just haven't noticed it yet."

Starswirl scoffed, he almost couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I can't imagine why how you could possibly believe that."

"It's simple really, in all our eons of searching, we've never once came across another sapient life. As improbable as that sounds, it's true. The whole reason we built this place, the question of 'are we in a simulation?', those are just additional facets of the same, harsh truth. We are alone Starswirl, and until that day I ended up, lost and confused, on your world, I was too. I don't know what it was that made your branch of simulations so unique in their spread of sapient lifeforms, but there's nothing like that in the Outerverse, not even if you took all life in the entire universe."

Starswirl forced himself to see from Aaron's perspective. He could scarcly imagine what it would be like to only have one intelligent species to deal with. Sure, there were always going to be issues when dealing with the other races, even the other ponies, but to be the only ones around and never finding the answer as to why. Starswirl suddenly found that, were he in Aaron's position, he couldn't be sure he wouldn't reach the same conclusion. "So what do you plan to do?"

Aaron thought for a moment. "For starters, I need to give Sentinel an earful. I don't want to end up fragmented like last time. But I will eventually return to your former world."

"Then can I ask you to do something for me?"

"Sure, I guess. So long as it doesn't involve trying to circumvent the System."

"Of course. Well then, since I'm kind of stuck here, and you plan to return to my world, do you think you would be able to visit me every so often? I believe I've suddenly found myself in the precarious position of having too much time on my hooves."

Aaron mulled it over for a bit. "A reasonable request. If it's any consolation, I wish that you didn't have to suffer here alone. So I'll be sure to figure something out that'll let me visit you from time to time. I think we have a lot of catching up to do anyway, once my mind has finished settling. Until then, I really need to deal with a certain AI." Moving his hands across the unseen object once more, Aaron disappeared from Starswirl's sight.

In sudden striking silence, Starswirl sat in deep contemplation as the topics of his conversation with Aaron hit him. "Now I have no idea what an Ay-eye is, but think I do have way to pass the time. If what Aaron says is true about everything being simple data, then maybe..." A wide grin spread across the stallion's face. If that was true, then the magic he knew of must have a higher level of order than anything he'd ever considered before. His magic seemed useless here in the void, but maybe that was approaching it wrong, maybe he just needed a grasp of the bigger picture. "Maybe not all is lost, Aaron, my friend."

Sitting down in front of his brand new water feature, Starswirl started rummaging through every idea that had ever popped into his head, looking for anything he might have thrown away because it didn't make sense in his old world. Here, they might not just make sense, they might just be the keys to how the void worked.

Starswirl had a new goal to strive towards.

Author's Note

Huzzah! Now I suggest you pick your jaw up off the floor and get ready to drop is again when you realize that this is only a small part of the Observations Universe!

Before I forget, I do have another project in the works. The story most definitely does not end here.

Aaron's Adventure Awaits

Sandbox v1.13 online
Current time:[Unable to parse 4th dimensional units]
::
Error detected: Data entity transcription detected during patch. Entity ID:[Entity name parsed to 'Aaron Wendel'] Assessment: Minimal impact, continue normal operations.
::

The sun was bright, the skies were mostly clear. Under normal circumstances, Aaron would call it a pretty good day. As far as he was concerned, the weirdness of it all far outstripped any other descriptor. For one, he was pretty sure he was lost. Really lost. And two, there seemed to be gaps in his memory that didn't quite account for why he couldn't find any of his landmarks.

He'd stopped on the trail for lunch and a quick nap. The meadow adjacent the trail had just been asking for someone to nap on top of it. Some dark clouds had built enough mass to block out the sun after a bit, waking him from his impromptu siesta. Only he couldn't find the trail again.

"Come on, Aaron, calm down a bit. Think things through like always. Trails don't just vanish, right? So, maybe it was just farther from the clearing than I thought it was. That's gotta be it."

That wasn't it. Aaron had circled the meadow twice and forged a path in each cardinal direction, far enough to just lose sight of the clearing, and back. Still no sign of the path, and now he was sure that something was wrong. There was no way he could have missed the trail now, it was gone.

The mountains just visible between the trees seemed normal-ish. Aaron had to admit that he'd need to travel farther away from the original path, almost straight up the nearest hill, to get his bearings.

The exercise was probably the only thing keeping him calm at the moment. Getting lost on such a simple day-hike was really going to put a damper on the rest of his day. 'Wasn't I supposed to meet someone for dinner or something?' He'd thought, suddenly aware of a gap in his memory.

Before he could chew through that particular harrowing thought though, Aaron had reached another clearing. Turning around, Aaron could see a gap where he guessed his meadow to be. Other than that though...

"What the F-..." Aaron trailed off.

Sure the mountains looked mostly the same, but that was the only thing that looked familiar. None of the usual indicators that hinted at the civilization, especially the one that he knew was supposed to sit at the bottom of the valley, were present. Just a sea of trees where his hometown was supposed to be.

Before he could process exactly what that meant, the rainclouds that had been building up all afternoon had decided to take his day from a odd, but pleasant, to a downright vindictive one.

Trail or no, Aaron carefully made his way down the slope towards the river that cut down the valley, or at least where he hoped a river that cut through the valley would be. Fully drenched now, he spotted the water feature a short ways off.

As some sort of karmic twist or something, the river looked much as he remembered it. This was definitely a plus. If the river was the same as he remembered than maybe the cave he hoped would get him out of the rain would be there too. Unsure why he'd remember a cave over what his future plans were, Aaron soldiered on.

"Finally!" Aaron said as he sprinted the final distance to cavern mouth. Soaked through and through, he'd stripped out of his clothing and replaced his shirt, socks, and shorts with their dryer equivalents that had been in his bag. As he did so, the radio he'd had stashed inside the backpack fell to the cave floor.

Aaron picked it up and checked it for damage, and was thankful that he found none. Turning it on, he was even less surprised than he thought he'd be when nothing came through on any of the channels. Regardless of the lack of communication on the other bands, Aaron turned it to the emergency channel and tried to contact anyone who'd listen.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Aaron keyed into the mike. "If anyone's listening, My name's Aaron, and I seem to have gotten lost up near-" He suddenly realized that he couldn't name the place he'd been hiking through all day, " Up in the woods. If you can hear this, please respond!"

Nothing came through, not even static.

"Maybe the storm's blocking the signal. I've just got to wait it out and-" Aaron stopped and listened. Something scrapped the rock down in the depths of the surprisingly dark cave. His first thought was that, while the cave did have a back room, the sound seemed to come from far deeper than the cave was supposed to be.

"Hello?" he called cautiously.

The noise stopped for a moment, only to continue as it did before.

Moving to the back room, Aaron noticed that the cave dropped down drastically into the earth at a point where the cave wall should have been. "If there's any kids down there messing around-" Aaron suddenly realized why he remembered the cave, "-or something, I promise I won't tell your folks. I'm just trying to get home."

More scratching from somewhere deep inside the tunnel.

"Hello?"

The wall of solid rock to his left suddenly gave way to a second tunnel, this one inhabited by a hairy creature that stood about chest height. Even in the dim light, Aaron could see the dog-like appearance of it's face.

"Yeah, I hear." The beast said sniffing the air. "But this no your home."

"No kidding..." was all Aaron could say before blacking out.

The creature bent down to Aaron's slumped form and got a better scent. "That odd. Boss gonna wanna see this." It said, before dragging Aaron unceremoniously behind it.

Author's Note

Even I have no idea where this is going, which both frightens and entertains me.

Excitedly Encroaching Endgame

Aaron had to give the smallish dog some credit, because what he lacked in size he'd more than made up for through sheer persistence.

As the challenge had started, Chaser quickly realized that he had trouble holding onto the rope, let alone climbing it. Failing his first two trys, the Diamond Dog's next attempt had him jumping almost 9 feet into the air, nearly a third of the total distance, and very nearly catching up to Aaron's position.

Catching one of the knots between his forepaws, Chaser was once again at a loss as to what he could do next. The knots were just too far apart for his stubby arms. The canine swung back and forth for a few moments, allowing Aaron to increase his lead once more.

Suddenly, Chaser overheard the female Boss member shout something along the lines of 'forget the rope', and he realized that the Human never said anything about using the rope to climb. Swinging and turning himself to a better position, Chaser leapt for the central support beam.

Digging his claws into the wood, Chaser began to make his way towards the top. Splinters rained down beneath as each small leap tore the shavings from the unfinished beam. The Diamond dog was now making excellent time, but had lost sight of his human competition. Not knowing how far Aaron had progressed since he last sighted him, Chaser redoubled his efforts.

The dog was so focused on his rush to the top, that he forgot his path was cut off by the plank that supported the ropes. A sickening crunch could be heard as skull collided with wood. Dazed, Chaser was vaguely aware of this new floating feeling he was experiencing. He could have swore that there was something bad about that, but it didn't matter so long as he'd won the contest, right?

A fast, firm pressure surrounded his left paw, ending his perceived weightlessness. "Whoa there big guy! I got you."

Chaser jerked himself back towards consciousness, swinging listlessly from the appendage that was now being grasped by the claws of none other than his human competition. Aaron was already on top of the beam, and as a literal insult to injury, he still had enough time to save the Diamond dog from a nasty fall.

As sad as he was that he had, in fact, lost his race to Aaron, every Diamond Dog watching, save the other members of boss, were cheering at the spectacle of it all.

Realizing he was still hanging, Chaser quickly latched onto the central beam. "You can let go now, human."

Aaron let go, and the dog clawed his way back down the pole. Finding his rope, Aaron made his own way back down to the bottom.

"We have a Winner!" Mint said to the crowd, pointing to Aaron as he did. Turning toward Aaron, "I've never seen anything climb that fast!"

"Would you believe I've actually seen someone do that faster? I need to work out more." Aaron said as he stretched his arms out from his sides.

"But, but how?" Asked Chaser. "I faster than any Diamond Dog and you still win. How there be a faster?"

"My race descended from apes, so, yeah. We're kind of built for that kind of climbing, I guess."

Tawny interrupted the little chat. "Enough of this. Chaser, such disappointment. Now I will-"

"No. I will crush Human." Grey Boss interjected. "It my duty to defend Chaser, Yes?"

"Fine. But see you not fail like him, Gruff." Tawny said whilst pointing angrily at Chaser.

"Alright then. Give me a moment and I'll be rested up. Meanwhile, Mint? Care to help me set this up?"

Grey, or Gruff, approached the weight platform. Two empty mine carts had been on platforms that had rope tied to the sides. The ropes, in turn were tied to a metal ring.

"What all this for? We pull cart? That no test."

"Give us a minute and I'll explain. We're not going to pull the carts, not in the way you are thinking, anyway." Aaron pointed the pegasi toward the overhanging beam, which was almost as thick as the last challenge's beam was wide. The pony attached a device that consisted of nothing more than a grooved wheel mounted into a frame, and wound a length of rope through it. Aaron did the same thing with the other side of the rope and the pulley mounted to the platform base. "You pull on this, and, if you are strong enough, you will be able to lift the cart. If you can do that, then we put some rock into the cart and try lifting it again. The one with the most rocks in their cart at the end, wins."

"Hey, why you rope have more wheel?"

"Um, because my rope is longer?" Aaron said sheepishly.

"Why not just cut rope? No extra wheel needed, yes?"

"Oh, uh, we just ran out of time is all. Didn't want to accidentally damage the rope by cutting it now, would we?"

"Hmm... When we start?"

"Whenever you are ready. I'll even let you go first."

'When they said he was strong, they weren't kidding' Aaron mused. By the end of Gruff's attempt, Aaron estimated that he was lifting upwards of nearly one and a quarter tons. Already struggling with the current mass, the canine attempted to add one last stone to his cart before he dropped the rope. The cart his the platform with a resounding crash that knocked a small amount of dirt loose from the cavern ceiling.

"Human can not beat that? No?"

"We'll see." Aaron said as he pulled his rope from the pulley. Making short work of the drastically increased amount of rope, He managed to pull the cart into a suspended position. slowly releasing the rope back into the pulley system, Aaron let gravity take the cart back down to the platform. "Hmm, that went well. What do you think, Mint? Should we just fill it up now and save us some time?"

"Do you think the rope can handle it?"

"Might as well find out."

Gruff looked on in a state of shock as they filled to cart well past what he had lifted. Sure the human made lifting the empty cart look somewhat easy, but not even an adult Minotaur could lift a full cart. They had to be pulling his leg.

Once the cart was full, Aaron began pulling on his rope once more. Ever so slowly, the cart lifted from the ground. Surprised gasps resounded through the audience as the cart was lifted above the heads of the contestants. The Human had seemingly accomplished the impossible once again.

As Aaron lowered the cart back down, Tawny stormed down to the challenge area. "No fair, you cheat somehow."

"How can this something be cheated?" asked Gruff.

"I not know. Maybe the unicorn pony hollow out rock when we not looking."

"I understand your position miss, um, I never actually got your name. But I can assure you there's no trick. I really did lift all of that by myself."

"I am All Ears, Human. And I still not believe you."

"And my name is Aaron. Now that introductions are out of the way, Mint? Plan B."

"What plan B?" asked Ears.

"Just watch."

Both carts were pushed side-by-side and tied together, their support rings tied to the end of Aaron's rope.

Aaron began pulling the rope once more, but now it was obvious that he was straining quite a bit. Much to the Diamond Dog's disbelief, the group of carts was soon hanging in the air as before.

Breaking herself out of her shock, All Ears was sure that something tricky still going on. "Out of the way, Aaron. Let me pull on the rope."

Before he was forced to comply, and therefor reveal his mechanical advantage, the ropes between the pulley and the suspended load began to snap. The first smaller rope to break away caused a chain reaction that forced the others to fail with their own cracking, whip-like motions. One of them snapped and hit the overhead pulley block with enough force to break it apart. Dropping the rope, Aaron yanked All Ears away from it before the mechanical system violently yanked the rope through the floor mounted pulley.

When the dust settled, everyone's ears were ringing. In the wake of the crash lay two mangled mine carts, a rash of spilled rocks, and a ton of tattered rope.

"Is everyone alright?" Aaron asked after a brief coughing fit. A quick once over, and it appeared that, thankfully, no one was harmed.

"Well then. Wasn't that exciting? Two down one to go."

"I do not know how you beat Gruff and Chase, Aaron, but you will not beat me. What is next challenge?" All-Ears said, whilst eyeing Aaron closely.

Aaron approached the final stage, the one that worried him the most. For the previous two tests, he'd had several distinct advantages, either built-in or manufactured. But All Ears had almost caught on to the last one. She was smarter than he'd given her credit for, and now that she'd shown just what she was capable of, Aaron was wondering if a simple brain-teaser was going to be enough.