Across the Ages

Chapter 9

Tommy followed behind Rarity with a pair of shovels, a pickaxe, and a sledgehammer slung over his shoulder. They were accompanied by Spike, who was hauling a large wagon carrying a cooler. Spike had enlisted himself into Rarity’s service this morning and the trio were making their way out to Rarity’s favored hunting grounds.

“So why are we going all the way out here? Can’t you just buy your stones from a dealer?” Tommy asked as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

“Oh, I could, but I would not be able to turn much of a profit that way, Darling.”

“Yeah,” Spike added. “Some of those gem dealers like to charge an arm and a claw for stones that wouldn’t even qualify for costume jewelry.”

“Well said, Spike,” Rarity said.

After a few more minutes of walking, they came upon a cave that was lined with crystals of all kinds. While the two locals seemed to simply take this view as mundane, Tommy was metaphorically floored. The walls of stone were splattered with shining stones, some the size of his fist. It seemed like something out of a kid’s fantasy story book.

“Whoa,” Tommy said as he looked around.

“I know, right. Don’t let the looks fool you though,” Spike told him as he looked around, “a lot of these are practically worthless. Not even worth the effort to pick them for the calories.”

“That is why I am here. While I may not have a rocterate degree like our good friend Maud, I am certainly qualified enough to pick out suitable stones.” Rarity’s horn lit up under a hard hat with a big blue bow on it, which was just adorable, in her own words. “Now come along, we don’t have time to waste.”

Tommy hefted his tools once more and followed the unicorn and dragon inside the cave. “Whatever you say, Princess.”

“I shall choose to take that as a term of endearment and not an insult.”

“Good, because I wasn’t trying to be a prick. Now, just tell where to swing the pick and I’ll swing away. Until then,” Tommy lowered himself to the floor of the cave and folded his hands behind his head as he leaned against the wall, “I’ll be right here.”

For a few hours, Rarity and Spike loaded up their wagon with small and medium sized gems. Every so often, they had to rouse Tommy so he could tackle larger stones before he went back to his rest. Tommy couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of Spike scrounging a crystal or two at a time for a quick snack. Luckily for him, Tommy’s services were not needed often, thanks to Spike’s desire to be of use to Rarity. Tommy thought it was a bit of a shame that his love was clearly one-sided and how lucky she was that that love wasn’t crossing over into lust. He may be small, but he was still a dragon, and who knew just what he was capable of.

As Tommy caught a few more Z’s, the unicorn and baby dragon moved further into the cavern. Spike turned to Rarity and asked, “How much further in do you plan on going?”

“Don’t worry your cute, scaly head, Spikey Wikey,” she assured with a playful rub of his head. “I only want to go a little bit more, to make sure that I don’t miss anything truly special.”

“Alright,” Spike looked around nervously, “but just remember where we are.”

“As if I could ever forget that day.” Rarity shuddered at the memory. “Fortunately, I believe that they won’t forget that day either. I’m sure we’re perfectly safe.”

Both froze in their tracks, a shiver running down their spines, at the single word growled into their ears. “Nope.”

*****

Tommy was awoken from his nap by the sounds of a prissy pony in distress. “Alright, alright, I’m up. Where do you want me to dig?”

“Get your filthy paws off me!” Rarity’s voice was far off, but the whine was unmistakable.

“You mutts are gonna be sorry when I get loose,” that was clearly Spike.

“Quiet, scaly one! You not getting loose. We keep you and pony forever this time.” Tommy didn’t recognize that voice, but it surely wasn’t friendly. Nor was it intelligent. Downside to that was that dumb could be very dangerous.

“I guess I gotta save the day or something,” Tommy groaned as he stood up. He picked up his pickaxe and shovel. “Hmm… no, these won’t do.” Tommy dropped the pick then snapped the shovel’s handle over his knee. He took a couple practice swings. “There we go.”

Tommy followed the hoofprints in along the cave floor as they went deeper in. After a while, he found several tunnels that appeared to have been dug out by hand. The prints in the dirt made it seem as though there was an ambush. The owners of the hooves and the claws, clearly Rarity and Spike, were on the losing end. The good news was that the drag marks were much easier to follow than simple prints. The sounds of whining was helpful, but the echoes made it harder to track than one would think.

“The harness is too tight~. It’s going to chafe~,” Tommy could hear coming from up ahead.

“Ha! Whine all you want, pony. We are ready this time,” came the reply from the unknown.

“Earplugs?!” Spike yelled. “You wore earplugs just so you could foalnap Rarity so she could find gems for you?”

“Yes~. We learn from before. Now whiney pony can complain all she want and we not let her go.”

“Yeah,” this voice sounded considerably dumber but no less dangerous. “Pony find gems, scaly dig, we get gems.”

“Alright, I’ve heard enough.” Tommy quickened his pace.

Meanwhile, on Rarity’s side of the cave, she had given up on her whining and hoof stomping. It had worked last time, but it seemed as if these diamond dogs had learned from their past failure. Also, last time, Spike had been able to run and get help. That also seemed to be unlikely since he was trapped here with her.

She was pulling the overloaded cart, attached to her by rusty chains and a nasty leather harness. She was thankful for her pony strength, as the cart was not exactly well-kept. She felt the worst for young Spike. She could handle the gem finding and the cart towing, but he was being run ragged with his digging one gem after another. Worse, it didn’t seem to matter to the dogs how small the gem was, they were going to make him dig it up.

“Don’t worry, Spike. I’ll think of some way to get us out of this.”

“Don’t worry about me, Rarity. I can keep this up for as long as it takes.”

Rarity smiled down at the young drake, knowing full well that he was putting on a brave face for her sake. She had to think of something. There had to be a way for them to get out. Of course, she could always simple uncouple herself from the cart, grab Spike, and gallop down the tunnel, hoping the whole way that she didn’t run into one of the guard dogs or simply choose the wrong tunnel. She could try to use her magic to restrain the dogs or even fight back, but she was nowhere near Twilight’s level, her magic had always been used for graceful, delicate techniques, not fighting.

If it were her by herself, she could refuse their orders, mislead them to buy time for a rescue, or simply work as slow as possible. There were so many tactics that could be possible if it weren’t for one major factor; Spike. Spike was here, whether she like it or not, and she could not allow any harm to come to the young colt. She could put up with a lot if it was only her at risk, but not this adorable, helpful, little guy that sometimes followed her like a puppy. Of course, she knew why but there was no way she could reciprocate those feelings, he was simply too young. No, if she was going to get out of this, with Spike, she was going to have to be smart and play along. For now

“Don’t worry, Spike, somepony will be along to help us.”

“Yeah, Tommy’s still out there.”

“Pbbt, Tommy? That barbarian would not lift a finger to help you or I. He is probably still sleeping back at the mouth of the cave.”

“Maybe, but it wouldn’t be because he doesn’t care. He’s not a bad guy, Rarity.”

“Yes, and Prince Blueblood was always the stallion he is today,” Rarity mocked.

Spike was about to respond, when he heard a commotion coming from down a nearby tunnel. If he didn’t know any better, he would have sworn it was someone barking orders at the diamond dogs. Weirder than that, they didn’t seem to be barking back.

“You hear that?” he asked.

Rarity’s ears perked up and rotated in an effort to pick up any noise. She froze, “Yes. What is that?”

“Hey! I said sit!” the voice echoed. “Good, uh, boy?”

“No, it couldn’t be,” Rarity was dumbfounded.

“That sounds like Tommy,” Spike looked up at her with hope in his eyes.

“Alright, lead me to them, boy.” Acknowledging barks reverberated off the walls.

The dogs surrounding Rarity and Spike looked at each other in confusion. Someone that wasn’t their pack leader was giving orders to their brethren, and those orders were being obeyed.

“You two,” their leader growled, “guard the door. You three, guard the prisoners.” The one with the red vest, who Rarity assumed was the leader, was preparing everyone for an attack. “Kill the thing.”

“No, don’t!” Rarity and Spike yelled.

“Quiet! Sick’em, dogs!”

To the surprise of everyone in the cavern, one of the dogs from down the tunnel came prancing joyfully into the chamber. He was followed by Tommy’s voice.

“Is that where they are, boy? Did you find’em?” There was a happy bark as a response. “Ooh, who’s a good boy? Yes you are. Now,” Tommy reached down and pick up a piece of wood that had fallen off a support beam, and threw it back down the tunnel, “go get it, boy.”

They all watched in shocked silence as the vicious, armored diamond dog got down on all fours and galloped after the stick that had just been thrown by this strange, tall creature. Tommy watched for a moment, a smile on his face, before he turned around and addressed the stunned onlookers.

“Now, what seems to be the problem here?”

The pack leader growled, “What you do to my dog?!”

“Nothing,” Tommy smirked as the guard dog from before came bounding in with the stick in his mouth, which Tommy threw again. “Just treated him like a cute little doggy,” he finished with a bit of a baby speak voice.

The pack leader growled again. Then he froze at a swishing noise coming from all around the room. He looked around and stared in confusion and anger, his dogs were wagging their tails at this strange creature that invaded his cave.

“Stop that!” he yelled at the nearest dog, which whimpered and lowered its head.

“So,” Tommy started as he scratched behind the ear of a nearby dog, who’s tail was going insane, “what are you doing with my friends here?”

“They are our slaves. Now you are too.”

“Hey!” Tommy barked with an accusatory finger pointed at the leader. “No! That’s bad. You’re being a bad dog.”

The leader whimpered and felt his tail tuck itself in for a second. Then he realized what was happening, and felt rage swell into his brain. He snarled and lunged for Tommy. But, much to the surprise of the leader, all the dogs present, and especially Rarity and Spike, Tommy simply side-stepped and grabbed the leader’s tail. Then, even more surprising, Tommy grabbed ahold of the back of his neck with a vicelike grip and forced him to the cave floor.

“Let go!”

“Nah-ah. Not until you calm down and act like a good boy.”

“No! Stop him, dogs!”

Tommy looked up for a moment, preparing to defend himself, or use the leader as a shield if needed, but his concern was unnecessary. All the dogs could do was stand there, frozen in place at the sight of the vicious leader being forced into the dirt with little effort. Tommy turned his attention back to his opponent.

“They’re not going to help you, pup. A fight for dominance is not a team sport. Now, you are going to release my friends and never bother them again.”

“No! They are my slaves! Let go!”

“Bad! That’s a very bag dog!” Tommy roared, pressing down for emphasis. Tommy let go of the tail and swatted the leader on the rump. “Let them go!”

“I said no!”

Again, Tommy swatted him, but with more force put behind the blow. “You will let them go. Now!” Tommy leaned in and whispered into the leader’s ear. “If you don’t, I will keep spanking you until your pack here kicks you out. If you agree now, and let them keep half the gems they dug up, I’ll let you make it look like it was your idea.”

The leader growled and then consented, quietly, “Fine. Let me go.”

Tommy did so, he slowly released the pressure he was applying. “Good boy.”

The two stood took several steps away from each other. Tommy announced, almost robotically, “My friends and I will be leaving now. Also, we will be taking all the gems they dug up.”

“No!” the pack leader barked. “You will leave! We keep gems!”

“Alright, how ‘bout half?”

“*Growl* Fine! Go! Now!”

And they did. Tommy led Rarity and Spike out of the cavern, the latter clinging closely to the former. Tommy was pulling the cart so that the two could rest after their trial. The pony and drake could still not believe what was happening. They were even more flabbergasted by the fact that several of the guard dogs were seemingly begging for Tommy to scratch under their chins or behind their ears. The whole thing was surreal.

Once out of the cave, they turned toward Ponyville. They walked in silence for several minutes, trying to take in what happened. Finally, Rarity turned up to look into Tommy’s smiling face.

“What… just… happened?” she asked.

“Huh?”

“Dude, she means, how the hay did you do that?” Spike clarified. “You just waltzed into the diamond dogs’ cave, treated them like pets, and just walked back out again.”

“Yes, exactly. Thank you, Spike.” Rarity ran her hand through her mane, tugging a twig from her curls. “How did you simply walk in, take over the pack, then walk back out with all these gems?”

“Ah, that,” Tommy plucked another twig from her mane. “Firstly, I’m sure if I hadn’t shown up, then Spike here would have protected you just fine, Princess. He may be small, but he is a tough little dragon,” Tommy rubbed Spike’s head, which ruined the image of his puffed-out chest. “But to answer your question, it’s simply because of who I am.”

“Okay, you must give us more to work with than that, darling.”

“Alrighty. Let me tell you, back in my time, we had cars that could drive themselves, fly if you had the money. We had robots that could clean your entire house and mow the yard. We even had entire farms that grew crops indoors because they plants could no longer survive the environment that our own carelessness had created. Hundreds of animal species had disappeared from the face of the Earth, never to be seen again. It had even gotten to the point that we thought our only way out was to find a new home planet, hence my arrival here.” Tommy adjusted his grip on the cart. “Still, one thing never changes.”

“What’s that,” Rarity asked.

“A dog is man’s best friend.”

They continued on to the Carousel Boutique, where Rarity took her new gem haul inside and promised to get to work on new clothing for Tommy. Spike and the human went back to the castle.

“You know,” Tommy started, Spike looking up at him, “if you want Rarity, you should just go for it. You never know, she might say yes.”

Spike was silent for a moment, stunned at what he had just been told. He shook himself out of it. “What if she says no?”

“I’ll admit, it’d be weird between you two for a while and it would definitely hurt, but you would no longer have to wonder. Besides, if she does say know, then you can move on to someone else. Didn’t you say something about some dragoness, Ash or something?”

“Ember. And I don’t think that would work out either.”

“Again, you never know unless you try.”

They finished their journey in silence. Tommy held the door open for Spike. As he walked by, he had a thought about their earlier conversation.

‘Why did Tommy phrase it that way? Before, he had always said back on his world, but not this time. He said back in my time. Why I wonder.’

*****

I couldn’t believe it, I was able to perform magic. I had been traveling around the country for the past few decades while Hannibal and Faust managed the new government. I had been forced to hide my form behind a hood or a fake beard so as not to startle the people… ponies at having an unknown, oversized creature wandering into their towns.

I had been able to document hundreds of different spells, though I could only actually use a dozen at best. Several of those were defensive spells that I was then able to teach to other unicorns. I focused my combative teachings to those villages that were on or near the borders, due to the rising tensions between Equestria and her neighbors. While there had been peace for many years, a century or two, tensions were rising and ponies are not built for combat.

With any luck, they wouldn’t need to test their skills.

After nearly a century by myself, practicing, teaching, and learning, I decided it was time to return home to my family. I traveled back to the heart of Equestria, finding ponies thriving everywhere I looked. There were citizens celebrating their king and queen as beloved family heads instead of rulers of the country. Faust and Hannibal were looked to for wisdom and love, not fear and instructions. I couldn’t be happier or prouder.

Well, that’s not entirely accurate.

Faust and Hannibal were parents.