The next day arrives, and I'm sitting on the crystal chair. I think about some things that need to be changed. For starters: the sleeping quarters need to change. They should have individual rooms. Then a work schedule. So we can keep collecting gems making sure they don't work themselves out. I rest my elbow on the arm of the chair, resting my head in my hand. I sigh in frustration as I contemplate my actions moving forward. 'I need to go back into town. I need to get a plan for the layout of this place. Then I'll be able to make the necessary adjustments.' I run my hand through my hair as I sigh again. "But first, I need to practise my magic more. Then I can strengthen the mine." I begin to make my way out of the main chamber and try and remember the way to the entrance. After some time and almost getting lost twice, I found my way out.

The sun blinds me for a moment when I leave the cave. I look around and see the clearing around the mouth of the cave. Remembering what happened in the woods, I think of ideas to defend our home. But first, training. I reach into my pocket and pull out the ruby, thinking about when I turned it into a knife. "I wonder what other weapons I can turn this into." I close my eyes and say, "Telum." When I open my eyes, the ruby is a knife again. I Twirl it in my hand and think about what else I could do. I cover my blade with my hand and close my eyes again. "Ignis." I move my hand and open my eyes to see the blade engulf in flame. "Hmm, so the magic is controlled by my Intent. I wonder what combinations I could combine."

I kneel and place my hand on the ground, "Perditio, Terra." The ground shakes slightly, with spikes appearing up from the ground in an unorganised pattern. I stand and walk around them, fascinated by the potential of my magic. I touch one of the spikes and say, "Ordo, Terra." The ground shakes again as the spicks slide back from where they came, with it being level and with a fresh layer of grass. I look at the tree line surrounding the clearing. 'The clearing is large. It's possible to have some buildings out here.' I place my hand back on the ground and close my eyes. "Ordo, Terra." The ground shakes once more as stones arrive from the ground. I start to sweat and grit my teeth. After some time, I stop to look at my work.

At the edges of the clearing is a 20 ft tall wall made from solid stone 4 ft thick, with an archway 12 ft tall and 9 ft wide. "That should be enough for a cart to get through. If not, I can always make it bigger." As I look over my work, some dogs come outside, looking at the wall. Stunned and speechless, they looked at the stone wall and then at me. I look back at them and give them a small wave, "Just thought we could use some defences." I smile as I walk past them back into our home. Lily and Nala ran over to me, "how you make high wall?" Nala asks me. "Why you make high wall?" Lily asks. I look at Lily and Nala as I walk. "Do you remember the wooden wolfs I fought?" They both nod their heads. "Well, I thought, what's stopping them from coming here and attacking us." I smile, "and with how I used my magic since I need more practice with it. So why not kill two birds with one stone." They look at each other Lily asks, "Why you kill birds with stones?" I chuckle lightly and say, "I didn't. It's a figure of speech. It means to achieve two things by doing a single action."

They look at me, puzzled. Lily's puzzled face looks cute, and Nala is scratching her head. I make it back to the main chamber. I rub my chin in thought. My fingers run over the stubble that's formed on it. I stand in the middle of the room. Thinking, I run my hand through my hair again as I sigh. My hair is a bit damp from the strain of using my magic. I turn to Lily and Nala and ask, "So, do you dig all day?" Nala replied, "Yes, nothing else to do." "And who among you knows how to fight?" I ask Nala. She shakes her head, "Not know fight." 'Hmm, so I need to get some of my dogs trained to defend themself and each other. I know a bit about fighting, but nothing impressive.' I make my way to my room. I sore a desk, 'maybe there's some paper in it. If not, I'll need to head back to town.'

I walk in and look at the old rotten desk. Sighing, I walk over and look through the drawers. I check one by one, unable to see any paper. 'The old Alpha must have been illiterate. I look at Nala and Lilly and ask. "Do you two want to join me back to the town?" They look hesitant and shake their heads. Nala pipes up and says. "Ponys no like us. We stay here." I nod and say, "Understood, I won't be long." I grab the bag of coins, and when I walk past them, I give each a head pat. Their heads lean into my hands. I begin to make my way down the hall. I stepped outside, looking around the grounds and the freshly built wall. I See Some of my dogs looking at it, some touching it, and others afraid of it. I walk over and make my way out of the closed area. When I leave the safety of the walls, I see the trees are too close to the wall. "A lot of these trees need to be chopped down. So we can see if something is coming." I sigh once more, making my way to the town again. This time a bit more prepared for what may be in this forest.

I walk through the forest, moving aside branches and brush. Now mindful of what could be in this place, keeping my eyes open and my head on a swivel. I see nothing but trees and thick brush, the wind softly shaking the leaves and branches. 'When I've set up the pack to be sustainable, I'll make a road to the town. Then maybe we might be able to make some trades.' After walking for some time, I feel the sense of someone or something watching me. I look around without making it obvious, seeing if I can find them. I can see the bushes behind me on the right move against the wind, indicating that something else is moving them. I keep walking so as not to give it away so that I know where they are. We keep playing this little game of cat and mouse until I get to the clearing. The same one where I killed those Timber Wolfs. The ground, still scarred by my spell. I move to stand in the middle of the clearing. I turn to look where I came from to see if the thing followed me into the clearing. It didn't. The bushes still moved against the wind at the edge of the clearing. 'Is it another Timber Wolf or something more dangerous?"

I stand ready to either run or fight. I reach into my pocket and pull out the ruby. With it in my hand, I think of the word Telum as the ruby forms the knife once more. Then it emerges, revealing itself to be a Timber wolf. Yet it's smaller than the ones before. 'This must be a pup, but it's smaller than I imagine a pup to be. I'm guessing this one is a runt. Even though it's small, it's still a wild animal. I need to be cautious.' I slowly go down to a knee and softly reach my hand out. "It's ok, little one. I'm not going to hurt you."

The Timber Wolf pup. Its tail between its back legs slowly starts making its way over to me. I give it a soft smile as it gets closer. It stops a foot away from me and sniffs me. As it's about to take another step toward me, I hear growling from the forest. The little Timber Wolf runs and hides behind me, looking at the Timber Wolf behind me as it shivers. I look back at the forest seeing more Timber Wolfs moving into the clearing, 'these are the same size as the others'. I stand, raising my hand over the pup behind me. "Terra, Tutamen." The earth under it starts moving, encapsulating the Timber pup in a stone dome. I look at the new Timber Wolfs as they growl at me. I smirk, knowing how this will play out.

They start to circle me, 'so they do act as normal wolfs'. But before they can make the first move. I hold out my hand as a stream of fire erupts from it, engulfing the two in front of me. The others seeing their pack mates on fire leep at me. I dive forward, dodging the attack as I spin on my heels. Ramming the knife into the back of the neck of one of the wolfs. Looking to see three left, I grin. Rolling to the side to avoid another lunging wolf, I raise my hand as stone spikes thrust up into the belly of the wolf. The two remaining wolfs hesitant as they slowly move back. I raise my hand, and they bolt back into the forest.

I look to see the first two wolfs still on fire. I snuff the fire with a wave of my hand. I make my way back to the pup as I now hear whimpering. I rest my hands on the top as it slowly returns to the ground. I see the Timber pup in a ball cowering. "It's ok, little one. They're not going to hurt you anymore." It slowly lifts its head to look at me. I see its tail softly wag. I give it a soft smile as I hold my hand out, and without hesitation, it lunges. Its head is under my hand as it pets itself on my hand. I scratch it behind their ear as I stand up. It yaps as it jumps up its front paws on my leg. "Ok, little buddy. Let's go." I start walking as it follows me, staying close to my leg.

We walk with no more interruptions until I see smoke above the canopy. Fearing a forest fire, I pick up the Timber pup and start running to the source of the smoke. When I get closer, I begin to hear voices. I crouch down in the brush as I get closer. I look at the Timber pup and place a finger over my lips. What I saw next shocked me. The timber pup nodded! I kneel there, frozen for a second. But the sound of shouting snapped me out of my stupor. I look through the brush to see four ponies around a fire, with a wagon off to the side. What I sore shocked me a second time. The wagon is a cage, and inside are people. All of them are wearing collars. In it is; one minotaur, two gryphons, and a Pony. 'Wait, are these slaves? Why would they enslave their kind?" I look at the pony, seeing it doesn't have a mark on its flank like the others. 'Figures that racist to their kind.' One of the gryphons catches my eye. Taking a closer look, I can see that it's Frost-beek. 'That's why I haven't seen him lately.' I motion to the Timber pup to stay as they sit. 'I wonder if all animals are intelligent in this place.' I see one of the ponies stand and move into a bush, planning to relieve themself. By their facial structure, I can see their three stallions and one mare, two regular ponies, one pegasus, and one unicorn. I look to see the stallion disappear into the bush. I think of how to be silent, and I remember a word, Thinking focusing on my Intent. 'Sonus.' (Sound, Noise.) I take a step, but even with the sensation of the leads crushing underneath my foot. Not a sound is heard. I smile as I make my way to the stallion.

I walk around to see the stallion doing what can only be a ponies representation of a squat. 'This will be easy as they're a regular pony.' I slowly walk over to the stallion, standing over him as he sighs in relief. When he stands back up, I grab him, my hand going over his muzzle. 'Sonus.' with him unable to make any sound, I release his muzzle. I press him down into the floor to avoid the new paddle. He tries to scream for help, but no sound leaves his mouth. 'Terra.' Stone begins to wrap around his hooves as he's attached to the floor. He looks up at me with terror in his eyes. I lean down and whisper in his ear. "be a good little pony and stay there, and maybe I'll let you live." He nods his head, unable to give a verbal agreement.

I stand off him and head to the bush where he came from. Seeing the other ponies are none the wiser of their partner's predicament. I stare intensely at the fire, 'Ignis.' As it suddenly increases into an uproar, scaring the three around it. In their panic, I run out, holding my hand up. 'Lux.' A bright flash of light blinds the ponies. I run up to the unicorn, grabbing her horn. I slam her face down into the dirt, knocking her out cold. 'These ponies are so weak.' I move to the pegasus. He tries to rub the vision back in his eye. But before he can, I grab him by his neck. I lift him and slam him back down, winded. He tries to catch his breath. The last pony regains his vision and pulls out a sword. I pull out the ruby knife as we stand-off. 'Terra.' Stone starts to wrap around the pegasus's limbs. The regular pony looks over at the pegasus. 'Wide open.' I move forward, closing the distance. And before he knew it, I was right in front of him. I nock the sword aside with my knife. I punch him in the side of his head. He falls like a sack of rocks.

I look over my handy work, hearing movement in the cage behind me. I start to think of how I can restrain the slavers. I look around and see rope by the wagon. I pick it up and tie up the ponies. I tie all the ponies back to back my the wagon as I make sure the unicorn doesn't wake up anytime soon. While tying up the ponies, I found the key, walking to the cage door. I look over the slaves as they cower in fear, except Frost-beek. "So this is where you got to, hmm," I say while unlocking the door. Frost-beek rubs the back of his neck. "Ya, they snuck up on me as I was hunting." I open the door as Frost-beek steps out. I look into the cage seeing the others in a corner. "It's ok now. I'm here to help." The minotaur steps forward as I step to the side. She stands a little over my head, and how can I tell she's a girl? By her voice, "Thank you." she says in an elegant, feminine voice. The rest in the cage seeing the minotaur and gryphons not in any danger, the others leave the wagon one by one.

With the collars removed and the slavers now in the wagon. 'I was lucky to find an inhibitor ring in the wagon.' That's what the ponies called it. With the slavers locked up, I look over the freed slaves. "I'm heading to the nearby town. Do you want me to lead the way? With different variations of yes, I call over my Timber wolf. Surprise sounds fill the air, and the rest of the group sees my new friend. "Is that a Timber wolf pup?" asked one of the ponies. I know, "Ya, I saved them from being killed by the rest of its kind for being a runt." The minotaur frowned and looked visibly saddened, by the word runt. 'I'll need to ask her about that later.' "Frost-beek," I call out. He looks at me, "Ya." you think you can lead up to the town as I help... Sorry, I never got your name." looking over at the minotaur. She looks at me and says, "Duurin, Duurin Truthhide." I offer a hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you miss Truthhide." She chuckles, "Please call me Duurin." I nod and look back at Front-been, "While I help Duurin with the wagon." looking back at Duurin, "If you don't mind." She shakes her head, "Not at all. I'm happy to help the one who saved me." The way she said 'saved' what's more flirtatious than anything else. I cough a little bit, caught off guard. "Alright them." I start to head to the wagon. Duurin and I begin to push the wagon as Front-beek lead all of us back to town.

On our walk to the town, the ponies in the wagon woke up and started hurling insults at us. Sighing in irritation, I look back. "If you don't shut up, I'll climb in there and knock you out again." They stayed quiet after that as Duurin gave me a small smile. We got into town, and all the townsfolk was staring at us. So without wasting time headed to the town hall since this town doesn't have any law enforcement. After a long and convoluted conversation with the mayor. Who was called Mayor Mare. 'Fucking really, what the hell is with these pony names.' With confirmation that the ponies and gryphons will go back to their families. I asked about the minotaur. It turns out she's a runt herself. And she was disowned by her family. With nowhere else to go, I offer a place in my pack. So I informed her that. I'm the alpha of a diamond dog pack. With shock and disbelief on her face, Frost-beek vouched for me. We told her how we were slaves of them and that I killed the old alpha. Then I heard the sound of my Timber wolf barking. I turn to see what got them riled up, and there before me are the same five ponies from before. I sigh, knowing how this will play out. But what shocked me with their faces. They all had a look of sadness on them. I was confused. Didn't these ponies hate me? One by one. They gave their apologies seeing I'm not an evil monster. I accepted their apologies, and they started to smile. The pink one precludes that she should throw a party, though I respectfully decline. I Inform her that I have a lot to do. She looked sad at first, but after saying, I will when I'm free, her smile Returned. I asked for their names, and they responded one by one. "Pinkie Pie." said the pink one. "Applejack." The orange one nodded. "Rainbow Dash." Blue flew up and gave a chest bump. "Rarity." The white one raised her head high. "F-Fluttershy." The Yellow one stammered. But the second she saw my Timber wolf, her hesitation vanished.

"Where did you find him?" She asked me. "I saved him from his pack since they were going to kill him... Wait, him? How can you tell?" I look at Fluttershy, confused. "oh, I-I can talk to animals." She said sheepishly. I stood there stunned. "ok, then. Well, we best be off. I have a lot of work ahead of me." I look at the mare, "Is it ok if I keep the wagon?" She nods, "Yes, it's the least we can do as thanks." I thank Mayor Mare. Duurin, Frost-beek and I say goodbye to our new friends. I start to pick up my supplies. I look down at the Timber wolf, 'I wonder what I should call you?' He looked up at me, and his tail started to wag as he gave a short bark.

Author's Note

I'm sorry for the long wait, I hope this makes up for it