Muck and the Mare

by AleximusPrime

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, Main 6, Diamond Dogs, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Spike, Comedy, Rarity
Length: 13465

The Diamond Dogs capture Rarity's friends and she must save them even if it means getting too dirty

The Diamond Dogs have returned and have captured Spike and all the ponies except for Rarity to make them work as slaves to find diamonds in their new domain, Mud Fortress. Rarity must brave the filthy wasteland before her and make it to Mud Fortress to rescue her friends. But will she be able to when Mud Fortress is full of…well, MUD?!

Original release: June 22-July 20, 2011 on Deviant Art

Published 2012-09-21 08:04:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-09-21 08:04:01 UTC

Prologue

PROLOGUE

The bright sun of Equestria shone down on Ponyville that wonderful day. Inside the Carousel Boutique, the lovely unicorn, Rarity, was busy making some dresses for the “Pony of Pop”, Sapphire Shores. She had done so well with the last set of six dresses for her that Sapphire Shores commissioned her to make even more, and Spike the dragon volunteered to help her with the dresses. Rarity still had some gems left from the last time she went to the gem fields and ran into the brutish Diamond Dogs, but they would need more gems for the rest of the dresses.

“Ah, yes, we’re almost done with this one, Spike. Just a few more and the first of Sapphire Shores’ latest dresses is complete!” said Rarity while using her magic to attach the diamonds to the fabric. “Once she sees this outfit, she’ll be begging for more! Oh I feel so lucky to be making such fine dresses for somepony so generous to pay me so much for them!”

“Not nearly as generous as you, Rarity!” Spike complemented while carrying over some gems, “After all, you do have the Element of Generosity!”

“Hehe, oh stop it, Spike…” Rarity said blushing a little. “I am just doing my job you know.”

“Aw no, we’re out of gems already!” said Spike looking at the empty box with only a few tiny little splinters left.

“Oh that’s alright, Spike. Actually, that brings me to this: you know I heard that the Diamond Dogs left the gem fields not too long ago…”

“Wow, really?” said Spike surprised, “Cool! That means you and I can go there together and find more gems without being harassed by them again!”

“Oh well that won’t be necessary, Spike…”

“Huh?”

“I thought it would be better if you and I went along with all our other friends!”

“Oh……so, it wouldn’t just be me and you……together?”

“Of course not, it’s better if the others are with us. We could get so much more done so quickly that way!”

“Eh, I guess so…” said Spike a bit disappointed that he couldn’t go with Rarity and be able to spend more time with her alone.

Meanwhile, outside the windows of the boutique, Rarity and Spike did not know they were being watched by the Diamond Dogs themselves!

“Ah, perfect!” said the leader of the Diamond Dogs. “PERFECT! She thinks that we have left the fields after all! My plan worked!”

“Now what do we do, Boss?” said the large Diamond Dog.

“Yeah, if we try capturing her, it would only wind up like last time: her whining would drive us all insane!” said the small Diamond Dog.

“Oh we won’t be taking Rarity, boys, we’ll be taking the dragon! His digging skills will make him the perfect slave for us!”

“But without Rarity, we won’t be able to find the gems so well!” said the small dog.

“Yeah, she is the only one who can do that.” said the large dog.

“Oh yeah, you’re right…” said the leader face-palming. “Now what shall we do?”

Back in the boutique, Spike and Rarity continued their conversation.

“You know, Rarity…” continued Spike, “…it’s a good thing you’re not the only one who can seek out gems with your magic horn.”

“Ah yes, Twilight Sparkle! That’s why I thought it would be good for the others to come! We can split into two groups: Twilight and I will find the gems, and the others can help uncover them and then we’ll haul them into the wagons! Perfect teamwork!”

“Good idea Rarity!”

The leader now had the answer to his problem.

“There we go, boys! The pony known as Twilight Sparkle will be our gem hunter! And then the dragon will dig them out and the others can be our pack-mules!” he told them.

“Great job, Boss!” said the large dog.

“Yeah, great idea! We’ll have all the gems we need in no time at all!” said the small one.

“Yes, indeed we will! We must be on the lookout in our new fortress though, and make sure that the hounds have all the traps set up right after we get them, that way Rarity won’t be able to rescue them or go back and call for help!”

“But Boss…” asked the large dog, “…what kinds of traps will we be setting up for her?”

“What kinds of traps do you think, you big lug?!” said the little dog. “She’s a whining, tidy neat freak, so what else do you think will be there?”

“Oooooooh, yeah, that makes sense!”

“That’s right; she’ll never find a way to rescue her friends. She’ll be too scared to continue she’ll just give up and forget them or she can just stay in the forest and suffer forever! And then they’ll be ours, and we can have all the treasure in the mountain to ourselves, yeeeeessss!” said the leader dog rubbing his paws together.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Into the Trap

CHAPTER 1 - Into the Trap

The next day, Rarity, Spike, and all their friends got together and used one of the big wagons they took from the Diamond Dogs the last time they encountered them. Applejack hauled it up the hill to the gem fields where they would find more gems for Rarity’s dresses.

“Thank you so much for coming with me, everypony!” Rarity told them gratefully. “I thought this would be a good way for us all to spend the afternoon and help me at the same time! Spike’s been such a good little helper, but I’ve been in serious need of a little more help.”

“We’re glad to be helping you Rarity.” said Twilight Sparkle. “Today’s a beautiful day to be hunting for gems!”

“Yeah, and it’s good those dumb dogs are gone so we can have some peace and quiet now!” Rainbow Dash remarked.

“Oh, but where do you think the Diamond Dogs went to now?” Fluttershy asked a bit frightened.

“Eh, don’t worry ‘bout it, everypony.” said Applejack. “Them dogs ain’t none of our concern anymore!”

“That’s right, and I’m sure their departure might have had something to do with my fake whining from last time!” Rarity giggled.

“I still can’t believe you were able to fool them so well, Rarity!” Pinkie Pie complemented.

“Oh, it was nothing really. Just a little strategy I used in a pinch I guess.”

“Now Rarity, how much gems do you plan on getting this time ’round?” Applejack asked.

“Oh not too much, this next set of dresses will be a bit different. I know we had so much gems last time, but I used some of them for a few other dresses a while ago and just ran out. But we’ll be needing more for the rest of Sapphire Shores’ dresses.”

“I see ya sure cleaned up this here harness and the rest of the wagon.”

“Ah, yes, I figured if we are to be using it from now on, it should be neat and tidy. Of course everything that goes in or around my boutique should be neat and tidy.”

“Well it ain’t that bad, it is a wagon ya know. Besides, it’s only gonna get dirtier when we dig out some of them gems from the dirt. Aren’t ya kinda worried about diggin?”

“Oh don’t worry about that, Twilight and I shall be the gem hunters, then the rest of you can dig them out and put them in.”

“Well I’m perfectly fine with digging some of the gems out too, Rarity.” Twilight said.

“Well that’s up to you, darling, but I myself will be using my magic to find the gems, I’d rather not get dirty, I just had a manicure.”

“Aw Rarity, you always have manicures. Ya might wanna get used to a little dirty work every now and then…”

“Yeah, just a little dirt won’t hurt ya!” Pinkie chimed in.

“Oh please girls, I am a lady, I don’t need any of that rubbish on my lovely coat!”

“Rarity, we’re all ladies…”

“Excuse me?” Spike said looking back at Applejack.

“Er, I mean all of us here ponies are ladies. And I’m just sayin, ya probably should just get a little used to the dirt, it’s only a natural thing here. Someday ya might find you’ll have no choice, I mean everypony encounters a time when they gotta get dirty in order to get something done. Someday ya might find getting dirty might be the least of your worries!”

“OOOH!” Rarity squealed at the thought of too much dirt going through her head. “Applejack, darling, please do not say such things, you’re making my skin curdle!”

“Ok, I’m sorry, I’m just sayin…”

“Well, anywho, subject change: I think I’m starting to sense some gems right over there Spike. Would you be a dear and start a little digging, please?”

“Right away, Rarity!” Spike saluted and jumped onto the area Rarity pointed to with her horn and started digging. He uncovered several nicely sized gems and brought them over to the wagon.

“Nice job, Spike!” Twilight complemented. “And I think there are some over there. Fluttershy, do you have the digging tools?”

“Sure do, Twilight.” said Fluttershy taking out a little bucket with several small shovels, trowels and hoes.

Within a few minutes the rest of the ponies started pitching in and digging everywhere that Rarity and Twilight pointed out. Since Rarity wouldn’t be doing any digging, she just went around and made little X’s on the ground where she sensed gems using a stick. Spike followed her close behind and uncovered the gems in those areas along with everyone else. After Rarity was done with all the X markings, they had gotten a good load of gems in the wagon.

“Well, that wasn’t too hard!” said Rainbow Dash.

“Thank you so much everyone!” said Rarity. “But we’re not there quite yet, there’s much more to do. Follow me!”

They then went over to another little clearing and started the process over again.

Meanwhile up in the mountains beyond the gem fields, one of the guards for the Diamond Dogs was looking through a telescope down onto the fields. He kept moving the scope around until he spotted the ponies and Spike looking for gems.

“Oooh, there those ponies are! And the little dragon! Just what the boss wanted!” he said as he turned and ran into the cave behind him to let the leader know. He came into a little spot in the cave where the three main Diamond Dogs were waiting patiently.

“Boss, I’ve spotted those ponies and the dragon out in the fields looking for gems just like we suspected!” he told them.

“Excellent! And is Rarity with them?” the leader responded.

“Yes, boss, but I had the others bury some gems over near where the traps are so we can catch them. We have a separate trap set for Rarity so she can’t follow us once we take the others. Even if she escapes, she won’t get through the rest of the traps.”

“Very good then! Go out there with several other dogs and wait until the nets come up, then move in and take them all away and leave Rarity to suffer.”

“Got it boss!” then the guard dog howled loudly and several other guard dogs popped their heads out and then
followed him as he ran down the stairs of the cave to go out the entrance of the “Mud Castle”. They ran into the forest where the traps were to wait and surprise Rarity and her friends. The Diamond Dogs’ prisoners were in reach!

After having dug out quite a few diamonds, Rarity was satisfied with the load, but thought she may need more.

“Oh thank you so much, everyone!” she told them. “You’ve all worked so hard, but I can’t help but feel we might be needing a few more.”

“We can keep diggin them out, Sugarcube.” said Applejack.

“Yeah, Rarity, this is nothing, we can do it!” Rainbow Dash added.

“Oh, thank you so much! I guess there isn’t any harm in looking for a few more.”

“Yeah, besides, if we do have a bit too much, I can always eat the leftovers!” Spike said drooling and looking at the gems in the wagon.

“Hehe, I think Spike is about to split a gasket over here!” Pinkie giggled.

“Ah, yes, we might as well get Spike a few snacks in the mean time. After all, he’s such a hard worker, he deserves a little treat!” Rarity said patting Spike on the head as he blushed. “Now, over in that grove, I think I sense a pretty good load of gems.”

“Yeah, I sense it too, Rarity.” Twilight said. “Gosh, there must be a lot of gems in there!”

“Well what are we waitin for, everypony?! Let’s get diggin!” Applejack called as they all walked toward the grove Rarity pointed out.

“Oooh, you’re right, Twilight, there do seem to be many gems here! Oh look, there’s little mounds of dirt right by those trees! That’s rather peculiar…” said Rarity looking at what appeared to be freshly moved dirt in certain spots. “And there are seven of them to be exact, one for each of us I guess……well, except for me that is, I obviously won’t be getting my hooves dirty for just one measly little dirt pile.”

“Cool, it looks like someone left the gems for us!” Pinkie said excitedly. “Maybe it was the Gem Fairy!”

“Pinkie, the Gem Fairy doesn’t exist.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Then who else put them here for us?”

“I dunno, but this is kinda strange. Why WOULD someone put them here for us…” Twilight said skeptically.

“Oh…… well, I’m sure they did it out of generosity, Twilight.” Fluttershy said.

“Or because they didn’t want them anymore?” said Applejack puzzled.

“Who cares why, girls, let’s get them out!” said Spike starting to dig.

“SPIKE, WAIT, NO!!!” Twilight shouted, but it was too late. Several ropes could be seen around everyone except Rarity and there was a net underneath the ground they were all standing on. There were some gems underneath where the net was buried, but they fell through the holes and the net came up and engulfed everyone.

“AAAGGGHHH!!!” screamed Rarity. “WHAT IS THIS?!? WHY WOULD SOMEONE LEAVE A HUGE NET IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS GROVE?!?”

“I dunno, but you gotta get us out of here, Rarity!” Twilight shouted.

“Hang on, everyone, I will save you-AAAGGGHHH!!!” but then another smaller net came up and trapped Rarity inside it. “OH NO, NOW I’M TRAPPED!!”

“What the hay is goin on here?!? Is somepony out huntin or something?” Applejack said angrily.

“Yes, hunting for YOU!” said a low voice in the tree tops.

Suddenly a bunch of dogs jumped down from the trees around them. They were the same guard dogs Rarity saw the last time when she was captured.

“THE DIAMOND DOGS!!!” they all screamed in horror.

“Yes, and we are here for you ponies and that little dragon!!”

“But what do you want with us?!?” Twilight asked worriedly.

“The Boss says you all will make good slaves for us in finding more gems!”

“WHAT?!? But I thought you brutish mutts left this place a while ago!” Rarity shouted.

“We did, and now we live in there!” said one of the guards pointing to the mountain behind the gem fields. “That is Mud Fortress, our new domain!”

“MU-MU-MUD FORTRESS?!?” said Rarity shocked at the title.

“But what about Rarity, why is she in a smaller net?!” Spike asked.

“Because we don’t want her, the Boss doesn’t like her whining! We just want the rest of you!”

“But why can’t you dogs just find your own treasure instead of using us as slaves?!” Twilight asked trying to be reasonable.

“Yeah, what are you, a bunch of lazy little poodles?!?” Rainbow Dash hackled.

“Hey, watch it, pony! We don’t deserve to do all of the work, that’s for you and this little dragon here! Now boys, let’s haul them away, and leave Rarity here!” One of the guards then threw a spear at the top of the big net and it came down with Spike and the others in it. The dogs then picked them up and put them inside a big wagon and took them away.

“RARITY!!!” they all screamed as Rarity shook herself in the net trying to get out.

“NO, COME BACK, DON’T TAKE MY FRIENDS YOU MONGRELS!!! I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!!! I WILL……have……my…” but the dogs had carried them far away beyond sight and towards the “Mud Fortress” that they spoke of earlier. Rarity was so worried she couldn’t help but cry. “re……VE-HE-HE-HEEEEEENGE!!!” she said as fountains of tears streamed from her eyes. “WHY, WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO MY FRIENDS WHEN WE WERE DOING SO WELL?!?” But it did no good. She was alone in the middle of a grove hanging in a net with nowhere to go and no way to save her friends or get help. After a few minutes of crying she finally put herself together.

“I cannot let this happen! Those ruffians will suffer for what they have done to my friends!!!” she said bombastically. “Now, how do I get out of this net? Oh, wait, what is this? Oooh, a gem sliver!” she said using her magic to find a little sliver of a gem that must have got caught in her hair when the net went up. She then lifted it with her magic and used it to cut around the side of the net to get out of it. In just a few minutes the rope started to come undone and the net started to rip open.

“At last! Now I can get out of this wretched old thing and…” but as the net started to come undone, she looked down and noticed that her tears had created a little mud puddle below. “AAAGGGHHH!!!” She fell out but quickly bit onto the rope just out of reach of the puddle. She then slowly began rocking herself back and forth and started to swing to see if she could land herself beyond the puddle. After a few tries, she had built up enough momentum to swing and finally let go of the rope and landed roughly on the ground coughing.

“Oh my, that was a close one!” she said getting up and brushing off her coat and mane. “Oh dear, now what?! How can I get them out of there when it’s a fortress with mud in it! Well……they never actually said there was mud in it, but I mean how could it not be when it’s called that?! Perhaps I should go back for help?” Rarity looked back at Ponyville which could just barely be seen beyond the fields. She wanted to go back and let the villagers know and perhaps even tell the Princess so she could send in the soldier ponies to go in and attack.

But just then anger arose in her heart and she began to think of what a terrible thing it was for the Diamond Dogs to take her friends from her. Rarity felt that since they had made her angry, she should be the one doling out wrath upon them. She finally decided she would just go on her own and teach them a lesson but avoid the supposed mud in there.

“No, I will go in there and show those fools who means business! They will pay for taking my friends away like that! HANG ON, EVERYONE, RARITY IS COMING TO THE RESCUE!!!” Rarity shouted as she stood up and galloped away in the direction the dogs took her friends in. But then she suddenly stopped and noticed a sign that said “Mud Fortress” on it and remembered what it was she was up against…

“Oh dear, I do hope the mud is imported…” she said frightened but continued down the path slowly.

TO BE CONTINUED...

You Ponies Belong to us Now!

CHAPTER 2 - You Ponies Belong to us Now!

Rarity continued through the forest on the path to the Mud Fortress to rescue her friends. With each step, she became even more afraid though. The thought of what could be in that fortress made her almost want to turn around, but the thought of what could be happening to her friends was what kept her going.

“Oh dear Rarity, what have you gotten yourself into?!” she said to herself out loud. “If you go on there you’ll only come out looking like an absolute mess! Well, at least I may be able to save my friends, but how I do worry of what might happen to my beautiful coat…oh and my mane, I just had it styled!” she paused for a second standing still with a horrified face, but then finally remembered why she was doing this. “No Rarity, keep it together darling, you’re doing this for friends, right? Nothing to worry about, they’ll be safe, and all you have to do is steer clear of the mud and just watch where you’re go-AAAGGGHHH!!!”

She yelped at the site of a little river of thick muddy water before her. And the only way to the fortress was to cross it. It didn’t appear to be that deep, but Rarity was terrified to even get her hooves dirty.

“OH MY, HOW AWFUL!!! And right when I was actually getting somewhere! How will I ever cross this without getting my hooves tarnished?! There must be some way across…” Rarity thought and thought and then walked off to see if she could find anything to help her cross the mud safely.

Meanwhile inside the Mud Fortress, Spike and the ponies had been taken to a dungeon and put inside a large cell for them to share. There were a few torches, but barely any light and no food to eat.

“Well, Ah sure as hay am lovin the accommodations in here!” complained Applejack. She wasn’t wearing her hat for she had lost it on the way in while being carried in the net and she was not happy about this at all.

“Yeah, me too!” said Spike kicking a little rock around.

“Me three!” Rainbow Dash said while sitting up against a wall grumpily.

“Twilight, I’m scared, what will these dogs do to us?!” Fluttershy winced.

“We’re going to find a way out of here, girls, these dogs aren’t very bright, so we can outsmart them, I know we can!”

“Hey, how did Rarity get the dogs to let her go last time?” asked Pinkie.

“She whined to them!” said Rainbow Dash getting up from her spot. “That’s what we need to do, just whine like little fillies and get them so annoyed they’ll just let us go!”

“Good thinking, Rainbow Dash! We’ll be out of here in no time!” said Spike.

“Oh pffffft! Seriously guys? Whinin? That ain’t gonna get us nowhere, not when we got the mighty Twilight Sparkle here to use her super powerful magic abilities to ward em all off!” said Applejack pointing to Twilight as everyone cheered for her.

Oooooh no, Applejack, there’s no way I’m gonna use my magic to perform violent actions!” said Twilight sternly.

“But Twilight, we’re in a really huge pickle here, you gotta do something to get us out!” said Spike begging on his knees.

“No Spike, magic shouldn’t be used as a weapon. Even if you’re in a very diabolical situation, persuasion is much better than force, and that is what I plan to use on these dogs to get them to let us go!”

“Oh come on, Twilight!” said Rainbow Dash. “You’ve seen how forceful their guards were when they took us off to this fortress, isn’t it time you repaid them by kicking their butts into tomorrow?!”

“I’m not going to resort to violence, guys!”

“Um, Twilight…” said Fluttershy calmly. “I know I’m usually rather pacifistic and all, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to agree with the others here. The dogs were very rude to us, so using your magic to…you know, be just a bit forceful, might be the best way to go. You don’t have to be too forceful after all, just enough to get us out of here. You’re doing it to help us so there’s no harm really…”

“See that?!? Even Fluttershy of all ponies thinks you should do it!” said Rainbow Dash.

“Please Twilight, pleeeeeeease?!?” Spike said while grabbing onto Twilight’s leg tightly.

“Look, you guys can argue with me all you want, but I am not, I repeat, NOT, going to fight back using my magic! UNDERSTOOD?!?”

“OOOOH, I KNOW WHAT!” chirped Pinkie, “When the Diamond Dogs get in here, we can just be friendly and offer to throw a party and we’ll all be happy!!” Everyone glared at Pinkie awkwardly as she jumped up and down until she saw them and stopped. “Oooooookay, maybe the whole forceful magic stuff is a better idea after all…”

“Well ya know what, Twi, if yer not gonna use magic, we might as well go back to doin the whinin, it might be our only hope!” Applejack said angrily.

“Oh I don’t think so…” said a voice outside the cell. It was the voice of the Diamond Dog leader along with the other two. “You ponies may try to whine and get your way as Miss Rarity did last time, but we have earplugs now! We stole them from the convenience store one night in your village! But don’t’ worry, if that doesn’t work, we can always give you the muzzles too.”

“You stupid mutts!” yelled Rainbow Dash flying forward to the cell bars. “Let us go right now!!”

“We will do no such thing little pony. You all belong to us now! Since that wimpy Rarity failed to be a good slave for us, you all must be our slaves!”

“But you do realize Rarity is the only pony who knows how to find gems, right?” Twilight said trying to play around with the dogs’ minds.

“Hehehe, nice try, Miss Twilight, we already know you can use that same spell to find the gems!”

“Wait…how did you know my name?”

“Yeah, and how did you know Twilight was able to copy Rarity’s gem finding spe-“

“PINKIE!!!!” screamed Twilight trying to get Pinkie to not give away the secret, but it was already too late.

“Oopsie daisy…”

“Hehe, you ponies aren’t very good at fooling us!” said the little dog. “To answer your question, we were spying over by Rarity’s place the other day and heard everything!”

“So that’s how you found out!” Spike said angrily. “How dare you dogs spy on me and Rarity in there!!”

“We had this all planned out!” said the large dog. “We’re smarter than you ponies think!”

“Oh yeah, well what’s two plus two equal?” teased Rainbow Dash.

“Uh……um……one?”

“ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, THAT’S ENOUGH!” shouted the leader. “We’re getting off topic! The point is, you, Miss Twilight Sparkle, will be our gem finder, the dragon will dig, and the others will help haul the gems into the carts, and we shall have all the gems to ourselves!”

“Please, Mr. Dog, let’s be reasonable now…” said Twilight trying at persuasion, “…I know you dogs like your gems, and I know you would like help finding them, but you could have asked nicely though. And besides, why do you need help? You are dogs you know, you’re great at digging, and you can just look for the gems yourselves, it’s not that hard! You know what they say: hard work pays off good in the end!”

“Nice try once again, pony, but we’ve already heard that speech before and it’s never worked!”

Twilight had a somewhat angry and determined look on her face as if she was getting very impatient with the dogs already.

“Twilight…” whispered Rainbow Dash. “Can we get to the part where you show em who’s boss now?”

“No Rainbow Dash, I’m not doing that.”

“Aw man!”

Twilight turned back to the dogs and cleared her voice. “Listen, I’ll have you know, that I just so happen to be the most trusted student of Princess Celestia: supreme matriarch of the land of Equestria which we are still standing on, ruling on high for several millennia, and THEE most powerful magic-wielding pony. She will discover our whereabouts because Rarity, whom you foolishly decided to not capture along with us, will go back and warn her, and she will be here, and she will not be happy with what you dogs have done! Now I suggest you let all of us go before she arrives promptly to rescue us and throws you all into prison! And believe me, the prison of Canterlot is not a nice place to be!”

The others all cheered loudly for Twilight and her speech.

“Alright Twilight!” shouted Spike.

“Yeah! If we can’t get ourselves out of here on our own, the Princess sure can!” Rainbow Dash joined in.

“Yeah, you dumb mutts are ‘bout to experience the wrath of the Princess, and you ain’t gonna be lovin it!” said Applejack.

“AHAHAHA!” laughed the leader dog wildly. “You ponies are so amusing! I would be afraid of this……Princess Celestial if-“

“Celestia!” Twilight corrected.

“Celestia, whatever! I would be afraid of her if she could even find out where we are first!”

“Huh? But Rarity will tell her, so she WILL find out where we are!” said Spike confused.

“Oh no, little scaly one, no one will ever find out where you ponies are, because Miss Rarity is trapped just as well! We’ve set traps all over the forest so she can’t get to the fortress or even try to go back to your village! We would let her in to be a slave along with you, but we don’t like her, so we figured she just deserved to suffer out in that muddy old forest for the rest of her miserable life or until she forgets about you all and we just let her go. And besides, this fortress is very strong and only has one exit, and if anyone were coming, we could just collapse the entrance with rocks!”

Everyone just stood with their mouths hanging open and eyes wide.

“You…you can’t be serious…” said Applejack stiffly.

“Alright, Twilight, use your powers right now!” Rainbow Dash said while nudging Twilight.

“Rainbow Dash, I told you, I’m not going that route, now stop bugging me about it!”

“WELL WHAT ELSE DO YOU THINK WILL WORK?!?”

“A PARTY!!!!!” screamed Pinkie Pie as she was dancing in the background throwing dust and stones in the air treating it as confetti. “WE’LL PARTY ALL NIGHT LONG AND EVERYONE WILL BE HAPPY AND JOYFUL AND WE WON’T EVER FIGHT OR ARGUE AGAIN OR BE GREEDY AND WANT GEMS OR SLAVES OR ANYTHING, WE’LL ALL JUST BE HAPPY!!!!!”

The Diamond Dogs all laughed hysterically and started rolling on the ground.

“AHAHAHA!!! YOU FOOLISH LITTLE PONIES THINK THAT WE ARE REALLY THAT STUPID?!?”

“Uh……ok, that didn’t work out so well…” said Pinkie while everyone else gave her the glare.

“We are so doomed…” said Applejack hanging her head.

“Not all hope is lost you guys!” said Spike bravely climbing on top of a little rock. “We do still have Rarity you know! She may be afraid of the mud and dirt, but she’ll come for us! She’ll overcome her fears and make it through the forest and come in this fortress and rescue us all and fight her way through if she has to! RARITY WILL SAVE US ALL!!!”

“Spike…” said Twilight looking rather unconvinced with everyone else.

“………okay, you guys are right, we’re doomed.”

Back in the forest, it was nearly sundown and Rarity had finally found a way to get across the mud river. She found several large flat rocks to use as stepping stones. She placed them down one by one, despite their rather large size and weight, and finally made it across the river.

“AHA! I knew I could do it! That didn’t take……too long?” she just realized that she had taken several hours to find a way across and she had only moved ahead several yards. “Oh who am I kidding, I’m not getting anywhere at all!!!” she nearly started crying but then remembered to keep her cool and kept on walking. “Okay, relax, Rarity, you’re completely fine, you’re getting closer you know, and it was just one little river of mud, it’s not like there are a dozen more ahead. And besides, night is coming and that means you’ll hopefully be able to sneak in the fortress easier! Oh but every time I think of that awful place my skin just cringes! It’s going to be filthy in there no doubt! Oh listen to yourself, Rarity, you sound like such a whiney little filly! Applejack was right, I am going to have to get used to this sort of thing. And she said someday something important would come up and I might have to get dirty in order to accomplish a goal, well now I AM in that situation! My friends are captured and I’ll have to put up with all this mud and dirt getting on my beautiful self and then……oh, I do say, it is getting rather dark rather fast here. I know it’s night, but the sun doesn’t set behind the mountains quite that fast! I wonder if perhaps there is a…”

Rarity looked right behind herself to see that the reason it was getting dark was not because the sun was setting too fast, but because several rather large hulking figures had risen up behind her. At first it was difficult to make out what they were, but she then saw them clearly. They were large monsters, monsters made of MUD!! The one thing she couldn’t stand and now it had taken on the shape of several frightening beasts creeping up on her! Rarity couldn’t take it any longer. She had had enough of the muck and the mire for one day, and now this was ten times worse. Her pupils shrunk into her eyes and she could do nothing but let out a loud scream of terror.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!”

TO BE CONTINUED...

Rarity to the Rescue!

CHAPTER 3

“STAY BACK, STAY BACK YOU MONSTERS! DON’T TOUCH MY LOVELY COAT, I BEG YOU!!!” Rarity screamed to the top her of her lungs. The mud monsters had surrounded her from one end causing her to back up into a wall and right on top of a mud puddle. She screeched at the sight of the mud below her and briefly forgot about the monsters and almost ran into them, but then backed into the wall again screaming even louder. “WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME?!?! PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE!!!”

“MUAHAHAH!” laughed one of the monsters maniacally with his friends. “You’re not going anywhere, Miss Rarity! The Diamond Dogs have ordered us to keep you from entering the Mud Fortress and to keep you from escaping to call for help! You belong to us now!!”

“WHA-WHAT?!? BUT WHY?!? I JUST WANT TO HELP MY FRIENDS! PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE I TELL YOU!!!”

But the monsters only laughed more and came closer with their hands spread out towards her just to torture her with fear. Rarity screamed even louder and started crying for her life. This was definitely not her day at all. Never before had she been around such muck and filth. She was afraid of losing her life-long beauty and her good looks. Ponyville’s finest and loveliest mare, about to be drenched in disgusting mud by horrible monsters made of mud, scarring her for life.
One of the monsters’ hands was right above her head and a tiny drop of mud fell right on her snout. But then something came over her: Rarity remembered her dear friends and what they could be going through. She then remembered how the monsters said they worked for the Diamond Dogs, and a great rage built up in her. “The Diamond Dogs did this!” she thought to herself. “And now they’re sending these fiends to just make things worse so I can’t save my friends! How dare they!” Suddenly, she opened her eyes and the tiny drop of mud that was on her snout seemed like nothing anymore. Then she forgot about all the mud around her, and could only think about how important her friends were to her and how important it was to rescue them. Her courage all of a sudden increased and her anger exploded. She growled and her face turned beat red, and then it happened…

“YOU FOOLS DON’T SCARE ME! TAKE THIS!!!” She jumped forward and spun around bucking the nearest monster right in the abdominal region as he squealed in pain. Some mud from him flew off and landed all over her, but it didn’t matter. She quickly went right over to the next monster and did the same only to his face this time. The last three monsters started realizing her retaliation and backed away, but she still gave each of them a powerful buck knocking them back into submission. She stopped and stood there panting, most of her body covered in large clumps of mud. Then she looked down on the monsters and realized that the areas she kicked them in were revealing their true identity underneath.

“You’re……YOU’RE DOGS?!?” she shouted. “HA!!! So that’s who you were all along! A bunch of dumb, gem-hording mongrels working for those Diamond Dogs! And here I was afraid of this?!? PATHETIC!!!” she mocked.

“Please, don’t hurt us anymore!” said one of the dogs who was actually still conscious.

“Tell me the way to this Mud Fortress and that’s exactly what I’ll do!” she said turning around and lifting her hind leg ready to buck with it.

“AGH! Ok, ok, it’s that way!” said the dog stiffly pointing to his left. “But you’ll never get there, pony! There are a bunch of other traps on the way to the fortress!”

“Oh? And what are the traps made of might I ask?”

“Uh……..mud…”

“Mud?!? Puh-lease! I no longer care about this mud, I want to rescue my friends, and if you dogs are just going to use simple mud as a weapon against me, then so be it! Whatever it takes to save my friends! ONWARD!!!” and with that, Rarity galloped off to the fortress leaving the dogs in pain.

She came across a little path with two straight rows of trees. Suddenly, little guns popped out from behind them and shot mud balls at her, but she kept on running.

“BRING IT ON, DIAMOND DOGS!!! I DO NOT FEAR YOUR LOUSY MUD ANYMORE!! I WILL RESCUE MY FRIENDS AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!!!” she whooped.

Another trap came. The ground gave away and Rarity realized that it was a bunch of leaves covering another mud river again. The mud came up past her ankles and it slowed her down a bit, but was not nearly deep enough to stop her. She trudged through it and then crossed and kept on running forward.

“IS THAT THE BEST YOU’VE GOT?!? I’M JUST GETTING STARTED!!!”

Back in the Mud Fortress, the Diamond Dogs finally decided to take Spike and the ponies out of the cell to start doing their slave work. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash both had a ball and chain attached to one hoof so they wouldn’t fly off and there were guard dogs nearby with spears in case any of them ran away.

“Twilight, the longer you hold in your powers, the worse this is gonna get!” reminded Rainbow Dash. She was getting even crankier from being in the fortress too long and the ball and chain was making it worse.

“And you’re making it worse by trying to get me to do that, Rainbow Dash!” Twilight said fiercely, although she was slowly starting to lose her patience with the Diamond Dogs.

They all finally came into a huge dome-shaped cave with tiny little crystal shards sticking out of the walls and stalactites. This must have been the main area where the dogs would get their gems, but now the ponies and Spike would be the ones digging them out.

“This is where you all shall work.” explained the leader. “Miss Twilight, you shall locate the gems and the dragon will dig along with all the other ponies! You will then put the gems into this wagon and the strong orange pony shall haul it into that room over there where we shall inspect them…”

“Look, I got a name here, and it’s Applejack!” said Applejack to the leader angrily.

“Whatever your name is, I do not have time to remember everyone’s name right now, alright!!”

“Can we eat something?” asked Pinkie. She hadn’t eaten in quite some time and her belly was starting to rumble.

“Yes yes, but your meal times will come when we decide!”

“But we haven’t eaten in so long…” said Fluttershy timidly. “…why can’t we just eat now? We’ll starve to death if you don’t feed us.”

“Silence, pony! We Diamond Dogs call the shots, not you!”

“Well Mr. Dog, if you don’t feed us when WE say we need to be fed, we might be very malnourished and will lose our strength. Do you want your “slaves” to be weak and not be able to do this work?” Twilight asked trying to use as much logic as possible to get her way.

The leader facepalmed and finally gave in. “GRRRR! Alright, fine, I will go get you ponies some food!!” he stomped off and closed the door behind him and locked it.

“Well I ain’t doing any of this work!” Rainbow Dash said sitting down and crossing her arms.

“Rainbow Dash, let’s just do it for now and see what happens.” suggested Twilight. “Maybe if we do well, they’ll be pleased and might think we’ve gotten enough gems so they might release us!”

“Them dogs ain’t gonna release us, Twi!” said Applejack. “They’re gonna keep us here as long as they want, I can tell! We ain’t goin nowhere and we don’t seem to be gettin any help right now either!”

“We will find a way out somehow girls…”

“But Twilight, the only way out really is if you use your powers and you won’t!” Pinkie told her.

“Well I sure hope I don’t have to use my powers. They still won’t listen to me, but I’m sure I can get them to eventually…”

“Good luck with that, Twilight!” said Spike carrying over a few tiny gems he found on the ground nearby in plain sight.

“For right now, we’re just going to have to go along with it. Now, how do I do this spell again?” Twilight asked herself. She half-closed her eyes and thought hard and her horn started glowing a bit. But then it stopped glowing and she looked very worried. “Oh no, don’t tell me!”

“What’s wrong, Twilight? Use Rarity’s spell.” Spike said.

“I can’t believe this……I think I’ve forgotten how to copy Rarity’s gem-finding spell already!”

“WHAT?!?!” shouted everyone else in the cave with their eyes widened.

“Aw well that’s just great, we’re doomed!!” said Rainbow Dash stomping one hoof on the ground.

“How in tarnation will we ever explain this to them dogs?!” Applejack asked worriedly.

“Well at least this means we won’t be able to find the gems so well…” said Fluttershy a bit happily since she knew that they couldn’t do such hard work now.

“Yeah, but what will the Diamond Dogs say!?” Twilight asked as she looked up imagining how angry they could get. They might be able to keep themselves from doing work, but the Diamond Dogs might get very upset with their performance.

“Ok, here’s the plan: Spike, do you think you can still sniff some gems out from the ground?”

“I could try, Twilight, but it won’t work as well as you finding them for me and pointing them out…”

“Well, we’re gonna have to deal with that for now. We best get moving! Oh this is not going to end well...” she said under her breath.

And so the ponies all started following Spike around as he slowly looked for the gems. Every now and then he would sniff them and then start digging, but he didn’t get a whole lot. He was the only one who could catch the scent of the gems, but he couldn’t smell them good enough under the dirt. The ponies tried and tried their hardest but only got a bit of some gems. They were worried about how the Dogs might react when they returned…

Elsewhere in the forest, it was still night and getting closer to midnight. Rarity was running through the forest with many spots of mud on her. Her mane was also terribly messy from contact with the mud and a lot of moving around. She was starting to not look like herself, but she didn’t care anymore, all that mattered was the safety of her friends.

“Almost there, Rarity! Oh Diamond Dogs, just you wait till I get my hooves on you!!” she said while running.

Finally she started nearing the end of the forest and saw the entrance up ahead. There was a large sign above the entrance which read “Welcome to Mud Fortress” but it was guarded by two diamond dogs. She stayed behind a tree thinking of how she’d get by them, but then she looked down and saw two fairly-sized rocks. A devilish smirk came across Rarity’s face as she used her magic to lift the rocks. She then threw them both at the dogs and hit them square in the heads and knocked both of them out. As the dogs were on the ground with little stars spinning around their heads, Rarity galloped by and into the Mud Fortress down the corridor entrance.

“Alright Rarity, this is it, the Mud Fortress! A place of filth and dirt and mire! But that won’t stop you! You must save your friends, even if you have to trudge through all the mud in the…………world?”

Rarity finally came to the end of the corridor and into an area with light. Before her was a huge cylindrical room with stairwells and slopes carved into the sides and some wagons sitting in several spots with some dirt and rocks in them. So far, the “Mud” Fortress seemed rather harmless.

“I say, where is the mud?!”

She then looked at a sign to her left that said “Mud Fortress” on it, but the word “Mud” seemed to be on a piece of paper with the word written on it and taped onto the sign. Rarity bit the paper off and underneath it was the word “Gem.”

“HA! I KNEW IT ALL ALONG! This fortress has no mud in it at all; it’s just a bunch of gems and rocks! They just called it that to keep me from coming in to rescue my friends!!”

Suddenly some voices could be heard from nearby in a little cave. Light started to shine from it and some dogs would be out in the open where they could see her any minute. Rarity quickly ran to her left towards one of the large wagons full of dirt. She hid behind the wagon, but the dogs started talking about “transporting the dirt to the next level”. She wouldn’t be safe hiding behind this wagon, so she would have to hide in it. She looked down in it at the dirt and gathering her strength dived in and burrowed inside it.

“Is this the wagon over here?” asked one of the dogs.

“Yeah, that’s it. Let’s take it to level two; it’s getting in the way.” said the other one grabbing the wagon by the handle and pulling it up the slope to the next level in the room where the wagon would be put.

Rarity stayed under the dirt calmly and waited till the dogs would leave. It was filthy, smelly, and disgusting, but she endured it and just kept on thinking about what she had to do. Her only problem was that it was hard to breathe in there. Finally the wagon came to a sudden lurch and the dogs left still talking. Their talking started to get quieter so they were farther away. Rarity opened her eyes and peered out of the dirt pile and saw she was in a little dark cave on the second level. She popped her head out and jumped out of the wagon and shook herself to get some of the dirt off even though it really did no good.

Now she had even more dirt on her than before. Her coat had completely lost its white color and she was all covered in mud. Her hair had also lost its curl and was brown and messy and going in every direction. She looked completely awful and bedraggled but she still did not care at all. For the first time ever, getting dirty was the last thing Rarity was afraid of. The more she endured the horrendous muck, the more courageous and determined she seemed to get!

“Where are you, Diamond Dogs? You cannot hide from Rarity!” she whispered deeply. “I would swim through a sea of mud to get to my friends, and so far all you’ve given me is a little bit of it! Well I’ve already gotten to your oh-so-muddy fortress and I am ready to find them and kick your sorry canine tailbones!!!”

She then went out of the cave and up the slope to the next level. She noticed that the further she went up, the darker it seemed to get. But there were some torches in certain areas which must have meant that the dogs would take that route usually. There were also more dogs around that she would have to avoid. She walked slowly and stayed low to the ground slinking around like a secret agent spying on somepony. Some dogs’ voices could be heard up ahead and she hid behind a rock and scrunched up her body to be shaped like it.

While they were walking by, she overheard some conversation about the ponies and dragon in the uppermost caves of the mountain. That was where they were, in the highest point, but it was just a question of where; the mountain tunnels were very complex and lead to several different directions. She would eventually have to ask someone for directions, but none of the dogs would help her too easily.

The dogs went by and she jumped out from behind it and saw that the next tunnel in front of her had torches lit inside it. She slowly tiptoed down the corridor towards the light ahead. She came in to what appeared to be another cylindrical cave with stairs circling it. It was very dark in here but light was shining down from above onto the center of the cave. Rarity noticed something in the middle. As she got closer she finally realized what it was.

“Applejack’s hat! Oh my stars, she must have lost it on the way in!” she said picking the hat up with her magic. She knew that she was getting closer to rescuing her friends now since she found Applejack’s hat. But how much longer would it take and how would she find out which cave it was exactly that she needed to get through?

“Hey, who goes there?!?” shouted a deep voice from above.

Rarity looked up to see several glowing eyes looking down upon her. They were dogs! They jumped down and surrounded her and pointed their spears at her all at once. There were about ten or twelve dogs around her.

“What are you doing in here, pony?! You should be working with the others!” Said the main guard fearlessly.

“What?! I wasn’t one of them, I got in here on my own!” she responded.

“Well then we’ll just have to make you leave now then.”

“I am not leaving, not without my friends!”

“Oh yes you are!” and all the dogs pointed their spears a bit closer to her.

Rarity then got angry again at these dogs trying to keep her from rescuing her friends for the last time. She had gotten quite far into the mountain and she didn’t want to have to start all over again. There may have been about a dozen Diamond Dogs around her armed with spears, but she remembered that she was a unicorn and she could use magic to lift the spears since she had lifted many things simultaneously before in her boutique back home. So she did just that. With an angry look on her face, her horn and the spears started glowing and then they all slipped out of each of the dogs’ hands up in the air and they flipped around the other way pointing at the dogs instead.

“Whoa, how’d that happen?! What’s going on?!” some of the dogs wimpered.

“Do you dogs know who I am?! I am Rarity! Yes, that’s right, Rarity: the unicorn you all thought would just refuse to come into here to rescue her friends! But you gentlemen have underestimated this mare!!” she spoke determinedly.

“Please, don’t hurt us, Pony! I’m sure we can work this out nicely!”

“Oh I’m sure we can!” She then moved the spears closer to each of their faces. “Where are my friends? You best start talking right now!!!”

TO BE CONTINUED...

Pony vs. Dogs

CHAPTER 4 - Pony vs. Dogs

The three Diamond Dog leaders walked inside the cave the ponies were in and locked the door behind them so they wouldn’t get out while they weren’t looking. They were carrying some bales of hay they stole from a farm on the outskirts of Ponyville to feed the ponies with.

“Alright you ungrateful ponies, here are your snacks!” said the leader throwing his bale on the ground in front of him rather rudely.

“Yeah, don’t make us go do the hard work again!” said the biggest dog as he threw down the largest bale.

Suddenly they stopped talking and looked at the ponies all standing by the wagon with rather sheepish faces. The wagon had barely any gems inside it and Spike had a few in his mouth but took them out and put them behind his back.

“W-W-W-WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!?” the leader shouted putting his paws on his head about ready to tear out his ears in anger. He expected more gems than this.

“Uh……hey guys…” said Twilight waving nervously. “You’re probably wondering why there aren’t many gems in the wagon, eh?”

“Yeah, don’t s’pose ya’ll didn’t notice just how empty the cave is?” Applejack added trying to hold back her sweat.

“YOU LET THE DRAGON EAT THE GEMS?!?” the dogs all shouted in unison.

“Uh oh…” said Spike dropping his gem. He knew he was in big trouble now.

“YOU STUPID LITTLE REPTILE!! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO DIG OUT THE GEMS NOT EAT THEM!!!”

“But he didn’t eat them!” Pinkie said running her mouth foolishly once again. “Twilight just forgot how to use Rarity’s spell so we couldn’t really-“

“PINKIE!!!” shouted everyone except Twilight.

“Oops…”

Twilight stepped forward to tell the truth. She knew she had to let them know about her not remembering the spell. It wouldn’t stay a secret any longer and it might make them think they were all useless and throw them out of the fortress.

“She’s right, guys, I forgot Rarity’s gem-finding spell. I don’t know why, but I just can’t, so I guess I’m no more use to you, and neither are my friends.”

“We ain’t?” Applejack said puzzled.

“Of course not, you ponies are all so darn lazy!” said Twilight sarcastically trying to trick the dogs into thinking they were all terrible slaves. “Why, Applejack, you didn’t do anything! And here you call yourself a good farm-pony?!” she took a chance to wink at Applejack and the others to get them to play along.

“Uh……oh, right! Um, yeah! Yeah, I am lazy alright!” she joined in. “Lazy cuz……um……I haven’t been out in the warm sunlight at all! I’m in this here cold, dark cave and it ain’t makin things any better for me!”

“Oh yes indeed…” said Fluttershy “I can’t do it either, I’m much more used to the great outdoors. This place just frightens me and is ruining my self esteem…”

“Yeah, and how can I work with this ridiculous ball and chain tied around my hoof?!” said Rainbow Dash.

“Yeah, and it’s too gloomy in here! It needs a bit more pizzazz, like balloons or streamers or something!” said Pinkie while the others looked at her rather hopelessly.

“Yeah, and how can I do a job digging out stuff for you dogs when it’s the very thing that I eat!” Spike joined in.

“Don’t you see, Diamond Dogs.” Twilight finished while coming forward trying to act all downtrodden and weakened from the work. “We’re not the ideal slaves for you. We weren’t made for this kind of work. Perhaps you should go out and find some cave trolls or something and bribe them with some roast-mutton.” She smiled at them nicely ever-so-certain that this would finally speak to them.

“Uh……wow, you really aren’t that great of slaves…” said the little dog.

“Yeah, we sure picked the wrong ones!” added the larger dog.

“NO NO NO NO NO!!! Don’t you idiots see what they’re doing?!?” shouted the leader angrily to his friends. “They’re trying to get us to feel sorry for them! Just look at them!” he said pointing to them all while they had little halos over their heads. “Well they’re not going to fool me!” He then blew his little whistle and a guard dog came in pushing a large cage in front of him. “All of you get inside that cage right this instant!”

“But, we haven’t even had a bite!” said Applejack starting to walk towards the hay bales.

But a few other dogs came in with spears and backed them into the cage. Once they were in the cage, the leader slammed the door shut and the big dog took out a key and locked it. All the dogs then crept back into the shadows and inside some holes in the top of the walls where they came from.

“If you little brats are going to try playing around with us and defying our authority, than you all deserve a little time out!” the leader shouted to them.

Rainbow Dash had spent too much time getting angry and was finally starting to break down about ready to cry. “Twilight……” she said walking over to the rather disgruntled unicorn.

“I know what you’re going to ask me to do, Rainbow Dash, and to be honest, I think I’m actually starting to get preeeeetty ticked off here!” she said angrily, the tension rising in her voice.

Suddenly the door to the cave swung open and a guard dog came running in with urgent news.

“Diamond Dogs, we’ve got trouble!” he said huffing and puffing. “Apparently, some strange pony has infiltrated our fortress and has come to rescue our slaves!”

“WHAT?!?” all three of the dogs shouted.

“How in Equestria did somepony get in here when it was so heavily guarded?!?” the leader asked.

“I don’t know, but they’re on their way up here right now!”

“It’s Princess Celestia!” shouted Twilight joyfully. “I knew she would figure out where we were somehow!”

“But how could anyone figure out where we are?” said Rainbow Dash. “Rarity was trapped in the forest below; she couldn’t have gone to help this soon!”

“Who said Rarity went to get help?” said a toned-down female voice from the entrance of the cave.

They all looked and saw a dark silhouette of a pony in the doorway. Whoever it was, she was wearing a hat that looked like Applejack’s hat and had a mane and tail that were so horribly messed up it seemed as though she was a zombie pony. Her voice was too deep at the moment for it to be recognized, but she slowly started to walk in towards the middle of the cave where she could be seen in the light from above. Her voice and the creepy silhouette displayed seemed to frighten the Diamond Dogs at first, but as she made her way into the light, she spoke once again revealing her true identity.

“Rarity is right here!”

Spike and the ponies all stared at her completely dumfounded with their mouths open and their eyes widened. Rarity no longer looked like herself at all. Her coat was stained with dirt and grime everywhere and her hooves were very muddy. Her mane had lost it’s beautiful shine and the hairs were all out of place and a bit knotted up and it was sticking in every direction. The hat she was wearing was in fact Applejack’s; she must have found it on the way in. She had a somewhat crazed yet determined look on her face, as if she didn’t even care anymore about the effects of mud. She stared at the dogs trying to strike fear into their souls with her new “makeover” and the dogs did seem to appear scared at first.

“Missed me, boys?!”

“Ra-Ra-Ra-Rarity?!” said the dogs and the ponies and Spike all at the same time.

“That’s Rarity?!” said Twilight.

“Our Rarity?!” Applejack added.

“Rarity, what happened to you?!” Spike asked wondering how this came to be.

“What’s wrong, Spike? Did you honestly think that a bunch of mud was going to keep me from saving you all? You’re my friends, I would trot through a thousand miles of the muck and the mire to save you!” she said heroically.

Spike then got a look of confidence on his face and turned to the ponies to boast of his insight. “Told you girls she would come to rescue us!”

“Wow, and you sure were right about that, Spike!” Twilight said starting to smile.

“You…you got past our guards at the entrance?!” asked the leader dog.

“Oh yes, and it was not quite as difficult as you might expect! Your guards are some pretty dumb animals if you’d ask me!” she teased.

“GRRRRRRR! Well then how about taking on an entire pack of dogs! UNLEASH THE HOUNDS!!!” he then blew his whistle and the guard dogs that Rarity hadn’t run into yet all came out of their holes from the walls and ceiling above and jumped down surrounding Rarity from all sides.

“RARITY, NO!!!” Spike shouted from the cage.

“Silence, Scaly One! Your Rarity might make a fine slave like you, but her persistence has proven her expendable! DIAMOND DOGS, ATTACK!!!”

At first Rarity looked frightened by the multitude of monsters closing in on her, but then she put on a bold face and got ready to fight. This would be her moment to prove she meant business and get the dogs to let her friends go. One dog leaped forward for the kill. Acting quickly, she turned around, pulled her hind legs under her, and with a mighty thrust of her hooves, she bucked the dog square in the stomach sending him falling backwards in agony. The next dog leaped forward and the exact same thing happened. Two more dogs came at her at the same speed so she jumped in the air and they both slammed into each other’s faces and were knocked out. The rest of the dogs realized what was happening and thought maybe they should try different tactics, but they weren’t quick-minded enough to even catch her. She leaped up in the air on top of one’s head and the others tried to jump on her and tackle her, but she jumped over to another head so they ended up tackling each other over and over. The next series of beatings came from a few bucks in the face and some other tricks to get them to hit each other instead. None of the dogs were able to even touch her. Her anger against the Diamond Dogs and the safety of her friends had caused her to accelerate her strength and speed enough to evade the dogs and fight back. Even the dogs that missed grabbing her did eventually end up getting a brutal buck in the face to knock them out. They were dropping like flies.

The Diamond Dogs watched in horror, but the leader had had enough. “Alright, that does it! Give me the keys!” he said as the big one handed him the keys to the cage.

“But Boss, what are you gonna do? Are you gonna let them go?” he asked.

“PSHT! And let her win? What do you think I am, a mouse or a dog?!”

“Mouse----er, DOG!”

Finally, Rarity bucked the last dog right in the rump because he was running from her and he flew straight into the wall smack-dead like a pancake. Rarity stood panting in the center surrounded by piles of dogs either knocked out or groaning in pain. She had won this round.

“Well……That wasn’t so bad at all!” she said starting to get a bit over-confident. “What are you dogs going to do now, throw mud at me until I…”

Suddenly she looked back at where the Diamond Dogs and her friends were and the leader had taken Spike out of the cage and was holding him by the spikes on his head with a spear pointing at him.

“Give up, Rarity, or your little scaled friend here won’t be so lucky!”

“RARITY, DON’T WORRY ABOUT ME, SAVE THE OTHERS!!!” Spike cried.

Just then a great rage built up inside Rarity and she gritted her teeth and her pupils shrunk and the hat started glowing from her horn’s magic underneath. How dare they threaten an adorable baby dragon like Spike! They had taken it too far this time and now it was time for Rarity to unleash her secret weapon.

“YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE YOU BIG BULLY!!!”

Then the spear started to glow and flew out of the leader’s paw and he started floating up in the air. He yelped and let go of Spike and started being dragged forward by Rarity’s magic and grabbed onto the big one’s legs who grabbed onto the little one’s legs who grabbed onto the cage door. But Rarity’s magic was too strong and pulled all three of them off the cage door and the lock broke and the door opened for the ponies. The dogs were brought over Rarity’s head and spun around at great speeds with her magic.

“YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAW!!!” Rarity shouted in her best cowgirl accent she picked up so quickly and so well. She laughed wildly and galloped around in circles as the dogs spun around flinging slobber everywhere and whimpering like little puppies. “WHAT’S THE MATTER BOYS?!? AFRAID TO TAKE ON A GIRL?!? AHAHAHA!!!”

“Spike, are you ok?!” Said Twilight coming over to Spike who was on the ground outside the cage.

“I guess………but look at Rarity you guys!” he said pointing to the mighty mare taking on the dogs.

“Golly, I just can’t b’lieve what I’m seein!” said Applejack happily. “That Rarity’s sure got some spunk in her after all!”

“That’s my girl!” said Spike romantically. “My lovely Rarity, come to rescue us all! I knew you wouldn’t give up on us oh my fair, beautiful…” then he noticed all the ponies staring at him perplexed. He blushed and then tried acting different to hide his feelings for Rarity. “Er…I mean…YEAH RARITY!”

“YEAH, YOU GET EM, GIRL!!” shouted Pinkie Pie as everyone else joined in.

Finally the punishment was over. Rarity pointed her horn towards a nearby stone wall and the dogs stopped spinning and were thrown right into the wall squashed on top of each other. They stuck to the wall for a few split seconds and then all fell down with their eyes swirling around and little birdies spinning around their heads. They were too dizzy to even see or speak. They couldn’t do anything to fight back anymore, they were completely defeated!

“AND DON’T EVER LAY A PAW ON MY FRIENDS AGAIN!!!” she shouted at them.

“YAY RARITY!!!” everyone shouted coming forward to congratulate her.

“Rarity, that was amazing!” Twilight shouted.

“Totally!” said Pinkie.

“Yes indeed, Rarity! You rock, woohoo!” said Fluttershy in her signature silent cheering.

“Yeah, you were awesome! You were like ‘GRRRRR’ and then the dogs were like ‘WAAAAAH!’ That was just EPIC!!” Rainbow Dash excitedly. She had never expected somepony as feminine as Rarity to do something so brave. She even wondered why she didn’t just try beating the dogs up herself.

“Girl, that there was thee most mazin’ thing I’ve ever seen ya do in yer life!” said Applejack coming over to congratulate Rarity. “I toldja ya’d have to face yer fears someday and ya sure as hay did! I am so proud of ya!”

“Oh thank you Applejack!” Rarity replied bashfully. “Why wouldn’t I after all? You are my friends and I love you all so much! No amount of mud can outshine that! Oh, and by the way, here is your hat.” she said using her magic to lift the hat and put it back on Applejack’s head.

“Why thanks!” said Applejack looking at her hat. “Good ta have ya back ol’ friend!”

“Rarity, you saved my life!” Spike said rushing over and hugging her not caring about all the dirt and mud covering her body.

“Oh you’re welcome, Spike!”

“AAAAAAAW!” said everypony at the adorable sight of Rarity and Spike.

Just then one of the Diamond Dogs groaned a little without actually getting up. They were still in pain on the ground. They had bruises and scratches everywhere and their eyes were spinning around. The ponies all looked over a bit worried, but Rarity took care of things.

“Oh, what about the Diamond Dogs?” asked Fluttershy.

“Don’t worry, everyone, I will take care of them!” said Rarity as everyone else walked towards the entrance and she walked over to the dogs. They then started waking up and saw Rarity coming towards them. They got scared and shimmied up against the wall in horror.

“STAY BACK, STAY BACK YOU WILD BEAST!!!” shouted the leader

“YEAH, DON’T HURT US PLEASE!” the little one whimpered.

“I just hope you boys have learned your lesson! Don’t you ever come near me or my friends again! Do you understand me?!?” she said staring at them angrily

“YES, YES, WE PROMISE, NOW LEAVE US BE!!” they all screamed moving closer into the wall behind them.

“That’s much better! I’ll be on my way then!” Rarity turned around and walked towards the entrance and then noticed the wagon the ponies were using and saw some gems in there she could use. “Oh, and I hope you boys don’t mind we take these gems. We did find them after all…”

“What? No, those are our gems!” the leader said.

“Yeah, they belong to us, pony!” said the big dog as they all started getting defensive again.

Rarity then gritted her teeth at them and her horn started to glow.

“ALRIGHT, FINE, TAKE THEM, TAKE THEM ALL!!” they cried getting scared again.

“Thank you, boys! It’s been a pleasure!” she said trotting off carelessly with her friends as they helped her pull the wagon along.

“I can’t believe this has happened to us!” the leader growled. “ I hate ponies! I HATE THEM! I never want to see another pony again! NEVER! Oh I should have just listened to my mother and become a lawyer or a doctor or something!”

For a minute they all sat on the ground about to cry until they got angry at each other instead.

“This is all your fault, you big lug!” said the little dog pointing at the big one. “Why didn’t you just fight back? You’re the strongest dog around!”

“Me? But she was lifting us in the air! I couldn’t get to her up there! I don’t see you doing it either!”

“Well I’m too small for that!”

“Yeah, exactly! Small, and wimpy!”

“Oooooh, so that’s how it’s gonna be huh?!”

“OH WILL YOU TWO JUST SHUTUP!!!!!!!!!” the leader screamed loudly covering his ears. “YOU’RE STARTING TO SOUND WORSE THAN RARITY’S WHINING!!!”

TO BE CONTINUED...

I Did it for my Friends

CHAPTER 5 - I Did it for my Friends

It wasn’t very hard for Rarity and all her friends to get out of the fortress. They simply followed Rarity’s dirty hoof-prints to the entrance. It seemed all the dogs were either already beaten by Rarity or were hiding from her. The night had passed and it was morning now as they all walked through the forest talking about Rarity’s amazing performance from earlier.

“Rarity, I gotta hand it to ya, girl, you really showed them Diamond Dogs who’s boss!” Applejack complemented. “I never thought I would see ya do somethin that brave!”

“To be honest, Applejack, I never thought I would either.” Rarity replied. “But the thought of you all in that dungeon just made me so angry and determined; I just had to come rescue you all!”

“Yeah, and here we were all thinking you WOULDN’T come to get us!” said Twilight remembering how they all had little faith in her before, “And lo and behold you DID come and you got yourself dirty to do it! That was quite the accomplishment, Rarity!”

“Yeah, Rarity, are you sure you’re ok?” Fluttershy asked.

“Oh I’ll be fine everypony, trust me. I have touched mud before many times, you know? And sure it was imported mud and was at a spa and all, but this really feels no different, it’s just a bit dirtier and unclean……but it all had to be done in the name of friendship after all, and I’m still the same old Rarity, but I’ve learned to overcome my fears.” Rarity said proudly knowing that her friends were much more important than her looks. “And getting dirty like this isn’t quite so bad, it’s actually kind of……fun! And next time it happens, at least I can say I’ve experienced much worse, right?”

Spike then entered the conversation to give Rarity some uplifting words.

“Actually, Rarity, I think you look kinda good like this……er, not saying that you never look good, of course! You’re always beautiful, but……I mean…like this you still look good…you know what I’m saying?” he said tripping over his own words.

“It’s ok, Spike, I know what you mean. And thanks.” Rarity said bashfully. She never thought she would be told that she looked good even when she was all dirty, and the fact that Spike told her she was still beautiful made her day.

“And not only did you fight your fear of mud, Rarity, but you knew how to use your magic to help us all out!” Spike told her forgetting that he might make Twilight look bad.

“Yeah……I should have done the same all along…” Twilight said looking down.

“Aw, it’s ok, Twilight!” said Pinkie trying to cheer her up. “We all know you meant well!”

“Yeah, Twilight, it wasn’t your fault, we all still had Rarity to help us out in the end.” Fluttershy joined in.

“You didn’t use your magic to fight back, Twilight?” Rarity asked looking back.

“Well, I was about to, but I was afraid of misusing my powers…”

“Sometimes you just have to buck right up and fight with all you’ve got, Darling. After all, they were very rude to us, and they threatened poor little Spike’s life!” she said patting Spike on the head as he blushed. “Imagine what would have happened to Spike if I didn’t intervene! Everypony would lose Ponyville’s best little dragon!”

“Aw shux…” said Spike with his arms behind his back kicking his leg around.

“You’re right, Rarity.” Twilight said looking happier. “Sometimes I guess when the situation gets serious next time, I’ll be more mindful of what to do with my magic.”

“Yeah, and we’re sorry we were kinda annoying you about it, Twilight.” said Rainbow Dash.

“It’s ok, Rainbow Dash, you all were right; I should have been more protective of you all. I’ll know what to do next time now.”

“Well, now that we’re all rid of that dreadful place, I guess we can all get back home and get these gems in my boutique to finish Sapphire Shores’ dresses.” said Rarity looking ahead. They had finally come to the little grove where they were captured yesterday. “Look everypony, there is our wagon from before with the other gems!”

“That’s right, Rarity!” said Spike. “Once we get back to your boutique, you and I can finish those dresses and then maybe we can-WOOOOOOAAAAAH!!!”

Suddenly the ground gave away and everyone fell into a little hole in the ground that the dogs must have dug after Rarity left that spot. The wagon full of gems from the fortress stayed put but everyone else fell in and landed in a pool of think mud. This was, no doubt, the last trap meant to keep Rarity from escaping the forest. Luckily it wasn’t so deep and dangerous; they would all be able to get out quickly. Everyone lay in the mud for a second but Rarity didn’t seem to realize they were in mud at first. She had been through so much of it that she was practically used to it. But the others seemed quite surprised at first, almost as if they were the ones scared of mud now.

“Oh dear, this was the last trap I guess.” Rarity said looking around at everyone else who was covered in mud along with her now. “Well, I guess we all got a little dirty in the end!” she then started laughing and before you knew it, everyone else laughed with her.

“Oh well, it is just mud, right?!” Fluttershy giggled.

“Yeah, it’s not like it’ll hurt us!” Rainbow Dash joined in.

“Well, we might as well all get used to it then! MUD FIIIIIGHT!!!” shouted Pinkie Pie splashing mud all over the place.

Soon, everyone was throwing big chunks of mud at each other and splashing themselves with it for fun. They laughed and enjoyed themselves and sooner or later they all just stopped and lay in the mud laughing hysterically. Twilight pondered what an important lesson she had learned today from Rarity and started thinking of a good friendship report letter to write to Princess Celestia.

“Dear Princess Celestia,

Today I learned a great deal from my friend Rarity. She always seems to be the rather feminine and sophisticated type; always afraid to get dirty, even in the midst of something very important. But my friends and I all found ourselves in a bit of a predicament and she rescued us and overcame her fear of mud. This taught me that sometimes we have to just face our fears and help out our friends when they’re in trouble, even if it means getting your coat a bit dirty in the end. I also learned that, even though magic is a wonderful thing that should be used for good intentions, it never really hurts to use them for defense every now and then, especially when you need to help out your friends. Next time they all need saving, I’ll know what to do, thanks to Rarity.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle”

“Well, Rarity…” she said looking at her unicorn friend covered in filth, “…you sure showed us all today how important courage can be in a pinch! This will make a great letter to the Princess!”

“I did it all for friendship, ladies, and next time it happens again, I won’t even hesitate!”

“Then I hope you’re prepared for round two, Rarity!” said Spike getting back up and throwing a big mud ball at her face.

“Oooooh, Spike…… IT IS ON!” she said smiling wickedly and then used her magic to lift a huge chunk of mud and throw it right at him. His eyes widened and then he was completely covered in mud.

“OOOOOOH, SPIKE, THAT’S GONNA LEAVE A MARK!” shouted Applejack.

“WE’LL SEE ABOUT THAT! EAT THIS!!!”” Spike then turned around and started digging at the mud with his hands causing it to fling all over Rarity.

The mud fight started again and everyone laughed and made merry without any fear of it, all thanks to Ponyville’s finest mare, Rarity.

THE END