Black Diamond Dog

by TrollestiaSubject

Chapter I: Invitation

It all began in the usual way with the sun coming up and making it a beautiful day in Ponyville, just as many others had been before. Twilight was contemplating the rays of light coming through her window; Rainbow Dash was ready to move some clouds around; Pinkie Pie was preparing the baking mix for the first order of pastries of the day; and Applejack had awakened much earlier than them, to work bucking apples on the farm. Everypony followed their normal routine, and everything seemed to be just as any other day. There was one small difference, a house was being built on the outskirts of the village.

The construction field was in a large and beautiful meadow, with view of Canterlots road near Ponyvilles entrance, in the opposite direction of Fluttershy's cottage or Sweet Apple Acres. It was a big, fancy house, with ceilings a little bit taller than normal, the structure certainly made for a wealthy pony. The whole property was bordered by a small and cute wooden fence painted white.

Many ponies went there to welcome the new neighbor, but all that the construction workers said was: that he wouldn't be arriving until tomorrow; the job was paid; all the permissions were ready and in order (just in case any of the observers were a building inspector); and that the house was in the name of a certain Mr. Blacky, which was a name that many passersby found weird.

“Probably an eccentric rich pony from Canterlot,” Twilight mused.

“Maybe he’s an artist!” Rarity proposed.

“Maybe his special talent is to come out of dark places, and play pranks on other ponies," Pinkie Pie preferred to believe.

“Maybe he’s not even a pony, maybe he’s a dragon!” Spike said. But, of course, nopony listened to the baby dragon.

The next day somepony was calling for help.

A foal had fallen into the well in the center of the village, and nopony was really too sure of what to do, or who to call.

When Rainbow Dash noticed this, she was ready to dive into the depths of the well to rescue the foal. Rainbow's job that day wasn’t an emergency, nor was it very entertaining anyways. But suddenly a blurry flash of black dove into the well first, surprising Rainbow, cutting in on her entrance and making her flap back in the air.

A masculine voice echoed from inside, “Everything’s going to be alright.” The voice heard from the depths was reassuring. There then came a burst of scraping claws against stone, which grew louder.

When everypony saw a black diamond dog coming out of the well with the foal over his shoulders, a heavy silence prevailed for a few moments.

“I’m fine!” The little foal exclaimed, and ran away to his family, but nopony dared to make a sound yet.

A pink mare with festive balloons as cutie mark was the first that cheered with a party horn and throwing some confetti around in the background, then everypony cheered along.

Everypony, that is, except for Rainbow Dash, who was glaring at him with a look of disgust.

The black dog was rubbing his scruff with one paw, somewhat embarrassed. He said he had experience moving among tunnels, so it wasn’t big deal for him, and he certainly wasn’t expecting be welcomed to the village like that.

During a short round of thanks and congratulations, some ponies started to ask up questions. Especifically, a certain cyan pegasus with rainbow mane. Those were rather rude questions by the way, like if he was there looking for a meal because in Ponyville the best they had to offer were 'Hot Dogs', if he was there looking for jewels to steal, what time he was going to leave, and even if he was a spy. But rather than respond, he took the first opportunity he had to introduce himself.

“I’m Blacky,” he said, “the owner of the new house in the outskirts.”

After that he just earned more congratulations from his new neighbors; even an invitation to a meal later from the Cakes, and a party in his honor being held in his own house that night by the pink mare.

Of course, he wasn't quite acquainted with pony customs, and knowing that he was a foreigner, he tried not to act surprised when he heard that.

The joyful pink mare had already introduced herself as Pinkie Pie, and introduced her friends, Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. He, of course, had heard of the holders of the elements of Harmony before. But it was the grumpy pegasus flying above them, with the forelegs crossed over her chest and disappointed face, was who caught his eye.

'She must go first,' He thought, without dropping his stamped smile.

That afternoon he told everypony about his exciting adventures, in which he had managed to amass a fortune in gold before leaving his nation and pledging allegiance to Celestia, claiming that he was tired of living in the underground, and was looking for 'a normal life,' whatever anypony could understand from that.

Blacky had hind legs as high as any other pony, though they were short compared to his much more longer forelegs. Perhaps that was the reason diamonds dogs stood on their hind legs, other than the fact that their paws were better than hooves for holding things thanks to the little appendages with claws at the end of the legs. That little difference, his pads, were an attractive curiosity for the ponies.

He was different from the other diamond dogs that Rarity and friends had found before: his snout was longer and pointy; his ears and tail had a wolfish style; and his voice was deep and assertive. He had a sharkish smile through his snout which showed his friendly and easygoing nature. He wore a very simple gray vest and no collar. He had a very dark tone of gray in his fur, far from perfect black, but Blacky was still a fitting name. He was tall for Ponyville, but probably not much by diamond dogs standards. That explained why his house was built with more than the normal extra height of other pony houses, letting him get inside his building without problems.

During the next few days he proved himself to be a nice and respectful neighbor. However, he used the same story over and over again, and Rainbow Dash, who hadn’t liked him in first place, was growing suspicious of him.

She accompanied Pinkie Pie, who had automatically liked the new resident of Ponyville, to every meeting to welcome Blacky. She was starting to feel that the story was a prepared monologue, hoof-picked to please the ears of anypony. Always the same thing about wide fields, sunlight, and using his paws to do something better than digging, something more delicate, like fixing windows, doors, drawers, or whatever anypony could ask. Rainbow Dash wondered why would he even want to work in that. Wasn't he supposed to have left his country with a fortune?

His dream about becoming an experienced craftsdog, was a silly dream, too silly, almost unbelievable. By Rainbow Dash's thinking it all looked like a plan to get closer to the community, with evil intentions.

And that’s why she decided to warn her friends.

“Yah’re just mad with him because of that little incident at the well a few days ago, and how he stole yer glory with his rescue,” Applejack said. She was the only one who dared to say it out loud but everypony else in the room was thinking the same.

Rainbow Dash had called her five best friends for an emergency meeting in Twilight’s library, but none of them seemed to think in the same way than she was.

Even Rarity, who had been held against her will by diamond dogs in the past, could say without hesitation that Blacky was nothing like those immature savages. Blacky was an educated and polite Dog. Somedog that was nice to talk with for a while and his taste in jackets was delightful. Of course, he was her new client, and he had changed his poor, tacky vests for charming and refined jackets, so perhaps her opinion of him might not have been impartial.

"He’s a good dog. You shouldn’t miss the opportunity to make a new friend,” Twilight said to Rainbow Dash.

"He's like a male Fluttershy," Pinkie said thoughtfully, "Just that, you know, he's not shy. And he can make two or three jokes before midday, and stand a prank! You would like him Dashie, if you gave him a chance," Pinkie said, obviously having befriended the dog, so there was no point in asking her opinion, not when Rainbow Dash was trying to form a negative image about him.

Most of them had called him already, to fix a hinge, or change a bolt from a door or a window. He was indeed a good craftsdog. His ability to mold metal was a very useful and needed skill in Ponyville. After all, magic couldn't fix everything, or at least could not do so forever, and having new hardware around was well appreciated.

“What about you Fluttershy?! What do you have to say?” Rainbow shot in a desperate last movement. But the shot was going to backfire on her.

“Well... he helped me to fix the fence of my chicken coop, and he was very polite and kind with the chickens too, trying not to scare them with noise during the repair. I was a little nervous around him at first, but now, I think he’s nice,” Fluttershy said with a small blush.

“Hhurrggg!!” Rainbow Dash shouted to the sky expecting some help from Celestia. Her friends weren’t listening to her, and that wasn't going to end well.

“Beside his faux leather adds infinite possibilities to my designs!!” Rarity added with a proud tone of voice, as if she were promoting herself.

“Leather, you see?!! Leather!” A distressed Rainbow Dash said to everypony in the room.

“It’s just an imitation, Rainbow Dash. Made out of sap from some trees, it’s thermic and permeable; and it’s sad, but even pony antiques have real leather in them,” Twilight said, making Fluttershy faint cold in fear at the same time.

Pinkie, Spike and Rarity took Fluttershy to the kitchen immediately to help her recover her senses. Before going there too, Twilight said to her friend Rainbow, “Look, it's okay if you don’t like him, but please don’t go around saying he's dangerous without any proof.”

But after her warning, everything that reverberated in Rainbow’s head was: Proof, proof, proof, proof...

And so, Rainbow Dash started to follow the 'stranger' around Ponyville.

The way he looked through every window from inside, looked at the locks on the doors, and how he inspected inside everypony’s rooms with those deep, dark eyes, not to mention his faux politeness. Fake! That fact on its own was making it all the harder for Rainbow Dash to even stand looking in his eyes.

Naturally, her friends thought that she was the one to worry about, but none of them knew him too deeply. Either way, the best they could expect was that all this could end with none of them being publicly humiliated. And if Rainbow Dash wanted to discover for herself his quiet and kind personality, they weren’t going to stop her.

However, they had started noticing the ways in which Rainbow Dash was stalking him. It was always from a cloud above, and even through doors and windows when he was inside somepony’s house fixing something, or just paying a visit to his regular friends like the Cakes, or the Apples.

Rainbow Dash knew that he was driven by his appetite, and she was determined to find out anything she could, to reveal him as a danger for Ponyville. After all, such hooves, more like claws, and predator eyes and long fangs, couldn't be any good for the place she liked so much, or her friends living there. She had to protect them... no, protect everypony, from a potential predator!

‘He has already betrayed the other diamond dogs.’ Rainbow thought, one night she was spying on a cloud. She was keeping a watchful eye on his house, waiting for him to take a nightly snack, a meaty one. But the night was quiet, and she was sleepy. His chimney was smoking and the lights inside were dim and warm.

‘Leaving his country for a comfy and warm home.’ She continued meditating. That thought made him a worthless betrayer in her mind, and that notion alone was helping keep her on guard, in spite of the soft cloud on which she kept her vigilant watch.

‘That dog’s probably just laughing at me right now.’ She couldn't help thinking, almost falling asleep.

Then she saw him going out in the night, not taking the direct road into Ponyville, but suspiciously taking a longer, more indirect one one to the Everfree forest.

Rainbow Dash was brave enough to follow him inside, but the forest was too dark and she couldn't do it very far.

She lost track of him in the forest, but knew that he had to exit sooner or later, if he wasn’t eaten by something bigger first. She returned to her trusty spying cloud to keep her watch on his house, but she ended up falling asleep.

Keeping a watch on a cloud is never a good idea, and Rainbow wasn’t a professional spy, yet. She was still learning.

The next day she awoke just in time to see him going inside his house, holding a bunch of, what Rainbow Dash thought, were feathers in his paws.

“Just what the hay happened?!” A half-asleep Rainbow Dash cried out loud.

"Maybe they were part of a new hoofcraft, that, or she had completely lost all of her screws, and had seen a whole different thing over her obsession with him." Applejack opined, since Fluttershy had said earlier to Rainbow Dash that all of her chickens were fine in the morning. And Spike said that Rainbow should just ask to him; but, of course, nopony listened to the baby dragon.

She had called a new meeting to show the ‘evidence’ that she had gathered, but this time only half of the gang assisted. Fluttershy wasn’t going to risk herself attending to another meeting like the last one, and Pinkie no longer wanted to hear more slanders about her new friend. Neither did Twilight or the others, but they wanted to help Rainbow Dash with her attitude problem towards diamond dogs.

“He always buys an apple pie from Granny Smith, every day! And Ah have seen him eating it all. Ah told you, he’s not a meativorous,” Applejack said.

“Applejack darling, that’s not even a word. I think you meant ‘Animalivorous.’” Rarity corrected.

"'Carnivorous' is the word, and I don't know why you think he is one.” Twilight clarified for Rainbow Dash. “Diamond dogs, in fact, enhance their diet with fiber, vegetables, and we all have seen him enjoying a variety of fruits and pastries; this plus the addition of eggs and milk in his diet, complements perfectly with his soy based meals.”

“Don’t you get it, Twilight? That’s like if we were obligated to stop consuming food based in cellulose, and we substitute it with some... cheap, imitation of flowers and fodder!” An alarmed Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“But he didn't suddenly stop anything. He had time to think about what he was leaving before making his move to Ponyville. In fact, I could seriously think about skipping eating foods rich in cellulose if that means a living on the surface. Yet... !" Rainbow Dash retorted, visibly obfuscated, without know how to end her sentence.

"Yet... !" Rainbow Dash retorted, visibly obfuscated. Without know how to end her sentence.

"He comes here almost every day, requesting a book about Equestria’s history, and he’s very interested in stargazing! Something that he couldn’t do living in a subterranean tunnel. You think that's the way in which an evil mastermind acts?" Twilight asked rhetorically.

The afternoon continued with comments like that, the girls disregarding her 'proof'. All her friends told her that everything was alright, except for her!

But Rainbow Dash wasn’t going to buy it.

She just knew it; something had to be wrong in the way he talked, or how he moved. Maybe the way his predatory eyes were always looking at ponies as a tasty meal, or his shameless grin. She wasn’t quite sure, but being the holder of the element of loyalty she knew that something weird was going to happen if she stopped watching him, after all he was a diamond dog living in Ponyville. Somepony had to keep an eye on something like that.

After some investigation, involving sneaking illegally into the mayor’s office, Rainbow Dash had found that the dog came first to Canterlot, offering a Bits’ fortune in raw gold in exchange for his nationalization.

Bits, of course, are helpful when somepony ask for permissions in Canterlot, but was that all? His permits was signed by Celestia herself without further explanations, how could she endanger her faithful subjects? She hadn't even written a letter to Twilight to warn her.

The permits for his house were expressly for Ponyville. Had somepony had signed them instead of Celestia? Maybe all his papers were a fraud.

Rainbow Dash also found out that Blacky had been 'supposedly' approved by a renowned group of dentists in Canterlot, who said that he never had eaten meat. Now, Rainbow was no dentist, but after consulting with Colgate, she knew that the only thing they could corroborate was that he didn't used to chew large bones with his grinding teeth. And that his dental health was perfect, since.Blacky had already consulted with Colgate in Ponyville.

"Suspiciously perfect" Rainbow Dash said to herself, leaving Colgate in the middle of a passionate review about his dental check, Extra passionate for someone who liked teeth, and especially the unusual teeth in a predator’s snout. But, since Rainbow Dash didn’t care... she just flew away, to keep an eye in whatever the diamond dog where doing now.

“By the way you should get a dental check for yourself!” Colgate shouted up to Rainbow Dash as she was flying away, probably as retaliation for being left alone in the middle of such passionate review.

Soon after she started stalking him all day. All Rainbow could conclude was that he was suspiciously perfect in most areas, and that was truly suspicious.

Perhaps it had all started as a jealousy game, but Rainbow Dash could now admit to herself that something odd was going on with him.

"Maybe his eyes," Rainbow was trying to pinpoint, "or the way he looks at mares when they walk away from him, is he feeling a craving for meat?"

All this added to his nightly visit to Everfree forest, and now she had an authentic mystery between her hooves.

“I know something you don’t!” Pinkie said playfully one day.

“What?! What is it, Pinkie??!!!” Rainbow Dash cried in panic, thinking that it could be something about Blacky.

“It’s about Blacky!” Pinkie answered with a wide smile on her face. Rainbow Dash shook Pinkie by her shoulders, but Pinkie said it was a secret, so she wouldn’t say a single word about it. Rainbow Dash was just too stressed to continue that game, so she flew away

“Okay Dashie, don’t go away! He told me that it was going to be a surprise!” Pinkie shouted.

“What?” Rainbow Dash asked, hovering in the air.

“It’s a secret, I can’t tell you,” Pinkie said,.looking at her right and left.

“Then why are you are even telling me?” Rainbow questioned distressed.

But, I haven't told you anything,” Pinkie said, putting a hoof at the side of her mouth, almost whispering.

“Well... okay... look, Pinkie, this is obviously some kind of... misunderstanding, okay? Don’t tell me anything, but tell me when,” Rainbow pleaded.

“This afternoon!” Pinkie said cheerfully.

“This afternoon, like in this-...” Rainbow started, going near Pinkie Pie.

“Yes, yes, this afternoon, afternoon! I’m going to see him, and he told me it was a secret.” Pinkie said, cutting in on Rainbow.! I’m going to see him, and he told me it was a secret.” Pinkie said, cutting in on Rainbow.

“A secret...” Rainbow repeated softly.

“Yes, and... I can’t tell you. It’s a secret!” Pinkie said in the ear of her friend.

“Okay, okay... thanks Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow Dash said loudly before leaving, flying away at top speed like some kind of superheroine on a mission.

The fact was that Blacky was spending a lot of time with Pinkie Pie lately, or maybe Pinkie Pie was spending a lot of time with him, due probably to her pranks partner spending a lot of her time, surely, stalking on him anyways.

In any case, Rainbow Dash had a plan. She had sent him a note to make an appointment with him that very same afternoon, near the border of Everfree forest. There, Rainbow had tied up a chicken that she had just 'borrowed’ from Fluttershy’s coop. After all, losing a chicken was better than losing a friend, andat least Rainbow had no chickens as friends.

It was The Ultimate Trap; according to Rainbow Dash. But that afternoon, after Blacky arrived and double checked on the note, he just untied the chicken, and took it away under an upper paw.

“Hey, Liz. What are you doing here? Now I’ll have to return you to Fluttershy. Did you run away? Is your fence broken again?” he said, taking the chicken with him and making his way to Fluttershy’s cottage.

“Hey Dash! What time is it?" He suddenly shouted from the middle of the field without stopping on his way, now to Fluttershy’s place.

“Hey Dash! What time is it?" He suddenly shouted from the middle of the field without stopping on his way to Fluttershy’s place.

“Dash, please. I am a natural predator; do you really think a pony can sneak on me?” Blacky asked.

“Ah! You admitted it, you’re a predator!” Rainbow cried, triumphantly.

“What do you mean? It’s not a secret. Anypony can see it. But, I’m a vegetarian. I still noticed that you've been following me,” He calmly said.

“And why didn’t you tell me before?!” Rainbow asked confused.

“I- I thought you could be enjoying it. But now I'm going to be late. So could you tell me the time? I really need to know,” Blacky asked.

“Enjoying it??!!! Why would I?!” A startled Rainbow Dash countered.

“Well, I think you are attracted to me, but could I have the time please?” Blacky asked again, like disregarding the theme.

“Attracted to you? How could I be attracted to you? You're a dog!” Rainbow Dash cried from her cloud in a very annoyed tone.

“I don't know, but I’m a male. Have you noticed how few males Ponyville has around? You sure have. I think that you fell in love with me the first time we met, when you saw me rescuing that foal from the well. Now, I really need to know the time please,” Blackie said, not stopping on his way through the field.

“That clichéd rescue? I could've done that for myself!” Rainbow countered.

“But you didn't! I was faster than you." Blacky deviously commented. "May I know the time now. Please?” Blacky asked calmly.

“Why don't you just look at the sky?” Dash said without arguing back, which made dog under the cloud grin internally.

“I can't tell the time just by looking at the sky, neither can I find North just smelling around, or however those pegasuses things work. So could you give me the time please?” Blacky asked, trying to sound a little irritated.

“Pegasi. The plural of pegasus is: pegasi,” Rainbow clarified.

“Nice to know, could you give me the time now?” Blacky continued asking.

“Wouldn't you rather know which direction is north? That’s probably more useful!" Rainbow said sarcastically.

"I know where North is. The time please," Blacky insisted.

"You know, finding out what time it is, isn't going to help you be any earlier anyways," Rainbow remarked, mocking his situation.

"Well, if I have an appointment with somebody I…-“ Blacky started.

“SOME-BODY?!! Are you going to eat a body?” Rainbow asked horrified.

“No! No! That’s despicable! How could I? I’m a vegetarian. No, nothing like that. In my country I used to say some-body, any-body, no-body, and so on. You ponies are all pony this, pony that, how do you even say about a cow or, something? How do you speak about me?” Blacky inquired.

“We, don’t!” Rainbow Dash coldly retorted.

“Well, that pretty much answers my question. Would you be kind enough to tell me the time anyways?" Blacky asked again.

"Oh! Sure! Let me check!” Rainbow said, checking a fake wristwatch drawn on her left forehoof “Oh, sorry! Seems like my watch stopped, sorry. I guess you will be late,” She said cynically before fly away giggling.

And Blacky was left there kind of pissed off. Now he had to return Fluttershy's chicken, and was going to miss his appointment with Pinkie to bake muffins for Rainbow Dash. Though after that, he wasn’t in the mood to give her any pastry anyway.

His grin returned when he remembered that Rainbow Dash was going to be the first one.

Blacky had made a plan. It was not revenge at all. He had decided to do it long ago, but after the incident with the chicken, he made up his mind, and he was going to really enjoy it now.

Blacky had asked Pinkie Pie to speak about the surprise and the secret to Rainbow Dash. And Pinkie would never turn down a prank, even if she couldn't understand it well. But she knew that Rainbow Dash would love a good joke just as much as she would; so she decided to play along with Blacky in his prank.

All she had to do was tell Rainbow Dash about a date with Blacky near the entrance of the Everfree forest. He even showed her the place, a nice, small clearing surrounded by the thick trees of the old forest.

Without an established road leading to that place, Pinkie wondered how he could know such a location, but not enough to start to suspect what he was planning to do with her Dashie that night.

The prank was very simple: Signal the specified place; and then don’t go that night. The meeting point wasn't too deep inside Everfree, just enough to block off the view of Ponyville from the forest, and all the way around, at just the perfect distance to wait with a scary costume, or, in Blacky’s case, a scary face. That would just be enough. It was going to be a great joke or so Pinkie Pie thought.

That night, the moon was going to be full, and all that Blacky had to do, was wait.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

Banner for chapter one thanks to Mickeymonster, and his unrelated O.C., Karl the diamond dog. Don't forget to visit his galery .

Thanks to everyone who spend some time helping me to proofread:

Vocal Brony helped me proofreading the first chapter.
Limelight01 did me the favor of proofread around the firsts 10k words.
frits191 helped with a complete profreadreading of both firsts chapters.
Everyone who didn't want to have their name involved, you know who you are.

And special thanks to Gabriel LaVedier who helped me with a final edition.

My headcanon map of ponyville for your amusement.

There's a background story about Blacky consulting Colgate. You see, she approved his like-vegetarian teeth in exchange of sexual favors. She probably has a fetiche in sharp teeth or something, but that's story for another clopfic. Anyway, Colgate probably lied to Rainbow Dash here.

Chapter I got its name from the song Invitation by The Rolling Stones.