Chapter 11

Of Mongrels and Mines

It was a clear night in Canterlot and all the stars were visible. Two ponies, a white unicorn colt and a pink pegasus filly, watched the sky from the balcony of a tall tower. The colt pointed to a group of stars and asked, "What's that one then? Orion's Belt?"

The filly giggled and shook her head, "No, this window is facing the wrong way to see Orion. I'm not sure what stars those are." She then stretched her wings and back before leaning against the railing.

"Well, excuse me," the colt responded, "Last I checked, my mark was an eighth note, not a star chart. Besides, who cares what a bunch of old ponies thought they looked like a thousand years ago? All I see are points of light."

The filly stopped leaning and the rail and looked over at her companion. She told him, "You know, you're not the only pony with a music note for a cutie mark," she then patted her own flank, "Remember? Or have those stage lights finally fried your brain? You haven't gone daft, have you?" her gaze turned back to the sky, "Besides, astronomy was always my favorite subject in school. Well, other than music, of course."

The two continued to gaze at the stars, only stopping to look behind them when they heard a knock on the door inside. The colt walked inside and opened the door to their room. In hall just outside the door was a chubby, yellow earth stallion whose white mane was very short. "Evening," the unicorn greeted his breathless friend, "Brought the game, did you?"

The newcomer nodded and picked up a box from the floor. Both occupants of the room smiled and invited him inside. Putting the box down on a table, the earth pony said, "Thanks for agreeing to do this tonight guys. Once we're on the road, it's gonna be a lot harder to find time to play."

"Yeah, sure," nodded the unicorn, "Now, who's turn is it to be Horse Master?"

"Is it still rainin'?" asked Applejack. The table had become fairly quiet as Roller flipped through some of his notes and the other ponies took a peek out the window. Rain continued to pour from the clouds above and the night lit up with the occasional flash of lightning. The peaceful white noise of raindrops on the window and roof was occasionally drowned out by a roar of thunder.

Rainbow Dash thought for a moment before saying, "This is weird. We aren't scheduled for a storm until this weekend. The weather team would have told me if there was a sudden change of plans, wouldn't they? I mean, they'd tell one of their best fliers about stuff like that."

"Maybe you were already on your way here when the plans changed," Fluttershy suggested, "I think I saw Ditzy Doo flying around earlier. She could have been trying to tell everypony."

Roller put down his notes. "Is that what she wanted?" he asked, "I thought she was just being... well, Ditzy Doo," the author then looked back to his game board and nodded. He looked up and told the group...

"Alright, you have the bad guys all tied up and I found the right notes for this part..."

Three diamond dogs in armor sat on a grate in the middle of a large, circular room. Ropes bound their paws and kept them from moving away from one another. They were surrounded by six adventurous ponies, the one in a magician's hat standing slightly closer than the others.

A light shone from under Twin Star's hat and she put a threatening hoof forward. "Where are the missing ponies?" she asked. The dogs shook in fear, but stayed quiet either from terror or loyalty to their kin.

Jack stepped towards their captives, his armor reflecting some of the light from Twin Star's magic. He growled, "You heard the li'l lady! Where'd you put them missin' ponies? We didn't see any in that jail you got under the rest of the mine."

One of the dogs spoke in a trembling voice, "O-other p-ponies have already been s-sent away. W-we not keeping them h-here anymore. D-don't know where to find them now."

"WHAT!" Shouted Reyna. The barbarian brought her face very close to the diamond dog's and gave him an evil glare, "You sent them away! Where! Who are you working for!"

The dog shuddered and closed his eyes. Somewhere between his uncontrollable shaking and pathetic whimpering, it was clear just how scared he was. "Can't tell!" he called out, "Will do bad things to us!"

Reyna's very limited patience had run out and she challenged, "What makes you think we won't?" as she placed a strong hoof on the villain's chest. The dog's eyes went wide in fear and Reyna could feel his heartbeat getting faster. Her adversary tried to speak, but only a horrified whimper came out.

"Fillies, Gentlecolt, this is getting us nowhere," Lady Styles told them, "Now watch and learn what a little social grace can get you."

The thief gestured for Reyna to move and the barbarian begrudgingly obliged. Standing face-to-face with the enemy, Lady Styles fluttered her eyelashes and asked, "Now, where did you take your, er, guests when you sent them away. Hm? Did you take them out through the main entrance to the caves or somewhere else?"

The dog calmed down and confessed, "Not through main entrance. Took them up waterfall. Door there leads to top of mountain, but is protected by password. Pack Leader always opens it, I not know answer to riddle."

"Riddle?" Twin Star asked to clarify, "What kind of riddle?"

The dog strained to remember, but did recite what he recalled, "Can not be seen, can not be felt. Can not be heard, can not be smelt. Lies behind stars..."

"And under hills, and empty holes it fills?" the sorceress finished for him, "Is that the riddle?" The diamond dog nodded and Twin Star stomped in frustration. "We tried to open that door already," she complained, "Nothing worked!"

"Well," Reyna deduced, "if they don't have the answer then they aren't very useful, are they? I say we throw 'em down the pit with the other mutts!"

Jack nodded and grabbed the rope that tied the dogs together. He was about to heave the creatures down the trap door, but stopped and looked down. "Uh, guys?" he asked, "Could you tell me that whole riddle? Somethin' that fills up empty holes?"

Pin Kay took the opportunity to sing the riddle and a haunting melody filled the chamber, "It can not be seen, can not be felt, can not be heard, can not be smelt. It lies behind stars and under hills and empty holes it fills. It comes first and follows after. Ends life. Kills Laughter."

Jack nodded, "Fillies, look down. What do you see in the pit? Other than diamond dogs, I mean."

The others peered through the metal grate, but could hardly see anything. The pit was not well lit and the shadows of the ponies and dogs on top of the grate didn't help visibility. Flute R'Shye stated, "I can't see anything through the darkness. It's kind of creepy."

Jack claimed, "I think I got the answer. Let's take out the trash and get on with it," and with a heave and a ho, the diamond dogs fell to the bottom of the pit. The party was on their way through the mines again at a slightly faster than before with Jack leading the group.

The group traveled through a tunnel and eventually came to another circular room. The walls were covered in racks of pickaxes, helmets and lamps. On closer inspection, Flute could see that they were too small for diamond dogs, but one of the helmets fit her almost perfectly. "I guess the dogs decided to Keep the mining equipment for themselves," she stated, "I guess that makes sense if they like digging for jewels."

The ponies looked around but couldn't find any way out of the room then from the tunnel they entered from. Just as they turned to leave though, a portcullis fell in front of the entrance. The laugh of distant canines could be heard as Reyna threw herself against the bars and loudly cursed her bad fortune.

"Hm... A bit of a cliffhanger, but I've left off in worse places..."

Roller closed his notebook and yawned, "I'm sorry to end tonight's game so abruptly, but it's getting late," he looked past the other ponies at the table and asked, "Is it still raining out there?"

The wind outside howled and the rain beat down on the window. A flash of lightning briefly allowed them to see the town outside, but the clap of thunder after made them all jump. Twilight answered, "Yeah, it's still raining. I think it even got worse."

The six players started to put away their character sheets and help Roller put his books in their proper places when the author put a hoof to his chin and thought for a moment. He nervously mumbled something, "If, uh, it's going to be th-this bad tonight then, um..."

"Speak up," Applejack requested, "We can't hardly hear you over the storm."

Roller tried to speak a little louder, but only got as far as, "Well, it doesn't seem right to..." before becoming very quiet again.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and ordered, "Come on! Spit it out already," before asking, "What are you? Fluttershy?"

The author cleared his throat and tried again, "It's been a while since I had guests like this, but I do have a guest room. If, uh, getting home in this weather is too troublesome then, um, you can stay here and see if it's cleared up by morning."

The young mares looked surprised and Rarity was the first to speak, "But, we thought you hated having visitors. Why the sudden change of heart?"

Roller looked to the floor and answered, "It seems wrong to make you walk home when the weather is this bad. I may not like uninvited guests, but I just can't sleep with a guilty conscience."

There were a few seconds of silence before Applejack called out, "Group huddle!" and the five other young mares formed a tight circle around her. Roller sat at his table and continued to put the game away while the others talked in hushed tones.

"I don't know if I trust this one enough to fall asleep in his house. He seems a might strange," Applejack observed, "How's it we know he won't try somethin' funny?"

Fluttershy asked, "Like what?" to which the farmer responded, "Exactly!"

Twilight rolled her eyes, "Oh, please. Applejack, look at him. He's not that strange, he's just a shut-in. Besides, do we really have a lot of options right now? It's raining cats and dogs out there."

"I thought it was raining water," said Pinkie Pie. The others put a hoof to their own forehead, sighed, shook their head or did all three before breaking formation. Pinkie sat on the floor and looked out the window, pointing out, "But it IS just water! Look!"

Roller was just putting the game away when Rarity informed him, "The girls and I have decided to accept your invitation, Mr. Roller. Please show us to the guest room."

The author nodded his head, let out a yawn and walked down a hall with the others following him. He entered a room off to the side and switched on a light as he did so. There were three beds in this room and an old dresser. On the far wall was a window that gave a very clear view of the stormy weather outside. He told them, "I'm sorry that there aren't more beds, but there are sleeping bags in the dresser if you need them. It may not be very spacious, but it's better than being outside right now. If you need anything, my room is upstairs."

Roller left the group and they moved into the room. It was cramped, but cozy and the beds were soft. Rainbow Dash was the first to wrap herself in some blankets and drift off to sleep, but the others soon followed suit. All six were dreaming in only a few minutes with one exception; Twilight Sparkle.

As the purple unicorn lay awake in her bed, she pondered the question that had brought her here in the first place; what had inspired Critical Roller to write those novels she had spent so many hours a night reading back in Canterlot? She tossed and turned, trying to either find an answer or force to question from her thoughts. Right when she was about to give up and try to get some sleep, she her something outside the door. It sounded like hoofsteps.

She got out of bed and stepped over Fluttershy's sleeping bag. Poking her head out the door to investigate, she could see Roller entering a staircase going down. Curious, she followed him as quiet as she could. Something about the author seemed different, but she couldn't tell what.

A/N: This chapter... is not one of my favorites. Tell me what you think because I don't know whether or not I'm being too harsh on myself.