private Seeds of Beginning

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

OOC

 

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Chapter 1 (Leaving Carbuncle Caves)

 

[Theme: Xenosaga III - In A Limestone Cave]

 

Once again, she was in the confines of one of her many tunnel systems.

 

The ivory-colored Dog crawled through the wide openings in the earth that she had created, lost within her own creations. Was this Tunnel A or Tunnel B? She had tried to draw up a map of these tunnels for ages, but the map always had some inaccuracy when she thought she had it just right. Something as basic as the first two tunnels were missed this time! Or did she confuse them for Tunnels F and J? Bah, why even bother with this nonsense?

 

She was going to remake new tunnels from the ground up! ...Again. But this time, this time, she'd get them right, and make them as simple as possible. None of that unnecessary clutter. 

 

That wasn't for today though. As the day was over, she was begrudgingly heading back to the Carbuncle Caves, where those animals were awaiting her. Beasts of flesh that didn't befit her true heart. 

 

Though she tried to make the journey as slow as possible, she eventually did find her way back, emerging from her usual hole in the cave floor that had a hatch over it. As she crawled out, the canine met with a very unpleasant sight. The sight of her disapproving mother, glaring at her for some wrong-doing... her muscles tensed up. What... what was it this time?

[Klopp 2,050]

The moment she saw Anatase emerge from the hatch, she started flailing her large canine arms about, and shouting like the entire world had just been infected with a planetary cancer. In her typical, unpleasant, shrill voice, of course.

 

"Ana! Where have you been? Are you STILL digging in those horrible caves of yours? And I bet you haven't even returned with any good gems, either. HMPH!"

 

She paused for a just a moment, seemingly to give Anatase a chance to speak, before erupting into the second lap of her infernal tirade.

 

"The Ruby Chief was visiting us, but when we tried to find you, to show your respect and kiss his cheeks, you were nowhere to be found! I can't believe our own daughter has disgraced this family again! If it happens again, I'll throw you out into the surface, and you can live with those despicable ponies for the rest of your life!"

 

At this point she finally finished her screaming, and converted all of her energy into the most ungrateful-looking death-stare that anyone had ever seen. Her paw was tapping ferociously on the floor as if waiting for something. But again, before Anatase could even gather her thoughts, she made one final eruption.

 

"Ana! What do you have to say for yourself?"

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

Her ears flattened themselves against her head immediately in anticipation for this horrendous shriek of a voice. It was something she didn't even have to think about. Throughout the entire tirade, she was merely silent, trying to prevent her increasing stress from escaping her by retaining as neutral a face as she could. Goodness, she hated being called "Ana." It seemed like the perfect syllable to accentuate her angry shrieks.

 

"Well, I uh... I'm sorry I wasn't here. I was just... busy in my room." She really didn't know what more to say in these situations, but sticking to as few words as possible was always best. Just to be silent until it all blew over and then... to avoid the situation completely. After all, this was merely an irrelevant and irritating thorn in her side to deal with these Dogs. Her mind was still revolving around the day's activities; the thoughts of what a possible cutie mark of hers would look like.

[Klopp 2,050]

"BUSY!?"

 

Her annoyingly shrieky voice practically disrupted time and space with that horrendously abrupt exclamation. Her face contorted to show a look of complete disbelief, and she then continued with her unpleasantness.

 

"Busy doing what!? Nothing is more important that showing your respect to the Chief! How else are you going to be graced with his most glorious gems? HMPH! I guess you just don't want any of us to have such fine jewels. I've had enough of you... you can just rot in those caves you love so much more than your family!"

 

She stormed out through the open caves, her tyrannical footsteps echoing all the way back to her room. But not echoing as loudly as the incomprehensible ramblings that seemed to have no end. Surely is her voice were just one more decibel higher the entire cave system would collapse.

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

Anatase merely sighed and shook her head in relief. That didn't go as badly as she expected... in fact, usually, she didn't march off this quickly... so she knew. She knew this would come back to bite her soon enough. It was only the beginning, sadly.

 

But she didn't want to deal with this today. It wasn't too great of a day already. Her creativity was a bit stale, and the few ponies she had seen in the area appeared to be disgruntled about something they were reluctant to discuss. And so, she went off carefully in a different direction as the abhorrent creature, to go catch herself a meal. The Ruby Dog removed a small rodlike instrument from her chest fluff as she headed towards the hunting grounds. The sound of squeaking bats and explosive blasts echoed throughout the chambers.

 

After she caught herself a few bats and devoured them, she made her way back to bed. Strangely, it was quiet. Quite quiet. Perhaps her mother had forgotten about this and she could have peace for once? Yes... perhaps.

[Klopp 2,050]

Meanwhile...

 

He had been in the city for a while, but still there was no new information to be found regarding his own species. Now it was time to leave Manehatten and head to a different city. After awaking and having a deliciously large meal, the Chamrosh said goodbye to those he had met, then took off with his map in hand.

 

He looked at the map and gave himself some ideas on where to go next.

 

I've been to Baltimare, Fillydelphia and now Manehatten. I guess I'll head back to Canterlot and see if Starlight Diamond has found anything yet. What's this place though? Neighagara falls? I guess it wouldn't hurt to visit there for a bit. Sounds like an interesting place.

 

He decided the best way to get there was to head north, and fly along the Crystal Mountains until he reached the river leading to the falls. Who knows? Maybe he would even find something unexpected on the way.

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

 

A small flock of pegasi zoomed past the strange blue... griffon? They weren't sure, but they weren't in the mindset to be mindful of him right now, flying at ridiculously fast speeds with little consideration for what was around them. A female pegasus came lagging behind them sluggishly, sighing and shaking her head.

 

They had been at that excavation site all day working their flanks off until these wee hours of the night, and she was astonished at how the others could just fly off with such vigor and energy. She supposed they were in a hurry to get home, after the disappointing turn of events. Really, the mare couldn't blame them. Weeks had gone by and nopony has been able to replicate the success of the first expedition crew. If only they could go further, excavate more... but that was the territory of those unpleasantly territorial Diamond Dogs. Those unsightly ruffians who cared about nothing more than ge-

 

"Oh!"

 

The pegasus exclaimed in surprise as she found herself colliding with a blue object she thought was far off in the distance. 

 

"I'm so sorry about that. It's been a bit of a rough day, and I just haven't been thinking too much about where I've been going," Once more, she sighed. "If you're heading towards the Carbuncle Excavation Site, you're not in much luck. I think we've pretty much found all there is worth finding." 

[Klopp 2,050]

As he flew along the mountains, there wasn't really much civilization going on around him. But after a while he was surprised to see a group of Pegasi fly by, considering there seemed to be nothing of interest in the area. At least not that he knew of. He just watched them as they flew along, cause it seemed they weren't in any sort of mood to converse or even say hello. He just continued on at his leisurely pace.

 

I wonder what these Pegasus are doing here, anyways. Maybe I missed something inter- "Ahck! My butt!"

 

He turned around to see a clumsy Pegasus, who immediately apologized and started saying something about some Carbunkle Excavation Site? He liked the sound of that, so he wanted to take a look for himself.

 

"Oh, no need to apologize, it's just a simple mistake and you look very tired anyways. So anyways, I'm curious about this Carbuncle Excavation Site. I didn't come here for it, but it sounds like it might be interesting to have a look there. Would you mind showing me where it is? Oh, and my name's Lunaris, by the way."

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

 

"You mean... you don't know? I guess it hasn't really spread as much as I thought.. consider yourself lucky though," The exasperation on her face became extremely apparent with that statement. "Oh yes, my name's Nimbus Sol. Nice to meet you, Mr. Lunaris." 

 

Nimbus attempted to bow her head politely, but for the slight second it wasn't pointing forward, it collided with a particularly fluffy cloud as she coughed and batted it out of the way with her hooves. The mare chuckled embarassedly, blushing like a tomato before attempting to disregard the situation as though it had never happened.

 

"As I was saying, um. Well... I'm not sure you want to go there. We just had a run-in with some very nasty and territorial Diamond Dogs. All we were trying to do was expand our excavation and... uh... well... those ruffians chased us away when we dug up one of their gems on accident. We tried to explain the situation, but I... oh! I'm sorry. I've started ranting about it. I apologize for my rudeness. I suppose I could take you if you're really sure you want to go."

[Klopp 2,050]

"Diamond Dogs, you say?"

 

He was remembering what he had heard of the Diamond Dogs. Cave-digging, gem obsessed canines that walked on two legs. While it seemed like a huge over-exaggeration, all he had been told was that they were very rude, unpleasant, creatures. He had always wanted to meet them, and see for himself. Besides, his curiosity about other species was almost as strong as the curiosity for his own.

 

"I've never met them before, but I've been curious what they are like in person. Even if they are as rude as I've heard, I'd at least like to see for myself. So, yes, I really am sure I want to go there."

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

 

"Well... all right. I'll take you there, but I have to be back home soon, so I'll have to leave afterwards. Not to be rude or anything," Nimbus bowed her head again and this time managed to dodge a cloud from colliding with it, as she turned straight back around and sighed silently to herself. The pegasus led Lunaris at a quicker pace than she usually flew (although not too quickly as she wasn't sure how well he could keep up) back towards the Carbuncle Excavation Site. 

 

As they approached the area, the mare looked up at the clouds and stars in the sky, and immediately became rather alert and jumpy.

 

"O-oh! I... it's getting very late. And well.. oh my, I'm so sorry. I have to get going right now. I'm sorry I couldn't help you out more, but it's not too far now! Just keep heading straight ahead towards the ground there. It was so nice to havemetyouLunaris!" she pointed south of their direction and proceeded to zoom off as quickly as her pegasus bretheren had, leaving the err... "griffon" alone.

 

Somewhere not too far from him were specks near the excavated ground. Specks of strange two-legged creatures... one dressed extremely ornately as a rather disgruntled one, what appeared to be Anatase's mother, glared at him imploringly as he rolled his eyes.

 

"Yes... I see your concerns, Labradora. The ponies are... getting very uncomfortably close, indeed. I thought we had made it clear to them that they weren't to come near our territory, but...  you aren't in any position to be making such requests. Your daughter has brought great disrespect to the Ruby Chief lineage and he is deeply offended still."

[Klopp 2,050]

"Thanks for taking me! I'll be fine on my own!"

 

He yelled back at her loudly, as she flew off before he had a chance to give her a more quiet thanks. Once he flew in her direction he noticed the bipedal canines, conversing with each other and talking about the ponies. It was immediately clear that they were a very territorial species. The one kind of species Lunaris doesn't really get along with too well. He decided to just float nearby, and listen to what they were saying. The boisterous Labradora began to speak, or more appropriately shriek, to the other Diamond Dog.

 

"Don't talk to me about my daughter! I cannot control her any more than I can control the clouds! She isn't even a Ruby Dog, as far as I'm concerned. But that isn't important! We have to get rid of these ponies before they run us out of the caves! We need to attack them the next time they show up, or we will lose our homes!"

 

It was time for Lunaris to leave. After hearing all that, he decided it best to avoid any sort of contact with these 'Ruby Dogs'. Just from this little observation, he knew he wouldn't be welcomed at all. But, it was getting close to bed time. It was best he find a place to sleep nearby, rather than flying through the whole night. He found a large tree, overlooking a cliff face, and nestled himself in the branches to begin his nap.

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

It wasn't that long that the mostly nocturnal Anatase had awoken again from her slumber. Nor was it that long ago that she had gotten started with her activities. She knew that around this time when she woke up, the ponies weren't really around. They were only awake during a small window of her day, sadly. But that didn't stop her from making yet another attempt to revamp her tunnel systems. Digging and digging and digging along! ...Goodness, it was frustrating. Already, she was starting to get lost... 

 

Gah! Almost at the surface again, she could see. The dirt was starting to get lighter. But that was all right. She could take a look at the stars, maybe find some breakfast... perhaps it would clear her mind as to how to rearrange these tunnels properly.

 

---

 

"I don't like those ponies either, but I think that it would be a little... brash to fight them directly. However, I will share your concerns with the Ruby Chief to see what he truly says. Perhaps we can come up with a reasonable compromise to just scare the ponies off our territory. And perhaps as well... I can present your concerns to him in a more... favorable light if your daughter comes to show her respect before his Greatness. Until then, I'm afraid it will have to take a lower priority." The ornately-dressed Ruby Dog's voice took on a rather snarky tone as he sneered in her direction.

 

"Now... if there isn't anything more..." 

 

At just that moment, it was speak of Tartarus as the young Dog emerged from the ground before the ornately dressed Ruby Chief's attendant... and... oh boy. Her... mother. She quickly made to turn tail back into the tunnels before they saw her. Before she had to deal with any nonsense so early in the day.

[Klopp 2,050]

Labradora was not pleased. She glared with ferocity at the innocent dog, but there was nothing she could say to change his mind... but that didn't stop her from trying.

 

"Good! Make sure you tell him exactly what I said! That we need to fight them off, or they will continue to bother us! We might be killed if we don't act now!"

 

Labradora was finally done with her yelling. She turned just in time to see the head of a young Anatase, quickly ducking into the earth. Her temperament levels suddenly shot to the moon and beyond.

 

"ANA! What are you doing here, bothering me! Can't you see I'm busy with Sir Cummington! Get back up here, I want to see you when I am talking to you!"

 

In the distance, the sleeping Lunaris was bothered by the loud screaming, and he fell out of the tree with a powerful 'thud' as he hit the ground. He thought he had flown far enough away to avoid this happening, but these latest screeches tore through the mountains like an earthquake. She practically sounded like she was right next to him. He decided since he couldn't avoid it, he might as well get closer and find out what this woman was so angry about.

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

The young Ruby Dog slowly poked her head back up as all of her muscles tensed up. No, not now... not today. It wasn't a good time. Although... when was it ever a good time to get screamed at? Her body was still partially submerged so that she could flee if it became appropriate. And it seemed like it might become appropriate soon, as she was sure she probably walked in on her complaining to this attendant.

 

Sir Cummington turned his head back around to face them in interest, his pointed ears piqued.

 

"Hmm...? And this is the one who was too good for his Greatness? My word, Labradora... this pup is out of your control. Look at these rags," he continued to sneer in that typical way that Anatase despised. That way those higher in Ruby Dog society tended to. But she kept silent as she was used to. Just take the beating and get out quickly.

 

"I suppose you were right not to bring her though! Trying to run away from a member of the Chief's Council! What a lack of respect... a lack of manners. Yes, she doesn't deserve to see the Ruby Chief. I am insulted merely by her presence!" He waved his arms around with vast theatrical gestures now. Here it was. The over the top performance too.

 

"I'm sorry to say that due to this intrusion... I will have to put your concerns on far far.... lower on my priority list," Cummington bowed rather briskly, a sign of disrespect in their society as he did not perform the usual overly complex rituals for leaving an area, before retreating back into the caves.

[Klopp 2,050]

"WHAAAAAAAAT!?"

 

The bitch's loud screech reached at least a hundred fifty decibels, enough to all but rupture Lunaris' eardrum. He quickly covered his ears with his talons, but a bit too late. The ringing in his ears had already started, and it was almost as if he had been just a few feet away from an explosion. These ruby dogs must have the most powerful lungs in all of Equestria.

 

Labradora watched as Sir Cummington left, then after he was out of sight she turned to Anatase. She glared with that horribly unpleasant glare, the one where she tilts her head slightly forward and gazes just over the rim of her glasses. The stare continued for a lengthy period of silence, then suddenly out of nowhere, with absolutely no warning..."

 

"Ana! I've had enough of you, disrespecting me, our family, and the ENTIRE Ruby Dog Clan! You are not worthy of your own skin! You are worth less than those pony scum... even worse than the greedy Griffons and Dragons! How could I give birth to such a pile of scum!? You... you are not my daughter any longer!"

 

Lunaris watched as the whole thing played out. This Labradora was completely unreasonable. No, they were more than unreasonable, the words escaping from her mouth were nothing but pure bile. He felt bad for the young dog, as it was clear she did nothing more than just... appear. If that were all that was worthy of guilt, the whole world would be in a cage.

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

It was true. Her temper was getting agitated, but Anatase had heard these words countless times before and the effect wasn't as potent. "This bitch is wrong, this bitch is wrong, this bitch is wrong... words full of nonsense," she had to keep saying in her mind. Because a small part of her kept trying to believe it was true. The only part that was true, in her mind, was that she was never her daughter to begin with. This Dog didn't deserve the title of mother.

 

"Are you done?" She had wanted to say so much more, as always. It was that urge to scream back and argue and fight. But it was pointless, as it would only make the situation worse. However, just leaving in the middle of her tirade would also make the situation worse, as she had experienced several times in the past. That is why she always asked this simple question. A question that was wrought with as much neutrality as she could muster, though some anger always slipped into her tone.

[Klopp 2,050]

"Don't you give me that tone again! You act like you aren't even a part of this family, and you're right! You are too ignorant of our own people, too disrespectful of our values, and you reject everything you have been taught!

 

Her tone got stronger with each word, and that pace of her voice got faster as she was simply getting fed up with Anatase, and her 'disrespect' for her family. She was thinking about how their family was in such high standing before Anatase got to a certain age.

 

"Everything was fine before you were born... we were appreciated and admired by many of the clan. But once you came our society began to see us as lower class Dogs! I want it to be back the way it was, but I can't as long as you are here! I've finally had enough with you! I don't care what you do, you can go live with those gruesome ponies, but I don't want to see you again!"

 

Lunaris couldn't believe what he was hearing. This ignorant bitch was spewing out so much nonsense. He didn't know anything about the Ruby Dog society, but surely Anatase couldn't have done anything so terrible. He decided that once the nasty bitch was gone, that he would follow the girl and try to speak with her. After all, she seemed like she could use a friend.

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

She groaned and rolled her eyes, then decided that now was the point to leave this scolding bitch behind, and burrowed back underground before anything really happened. Restraining the urge to shout back yet again...

 

How exhausting it was to have to hear this every few weeks. But again, it wasn't the first time. Blah blah, you are a disrespect to your species, blah blah, just like those dirty Diamond Dogs. Although this time, she was compared to those ponies... yes. It would be nice to live with them, to be one! Perhaps they had some magic spell that could permanently alter her into a pony and then she would never have to return here again.

 

Being a little hasty though. It wasn't like that would ever be possible. Just born unlucky, into this terrible society of beasts. Beasts that lurked underground like some cockroaches, cloaked in darkness. Not frolicking during the day, with the natural magic of a horn, or the beautiful mark of personality. Anything else had to be better than this! Especially.. being a unicorn.

 

Anatase was blindly burrowing through the ground, too distracted by her thoughts as she began to get more and more distressed, before she hit the surface again... her head thunking against something rather hard.

[Klopp 2,050]

Lunaris didn't get his chance to talk to the young girl, like he had wanted to. She burrowed into the ground he even the Bitch left the scene. She started screaming obscenities, as she flung her arms around and walked back to the caves. He started looking around to see if he could stop her popping out somewhere, but there was no telling where she might appear.

 

 

Back with Anatase, her head just happened to pop up underneath the hoof of a very gruff looking pony. He was very large and muscular, and he wasn't pleased by this sudden thing emerging and making him lose his balance. He lifted up his hoof and stepped back to get a closer look at whatever the hell it was, and he immediately recognized it as one of those unpleasant 'Diamond' Dogs.

 

"You! What are you doing? Trying to scare us off again? You stupid Diamond Dogs are so selfish, not even letting us explore a few caves. We are just trying to learn about these mountains! Is that so much to ask for? Now, I'll give you a chance to get out of my site, otherwise you'll regret showing your face here."

 

The other ponies behind him were hollering in agreement, everyone scowling, some spitting at the ground near Anatase's head. They all had a look of disgust, like she was the most hideous thing they had ever laid eyes on.

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

Anatase reeled from the impact of the very hard hoof hitting her head, stroking her mane with her paws. It took her several seconds of shaking off the sudden headache to perceive what was happening.  The ponies were staring at her hostilely, and she heard a very mean-sounding, scary voice threatening her. They... didn't like her? Because she was one of... one of those ugly things. She rubbed her eyes with her fingers, shaking off the dreadful feeling that was starting to wash over her. The thing she had kind of thought of, but hadn't really realized before... that they might not accept her because of the way she was.

 

"I... I'm not..." Those were the only words she could muster, in a quiet timid tone as she laid before the ground, helpless to the ponies' anger.

[Klopp 2,050]

The entire group scoffed at this Dog, just the site of her was as displeasing to them as a bucket of urine being dumped over their head. They've tried so hard to communicate, socialize and befriend the Dogs, but to no avail. They always refuse their friendship, and chase them off. But now it was time to turn the tides on them. The gruff pony spoke again.

"Your not what? Not like the others? Of course you are, your not even worthy of talking to us Ponies! You Dogs are always disrespecting us, and refusing to even speak with us in a civil manner! Just screaming at us because we stepped on your precious soil. I can't stand that kind of snobbery!"

 

In the meantime, Lunaris was still searching. He went back to the cliff face from before, climbing into the large tree he slept in to get a good view of what was going on. If he looked hard enough, he was bound to spot her... provided she had surfaced, that is.

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

"P-please... "

 

Her throat was choking up a bit more, as it became harder and harder to restrain the overwhelming emotions washing over her. Thoughts were rushing through her mind at the speed of light and not the largest force of mind could control them. Anatase could only skitter away slowly for a few moments, before the collective gaze of the angered ponies drove her to her limits. Her nervousness was wracking up far too high as she pulled herself up with her arms and fled. She fled in disgrace, trying to put as much distance as she could between herself and the ponies. Her mind could only think of her hatred of what she was, and why she couldn't be more than that. Why she couldn't surpass the limits of this damned form!

 

The tears were flowing freely and the area around her was nothing more than a blur. But she didn't care where she was going, because she had no idea where or what she would do now. It didn't matter. Perhaps someone else would've told her it was silly to get so worked up about this, but to hear the first words those she had admired be those of spite... the only thing she looked forward to, the only semblance of friendship... it felt like everything was going to collapse.

 

And... it did.

 

Literally.

 

As she had been running, Anatase did not notice that the ground beneath her crumbling. She had run right up to the edge of a cliff with a very unstable foundation and quickly tried to claw herself away from the dropping rocks. But it was too late. The whole earth beneath her collapsed and fell, and her shrieks echoed through the valley. 

[Klopp 2,050]

"Yeah, you run away! And tell your ugly friends to leave us ponies alone!"

 

Those were the last words out of the gruff stallions mouth, before Arylett fled into a random direction. Little did she know, this direction just happened to be towards a certain blue Chamrosh. Though he was perched in his tree searching for her, he didn't quite notice her until she was remarkably close to the cliff face, running straight for it. He didn't know whether she had noticed it or not, but he couldn't let her simply fall to her death before he could even say 'hello.'

 

As the earth started to crumble beneath her, he took off from his perch and flew down as fast as he could. Fortunately he was fast enough, and she only fell short distance before he managed to swoop in beneath her and catch her on his back. He would rather make sure she is safe before saying anything, so he flew up onto the land above the cliff and landed with a bit of a thud, due to the extra weight he was carrying. He turned his head around and spoke to her.

 

"Are you okay? I didn't hurt you at all, did I?"

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

She was stunned for several moments at what had occurred. It all happened too quickly for her mind to catch up, and she couldn't respond until she could take in his existence, where she was, and what words he had even spoken. 

 

Without responding, she stumbled off of him vaguely drunkenly and fell to the floor, breathing heavily.

 

"I... I'm... okay," Anatase gasped breathily, as she tried to scrape at the ground with her paws.  A few chunks of rock broke off ominously, and she stopped. The feeling of wanting to be alone was quite powerful. She needed to recompose herself, to escape from... whatever this stranger was. Yet at the same time, she was lonely and didn't want to go back there. She simply pulled herself up slowly by her arms again, and stood there on all fours, looking down at the earth beneath her. Tears flowed from her eyes and she shut them.