“Ha! So much shiny stuff in here!”

Ruffles the Diamond Dog excitedly scooped pawfuls of jewelry into the sack he was carrying; these glowing ponies sure had a lot of shiny things. There were gems of all shapes, sizes and colours and all of them would be delicious for sure. He was lucky that the first building he went into was a jewelry store, the rest of his pack splitting up to scour the defenseless city for anything valuable. The Alpha had been surprised when he had heard of a crystal city that had just appeared out of nowhere but it had proved to be true, it was only a short distance from the den as well. Ruffles was not worried about such details however, he was enjoying looting the store. He would enjoy it a lot more if it wasn’t for the pony whimpering in the corner.

“Shut up pony!” Ruffles yelled at the light-blue mare, the pony huddling itself into the corner. Ruffles paused his looting as a thought occurred to him. If these ponies looked like gems, did that mean that they tasted like gems as well? Ruffles decided that it would be worth the five minutes to find out. The mare only increased its whining as he walked over towards it, the diamond dog crouching down in front of the pony.

“You look like gem pony,” Ruffles observed, “do you taste like gem too? Because stealing make me hungry,” the Mare’s eyes widened as she looked at the Diamond Dog in fear.

“Please, please don’t hurt me you can take any jewels that you want!” the pony pleaded as Ruffles sniffed the air.

“Step away from the pony you filthy canine!”

Ruffles bolted upright as the voice sounded behind him. The dog grabbed his spear as he whirled around, expecting to find a guard pony behind him. Instead the startled dog found an armour-clad, mostly hairless two-legged creature holding a large mace that looked incredibly displeased.

“What do you want hairless monster?” Ruffles asked as he pointed his spear at the creature. The creature smiled at the question and pointed towards its mace.

“Oh, I just came down because I wanted to make sure you were having a smashingly good time.” Ruffle’s tiny brain was so caught up trying to figure out what the creature was talking about that he didn’t notice the rapidly oncoming mace.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Nigel smiled as his weapon connected with the dog’s armoured torso propelling the hapless raider through the shop’s window. The sound of pained yelps accompanied by the smashing of glass filled the air as the dog and numerous glass shards fell onto the street outside.

Private Sharp Point emerged from behind the Emperor trying to figure out whether the human needed any help. Judging from the joyful smile that the ruler was sporting as he watched the injured dog attempt to crawl away from the shop he doubted it.

“Stay here and help the lady Private,” the Emperor ordered as Sharp Point glanced at the mare, “I’ve got to attend to our esteemed guest.”

With these words the Emperor stepped through the broken window, glass crunching beneath his boots as he began to move towards the Diamond dog, the canine trying to crawl away using his front paws. Sharp Point moved over towards the shopkeeper cautiously, the mare sobbing in the corner of her wrecked store.

“It’s okay miss, the dog is gone now and I’ll stop anymore from getting in” the Private reassured as he patted the civilian on the back.

“What is the Emperor going to do?” the mare asked, halting her sobbing as she went to glance out of the window. She was stopped when Sharp Point blocked her view, the guard guessing what was about to happen.

“I don’t really know miss,” Private Sharp Point answered, “but I don’t really want to find out.”

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Nigel smirked as the injured dog attempted to escape, the mace hit to the torso of the animal really doing a fair amount of damage. A trail of blood lead from the dog’s original landing point to its current position in the middle of the street. While Nigel did want to draw this out for as long as possible he knew that he would be more useful elsewhere so he had to make this quick. Striding over towards the wounded canine he stopped it by placing an armoured foot in the dog’s matted tail, the creature rotating its head to look up at the Emperor in terror.

“Play dead” Nigel ordered merrily as he brought his mace down upon the dog’s head, the steel weapon easily cracking the skull of the raider releasing a foul mix of blood and brain matter onto the street. Taking a moment to clean his weapon on the corpse’s filthy brown vest Nigel wondered how Reflection was fairing with the Equestrians up in the palace.

‘Eh,’ he shrugged as he walked down the street in search of new prey, ‘I’m sure she’ll be doing fine."

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Reflection was not happy, not one bit.

After Nigel had once again left to fight things she was left in a room surrounded by nobles, guards and to top it all of the Princess of the country that the changelings tried to invade. Celestia was still sipping her tea, the cup long since empty and the nobility from both cities were shifting uncomfortably.

“Are you sure these Crystal ponies are able to protect us adequately Auntie?” Reflection looked towards the blond unicorn stallion that radiated arrogance as his pompous voice broke the silence. “They certainly don’t seem to able to protect their own city!”

“Unlike the impenetrable fortress that is Canterlot?” Reflection snapped, all eyes in the room focusing on the changeling after her outburst. Realizing what she had just said in the presence of a Princess of Equestria Reflection paled, sinking down into her chair. Celestia gazed at her with an even look, the changeling unable to tell what the Princess was thinking. Clearing her throat Celestia placed her long-empty tea cup on the table as she turned towards the unicorn who had spoken.

“Prince Blueblood,” Celestia addressed, “I have the upmost fate in the Crystal Empire guards to ensure our safety.” The Princess smiled at the Crystal ponies surrounding the room, the multiple guards all armed to the teeth with their combination axe-spears. “I’m sure that the Emperor has everything under control and the situation will be resolved peacefully.”

Reflection shifted uncomfortably in her seat. ‘Peaceful’ would not be the word she would use, Nigel seemed like a compassionate Emperor but if something threatened his subjects Reflection doubted he would talk it out. Prince Blueblood however seemed to have the same concerns, except the Prince decided to voice his.

“I for one think the Emperor is a complete psychopath, all creatures that look like that can only have a mind focused on violence” the prince stated with his nose in the air. He was oblivious to the glares of the Crystal guards surrounding the table; all of the soldiers shifting their magical assisted grips on their weapons. Celestia and her four guards however were not.

“Blueblood, the Emperor seems to be a perfectly balanced and fair ruler,” Celestia replied in an attempt to defuse the situation. The Princess looked towards Reflection, “I’m sure that Miss Reflection here wouldn’t mind if we observed from a balcony how Emperor Chalmers deals with such issues. A ruler such of himself should have all of the trouble sorted by know and I’m sure the Diamond Dogs will have given in to his stern demeanor.”

Reflection spluttered as the Princess left her seat, the large pony moving towards the stairs leading upstairs. The changeling was completely lost, her mind blanking as the Princess looked to her. Without noticing it Reflection found herself nodding her head, Celestia giving her a warm smile as the Princess and nobility headed upstairs escorted by the Crystal Guards. Reflection started to panic as she comprehended what had just happened, the changeling bolting out of her seat after them.

“No no no no no no no no!” she repeated to herself as she raced up the stairs fearful of what the Equestrians would witness. She was far too late however, bursting out of the first balcony doors she ran out into the midst of the horrified group of ponies as crazed laughter echoed up from the center square. Walking forward slowly until she was next to the shell-shocked Princess Reflection swallowed the lump in her throat and looked over the edge of the balcony just in time to witness the Bloodstained Emperor collapse the skull of a Diamond Dog with his new mace, causing red gore to spray into the air like a morbid water-fountain.

“Oh yes!” Nigel’s voice rang out from the courtyard, “that right there was A-MACE-ING!”

________________________________________________________________________________________

“Ah, this is how rulers should solve all of their problems,” Nigel commented happily as he stepped over the Dog’s twitching body. So far his mace, which he had dubbed ‘Macey’, had tasted the blood of twenty-seven dogs so far. All of them had been in some state of pillaging and looting, the animals so stupid that they hadn’t even checked to see if the local guard was incapacitated. So when a steel-clad human showed up wielding a mace they were easy pickings, not that they had a chance to begin with.

The Crystal guards had been holding their own as well, Nigel having passed multiple groups of dead raiders lying in pools of blood. The Dogs had obviously been expecting a defenseless city full of innocent ponies, instead receiving a city filled with a small but competent force of soldiers not afraid to kill for their Emperor. Nigel felt a twinge of pride as he spotted a dog rooted to the spot staring at the cooling corpse Chalmers had just finished with. Nigel looked towards his mace as he patted it with a glove.

“Well Macey, it’s been a fun time but I think I should see other weapons,” Nigel placed the mace in the holder on his back before drawing his sword from its scabbard. “Well, I hope Macey won’t be sword about this but I think you deserve a slice of the action ‘Stabslana’,” the Emperor cooed as he advanced towards the paralyzed dog. He stopped in front of the canine, the terrified mutt having pissed itself. Nigel smiled at the being which came up to his chest, lifting the brown dog’s chin up with the point of his sword.

“Now tell me Rover, why did you decide to attack my city?” the dog whimpered as it tore it’s gaze from the body of its friend towards the hairless creature asking the question.

“Name’s not Rover-“

“I don’t give a Fuck if your name is Sparkles or Tintin or Fluffy!” Nigel yelled as he booted the dog in the knee with his foot, the dog screaming In pain as the steel boot shattered his knee. The canine dropped to the ground as he cradled his ruined limb in his large paws. Nigel crouched down, tapping his sword against his thigh.

“You attacked my city so the only thing that you are now is my Bitch,” Nigel stated in a business-like tone. “Now let me give you a little backstory here,” Chalmers continued as the dog looked up at the human in fear, “as part of military intelligence I became privy to some very interesting ways of ‘information gathering’ and let me tell you, Bitch,” Nigel placed his sword against the dog’s groin, “I’m not afraid to use them on you.”

“No, I tell you everything!” the dog pleaded, “Alpha told us that pony city full of gems and weak ponies, we go in and steal gems and ponies and bring back to den, that all Alpha tell us!”

“Well, that just ruins all of the fun,” Nigel lamented as he moved the sword away from the dog’s crotch and back up to its throat. “Just one more thing,” the dog looked up at the grinning human with hope, “you got something stuck in your throat.”

With a single thrust Nigel buried his sword into the dog’s throat, the hapless canine thrashing as it gurgled on its own blood. With the same grin he had been sporting for the entire conversation Nigel held the piece of steel in until the corpse stopped twitching. Sighing he pulled the blade from body and stood up, once again using the clothing of his enemy to clean his weapon. Popping his back he turned to hunt for more friends, however a girlish squealing coming from above him caused him to turn around.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Reflection stared mouth agape at the Equestrian Prince who had screamed like a little filly at the sight of the dog’s execution. Granted it had also disturbed Reflection but she hadn’t reacted like a school filly. Celestia had not changed her expression since she had seen the first killing, the Princess looking like she was attempting to capture flies in her mouth. As Reflection was about to defend her Emperor’s actions to the Princess she noticed that Celestia’s eyes widened at a sight down in the courtyard. Reflection hesitantly looked over the balcony to where the Princess was staring.

Nigel was standing over the body of the dog doing what could only be described as a jig. The fact that the Emperor was able to seemingly pull off a perfect dance routine dressed in full-plate armour covered in gore was impressive but somehow Reflection got the idea that Celestia would not exactly see it that way. Reflection took a deep breath; evidently diplomacy was not the human’s strong suit. She tapped Celestia on the shoulder, the Princess looking at the changeling with a terrified expression planted on the Alicorn’s face.
“Uh, you see,” Reflection began as she rubbed the back of her head with a hoof, “Nigel’s really nice once you get to know him…”

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Leaving the courtyard after preforming his victory dance, Nigel followed his pyscho sense towards the next fight. Okay, he followed the sounds of battle but ‘hearing’ and ‘psycho sense’ is pretty much the same thing.

The streets had been emptied, all of the Crystal ponies either barricading themselves in their homes or taking shelter in the palace. While he was enjoying the chance to slaughter hapless imbeciles he still felt concern for the lives of his subjects. The Diamond Dogs seemed to be more interested in stealing anything shiny then attacking his subje-

“Hang on,” Nigel said to himself as he stopped walking, “my subjects are shiny, well, most of them…”

“HEEELLLP!”

The piercing scream of a mare re-jolted Nigel’s train of thought, the Emperor pointing his sword towards the source which was also where the sound of fighting was originating from.

“That’s right, I was going to slaughter some more!” He shouted as he ran towards the brawl, howls of dying dogs guiding his way.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Captain Strategy removed his sword from the dog’s chest, his enchanted sword piercing through the crude iron armour with ease. The dog grunted as it fell, Strategy glancing down at it disdainfully as it died. All around him guards fought with the bipedal savages, the new halberds that the Emperor had designed proving to be horrific weapons. Thanks to their superior armour and training the Crystal guards had only suffered a few casualties, all of them with wounds which were not life-threating. The Captain paused for a moment as he observed the melee; every other area of the city had been swept clean with no mercy shown to the invaders.

The training that the guards had gone through with the supervision of the Emperor proved to be worth it, every guard working in perfect synchronization with their fellows. Strategy watched on as two ponies armed with halberds fended off three dogs as a Changeling soldier stood behind the protective points and shot bolts of magic at the dogs, dropping all three.

“HEEELLLP!”

Strategy whirled around to face the shout, a small group of dogs making off with a flailing mare. The Captain adjusted his helmet and galloped towards the fleeing group. It was time to be a hero and prove himself to the Emperor. The dog holding the mare noticed the stallion chasing him and increased his speed as he bolted towards the end of the street, the edge of the protective dome only a few meters away.

“DEMARCIA!”

Strategy watched in amazement as the Emperor jumped out of a darkened alley and tackled the surprised dog around the mid-section smashing the canine into a wall. With practiced skill the Emperor caught the flailing mare in his arms, smearing Diamond Dog blood on the mare’s lilac coat as Strategy stopped running as he reached his ruler. The Emperor looked at the pony in his arms, the mare breathing heavily after her experience.

“It’s okay miss, you’re safe now,” Chalmers comforted the mare as she struggled to regain control of her breathing.

“I’m covered in blood though,” answered the pony as she raised a blood stained hoof up to her eyes.

“Don’t worry, it’s not yours,” the Emperor replied, looking towards his Captain of the guard, “the charming Captain Strategy here will ensure you get somewhere safe.” The Emperor flashed Strategy a grin, holding out the mare as he stood up from the ground. The Captain had only enough time to sit back on his rump and extend his fore-legs before the Emperor essentially flung the mare on top on him, Strategy catching the mare perfectly. Unfortunately the weight of the mare caused him to fall back, Captain Strategy ending up sprawled out underneath the mare in the least-heroic position possible.

Captain Strategy had no time to complain however, several Crystal guards galloping towards the Emperor with weary expressions on their faces. Chalmers gave the groaning dog a kick as he turned to face the oncoming soldiers.

“Emperor Chalmers!” one of the guards, a Corporal judging from her armour decals yelled as she halted in front of Nigel panting with exhaustion. “A few of the dogs made off with some citizens, we tried to follow but we lost them in the snow,” the mare sat down on the road, the four privates behind her also bowing their heads in shame. “We failed you Commander, you and those ponies.” The Emperor crouched down and patted the mare on her helmet, the dejected soldier raising her head as the Emperor smiled down at her.

“It’s okay Sergeant, we’ll head out after them and hunt those dogs down,” Nigel said as he helped the guard to her hooves. “Besides,” he continued as he gestured towards the unconscious Diamond Dog, “I’m sure our dear friend here will be happy to assist us with tracking down our citizens.” Strategy, the mare and the guards all watched as the Emperor placed the dog’s arms over his shoulders as he hefted the creature and began to walk back towards the palace.

“Of course he may need some motivation but I seem to remember that the kitchen has a large assortment of potato peelers so I’m sure we’ll get the location of the lair.” Sergeant Opal Blitz glanced at her Captain, the stallion trapped under a lilac mare as he stared after the Emperor. Opal sighed, turning towards the four guards that had accompanied her.

“You heard the Emperor, we have to get that information and he’ll need our help.” All the ponies glanced down the street the Emperor had departed down, merrily humming a jolly tune as the diamond dog bounced along the ground behind him.
“I think…”

______________________________________________________________________________________________

“Princess Celestia, I really must apologize for Nigel’s actions-“

“I understand Reflection,” Celestia replied with an even voice, “I know some ponies-“

“He’s not a ‘pony’ your highness,” Reflection corrected sharply, the Equestrian’s constant ponifying of words really getting on her nerves during the day. Celestia sighed as she stopped at the bottom of the stairs with her accompanying Nobles in tow.

“I know that, Changeling, but as I was saying somethings have different cultures and I can respect that. Even though your Emperor is certainly… unique in his mannerisms I can’t deny that he does seem to have the interest of his subjects so I see no use in focusing on past… issues,” the Princess shuddered as she remembered the sights she had seen before. The Princess was no stranger to bloodshed but that was, that was something else entirely. “The agreement has already been signed, with the news that the crisis in your city has been solved we shall return to Equestria immediately.”

Reflection let out a relieved breath, all of the time spent in the presence of the Equestrians had really been a strain on her nerves. While the Princess was cordial the nobility had been insufferable, especially that stuck up Prince Blueblood. Granted since Nigel has killed those dogs the prince had been rather quiet which Reflection was eternally grateful for. Her sharp correction of Celestia a moment ago really drove home that the changeling was not meant for diplomacy.

“I’m sorry your visit had to end so early,” Reflection forced out as she gave the Princess a fake smile.

“It’s fine, please tell the Emperor that it was a terrible shame that our meeting was interrupted by such an occurrence, please let him know that he is welcome in my kingdom anyti-“

The Princess was interrupted as the main doors were opened, a flock of Crystal guards rushing into the palace with the majority covered in blood, carrying gore-streaked weapons. They rushed past the group of startled Equestrians, the foreign ponies unused to seeing such signs of violence.

“God-damnit! The hell does this fat-arse eat!?”

As he entered the Palace dragging an unconscious Diamond Dog the Emperor waved at Celestia, pausing to wipe some sweat from his brow.

“Going so soon Princess?” The Emperor questioned with a massive grin on his face. Celestia kept up her mask as she observed the armoured human standing tall covered in copious amounts of gore.

“Yes, I do have a country to run after all,” Celestia finished as she forced out a nervous giggle. Nigel laughed along with her, only stopping to pick his prisoner up.

“I know how that is, well I've got a prisoner to interrogate so I’ll see you later,” Nigel replied as he started to drag the dog into the dining room as the Equestrians watched on.

“Cook!” the Emperor yelled out as he entered the room. “Bring me your bluntest potato skinner; we have a Diamond Dog den to find!”

Celestia decided that right now was the perfect time to leave, the nobles all pushing to leave the palace as soon as possible as the sound of demented laughter filled the air.