Standing in the doorway, Tarnish looked at Doctor Hedge. The good doctor was giving him an apologetic look as he stood just a few short feet away. Tarnish gave the doctor a nod and waited for an explanation as to why he was here.

“I’m very sorry to bother you,” Doctor Hedge began, “but there has been a bit of a problem. The townsponies are scared… there’s somepony… eh, well, there is somebody new in town. She claims to know you. Her name is Buttons.” The doctor finished speaking his words with a sigh.

“Buttons?” Tarnish stepped forwards, not quite believing what he was hearing.

“Like I said, I’m sorry. I understand that there is a bit of a family crisis, but I needed to find out more about her. She came here because she heard about you, with you being famous and all.”

“Buttons is a good dog,” Tarnish said to the doctor in a low voice. “She’s harmless… she wouldn’t hurt anypony. Can you take me to her? Do you plan to make her leave? You shouldn’t make her leave, she’s lonely and she needs friends… she could be a member of this community. She won’t hurt anypony—”

“I wasn’t going to do anything until I came and talked to you,” Doctor Hedge said to Tarnish. “Are you willing to vouch for her?”

“Well of course I am,” Tarnish replied. He stepped outside and pulled the door shut behind him. “What sort of question is that, anyway?”

“Son, most diamond dogs ain’t friendly.” Doctor Hedge’s bushy eyebrows furrowed and he shook his head. “They’re dangerous. I have to think of everypony’s needs. Now, she seems nice enough, but I had to be cautious, you understand?”

Feeling somewhat irritated, Tarnish nodded, understanding all too well. The world was not always a kind place, most diamond dogs were probably awful, and Tarnish couldn’t fault Doctor Hedge for keeping everypony in town safe. Still, it felt unfair and it bothered him that Buttons was discriminated against.

“She was hoping to see you when you came back from wherever it is that you was.” Doctor Hedge’s furrowed eyebrows relaxed a bit and his wizened old face sagged. “I’ve been letting her stay out in the old stone quarry, the one that flooded. She’s got lots of water to drink and fish and frogs to eat. So far, she’s kept to herself.”

Turning his head, Tarnish looked at the door, feeling torn. Pinkie needed him, but so did Buttons. Pinkie had Maud and her whole family. Buttons had… well, Buttons had nopony. Tarnish leveled his gaze upon Doctor Hedge.

“I am ready to go,” Tarnish said, wishing that he had some old used toothbrushes to bring to Buttons, knowing that they would make her happy. He let heave a wistful sigh, shook his head, and watched as Doctor Hedge turned about to go.

Tarnish moved with the steady assurance of a seasoned cross country traveler. He moved at a brisk pace, leaving the good doctor behind a bit, and trotted over the treacherous ground, his hooves never slipping. He pronked from rock to rock, galloped over the gravel, and pranced along the precarious path with practiced ease, only pausing to look behind him and check upon the doctor.

Moving over the open ground, Tarnish was in his element, and he was unaware at how much he had changed from the colt he used to be when his journey started. His time with Maud had changed him, and his time spent around earth ponies had even changed his mannerisms. He moved like they did over the treacherous ground, never slipping, never missing, and even pronking with ease, never missing his intended landing spot.

The colt was coming into his prime as a young adult.

“Slow down a bit,” Doctor Hedge called out as he fell further behind.

Tarnish came to a halt. The path was getting steep, angling downhill, shelves of rock were strewn with gravel. He looked at the doctor, looked at the path, and then he worried that the old stallion would break a leg. Tarnish realised that the doctor was already committed to Button’s well being, he had to be, it was the only explanation as to why he would risk coming out this way.

Feeling impatient, not wishing to spend all day traversing this path, Tarnish made a decision. He sighed, knowing that he was committing himself to trouble, and then grinned at Doctor Hedge as the good doctor drew near.

He scooped up the old stallion in his magic, ignoring his protests to put him down, and then, Tarnish took off. There was a shout from the doctor, followed by a bellow of protest, but Tarnish ignored it and paid attention to where his hooves went. He lept from a ledge, dropped down, and landed upon a jutting rock. When Tarnish lept again, the doctor let out a cry of terror, then went silent when Tarnish came to a skidding halt after landing, his hooves kicking gravel over the edge of the rock shelf he had landed upon.

Wide eyed, the doctor watched in terror as Tarnish continued to pronk down the steepest part of the path that would take them down to the lower levels of the quarry. Tarnish was enjoying himself and he wished that Maud was here. Maud could move over the stone like nopony else.

Long legged and gangly, Tarnish moved like a mountain goat down the path, holding Doctor Hedge up above his head. Getting back up was going to be quite a workout and no doubt, Tarnish would have to carry Doctor Hedge back up, or else he and the good doctor would be out here for hours.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAH!” the doctor screamed as Tarnish made a terrifying ten foot leap from one spur of rock down to another, ignoring the path altogether. “HAVE YOU ABANDONED YOUR SENSES?”

Pronk!

“Oh my stars!”

Pronk!

“How are—”

Pronk!

“—you—”

Pronk!

“—doing—”

Pronk!

“—that!”

Pronk!

Halfway down, Tarnish paused to admire the view. He stood upon a bulbous protrusion of rock that was barely large enough for him to place all four of his hooves upon. Really, it was only big enough for three of his hooves, but three and and a half hooves was good enough for Tarnish. He felt confident in his abilities.

Pronk!

His hooves clopped against the rock when he landed and he found himself on a long, narrow ledge. He took off at a run, his side rubbing up against the stone. When he reached the end of the narrow stone ledge, he took off again—

Pronk!

He lept over a very surprised looking bird sitting on an inch wide ledge and landed upon the path once more, having avoided many switchbacks by taking the direct way down. He felt a faint twinge of pain in the leg that had been broken. Not serious pain, but a reminder of pain long since passed.

Pronk!

Tarnish made his final descent to the lowest part of the rock quarry. There was water down here, old busted blocks of stone lay everywhere, and the dirt that had washed down here from rain and flooding now had grass growing in it. It looked like a nice enough place, even if it was a bit difficult to reach.

He set down Doctor Hedge, who seemed grateful to have all four hooves upon solid ground once more. The old unicorn let out a wavering sigh and almost pitched over. Tarnish chuckled a bit and continued to have a good look around.

“Well, I had to go to the bathroom… past tense… had…” The doctor grumbled a bit more, shook his head, scooted away from Tarnish. “Honourary numbskull… fool colt!”

Grinning, Tarnish had a look around. In the distance, he saw the beginnings of what appeared to be a crude stone cottage being made out of old, broken blocks of stone. A corroded tin roof glinted in the sun. He looked for Buttons, hoping to see her, but saw no sign of the diamond dog. This place was huge. He took off at a steady trot, now moving over flat ground.

He didn’t have to go very far before he saw a familiar sight. He felt his heart leap up into his throat when he saw Buttons come dashing over to him. She loped along on all fours, her tongue hanging out, and her tail wagging from side to side behind her.

The diamond dog came to a skidding halt, yipped, and then snatched Tarnish up in a crushing hug. “Friend!”

“Hello, Buttons!” Tarnish said as the air was crushed out of his lungs. “Buttons, what are you doing here?”

“Buttons hear story about you in paper. Some nice pony read paper to Buttons when she saw your picture! Buttons sees that you find little horsy wife to make little horsies with! Buttons happy! Buttons came to this place to find you. Buttons was lonely where Buttons lived before.”

“Yes, Buttons, I got married,” Tarnish managed to grunt out as Buttons gave him another colossal squeeze and then she started to swing him around. After a few joyful tosses, Tarnish was set down upon the ground.

He turned and looked at Doctor Hedge, who was watching everything with a wary eye, and then returned his attention to Buttons. “It’s good to see you. I think you’ll like it here. Just be careful about running up and hugging the little horsies. Some of them spook easy.”

“Buttons no hurt little ponies. Buttons good dog.” Buttons sat down upon the stony ground, reached out, and patted Tarnish on the head with one oversized paw that ended in fierce, curving claws. “Buttons can help little horsies. Buttons can cut stone, can dig, can make stuff. Buttons don’t want to be lonely.”

“I would imagine so, Buttons.” Tarnish glanced at Doctor Hedge again, then continued when he was looking back at Buttons. “Just be patient and take your time. Let the ponies here get to know you. Maybe you could help Doctor Hedge here. He’s old and he probably has lots of errands that you could run for him. If you did that, the ponies here could get to know you.”

“Is good idea!” Buttons grinned, revealing sharp teeth. “With right stuff, Buttons can make shiny metal. Can pound it into stuff.”

“You can make steel?” Doctor Hedge asked, now taking an interest.

“Yes, shiny metal that no rust easy. Hold edge. Is hard.” Buttons nodded and began panting with excitement.

“We produce a lot of raw materials around these parts, but we ship them off. Nopony local smelts them or works with them. There’s a fair bit of mining here… hmm.” The old unicorn sat down on the ground and studied Buttons.

“Sure, now you seem interested, but only after you’ve learned that she has a valuable skill,” Tarnish said to Doctor Hedge.

“Tarnish, my boy, I’m sorry, but that is how the world is. I do not have a problem with her. I think she’s fine. I brought her here so she could be comfortable and safe.” The doctor cleared his throat and shook his head. “The other townsponies were scared to death of her. Some wanted to call in the guard and have her dealt with. I take it that you’ve never had a run in with bad diamond dogs. If you did, you’d understand why so many ponies are so skittish.”

“Maybe so,” Tarnish said, shrugging. “Other diamond dogs might be awful, but Buttons is nice and she deserves a chance.”

“And if I can convince the other townsponies that she is an asset to us, she is more likely to get a fair shake.” Doctor Hedge’s eyes narrowed. “She seems sweet enough.”

“Buttons good. Was clubbed on head for not being like others.” The diamond dog reached up and rubbed her head, just behind her ear. “Buttons not same after clubbing. Buttons go stupid and have hard time braining.”

“That… that just ain’t right.” Tarnish shook his head, moved closer to Buttons, and allowed himself to be hugged again. She smelled like wet dog and she was still damp in places. Tarnish guessed that she might have been swimming a while ago.

“Tarnish, I’ll see what I can do about convincing the others to give her a chance, but I can’t make any promises. I could use some help though, I’m getting old, and maybe if the others see her with me, it’ll calm their fears.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Tarnish replied as Buttons squeezed him and petted his neck. He looked up at the diamond dog holding him. “So, Buttons… tell me about your trip… what was it like crossing Equestria to come up here?”

Author's Notes:

Next chapter: Tarnish delivers the mail.