With a snort, Tarnish awoke to the sound of whimpering. The bed was crowded, he had his back pressed to the wall, and Maud was tight against his belly. Far off on the other side, Limestone was smooshed against the wall, and Trixie was sandwiched between the two mares, with the hopes of keeping her warm and secured. When she was put to bed, she was still delirious with fever, and shivering so hard that Limestone had worried that she would chip her teeth.

Ears perking, he listened to the sound of breathing, the sound of Trixie whimpering, and he could feel the bed shaking as Trixie trembled in her sleep. He felt far too warm, he was sweating. The inside of the travel wagon was well insulated and the warmth of four bodies had made the warmth unbearable.

Lifting his head, he saw that Trixie was clinging to Limestone. Her eyes were closed, and Limestone appeared to be sleeping. With great care, he slipped from the bed, not wanting to wake the others, and then slipped outside for some fresh air.

Outside, he found Flamingo hovering near the fire, she was humming to herself and seemed happy enough, content to guard the camp. He tossed a few more logs onto the fire, knowing full well that Flamingo did not like the dark. She kept them safe while they slept, so keeping the fire going was the least that he could do.

“You let them live.”

The voice made Tarnish stand up straight and right away, he was at full alertness. He looked around, and heard Flamingo go silent as she too, tried to find the source of the voice. He moved closer to the fire and looked down at his amulet. He had drank some tea before bed and much to his dismay, his amulet was a pale shade of blue. He rather hoped that his visitor could get a good dose of his magic.

“Tell me, why did you let them live?” the voice asked.

“Because I didn’t want to kill them,” Tarnish replied as his eyes darted all around him.

“They took a pony and did terrible things to her. They do this, over and over, they prey on us… sometimes they even eat us… and you let them live. Now, the next pony that gets preyed upon by this group will suffer, and it will be all because of you.”

After starting to say something, he fell silent. He had a hard time arguing with that logic. He felt a stab of guilt and wondered if perhaps he had made a mistake. These diamond dogs had already shown that they were willing to do it once, no doubt, they would do it again.

“Good thing for you I already took care of them,” the voice said and then chuckled.

“What do you mean, ‘you took care of them?’ What are you saying?”

“What do you think I mean?” the voice asked.

Thinking about her words made his blood run cold. Tarnish shivered, even though he stood next to the fire. Queasiness overtook him and he felt his legs wobble as his knees threatened to knock together.

“I did what you couldn’t. I put them out of their misery. I hunted them down and finished them off. I saved other ponies.”

“Why?” Tarnish asked as he felt a hard lump in his throat. “Why would you do this?”

“Because. I am building the perfect society. Even now, I lay the foundation. And diamond dogs have no place in the future I have planned.”

Seething, angry, but also hurt, Tarnish felt tears streaming from his eyes. “How could you do this?”

“It was easy!” The voice sounded haughty and laughter echoed through the trees. “I thought of the needs of my fellow ponies, unlike you, and so I went out to clean up your mess. I ran them down, I hunted them, I made them fear me, I made them fear ponies, I made them understand our superiourity. And when they learned, when they understood, when they were taught their place, I put them down as an act of mercy. I can assure you, I wasn’t cruel. I wasn’t nearly as barbaric and horrendous as you were. I didn’t burn them, I didn’t smash them in the face with shovels, I killed them, clean, quick, and easy. They died painless deaths, but only after they learned their lesson.”

“But why?” Tarnish asked. “What will this accomplish? Other diamond dogs will find out! They’ll know! And that will only make them hate us even more!”

“Who cares?” the voice replied. “So what? Who cares what they feel? They already hate us. Further predation will only give us the reasons we need to wipe them out. We only need an excuse.”

“But that’s wrong!” The lump in Tarnish’s throat was now painful and he had trouble breathing. “If I find you, I’m gonna—”

“What? Kill me? What moral high ground will you hold if you threaten to murder me? I want to help you… I want you to realise your potential… I want to help cure you. I want to give you a better, brighter future, free of your curse. And not just you, but everypony, I want to make us equals. I have a brave, bold new vision for Equestria. Unlike the princesses, I’ll do something about the animals that prey upon us. I’ll keep ponies safe. I’ll burn away the wilderness from sea to sea if I have to, but the others will learn to fear us or they will die.”

“Flamingo! I want you to find her! She’s around here somewhere! I want you to find her so I can wring her neck and bring her in so she can face justice!” Tarnish’s voice was a ragged, hoarse cry and spittle flew from his lips.

The sword darted off and began searching around the camp. In the darkness, the voice laughed, a terrible, manic sound that echoed through the trees. Tarnish ground his teeth together and as he did so, his amulet darkened, turning purple.

“Sooner or later, you will come around to my way of thinking,” the voice said as she continued to chuckle. “I am ever the patient teacher. I have left a lesson to help you understand your hubris.”

“There is nothing I want to learn from you!” Tarnish’s voice was a screechy, rage filled whine. He stomped his hooves. “You better hope I never find you!”

“In time, I am positive you will come around to my way of thinking. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but as your magic matures, when the princesses turn on you, you will come seeking me out. Meanwhile, I’ll keep in touch.”

“If it is the last thing I do, I will find you… I’ll come north to that settlement you are building and I’ll—”

“Kill innocents to hurt me? Put them in danger? You are too soft, too spineless, and you do not yet see. You do not understand.” There was a long pause. “As I have stated, I have left a lesson for you, to teach you of your hubris. Follow the bouncing light.”

“No.” Tarnish’s eyes darted all around, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. “I’ll not do anything you say. I’ll not be manipulated.”

“Listen,” the voice said, and as she spoke, the faint sounds of a whining howl could be heard in the distance. “If you do nothing, one more diamond dog dies this night. I left you a gift, as I said. A lesson. You didn’t do the right thing earlier, you did nothing that you should have done, and many might have suffered. Now, if you do nothing, one will suffer. She’s a cute little bitch. A puppy. With as chilly as it is, with no mother, I doubt she’ll last long!”

“I’M GONNA KILL YOU!” Tarnish screamed with so much force that his voice broke, cracked, and became a shrill screech. His eyes went bloodshot and his barrel heaved. His amulet darkened a little more.

Behind him, the travel wagon door opened and Maud stepped out. Eyes narrowed, Maud began looking around, trying to understand what was going on. She peered into the darkness around the camp, her ears perked, straining to listen.

Tarnish, who saw the floating purple-pink light, took off at a run, almost blind and seething with rage as he charged into the woods, his teeth bared, and his horn glowing a dangerous, violent shade of blue.

“You have to learn that you don’t have the luxury of doing nothing,” the voice said as Tarnish crashed through the underbrush, chasing after the blinking light that bounced ahead of him. “You, your magic, and all it represents, you are a threat to society… to the world, and I want to help you! I want to make you better! And I can make you better! If I make you better, if I can show the world how I am saving it by healing ponies like you, others will believe in my cause!”

“SHUT UP!” Tarnish let out a feral snarl and his lip curled away from his teeth. His eyes were bloodshot, red, and his pelt stood up all along his spine.

“This is for your own good… you need to understand the consequences of your actions. Earlier tonight, you failed to do the right thing. You failed to take the proper course of action and because of that, you would have caused others to suffer! You have to be made to see how you affect others! I am trying to help you!”

“SHUT UP!” Tarnish’s voice was a ragged scream. He could hear crying ahead. “When I find you, I swear on the stars above, I am going to kill you myself! I will show you what my magic can do! I can even mess with alicorns!”

“SO YOU ADMIT HOW DANGEROUS YOU ARE TO OTHER PONIES!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!”

“An understanding was reached tonight. I shall take my leave of you for now. Good night, Tarnished Teapot. We will meet again. You will come around and see things my way.”

He came to a stumbling halt, his sides heaving, his horn glowing, and dangerous looking streams of bright blue mist poured from his eyes. His breathing was ragged and his body was soaked in sweat. He let out another wordless scream and nothing replied. The dark woods had gone silent, save for the sounds of crying and whimpering.

Angrier than he had ever been in his whole life, he began weeping, unable to hold it in or deal with his rage. He stomped on the ground and then bucked a tree as his body tried to express the fury that boiled within him. He thrashed about, kicking, stomping, and grinding his teeth.

Impotent with apoplectic rage, Tarnish wept as he threw his tantrum. The events of the day and the night were just too much to deal with. Snot dribbled from his nose as tears streamed down his cheeks. The sounds of crying lingered in his ears and he knew that he had to do something. He charged ahead, trying to listen for the sounds of wailing.

In the dim light of his horn, Tarnish found a blanket hanging from a tree branch, suspended like a sack. Something wiggled inside of it. Blinking, consumed by his own fury, he stood there, dumbstruck by the tiny bundle hanging from the tree.

No voice mocked him and he seemed to be alone. He stood there, his ears twitching, his muscles quivering, and he tried to calm himself so he could use his magic. Enough lives had ended this night and he didn’t want to do anything that might endanger whatever it was that was tucked away inside the ratty old blanket.

He sucked in air, trying to take deep, calming breaths, but it was difficult to breathe. He lowered his head and snorted, sending streamers of snot flying down to the ground and into the bushes. He choked on his own phlegm and began coughing so hard that stars swam in his vision.

After sucking wind for several minutes and almost throwing up, Tarnish raised his head. He took a few steps forwards, and, stretching out his long neck, he nosed the bundle suspended in the blanket. The tattered blanket looked dull and dingy in the stark blue light of his horn.

“I’m sorry that we’re enemies… your kind and my kind… it doesn’t need to be this way,” he said in a strangled voice. “I’m so sorry… I didn’t want this to happen… I didn’t… I tried to avoid killing because I thought it would make things worse.”

As he stood there, shaking, his mouth dry and his eyes feeling itchy, he wondered if that dreadful mare was lurking about, listening to him, hearing his words, and saving them up in her memory so she could mock him once again. The thought made his guts clench tight and a painful ache filled his groin.

Using his magic, which felt weak and flickery, he untied the corners of the blanket from the branch, lowered the pup down, and lifted her out of the blanket. She was small, helpless, and a dingy grey-brown colour. When he touched her with his snoot, he felt that her body was cold, and she shivered. He felt her paws grasping his face, and one of them grabbed his ear, which was taken in a death grip. She pulled herself closer, trying to get warm, and she whimpered against him, glad for the warmth of his face.

It broke his heart. Being as gentle as possible, he pulled her away, his ear slipping out from her grip one painful inch at a time, and then he wrapped her back up in the ratty blanket. He secured it around her, folding it over several times, and then he pressed the blanket wrapped bundle against his neck.

“We are not enemies,” Tarnish said to the tiny pup, “but friends. Let’s go and get you warm. Maybe I’ll see if I can get you something to eat. I’m so sorry, but I think I know how to fix this.”

Saying nothing else, Tarnish took off at a trot to return to the camp.

Author's Notes:

A hard lesson indeed...