Sleeping Dogs (Sweetheart, Open)

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Rufus stood in the middle of town trying as hard as he could to not feel awkward. Everypony was staring at him. They had been since he got off the train. Obviously they weren't too used to a Diamond Dog in their town, or perhaps they knew all too well. Rufus found it sad that his kind usually didn't get along with the ponies. He knew deep down they were nice, but years, decades, even centuries of animosity between the two races made most ponies either afraid of Rufus or simply despise him.

Rufus smelled the air to get a better sense of his surroundings. Thanks to a strong sense of smell, sometimes his nose told him a better idea of what was happening than his eyes did. He smelled...sweat. Hard labor. These ponies were hard workers, ponies who lived off the land and were proud of it. It reminded Rufus of the workers of his pack, those who mined or dug out tunnels for living space. He also smelled the distant fragrance of apples, of course coming from the apple orchards just outside of town. The smell made Rufus salivate a little bit, making it apparent to him that he was hungry. Not to mention he was also thirsty and tired as well.

Originally Rufus came out here to Appleloosa to look for gems as well as possibly sell some gems if the townsfolk were interested. His search would likely be a few days long, and he had no intention of sleeping out in the desert when the nights are just as cold as the days were hot. So, Rufus needed a place to stay for the next few days while he went gem hunting.

The heat of the desert was beginning to get to Rufus, as he began to pant as he looked around for a hotel or inn. Spotting a place called "Sweet Hearth Stables" (which if it wasn't an inn, as Rufus assumed, then he really did still have a lot to learn about pony culture), he made his way to the door and went inside. Walking inside, Rufus walked up to the pony at the receptionist counter, and asked, "Excuse me pony, but do you have a room available?" Truly Rufus was an odd sight to be seen around these parts, being a large menacing looking Diamond Dog with a vest lined with gems, a diamond studded collar, and a large heavy backpack on his back.

Realizing he had slipped up again, Rufus added in, "Err, Rufus is sorry about calling you "pony". It is a forces of habit."

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Well, Now, surely, I've seen everything. Sweetheart thought to herself as she stared, almost uncomprehendingly, at her visitor. Unicorns, Pegasai, Earth ponies, Buffalo (though they usually preferred to sleep outside) even the odd Griffon or Minotaur, but she'd never had a Diamond Dog. It only took a second though, for her to come to the realization that, whomever he might be, he was her guest!

"I beg your pardon." Sweetheart replied, apologetically. "I have never- that is to say, you rather caught me by surprise. Please forgive me." She gave her most welcoming smile. "Of course we have rooms available, Mr. um, Rufus, I believe you said? Please feel free to call me Sweetheart, or Sweet, if you prefer." The white mare pulled out a guestbook register and a pen, and offered these to Rufus. "If you're traveling alone, then I recommend one of the rooms on the second floor, if that's all right with you. They're standard rooms, ¢50 a night. Or if you prefer, we have luxury suites on the top floor for ¢100. Each room comes with two meals a day, either in the dining hall," she nodded towards a door that led off from the lobby to it, "Or brought up to your room."

Sweetheart paused a moment, "I have to admit, I don't know what kind of food would suit you," she began, hoping she wasn't giving offense. "I usually provide herbivorous food, salad, vegetable stew, apple pie..." her voice trailed off. "I wonder if that would be all right?"

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Rufus had been preparing for the worse when he entered the building. The usual reaction for a pony seeing a Diamond Dog enter a building was for them to scream and run away. This mare, on the other hand, was apologizing for just being startled by him. Rufus liked this pony already.

"It is no problem Sweetheart, Rufus is used to it." Rufus took the pen and and wrote his name in the guest book (rather poorly by the way, since Diamond Dogs don't write he had only learned to do so after leaving the pack and was still trying to master it), then took his backpack off and put it on the ground with an audible thumping noise and began to search through it.

As he searched he continued to listen to Sweetheart and answered any questions she had. "Second floor is fine." Pulling out a sack inside containing Rufus's bits, Rufus opened it and searched through it. "You say apple pie? Rufus likes apples, he'd be fines with that."

Forty eight, forty nine, fifty, fifty one, fifty two...uh-oh. Rufus double searched the sack but came up with the same number: fifty two. He hadn't realized how much it had cost just to get out here in the first place.

"Uh, Rufus have enough for one night, but he's going to be in the deserts for several days..." Rufus thought of a way to solve this...which didn't take long. There was one way he could think of, a rather obvious one at that. "Oh! Rufus has many gemses, maybe you want some? All gemses are top quality, Rufus can says for sure. Nothing can tell the value of a gem better than a Diamond Dog!" Rufus didn't have much hope that this would work; most ponies tended to not trust Rufus even if Rufus's offer was genuine. Still, it was worth a shot.

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"I-I don't really know much about gems," Sweetheart had to admit. Which was perfectly true. She only owned 4 pieces of jewelry, and only wore one on a regular basis, the pin that had been a gift from The Great and Powerful Trixie. That one was, actually, fastened to the ribbon in her hair at this moment. "But," she continued, with a shy smile, "If you pick out a gem or gems that you think is approximately the right value, I'll take your word for it and accept it as payment."

Sweetheart was still mastering the managing part of business, particularly the part about being suspicious. Somewhat open and trusting by nature, she had only become more so by living in Appleoosa for a couple years. The upside of her openness was that she rarely turned away any guest, and therefore, did more business. The downside was that she occasionally got ripped off. But she tended to give new pon-people a chance. So if Rufus promised her that such and such a gem was the appropriate payment for so many days at her hotel, She would accept it at face value.

The worst that could happen, after all, is that she had to clean a dirty room and didn't get fully paid, right?

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Rufus was actually surprised to see Sweetheart was so open to the idea of accepting a gem as payment. Ponies seemed to be nice (at least when not dealing with Diamond Dogs), but it was rare for him to meet a pony this nice.

"Thank you!" Rufus was so happy he almost hugged her, but he felt that was probably crossing the line in terms of what ponies deem "not uncomfortable" and he'd probably just accidentally dig his claws into her skin anyway. He went into his backpack again and went into his collection of rarer gems. Now, he wasn't just going to give away some rare irreplaceable gem to a stranger, but he figured a rare one that he happened to have a few spare of couldn't hurt.

"Now Rufus knows in Equestria gemses aren't worth as much as in other places 'cause they can be pretty common, but Rufus has plenty of gemses, including rare ones." He not only wanted her to give her a nice one, but one that he could prove was the real deal, even to a pony who knew nothing about gems.

Pulling out an oddly shaped bright red gem, Rufus held it up to Sweetheart for her to inspect. "Here it is! Rufus dug up some Fire Rubies some times ago, he had to go to a Dragon infested volcano to find them! It isn't cut yet," Rufus said, explaining why it appeared to be an odd random shape instead of being uniform and in the shape of something like a heart, "but it is the real thing! Fire Rubies feel warm when touched, so it is proof that it is real gem. Go ahead and touch it!" Rufus held the gem closer, so Sweetheart could touch it herself.

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"Oooh... that's beautiful..."

Tentatively, Sweetheart raised a hoof. She felt surprisingly awed by the gem, to tell the truth. It was far finer than anything she owned at the moment, even uncut as it was. She lightly brushed the stone, nothing more than a butterfly caress, but she broke into an unbelieving smile as she did, indeed, feel the warmth in the stone.

"I wonder how it keeps its warmth," the white mare mused gazing into the deep red fire of the stone. "Does it just give it up slowly, or is there magic in the stone itself that creates the warmth?" These questions were more rhetorical than otherwise, though Rufus was free to answer if he knew. Sweetheart seemed to think a moment, and then looked up, a little troubled. "Wasn't it dangerous, getting gems like this?" she asked. "I like it, and I'll gladly take it as payment, but... are you sure you want to pay with a stone that was so hard to get?"

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Rufus nodded at Sweetheart's comment on the beauty of the Fire Ruby. It definitely was one Rufus's favorite gems, and considering all the gems he's seen and owned that's saying a lot. When the mare asked why the ruby stays warm, Rufus pondered for a moment but remembered an old story told to him when he was just a pup.

"Rufus is fine with you taking gem. He has several others, and Rufus didn't get extra gemses for no reason. Rufus can't think of any better reason to give it up. Fire Ruby is worth plenty if Rufus remembers right, so it should pay for room just fines." Rufus put the gem on the table as well as fifty bits for the first night so Sweetheart could take them, then picked his backpack and put it back on his back again.

"As for why the ruby stays warm, Rufus isn't too sure, but he remembers an old story from back when Rufus lived in pack. The story says that back when Equestria was old and there were no ponies, two Dragons lived in the mountains. They weres male and female Dragons, and they weres in love with each other. But, the female Dragon got greedy and started to enslave Diamond Dogs so they could hunt gemses for her. The Diamond Dogs eventually rebelled, and with their combined strength they killed the female Dragon. The male Dragon, enraged by the death of his love, became so mad that he made the heads of the mountains exploded and they became volcanoses. To this day those mountains are still volcanoses, and the place where the Dragons lived is now the Dragon territory that's full of lava. His tears, filled with both anger towards the Dogs who killed his love, and the sorrow he felt over her death, eventually became gemses themselves. Legend says those tears became Fire Rubies, whose fire held within is the spirit of the male Dragon, and even after his death his rage over the female dragon's death and his passion for her burns on forever in the gemses."

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Sweetheart gently swept the bits from the counter and into her cashbox, before picking up the gem and regarding it thoughtfully. If the story was true- Well, the Diamond Dogs could hardly be blamed for fighting to be free, could they? And it was certainly wicked of the female dragon. But Sweetheart felt sorry for the other dragon. She thought she could understand a passion and pain so strong that it could still be felt, oh, who knew how long? Forever after, maybe. It was at this point that the mare felt as though she had been staring a bit too long, and an uncomfortable silence was about to fall. She smiled then, to chase it away.

The gem went into the cashbox, too. Sweetheart would trust any of her fellow Appleoosans with her life and her business, but hotels always had a number of people coming and going. It was better not to leave the gem out where anyone could just pick it up.

Opening a drawer at her desk, Sweetheart fished out a large key with a number engraved into the metal, which she handed over to Rufus. "Your room will be 205, at the end of the hall on the second floor, but I'll show you up." The mare said, bringing out a second set of keys. "Do you have anything you need picked up and brought here?" Sweetheart was pretty sure that his rucksack was all he had, but she always liked to ask.

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Accepting the key, Rufus nodded and followed Sweetheart towards his room. "No, all Rufus has is in his backpack." Seemed like kind of an obvious answer to Rufus, but he figured she was just making sure. Either that or it was yet another thing about pony culture he didn't get. Neither answer would surprise him.

A loud rumbling noise reminded Rufus that he was hungry. "So...when is time for food? Rufus is just curious..." He didn't want to sound too rude, but he hadn't eaten in awhile and at this point he was almost dizzy from hunger. In reality, it hadn't been that long since he'd last eaten, but considering Rufus tended to turn into a clumsy train wreck when he didn't eat, he felt it'd be best for him to get some food as soon as possible.

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"No, all Rufus has is in his backpack."

Just as she'd thought. Sweetheart nodded graciously and moved to lead the way up the stairs. "Meal times can be whenever you need them, so long as they don't add up to more than two a day. Of course, you can always buy another meal if you need to- it generally costs ¢10 for whatever I'm serving that day, and ¢20 if you want me to make something special." Sweetheart replied, in a tone that could only be properly described as 'sweetly.' She always felt a little guilty about charging for a third meal- but honestly, sometimes she had huge families eating tons of food and she had to recoup the cost somehow. All she could do was be as nice as possible about it.

"If you're hungry now, I can bring you up something right away to your room, or you could wait, oh..." Sweetheart glanced at an old cuckoo clock hanging on the wall, "Maybe an hour, an hour and a half, and then the dining room will be open and there will be more available. But its up to you." the white mare stopped at the second floor landing and used her keys to open up a small door- which turned out to be a linen closet. She brought out fresh sheets and pillows, which smelled like nothing so much as clean desert air. These she piled on her back before closing and locking the door again. She glanced ruefully at Rufus.

"I have to lock it up, otherwise... some stuff goes missing. I think some guests don't want to trouble me and so, they help themselves. But if you ever need a change of linen, just let me know and I'll bring you up a fresh set, whenever you want, no charge." she explained with a sheepish smile. Then she led the way down the hall. "Speaking of dinner, besides apple pie, was there anything you'd particularly like?"

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Rufus listened as Sweetheart explained how the meals worked. He could understand why he couldn't just have as many meals as he wants for free; back in the pack, those who ate more than their own share were punished by having to go hungry for a day. When he was a pup the idea of going a whole day without eating terrified him, so he was always sure he didn't eat more than his own share. Still, Rufus thought he'd be fine with two meals; so long as he gets one soon.

"Rufus doesn't like being imposing, but Rufus is feeling really hungry right now..." Rufus continued to watch as Sweetheart pulled some sheets and pillows out of a closet. It wasn't often that Rufus got to sleep in a bed, and it was something he was looking forward to. At least while he was here his back wouldn't ache after waking up every day. He was kind of surprised to hear that ponies would take something like sheets, but perhaps if Rufus enjoyed the chance to sleep on a bed maybe other ponies did too. Not every pony wasn't fortunate enough to have their own bed, even if it sometimes felt like he was the only one without a home.

Continuing to follow Sweetheart down the hall, Rufus pondered for a moment when she asked what else he'd eat. It probably wasn't a good idea to eat nothing but apple pie for several says straight...

"Rufus remember eating this one tasty plant that grows in the ground that was baked. It was called a pot-tay-toe or something like that..."

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Sweetheart smiled, a bit in relief, though she wouldn't have said so. She hadn't been called upon to make anything with meat in it yet, and she hoped she never would. She did have a small book of meat recipes, but how could she know if she was making something correctly unless she tasted it? And even if she did, how would she know how meat was supposed to taste?

Potatoes, on the other hoof, she knew perfectly well how to handle. As she opened the door to Rufus's room for him, she took a quick, glance around to make sure that all was in order, though she knew it was, she'd cleaned it that morning. The room was clearly furnished for male tastes, as all the rooms facing the street were, in tasteful, light-colored ash wood and cool-toned greens. It had a somewhat refreshing feel to it, comforting in the desert. But the room itself was also cool, and that was even better.

Within a minute, Sweetheart had made up the bed with the stuff she'd brought from the closet. "I'll bring you up some food now. Nothing too fancy, I'm afraid, but filling." she told the Diamond Dog with a modest smile. "Feel free to get settled in. I hope you'll enjoy your stay!"