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Rarity refuses, or rather is difficult about digging up the gems for the Diamond Dogs, and so we see the three Diamond Dogs who brought Rarity down here order these other dogs that are wearing armor (are these also Diamond Dogs? Here the fellow seemingly in charge has just called them ‘dogs’, and I wonder whether ‘Diamond Dogs’ is a species name, or rather a title of these three diamond-collared dogs who seem to be in charge of the operation) to dig instead. Presumably, since our three in the waist jackets (I’ll call them the Diamond Dogs and refer to the armored dogs as just dogs for simplicity’s sake from here on) have ordered Rarity to dig rather than digging themselves, and then subsequently ordered the dogs to dig for them, all these tunnels have been dug by the armored dogs that are seemingly in the employ of the three Diamond Dogs. Each Diamond Dog has a diamond-studded collar and a waistcoat with gems stuffed in the pockets, and the main Diamond Dog has an extra, orange gem dangling from his collar, so I believe it’s safe to say that the collars are markers of rank, with the Diamond Dog that has the orange gem being the overall boss of the whole operation. It seems to me that this must be a sort of commercial enterprise with these three in charge of the overall venture and the armored dogs being both miners and mercenaries – they are wearing armor after all. Which suggests to me that this is a traveling mining company and not necessarily reflective of dog culture, and also suggests to me that given the armor their employees are wearing, this sort of operation has faced or can be reasonably expected to face some level of local opposition from the places where they travel to mine. So, not just a mining company, but a mercenary criminal enterprises that carries out illegal mining operations. 

And I enjoyed the rest of the episode – but didn’t really see much to note after that. I enjoyed the premise, the beats and pacing, the lesson and the interactions between Rarity and the Diamond Dogs, who were all very well characterized. However, there were points where the dialogue was oddly clunky in a way that I haven’t at all noticed in any of the previous episodes, which made those moments stand out a little in an odd way. I’m going to put this episode at 7.9 – in most regards it’s up there with the other solid 8s (Applebuck Season, Boast Busters, Look Before You Sleep), but there’s just a couple of elements that are odd or clunky or just not especially well executed to me.