//------------------------------// // Blunderball // Story: From Russell, With Love // by lunabrony //------------------------------// Diamond Tiara had never seen a monkey before. She knew about them, of course, she wasn't stupid. She'd read about them in various history books during her schooling, and heard tales of them from various explorers that her father mingled with. At the very least, they were frequent antagonists of the ever-popular Daring Do. But she hadn't read those novels in years. Which, as far as she was concerned, must mean her father was somehow behind this. Filthy Rich came running from down the hall the moment he heard his daughter scream. She had long since passed the phase where silly things frightened her. No, this was more of a scream mixed with surprise and fear. He reflexively ducked as he entered the study, a handful of green paint narrowly missing his head. He frowned, taking stock of the state of the room, which Diamond Tiara had been too shocked to notice. Newspaper covered everything, mostly old (yellowed, in some cases) issues of the Foal Free Press. "What is going on here?!" He demanded. "Cease this rebellious behavior at once!" His eyes took in the scene before him, but his mind didn't want to believe it was accurate. The monkey, who'd been hanging from the light fixture, did so at once. She was covered in paint, no brush in sight. Even on her feet, however, her tail twitched constantly. There was always some part of her twitching or tapping. "Who are you?" He scolded. Diamond Tiara suddenly looked afraid. She had been convinced that her father had been the reason behind the monkey's appearance, but his question cut through her logic like a knife. "You mean she isn't yours, daddy?" "I'm Minka, and I don't belong to anyone, and don't you forget it!" Minka chirped pleasantly. "Naw, I saw you in the pet shop!" She explained, as if that solved everything once and for all. Filthy Rich frowned. "You were spying? That was a private transaction after operating hours between myself and Twombly. It was my understanding that it was entirely confidential." Diamond Tiara began "Who-" but a look from her father silenced her. It was one of those looks that indicated he had no intention of explaining himself. It was just one of those things. "We weren't spying! Russell told us what was going on so we wouldn't worry. He was gonna-" She trailed off, as if momentarily distracted by something that neither of the ponies could identify. "Minka!" Filthy Rich snapped. "-gonna take care of some spoiled pony, set her straight, and then come back to the shop," she finished, without missing a beat. "And why are you here?" "Cause I saw those gold things you gave Twombly, and I wanted one!" She grinned. "They're really cool and shiny, I like shiny things! And it'd give me a chance to check up on Russell, too. Make sure he isn't getting in trouble again. Where IS Russell, anyway?" Diamond Tiara's father looked at his daughter. "That's a good question, actually." The young mare turned red. "He's with Silver Spoon, she wanted to show him some rare clock or something." Filthy Rich didn't look convinced, but let it go. "Make sure he's home before you lock up for the night," he warned. "Minka, why are you painting my walls?" "Better question, why aren't your walls already painted? Don't worry, I got this!" The stallion sighed. "Just clean up this mess, I have to finish my ledger." He gave Diamond a look indicating he hadn't forgotten about Russell, and left. Minka frowned. "He's grumpy. I'm not sure I like him." Another twitch. "What do we do now, Tiara?" "Now we go visit Silver Spoon and hope she found Russell." The monkey instantly looked horrified. Her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open. "You don't know where-" "Shh!" Diamond Tiara hushed her. "You don't know where Russell is? You lost him?!" Minka didn't take this news well at all. "Russell can't be out on his own! He's sensitive and scares easily! How could you lose him?!" "I didn't lose him!" The young mare insisted. "I just... don't know where we went. But we're going to find him. Because if we don't, my father will... well... we have to find him!" She didn't want to come across as overwhelmingly selfish, so left the concept of military school out of the conversation. Minka jumped on Diamonds back, splattering paint over the mare pristine pink coat. Diamond Tiara flinched, but made her way towards the front door of the estate. She glanced at the clock. The movie with Silver Spoon had ended at ten, it was almost eleven thirty now. She swung open the door, and immediately bumped noses with her friend. Her friend who just so happened to have Russell on her back. There was an immediate emotional reunion. "Silver!" "Diamond!" "Russell!" A pink blur tackling the aforementioned pet. "Minka?!" Hedgehog down! Diamond Tiara looked at Silver Spoon with grateful eyes. "How... where..." Silver looked down at Russell. "I'm sorry!" Russell insisted. "I just went for popcorn, and it was dark. I'm small, and all the legs looked the same." He seemed apologetic. "I tried to find you both, but got all turned around." His lower lip quivered. "Alright, that's enough." Tiara said with relief. "You're covered in mud, and Minka is covered in paint. Bath time for both of you. Silver, will you help?" She asked. "Sure," the latter said. *** The quartet returned back inside, which wasn't much of an ordeal, considering they'd scarcely left the estates doorstep. Diamond Tiara ensured that the doors were locked, and the two pets were given privacy in the warm escape of a toy-filled bathtime. The door was cracked, in case of emergency. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were genuinely concerned for Russell," Silver was saying. "I saw it in your eyes. You're becoming more responsible after all. Maybe even, dare I say, attached to having a pet?" "I am not!" Diamond protested. "I just... don't... entirely want him to go away. As it were. You know, so I don't have to go to military school." This last bit came out of her slightly forced, more defensive than anything else. She knew Silver Spoon wouldn't believe it, heck, she didn't even know if SHE entirely believed it at this point. "No, I think it's more than that. You know it's only temporary. Your dad implied that as soon as you proved responsibility, Russell was going to back to the shop. So what are you going to do, just let Russell go back there, or keep acting like a spoiled b-" "That's enough!" Diamond cut her off. "I need to think on it. You want to take Minka for now? You have lots of paintings at the pawn shop, I doubt she'd object." "I can do that." Silver seemed almost eager at the thought of having a pet of her own. Even if only temporarily. When bathtime had finished and the pets had been dried off, Silver Spoon took Minka back with her. But not before pausing in the doorway. "There's no shame in needing somepony, Diamond, even just a pet." She had said, and then she was gone. Diamond huffed snobbishly, but she couldn't help thinking about what Silver had said. She normally didn't care, but couldn't get those words out of her head. "Are you alright?" Russell asked with a frown. "I don't know," came the reply. "I really don't know." *** DIAMOND TIARA AND THE PETS SHALL RETURN IN... THE MARE WHO LOVED ME No, not like that. ***