Unpolished Diamond

by pokerninja2

The Road to Manehattan

Diamond was more than a little excited to learn that this train had a foal's playground in one of the cars. Just how expensive was this train? After her lunch, she immediately went to see what was in the play zone. It was typical playground fare, from swings, to slides, to merry-go-rounds, even a jungle gym. But what really caught her attention was how none of the foals in it were playing. They were all huddled in one spot discussing something. Curious, she trotted over to see what all the commotion was about.

"I just don't get it!" she heard a colt say, a green earth pony. "Who would steal my hay fries?"

"Yeah!" a white unicorn in sunglasses said. "It's not like, hay fries can like, sprout wings and fly away."

"But we ARE living in a world where if hay fries DID sprout wings and fly away nopony would bat an eye," an orange unicorn colt said. Everypony in the room just stared at him in confusion. "What?" he asked.

"Sooooo..." Diamond began. "Somepony stole some hay fries?"

"MY hay fries!" the green colt said. "They were right by the jungle gym when I left to go to the bathroom, and now they're gone!"

"Well my friends, this is most definitely a case we have on our hooves," a brown earth pony colt said as he approached the group. "But what shall I call this case? 'The Case of the Colt's Hay Fries that Suddenly Went Missing'? Nah, that's a bit too on the nose..."

"And like, WHO are you?" the white unicorn filly asked.

"I'm glad you asked that my friend," he said. "As you can tell from my cutie mark, I happen to be a detective. One of the best in fact. Back home, they call me 'The Colt Whose Brain Knows No Bounds'." His cutie mark indeed did look like it could be a detective's, with magnifying glass looking down at a plant.

"Cool," the orange colt said. "Are the rest of us gonna get an opportunity to introduce ourselves and our cutie marks?" Everypony stared at him again. "Seriously, why do you keep looking at me like that?"

"Anyway," he went on. "I have been listening in on your little predicament, and as the best detective on this train, I have immediately deduced the facts to find the culprit!"

"Really!?" the green colt asked. "Who?"

"Why it's none other than... YOU!" he bellowed, pointing to the white unicorn. "YOU were the one who took the fries, you gluttonous filly!"

"WH-AT!?" the filly yelped. "I have like, no idea what you're talking about. I don't even like hay fries, nasty!"

"...I see," the brown colt said, scribbling some notes in his note pad. "My mistake, my dear, the evidence clearly shows you are not our thief."

"Man, this place is for total squares," a purple colt who was also wearing shades said. "C'mon babe, let's ditch this place."

"Hmmmmmmmmmmm," the brown colt said, walking around the other colt and inspecting him. "In a hurry to flee the crime scene, are you? You're looking awfully suspicious right now!"

"Are you like, suggesting MY coltfriend would steal hay fries!?" the white unicorn protested. "C-E-L-E-S-T-I-A no! He would like, NEVER do that!"

"So lemme get this straight," a blue pegasus colt with glasses said. "So what we know so far... is that we don't know who the thief is... and that's it."

Diamond lost all interest in the conversation at this point. She just rolled her eyes and walked back to her room before she stepped in some ketchup. Looking at the floor, she could see a trail of ketchup drops leading out of the car. Following them through the cars, she came to one particular room that was wide open, where she saw a pretty obese unicorn colt eating some hay fries covered in ketchup. Upon noticing he wasn't alone, the colt immediately hid the fries.

"So I'm guessing you took those hay fries everypony's talking about?" Diamond asked.

"Oh, REAL nice!" the colt protested. "Some food goes missing and you blame the fat kid. How original!"

"Whatever, I don't want anything to do with this circus act anyway," Diamond said as she rolled her eyes. But before she could leave the brown colt from earlier stormed into the room.

"I've GOT IT!" he said. "It's all clear to me now. With these ketchup stains on the floor, I was able to track them down to this very room, meaning that the culprit is standing right in front of me."

The obese colt was holding the worst poker face Diamond had ever seen. She just sighed and tried to walk off.

"It was YOU!" the colt said, grabbing Diamond by the shoulder and turning her around to face him. That had certainly caught her by surprise. "You were acting so disinterested in the case that you turned around to walk away. Little did you know you were leaving stains from the condiments you were planning to use with your snack. Well, the jig is up!"

"I... uh... um..." Diamond stammered, to taken aback for words at the sudden accusation.

"OK I CONFESS!" the fat colt cried from behind. "IT WAS ME! I TOOK THE FRIES FROM THE JUNGLE GYM! I WAS JUST SO HUNGRY AND MOMMY SAID I ALREADY HAD MY LUNCH SO I COULDN'T EAT UNTIL DINNER! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"

Now both of them were caught off-guard. "Well, uh, YES!" the brown colt said. "I knew you were the thief all along! I was simply accusing this fair maiden of the crime just to get you to confess to it yourself. How's that for some detective work?"

"Sure it was," Diamond said, clearly unimpressed.

"We'll leave this sorry sap to his own room," the colt said. "I'm sure the grief is punishment enough."

With the obese foal still in tears, both Diamond and the "detective" exited the room and closed the door. "That was some exceptional decoy work," he said. "The surprised look on your face, what a perfect facade!"

"Uh... huh," Diamond said.

"Oh, and where are my manners!?" he said. "The name is Clear Specs. As I mentioned, my cutie mark is in detective work! And you are...?"

"I-" Diamond was about to say before being interrupted.

"WAIT!" Clear Specs shouted. "I demand you not answer. I've seen you around Ponyville before. You're... one of the famed Cutie Mark Crusaders, are you not?"

Diamond blushed. Was the club this well known? "Well, um, yeah, I am!"

"And those ocean blue eyes... that sweet pink coat... that glamorous tiara on your mane..." he went on. "It's no secret! You are none other than-"

Diamond's blush grew harder. She couldn't believe she was famous enough to be recognized!

"-Silver Spoon!"

If Diamond had been drinking water, she would have spit it all over Clear Spec's face. Silver Spoon!? How could he mistake her for SILVER SPOON!? They looked absolutely nothing alike, and what's more, her coat and mane were SILVER-colored! Her flank had a SPOON on it! The TIARA that Diamond wore was made of DIAMONDS!

"No need for confirmation," Clear Specs said. "My brain has infinite amounts of memory."

"But I'm... ugh whatever," she said.

"Say, what brings you to the fanciest train in Equestria?" Clear Specs asked.

"Well if you must know, I'm going to Trottingham with my mother to take some special educational classes," Diamond said.

"You're on your way to Trottingham too?" Clear Specs asked. "What a coincidence, I'm returning there from visiting some family in Ponyville."

"I see," Diamond replied.

"IT IS DECIDED!" he said. "From this day forth, I shall appoint you, Silver Spoon, as my assistant in detective work! Your knowledge and know-how should prove useful for any future cases."

"You do realize that what I did back there was like, really nothing to write home about, right?" Diamond said.

"Nonsense!" Clear Specs said, shaking her hoof. "Don't be so humble, you're a hero for playing into my scheme of getting that colt to admit his wrongdoings!"

"Wow, you're uh... still going with that story, huh?" Diamond said.

"If you need me, I'll be in Room D1," he said as he started walking off. "If anymore cases pop up, you will be the first filly to hear!"

"OK... that was super weird," Diamond said to herself. Not wanting to think about what had just happened any further, she turned back and headed to her room. At least with Spoiled she knew what to expect.

---

BING! BONG! BING! BONG!

ATTENTION EVERYPONY! WE WILL BE MAKING A SCHEDULED STOP AT APPLELOOSA FOR REFUELING! HOWEVER, DUE TO AN UNEXPECTED DELAY, WE WILL BE DEPARTING FOR MANEHATTAN TOMORROW MORNING! PLEASE WATCH YOUR STEP IF YOU ARE DISEMBARKING!

Things could not be worse for Spoiled. It wasn't the fact that they were making a stop at Appleloosa. She had known about that when she booked the trip in the first place, and had fully intended on staying in her cabin until the train got under way again. No, what was REALLY going to make this stop a bad time was that the incompetent hicks that allowed the Appleloosa train station to run out of coal, and the new shipment wouldn't be arriving until sunrise. As such, it was suggested all passengers disembark and schedule a night at the nearby motel.

Well, it was less of a recommendation and more of a requirement.

The moment Spoiled Rich stepped hoof off the train, she had to muster every bit of energy, will, and magic in her body to not reel back in disgust and anguish at the western feel. There was very little plant life aside from a few cacti and the occasional tumbleweed, the ground was hard and rugged, and the buildings were all in poor quality compared to even the common homes in Ponyville. Worst of all though was the ponies living here. Many of them wore attire that was a couple centuries past season, and spoke with the western dialect — no, "dialect" made it sound classy and somewhat acceptable — the western drawl that Spoiled just could not stand.

Diamond, in contrast, was quite curious. She had never been to Appleloosa before, and was not by any means familiar with the lifestyle aside from the occasional off-comment from Apple Bloom or one of the other Crusaders. It was all interesting enough to catch her attention. The old-timey buildings had a much different design than the ones she was familiar with; the saloon doors were novel, and storing supplies in barrels was an exotic take. The ponies here were also quite different than the ones in Ponyville, and was allured not just by their attire, but their accents as well. Overhearing conversations as she and her mother strolled past, they reminded her a lot about Apple Bloom and Applejack.

"Pay no mind to these lowlives," Spoiled whispered, not wanting to draw unwanted attention. "You are of a higher class, and you should act like it."

A small part of her curiosity died when reality struck and she realized Spoiled was still with her. Still, she couldn't help it. Diamond was always raised in the high class - it felt refreshing to be in a place like Appleloosa.

The entire process of renting a room for two and staying the night went by faster than Rainbow Dash's flying speed. Spoiled was intent on renting a room as quick as possible so as to stay away from anything she deemed "low-class". Plus she wanted to get the best room the motel could offer, as that would only be barely passable, if that. She just couldn't stand Appleloosa — a fine pony such as herself should not have to waste any time in an empty desert like this. Granted, the room she rented wasn't much to write home about either. Each of the rooms had two beds, as well as a third that could fold out of a couch. There was also a bathroom, cabinets with stored food in them, and a wooden floor topped with a rug. She certainly did not like it, but she decided the bare minimum was a lot better than staying outside.

Diamond analyzed the room — it was certainly different than what she was used to. There weren't any fancy carpets or wallpaper around the walls, and the beds were rather small; her own bed at home was larger than the both beds in the room combined. Needless to say even she was quite surprised the motel charged as many bits as they did for rooms like this. Although she did have to admit admit the wooden floor felt nice on her hooves, and her bed was surprisingly comfortable.

"I'm going to see if I can find a restaurant clean enough to have dinner in," Spoiled told her daughter. "Behave yourself while I'm gone. And do not, and I repeat DO NOT let anypony else in the room. Do you understand?"

"Yes Mother," Diamond answered.

As Spoiled exited the room, she wondered why Diamond was so unwary of the lowlives of this place. It made her wonder if something had happened while she was away.

"No matter," Spoiled thought to herself. "She'll be acting like the high-class filly she is soon enough."

With Spoiled away, Diamond was left with just herself and her Foal for Hire book. Minutes passed, and she was starting to regret not bringing the next installment as she was nearing the end. Just then, Clear Specs burst into her room, breaking the peace and tranquility.

Diamond jumped nearly 10 feet at the intruder's sudden presence. "What are you doing here?" she asked, regaining herself.

"Well, Silver, we have another situation on our hooves," Clear Specs answered.

"Oh yeah," Diamond realized. "He still thinks I'm Sil."

"Well don't just sit there," he said. "This case is of utmost importance."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," she said. She hopped off the bed, abandoning her comfy quarters, and followed him outside. He led her to the same small, blue pegasus from the day before.

"Alright," Clear Specs said to the pegasus. "My mystery-solving assistant is here to help us with the case. Now explain to her very slowly."

"O-OK," the timid colt began. "S-so I my dad works for this company, and we were going to Manehattan on a business trip. On the trip, he was going to show his newest product idea to them, which he says could possibly revolutionize how ponies live. Well, I thought it would be fun to pretend to be Dad, so I went around Appleloosa with his suitcase… and… a-and I turned around and... IT WAS GONE!"

"Oh dear," Clear Specs replied.

"Now my dad is gonna KILL me!" the colt said in worry.

"I know how that feels," Diamond inwardly replied.

"So this is definitely a serious case," Clear Specs said, taking out his notebook. "I shall call it… 'The Case of the Missing Case'. No no no, that won't work. Perhaps… 'The Case of the Case that Went Missing'. Yes that fits a lot better—" Clear continued rambling.

"So… do you know where you were when you last had it?" Diamond asked.

"I was behind that building," he replied, pointing to the nearby saloon.

"Well, have you tried looking there?" she asked.

"No, but I'll check," he said. The pegasus raced to the saloon, going in between it and another building. At this point Clear Specs had just finished marking down everything in his notepad.

"So I have a few questions for—" He stopped as he realized the pegasus left. "Where has he gone off to?"

"I told him to check behind the saloon," Diamond answered.

"HEY I FOUND IT!" the pegasus called as he ran to the two foals, the briefcase on his back. "Thank you so much for helping me," he said.

"Impressive," Clear Specs said. "That's TWO cases you solved before I did. And here I thought it was snatched by a wild desert snake and taken all the way back to its den on the edge of town. You may very well be a better detective than I am."

"Uh, it REALLY wasn't anything special," Diamond replied.

"Well, I have to go now," the colt said. He took the briefcase and ran off.

"Good show, Silver," Clear Specs said. "You should be heading back to your room now."

"He is SUCH a weirdo..." she thought as she trotted off to her room. Only a few seconds later, Spoiled came in and told Diamond that she, much to her surprise, found a well-respected place to eat. The evening went on, until Luna's moon began to take the place of Celestia's sun, signalling bedtime for ponies, where Diamond lay asleep. All things considered, this trip was going better than she thought it would. Sure, it wasn't perfect... but she could confidently say she wasn't miserable like she predicted she would be earlier this morning.

"One day down," she thought as she drifted away. "Roughly three more weeks go.

Author's Note:

And so the quest to find an actually decent upload schedule continues... On the bright side, we have finally reached the point in the story I got to in the previous revision, so now things can REALLY kick off! Hope to see you all next chapter