*tink* *tink* *tink*
The sound of Diamond Tiara’s pickaxe hitting the rocks echoed around her. The same high note, again and again. Almost like some kind of stone-based chorus. Diamond couldn’t help but wonder if anypony had ever invented an enchanted singing rock, and if they’d sound something like this.
*tink* *tink* *tink*
It was a familiar sound at this point, but also a surprisingly pleasant one. It sounded like progress. It was like the sound of coins chiming. Or maybe not. It’s not like hearing a bag of coins jingle meant you were making money, after all.
*tink* *tink* *tink*
It was funny really. Here she was, working her flank off, yet her mind was wandering further than it had in ages. She seemed to be running with every tangent that popped into her head. Like her mind was a flowing river, being constantly misdirected by the stones she was cracking open. Maybe being out here working was affecting her more than she thought.
Or maybe it was just because she wasn’t constantly lying to herself anymore.
*tink* … …
Diamond Tiara put her pickaxe down and sighed.
“It’s been weeks now, Diamond Tiara. You can’t keep letting it mess with you like this. You've always known your mom hated you. This shouldn’t be bothering you now,” she mumbled at herself.
But it did bother her. The truth had hurt her so badly that she still felt that overwhelming emptiness in her soul. Which was why she was here, at the West Silver Mine, swinging a pickaxe at her own request. Nopony was forcing her to do it, and yet here she was, working in the dirt and stone.
Though, after a few hours of breaking rocks, Diamond Tiara had to admit that her future probably wasn’t in mining. It was just too tedious for her. Still, at least she could say she had tried it before dismissing it. That was more than she could have ever said about almost anything else she’d refused to do. She probably could have even stopped by now.
But she didn’t.
With a grunt of determination, she picked her pickaxe back up and started swinging it again. She had spent far too long as a quitter, never willing to put herself through anything. Silver Ore had asked her to break down this pile of stones and, by Celestia, Diamond Tiara was going to finish what she had started this time.
*tink* *tink* *tink*
Unsurprisingly, as she started swinging again, her mind began to wander again. This time onto the Ore family and ore mining in general, and how weird it was.
One of the first things Diamond Tiara had learned while staying at the mine was that ore mining was a completely different beast from rock farming. Not that Diamond was particularly knowledgeable about such things, but she knew the basics of the latter. With how much her mother spent on precious stones, it was hard not to pick up a few things.
Rock farmers spent their time moving common stones around in their fields, their unique magic slowly changing the stone into more valuable materials, or even gemstones. It was a slow process, and often took years, or even decades to complete. Ore mining also involved using unusual magic to change normal rocks into more valuable materials, but rather than years, it took generations.
*tink* *tink* *tink*
It was a fascinating process, especially with the return of the Crystal Empire revealing the source of this amazing rock-changing magic: faint traces of Salvares magic that lingered in certain earth pony family trees. Rock farmers and miners alike had gem pony ancestors. And with the crystal ponies now adding their own magic and ancient techniques to the table, both industries were experiencing a bit of a boom.
And yet, ore mining was still a slow process. So slow, in fact, that once a mine had been picked clean, it would be refilled with the tailings plus other wasteful rocks, and be abandoned for centuries so the ores could regrow. Unsurprisingly, many mining families owned multiple mines, moving between them as each was drained and refilled every generation.
*tink* *tink *tink*
Which was why Diamond Tiara was breaking down a stack of stones. Rock farms were willing to buy quality rocks from miners, but only when broken down to sizes that they could work with. If they weren’t ideal farming size, the rock farmers would just make their own. It was bottom tier work breaking rocks like this, but it was work that didn’t require a pony to actually set hoof in the mine.
When Diamond Tiara had asked for a chance to try her hoof at mining, the Ores had insisted that Diamond not enter the mine. Professional excavations were apparently a lot more dangerous than the tunnels beneath Ponyville. And so, here she was: breaking down rocks that probably wouldn’t be put to use in her lifetime.
*tink* *tink* *tink*
It was so strange, working like this. More than once Diamond Tiara had pinched herself to make sure this wasn’t some kind of crazy dream. She was even going to be paid for her efforts. She was going to get bits that she had earned, and had not been given by her father. Not to mention the look of joy on Silver Spoon’s face when she realized her friend was trying to rise from the ashes of her family life...
And there her mind went again. Diamond started to consider if she should look into more mentally-challenging careers. Maybe she’d find something more engaging that way. At the very least, that might help keep her head below the clouds and away from unpleasant topics.
Diamond Tiara wondered what it was like to be on a cloud...
*tink* *tink*
*thunk!*
Blinking in surprise as she was snapped out of her pondering, Diamond Tiara looked down at the rock she’d been breaking. She’d barely cracked it. What in Equestria had made that sound? She tried to hit it again.
*thunk!*
Yep, there was something off about this rock. Maybe there was something inside it? She rolled it over a bit, then swung again.
*tink* *tink* *thunk!*
This time, a chunk of the rock came off, revealing… some kind of weird white lump inside.
“Mr. Ore? Can you take a look at this, please?” asked Diamond Tiara as she made her way to the stallion’s office.
Silver Ore was a large pony, with a grey coat and silver mane that was a few shades darker than Silver Spoon’s. He was a gruff pony who took his job very seriously, but greeted Diamond Tiara with a smile. He had a soft spot for his niece and her friend. Especially after he’d been told about what the little filly had gone through.
“Oh? What is it, Diamond Tiara? Find something interesting?” asked Mr. Ore.
Diamond Tiara shrugged and showed him the rock with the weird white stuff inside it. Mr. Ore let out a whistle.
“Well, what do you know. Looks like you went and found yourself a diamond,” said Mr. Ore.
Diamond Tiara looked down at the stone in her hoof, somewhat confused.
“This ugly thing is a diamond?” she asked in disbelief.
Mr. Ore let out a chuckle, before reaching into his desk and pulling out a bottle of polish and a rag.
“Yep. You ever hear the expression ‘a diamond in the rough’? It ain’t just a bit of flowery language. This little thing just needs a bit of cleaning up,” declared Mr. Ore.
Mr. Ore took the ugly diamond, and started cleaning it. After a minute or two, he showed it to Diamond Tiara, revealing the bright, shiny gemstone that the filly was familiar with.
“We ain’t rock farmers. The gems that form in our mines don’t grow because we tell them to. As such, when one forms, it doesn’t grow all that cleanly. They ain’t flawless either. There’s bound to be cracks and other marks in it, so it won’t sell for very much,” explained Mr. Ore.
Diamond Tiara looked at the diamond. She could see that he was right. It was clearly a substandard gemstone. And yet...
“But it’s still a diamond. It won’t be as pretty as one grown on a rock farm, but it can still shine like any other gem with a little polish...” she mumbled.
Mr. Ore blinked in surprise, but then gave her a warm smile.
“Just like a certain other Diamond, right?” he asked.
Diamond Tiara blushed, but nodded. It was kind of fitting, actually.
She was a Diamond in the rough...
Ever heard of...Cliffhanger?
I have notified random people on 2 discord servers and on EQD MD.
Ooh, a sequel!
Be sure to make a blog post tagged with the first story to notify your readers.
Fimfiction used to have a "sequel-notification" thing going some years back, but apparently it was only experiemental and they stopped doing it after, like, three months or so. Really, I can't think of why.
Btw, found a possible typo in the description:
Not sure, but shouldn't that be "she's"?
Well I haven't even read a chapter yet, but something calls out to me to type something... Something from the dawn of my youth...
But then I'd need to find all of the current iterations of their theme song that's already floating around the prior fic's comment sections!
Oh, so we're going to have side stories about DT. This would be interesting to see how her life is now turning.
Either start or was starting
slowly
9399473
That or the word be should be place right after she'd.
Sell it to Spike, he is known for spending lots to money on tasty treats.
ITS BACK BAYBE!!!
Heh, a nice start to a story i really enjoyed.
Woot.
9399576
Do you have proof and/or evidence to vindicate this?
I disagree, that sort of shit scars a person on a deep level.
I suppose I can understand that.
OH yeah.
Hello...
In the rough.
Precisely.
I can live with that.
looking forward to more on Diamond Tiara the CMC and Babs.
PS:I am betting on werewolf for Babs, or at the very least some kinda were-creature
9399764
Obviously all Alicorns are liches. You didn't really believe that "ascension" hooey did you? Like some kind of natural apotheosis occurs to those who prove themselves "worthy?" Hah.
We just have to figure out where her phylactery is.
9399948
You might want to read the first story. We already know what happens to Babs. It's explained at the end of the time travel arc.
9400075
I did read it, I just dont remember what happened to her XD
I'm really excited to see that the sequel is finally out!!
Wtf wtf wtf wtf wtf wtf wtf wtf
Omg omg omg omg omg omg omg
Thank you for the sequel!!!
Heck yeah for sweetie bot
9400146
Basically the Spider Bite changed her genetic code to a 1 in a million sequence that makes her future children Naturally Born Thestrals, Aka Batponies. This in turn is stated to have brought the entire species back from extinction. So while Babs herself is completely normal and the same as far as she's concerned, she is now strange by virtue of becoming the literal mother of all vampires in the future.
Spoilers for anyone who didn't read the original.
9399764
Nope. It’s just a thought that popped into my head when one of the two good lich’s commented on how good Twilight’s spellwork and I thought “Why would Twilight know a spell made to hide an undead’s apperance or more notably stop an undead from falling apart?” One of the more ridiculous reasons as to why she would know that is because she herself was an undead and so she had to cast said spell on herself to hide her appearance/dark magic, and that’s why she didn’t see either of the lichs despite one of them commenting on wanting to see, because she was afraid of being discovered.
As to how, I honestly have no idea though I would have to bet on that one other good Lich who works at Celestia’s school that got mentioned a while back and there being some accident or something.
9399996
I thinks that’s more of a jab about Applebloom being a farmer and not knowing technological terms and thinking it was some sci-if mumbojumbo
9400340
Magic the gathering Vr would be so cool
I like this character development. Keep it coming.
yes yes yes this a million times yes this!
(im still working on my audio reading of the first story but its slow going i work long shifts and im just one pony
and i screw up...alot...which doesnt help)
That moment when you realized you put a fic into favorites before actually reading it.
9399473
I think it works if it's a contraction of "she had".
The sequel's out. The sequel is out and I wasn't notified. I feel rather indignant. ... Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
9400697
Fimfiction used to have a sequel-notification system in place a few years back... for about three months, then it was suddenly removed again, and never added back in.
Great! Now she just have to find The Cave of Wonders!
Yaaaayyy!
Wow, did not expect this!
And that cliffhanger!
Eagerly awaiting the next chapter!
9400003
9400320
- MLP: FiM
- Random
- Slice of Life
After what happened with Tirek, Twilight has some questions regarding Celestia's immortality. The answers are a bit of a shock, even to her.Yay sequel!
OH SWEET SEQUELS!
9401469
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/33740/phylactery-of-a-lich
All of the yes! The original in one of a few stories I go back and read, and now it has a sequel!?!? GET INTO MY EYE HOLES WORDS!!!!!
Wonderful to see a sequel, especially one with such a promising start as this. Looking forward to more.
Oh man - a sequel to one of my all-time faves? Sign me up!
It occurs to me that in this story Rarity is a thief, or maybe a bandit. The episode where she gets kidnapped by the Diamond Dogs, the gems she was collecting were perfectly formed and apparently that means they were farmed. So that means that she raided a Diamond Dog gem farm.
9403184
In the show, perfectly formed gems occur naturally in Equestria and are found all over the place. But if you're retconning the one thing, Rarithief is a corollary. n.n
Although since the dogs didn't know where to find the gems, it probably wasn't *their* gem farm. Who knows what they did to the original owners.
I'm gonna say this now. I'll be somewhat disappointed if a vampire doesn't show up. Like maybe Babs' mom gets turned and she treats it like an "I told you so!" moment.
Awesome! I love this story, so glad to see a sequel!
This diamond chapter is so wholesome and I love it.
She's not mining at night, is she? Everyone knows don't mine at night.
9404764
nope, the genetic quirk that causes it starts with her but iirc from the previous story its like her great great grandkid that manifests it finaly, she 'might' live long enough to see it as she is an earth pony and show cannon has established earth ponies tend to have rediculously long life spans [Grany smith if you do the math based on events shes described is pushing 200 years old or more]
9400003
9401469
right idea, wrong undead.
All alicorns are vampires, they feed on the blood of there little ponies to extend there unnatural lifespans!
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/395342/royal-blood
9399623
Ship it?
9404816
You are probably thinking of her great to the n grand kid giving a report on what happened and him being a thestral.
But his report says 'her future daughter'.
You know, someone else has probably pointed this out long ago, but it only just now occurred to me that "Undead Robot Bug Crusaders" fits the same syllable stress pattern as "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". I kinda feel like someone should write a song parody for the story.
9399437
The writing tool or that poor unlucky guy?
9399555
I completely forgot that was a thing, so... no.
9399979
Nah, he's just a fan of earworms. Well, giving others earworms, at any rate.
9400340
Maybe.... (writes down idea)
9401292
9400697
That's odd. I made a blog post about it. Hm... maybe I should post a notice on the first fic? Is that allowed?
9399465
9399473
9399571
9399609
9399895
Fixed. Thanks for the help... as usual... sigh...
9407413
The poor unlucky victim