//------------------------------// // -116- // Story: Coarse Diamonds // by Darkonshadows //------------------------------// Trying not to stare at the curious metal adornments attached to the Dik-Diks ears, Rarity followed their minder towards the back of the massive hangar. One of the eight hangars on Selengard Station, block C upper hanger to be specific. So’Grahd however had noticed as they approached the back wall door to the interior of the station, she had expected it given they were basically first time tourists. There were two types of doors leading into this station, one for land vehicles and another for people. Quick transport around the station required a number of vehicles and personnel to drive them, aside from that there was also the tram network. There was a limit to how many vehicles could be operational on this station at any given time and who could drive them, there was no such thing as a traffic jam thanks to the limitations in place. They would be taking the tram to the merchant district to do some shopping. “Did you want to ask a question? I certainly have plenty for fang face there, she might cause issues with other Dik-Diks if she’s seen walking around alone.” So’Grahd’s job entirely revolved around trying to keep the peace and as such Chrysalis was the problem of her group, Opal was too adorable to be threatening. That and Opal was quite puny and wasn’t a threat to any adult Dik-Dik and was clearly pony raised, so what could she possibly know about fighting from Grahd’s point of view. “Just so you know I’m not a tour guide and I’m a Planetary Protection Patrol Officer, treat me with respect and things will go smoothly between us. I just also happen to be the one they called for this minder position, apparently they passed it through the Triple P for me to even be doing this.” The ‘they’ that So’Grahd was talking about wasn’t brought up as Chrysalis decided to interject, the distraction went on long enough that Rarity’s group would quickly forget about it. “I don’t know about my fangs being big issues, some people like hickeys to the neck. Usually the blood sucking type of hickeys, but I don’t actually like the taste of blood so I don’t do hickeys unless specifically asked too.” Batting her eyelashes at and officer might not have been the brightest of ideas, but Chrysalis wasn’t known for being sane. “My teeth are mostly a defensive evolution thing and just happen to be good for chewing through hair which actually fits in with my diet, I don’t bite unless you want me too…” “No, you will not be biting anyone on this station whether or not I am there to witness it.” It was at this point that So’Grahd absolutely decided to watch the Changeling carefully, this was her first time dealing with an unknown quantity. Her opinion is that anything from Equus tended to be quite strange. “You specifically will be staying within sight or so help me I’ll find something to legally charge you with.” “You’re way too serious, but if you don’t want me biting anyone I won’t.” The goofy grin did not broker Chrysalis any luck in getting a positive response to her next statement. “Would you want to bite me instead? I promise I’ll enjoy it.” “What our odd… well let’s call her a ‘friend’ in a loose term… what she means is that she’s kind of a masochist and loves pain and suffering and doesn’t cares whose pain and suffering she’s enjoying. Quite frankly she only wants attention and its best not to focus on her all too hard or she might take it as you fancying her, which you obviously don’t want her to do.” It was Opal deciding to warn So’Grahd before it was too late. “She feeds on love, but I know friendship works just as well as it’s a certain level of love and she is absolutely horrible at getting anyone to truly love her. Which is why our ship has so much pony hair in storage.” “It’s all quite delicious too, I really enjoy Pegasus fur. It’s soft and sleek, while tasting like the most delicious savory silk ever ingested that slides gently down my throat. Probably has that texture from spending so much time in the sky. The only thing better is unicorn mane or tail which is more like a fruit flavor being that it gets to my sweet tooth pretty well and it’s chewy too.” Chrysalis probably took it as a good sign that nobody cringed as she talked about eating hair, so she continued on. “Earth Pony hair overall is a bit rough in texture, but that’s to be expected as its one part of an Earth Ponies resilience. Since it’s thicker it’s more filling for me, so I mix it with either of the other two.” “I’ll endeavor to forget I ever got you started on the subject.” Looking at So’Grahd, you can tell she really wished this was over with as she led them through the corridor towards the free tramway, it was free to use for anyone and it was the quickest way to get to the merchant district which took up a little more than half of the station. The other districts were the residential district for the people who actually lived on the station and the combined administrative and botanical districts which kept the station running as well as it does. “I can already tell someone gave me this job just to piss me off.” “I apologize for Chrysalis, she’s annoying and doesn’t care about decorum a lot of the time.” The apology Rarity gave So’Grahd had Chrysalis giving her a very flat look. “Still she is one of the strongest members on my crew, I doubt anything short of an entire planet exploding would actually kill her.” “Really now?” They boarded the tram and So’Grahd took an interest in the subject as Rarity sat Opal down on a seat before taking her place right next to the fluffy feline. Officer Grahd wouldn’t say no to learning some things about Changelings, she has yet to see the aforementioned shape shifting even if she was assured that Chrysalis could not full replicate a Dik-Dik in appearance. “Yes, it seems Chrysalis is immune to almost any kind of poison imaginable.” Sassy didn’t even bother to add a suffix to Chrysalis’s name, this actually upset the Changeling Queen given she understood neighponese style of speak that Sassy seemed to enjoy. Without the ‘–san’ suffix it meant that Sassy had less respect for her than usual. “Were that not the truth, then she’d be quite dead by now as she has been the subject of many assassination attempts.” “Yeah, I’m kind of surprised as to how nice Rarity’s crew is. None of them have tried to poison me yet and none of them outright hate me.” Or Chrysalis wasn’t doing enough wrong that they others couldn’t outright ignore, mostly she just annoyed them and they tolerated it surprisingly well. “In a way I’m kind of sad about that, I must be doing something right at the very least.” “I wouldn’t say that, but we know you’re quite intelligent even if you don’t like to show it in case one of becomes an enemy of yours.” At least Coco hadn’t given up on trying to be Chrysalis’s friend, but it was an uphill battle with boulders rolling down said hill constantly. “Aside from her lack of being able to handle higher forms of technology, Chrysalis is really quite talented at a lot of thing.” “Why yes, she’s by far the finest meat shield I’ve ever hired and she’s quite an interesting conversationalist at the very least.” That wasn’t said in jest, Rarity actually meant it and it warmed Chrysalis’s rather twisted heart to be appreciated in such a manner. “Anyway, instead of being further distracted by the inane conversation Chrysalis might want us to continue, I want to ask about those unique accoutrements to your ears Ms. Grahd. They look quite fashionable if I do say so.” “Ah, yes, my cybernetic implants, the things I’ve been teased about since they were installed. They do only two things. The first and most important thing is that they allow me to hear as I would be deaf without them otherwise, my ears were messed up some time after I was born and it is not a genetic problem no matter what anyone else says about me.” There seemed to be a bit of anger in So’Grahd’s voice as she flicked her ears a bit and the visible bits of metal and wire on her ears shifted about slightly, the metal seemed to even be integrated into the edges of her ears leading inwards. “The second things is that they let me understand various languages, I decided to add that useful perk as I already needed them to live normally anyway. So I figured why not make extra use of a tool I already have at my disposal. I get a lot of crap for it from my own race, at least it’s not a very invasive form of cybernetics and I can remove them to bathe. Anyway if you hear people calling me Grady, just ignore it and don’t ever call me that.” They were swiftly seated in the tram and various other beings entered right after them. There were several Cacceran that were mostly fox like in appearance talking amongst themselves about business, three average looking Macropussians that seemed relatively civil in appearance and a Parascine. The common factor among all of them was that they each had a Dik-Dik alongside them sometimes interjecting here or there where necessary. Rarity and possibly Sassy were surprised to see Macropussians that weren’t punks or aggressive, Coco didn’t look towards the kangaroo aliens at all and averted her eyes. She was remembering a bad run in with some when she first met Ember and tried to start up a conversation with Opal. “So what are you looking forward to the most Opal?” Coco’s ears wilted as she had startled Opal out of looking at the Caccerans curiously. “Sorry for startling you.” “It’s okay Coco, I’m just being a little skittish.” Well Opal was experiencing a lot of knew things and was even shivering a bit before Rarity wrapped a hoof around her to calm her down. “I’m looking forward to getting a few new things, though I’d prefer to just window shop as I want to continue sleeping in moms room.” “Opal, you’re a big girl. You’re going to eventually want and need that space, as such it’ll be waiting for you when you’re ready for it. I’m not kicking you out of my room darling, just giving you one you can use for yourself.” Rarity didn’t know how to interpret the look So’Grahd was sending her and Opal, but the other Dik-Diks boarding the tram didn’t seem to be focusing any attention on them or their minder at all. The other Dik-Diks still looked at Opal and Chrysalis oddly, but mostly they kept to their own groups. “Yeah, but I don’t think I’ll ever stop needing you.” Opal cuddled up against Rarity, they’d stay like that for most of the ride. They shared a strong bond with one another and weren’t going to do anything to upset what they had. “So what is your biggest seller?” Everyone in the group jumped at So’Grahd suddenly talking, she didn’t seem much like a social butterfly. “If I’m going to be stuck watching you, I at least want to know what you are good at making. Note, this will be my only token attempt at making small talk.” “I believe our best seller is our expertly crafted EVA suits, they are cheap and efficient for the cost and the only reason why they would be expensive is if you wanted all the utilities we can put into them. I myself prefer making dresses, Coco is good at making accessories and normal clothing and Sassy is also quite good at fashion design and I trust her to manage our sales.” Both of Rarity’s friends perked up and looked a bit proud of themselves, they both liked to be praised for their work. “It’s why we’re here to visit Nocturne, we’re looking forward to a fashion competition. I for one know I have plenty of friends who could act as fashion models should I need them for the competition, Chrysalis here is really good at modeling dresses with her abilities.” “Thank you Boss Lady!” The warm gooey emotions were always a nice snack for Chrysalis, especially when they were meant for her. “Can I ask for help in getting senpai to notice me?” “Boss Lady?” Snorted out So’Grahd who raised an eyebrow at Rarity’s nickname. Rarity didn’t know what the Dik-Dik was thinking and obviously Chrysalis’s senpai was Sassy, she might as well answer both queries. “First off Boss Lady is what most of my crew calls me, I haven’t the foggiest idea why they keep doing so. I am a lady or a baroness if you will and I also happen to be their boss, but that doesn’t mean they need to keep calling me that.” Having said that Rarity turned away from So’Grahd to Chrysalis. “I’m pretty sure everyone notices you just fine Chrysalis, are you asking for my help with wooing Sassy? You do realize she’s sitting right next to me right?” “No, I just want her to notice me more, because she can’t possible want to miss all of this.” Chrysalis motions to herself, mostly the front half of her body, she do any motion anywhere close to her butt. “Did somebody hear something? I’m afraid the air is a little loud in here or is it just a foul odor I smell.” The wry tone Sassy spoke in and the way she turned her nose up and away made Chrysalis whine. “So cold, so ruthless about my unrequited feelings… you can all see why I’m so deeply in love with her right?” Said a suddenly perky Chrysalis. “I mean it’s not just her looks, but the whole package that I’m interested in.” “Yes, there does seem to be a foul odor that is following you around. I’m sorry that you can’t get rid of it so easily.” So’Grahd joined Sassy in her current attitude towards Chrysalis. “Okay that’s enough!” Coco raised her voice an octave, which meant she was still within the realm of Fluttershy soft. “Stop picking on Chrysalis, even if she does smell funny a lot of the time and is annoying. She’s our friend, we should treat her a little bit better than we do. I will however withhold my respect until she actually earns it by coming to me for help when she’s obviously floundering with something. She’d have finished toys sooner had she at least asked an expert on it and we have four, all of us are right here too.” “Given all the failures it took to even make the two successful toys that she did, I’m sure she’d rather continue to fail horribly then to take you up on an offer for help because she prefers to be self-sufficient.” Opal knew Chrysalis quite well, but she still had to get in her own opinion on the matter. “Asking for help is not a sign of weakness Chrysalis, it just means that you’d like to know about something that you clearly don’t before it ends in utter disaster. Speaking of, yes Chrysalis’s first few attempts were complete disasters and she’s like a Yak from Yakyakistan when it comes to needing help.” “I love all of you, and I seriously mean that too.” It wasn’t hard for Chrysalis to like these people, they were quite fun with how they insulted her in a lighthearted way. “I know how most of you really feel, don’t really know about Sassy or the Dik-Dik though. They’re keeping their emotions closed off from me pretty well.” “You better believe I’d keep my emotions closed off from someone who’d snack on them.” So’Grahd was not looking to become a buffet for the literal odd one out of the group, she glanced at Sassy whose expression remains completely even with just a minor eye roll to show for it. “I think they’re doing you a favor Crystal, at least they are not forcing you to choke on their negative emotions.” At least Rarity had the right idea of what to say to shut off this conversation that was going nowhere. “Huh… so maybe I can get a herd going with the two of them?” Some would say Chrysalis was nuts to be attracted to those who disliked her so much, she had made So’Grahd blanch and unleash the full strength of her negative emotions about being saddled with their group. All the Changeling Queen did was let off a whistle in Grahd’s direction. “That’s a lot of resentment, whose oats did you pour your bodily fluids into?” “Not if you were the last being in existence and I don’t know who I pissed off exactly.” After stating that So’Grahd calmed down, minutely at least as far as Chrysalis could tell despite her outward appearance becoming quite blank. “Look, I resent the fact that I was pulled from my job to watch the lot of you. I’d rather be chasing down some criminal scum or working a case, heck I was almost perfectly fine with watching incoming ships for any signs of illegal activity. Instead of doing that I’m stuck with a babysitting job like this one.” “I wouldn’t challenge Chrysalis if I were you, she might actually take you up on it and actually start trying to earn your affections as well. Someone like her trying to form a herd would be bad for all who get involved in it… much less the universe as a whole.” Sassy kept herself emotionally balanced when it came to Chrysalis. She didn’t hate Chrysalis, but the mare did tend to wear on ones nerves if they weren’t ready for the Changeling Queen and she was certainly more than ready. “Is it us you resent or those in command for putting you here?” “I don’t know, but we’re almost there. The merchant district is quite large considering how much business comes through this station at any given time.” Started off So’Grahd who was beginning to cool down, she was entertaining four guests and a nuisance and had to stay on top of things. “You are to stick together as a group and as your minder I am to be stuck with you until you leave, unless mitigating circumstances occur.” “What kind of mitigating circumstances?” Asked Rarity as the tram came to a stop and the doors opened to the station in the merchant district. They all exited first and made their way out of the station to witness quite a decent looking city before them. Opal looked as eager as Coco to stop the sniping at Chrysalis and Rarity decided to help things along. “This is our first time here and we are in your care after all.” Sassy suddenly frozen next to Rarity, her eyes sharpened imperceptibly. A flicker of movement, a flash of silver and a bright spark of something happening from a few feet in front of Rarity’s face stopped them in their tracks. “What was that?” Rarity asked looking at Sassy who seemed to have not change the expression on her face at all and seemed to be standing in the exact same position she had been when Rarity had blinked. “What was what Rarity?” Though Sassy knew Rarity had to have seen at least some of the exchange that just happened, she had hopefully moved fast enough to avoid anyone fully seeing what she just did. She didn’t want to worry Rarity or ruin their trip, but she was now far more alert than she had been a second ago. “I didn’t see anything.” At least Sassy wasn’t lying about not seeing anything, she had done what she just did out of instinct and managed to barely stop what was about to happen. Both Chrysalis and Opal sent her an incredulous look at that statement, Coco just looked confused and could tell that something was up and it involved Sassy somehow. Sassy slowly positioned herself near So’Grahd. “I could have sworn something just happened.” Shaking her head, Rarity swore she just saw something and continued onwards into the streets of the merchant district. While she did that she sent a suspicious look towards Sassy before returning it to the streets littered with many other species meandering around the tram station’s entrance and the many stalls and shops the permeated the area. “Well let’s get a move on, we have some shopping to do.” Opal, Coco and Chrysalis all knew something had occurred, but only Opal and Chrysalis had managed to follow what exactly it was that just happened in its entirety and wanted to stay silent about it for their own reasons. Sassy’s speed was quite unreal for a pony, especially when she deflected that material round that had been fired from what had to be a material sniper and not only that, but she had grabbed the material round as soon as she deflected it upwards with her left hoof while her right returned her blade to its sheath. The subsonic material round was quite swiftly pocketed by the mare. Chrysalis could still process many things even without other Changelings to boost her mental prowess with the hive mind and Opal had basically seen it all happen in slow motion. It was incredible the way Sassy moved forward, pulled her Chokuto from its sheath and then seemingly tapped the material round out of the air without really looking at it. She had changed the material rounds momentum and made it bleed off before catching it with her other hoof and pulling back into the position she was previously as she sheathed her blade. It all happened within the span of half a second and if you had blinked, then you would have certainly missed what she did and you were likely to miss it anyway like Rarity did even if you hadn’t. “Tell me plainly, did someone just try to assassinate her and here of all places?” So’Grahd spoke with barely a whisper so as not to immediately panic everyone around them. Though she was quite sure the others were suspicious given the way they eyed their friend for a second after she moved to defend the one they nicknamed Boss Lady. “What exactly are you getting me into here?” This is what So’Grahd lived for, she preferred to be an active protector and someone had just tried to kill one of her charges of whom she thought were just another lazy babysitting job. It would have looked bad on her if she let someone die while under her watchful eyes. Someone probably expected that to happen as she had heard the material round coming, but she couldn’t do a single thing to stop it in time. This led So’Grahd to wondering if someone wanted her to fail her job or if this was a personal grudge against one of her charges or maybe someone just had something against the ‘So’ clan, she really hated politics and it was why she was a Triple P Officer. Rarity did say she was a baroness and her death wouldn’t have gone down very well for So’Grahd, but she didn’t understand why someone would want to kill a merchant. A merchant that sold clothes of whom she was specifically put in charge of no less, had someone expected this attack to succeed and what would they do now that it didn’t? How did someone even get a material sniper into the station and weren’t immediately put on the watch carefully list? Assassins couldn’t get into the station without being watched constantly, if they were about to fire a long range weapon it would and should have been stopped immediately. All weapons were checked and registered before anyone even came onto the station, so either someone inside the station brought the rifle in in pieces or somebody had to have let them in knowing that the target would have little to no chance at avoiding certain death. Only they hadn’t accounted for an Equus magic samurai to be present, one who was good at detecting and subsequently deflecting high speed projectiles. That was a rather high end skill for someone like Sassy, it at least let So’Grahd know the sword wasn’t just for show. Even if someone tried to sneak a weapon onto the station, then the scanners would have at least picked it up if it was fired and yet there was no sudden lockdown of the area. Something was going on here and someone was trying to possibly make a fool of So’Grahd or her clan as a possible bonus. So’Grahd knew what these so called merchants were equipped with, Sassy had her Chokuto and the strange electric pins in her clothing that the scanners knew about and weren’t considered very lethal weapons. Rarity had two energy pistols and that was all these people had to defend themselves with, unless there was something about Chrysalis that she didn’t know anything about. This was the first time So’Grahd has ever seen or met a shape shifter, she wasn’t even sure if this was what Chrysalis normally looked like. Magic was something the Dik-Dik race didn’t know how to counter, though detecting it certainly wasn’t an issue and three of these people were active magic users. One of them just deflected and even caught a material round without the aid of magic, given her horn didn’t light up at all to do what she just did. So’Grahd was quite skilled in close combat like many of her race, but even the amount of skill Sassy showed was quite ludicrous and some would say impossible if So’Grahd hadn’t clearly witnessed Sassy pocketing the material round. “Yes and I have no clue.” It was all Sassy whispered back in response as her eyes looked towards windows and the top of buildings looking out for another possible attack. Rarity wanted to avoid trouble and Sassy was going to make sure trouble avoided her, she didn’t know if she could trust So’Grahd at this point and was in a position to deal with her quickly if needed. So’Grahd figured whoever had attacked likely knew that it wasn’t a fluke that their target wasn’t dead and had already left their position either to set up for another or plan a different strategy. She heard a sound of someone calling her on her data pad and she immediately started up the record function as she pulled it from her uniform, she records every conversation she has ever had on the pad and it has saved her ass numerous times to do so. “Officer So’Grahd, I am so sorry to hear that one of your charges has died.” Apparently the guy calling So’Grahd hadn’t got the memo that Rarity was still alive and breathing, he had likely only heard that the assassin had taken their shot and had assumed that Rarity died from a material round through her skull. “I can help you out, but you’ll have to listen to me if you want to keep your job and I’m sure your clan doesn’t want to hear about your little…” “Sorry, but your plot, whatever it is, has already failed. Thanks for letting me record the evidence of your duplicity, I didn’t think we had any corruption in our forces until now. Thanks for letting me and many others know that someone in the Triple P can be bought.” So’Grahd knew that voice and had paled for various reasons, things around here were going to start sucking quite badly if there was going to be a series of attempts at killing any one of her five charges or their friends in the other group... oh shrike. Hopefully the other group could take care of itself and that Zel’Itenk was a truly honorable Dik-Dik. “Thankfully the assassin missed so I don’t have to worry about being blackmailed into keeping my job and I’m now sending this to everyone in my precinct and to the rest of the ‘So’ clan. Thank you for being cooperative.” “What, that shouldn’t be possible, that Pony should be dead!” The voice sounded absolutely livid. “You should be panicking and…” “Thanks for continuing to confirm that you were a part of the plot, my clan and the honor of the Dik-Diks won’t be sullied by the likes of you.” So’Grahd kept her voice firm and even and tried to keep it down as to not alert anyone other than Sassy that something was very wrong on Selengard Station. “We’ll make sure you won’t get off this station without an inquisition happening and I will continue to protect my charges until further notice as someone has so graciously ordered of me. I certainly have a much better reason to do so now.” Apparently somebody wanted to manipulate her or the Dik-Dik race as a whole and So’Grahd wasn’t happy about it, neither would her people be once they finished hearing about this. She might have been griping about a cushy job, but now it was a full blown problem and it had her attention completely. Someone wanted her to be a minder and to fail horribly at it, it certainly wasn’t just her imagination that somebody was trying to set something in motion and it required for one of her charges to be dead. “Is everything alright back there?” Rarity asked as So’Grahd fell behind the group a ways. “As your people would say, just peachy.” Even as So’Grahd said it she couldn’t bring herself to do anything more than keep a very neutral look on her face, she wanted to frown so badly or at least smile that she just helped put a partial stop to something. She didn’t think it would be that easy though and she was going to keep her wits about her just in case things got worse. “Just something that came up, that I needed to look into. Nothing to worry about and I already have other people working on it.” Though worrying was what So’Grahd was going to do until this mess cleared up and none of the people from the Shining Jewel were safe as long as they were on this station if they were being targeted specifically. There was also the chance that the target was specifically the unicorn that would have died, but So’Grahd didn’t know if that unicorn had been around long enough to actually make enemies here or if she had enemies that came here from somewhere else. They would be safe if So’Grahd could help it and she didn’t know if she could trust anyone other than her own clan or possibly other Dik-Diks, she needed more information like yesterday and the first best source of that would be to ask the group she was minding. The group did seem rather nervous and worried about their ‘Boss Lady’ as they call her. - “Ten bits says Rarity has to fight a robot revolution or at least has to take down a few cyborgs.” Gilda started off as she sat down at everyone’s favorite mess hall table and waited for Saffron to get cooking. “Dik-Diks have that kind of technology right?” “Ten bits on it being the Trapeze Troupe that gets into trouble.” Greta added on to the betting pool with a smile. “Ten bits says that Rarity is accidentally confused for being the leader of a crime syndicate.” Saffron added on to their rather morbid sounding bets, she wouldn’t put it past anyone to think that after hearing Rarity’s nickname. “Twenty bits, on at least most of that happening while we’re still here and Coco ends up killing someone or something by accident.” It was surprising to hear that Coriander was throwing in with their wild bets of what might happen, especially after hearing stories of Rarity’s ability to walk into and out of chaos mostly intact. It was all in good fun really and Coriander seriously didn’t see Coco as doing something like that, even after Saffron told him of what had happened on Antilur Station. “Five bits that everything happens to the Shining Jewel itself.” Vera seemed to be just throwing in her loser bet to prevent anything from happening to the ship that they were all currently occupying by attempting to use reverse psychology against the universe itself.