//------------------------------// // Blood Diamond // Story: Dragon Road Season 1 // by FoolMeThrice //------------------------------// Kai was interrupted from his afternoon meditation by a loud, overly-dramatic gasp from downstairs. It was probably nothing, but Kai was still curious. Popping down the stairs, his gaze landed on his sister. And then another mare, done up elegantly with an air of… fame. Didn't he recognise— “Holy—” He clasped his hands over his mouth and ducked back into the stairwell. Rushing up silently, he adjusted his clothing properly, adding a royal blue, bedazzled scarf made for ‘Fashion Emergencies Only’, and checked himself in his mirror. Stylish. Now, he could go back down. But not like your common, run-of-the-mill rabble—NO! He needed more style. And to seem dismissive. That would always do well with the famous types. Hands in pockets, Kai descended the stairs and looked the mares' way. They noticed him, and Rarity looked a bit less nervous than she had been. “Oh, hey Rarity.” Then he looked upon the other mare. “Sapphire Shores, huh? That's Rarity for you. Always meeting more and more famous ponies every day.” “Hey, I get to see him in the flesh! Pleasure to meet you, Kai!” To be fair, Kai took that a lot better than most ponies would in his place. “You—Sappire Shores—I mean—you kn-kn-know my name?” Royalty? Didn't make him bat an eyelash. Sapphire Shores? Respect to Sapphire Shores for being among the few to shake Kai. The Pony of Pop giggled at his shock. “Darling, there is no stylish pony who hasn't picked up that issue of Clothes Horse magazine!" He hadn't kept up with that magazine since he started his adventure… “The wonderful photos of our fashion show, of course.” Rarity spoke up to explain. She gave him a look, sharing the undertone of surprise to be discussed later. “And if I can say so, you are a whole lot cuter when you're not on paper!” Kai blushed. “And that outfit is to diiiie fooor!” His blush intensified, but he saw a business related segway that could save him. “If you're a fan of my clothes, then you must be here for the designer.” He said as he gestured to Rarity. “That's right!” Sapphire Shores regarded the unicorn now. “As I'm sure you know, I'll be touring all of Equestria with my latest concert, ‘Sapphire Shores' Ziegfilly Follies’, so I need to look seeensational!” She explained and exclaimed in a sing-songy tone. Rarity perked up and grinned. “I have just what you need. Sapphire Shores, prepare yourself for the pièce de résistance de la haute couture.” And with that, Rarity showed off her latest work, not just bedazzled, but decorated with whole diamonds to make it sparkle brightly. “I used every last diamond I found on this one garment.” To say Sapphire Shores was impressed was to say the night was dark—an understatement. Her eyes were wide, reflecting the glitters and sparkles. “And it is spectacular! I'll take it.” “Really?” “Oh yes, and five more, each done up in a different jewel.” Rarity blinked, then stared in shock. “Beg pardon?” “Costume changes.” With that clear, a wayward glance went over to where Rarity usually kept gems. Empty. Before Rarity could faint, Kai, also shocked, cleared his throat and took over a thoroughly neglected and barely mentioned side of business discussions these days—actual business. “We're not doubting your financial stability, but we should warn, this project will be costly.” That was able to steady Rarity enough to remain conscious. After all, Element of Generosity or not, Rarity still had a business to run. “Not a problem!” Afterward, Rarity and Sapphire Shores briefly discussed the price of this project, and came to a decision. With an advance payment, to be fully paid upon completion decided, Sapphire Shores took out a small piece of paper and started writing. Checks existed in Equestria. Just not in the way one may expect. You write it, you sign it, you give it to somepony, and they go to a bank to cash it in. The process was a tad complicated, but it was a magical-money combination, more or less pulling the set amount from one's already stored funds. True, it was a little biased towards unicorns, since only they could grab funds on the go, but nopony complained about a place to safely store money. Sapphire Shores signed the check and gave it to Rarity. “So, when can I expect to be lookin' all dazzled up?” With the celebrity's excitement, Rarity almost wanted to give a date closer than reasonable to please her. But, she realised Sapphire Shore seemed a lot more level-headed—if eccentric—than the magazines and tabloids made her out to be. So she was sure they both knew these thing took time. “Sappire Shores, I can guarantee you, your dresses will be complete in no more than six days!” Even though that was sufficient in her own opinion, the estimate managed to shock Sapphire Shores. “Six days?” “I'm terribly sorry. I can try to be quicker?” “Quicker? Than six days!? Oh, now I know I went to the right pony!” As Sapphire Shores laughed joyfully, Rarity was confused. “You're not as slow as you think.” Kai whispered an explanation. Strange thing: nopony ever reveals how long projects take. Only the designer, the requester, and maybe some eavesdropping papparazzi knew, so when it gets out, that becomes a baseline. Regardless of the order. Sapphire Shores gave a final grin to the siblings before walking to and out the door. …The moment the door shut, both Kai and Rarity crumpled and hyperventilated. “Aaaaaaaaah…!” Came Rarity's high scream of terror/excitement. “H…holy crap…!” Kai was shaken, too. “Sa…Sapphire Shores… in the flesh. In the flesh, Rarity!” “I know! I'm so shocked, but ecstatic!” She slowly recovered, hoof over heart. “But honestly, I hadn't even known we were in a magizine.” “Thought you'd kept up with those magazines?” “Ever since Hoity Toity spoke of us, I've been too busy to catch up!” “Oh, right.” Kai scratched his head. “Well… Do you know what you're going to do about the gems?” Rarity shook her head with a frantic expression. “I gotta get back to the café… You should ask Spike for help. He'd love to help you!” “That's a great idea! And I get to spend time with my Spikey Wikey!” As she gushed over her favorite dragon, Kai commited the cute pet-name to his memory and moved on. “This one's all you, sis.” He told her. “Do you mean to say, you aren't going to help me anymore?” “Yup. Besides, I really should get back to the café… I'd fire someone if they took a break this long.” “Well then, I should be off, as well. Gems won't find themselves, now will they?” Rarity asked rhetorically. The siblings made their way out, one to find gems, another to continue working. Chapter 19 Blood Diamond It seemed this afternoon was set to be dull and slow. The mornings, naturally, found Kai's Cafe packed as usual. But as ponies continued their days and woke up, coffee was less of a need and more of a luxery. Not that Kai minded either way. He just enjoyed this whole thing. Be it making the coffee, cleaning the cups, reorganizing the place, he enjoyed it. His head perked up at the sound of the bell, and he smiled at the sight of his customers. Five familiar faces. “Welcome, strangers.” Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Applejack looked around, completely taken aback. Fluttershy was already walking to the counter as if she had been doing so for her life. “Hello, Kai. How is business?” She asked with a smile as she took a seat. “Can't complain. Looks like ponies are lovin' coffee a lot these days.” “They love your coffee.” Her compliment earned a bashful little chuckle. “So… this is like… yours?” Rainbow Dash asked a bit skeptically. She just didn't see him as a… coffee kind of guy. “Yup.” “Seriously?” Applejack was in the same boat. “Mhm.” “Ah! I do recall seeing you read books about coffee.” Twilight noted it when he was multitasking reading and training years back. She supposed this was the reason. Kai only smiled. “I wanna try some! Let's try some!” Pinkie Pie was excited, and she could tell Kai was juat as happy about doing this. “Of course. Take a seat.” The mares did just that, sitting on the stools and watching Kai turn to make some fresh coffee. “I'm not really a ‘coffee’ kind of girl.” Rainbow Dash let him know from the start. “Yeah, an' I'm used to waking up early, so I never needed it.” Applejack agreed. “Spike says I drink too much coffee, but I disagree.” Twilight added her two bits. “Mr. and Mrs. Cake don't want me to have coffee!” For obvious reasons, Pinkie Pie. Kai just chuckled to himself as he set out the cups. Fluttershy came to his defense. “Kai's coffee is truly great. It's almost addicting. I usually come to drink some even if I'm fully awake.” In a few short minutes, Kai filled each cup, adding and mixing to some cups. “Order up. Enjoy it, yeah?” All together, the group sipped at their coffee… and all at once, they displayed shock. “I'm no expert about coffee, but, having drunk a lot, I can say that this is the best cup I've had in my life!” Twilight complimented, going back for more. “It's all bitter, but super sweet, too!” Pinkie chimed next. “Mine's less sweet and more bitter. Perfect for me.” Applejack was a bit confused, thinking Kai had made their cups all the same. “Ya made them all different in just those few seconds?” “I've had a lot of practice. And a very picky drinker.” Kai explained with a short laugh. The girls had expected Twilight to ask questions… but she was in bliss just sipping her coffee. So Rainbow Dash asked. “You've been making Rarity coffee for a while?” “Not just Rarity. Our parents, too. And guests, though they never knew I made it. I guess I just started to get better over time.” He tapped the counter absently. “Thought I'd lost my touch, with how long I had been training. Glad I've still got it.” “I'll say! I'm going to have to dedicate a fund to buying coffee here—no more cheap and boring coffee for me.” They gave Twilight a look. “…That good, huh?” “Yes.” She put simply, suddenly embarrassed by her behavior. “It's okay, Twilight.” Comforted Fluttershy. “This is why I wanted you all to try it. I felt the same when I first had a cup.” “Yeah, you did say it was addicting.” Rainbow Dash agreed. “Speaking of, I take it you girls want refills?” Looks of confusion met Kai's question, until they looked at their cups of coffee. “Wowie! I didn't even notice I drank it all!” Pinkie Pie was surprised, as were the others. “This really is some good stuff.” “Kai, you can pour yourself a cup, too.” Fluttershy encouraged. “Ah… I know it's not a bar or anything, but I really shouldn't drink on the job…” He cursed at seeing that pleading stare from Fluttershy. No puppy or kitten has the sheer cuteness factor of Fluttershy, in his own opinion. That made saying no difficult. “…Okay, just a cup.” He yielded, pulling an extra cup and preparing everypony's coffee just as last time. Giving himself some, he added four cubes of sugar and a splash of milk. “Cheers.” “Cheers!” It was amazing, how friends could make even a typical afternoon coffee feel so fun and adventurous. …Though, it seemed that peace and happiness were forever cursed to be interrupted at some point with tragedy. The door bursted open, nearly taking the bell off with the force. Everyone looked to see Spike falling to a halt, panting as he tried picking himself up. The group was at his side in an instant. “Spike, buddy! What's the matter? Weren't you with Rarity collecting gems?” Kai asked, already assuming that Spike was probably taking one of Rarity's overdramatic complaints seriously. Likely something about coffee, or why else would he— “Rarity—” Spike gasped. “—woods—” Another gasp. “—jewels—” They followed him… so far. “—dogs—” All of this over dogs? Did Spike have a fear of dogs or something? “—hole—” A hole with dogs? “—taken—” Kai's serious scowl took its place. “Save her!” Kai wasted no time, rushing from the counter, smashing through the doors and flying off to find Rarity. Fluttershy was quick to snap everypony else out of their confusion and shock. “Rarity is in trouble! We have to hurry!” Never had they seen the pegasus move so fast. After Twilight scooped up Spike, the girls were off. On the way, Spike finally composed himself enough to provide an explaination of everything that had happened. “Rarity and I were in the woods looking for jewels when these creepy guys showed up.” “Creepy guys?” Twilight stopped him, hoping for a better description. “They called themselves the Diamond Dogs. They grabbed Rarity and disappeared down a hole in the ground.” Now his ramblings were making sense. “Well, this sounds mighty easy. Just take us to that there hole and we'll save Rarity.” Applejack spoke relatively calmly. “…Um… Girls?” Fluttershy, still heading the group, came to a stop in front of where the hole should have been according to Spike. In its place was a huge patch of missing dirt, leading to tunnels of some sort. “Woah… what the heck did that?” Rainbow Dash asked a bit rhetorically. “WHO. And that would be Kai. Girls, listen to me… um… please.” The shy mare gave them all a serious look as they looked to her with confusion. “It's not my place to explain… Rarity can do it if she wants to. But… to put simply, Kai and I already lost Rarity once. Please don't be too surprised about what we're about to see…” “What do you—” Pinkie's question was interrupted by an echoed masculine scream. “…We should hurry.” The first thing was the suddenly pungent odor that hit their nostrils. “What is that smell…?” Twilight muttered curiously. The next thing were the tremors, enough to give them a fright, but not to cause the whole place to go down. …Then, they saw it. “Sweet Celestia…!” The unicorn gagged, and the others gasped in absolute shock. She covered Spike's eyes, though she wished somepony could do the same to her. “Don't look, Spike. Keep your eyes closed until I say so.” “Uh… okay?” He complied, closing his eyes and covering them with his claws, albeit confused. You never quite expect that the first you'll see of a species would be a bloodied corpse. Diamond Dogs… These ones had been mutilated. Fluttershy did not look surprised, instead assuming exactly how they had gotten in the way of a truly feral beast. One against the wall, its body crushed, clearly swatted out of the way. Another on the ground in the path, split in two parts. “…I can still hear screams. Rarity isn't safe just yet.” “Di…did Kai do all of this?” Applejack, like the others, was sick to her stomach. This was the kind of carnage their friend could bring about? “Yes.” Was Fluttershy's solemn reply. “And he'll do worse if Rarity even has a scratch on her.” The girls nodded, but the tone of this ‘rescue’ was much darker. So much so, Pinkie Pie's usually poofy mane seemed to reflect the mood and straightened notably. Passing several more corpses along the way, the group was stopped by the sound of troubled breathing. They turned to see a live Diamond Dog leaned against the wall. Though, being that his insides were outside his body, he would not remain as such for long. With a wheeze, the dog addressed the approaching ponies. “Family… more important than… gem. We… get it…” He coughed loudly. “Family and friend… gone now… Made mistake… Pony… knows one of legend… Summon Shenron…” “He's a legend to you?” Twilight couldn't help her curiousity. “Was… Now our death… Never thought… say this… but… Gems… not worth it…” …The Diamond Dog expired. “Kai… was some kind of legend for summoning somethone called Shenron…?” Twilight shook her head. “How awful… A legend appearing and doing… this.” “This can't be Kai, right? It's some kinda… imposter.” Applejack tried to find the most likely solution for this. With no clear answer, they continued onward. Through twists and turns until a clearly new hole came into sight. The opening was nothing like being chiseled, drilled, or caved in. It was smooth—perfectly cut away, as if a laser had carved it away. Nodding to each other, they decided this must have been where Kai had gone, and by extention, where Rarity would be. Not much in the form of carnage was found in the next rooms, though they doubted the few gatherings of ‘dust’ were actually dust. More likely ash, from… well, that was obvious. After around two more minutes of careful following, they could finally hear a noise. Then a voice. “—okay—” A feminine voice. That was enough to bring them into a run. A few corpses passed and small hops over blood puddles, and they turned into a dead-end room to see their targets. Kai, hugging Rarity tightly, and the mare in question patting him on the head comfortingly “Rarity!” Although calm enough thus far, Fluttershy finally broke and jumped in to join the hug, sobbing as she did. “Ah! Fluttershy, you, too?” Rarity smiled at her brother and closest friend. “Honestly, you two are like foals. Of course I would be alright.” Everypony stared, each with different thoughts occupying them. Twilight's mutter grabbed all of their attention the next moment. “Not a drop of blood…” And so they all noted, no blood followed into this room. None on Kai, none on Rarity, none on the walls or the floor. Everything was clean. As if the aftermath of the massacre that they had seen had been some kind of illusion. Well… at least Rarity was safe. “So what even happened? You didn't let me see anything!” Outside, Spike complained from Twilight's back as the group walked back home with a nice haul of gems. Twilight gave him a look and smiled softly. “You would have been even more bored, Spike. It's okay.” He grumbled, but focused on Rarity with his own smile. “I'm glad you're okay Rarity. Sorry I couldn't do anything to help you.” “Oh, Spikey. You did plenty!” Rarity countered happily. “Why, you were so fast to get help, they didn't even have the time to tell me what to do!” Rarity praised him, and came a bit closer to offer him a peck on his cheek. Spike did his best not to faint. He failed. “Rarity.” She looked to Applejack, whose gaze was fixed on Kai, pulling a cart piled high with gems, large and small. “You wanna explain what in the heck that was about?” Rarity saw that the others were just as serious and curious. She sighed. “Two and a half years ago, the sky went dark. It caused a bit of panic, to the point that Princess Celestia had to speak out to calm everypony.” The girls did recall that. It was indeed worrysome, terrifying ponies who assumed Nightmare Moon was real and plunged the world into eternal darkness… “Relics known as the Dragon Balls, or Wishing Orbs to be less crude, were responsible. Relics able to grant any single wish when used. Kai used these to summon the wish granting dragon Shenron, and used that wish… to bring me back to life.” “What!?” “You were…?” Rarity nodded. “I was killed by the creator of the Cargo we all met that day.” She looked to Kai, seeing even from there how happy he looked to know that his sister was okay. That made Rarity smile in turn. “…Understand, with my passing, all he would have had was Sweetie Belle, and a world of guilt. Imagine having to explain that your sister was gone because you weren't strong enough. Even though it isn't true, that's just how Kai would see it. He would tell Sweetie Belle, our parents… and I'm sure he must still feel guilty towards you, Fluttershy.” “I know.” Fluttershy whispered sadly. “In a way… I get why he's like that. Why he would do what he did without a second thought. While I wouldn't do something quite as… brutal… I feel the same way.” The girls took a while to absorb it all. But, even with it explained, they shook their heads in denial. “I don't know… I just… I couldn't do somethin' like that…” Applejack spoke again, sighing. She flinched slightly at Rarity's suddenly cold glare. “You don't have to do it. You just have to understand. I felt the way you did for a time. But I at least understand. And honestly? I can no longer blame him.” She refocused on her brother. “…It's hard to believe this is the same brother who tried not to hurt anypony for so long.” There were a few different thoughts now. Twilight was thinking of keeping Celestia informed of this incident and asking about keeping a better eye on Kai. He seemed too unstable. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie had the same thoughts of spending more time with him to try to fix a bit of the damage already dealt. Applejack wanted to keep on his good side, just in case he snapped or something. Rainbow Dash was already about to fly off to further her training, wanting to be strong enough to fight at Kai's side. She may have been shocked, but she understood what he truly meant by protecting. Kai glanced back, smirking at Rarity. The others supressed a flinch, noting his timing was perfectly after they had wrapped up their conversation. They hoped he hadn't heard... “So, this gonna be enough to stun Sapphire Shores?” “More than enough. Which is good! All of this trouble has given me some ideas!” “That's my sister!” …Truly, they'd never imagine he would be the type to be so brutal. Shaking it off, everypony carried on, pledging to eventually uncover the mystery of their odd friend.