//------------------------------//
// 19. Blood Diamond 
// Story: Of Coal and Diamonds 
// by Alaxsxaq 
//------------------------------//


19. Blood Diamond


The worst images she had ever seen filled her view. Scenes of death and violence burned themselves into her mind, unable to be ignored. She could not close her eyes, no matter how hard she tried. She could not get away, no matter how fast she ran; Applebloom merely slipped and left herself exposed. Applejack, Big Mac, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo...all of her dear friends and family wailed in agony, blaming the yellow mare for their suffering.

And finally, when the shadows were peeled back, a large white smile gleaned upon her. A gunshot later and Applebloom began her plummet. A fall that ended once she struck a hard surface.

The shock caused her to catapult back into reality. The world jolted into sight, and she screamed. Hyperventilating, anxiety overtook her mind. She found she could not move her hooves; they were fastened somehow to each other against a hard wooden object; a chair. She also discovered her hat and jacket both were removed, and the contents on her pockets probably emptied.

Weakly looking to each side, Applebloom saw her two best friends both tied to similar chairs. They looked unharmed and they were conscious. Moving her head up, the pony's eyes widened when she saw a pink filly sitting on a nearby table, waving Applebloom's own revolver.

"Ah...you're awake! I must admit I was a tad disturbed when you started convulsing. Must've been a bad dream."

Applebloom was breathing so hard it was difficult for her to speak. "W...W...Where are we? How long..."

"Oh you're here in my office. You were out for a couple hours. It's just a bit past midnight." The magenta mare noticed her captive was trying to break the ropes that bound her forelegs. Smiling deviously, Diamond Tiara hopped off the table and approached Applebloom. "There's no use. I don't care how strong you are...you cannot break these ropes. I've had them enchanted by Grey Eminence here."

Appearing out of the shadows was a slender grey unicorn, levitating a cigarette he periodically brought to his mouth. Scootaloo recognized this stallion in a matter of moments.

"You! You're that fan! From the derby!"

"I'm flattered you remember me. I still have that autograph." He replied, smiling in a fashion similar to his boss.

"Grey Eminence has been a major help in all this. And just so you have the closure, Scootaloo, he did put that sedative in your water bottle. Worked like a charm." Diamond Tiara sat back down on the table, and admired the quality of the weapon she had.

"This is a nice revolver, Applebloom. Custom made?" The industrialist just glared, only to be ignored by the Donna. "It even has a replica of that graffiti you call a cutie mark. I'm genuinely surprised you've manage to acquire one." She sneered.

Snapping her head to the side, Diamond Tiara aimed the revolver at a pitiful pegasus being held in the corner. His muzzle was bloody, and the gauzes around his knees were tattered. Palomino could not stand up on his own, his two hind legs largely useless. And he had not the strength to fly.

Diamond however wasn't satisfied with a gunshot. She placed the revolver back on the table and walked towards the stallion, making sure the Cutie Mark Crusaders could see.

"I told you, time and time again, Palomino...Applebloom was not to be touched. Look at her." She gestured to the earth pony. "Look what you did to her foreleg." Turning her head, Applebloom noticed a bandage over her left leg, blood clearly having been absorbed by it. "And yet...you've tried TWICE! I'm lucky she's alive. And because you didn't actually kill my dear Applebloom...well..."

She stood over him, and grabbed his necktie. "I'm still going to have to punish you." She threw him to the ground, the old pony crying in pain as he struggled to get up. "I paid for your knee surgery just so you could disobey me?" She kicked him hard in the stomach, destroying all progress he made in standing up. "I save you from incarceration and likely execution. I fund you. I do all these things, just for you, and you have the GALL to go against my word."

Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and especially Applebloom looked worriedly at the stallion, and what Diamond Tiara was doing to him. To what extent was she going to harm him, and would she do the same to them?

"I...I did it..." Palomino fought to say. "Because she would only trouble you later. You think...you can neutralize her." He looked straight at Applebloom. "But I know ponies like dose three. The only way to stop 'em is a bullet. I did what you were too arrogant to do."

Revealing just how unstable she had become, Diamond Tiara started shaking in rage. She brought down her hoof on his ribcage in a harsh stomp. "HOW DARE YOU TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!" Another stomp, causing bones to break. A third one and Palomino was coughing up blood. He used all the strength he had to stand up, and he was crying and wheezing vehemently.

"OH! You're crying?! I thought you had some balls!" She delivered a kick into his groin, the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Diamond Tiara then positioned her hoof over his head, ready to end this miserable pony.

It took her friend sitting on the sidelines to stop the cruelest mare in Manehattan. "Diamond! He's...he's not worth it!" Silver Spoon ran up and held her friend back, tears in her eyes.

As quickly as she snapped, the pink mare smiled warmly and swept back the stray strands of hair that had fallen down her face. "You're right! Guards! Take Mr. Palomino out for some fresh air. I'll join him in a bit." The guards drug off the broken stallion back into the darkness. "Our real guests are these three."

Diamond Tiara took an apple and a fancy-looking knife off the table. Cutting a slice, she ate the piece of apple and offered some to her "guests". They refused with horrified stares.

"I told you Applebloom. They were coming. You should've done the smart thing."

"Ah already had this conversation with you: Ah did the right thing."

"And where did that get you? Tied to a chair at my mercy." Tiara laughed gloatingly.

"What was the 'smart thing'?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"I offered your yellow friend a partnership. I spent so much time making nice with you, Applebloom. I wanted to make you feel comfortable around me. It's probably very obvious, but her financial resources could do wonders for my little operation."

"What're you talking about? All that money you gave out for brides; what do you need Applebloom for?" Scootaloo shouted, furious at being tie up.

"It's true. I did everything I could to set up city council. I bribed them, threatened them and of course blackmailed them. You all know this. I needed them to...alter the law. I needed Palomino's criminal underlings, and he proved useful as a vassal. They could aid me in securing all those little companies, including Amber Foods." She leaned closer to Applebloom. "And...I did kill Mr. Amber. That was on a need to know basis, and well...now you know."

"You filthy...rotten...y'all better hope Ah don't get loose!"

"Don't worry. Anyway...all those expenses caused me to go into the red; I'm sorry I'm not a billionaire. When company owners overstayed their welcomes...I removed them. I needed the funds. And I just had to cheat in the derby." Winking at Scootaloo, Grey Eminence took a drink from a water bottle. "I really must thank you and that pleasant gent Fancypants. Thanks to the two of you, I procured 9 million bits from that race."

Gritting her teeth, Applebloom replied. "That...was meant...for charity. And you used it for murder."

Diamond Tiara pouted innocently. "Not necessarily. I never wanted to involve you like this, love. But it seems one way or another, it was fated. Babs Seed got in the way."

"Quite right, I'm afraid." Grey Eminence said, shaking the ashes from his cigarette. "She stuck her snout in places it didn't belong. She started investigating everything going on with the politics. Had we left her alone, well...she might've caused some potent damage." He took an apple slice offered by Diamond Tiara. "But wouldn't you know it, both ponies we sent to do her in failed."

"But all's well that ends well. The plan was flexible and we adjusted ourselves. And, I think you three know what happened after that."

"Stupid villains telling us everything. You're just setting yourself up for failure." Sweetie spat, trying to talk herself up.

"I'm telling you this...because I want you to fully grasp exactly whom you're dealing with; what lengths I shall go to in accomplishing my goals. There's no way out. No gaps in the wall, no weakest link, no trick up your sleeves. I've sealed every crack. I've made it impossible for you to prevail."

She turned back to Applebloom, still grinning. "In truth, I feared you. I know you could stop me. So I've tied you down. But I don't want to kill you three." Diamond Tiara moved up to the yellow pony's ear. "I want to have some fun." She whispered.

Heart pounding, Scootaloo hesitated. "What do you mean?"

Diamond Tiara grabbed Applebloom's tie and pulled her forward, careful to balance the chair on two legs. She wiped the dirt and soot from the earth pony's waistcoat, wanting her object of affection to look nice and pretty. In her other hoof was the knife, a fact that terrified Applebloom.

The knife was not used...immediately. For better or worse, Diamond Tiara pulled Applebloom into a kiss. The despicable act as met with hostility, making the kiss that much sweeter.

Eyes closed, Diamond Tiara admired the taste of her lips, their flavor exactly as she imagined. Her bliss mutated into masochistic delight at Applebloom's playful contribution to the kiss. As Diamond Tiara pulled away, she yanked her tongue from the victim's mouth. It was bloody; bitten hard by Applebloom.

Diamond Tiara could only laugh. "Hahaha! You like it rough, don't you?" Applebloom spat the remaining blood in her mouth at its owner. Wiping it from her face, the demented mare wandered around the back of the chair, readying her knife.

Silver Spoon cringed, and she bowed her head. Grey Eminence looked with the same sadistic glint in his eye as the Donna.

"My turn." Diamond positioned the knife just above Applebloom's right temple. Trembling, the pony felt the blade sink into her skin, carving a path down her cheek. Tears streaming from her eye mixed with the blood and dripped onto her shirt, then the floor.

It was a special kind of pain, the kind so small that it felt the worst of all. The cut was slow and Diamond Tiara savored each bit of skin to be split open along the blade's path.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo could not bear the sight and their friend's whimpers of pain. The white unicorn yelled for mercy, crying in pure empathy. "Please! Stop it! Leave her alone!"

Diamond Tiara removed the knife from Applebloom, having just gotten to the base of her jaw. "Oh! I think Sweetie Belle's feeling left out."

The unicorn shook her head fiercely, realizing what she brought upon herself. The magenta sadist just walked slowly toward her next indulgence. "This knife is very special, you know. The blade is encrusted with...diamonds." She cackled. "Cost a pretty penny...but so worth it. Because I lied earlier. There is one loose end to tie up."

She placed the edge about two-thirds the way up Sweetie's horn. "Nothing is stronger than diamonds." The slicing lasted mere seconds, but it might as well have been hours for the unicorn. The knife cut straight through some of the most sensitive nerves in her body. When it was done, the amputated tip fell on the floor, pinging on impact. The lack of major blood vessels kept the bleeding low, but agonizing nonetheless.

Sweetie Belle cried and stomped her hooves however much she could. Her magic wasn't exceptionally strong, but now she found she couldn't utilize it at all. A faint spark and it fizzled out.

"Excellent. But Scootaloo, don't think I've forgotten about you."

"What can you do to me, that's worse than...what you did to Sweetie?"

Tiara's pearly white teeth shown in her latest smile. "What's the worst thing you can do to a Wonderbolt?"

"You wouldn't..."

Without speaking, Diamond placed the blade over one of Scootaloo's wings. "I wonder if this can cut through bone." Making sure the orange pegasus was convinced her wings would be cut off, Diamond Tiara laughed and grabbed the wing itself. "I'm only kidding. But not entirely."

Looking at the proud long flight feathers, Diamond Tiara took the knife and randomly cut some off, ensuring the pegasus would remain earthbound for quite some time. She then serviced the other wing, allowing the severed feathers to gently float down.

Scootaloo was trying to retract the appendages the whole time, but Tiara proved too strong, Scootaloo's energy reserves running dry at this point.

Admiring her work, Diamond Tiara went back to the table and placed the knife on it. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant. I didn't let you have fun like the others." Maybe in her jaded view of reality, she was sincere. "But don't worry: I won't forget about you. Anyway―"

Just then Applebloom blurted out, sobbing and blood trailing down her head. "WHY?! WHY ARE YOU DOIN' THIS?! Why me? Why us? Just kill us! Just let it be done."

This was the moment Diamond Tiara had been waiting for. Applebloom was finally reduced to a broken shell of a mare. Now it could begin. "But I don't want to kill you."

"Then...torture me and me alone! Leave them alone! They don't deserve any of this."

"I did all this for naturally money and power...but you, Applebloom. You're the exception. It's clear I cannot have you. Fine. So I will destroy what I can't obtain. Your friends must suffer. Your family must suffer. Your employees must suffer."

"Is that why you killed them!? To settle some unrequited feelin's with me?!" Applebloom yelled. "Destroy me then! But let them be!"

"You don't understand, my dear." For the first time in a while, Diamond Tiara's smile faded to true seriousness. "For my victory...to be absolute, uncontested, and total...you must be no more. I'll keep you here, as you look out on the city you helped build. It will burn, Apple Industries along with it. It will be annihilated, until nothing remains. Your legacy will be destroyed, and your fortune seized by me, funding further death and destitution."

Diamond Tiara looked at the cut unicorn horn atop Sweetie's forehead. "And you will watch as your friends and family are harmed on your account. I'll kill your sister, brother, grandmother, any cousins...I'll personally pull the plug on Babs. I'll torture the others until they beg for death, and I'll be nice and give it to them."

Applebloom just stared in disbelief. Utter disbelief. "And I'll do the same for the two ponies beside you. And you can watch. When they ask 'Why?' I'll tell them...'because of Applebloom'. Finally, when memory of you has been erased, and everything you ever cared about it gone...and your broken spirit gazes upon the smoldering ruins that were once your life, you can die."

She moved in closer to Applebloom, a crazed, insane look in her eye. "When you've died inside, and truly know my wrath, I'll afford you the solace of death...VERY slowly."

Left speechless, Applebloom watched the pink mare exiting the room after grabbing her knife. "Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a stallion to deal with. I'm feeling...especially punitive right now. Grey Eminence! Silver Spoon!"

The grey unicorn followed his Donna, but Silver Spoon, heretofore thinking very carefully about her choices in life, opted to stay behind. "If you don't mind, Tiara, I'd like to stay and uh keep an eye on these three."

Diamond Tiara just waved a hoof as she left. "They can't go anywhere, but alright."

The next few minutes passed in dead silence, the captives too terrified and in pain to say anything. Silver Spoon however was waiting to be completely sure Diamond Tiara was far away.

The pink mare had been her only true friend for quite a while, but in recent years something happened. The two were bullies, and picked on the so-called "Blank Flanks" for little reason other than they hadn't learned their true talents yet. But Silver Spoon noticed as she got older Diamond Tiara developed a disturbing jealousy/lust complex over Applebloom. Exactly how or why was never clear, but the bespectacled mare observed it for years.

Being naturally submissive, Silver Spoon followed her friend even as she developed cruel and sadistic tendencies, a trait plainly demonstrated not ten minutes ago. Silver always had reservations and second thoughts, but greed and more importantly fear took its hold on her and she put up with it.

But this time was different. All the hurting, the stealing; it had to stop. Knowing full well her actions would be "treason", Silver Spoon took the bayonet off from Applebloom's rifle on the table and approached the industrialist.

"I'm not going to hurt you!" Silver Spoon assured.

"How do Ah know you ain't―" Applebloom's doubts were refuted when her bayonet cut the rope binding her. Standing up, she applied pressure to her head wound. "Um...thanks?"

Quickly, Silver freed the other ponies. Giving the bayonet to Applebloom, she started crying. "Now go! Hurry! I can't take this anymore! Please help Diamond Tiara! Anything!"

"Are you kidding!? I should put a bullet in her! Why should we help that...fucking psycho!?" Scootaloo erupted, half a mind to march to wherever the Donna had gotten off to.

"She's my friend, and even though she's done terrible things, I need to believe we can help her. Could you get the care she needs?"

Applebloom put on her jacket and hat, and holstered her revolver. After fastening the bayonet back to the rifle, she sighed. "Don't try to complicate things anymore...thanks for freein' us, but..."

"We shouldn't hang around here anymore, guys!" Sweetie urged, already eyeing the elevator. "Come with us!"

"No! I'll remain here to ensure you get away safely. There's at least one vehicle on the street."

Scootaloo nodded. She wasn't going to question anything and waste precious time.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo rushed into the elevator just as it opened. Before Applebloom could, she was stopped by Silver Spoon.

"I'm so...so sorry." She said, bawling. Whatever she could do alleviate the pain was not enough, but it helped.

Applebloom gave her a dour look as the elevator doors closed, bringing the trio down to ground level. Galloping out, Scootaloo located an automobile and cranked it up with lightning fast speed. Hopping in, Sweetie Belle was already driving when Scootaloo grabbed the door and swung herself inside.

"Mah buildin'. We'll decide what to do there." Applebloom commanded.

This had to end, and it couldn't be in Diamond Tiara's favor. Only Applebloom's terms would suffice. First she had to determine what they were, though.

But whatever they were, Applebloom would ensure they were met. No matter the cost.

----------

Atop the Rich Enterprises tower, a group of thugs held a battered and bruised stallion by his wings. He was overlooking the Manehattan skyline, lit by the fights happening in the streets. He gulped and waited for whatever fate his Donna had for him.

He would find out soon enough when Diamond Tiara stepped out of the door and onto the rooftop. Her coat blowing in the cold air, she admired her new domain. Then, smiling at Palomino, she pulled out her trusty knife and approached him.

"Let's make this quick; I have better things to do."

"Don't I get a last meal or somethin'?" He joked, maybe earning a slim chance of living.

"What'd you eat last?"

"Uh...a hay salad. Nothin' special."

"Hope you enjoyed it." She teased.

Diamond performed the same act on this golden pegasus as she had on the orange one. Once he was incapable of flight, she smiled. Thinking for a second, she kicked him for old time's sake.

"Is...is that awll? Bless you for your mercy!" His happiness was either genuine or a defense mechanism for sympathy.

Ignoring him, Diamond Tiara looked over the edge of the tower. "And so ends a legend of the Manehattan underground."

The brawny ponies then tossed the poor stallion over the edge, allowing him to plummet to his death. It was too far to see Palomino, but he could be heard until impact. However, the taillights of an automobile caught the Donna's attention. "Looks like somepony's making a round. Well time to check up on those adorable three fillies."

Returning to her office, Diamond Tiara however was met not with three captives, but three empty chairs. And a guilty-looking Silver Spoon. The crime boss glared at the mare, her eyes filled with unadulterated ire. Utilizing all her strength in an attempt not to explode, she put two and two together within moments of entering.

"It seems...there was one variable...I did not take into account."