//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Temptations // Story: On the road to Justice. // by SugarHoneyIceTea123 //------------------------------// Fancy stood idly by as Diamond prepared herself. The teenaged mare adorned herself in a padded black jumpsuit and covered her face with a black ski-mask. Wrapping a gray shawl around her waist, she inserted a taser and canister of pepper gas within the shawl. Fancy wasn’t sure how to feel about his niece’s outright refusal to include a gun within her modest arsenal. On the one hoof, he was glad she would not allow herself to use something so dangerous. But on the other hoof, if Diamond truly did intend to follow through on her insane promise, Fancy knew she would need more than tasers and teargas. As he watched his niece get ready for her ‘big debut’, his mind went back to that day on the one-year anniversary of his brother’s death. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Miss Tiara, dinner’s ready.” Fancy said, poking his head into Diamond’s room. His eyes widened upon seeing the mess within. While most eleven-year olds have messy rooms, the contents of the clutter worried Fancy Pants a great deal. Diamond Tiara stood cross-legged in the center of the room giving no indication she heard her uncle intrude. Her nose was buried into a book of criminology far above her age’s reading level. Similar books, bearing titles dealing with things a city guard or judge would be required to know, were scattered around her as was a number of notes and messy sketches in crumpled papers. Fancy cautiously stepped into the room before hearing a crinkling sound beneath him. He looked down and saw one of his niece’s sketches under his hoof. Picking the sketch up to give it a closer look, Fancy raised an eyebrow of confusion. Scrawled across the paper multiple times was the simplistic image of a pure black bat. “Diamond?” Fancy said, setting the sketch aside. Diamond looked up, noticing her uncle for the first time. “Oh, hello Uncle Fancy.” She said before returning her attention to her book. Fancy sat beside her niece, adopting a similar cross-legged posture. “Is everything all right?” Diamond nodded. “Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?” Fancy gently took the book out Diamond’s hooves. “Miss Tiara, I’m worried about you. You stay in your room day in and day out. You begged us to homeschool you which means you haven’t been spending any time with foals your own age. You hardly even speak with Silver Spoon anymore.” Fancy gestured to the mess around him. “I can appreciate a thirst for knowledge, but you’re letting this ‘fascination’ with… justice consume you.” Diamond looked down, refusing to meet her uncle’s eye. “Is justice not a noble virtue to pursue?” Fancy stared incredulously at Diamond. “Pursue? Diamond, what is this all about?” Diamond risked looking up and saw the worried look on her uncle’s face. She sighed as she stood up. “It’s been one whole year. One year to the day.” Fancy raised an eyebrow as he wondered what Diamond was referring to. His eyes widened as memories of that horrible night suddenly came rushing back to him. The night he received the call telling him his brother and sister-in-law had been gunned down in an alleyway. “Diamond…” Fancy said. He slowly reached out and pulled his niece into a gentle hug which Diamond accepted immediately. “So… that’s what this is about?” He asked. “Finding justice for your parents?” Diamond nodded slightly. “But their killer has already been arrested. Captain Spoon found him not even a week after the… incident.” Fancy said. “Justice has already been done Diamond. Can you find no solace in that?” Diamond pulled away slightly, still in her uncle’s embrace but enough to look him in the eye. “Do you want the honest answer?” Fancy nodded. “No. I can’t find solace.” She said. “Because right now, as we’re talking, another criminal somewhere is benefiting from somepony’s suffering. Today or tomorrow, another filly could lose her parents in an alleyway.” Tears began to form in Diamond Tiara’s eyes but she refused to cry. “How am I supposed to find solace in that?” Fancy felt a cold chill from his niece’s hard stare. That night broke Diamond and she was hell-bent on rebuilding herself, whatever the cost may be. “Diamond, what are you saying?” Diamond Tiara walked over to the sketch Fancy Pants discarded. Looking upon the black symbol scrawled on the paper, she thought back to that night when she saw the bat on the lamppost. It was a common folktale that, before her fall as Nightmare Moon, Princess Luna would use bats as sentries to watch over her subjects when night fell over Equestria. Diamond knew it was just a story, but when she saw that bat on the lamppost she couldn’t help but feel it was watching over her on the darkest night of her life. “I’m saying I want to become a sentry.” She answered. “I want criminals everywhere to think twice before they pull a gun on a young couple in an alleyway.” She turned to face her uncle. “I want them to feel fear.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fancy couldn’t help but shudder at the memory. That his eleven-year old niece could give such a hard cold stare frightened him. Diamond Tiara was forced to grow up far before she was ready. But she made a promise to herself and by Celestia she would keep it. She would become a sentry, a dark vigil to remind criminals that there is no safety in the night. As she finished preparing her ensemble, she gave a few experimental movements to make sure the padding in her jumpsuit wouldn’t encumber her. She turned to face her uncle, lifting her ski-mask to reveal her face. Fancy gave Diamond’s equipment a quick appraisal. “May I ask a question, Miss Tiara?” Diamond nodded. “When you find Icey Chill, what are you going to do to him?” Fancy asked. Diamond looked away. It was a fair question and the implications of her strong desire to hunt the murderer down would likely give her uncle even more apprehensive to her crusade. “He’s a criminal and, like all criminals, should be brought to justice.” Diamond answered. “I’ll find him, apprehend him and turn him over to the police. Simple as that.” “You realize that’s vigilantism, correct?” Fancy asked. “A crime in its own right.” Diamond scoffed. “How many times have we had this argument? What’s legally right and what’s morally right are two very different things.” Diamond felt her uncle’s hoof place itself on her shoulder as Fancy turned her to look him in the eyes. “Miss Tiara, you must be careful with what you consider moral. What you are doing blurs the line of morality far more than what I am comfortable with.” Diamond raised an eyebrow. “What are you saying Uncle?” Fancy sighed. “I’m saying that should you let your zealousness for justice get a hold of you, you will confuse justice for vengeance. Should that happen, I fear you will cross a line that can never be taken back.” Fancy stern facade started to break as concern for his niece glanced across his eyes. “Tell me Miss Tiara. Do you hate Icey Chill?” He asked. Diamond’s eyes narrowed in anger. “Of course I hate him! Everything I knew was destroyed by him on that night!” Fancy’s grip on Diamond’s shoulder tightened slightly. “And what will you do if your hatred will not allow you to simply turn him over to the police.” Diamond’s eyes widened as she realized what her uncle was saying. “You’re afraid I’ll… kill him?” Fancy looked down in shame. “I despise myself for thinking for one second that you would be capable of such an act. But you have not seen your obsession grow through my eyes.” Fancy finally removed his hoof. “I will not stop you from leaving this house. But before you go, I must impart one bit of wisdom.” Diamond nodded, urging her uncle to continue. “To willingly take another pony’s life is one of the most deplorable actions I can think of. It is why you hate Icey Chill and it is the only reason I am allowing you to go after him. I have absolutely no doubts in your abilities at this point. If you track him down, you will find him.” Fancy hoped against hope that his words would get through to his niece. Tonight’s events would either shape Diamond Tiara into one of the strongest mares in the world, in body and in spirit, or it will completely destroy her. It all rested on Diamond heeding her uncle. “You must take care that as you begin you crusade, you will not become the thing you hate.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two hours passed since Diamond left the mansion. With her uncle’s words still fresh in her mind, she prowled into the night and began her hunt. She started at the police station, eavesdropping on the officers going in and out and listening in for anything pertaining to Icey Chill’s whereabouts. Here’s what she knew so far: Icey Chill was arrested one year ago for the murder of her parent’s. He surprisingly pleaded guilty as he knew between the testimonies between Diamond and the buyer for her mother’s pearl necklace, there was nothing he could say or do to keep him out of prison. Then, ten-to-twelve hours ago, a power failure within Canterlot’s prison complex allowed Icey Chill a chance to overpower his guard and make a break for it. The power failure has been written off as simple equipment failure and while Diamond would like to look more into that matter, she was more preoccupied with finding Chill at the moment. Hey ears perked up as one officer started listening to his radio. She caught the name ‘Icey’ and strained to listen from her vantage point. “...suspect has been lost. Units 4-0 and 5-0 on route to block off possible exit routes in section 4.” Diamond nodded in satisfaction. Weeks ago, she visited Silver Spoon’s father in his office to discuss her upcoming inheritance. At least, that’s what she told him in order to get a closer look at the map of Canterlot and the various zones that have been labelled for the police. Section 4 referred to the northern half of the Scorpio district. If the police had indeed succeeded in cordoning the area before Icey Chill could make his way out of it, he would likely find someplace to hole up and wait for the police to thin out as they would widen their search parameters. Quickly making her way to the Scorpio district, Diamond was careful to avoid the patrolling officers. It would do her no good for them to misinterpret her masked visage as a criminal trying to hide her identity. Even though that wouldn’t be too far from the truth. Climbing up a fire escape in order to reach a better vantage point, Diamond stood on the edge of an apartment complex and scanned the landscape of the city. Next step was to analyze possible hiding spots Icey Chill could be using and determine the most likely. Her eyes eventually made their way to a warehouse near the edge of the district. If Icey Chill could find a way inside, he would be given both a decent amount of hiding places within the warehouse as well as a good view of the police checkpoint set up down the road. Seeing little other possible locations, Diamond made up her mind. She sprinted towards the edge of the building a leapt off to the closest adjacent building. Landing with little difficulty, if little grace, she immediately began bounding towards the next building and then the next. Creating a pathway to the warehouse from the rooftops of the city, she made her way to the top of the warehouse where her suspicions were confirmed. On the rooftop was an open window with a lock had been cut through. Using Chill’s own entrance, Diamond landed onto a walkway that surrounded the perimeter of the warehouse making sure to land on all fours to lower the noise. Scanning the area around her, Diamond made a note of the manager’s office at the far end of the warehouse connecting one end of the walkway to the other. She also made note of the various crates and boxes that had been stacked haphazardly in a number of piles creating a jungle of wooden boxes. Icey Chill could very easily use the cover of those boxes to confuse her should this devolve into a game of cat and mouse. Then again, so could she. Making her way to the manager’s office, taking care to stay out of the moonlight shining from the windows, she kept a level eye at the windows adorning the walls of the office. She could see no movement from within, but it was entirely possible he was merely hiding somewhere where you couldn’t see from outside. Finally, she was at the door to the office. She placed a tentative hoof on the knob when the door suddenly and violently opened. The impact knocked her off her hooves as Icey Chill shot out of the office and ran past her as fast as he could. Standing back up, Diamond gave chase to the fleeing criminal. Icey risked a look behind him to confirm that the black-clad pony was indeed chasing him. He started bounding down a flight of stairs to get to ground level when Diamond vaulted over the railing to land right in front of him as his hoof first touched the last step on the stairs. “You’re not going anywhere.” Diamond said, intentionally making her voice as monotonous and cold as she could. Everything she read on criminal psychology told her they were a superstitious lot. Simple scare tactics such as a detached apathy would go a long way. If Icey Chill was intimidated, he didn’t show it. His body language told Diamond that he would not be giving up without a fight. That was just fine by her. He threw the first punch, a wild haymaker that Diamond easily knocked away. Landing her own straight jab into his exposed abdominal region, Icey felt the wind get knocked out of him as Diamond followed up her punch by gripping Icey his shoulder and waist. Hoisting him up onto her shoulders, Diamond threw Icey into a nearby box that shattered under his weight. The contents of the box spilled around Icey as he attempted to shake off the impact. Opening his eyes, he gasped in fear as the pony in black towered above his body. The pony’s cold blue eyes stared into his own as a realization crept into his mind. Who was this pony? “Please… Please let me go. I have money! A lot of money! Name your price, it’s yours.” He said. Diamond’s eyes narrowed in pure contempt. “And whose blood is on that money? Who had to suffer for your satisfaction?” She lifted Icey Chill off the ground and kept him suspended in the air. “I should break every bone in your body…” Icey’s eyes widened. “Please… Just… Just give me a chance…” Icey’s plea went unheard as Diamond threw him once more into the hard concrete wall of the warehouse. He tried to get back on his hooves in a vain attempt to run away from the psychotic vigilante but he could see she was already making her way to him for more. “Wha…” Icey paused to spit out a glob of blood. “What do you want from me?” “What do I want?” She replied. Her face twisted into one of pure rage that burned Icey Chill’s soul. “What do I want!?” She grabbed him once more and struck him across the face, blood from his nose smearing across her hoof. “I want to beat you into nothing but a stain.” She struck him again. “I want to make you feel every bit of pain you caused to every pony you’ve ever hurt.” She struck him again. “I want… I want…” Her hoof paused in the air just as she was about to land another blow. ‘You must take care that as you begin your crusade, you will not become the thing you hate.’ Those words echoed in Diamond’s mind as the broken and bloodied face of her parent’s murderer stared at her, whimpering in fear and pain. She wanted to kill him. She wanted to kill him so much her hoof was twitching, as though fighting against her to keep beating Icey Chill just as she said she would. This wasn’t the plan. This wasn’t supposed to happen. For whatever reason, Diamond imagined her parents watching their little girl covered in another pony’s blood with cold hunger in her eyes. She couldn’t possibly imagine any reaction other than abject horror. She glanced at her still shaking hoof as it dawned on her how much she still wanted to beat him until there was nothing left. It scared her how much she couldn’t control this urge. “I want you to answer for your crimes.” She allowed herself one more punch, straight to Icey Chill’s temple. He was knocked unconscious, but still alive. Diamond started backing away from the still figure of her parent’s murderer. She was surprised at how relieved she felt when she saw his chest rise and fall in a steady rhythm. As the adrenaline started to subside and her breathing steadied itself, the anger she felt towards Icey was beginning to be replaced by… pain. What? She looked down and saw a knife protruding out of her shoulder. At some point during Icey’s beating, he had attempted to fight her off by stabbing her. And she hadn’t even noticed until now. Still, now that she did notice it, she couldn’t deny the ungodly amount of pain spreading throughout her foreleg. Gritting her teeth, she tore off a piece of her shawl and grabbed a piece of wood broken off from the box she threw Chill into. Biting down on the wood, she gripped the handle of the knife and yanked it out as quickly as she could. A spurt of blood erupted from the wound before quickly dying into a steady drizzle. Already growing dizzy from the blood loss, Diamond quickly wrapped the shawl around her leg to stop the blood flow. Steadying herself and shaking off the fatigue, she managed to find a door to the outside that could be opened from within the warehouse. Doing her best to avoid the police, still on the hunt for Icey Chill, she eventually found a payphone no too far from the warehouse. 5 bits later, she dialed the number for the mansion. She breathed a sigh of relief as her aunt’s soft voice answered. “Hello?” She inquired. “Aunt Fleur, it’s done.” Diamond said. “Give the police an anonymous tip that they’ll find Icey Chill unconscious in the warehouse on the edge of the Scorpio district.” “I will Diamond. Does this mean you are coming home now?” She asked, hope in her voice. “Yes… but… Tell Uncle Fancy to prepare the first aid kit.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “How many stitches do you think I’ll need?” Diamond asked her uncle as he cleaned her wound. “A good few.” he replied. He was amazed at the level of control Diamond was exerting to keep herself from convulsing from the pain. “I’m about to make the first insertion. Do you want something to bite down on?” Diamond nodded weakly as Fancy handed her a leather belt. She placed the belt in her mouth and nodded at her uncle to continue. Fancy carefully used his magic to thread the needle through the tender flesh surrounding the knife wound. Diamond winced with each piercing but stayed perfectly still as the wound was sewn shut. “There.” He said, biting the thread. He gave the wound another quick cleaning before bandaging it tightly. “I suppose it’s too much to hope that this will dissuade you from ever doing this again?” Diamond spat out the belt and shook her head. “I never made any delusions I wouldn’t get hurt doing this. I suspect this is the first of many wounds.” Fancy looked at the newly treated injury with annoyance. “And I suspect that I’ll be the one to treat them, won’t I?” Diamond looked away in shame. In truth, she resented herself for dragging her aunt and uncle into her crusade but it was preferable to hiding her double life from them and alienating them from her life as a result. “I’m sorry uncle. I…” “Did you kill him?” Diamond was shocked by Fancy’s sudden inquiry. She noticed he had a look of pure seriousness on his face. “No.” She said. “But I wanted to.” “I suppose I would as well.” Fancy admitted. “But I’m proud of you.” He gently scooped her into a hug which Diamond gladly returned. But after only a few moments, she pulled away as Fancy noticed the downtrodden look on her face. “...I’m not ready for this.” She said. Fancy raised an eyebrow but waited for Diamond to continue. “When I hit him, it felt good. When I saw his blood on my hooves, I didn’t care.” She shivered as she glanced at her now clean hooves. “But looking back at it, if I didn’t stop… If I allowed myself to take Icey Chill’s life…” She looked into her uncle’s eyes with a fear Fancy hadn’t seen in five years. “The worst part? It’s still there. The temptation, the hatred. I still want to find Icey Chill and… and…” Tears started to form in her eyes. “Uncle, I’m scared.” Fancy Pants didn’t say a word. He pulled Diamond into yet another hug as she broke down and started to cry in his embrace. Fancy had to remind himself that she was still a teenager, still so young. “I… I think I know what I have to do.” She said as her tears started to wane. “What?” Fancy asked. She pulled away once more and wiped the remaining tears from her eyes. “I’m still too young, still too naive. I need to learn more, about the world, about myself.” Diamond carefully stood on her hooves, her foreleg stiff from the knife-wound. “I’ll be inheriting my father’s fortune on my sixteenth birthday and his company on my twenty-first. I know how I’ll spend that money in the five years between.” She looked at her uncle with a newborn determination, set in her goal. “I’m going to travel the world.”