//------------------------------//
// Damaged Diamonds 
// Story: Earning Freedom 
// by Daxisle 
//------------------------------//






Damaged Diamonds






Spike awoke long before the crack of dawn and began his morning routine before heading off to work. As he brushed his teeth, two things hit him at once that made him groan. The first being that he'd gotten up early for nothing since the mill wouldn't be up until Monday, and he'd completely spaced going and checking up on Rarity yesterday like he'd promised.

'Oh crap, you dun goofed.'

Spitting the toothpaste out and cleaning out the sink, Spike cursed his negligence. He never liked when he didn't follow through with his word, but beating himself up over it wouldn't help. Twilight didn't mention seeing Fluttershy yesterday, so he guessed the pegasus had went in his stead. He knew she'd be forgiving of his blunder, but it didn't make his own failure in honoring his word any easier.

He laid back down for a while in a futile effort to go back to sleep. The drake had a lot on his mind, not just about his friends, but also about himself. He'd thought about the future and where everypony was going with their lives. Mac and Sin had love interests and the former was starting a family, Twilight was most likely going to become a powerful Magi of the Solar Court, Pinkie would most likely take over running Sugar Cube Corner at some point in her life and Applejack would take over the farm.

Spike had a job... That was pretty much all he had going for himself. Everypony else in his life had somewhere to go, something they wanted to become or a goal to strive for. Well, all except for Star Shade, Shade was the only one of his friends who had less of a plan than he did, but... yea, that comparison wasn't really anything to be proud of.

'You've got a job, maybe you could make something out of that?'

Yea? Like what?

'Well, a career, maybe?'

No, careers were meant for advancement and getting farther and farther ahead in any given company. The dragon liked the manual labor aspect of his job, he liked the constant movement and expulsion of energy for the day to day grind. It left him exhausted, but feeling very much accomplished. To make a career would eventually involve him doing more mental labor in pencil pushing and management, and he'd being Twilight's assistant for so long had more than broken him of that.

'How about getting back into gem carving?'

The drake opened his eye. He'd all but forgotten about carving gems, he still had that little kit Sin gave him as well as the half finished ruby dragon in his bag. Carving gems wasn't really all that big of a skill in Equestria, but it also wasn't that high in demand either. If he did finish the dragon, would anypony want it? What would he even sell it for?

'Are you kidding? It would be a one of a kind piece! The Canterlot types would have something to brag about if they got one.'

The hours began to tick by as Spike mulled the thought over in his head, by the time the slow, grayish purple of the morning twilight gave way to dusk, Spike decided he'd give the idea a shot. It would be good to get back into the hobby and even better if he became nationally renowned as the only jewel carver in Equestria. The bits also helped to sway his decision, but he'd still do something to keep himself in shape and provide a more steady income.

Standing up and going through another round of stretching, Spike decided to take a morning walk. 

The air was cool and he could feel the delightful sting of cold in his lungs as he inhaled and traveled down the street. A few passers by gave a small wave, but most were too distracted to pay him much mind. The market district opened early, but everyone always had to take some time to set up their booths and wares. 

He walked around for a few hours, just enjoying the town for what it was. 

As nine o'clock rolled around the drake decided it was time to visit with Fluttershy and tell her to go ahead and speak to Twilight. He even went home, grabbed a bit and bought a carrot for her piece of work rabbit of hers. On the way of town, he passed the resident mail mare who immediately went straight for him. "Hello Spike." Derpy chirped happily, handing him an envelope. He thanked her for her service and watched as the blond maned pegasus flew on to continue her daily routine.

He looked down at the envelope and found no return address or sender, just his name written sloppily on the front. He shrugged and placed the letter into his cloak for future reading. He couldn't afford to be distracted again.

After another few minutes of walking, Spike found himself outside the meadow cottage and knocked thrice on the door. Fluttershy answered in short order and offered a warm and friendly smile. "Hello Spike, what brings you here so early?"

"I wanted to say sorry about yesterday. I didn't check in on Rarity like you asked." He offered her the carrot. "This is for Angel."

Fluttershy took the root and accepted the apology with grace. "There's no need to be sorry though, it's alright."

Though Spike was of a different mind. It didn't sit well with him when others said they were going to do something and didn't follow through and it was only fair he hold himself to the same standard. "I was just about to go to Rarity's actually, poor thing hasn't eaten much of anything in the past three days."

That didn't sound good at all. This behavior was starting to scare him now.

The two made way for the fashionista's boutique, Spike moving a little quicker than usual. There was already somepony there, though. Well, multiple actually. Sweetie Bell and two other ponies he didn't recognize were standing outside the door, speaking quietly among themselves.

"... this is a good idea. Rarity is an adult now. Remember what happened last time we tried to interfere with her life?"

"You heard the mail mare, the boutique hasn't been open ever since she got back from Canterlot! Something's wrong, Magnum, and I refuse to let our daughter suffer because of her damnable pride!"

These were Rarities parents? The stallion of the two was whit in color with a brown handle bar mustache that Spike had to admit he was a little jealous of. The mare was a pink unicorn with lavishly primed and full deep lavender mane.

"We need to get in there, I'm worried about her, I just know something... Spike?" Sweetie Bell asked, seeing him approaching. "What are you two doing here?"

"Same thing you guys are." Spike said, looking at the door before turning his attention to Fluttershy. She shifted her gaze between the dragon and the group of ponies before walking forward and lifting the mat in front of the door, retrieving a key.

'Wow, seriously?'

Undoing the lock, Fluttershy lead the group of ponies and single dragon into the boutique. 

It was in decent condition, thanks in no small part to Fluttershy, but Rarity wasn't present down stairs. Sweetie Bell called out to her and approached the stairs, though her way was soon bared by the buttermilk pegasus. "What ar-"

"Just, give me a second please." Fluttershy asked, she asked that the Bell family wait down stairs while she and Spike went up to talk to the Fashonista. Magnum and his wife, Cookie, both protested the request, declaring their right to see to their daughters health, but an intense glare from the timid pegasus quickly silenced their objections.

'Woah, she broke out the stare, this is worse than I thought.'

The two slowly made way upstairs and Spike felt his chest tighten more and more with every step. He felt like he was about to walk into something he shouldn't, like he was in a place restricted to him and was waltzing right up to what he was supposed to be avoiding. He was just making it worse than he was, right? The atmosphere and Fluttershy's behavior amplifying his already heightened feelings of worry and concern. 

His heart galloped in his chest as they approached the door to Rarity's room, his shoulders growing cold as they stopped just short of it. Fluttershy turned back and gave him a serious look, completing the entire horror movie experience. He gulped and nodded and she opened the door.

The first thing he noticed was how absolutely unkempt the room was. It wasn't destroyed or damaged in any way, but it was far from the typically immaculate condition Rarity kept it in. Fabrics of every kind and color lay strewn about in disaray, multiple projects lay unfinished and draped over her chair, desk and even on parts of her bed, with loose pieces of discard flung about like confetti. The drapes were closed, the only light that gave the room illumination being the small sliver of sun that bounced off of the dust covered mirror.

Spike's anxieties heightened when he looked on the bed and saw that the figure within was completely covered by the blanket.

"Rarity? Umm, are you awake?" Fluttershy asked, signaling Spike to stay his place while she walked over to check on the unicorn.

"Fluttershy?" He heard a dry, raspy voice whispered from the bed.

'That voice? No, no that couldn't be her.'

It was more akin to Rainbow Dash's scratchy verbalisms than the elegant, crystal clear tone of the unicorn.

"Oh dear, you didn't get your water this morning did you?" The pegasus asked.

Spike heard some mumbling from the figure as it shifted, it said something but he couldn't hear. He frowned helplessly as Fluttershy looked back at him for... something. He didn't know what she expected him to do though.

"C'mon, we need to get some water in you before you almost dehydrate again."

That sent waves of ice up his spine. Dehydrate? Rarity had been neglecting herself to the point where she almost died of thirst? Why hadn't he been told about this?

Fluttershy's attempted coaxing was met by a pouting grunt from the mass as it shifted away from her. She attempted to get the mare out of bed a with a few more words of incentive, but each was met with less and less of a reaction until finally there was none. Spike had seen more than enough and let the anger mix with his fear. "Rarity." He growled. It wasn't a threat, but it was an undeniable call for attention.

A pair of white-ish forelegs peaked out from under the blankets and pulled them down, revealing a very tangled mess of deep royal purple hair. "Spike?" She asked quietly, a single sapphire blue eye poking from the top of the blanket.

"Rarity," he said taking a step forward.

Immediately, the covers flew back over her head and she began screaming at him to leave, begging him to leave and not look at her. Spike, denied her, of course. "No, I'm not leaving until you tell me what's going on."

"Leave Spike!" She barked. "Leave me alone! I can't bare anypony to see me now, to finally see the monster I am on the inside..."

"Monster?"

"JUST LEAVE!" She shrieked, her voice on the verge of tears. "Get out of my room! Get out, get out GET OUT!"

Spike took a few steps back, his body shivering from the incredible desperation in her voice. He could hear her crying, repeatedly chanting those two words over and over again. He wanted to say something, he wanted to tell her that he wasn't going to leave, but his body betrayed him. His legs moved against his conscious will and he backed out of the room, sharing one last look of uncertainty with Fluttershy before walking mechanically back down stairs.

He didn't even acknowledge Sweetie bell or her parents as they rushed him, trying to get answers as to what the screaming was about. Silently, the dejected dragon dragged his feet out the boutique and into the streets of Ponyville. 

He was numb, numb to everything and everypony currently around him. Things that should have been clear as day sounded like distant echoes, his body knowing exactly where everything was and acting as a machine that Spike's brain had no conscious control over. He wanted to be angry, he should have been angry, but all he felt was deep sympathy. That little glimpse he got of her would haunt him for the rest of his life. Her usually immaculate and vibrant curls were... rats nests, tangles beyond repair. And her eye... the mascara looked like it had crawled the full length of her head and horn!

And most of all, she called herself a monster... why would she do that? Yea, she'd betrayed Twilight and all, but was that really grounds for that kind of behavior?

Then again, Rarity was the queen of drama queens. It would stand to reason that she'd take her guilt farther than it needed to go, as far as all of her friends were concerned, anyways. Still he was worried about her, now more than ever. He was just glad that her family and Fluttershy were there to take care of her, he wasn't sure he had it in him to go back any time soon.

In short order, Spike found himself back at the house he lived in, slumped through the door and went to lie back down. It was only the late morning, but the days events had drained him of any desire to do anything but curl up into a ball and sleep the day off like a bad stomach ache. 

Decrying herself to finally look like the monster she was on the inside.