//------------------------------// // Diamond In The Rough // Story: Harmony's Wrath // by hahatimeforponies //------------------------------// "Will you two pipe down? I'm trying to listen to the story!" Rarity whacked Applejack with the back of her hoof, her hat tumbling off. Her and Rainbow Dash appeared to be arguing amongst themselves over something. "What are you bickering about anyway?" The pegasus leaned around to answer. "We're betting over whether Bolt makes it back or not!" "She is toast, sister!" "No way!" Dash protested. "She's totally gonna come back with... with a gryphon head or something!" "Ahem." Twilight coughed. "If you want to continue this... discussion, you can do it outside." Her horn glowed, and the front door swung open at her command. The wind was still howling, and an icy chill invaded the room. Half a foot of snow poured in the door. "Uhm... we'll be good!" "Yeah! We're done." "I'm sure." Twilight chuckled, closing the door again, shoving most of the snow back out. Spectra was off like a shot. They had eaten and rested a little, but nonetheless there was a gruelling journey ahead of her. "Do you think she'll make it?" Dawn mused, watching the pegasus fly off into the night, disappearing over the horizon quickly, unencumbered by ground-bound companions. "I... ah hope she does." Calvade sighed, adjusting her hat. Wingscale beat her wings uneasily, before soaring up to the barn roof, gazing off into the distance in the direction of the forest. There was still some smoke rising from that direction. "S'up with her?" Rose queried as she watched this. "She ain't said a word all night." "She's mute, from what I can tell. She can understand us, she just can't talk, or won't talk." "Heh. Good for keepin' secrets then." "That's... one way of looking at it, I suppose. Bolt said she was the 'Beastmistress of the Everfree Forest' or something like that. I've never heard of her, I don't know if it's just an old mare's tale, or..." "Ah heard a few ponies talkin' about someone in the forest one time. Didn't pay 'em much heed, since ah figured anyone who lived there'd get eaten alive in no time." "Funny you should mention that. She seemed to have some sort of harmony with the animals in the forest that I couldn't get my head around. It's probably why she looks so worried right now. Remember those bounty hunters you fought off earlier? They chased us out of the forest by burning it." Rose winced at the mention. "Mighty troublin' alright... but ah don't think there's much we can do 'bout it." "Inde-" A rustle caught Dawn's attention. It sounded... close. She whispered. "Did you hear that?" "Sure did." Rose grabbed a shovel and a lantern from the wall, and set off in the direction of the noise - a shed not far from the barn. She kicked open the door, which nearly flew clean off the hinges from the force (in any case it looked like the door probably wouldn't close again), and charged inside to confront the intruder. There, standing by a chest at the back of the shed, was a unicorn, almost entirely covered up in black, masking them against the background; only a horn and a pair of blue eyes were visible when they looked over their shoulder. "Gotcha! Now off with the hood, or ol' Betsy here is gonna make purdy good buddies with yer teeth!" The stranger simply batted their eyes and turned fully to face the earth pony. Calvade was incensed. "Ya hear me? Show your face! Now!" The unicorn wordlessly crossed their arms and tilted their head a little. This was enough to provoke the farmer into a full-on charge, and when Dawn entered, all she could do was watch. The intruder met Calvade's screaming charge with a calm stroll, and an instant before contact, vanishing. She skidded to a halt, her battle cry dying off like a record player losing power, with just a questioning rise in tone at the end. She looked around for a moment, baffled, before emitting a sharp squeal, most unlike her. The stranger had reappeared behind her. She could feel something long and cold pressed to her neck. She guessed it was sharp aswell. A soft, smooth, femenine voice spoke in her ear; authoritative, but cool and calm. "Now, drop the shovel before somepony gets hurt." Calvade hesitantly held out the tool and dropped it, leaving her hands open in front of her. "Good. If there are no further interruptions..." The stranger pulled the object away from her neck; it was a dagger, about a foot long, ornately engraved and studded with jewels. "...I shall be on myAHH!" She lurched forward, throwing her weapon across the room and knocking her down over her hostage. The earth pony quickly threw her off; she landed a yard or so away, groaning and squirming. Dawn stood across the room, her horn enshrouded in a tiny amount of faint smoke. Rose sat up, panting a little. "Stun spell. She'll be fine in about five minutes." Dawn explained, giving a little puff to blow away the smoke. Calvade nodded and quickly rose to her hooves, checking the chest for stolen goods. Dawn saw her put a hand to her mouth when she got a look inside. She quickly jogged over to get a look. "What's wrong? What did she steal?" "Uhm..." Rose held the chest's lid open just a little more for the unicorn to get a view of its contents. "... nothin'." There was a black velvet bag in the chest. Dawn fumbled around with it, and its contents spilled out across the chest: a dozen of some of the finest cut gemstones she had ever seen. "I... don't get it. Why would a thief break in and leave behind valuables?" "Well, strictly speakin' she ain't a thief..." Dawn furrowed her brow quizzically. "... you just done gone and knocked out the Diamond Crusader." "The what? Oh, don't tell me this is another urban legend come to life..." "Who ya callin' urban?" Rose chuckled, giving Dawn a playful thump on the arm. "Anywho, the Diamond Crusader is a mysterious vigilante who breaks into the houses of the poor of Ponyville at night and leaves behind jewels like this, which is where she gets the name. Nopony knows where she done got the darn things in the first place, though all ah can think is that she either digs 'em up or steals 'em from the rich. Not that they ever miss 'em, what with the troves some of 'em are sittin' on. Only thing is, nopony's ever seen her face to face before, so nopony knows who she really is. For all ah know this coulda just been some thief." "Well." Dawn cracked her knuckles. "Here we have a golden opportunity for some answers." She strolled over to the Crusader's unconscious body, and pulled it over to the chest to sit her up. Slowly, carefully, she pulled off the headwrap to reveal the face underneath. Beneath the silken black fabric was a face of soft, white fur, and some of the most elegantly kept purple hair. With a moment for this to sink in, Dawn gasped, and fell backwards in shock. "Wh- this doesn't make any sense! This... this is Baroness Corundum!" "Th- you what? Are you sure?" "Positive... the Priestess would always parade her students around the viceroys of outlying territories when they came to visit..." She rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't imagining this. "... something's definitely up here. We're going to need to talk." "Uuughhh... talk about getting your beauty slAH!" the Baroness awoke, clutching her head, to the unexpected sight of the same ponies that jumped her. She patted her face for a moment, realising that her disguise was gone. She looked to her two captors, then back at her abandoned headdress, then back up to them. "I think it's time I wasn't here..." she remarked, deadpan, before disappearing - fading to nothing in an instant. Neither the earth pony nor the other unicorn said anything. Seconds later, there was a thump noise, and the Baroness reappeared just in time to smack against the empty space in the doorway and fall over backwards. "Magical wall. You're not going anywhere." Dawn smirked, triumphantly. Corundum raised an eyebrow as she sat up. Calvade just chewed on a stalk of grass, sat atop the chest the gems were deposited in. "Clever." She fiddled with her gloves and looked around the room. "So what are you after? Thought I stole something? Maybe you want to score some kind of reward? Out me, perhaps? I can't see anything you might want being terribly popular." "Answers." Dawn folded her arms. The Baroness found herself a trunk to sit on, crossing her legs. "Ah, but the want of answers stipulates questions! I do hope you had thought of that before you went and caught the neighbourhood wealth redistributor." The unicorns exchanged glances; one castigating, the other mischievous. "Okay, first let's clarify something. You are both the Diamond Crusader and Baroness Corundum." "That's an observation darling, not a question." "... I have to ask, why? Why are you sneaking around ponies' houses at night leaving cut gemstones around?" "Now that is a question, and a good one at that! Let me tell you a tale..." "Aw hay, make it quick, we ain't got all night!" Rose called from the other side of the room. Corundum coughed. "... which should be brief if I am without interruption. As you know, I am a member of the Equestrian nobility; I inherited my title from my father, who was the Baron Corundum until only a few years ago when he passed away. The domain he left me - Ponyville and its hinterland - was in a sorry state. Since its founding, the nobility of the town has been self-interested, as is the culture of the nobles of Equestria, and cared more for their own comfort than for the survival of the town. I just couldn't bear to see the plebians suffer under the heels of my peers, but I was barred from open action by my title - if I were to publicly use my own funds to better the lives of ponies of Ponyville, I would be stripped of my position in the gentry and lose the means to continue such action. So I happened upon an idea. One thing that comes quite naturally to me is using my magic to locate gemstones, and as such I normally have more of them than I know what to do with. So, training my magic for disguise - which wasn't a stretch, given my hobby of tailoring for fashion - and adopting the guise of an anonymous thief, I began to 'steal' my own riches in a highly portable, durable form..." she slid another velvet bag from her sleeve, and from it she pulled a ruby that she spun on her finger. "...and leave them in the possession of those who I thought needed them far more than I." "And that's how we ended up with the Diamond Crusader?" "If that's what the current popular moniker is, then yes. As stated, I never chose one for myself. Are there any more questions, or are you going to let me go about my business now?" "Well there is one that springs to mind, why are you telling us about your secret identity so readily? I was kinda expecting to have to force it out of you." "That's simple, dear. I know it's in neither of your best interests to out or kill me. Miss Calvade here..." she motioned to the earth pony, still chewing on the grass stalk, though it was noticeably shorter by now. "... being a Ponyvillian through and through, knows that if I disappear, then so do the little packages I deposit every so often. And you, Miss Dawn, would stand to gain nothing, and only callously deprive a townful of ponies hope. It probably wouldn't be above that snotty little blowhard Hornblende, but I can tell from what word I have heard filter out from the Priestess' gossip that you wouldn't forgive yourself if you did." She smiled knowingly. "I can also tell at a glance how trumped up these charges of treason are." Dawn's jaw just hung open. Rose rubbed her chin. "Say, ah think ah might have something you could help us with." "Oh?" The unicorn banked her head around with a cocked eyebrow. "I'm all ears, darling."