Diamond Cutter Anthology Entries

by Mudpony

Bird-thing

"Daddy, I'm home!" Diamond Tiara called out, kicking the door shut behind her.

"Hi, princess," her father called back.

Carefully, she put down the box she was carrying and slipped out of her school pack, tossing it into the corner without a second thought. School work could wait. Right now, it was time to play with Vel. After spending all day cooped up, he would be very excited the moment she entered the basement, chirping loudly. He would probably be hungry as well, so she would need to take care of that first thing.

"Dad, I'm going to play in the basement, okay?"

"Sure thing, sweetie."

She picked up the box and headed toward the entrance to the basement, hoping the contents of the box would stay silent. No such luck as a loud cluck emanated from within right as she passed the door to her dad's office. She froze.

"Um, is that a chicken?" her father asked.

Diamond Tiara looked left, then right, then left again, trying to think of a good lie. Nothing came to mind though, and so she opted for the truth. "Yes?" she said, bracing herself for the storm sure to come.

"I thought so," her dad said, turning back to his work. With a sigh of relief, she took another step toward the basement door.

"Oh, that reminds me," her father called out.

Diamond Tiara froze again, sure he was about to bring up the chickens that had recently gone missing all around town. This was it; the gig was up; she would have to come clean. And by clean she meant lie her face off so that he understood it was not really her fault, that she had not had a choice.

"There's been reports of strange things in the Everfree Forest. Nopony is sure just what they are, but they all agree on one thing: they are big. The mayor was even talking about asking Canterlot for a detachment of guards to investigate the problem," her father said.

"Uh-huh," Diamond Tiara replied.

"Well, until it is dealt with, please stay away from the forest, okay?" her father asked.

"Okay, daddy," she said.

Without any more conversation to impede her progress, she made it to the basement door, turning a key to unlock the door, and slipped inside, locking the door behind her. She walked down the stairs, taking care to skip the third one, as its creaking annoyed her.

At the bottom, she set the box down and looked around. Vel should have greeted her by now. He should have been bouncing around, making his high pitched chirps and whistles, nuzzling her a bit, and waiting anxiously to be fed. But he wasn't.

She felt along the wall and found the light switch. With a flick, the basement became illuminated, and she could see why her pet was absent. The place was a mess. Items were scattered all over the place. The old couch had several new gashes through its fabric, and one pillow was utterly destroyed, stuffing scattered around the room. The only place left untouched was the separate room where she kept the science kit she had gotten for her birthday.

"Vel!" she half-growled, half-yelled.

With a soft peep, his head appeared from behind a box. Sternly, she pointed a forehoof at the ground in front of her. Head held low, knowing he had done wrong, he slinked in front of her, looking up at her with pleading eyes.

"Bad! Bad bird-thing!" she scolded. "Look at this mess. Just look at it!"

She was not sure what exactly he was, which was why she referred to him as a bird-thing. He was supposed to be some kind of raptor, according to the so-called scientist she had paid, but he did not look like any kind of a mighty bird of prey she knew of. Nothing like an eagle or a hawk at all. But he did have feathers, so she supposed he must be some kind of bird, even if very strange looking one. Not strange looking in a bad way. He actually looked wicked awesome. Just strange compared to other birds was all.

Vel looked around, all the while making soft apologetic chirps, before gently rubbing his head against her foreleg. He was so cute when he did that, and it melted away her anger. He knew it would, the sly bird-thing that he was.

"Fine," Diamond Tiara said. "You're forgiven." Looking around, she shook her head. "I suppose it isn't, like, all your fault anyway. I mean, I totally leave you all alone in here all day, without any friends to play with. And you're really getting too big for this basement. You need more room than this."

Knowing he was forgiven, Vel bopped his head, then nudged the box, as the chicken within anxiously squawked.

"Okay, okay. You're hungry. I get it." Diamond Tiara reached down for the latch on the box. Before opening it, she held up a forehoof and commanded, "Sit." Obediently, Vel sat, eying the door on the box and the chicken within.

With a satisfied nod, Diamond Tiara lifted the latch and the chicken shot out, running for its life. Diamond Tiara waited to give it a slight head start, then lowered her hoof. At the signal, Vel leaped into the air, coming down just behind the chicken. It squawked and tried to zig, but Vel anticipated the maneuver and, with a second pounce, pinned it beneath his claws. His head came down, and it was over.

While her pet ate, Diamond Tiara looked around the room again. She could not keep him any longer, she realized. Her father was sure to notice a noise coming from the basement sooner or later. If not that, then he might connect the town's missing chickens to her, since his growing size meant she had to feed him more and more often. Added to that, Vel was showing himself to be quite the smart bird-thing. She had noticed him playing with the doorknob several times a week ago, and since then, she had made sure to keep the door locked. But even with that, he would probably find a way to escape sooner or later, and then somepony might panic and hurt him.

Tonight, she would have to take him to the Everfree Forest and set him free.

---

Vel chirped and fidgeted as Diamond Tiara slipped his collar into place around his neck. It was not something he was used to, but if she was going to take him outside, it was necessary. Besides, she had gotten it monogrammed with his name and everything, so he ought to wear it at least once. The collar secure, she attached the leash.

"Okay, now you need to be quiet and stay close, okay?" she asked her pet.

Vel whistled and squawked, then tried to hop onto her back. She pushed him back down.

"No! You're too big to ride now, Vel. You know that. And quiet means no squawking!" she hissed at him. Head down, the bird thing nuzzled her, but he did so silently, so Diamond Tiara was pleased.

"Good boy. Okay, let's go."

Quietly, she led him up the stairs and into the hall. She had made sure her dad was not in his office before entering the basement, and so had no problems making it to the door unobserved. She opened the door to the outside, and felt Vel shiver with excitement at all the new smells and sounds.

"Dad, I'm going to Sil's for a bit, okay?" she called, and was out the door without waiting for an answer.

Silver Spoon's house was not the destination she had in mind though. Instead, she walked through the night in the direction of the Everfree Forest, taking a back route to avoid encountering anypony else. Vel raced back and forth, hopping and pouncing on things. Whenever his chirping got too loud, she scolded him until he was quiet again.

At last, she reached the edge of the forest. Pulling Vel close, she gave him a hug, and he crooned in response. With a tear in her eye, she undid his collar and patted him on the head.

"Go," she commanded, pointing toward the forest.

With a happy chirp, he bounded into the plants, only to stop. He looked back over his shoulder and called to her, wondering why she was not following along. She would have explained it to him, but he would not have understood. It was time for him to be on his own. She pointed to the forest and commanded him to go again. Instead, he took a step toward her.

"No!" she scolded, and he paused, looking at her, confused as to what he had done wrong. Again, she pointed toward the forest. "Go! Be free!"

He looked in the direction she pointed, then back at her. Suddenly, he froze, then sniffed the air. He took a single hop toward the forest, then smelled the air again. His tail whipped back and forth, and then he leapt forward and was lost amongst the plants.

"I'll miss you, Vel!" she called out after him. There was no response. There never was, once they went far enough into the forest.

---

Diamond Tiara kicked the door shut behind her as she entered the house. As the sound reverberated throughout the house, she yelled out, "Dad, I'm going to go play with my science kit in the basement!"

Without waiting for a reply, she entered the basement, hanging the collar and leash on their peg, next to other pegs containing collars in all sorts of colors. She looked around at the mess of a room and shook her head. She would have to clean it up later. Well, partially clean it up. Just enough so that a maid could do the rest of it without asking any awkward questions. But that could wait. Right now, she had business inside the clean room.

She opened the outer door, the pressurized air rushing past her, and stepped inside. As the door closed behind her, she turned on the special light that was supposed to kill off any bacteria and such. Only once it finished its cycle did she open the inner door and enter the cleanroom proper, for, yes, the clean room was indeed a cleanroom.

She pulled open a drawer. Within lay her collection of amber. Not just any old amber, but amber that each contained an insect within. Every piece had a placard, listing the estimated date, the type of insect, and several other names, names she had paid that hack unicorn 'scientist' to provide. A bunch of those names were marked with a red 'X' in front of them. Those she ignored, instead looking at the others, scanning their names, moving from one to the next, trying to decide which to choose this time.

She stopped and read the name she had just skimmed again. She slapped her forehead with a hoof. "Duh," she exclaimed to nopony in particular. How could she have missed this for so long? Part of the name was a stereotypical pet name. This one should have been her first choice, not her fourteenth. It was so obvious now that she had noticed it. This one would surely be perfect, not like the others. When her father saw it, he would agree to let her keep it. It would be small enough that she could keep it in her room, and it would sleep on her bed. Maybe she could even teach it to play fetch. And all the other foals would be totally jealous of her awesome pet.

With renewed enthusiasm, she picked up the piece of amber and laid it down in her working area, next to a syringe and her drill. She maneuvered a magnifying glass into place, above the amber. For what she was about to do, she would need to be precise.

"You're going to be the best pet ever, Rex. I'm sure of it," she said.

With a practiced hoof, she picked up her implement and began to drill into the amber, to the insect and its precious DNA cargo that had been trapped within so long ago.