Coarse Diamonds

by Darkonshadows

-31-

“You guys are a bunch of butts.” Cadence muttered angrily at all those sitting at the table with halo's above their heads, only Discord had devil horns floating above his because he just had to be different. She was angry at them for blaming her for Luna having a backlog of things she should have really gotten to earlier.

“Well Celestia has a pleasantly plump rear, Luna has a nice taut one and yours is quite svelte and sexy, mine is… a bit flat.” Chrysalis looked at her butt sadly; it was not going to win any contests anytime soon. “Also let’s be serious here, we all know Discord doesn’t have an ass even if he pretends to be one.”

“Do not despair friend, we are sure that your flank can still grow! If not, then we may all see fit to help you get the posterior you want.” It was an honest effort on Luna’s part to cheer up Chrysalis, especially after the queen said such nice things about their bottoms while being comically depressed about her own. Luna tensed her hind legs and her muscles shifted in her rear end, making her smile as she showed it off.

“Well I do admit it’s not easy maintaining my own caboose, is it any wonder I consume so many cakes in a day?” Here Celestia ran a loving hoof over her flank with a smile. “Yes, I am very much a butt mare myself.”

“Well I never!” Discord crossed his arms and turned away with his pitchfork leaning against his shoulder to reveal the little devil wings he was now sporting, before he twisted his head back to them with a grin. If he was a normal being his spine would have snapped with the way he twisted his neck. “To be clear, well I never… had one that is. Though I am now curious what it would have been like if I did have a butt. For some reason my chaos magic will never let me form one permanently. Why, I’ve been the butt of many a joke about it.”

“I feel your pain Discord, we all can’t have nice backsides.” A sad looking Chrysalis walked up to Discord and they hugged it out. It was disturbing to see two still somewhat villainous individuals getting along in any capacity; some would say that Tartarus must have frozen over.

In fact that action was the very reason why a magic stealing centaur monster named Tirek couldn’t escape, because the entrance suddenly froze over after he had finally managed to distract Cerberus. Afterwards he was put back in his cell where he belonged.

“I walked right into this one didn’t I?” It occurred to Cadence that she let Chrysalis have an opening, now they were all comparing their butts with each other. Even she was getting in on the comparisons, with her svelte shapely rear.

That Luna was even sympathizing with the fact that Chrysalis had a flat rear was silly. Not to mention that they were all now comforting Discord about his lack of a butt, even Cadence was comforting him and she didn’t even want to do so! It left Cadence wondering why she couldn’t just stay angry with these ponies.

-

“I got a ticket to the gala!” Four slightly miserable ponies had been watching Rarity prance around happily, they were quite tired of her celebration as she had made thirteen dresses for herself over the last twelve hours. Current location, they were all in Caravel Boutique’s living space still docked with the Shining Jewel.

Nobody wanted to be a downer to Rarity except Gilda, but Greta had kept her from approaching Rarity and wanted to let boss lady have her moment. Greta somewhat regretted that decision now as the moment just wouldn’t end for the mare, only now she wasn’t going to hold her grumpy friend back when she finally snapped. She would smile ruefully, in a perky manner at that, when Gilda did indeed finally snap. It was just a matter of time really, Gilda was quite patient when she wanted to be.

“Great, we know, now shut up about it!” Knocking the pony out of her state of euphoria pleased Gilda to no end, seeing as Greta was going to let her do so now. It also caused the others to smile, as Rarity had finally stopped being happier than Greta was. Nobody minded Greta being constantly cheerful, but Rarity was positively annoying when she was deliriously happy. “You’ve been going on about it for a while there and you don’t even physically have the ticket in your hooves. You just have the promise of one and under the right circumstances that promise can be broken provided you do something big enough to warrant that cancellation.”

“Besides Meowstress, we need to pick up some supplies and you have to personally peruse what we need to fill our new hold with. Quite frankly you are good at getting quality fabrics and the like with your eye for detail, but you’re missing one key problem here.” Hearing Opal mention a need for supplies and considering they just used quite a bit with Trap Bar’s crew, they had netted a bit of a profit aside from what Luna said they were receiving from Rarity’s breach gel patent. “Your parents and sister normally live on Equus. Your chances of running into them are pretty high Rarity, even if you are just going down there to buy supplies.”

“Then why would I ever want to land in Ponyville?” Her celebration at successfully getting a ticket was put down harshly and she calmed down somewhat, she was still giddy about the opportunity though.

“I’m pretty sure it doesn’t matter where we land the Caravel Boutique. You and everyone who has ever set hoof on that planet know this one thing for a fact, that there are hardly things that can be called coincidences on this world thanks to magic that encompasses it. You know the words ‘fate’ and ‘destiny’ may come up; those two really could plan things in advance to make it so it is impossible to avoid your parents.” There was a long pause after Opal spoke her words. “Quite frankly even if we were to land in Saddle Arabia the chances of running into your parents is practically one in ten. Either something must be off with my estimates algorithm or I’m calculating this correctly. Avoiding your parents is going to be pretty hard to do if you go anywhere down there.”

“Well now, avoiding my parents and not being saddled with Sweetie Belle again is going be a might bit difficult it would seem. I’d rather my dear little sister not wreck my new ship; I’ve yet to even have the chance to beautify it and it’s already in danger!” Despite her calm outwards appearance, Rarity was panicking beyond all reason in her own head. “Still, as you say, I have to go down there if we’re going to resupply with quality material. We’re in dire need of supplies to make EVA suits, impulse saddles, pinpoint pullers and even regular clothing, why I even just spent a lot of fabric on finishing off those dresses I completed as one of my choices to wear for the gala. I guess I will just have to take that chance. Now I know that I’m going, so who among you is going down there with me?”

“I won’t…” Quietly answered Sassy, making them all turn to her for an explanation as to why she wouldn’t go. “I don’t think I can face my own parents yet, they live in Canterlot and I don’t want to incidentally run into either of them if the odds are that high to run into yours Rarity-sama. Especially not my father, I’m… I’m not quite ready yet to face him with the blinding hatred I have for men.”

“I agree with that sentiment and will have to stay here with Sassy.” Nobody could say that Vera didn’t have her reasons; she was Sassy’s on board therapist and a crew calmer in general. She was also something akin to their fitness instructor, well at least she had advised several of Trap Bar’s crew on their fitness.

“I’ll go.” They turned to Greta. “I just need a list of supplies to get from Gilda and I’ll pick up some things of my own then we’ll ship it up here with the Caravel Boutique, can you remotely control the boutique at that distance Opal? I’ll accompany Rarity at all times, so you don’t have to worry about a thing.”

“What do you mean by that?” It made Opal suddenly curious as to what Greta was getting at. She was going with Rarity wasn’t she?

“It’s kind of obvious, but AI’s can only inhabit one system at a time. While you can remotely control drones and ships from a system, you’re still stuck to that particular system unless you move to another one.” Now was Gilda’s time to point out to Opal something that she knew would cause the AI to freak out a little. “Basically you’re staying up here as Shining Jewels main source of security, having you here is what will keep the ship secure and untouched by anyone who would otherwise want to take from us or do our business harm. Which is why I’m staying, I’m running this hangar now and it is my job to work on its upkeep. Schedule my bio cast removal in the next twenty four hours will you Kitten?”

By now everyone on the crew knew Opal was a rampant AI and didn’t talk about it because they didn’t want to upset her. In fact Opal dodges the issue wholeheartedly and was still in denial despite Vera’s efforts to help her come to terms with her sapience. The AI’s silence was a bit deafening in its scope as to how upset Opal might seem, Rarity’s protection was her primary concern first and foremost. She had been constantly watching out for her creator since she could first think for herself and was just a little evolving pile of code.

“Opal… I know this may come as a shock to you, but please try to stay calm. You’re a big electronically crafted girl now; I raised you like I raised my little sister and you are practically my daughter. You can be on your own without my supervision.” Not knowing how to make sure nothing bad happened in the next few minutes, the lady that Rarity presented herself as decided to try and appease her AI’s sudden deafening silence. “Besides we won’t be out of contact, I have my data pad. Though control of drones is going to be hard from orbit, we’ll just use them for loading and offloading supplies to be ferried up by Caravel Boutique. We can start making orders to have the supplies delivered to the nearby spaceport in Manehatten, we’ll have to make several trips if we’re going to fill space on the Shining Jewel. I’ll personally be staying in Manehatten for a few days and I’m sorry if this upsets you Opal, since I want to take in the local couture and whatnot and then I’ll catch a train to Canterlot a week or so before the gala occurs to pick up my ticket and for Coco to get in her luncheon with Luna. The only thing I have left to ask is if Coco is going with us now or are you going to meet us in Canterlot later? Oh, my goodness I hadn’t thought of that!”

“Thought of what Rarity?” Coco was thinking on whether or not she wanted to visit Manehatten, it would certainly bring back memories and it would be fun to walk around with Rarity and Greta.

“Which of you is going to be my plus one, quite frankly I don’t think I’m going to be able to find a good…” Stallions were still a touchy issue and Rarity knew better than to bring up the fact that she might ask a stallion to escort her around Sassy. “Have a better companion when I go to the gala.”

“Nice save, totally didn’t notice you pausing there because male hater would take offense or get upset at the idea of you dating.” Dryly commented Gilda as she lay down on her back and spread her wings out to get comfortable.

“You don’t need to worry about my feelings on the matter Rarity, though I do appreciate the sentiments that you are ultimately taking my feelings into account in this discussion.” Nothing was more generous to Sassy than her good friend, one who tried to appease everyone and not step on any tails doing so. “I’m opting to not go to the gala, for the same reason previously stated. Plus I can still do training.”

“I have the same reason as Sassy, prior arrangements to keep things together and all that.” Vera answered swiftly.

“I’ll just add ditto and leave it at that. I’ll see what I can do around the ship when my cast finally comes off.” Gilda got up and looked to Rarity who smiled for a different reason as she had picked up on the subtle shift in her demeanor, she’d ask about it but she was busy working on a list of things she wanted Greta to get in the supply run. Most of it was sheets of metal or components to make either shield generators or energy weapons. “I’ve got a lot of ideas to work on.”

“Okay so that leaves either Coco or Greta as my plus one. I’ll make wonderful dresses for the both of you; you can and will keep them of course. I will eventually see you wearing them when there are times for us to look fabulous.” Neither of the two Rarity addressed had any problem with that or any arguments against wearing dresses. Gilda might have been the only one against the idea of wearing a dress, but Rarity still considered how fetching she would look in one. “Just figure out between yourselves who will accompany me on my most amazing night out. Are you okay Opal? You’ve been quiet for a while darling, I still need you to announce the crews payment.”

The word payment suddenly earned the attention of everyone other than Rarity; the only reason why they were getting to this now was because Rarity had been too busy freaking out about getting into the Grand Galloping Gala.

“You better keep her safe when you go down there Greta; because goodness knows what an AI won’t do to you if you happen to upset one with my kind of skill set. In any case I think it’s time we get to another reason why we’re all gathered here.” After some thinking Opal decided to not be upset that Rarity was leaving her attached to the Shining Jewel’s systems, well she didn’t sound very upset anyway as she continued on. “Meowstress Rarity has recently got a big windfall, enough to pay everyone here what we owe them for services rendered. First paychecks everyone, check your accounts! You’ll find that your services have acquired a modest sum. Heck, Rarity is even paying me and I’ll just eventually put my money back into her account.”

“Opal that money is for you to enjoy in any way shape or form you possibly can, you shouldn’t spend it all investing in me darling.” Here Rarity tried to think of something Opal would want. “You could save up and have a body built for yourself so that you’re not just a ship but a physical entity, you can buy stock in your favorite shows and you can even purchase things for yourself without my input.”

Everyone pulled out a data pad and both Greta and Gilda looked at what Rarity was paying them.

“Well you’ve certainly earned my loyalty more than five times over.” Gilda stated with a smile and a hint of amusement, before shooting Rarity a serious look. “You may be the boss lady of me, but don’t think that this means I’ll give up control of the hangar.”

“I wouldn’t dare to dream of it dear.” The day Rarity wrested control of the hangar from Gilda would be the very same day that both of her engineers somehow got murdered. The two of them dying in accident was highly unlikely and would definitely be looked into considering what those two have survived thus far. Rarity was almost afraid she was hardly worthy of their friendship, but then that would be just her generous side speaking.

“Threats aside, the boss lady pays quite well for us to do our best and I hope to meet up to and exceed those expectations. Most of my money is going into outfitting our hangar.” Greta was all cheer, though she noted Sassy was looking at her own data pad as well. “Hey, why the long face Sassy Pants? You should be happy! I know I am, Coco can I be the one to go to the gala or are you still up in the air about that?”

“I’m a little surprised that I’m being paid as well.” Sassy muttered under her breath, it actually made her feel warm and cozy to be on Rarity’s payroll. She was swept up into a wing hug from Greta; she enjoyed the comforting and her new friends as well.

“Rarity I swear you are way too generous for your own good.” It was odd for Coco to be a little upset that she was being paid so much, it made her feel like she was taking advantage of Rarity’s generosity when she obviously knew she wasn’t. She worked the hardest to earn her paycheck. “I’m still thinking on it Greta, but you can be the one to go to the gala with her. I’m not exactly good with crowds, especially not the ones Rarity wants to rub shoulders with.”

“I’m just happy that my paycheck actually has my name on it.” It was Vera’s only response to checking her combined account with her sisters. She really wanted to visit them sometime soon to see how they were doing.

“Guess I’m your gala gal Rarity; get me a gallant gown ready to go! After we’ve gotten some sleep in and grabbed some supplies to make one of course.” Letting out a yawn Greta put her talons over her mouth and that suddenly caused everyone else to start yawning, they had all been awake for a little more than eighteen hours and getting some sleep would be good for them.

“Right then, we finally have everything planned out!” Rarity was finally happy to get all that out of the way. “Prepare for bed and tomorrow we set up a supply run. Oh wait, Coco, are you going to be with us in Manehatten or are you going to meet us in Canterlot?”

“I’ll go with you and Greta to Manehatten. It could be nice to walk around and enjoy the city for a bit, I think we will all need shore leave and fresh air every once in a while.” Having made her decision Coco set off to prepare for bed, but not before one last voice sounded out.

“Are you saying my innards smell Coco? Why I am positively offended!” The laughter that followed Opal’s words made the camaraderie seem more real to everyone, they were all friends and they could all work together.

Not everything was going to be all sunshine and rainbows though, but they were becoming a tightly bonded group each with their own little problems that could crop up at any time.

-

Rarity finished the last stroke of her mane and smiled at the sight before her; she turned and walked towards the exit of the Caravel Boutique. Upon exiting she walked off the ship followed by Coco and Greta, they landed in Manehatten in the early morning and the smells of city wafted up their nostrils the second they did.

“Forget what I said about fresh air Opal, recycled air might have smelled better.”Coco’s nose scrunched up at the smoggy morning they decided to touch down upon, the smell wasn’t too bad and they were in the midst of a city. “Maybe we can take a visit to the local park; it would be nice to relax around there.”

“I wouldn’t mind that personally, we’ll probably do that once I’m done picking stuff out from the junkyard.” Even Greta was open to suggestions about seeing the park, it had been a while since she had touched down on a planet and could use some scenery. “Well I’m off to go do my shopping, don’t you two get into any trouble without me. Don’t forget to have a little fun boss lady; you have a stable source of income now.”

After that Greta took off to go do her shopping with lists from Coco, Gilda and Sassy for their various needs. Rarity turned to Coco and nodded to her as the two set out on their own to find what they were looking for, quality some fabrics would be the first stop.

-

In Canterlot later that night something wasn’t right, Chrysalis’s changeling informants were on the prowl and so was someone else hiding in the shadows of the rooftops watching a meeting between three ponies. The changeling was in a particularly good spot and nobody could detect him, as long as they didn’t search with a spell or use a life sign scanner the changeling would get away with his eavesdropping.

“So did you get the goods?” A unicorn that came off as a gangster spoke up, his henchmen weren’t very friendly looking either.

“Yeah we got the stuff; all we have to do is make trouble for any local law enforcement and draw them away from the city when the time is right.” The Pegasus talking to the unicorn looked as thuggish as the quiet hulking earth pony brute next to him. “They certainly held up their end of the deal. The question is, how are we supposed to get the samurai forces out of the city for the attack? Some of them samurai types are real tough stuff; we’d need some real firepower to bring even one of the well trained ones down.”

“Excellent work boys, Chunk, take the stuff back to the hideout I'll bring up the rear to make sure nobody follows you. Don’t worry your small brains about the samurai, that problem will be settled soon enough. There are already some other people planning on how to deal with that. I care not whether Canterlot falls or stands; I’ve already made my money and will be leaving town before things get hot.” The unicorn continued on as he glanced around slightly looking out for anyone who might be listening in. “I may not know much about the organization, but they are paying us greatly to achieve their small time goals while they quietly build up. Let’s move our conversation elsewhere, I believe we are being watched and I don’t want a certain Pegasus to get wind of this. The boss would be displeased if she appeared anywhere near here if you got loose lips, we also don’t want any witnesses and don’t talk about nothing. Speaking of things getting hot, take care of our watcher Back Draft. Get back to the hideout after you’re done and be careful of what you say because I’ve heard there are ears open everywhere and it’s making me paranoid. Don’t be followed by anyone, leave no body.”

Two of the ponies ran off and the third took to the air to look around the rooftops with narrowed eyes. On one of the rooftops the Back’s eyes slowly crossed, the changeling that had been watching them tensed and stayed absolutely still. The changelings disguise blended in perfectly with his surroundings and he hoped he hadn’t made a mistake in staying still.

The dark ash colored Pegasus with the short red mane called Back Draft smiled maliciously and pulled out a lighter with one of his hooves. A figure wearing a long cape, a mauve and dark blue costume, a wide brimmed hat and face covering mask suddenly broke from cover to start leaping away and across several rooftops. Back Draft flicked the lighter with his other hoof and it lit up with a tiny flame, his evil grin spelled trouble as with a tremendous flap of his wings a wall of fire erupted from him. It was sent speeding after the costumed figure that dove off the rooftops with the flames licking at their cape from the sudden explosion of heat when Back flapped his wings once more making his attack explode. Back Draft took off after the costumed figure immediately; he wouldn’t let them get away from him or his ability to leave no bodies behind.

Taking a moment to catch his breath from seeing what would have happened had he moved Plentiful Thorax had to get this information to Chrysalis immediately. He quietly set off at a slow pace trying not to attract any attention. Something was definitely going down and it was dangerous to their continued citizenship if the princesses were caught unaware. Whoever that other figure was, they had to fend for themselves even if Thorax wanted to help them. He was the friendliest changeling ever seen, but he was not big on action packed heroics.

-

The costumed figure rolled as soon as they hit the ground, the drag from their cape slowing their fall enough so that it didn’t hurt nearly as much as it should have. The fact that the costume was padded helped in that respect. Looking up the figure ducked around the corner as a stream of fire swept towards them, thankfully the on top of the costume being padded and designed with a cape that could allow for gliding, it was also fire and heat resistant. What the costume was not however was comfortable, the wearer was sweating bullets from being so close to the heat the Pegasus named Back Draft was directing in their direction.

The costume figure set out into the streets of the lower district at a gallop trying to lose the Pegasus, there weren’t many ponies out this late. Things were starting to heat up literally as the costumed figure dodged several fireballs and ducked around another corner into an alleyway as several bricks behind them became scorched black from the heat.

Back Draft flew around the corner and was prepared to launch another exploding fireball only he stopped when he didn’t see the figure running down the alleyway. He stayed aloft and kept watch, he wasn’t going to lose his prey now. The alleyway was seemingly empty and it was a dead end, he aimed for the nearest hiding spot and decided to cook the intruder alive. The dumpster or the trash can were the only places he could see as being the place where his prey was hiding. He lowered his flying height so that he was close enough to blast both the hiding places with enough heat to trap the pony in them so that they would slowly suffocate.

Only he didn’t get a chance when his lighter was knocked from his hooves by a fast flying rock and with a mighty leap the masked figure tackled him out of the air from above. Back Draft was painfully slammed to the ground back first where a sickening snapping sound was heard. This dazed Back Draft badly enough that he couldn’t fight back.

The masked figure started pummeling Back Draft’s face with blow after blow with both hooves until his face was swollen black and blue leaving him unconscious. The masked figure looked about and then slowly dragged Back Draft out of the alleyway; he would later be found by the royal guard strung up with broken wings to be taken in for questioning. Back Draft was a notorious and well known pyromaniac, the royal guards were glad to finally have him in custody.

Author's Note:

Add flour and bake at four hundred degrees until the plot thickens.

Comments

[Darkonshadows]

7786704

Go ahead, if you want to. I've been fixing most of whatever you've noticed as being a big issue.

7785544

Rarity is trying to avoid being saddled with her, so of course at some point it might be more relevant to the plot. Diamond Tiara will make her appearance soon enough and she will certainly test everyone's patience.

[Razzy]

Oh come on, Chryssie, your butt is just fine.

One would think Cadance learned by now what not to say near her.

Huh, I wonder how will Greta do at the Gala.