Coarse Diamonds

by Darkonshadows

-40-

“Well that was nice, though a lot of the things I saw were positively unexpected.” It still surprised Rarity how fast the alicorns can consume their way through a pile of food while looking so regal, needless to say walking away from the castle left her feeling a bit upset as she didn’t have much to do until the gala. She needed to take her dress off for one, so she started back to the hotel room with every one of her friends following. Rover was included in that number even if he hasn’t exactly done anything friendly yet. “There was just so much food and none of it went untouched and there certainly weren’t any leftovers. Are you heading back up to the ship Coco?”

“Maybe, because I want see how Sassy is doing personally. Knowing I’m okay and there for her might make Sassy feel better emotionally.” Here Coco paused and considered her options, she wanted to spend a little more time with Rarity. “I would really like to do things around here with you though.”

“Right then, I need you to do something for me Coco. We’re still going back to the hotel room to get in an interview with Mr. Rover here.” There wasn’t anything Rarity could say about him that was negative so far, aside from the funky smell and being dirty. That was expected with Diamond Dogs though and Rarity could overlook a few… okay, he had many flaws.

“Full name is Red Rover, but Rover prefer Rover boss lady pony.” The red vest wearing Red Rover didn’t seem to have too much trouble following what they were all talking about; he turned to Greta who got his attention by clearing her throat.

“Speaking of job interviews, the boss lady is quite thorough with hers. She certainly worked out an honest deal with me and Gilda, mutually beneficial too.” That took a while and by then Greta knew that Rarity was already going to help them regardless if they started working for her or not, the boss lady was generous in both good and bad ways. “You just have to have a talent and learn how to apply it well enough that you can be hired.”

“While we’re on the subject, is there a chance that Bernard and I can get in on this?” Trapeze asked for herself and Bernard who looked like a small basketball on her back after consuming enough fish that Celestia stopped to ask if he was alright. Once it was explained that he was a Lagotorphin, Celestia just nodded and continued eating as if seeing a rabbit consume meat wasn’t odd. Bernard squeaked his own query while nodding vigorously; he probably felt like he owed Rarity the opportunity to perform in front of a queen and several princesses and the free food had been wonderful. Even if they were highly laid back he had been rather nervous about it unlike Trapeze.

“You want me to interview you to? Well I do owe you for helping us clear out one of the train cars… I’ll at least hear you out.” Rarity was curious as to what she was going to do with what were basically a circus performer and her false rabbit friend, she was still trying to figure out what Rover could possibly be useful for as she has heard a lot about Diamond Dogs and none of it was above decent. Diamond Dogs didn’t excel very much in many places aside from digging. “You certainly are a great performer, but how can that help me in space?”

“Well you never know when you might need some odd talent when it comes to traveling and I want to go to the stars with my act.” The smiling Trapeze tipped her hat to Rarity. “I’m quite sure Bernard wouldn’t mind traveling, as I found him getting off a space ship in Manehatten. Didn’t exactly think he was normal when we started working together. I never really asked him about his life, but now I know he’s a traveler and I don’t intend to sit in one place my entire life. It’s why I followed you here in the first place; I need a little adventure to add on top of my pizzazz. My cutie mark kind of makes me a thrill seeker.”

“We’ll get right on that then when we get back to the hotel then. I’m rather surprised the princesses don’t eat more fancy foods, but they certainly know what tastes good.” Complimenting the chefs put Rarity in their good books. It might not have been food meant for royalty, but it was food that royalty preferred to eat and that three cheese vegetable lasagna had been heavenly if a little heavy in her stomach.

-

“You know, I think I’m going to take a break from working on this project.” Having said that out loud Gilda heard a gasp of excitement from above and she rolled her eyes at who it was.

“Oh my goodness you’re finally going to get some rest, so what are you going to do on your break?” Opal had been getting along better with Gilda; Vera was still quite hard to find even in a room with one door when she wanted privacy. Vera was okay and liked Opal’s favorite show, so Opal couldn’t be too miffed about her ability to disappear before everyone’s very eyes with but a blink.

“Use the toilet, take a shower, get some food and finally put some weapons on the Caravel Boutique, because damn it all if we’re going to allow it to continue being helpless in a fight!” Cursing herself silently, Gilda couldn’t stop caring for the people she’s come to see as friends. The best thing she could do was arm their vehicles properly and she had an idea for her special project that was going to be a unique weapon. “Can you get a meal ready for me Kitten? Oh and send these schematics to Greta so she can look them over and fix any details before I get back to work. I definitely need her opinion on it to make sure it will work and not just blow up in my face. Besides these resources were given to me by the boss lady and I’d rather not squander them on something that might not be feasible. If it’s not feasible I’ll go with my second idea.”

“Right then, sending schematic data to Greta with a message to not tell anyone what you’re building up here, though I’m still not sure if we’re ever going to need it.” Though it was pretty cool to have, this was something that Opal admitted to herself silently and wouldn’t state out loud.

“It’s better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it. I’m making it capable of orbital drops, because knowing the trouble we might get into it’ll be a useful feature for it.” Shucking her clothes, Gilda dropped them off and made her way for the nearest toilet, she needed some relief and soon. “Of course once it’s in the atmosphere of a planet it’ll be quite hard to get it back up here. I’ll fly over that bridge when and if it comes to it. Oh and can you time my coffee so that I get it hot as soon as I’m out of the shower?”

“Sure thing, though I really think you should get some sleep.” The health of the crew was something Opal had to worry about, it was also Vera’s job as well, but she was more focused on Sassy at the moment.

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead or at least when I’m tired enough to look it.” Came back a rather crabby reply, Gilda was working on something that was totally awesome with the resources she’s been given and she would certainly find a use for it.

-

While Rarity was busy getting her three interviews in the hotel, because Bernard was certainly going to be an interesting one, Coco set off with Greta to go search around for a Pegasus crew member that she could interview. The lower districts of Canterlot weren’t very pleasant, but having a somewhat well armed griffon at your back made it certain that not many would bother Coco. She trotted around looking for a good spot to find and recruit at least one crew member, she nor Greta were carrying any money on them so they shouldn’t be bothered by anyone. When they walked close to a bar, Coco started getting bad memories from the last time she was in one.

“Oh no… I don’t think I can really do this Greta. The last time I entered a bar I got attacked by all the bounty hunters there.” Coco was a little surprised she didn’t get hit more than she did.

“You look like you made it out of there unscathed and without a problem.” Greta thought she looked pretty good for upsetting as many bounty hunters as she said she did.

“While being chased by a Ceantir that wanted to take me alive...” Added Coco causing Greta to look a bit shocked and why wouldn’t she look so shocked after hearing that?

“Let me rephrase that, you are lucky to be alive. Also did anyone bother to set the Ceantir on fire?” Greta looked a bit more worried; Coco obviously had pretty bad memories about that situation. “Do you know what even happened to it?”

“They did set him on fire, but he put himself out rather quickly while knocking out a bunch of bounty hunters and eventually chased me out of the bar.” Coco shivered as she looked to the bar. “They were shooting at him more than me. I’m rather grateful that they were, but I’d rather not relive the memory.”

-

Coco spun around really fast holding onto the spiked metal bat; she released it performing a hammer throw that knocked the Ceantir onto its back. The end of that hundred pound spiked bat slammed into its face with enough force to almost cave it in leaving a stunned and horrified Coco just standing there. She started limping off before anyone else took a potshot at her for doing nothing more than defending herself.

-

“It wasn’t exactly a good night. I didn’t know Ewesen even had that many bounty hunters; it always has such a nice and friendly tropical climate. That MOM attack almost destroyed four cities, three of them practically were.” Coco shivered as one of those cities was one of the ones she lived in for a while. “I think I heard that Ceantir was taken in by a bounty hunter named Flamethrower, they certainly sound dangerous and I wouldn’t want to meet them in a dark alley.”

-

“Oh no, I’m going to…!” A bright white ignited from Ember’s nostrils as she held her hands over her mouth to prevent the flames from erupting against her will. She rubbed at her nostrils idly, she was lucky she managed to hold that back and not incidentally sneeze metal melting fire all over her control panel as her ship floated a short distance away from the space station. The repairs that would have cost her would have been pretty bad; also it would have been worse if she sneezed full out. It would have put a hole in her ship and leave her to subsequently die in the vacuum of space. What an ignoble death that would have been, ‘sneezed herself to death’ would have been a pretty sad epitaph. “Sneeze… I don’t know anyone who here would be talking about me. Okay let’s start this operation and see what’s going on here, pay careful attention to your drones and if they start showing signs of trouble, pull them back immediately. We need to test the distance they can go in before that starts happening and when it gets really bad. I need a cover formation of two by two, nothing seems wrong on the outside.”

-

“Don’t worry about that, I’ve got you covered Coco.” Greta didn’t seem like an unfriendly enough face to scare off anyone and she was positively brimming with cheerfulness at the thought that Rarity trusted her with watching out for Coco. Especially considering she wasn’t exactly capable in combat outside using a gun, all of which she learned by experience alone with no prior training. Gilda could say the same, but she’s actually had training in using vehicles armed with weaponry given her dream of becoming a pilot only failed because she kept crashing her ships. Personally Greta thought she could be a pilot while working for Rarity and be her mechanical engineer at the same time. “Though I’m just going to say that I’m not exactly good in a fight, Gilda is more likely to win a bar brawl than I am. Said something about me being too nice to break a bottle and then stab a guy in the chest with it.”

“That’s not very reassuring Greta. Also I’m kind of surprised that things aren’t more awkward between us.” It did surprise Coco a little; Greta was rather openly gay in both ways. She swallowed and walked through the doorway into the bar with Greta following her.

“Why should things be awkward? You’re a comfortable snuggle, even if you are sending me mixed signals about how much you enjoy that. I’m going to get Gilda in bed eventually and not just as friends, no other being in existence can stop me from trying until I’m good and gone.” Greta smirked and looked about; the plasma rifle strapped to her back would keep anyone from trying to start something. “It doesn’t seem like there’s much trouble here to begin with so we’re good there. I’ll watch our backs, yours especially because it’s cute.”

Coco blushed as she walked up to the bar and crawled her way onto a stool, best place to look for a recruit was to talk to the bartender who might at least know somebody who needs a job. She wasn’t looking to get inebriated, far from it. Greta took a position right next to her and leaned back first against the bar, while glancing around. The place was quaint and smelled richly of flowers.

“So what are you looking for here? You girls don’t seem interested in drinks, though I know a few ponies that would buy them for you. Names Hops Wildly, I run this here bar and hops flowers are my specialty as an earth pony.” The green earth pony with the dark brown mane proceeded to pour himself a mug of frothing fluids and drink it; he nodded to himself apparently thinking it good in flavor. He had quite an interesting accent. “That garden is quite helpful with preserving my stock I tell you. So what can I be doing for a mare and a hen such as you? You two seem too nice to be down here in the dumps and I don’t like anybody be harming friendly folk that come in just for a visit. I’m quite aware that you're here with ulterior motives at the very least, ones aside from drinking your woes away in my bar, having a nice night out talking in a public place and or picking up someone for a one night stand on the dance floor.”

“Right to the point then, well that’s rather convenient for us.” Chirped Greta with an amused smile, hoping nothing would go wrong on this little adventure.

“With as well armed as one of you are its best that I pay attention to you and hope that my walls are not soon filled with holes.” Even as he said this he continued to down more of his drink. “You two are not looking for trouble right? With a face like hers I would presume you’d have a better reason to come here together instead of being on a date, because I have the hen here pegged as being gay.”

“You’d be right; I’m gay every day of my life with hardly a few downer moments between.” Spouted off Greta in a happy manner as she tapped her talons on the bar, this guy was alright to her even if she wasn’t Gilda who had a good read of people from their first actions alone. “Not so sure about this pony though, she’s definitely a shy one and could join the SNUGGLES organization on her looks alone with how adorable she is.”

“Can we not go into that please? Ahem, what my friend means is that we’re here to look for a Pegasus to hire and would like to ask if you have any suggestions.” Coco attracted Hops attention to her. “In particular one who doesn’t have any prior pending issues or much of anything better to do and is basically jobless, one who wouldn’t mind traveling in space and working with a pair of crazy griffons in our hangar. Of which one is sitting next to me.”

“I’m not crazy, just mentally challenged when it comes to my heart’s desire who continues to ignore the fact that I’m a decent bed warmer. Why I’m even thinking something along the lines of lesbian orgy if I can get her to agree to one night with me, I love her dearly but she’s really hard to get.” This from Greta caused both Coco and Hops to blush vibrantly.

“You be a good hen and the mare is cute with her prodding. That’s it, we’re friends! Friends help one another right? You be looking for Pegasus with no prior engagements, then I might have a few names you can look up if they haven’t turned their lives around yet and are in need of a good job.” Hops looked over to a changeling waitress who was serving drinks and food. “Hey, Delightful Nights, your boss is in need of some paper and a pen! I got some job bringers here.”

“Right boss, I’ll get on it when I’m done here. Are we still on for tomorrow?” The changelings finished placing drinks on the tables and shuffled right on by them into the back room where the sounds of cooking could be heard.

“That is a sure thing, my sweet as honey friend! Delightful is being such a sweetheart since she be coming to my bar for a job, she is quite a spicy mare when you can get her motivated. Otherwise I am thinking she is a lightweight and not interested in doing fun things, set me right about changelings she did and I am not hearing a thing of hearsay in her words.” Hops smiled as he had had a pen and paper placed before him which he took up in hoof and started scratching down some names and places to find them. The silver eyed changeling gave him a peck on the cheek and took off a small mouthful of his mane before walking off while shifting her rear and holding her tail high in the air. “She is looking for a good relationship. I’m not sure if I’m worthy of her, but she be sweet on me all the same.”

“I say go for it or I will, no telling when you might find another mare like that. Though knowing what I do about changelings now, aren’t you the slightest bit upset that she just ate some of your hair?” The stallion just chuckled at Greta’s question as he continued to scribble off some information.

“It mean less trips to the barber for me, it be growing back fast anyway. Plus my silver eyes succubus be making sweet passes at me whenever she wants, it’s perfectly fine if it helps her stay healthy and attractive.” He lifted his head slightly and watched that changelings swagger as she went about making her rounds. “Plus the shape shifting can make things in bed interesting, if I decide to let things get interesting between us. I don’t want to hurt her emotionally and I would like to take things slow, she says that changelings are more open to deep relationships and I’m open to her tempting me with her hot little backside. Do you two want anything on the house?”

“Not really, we had a big lunch.” Coco could still feel the bulge in her stomach.

“On that I can agree, that was one lunch I don’t think I’ll ever forget.” The list was turned about and slid over to the pair and Greta looked it over. “So who are some of these ponies?”

“They be customers in need of a good job, some are on very hard times yeah. They will take just about anything nowadays. I suggest you start with that mare Lightning Dust, she be a Wonder Bolt drop out and known for her recklessness, she almost killed a few ponies, almost. Maybe you can get her back up on her hooves yeah? She lives in an alleyway nearby and only makes barely enough money to feed herself, I wouldn’t be happy to see her start selling her body. It is bad enough that that poor mare sleeps on these cold hard streets with barely a cardboard box that she can pay rent on. She might be a bit drunk so take it easy on her if she be getting rough with you.”

“Thank you Mr. Wildly.” Getting off the stool, Coco waited as Greta took up the list and looked it over. They would take the bartenders advice and search out for Lightning Dust first; the bartender was friendly enough to draw various cutie marks onto the paper for them.

-

“Okay, Bernard definitely wants to be a package deal with you Trapeze; he’s proven to be quite an intelligent little thinker and knows he can get into small crawlspaces to help where repairs and maintenance are concerned. Plus he’s agile enough to wield at least a pistol, but I’d rather not have him as security. I can certainly understand his usefulness and he gave me quite a list of things he could help with, but what about you Ms. Star? What can you do for my ship if you become a crew member?” Bernard hopped off to stand beside the Diamond Dog who just looked at him uneasily as Trapeze made her way into the hotel room to talk with Rarity. Rarity had already finished her talk with the Diamond Dog and the prospects were not looking good for the Red Rover, still it wouldn’t hurt to at least have some men on the crew for Sassy to get used to having around. Provided they don’t go anywhere near her while she’s currently in the medical bed. “What are you proposing to do when you come onto my ship and why should I take you as a crew member? You know, aside from the fact that we’re friends.”

“Well I could pay you a percentage of whatever I make when I put on shows to have me onboard as expenses, I could also clean things and or assist where needed. I’m sure you can come up with something for me to do. Maybe I can help you with advertisements for your business when I start becoming well known? More than likely you’ll help me with that as well for my performances.” Trapeze really hadn’t thought too far into it, just that she wanted to travel and go to many places and do amazing things for the people there. Rarity was quite a friendly face and she wasn’t pulling punches. “I know I can at least help you move things around and carry things for you, I could be a pack mule.

“I’ll consider this, but you’re definitely too pretty to be considered a mule my dear. Tell me how you got to where you are now.” Sitting down on the bed Rarity gave Trapeze a stare. “How did you know you wanted to be a performer, what’s the news behind the mare before me?”

“Well I guess it all started when I was young, I loved climbing on things. Jungle gym, statues, monkey bars and I happened to be a funny little filly with the way I liked jumping around and tumbling. Eventually I took up learning gymnastics and from there it was history when I discovered half my talent.” Here Trapeze stopped and took off her hat to bow to Rarity. “My other half was putting on a magicians act for a talent show, I would have done a gymnastics act but someone else was already going to do that and I didn’t want to step on hooves. They still ended up trying to ruin my act, but it made my act all the more special as I performed tricks while doing leaps across the stage dodging falling objects and making it out to be a part of my show. It wouldn’t be until years later that I found a rabbit that was willing to work for me, Bernard was… special… to say the least about him when I first met him. I took responsibility for him and we’ve been best friends ever since then.”

“The way he tells it, he thought you were quite the interesting mare yourself. So is there anything I should know about you?” Rarity liked Trapeze and could at least work with her; she was still iffy about letting a mangy mongrel like Rover onto her ship even if he had some good qualifications for digging up jewels for her.

Mining was about as much use as Rarity thought she could get out of Rover really, since his species specialized in mining operations and didn’t have breathing problems in dusty conditions. Heck Diamond Dogs were known to be able to survive lacking air for quite a while, given how often they escaped caved in places unscathed. Diamond Dogs were also quite often seen in emergency rescue services and Rover did have some strength in his lanky arms. Why he even might be able to do something as a security officer, but he would need a lot of training to be useful part of the crew and she didn’t feel like dealing with training him personally.

“Well I like to dabble in some things, but I don’t have much of an answer to that. I guess I like playing with puzzle games and the like, toying around with illusionist stuff if you will and I definitely like dancing. I’m not really leaving much behind if you do take me on, all I have is right here with me.” Trapeze took off her hat and hugged it to her chest before returning it to her head. “I’m not all that interesting outside of what I want to do as a performer. Still though, if you won’t hire the Diamond Dog I might be able to do something with him.”

“What would you do with Mr. Rover if you could train him to do something?” Now there was an idea and Rarity could kind of see it now that she thought of it. “Could you maybe make him your assistant to set up stage equipment and move it around?”

“Yeah something like that, why do you ask?” Trapeze bounced a little on her hooves and tilted her hat to the side looking intrigued.

“I’ll hire you and Bernard as crew members who will start out as janitors, maybe learn a thing or two about where else you could help around the ship. But as a caveat you two must train Rover to do something useful.” Here Rarity chuckled a bit dryly. “I want you to help him clean up his act as it were; maybe you can expand your act and form a Trapeze Troupe if you will. I’ll lend you transportation; you earn the money. I might also require Rover’s services where digging would be fruitful; in fact I plan to visit the bejeweled fields near Ponyville to give him a test run as to whether he can at least do that much.”

“Oh boy, you certainly are asking a lot of me. I’ll see what I can do with him.” Trapeze then looked quite thoughtful as she put a hoof to her chin. “The Trapeze Troupe… has a certain ring to it and I like it. Well… work up a contract and you’ll have yourself a Star, Trapeze Star to be exact, at your service boss lady. I’m sure I can make something of Rover, even if he has to be a clown.”

“Oh, don’t you dare start that too; it’s bad enough that my griffons do it already and even insist on calling me that!” Rarity paused and began to wonder when she started considering them her griffons.

Author's Note:

Rarity might be doing well now, but as a heads up the gala is not going to end well for her and her ambitions to find a good stallion and or become one with high society. Canterlot touring and the mysterious Mare-Do-Well/Mauve Mare-auder returns.

Rarity's various enterprises, one of which is obviously in the entertainment industry, are going to at least keep her in good money at least. She only has a stable supply of funds, as in she's not exactly rich yet as most of her funds are going into repairs and supplies required to keep her two ships working.

Comments

[Razzy]

... Gilda is preparing something special, I'm scared.

Crew interviews!

Smexy changelings!

'aware that your here' - you're.

'pen and paper place before him' - placed.