A Diamond in the Rough

by Amethyst_Dawn

Will it Always be this Tough?

It doesn’t take you long to find yourself seated on your favourite velvet fanback as Princess Cadence silently stares at you from your couch, the furniture having been adjusted so that you could speak face-to-face without needing to share the same piece. Plus, her lankier size tended to require an entire couch, but you wouldn’t say that out loud.

She continues to stare at you in silence, the small Fizz~N~Fluff soda you offered her held gingerly in her hoof, still unopened. Her wings shuffle slightly at her side as if uncomfortable, but you get the impression that might just be a tick of hers while she thinks. Several more minutes of uncomfortable silence pass.

“So…” You drone, lifting your hoof to roll it in midair. “I don’t mean to be rude, your--”

“Cadence, please.” She cuts you off briefly, before gesturing for you to continue.

Slightly irked, you decide to play with her a bit. “I don’t mean to be rude, Your Cadence, but exactly what do we need to talk about?”

She gives a slight frown at your joke, but her face brightens a bit once you ask, and she immediately relaxes.

“You’re in love,”

Silence again as Cadence gives you an expectant look. You blink in confusion. She frowns once more.

“What?” She asks, confused.

You give her a blank stare. “No shit, Cadence.” You say with a quiet snort. Normally, you’d be hesitant about mouthing off to a Princess, but that observation hit a rather tender nerve. And unfortunately for your patience, she seems to be befuddled by your little fit, if the raised eyebrow and tilted head mean anything. Another minute of silence, and you decide to start counting her blinks.

Blink.

Blink.

“You... know?”

You roll your eyes. “Yes, yes I do. How is that a surprise?”

Blink.

Blink.

Blink.

“I just… your heart says you’ve held these emotions for years with no resolution.”

“Then can you tell it to shut up?”

Blink.

Is she gonna? Is she gonna? Yep, Blink.

“Does he know?” She asks, before her eyes widen. Blink. “Is it a he?”

Your hoof finds a very comfortable home on the bridge of your nose. “No, no HE doesn’t. And if he does, he became a total jerk over the years.”

Blink.

Ooh! A double blink! High score!

“Why doesn’t he know?”

You open your eyes into narrow slits, your bitterness starts to boil as old emotions well up yet again. “Why doesn’t he know?” You repeat, your tone harsh. “Because his eyes are glued to your sister’s student, that’s why!” In a huff, you close your eyes and slam your forehoof onto the cushion beneath you, and you feel like your heart has been torn open all over again. “I passed hints like crazy, I flirted in every way I knew, but he still wouldn’t look past her! Even after he discovered she was just using him, he still forgave her like it was nothing!”

You rise to all four hooves as you start to rant, and your interrogator’s pupils shrink. “You want to know why he doesn’t know? Because I gave up on him! I still love him like no one else ever could, but I gave up trying to get him to realize that long ago! It’s been two months since I even spoke to him, and he lives right down the freaking street from me… and there’s only the one street it this stupid town!”

Cadence finally opens her soda as you feel tears welling up in your eyes, and takes a calm sip as your volume increases. “I only stay in this town because all my friends are here! I literally have no other friends outside of this Celestia-forsaken dustbowl, unless you count that idiot Discord! I want to leave!” You punctuate that last statement with another stomp of your hoof, and by now you’re practically screaming as you feel your throat start to hurt, and your voice becomes raspy and choked.

Spent, you fall back onto your haunches, and sob quietly as you hiccup through your words. “I want to leave... I want leave because every *hic* time I step outside of my *hic* door he’s going to be the first pony I notice... because each time I turn a *hic* corner I dread that *hic* I’ll bump into him… because talking to him never gets any *hic* easier… and because... I see him every day, and it feels like my heart is being *hic* thrown in a blender of emotions I *hic* don’t *hic* want.”

You feel a warm hoof wrap around your side, and look up through blurry eyes to see Cadence embracing you. With no strength left to hold the tears back, you throw your forehooves around her in a return, and start bawling. You pride yourself on not being a cryer, but you feel like you’ve wanted to say these words for years. Now, it’s like an anvil has been taken off your heart. Tears trickle down your cheeks in a steady stream as you hug her tighter, and she starts to stroke your mane.

“There, there.” She coos: her motherly tone a much-needed comfort. “It’s alright, let it all out.”

The two of you stay that way for what seems like minutes, but was probably closer to an hour. You start to feel more peaceful than you ever remember as you let go of the Princess, and wipe your eyes with the back of your hoof. You can clearly see the mussed-up area on her shoulder where your tears have made her coat stick in odd shapes, and you laugh sheepishly as you retrieve a towel for her.

“H-here you go,” you stammer, still shivering slightly. She accepts the cloth, and calmly dries her shoulder as she continues to give you a comforting smile.

“You know, Starlight Glimmer is actually a friend of mine.” Cadence affirms, taking another sip of her drink. “If it’s any consolation, her heart’s for someone else. A poet of some sort, I believe. It won’t be like stealing from another mare if you move now.”

You open your mouth to protest that that wasn’t the reason you were hesitant, but decide to shut it just as quickly once you start to think. Is that the reason you’ve given up? Because it would feel like stealing? You were a smartass, yes, but no coltfriend-grabbing-- well…

You look back up to Cadence. “What if he’s still after her?”

Cadence taps her chin as her smile fades into a thoughtful line, and she looks out the corners of her eyes. “Who is he? I can check tomorrow, without invading too much privacy.”

“Double Diamond,” you state boldly. You’re surprised when the Princess’ pupils shrink, and rotate back to look you in the eye. Her silence suddenly makes you uncomfortable as she just stares at you.

“What?”

“I see…” she almost purrs, her blank face transforming into something more… knowing as she tilts her head upwards slightly, and holds her eyelids at half mast as one of her eyebrows stretches upwards.

“Seriously, what’s happening?” You ask again, not sure whether you should run and hide or pursue the subject out of curiosity. Cadence titters quietly, and takes her soda as she retreats.

“Oh, nothing~” She sing-songs, trotting into the hallway.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The Next Morning -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

You practically chug your coffee as you desperately try to erase the massive migraine thundering through your head, instantly regretting drinking a caffiene-free soda after… however many glasses of the spiked punch you’d ingested. You would try harder to remember the number, but your head says that now’s not the time.

And it says so in a very painful manner.

“Outside of having a baby now, that’s one reason I quit alcohol.” Cadence chirps from behind you, before going back to watching as Celestia playfully flips a pancake into the air in tune with whatever she’s humming. You open your mouth to retort, but shut it as you watch your Princess skillfully juggle pancakes in your kitchen like a common cook.

At the sight, you once again find it partially annoying that once you offered breakfast, Celestia insisted- no -pleaded that you let her cook it. If more ponies were like these three, you might open a boarding house.

You’re interrupted from your thoughts once the bathroom door opens, and a cloud of steam billows out at the same time as Princess Luna.

“I’m afraid I may have used more of the hot water than I intended, Anon.” She admits, her face a little ashamed.

You wave a hoof dismissively at her. “Eh, that’s alright. I think a cold shower might do me more good than a hot one.”

She smiles thankfully, though it’s clear she thinks you’re just being polite. You don’t push the matter further, as you’ve had enough experience in where that conversation would lead. Kind of funny, as you were actually being sincere this time. Damn hangovers. As you walk towards the bathroom, Celestia pipes up:

“Breakfast should be ready by the time you’re out, Anon!”

You offer a quick thanks before ducking inside, and shutting the door with a near slam. Exhaling a tired sigh, you trot to the shower and turn it to ‘Hot’, at least attempting to salvage some warmth.

You reach into the stream for a quick temperature test, and are pleasantly surprised to find it neither too cold, nor uncomfortably warm. Just perfect for what you need.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Half an Hour Later -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

After a refreshing shower and a delicious breakfast, you and your houseguests decide to separate for the day. They went to the festival games, you made your way to the punch. You plan on going for the non-spiked barrel this time.

Halfway there, you spot a familiar serpentine shape near the lemonade, and cheer up a little bit as you approach the Draconequus from behind.

“Hello!” You call, a little louder than you meant. Thankfully, only a couple ponies turned their heads. Discord lazily turned to look at you, and offered an expression mixed somewhere between a polite smile and a death glare.

“I suppose you think that was a terribly clever prank yesterday, hmm?” He hums, giving you a small pang of guilt as you remember what he had said about practicing empathy.

“Sorry,” you chuckle, “I just saw an opportunity, and I took it.”

His smile grows a little more mischievous, and he snickers gleefully. “Whatever do you have to be sorry for? Nopony has ever caught me off-guard before!” He paused to think. “Unless you count that time Fluttershy started shouting at the ponies attending her ‘Find-a-Pet’ event, but that was another universe that Amethyst might get in trouble for referencing…”

“What?”

“Nevermind, lemonade?”

You’d be lying if you said you weren’t a little bit relieved that your friend was still able to confuse you: at least he’s consistently inconsistent. You grab the lemonade with a thank-you, and prepare for a conversation with--

“Sorry to interrupt, but can I talk to you for a second?”

‘No.’ You scream at yourself as you cringe, refusing to turn around. ‘No, no no no, N-O NO! Not here! Why was he here? What could possibly bring him to the only beverage table at the town’s festivities in the middle of this warm summer morning?’

‘Wait…’

With a gulp, you look over to the pony on your left, forcing a smile onto your face as you feel tears welling up.

“Diamond?”

Author's Note:

Cliffhanger! I'm only a little sorry!

As you can probably guess, yes: this is going to be a three-parter. Writing from a female perspective is a lot harder than I thought, yet not as difficult as I expected at the same time. Does that make sense? I think that makes sense.

Anywho, I'm going to try my best to wrap this up in a believable manner, so please bear with me if this takes a while. This chapter alone went through more edits than I'm used to!

Until Next Time, God Bless You!
~Amethyst Dawn.