An Apple Studded Diamond

And Kindness

The early summer breeze drifted softly through the stately stands of trees which chivalrously laid their shadows on the winding path that meandered through their domain. Behind the mare the wagon rattled in the grooves worn in the path by many other travelers over many years. The deepening warmth of the afternoon made the shade offered by the woods a boon.

It would be so easy to stop and rest when the winding creek that flowed nearby again came out from the cover of the trees to offer a crooked bend in greeting. Perhaps if she chose, the weary mare might take to unhitch herself for a spell and wade into the waters of the creek and let the cool flowing waters leach the soreness from her hooves while she wet her self within with a drink of those self same waters. Such wonderful idyllic beauty Equestria offered, it was truly breathtaking. She could almost hear the echo of the hoof-falls through the trees of the unicorn stallion, an officer of the royal guard no less, bared of his armor, as he galloped through the woods.

The lone mare could almost see him now splashing nobly through the clear waters of the stream and powering up the other side, his coat running with the droplets caught in his pelt, his firm muscles twitching beneath. In her mind’s eye she could see him so clearly, his golden eyes flashing, his sapphire mane with its aquamarine highlight running through it.

He would bar the way ahead of her rearing proudly pawing the air; she’d have to stop for him. He’d approach and unfasten her harness, lead her off to the side of the road to the shade of a tree. He’d circle her, inspecting her at first, then begin to nibble at her withers, rubbing his cheek gently down her spine to where he’d nip again at her flanks and dock prompting her to lift her tail and bare herself to a more intimate inspection before he would finally swing his chest up onto her back and drive his rampant masculinity deep into her throbbing …

Starlight Charm brought the wagon to a rough halt. All four of her legs were shaking as she stood there in the middle of the forest track. She could practically feel the stallion enter her and she squeezed her nethers tight against the sensation, strangling it where it lay.

With a thought, she reached out and pulled a canteen from the side to the wagon and brought it to her lips. The water was warm from the sun, and slightly stale, but wet nonetheless. A quick mental shake of the vessel and a pulse of a chilling spell channeled through her horn and the water’s temperature dropped to half that of the ambient air, suitable to be considered cool.

Starlight Charm took another drink of the canteen, finding it immensely more refreshing now. She loved the early summer season, but loathed being in season as she was now; the damp churning, the wringing need. There were potions and herbs could stave off those irritating symptoms. However there was nothing that could purge from her mind the thoughts of the white stallion, Gallant Stride.

Starlight cursed her parents, and Gallant Stride’s for what they’d done to her. She remembered it being during Hearth Warming break during her first year at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. She’d gone with her dam, Meadow Charm, and sire, Stalwart Light, to visit friends of her parents, Gallant Fox, and his wife, Melodic Step. It was there, the mare remembered, meeting their son, who was a little over a year older than her, and fine looking colt if ever there was one.

Gallant Stride was a charming, well read, and physically accomplished colt, and destined, his father proudly stated, for the Guards Academy, once he finished at Caterlot Academy. Starlight Charm remembered how the white colt had lifted her hoof and kissed it as they were introduced to one another, setting the two sets of parents murmuring with delight as she blushed through her coat. They had visited more frequently after that, and on the first day of spring the following year, Starlight had found herself standing in the middle of a circle of unicorns facing Gallant Stride, their horns touching, as magical energies from the gathered unicorns swirled about them.

Starlight replaced her canteen on the side of her wagon and gave a shudder at the memory. Since that spring, every time she’d gone into heat she had to contend with images of Gallant Stride invading her thoughts. When she had later discovered what her parent’s had done, initiating her into a sworn betrothal, she had been furious.

Aristocratic unicorn traditions be damned. To mentally pair-bond her to some colt for the sake of tradition and social advantage was one thing. To expect her to give up her ambitions, never! If she had no particularly great talent she might have acquiesced to the old social conventions, but that was hardly the case. She was the most magical unicorn in Equestria, barring two.

Well, maybe not, Starlight Charm thought to herself. Both of the others had once been the personal students of Princess Celestia herself, a position Starlight Charm herself had coveted while attending the Princess’s School for Gifted Unicorns. After all, Twilight was an alicorn now, and Sunset Shimmer hasn’t been heard from in years. I guess that leaves … me.

Resuming her pace down the forest path, Starlight eventually slowed as she approached a signpost near the edge of the woods where it gave way to rolling fields and the track split. She cast a glance at it with her grayish-violet eyes.

Silver Dollar City, where she’d last stayed, lay 280 furlongs behind her; and good riddance: that jackass of an innkeeper, Shorty, was starting to get on her nerves. Not to mention the onset of her estrous was making it harder to say no to his advances. Hooferville and Pretty Colt Junction lay 120 furlongs ahead on the right fork and Bugtussle 180 down the left. A rumble from her belly informed her that the shortest path to a hot meal was preferable.

“Ha Ha,” sang Starlight as she reared in her harness. “Tonight Hooferville shall be honored to host the performance of The Great and Powerful Trixie!”

* * * * *

The wagon came to a halt in front of the general store with a tired rattle. Taking a deep breath the young dirty pink mare that stood in the traces let out a sigh of relief before setting to unbuckling herself. Stepping free of the harness Diamond Tiara gave herself a shake in release before mounting the porch of the store.

She paused a moment to take in the spectacle that was the checker game being played atop a barrel beside the open door. She’d been gone over an hour and not one piece had moved in that time. Actually not a single piece had moved since earlier that morning when the pig, Arnold, had made his last move.

“Mr. Bucker,” She leaned in to where the old shopkeeper, with a storekeeper’s apron and an accountant’s visor for a cutie mark, was intently studying the game board, right where she’d left him over an hour ago. “I’m back.”

“Be with ya in a minute, Miss Diamond.” The old gray store-pony replied, not bothering to look away from the board. Diamond stepped into the store and planted her hindquarters on a convenient seat; a dusty burlap sack actually full of, what else but, dusty burlap sacks. Apparently, it seemed, that’s what they got shipped in.

As she sat there, Diamond took a few minutes to think back on the last two weeks she’d spent working for the old shopkeeper. It wasn’t glamorous, it wasn’t affluent, and it was barely enough to cover her basic room and board. Of all the unassuming little towns that dotted the Equestrian countryside, she just had to get off in this one, a town that seemed to be fifty years out of touch with the rest of Equestria.

The soft scrape of a game piece being moved caused Diamond’s ear to prick up, its movement tracking to the site of the checkers game. A grunt of consternation from the pig on the other side of the barrel was soon followed by the clip clop of hooves as Mr. Bucker walked back over to the store counter.

“That ought t’ keep that pig thinkin’ for a while then.” Grinned the elder pony, “Now, what can I do f’r ya there, Miss Diamond?”

“Here’s the payment from the last delivery Mr. Bucker.” Diamond placed the small bag of mixed bits on the counter-top.

“Thank ya kindly, Miss Diamond.” The old shopkeeper undid the mouth of the bag and emptied the contents on the counter and counted it. “All there, and it looks like you got a tip there too.”

Diamond smiled. “Just put it towards my account Mr. Bucker.”

She was still in arrears for various purchases shortly after her arrival. She had managed to barter some personal effects from her saddlebags for enough bits, five to be precise, to open an account at the town bank, also run by Mr. Bucker. It wasn’t much of a bank; it was basically a locked box under the counter of the general store. At least it had allowed her to establish collateral to open a line of credit from said institution, and take out a loan.

“Oh, I almost forgot there, Miss Diamond,” the older pony added to the conversation, “the train came while you were gone, and dropped the mail, and there was a letter for you. You can pick it up at the post office.”

“I’ll head over there right away.”

Diamond had also acquainted herself with the local postmaster, also Mr. Bucker, shortly after arriving two weeks ago in order to send a letter back to Ponyville. Originally Diamond had wanted to send it to Silver Spoon. Just to let her friend know she was safe, and so that Silver could let her parents know to call off the search for her. It was not that Diamond particularly cared for her ex-parents’ peace of mind, they had basically disowned her in Diamond’s reckoning, and Diamond, in turn, had not so eloquently disowned them back. What she had really wanted at that moment was that she didn’t really want to be found, and sending word back to Ponyville, Diamond knew, would bring the inevitable search to an immediate halt.

Hopping off her seat on the sack of burlap sacks, Diamond walked over to the postal counter while Mr. Bucker took off his banker’s visor and donned his postal cap before flipping the sign on the counter from ‘closed’ to ‘open’. Diamond could remember at one point, after leaving Ponyville for her first apprenticeship in Manehatten, thinking she was glad to be out of that ‘one horse town’. Hooferville seemed to put a whole new perspective on that concept, with Mr. Bucker and his general store standing in for everything from assayer’s office to justice of the peace, town hall, and constabulary office. A reinforced root cellar out back even served a dungeon if so needed, but mostly it served as a root cellar.

“Hi ya Miss Diamond,” Mr. Bucker’s cheerful tone announced the fact the post office was now open for business, “How can I help ya today?”

“I understand you have a letter for me?”

“I sure do. That’ll be three cents.”

Diamond repressed the urge to facehoof right there, but rolled her eyes in mild frustration as she turned to retrieve the three copper bits from her saddlebag. Tired, dusty, and mildly frustrated just scratched the surface of what Diamond was feeling right now. Although she felt that Pinkie Pie might get a real twisted kick out of this place, some how.

“Oh wait, this here letter came postage paid already.”

Diamond let the small crude coin pouch drop back into her saddlebag and gave herself a moment to recover her temper.

“Thank you, Mr. Bucker.” Diamond flashed an overly enthusiastic smile at the old pony as she plucked the letter from the counter with her teeth and deposited it in her saddlebag. “Any other deliveries for today?”

“Naw, you can go on home then Miss Diamond.”

With that, Diamond bid the old storekeeper a good day and trotted off on her way back to where she was rooming. Well, if staying in a disused shed on a slightly rundown farm, in an almost nonexistent town, could be considered rooming. It was not quite the first class accommodation she was used to, it wasn’t even the bedroom she shared with McIntosh for one night, but at least the roof didn’t leak.

As she made her way back to her shack, Diamond took a moment to pause near where a large chestnut tree stretched itself near the bank of the nearby creek. It was still early in the afternoon, too soon to help her landlady with dinner. A quick look over herself and the necessary action was clear to Diamond; get clean.

Dropping her saddlebags in the juncture of two of the chestnut’s roots, and pulling the ties from her mane and tail, Diamond backed up a few paces and charged forward. With a solid thrust of her hind legs she launched herself into the air from the bank of the creek. She’d discovered much earlier that the creek was particularly deep at the bend where the chestnut stood, perfect for swimming, or in Diamond’s case, washing.

With a heavy splash Diamond hit the water, and after staying submerged for a short time, resurfaced and immediately began scrubbing herself as best she could. Hooves rubbed the grime from her coat wherever they could reach. Rolling in the gravel shoal that spilled from the far bank into the curve of the creek and rubbing against the hanging branch from the chestnut tree served for those areas hooves couldn’t reach. Then after slipping back into the deeper waters where she first landed Diamond rinsed herself clean before exiting near the slope beneath the chestnut tree.

A violent explosion of water arced into the air as Diamond shook herself dry before she took an old towel from her saddle bags and laid it out next to the chestnut tree to let the hot summer air finish drying her. As she lay there in the sun Diamond could almost come to enjoy the life she had now, if it wasn’t for the fact that she felt oddly empty inside.

In her mind she stacked and reshuffled the bits of her financing about. The conclusion she reached every time pointed to the fact there was no denying it, she was on a downward slope and there wasn’t enough spare work in this little town to get her off it. The skills she did possess that could earn her more bits just weren’t in great need. The fact that Mr. Bucker casually filled all the financial niches in the town while still running the general store made it harder. Pulling her delivery wagon, which she rented from Mr. Bucker anyway, and doing dishes at the Shady Rest Hotel to pay for meals at times just didn’t cut it. Diamond shook her head in resignation and lowered it to rest on a thickened section at the base one of the chestnut’s roots.

As the young pink mare dozed lightly in the merciful warmth of Celestia’s sun it almost felt like the presence of another pony lying behind her, spooning her. With the warmth drifted in the memory of that first morning she’d awoken with McIntosh’s hooves around her. She remembered the sensation of his breathing, the slow even tempo of his heart as it pushed the living warmth of life through him as he lay behind her. She remembered how she had hooked his right front cannon with her pastern and slowly pulled his big hoof down from where it rested near her shoulder, down to the side of her barrel to her belly, then even lower. She remembered the soft feather like tickle of his unshorn fetlocks against her small teats as she guided his hoof lower to hook his pastern in the furrow of her formerly virgin folds.

Diamond let her mind wander the memory for a while. She recalled how Mac had so deftly lectured her on choices and consequences, how he had calmed her and consoled her. She remembered how he had slapped her flank hard enough to make her yelp, so that the eavesdroppers outside the shed would have something to cheer about and move on. She remembered how she slapped him back after he let her go and he’d calmly accepted it, stating he deserved it. Later he’d had her bite down on his left cannon to stifle the scream that his drunken sister had told Diamond she wanted to hear. She remembered the sensation of his first entry of their joining, the sensation as he had firmly and evenly pushed himself into her body, while his own also wrapped around her.

Diamond lifted her head as the reverie ended and her thoughts turned to the letter she’d just received and reached out and pulled the envelope from her open saddlebag. Originally she’d meant to write to Silver Spoon, but when she’d actually gone and written the letter she’d decided to send it to McIntosh instead.

Settling on her belly Diamond unfolded the parchment and began to read:

Dear Diamond,

I, along with your friends, was most relieved to hear from you and your parents were very grateful when I told them that you were safe. As far as anypony knows, you’re taking some time away on your own to come to terms with your new situation.

You have no idea how broken up you mother has been since the ‘incident’. She deeply regrets her choice of words and realizes how badly they must have hurt you. She says she never meant to hurt you, and I genuinely believe her.

Even Applejack has expressed some regret over her behavior towards you, although it took a rather blunt prompt from Apple Bloom to knock the point home. At least my reserve cider is not being drained like a bathtub anymore.

I also find I must offer my apologies as well for whatever role you may believe I had in this. I can only say I approached this with only the best intentions I could. Your father has offered me a chance to annul the contract and I’ve given him my answer, but I want you to know that I believe the decision should be yours, whatever you choose.

One last thing is I cannot understand why in your letter you specifically stated you did not want anypony to send you money or assistance. I can only guess you want to try to make it on your own, and if that is your choice, I will respect it. I just want to let you know that there are ponies that care about you and willing to help if you need. I never wanted you to deny yourself, only to be true to what you were inside.

Do what you must Sugarplum, and know I believe in you.

McIntosh Apple

Diamond sighed as she folded the letter and put it back into the envelope before replacing it in her saddlebag.

Damnable conundrum of a colt, Diamond thought as she let the letter sink in. Somehow she didn’t feel as empty inside after reading it. Even if she still resented her parents for leading her into this she couldn’t bring herself to despise McIntosh, she just couldn’t. For whatever reason, she knew there was more to that big red riddle with a tail in the middle than she knew.

He raped you, a raspy strangled voice hissed from somewhere above her, at your father’s command, he raped you and soiled you.

As she finished replacing the envelope Diamond turned her head up to look to the source of the voice, the dark cloaked horned ego imp. The vile homunculus hung where she frequently chose to place it, swinging from a lynch line off one of the chestnut’s more suitable branches. The caricature of herself leered at her with bloodshot eyes bulged from strangulation as its head hung at an odd angle from its broken neck.

I chose to let him cover me. I know if my father had offered me untouched and laid in silk to him on a silver platter he wouldn’t have touched me without my consent.

And look where it’s gotten you. The demonic corpse rasped, its tongue hanging dryly from the side of its mouth.

Shut up! Diamond glared back, I’m in this mess now because I chose to listen to you, and run from my problems, instead of running to those who could help me.

Like that unicorn, Point Margin, in Manehatten, who offered to help you cover your tracks and exploit the system of the financial firm you were apprenticed to?

Diamond’s mind flinched; she could still taste the bitter memory on her tongue. Point Margin had been bucking for her cherry, he’d settled for her tongue. She remembered crouching on the floor behind his desk after hours taking his raw unwashed length in her mouth. Then there was the lingering cloying taste as he finished inside and made her swallow his spend before he’d allow her to remove her lips from his rod.

I left myself open to be exploited by trying to exploit others, and nearly paid with my innocence.

Innocence? The desiccated apparition chortled as it swayed in its noose before ending in a dry choking cackle.

Shut Up! And leave me alone. Diamond snapped back in her head.

I can’t do that; the vile thing croaked back, I’m inside you, part of you, the true you.

You’re not, Diamond focused her thoughts on the imp, and just because you’re inside me doesn’t mean I have to listen to you. She mentally tightened the rope, strangling any further response from the image of her dark past.

Giving a stretch, more catlike than pony, Diamond ended her respite and got to her hooves. Casting a glance at the sun the young pink mare determined it was time to be moving along and see if Mrs. Bridlely needed help with preparing dinner over at the hotel. The girls would be getting back from school soon, and might need help with their homework as well.

* * * * *

Celestia’s sun sank low in the west as the mighty alicorn once more laid her charge to rest for the night. The glittering polished brass and bronze hues that bathed the world gave a vision of truth to the sign that hung from the post out front of the hollowed out tree: The Golden Oaks Library.

Princess Twilight Sparkle smiled quietly to herself as she watched the sleeping form in front of her. The green and purple wyrmling she knew as Spike lay sprawled across a pile of gold bits, jewels, and other personal treasures donated by friends to the cause. Gone was the little baby bed he’d once used, a renovated blacksmith’s forge took its place, where the hot growing drake now dozed atop his amassed horde. Streamers of dark smoke trailed from the more pronounced snout as he snored softly, at least in comparison to other dragon snores she’d heard in years past.

Taking a warm breath of the heavy hot air in the furnace room of the library she once called home, the young alicorn leaned in as near as she wished and whispered tenderly, “Sleep well my number one assistant.”

As if in acknowledgment Spike murmured in his sleep and rolled back over onto his belly wrapping his now lengthy tail around himself, his back facing Twilight.

Taking her leave, Twilight smiled as she mounted the stairs and ascended to the upper levels of the library. Even asleep for over three months Spike was still Spike it seemed, even if he’d nearly doubled in mass and added more than a quarter to his overall length.

Closing the lower and upper doors to the furnace room behind her with a thought the alicorn princess made her way back to the more livable summer heat of the main library above. Not much had changed in the seven plus years since she’d first moved here as she proceeded to the living loft above the main collection rooms.

Passing by the small kitchenette and breakfast nook, Twilight made her way to her former private reading room. She paused a moment as she passed the steps to her old bedroom, placing a hoof on the rail leading up to where her diplomatic protégé now lived. As she removed her hoof she found no trace of dust left behind: Silver Spoon was as fastidious about cleaning as she was about studying.

Entering her former private study with its broad balcony outside, Twilight spotted Silver rubbing her eyes, her blue rimmed glasses resting on the desk atop an open book.

“Silver, have you spent your entire day off studying again?”

Twilight had given the young nearly mare-grown filly the day off to relax before they headed up to the Crystal Empire, at the request of Cadence and Shiny for a conference of the arctic nations before attending the annual Crystal Fair just over a week later.

“Lämpimiä terveisiä, prinsessa, ja ei, en ole.” The silver-gray earth pony blurted as she hopped up from her sitting cushion, bowing as she did.

“Come again?” Twilight’s brow furrowed at the unfamiliar words before offering a forgiving smile to the younger pony as she approached, “and you can drop the formality, I think, were not on official time here.”

“I’m sorry, Twilight, ninety-nine,” Silver’s ears drooped slightly with shame for her error as she straightened herself and retrieved her glasses. “What I said was ‘Warm greetings, Princess, and no, I have not.’ ”

“Didn’t sound like that to me.”

“It was in Renavala, the language of the Reindeer, they’re one of the delegate groups attending the arctic conference.”

“And since when do you speak Reindeer?”

“Since I finished ‘The Foals Guide to the Basics of Renavala’ at about three this morning, I don’t know if I have the enunciation correct, I haven’t had a chance to practice with a fluent speaker.”

Twilight’s face blanked and her jaw dropped at Silver’s explanation.

Give her a day off and what does she do, study all night and teach herself a foreign language. Twilight backed up her thoughts in her head, then smiled inwardly. Of course what would I have done when I was her age, trying to impress Princess Celestia? Stay up all night studying all I could about things.

If for whatever reason Twilight decided, if Silver Spoon didn’t want to continue as diplomat, Twilight would readily recommend her as a private tutor for her niece. That is, if she wasn’t tempted to somehow try to grow a horn on the earth pony’s head first, and teach her magic … though Zebras did magic despite not having horns.

“So,” Twilight let warm encouragement seep into her voice in imitation of Princess Celestia, as she placed a caring wing over Silver’s withers and peered over the tomes spread out on the reading desk. “What are you working on now, advanced Reindeer grammar … ?”

The alicorn princess left her question hanging as she realized what her young apprentice had just been reviewing.

“No, actually I was looking over Diamond’s contract trying to figure out why she ran away from it, actually.”

“Based on what you told me happened outside the spa, I thought it was obvious.”

“It is really. What I can’t figure out is the changes made to the contract a month before the reception.”

Twilight canted her head quizzically as Silver pulled a copy of the contract from under one of several the treaties on Equestrian Marital and Breeding Law.

“Mac made these changes I was told,” Silver continued as she began pointing to the amended clauses in the contract, “he doubled the required number of foals, okay, It’s not unheard of if the match is expected to dissolve immediately afterward. But what I found strange was he dropped the maintenance by half, while choosing to keep custody of the foals until their majority. Most stallions increase the maintenance if they are expected to raise the foals without the dam. Why would he do the opposite? It makes no logical sense, Twilight.”

“I’m a princess Silver, not a psychologist, and I was an introverted unicorn before that. Heck, I didn’t even realize my brother and my foal-sitter were seeing each other until after I got the wedding invitation. What I can tell you is …”

Twilight turned to peer over her shoulder, only to catch a glimpse of a poofy raspberry-pink tail bounding along past the balcony. She knew she had to tell Silver something, but had to tread carefully in doing so. She had sworn a pinkie promise that day in the orchard, all of them had, not to mention what had transpired.

“Big Mac may seem quite unassuming, but he is the most perplexing pony I’ve ever met, other than Pinkie Pie. He’s an enigma wrapped in a question around a riddle with an apple seed in the middle. All I know Silver, is that there is more to him than meets the eye.”