Diamond in the Rough

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A Diamond Tiara in the Vogonverse

Diamond looked at their new home. Frederick had called a Taxi for them, and they had ridden in warmth and comfort to where they were going. When they got out what she saw looked like blocks stacked on top of each other. They walked to the front and Frederick had talked with the manager of the complex. He explained that they wanted to rent an apartment, paid the deposit, and they were taken up the stairs to the second to the top block. She remembered how blue it was on the outside. She could see windows, and from the outside she could tell there was carpet on the floor.

Now, they were standing inside of one of the bedrooms. She looked at Frederick and she blushed lightly. She’d learned about the modesty of this world, of those around her, and she had adjusted. What she had read online seemed to point to the idea that the only ones to see you naked were your parents when you were little, or your lover or lovers. She wasn’t sure what she felt exactly. She did know that she felt close to Frederick. She liked him, exceptionally well, but he wasn’t what she would want to call suitor material.

She had been raised with class. She looked toward him and noticed that he was blushing lightly as he looked around the room.

“How does this one work for you?” he asked.

She nodded, loving the feeling of the carpet against her hooves. It was shag carpeting, and it felt like it was padded under it. It wasn’t like the trailer. The floor didn’t feel cold.

“We need to get some furniture,” he said, “this place has the basics, but we do need to get a couple of beds, a table, and a few things.”

She nodded, and the two of them walked out into the cold. She saw him pulling his sweater closer to him, and the fact they needed to get more clothes was there. They started walking and she noticed a store not too unlike the automated grocery store they had shopped at before. She touched his shoulder and he looked at it. He’d seen them before, but never really been inside of one. It was an automated clothing store. He looked at the sign, ‘The Right Fit’ it said. Looking at his own clothes and then at Diamond’s he realized that they really only had the clothes on their back.

“On the way back, we’ll stop and get a few extra suits of clothes,” he said.

Agreeing she followed him to a store that was about the size of her father’s old store back in Ponyville. She looked up at the sign and saw the black letters against the yellow backdrop.

“Ikea?” she asked.

“They’ve got furniture, and they’re not that expensive. With any luck we should be able to get everything we need here,” he replied.

They stepped inside of the store and she felt the warm air rushing over them. There was no denying that it was cold outside. When they went back to the clothing store she was going to look for a coat. Something warm, thick, and if possible pretty. She looked up and her eyes widened. Barnyard Bargains had a little of everything inside of it. Her father often stocked a little of everything so everypony could get what they needed. This place looked like a pony could find everything they needed to move into a place and be fine.

“Welcome to Ikea!” a cheerful voice said.

She turned to see a blond human mare. She was dressed nicely, she was approachable, and she was being far too friendly with Frederick. She watched as the human mare batted her eyelashes at Frederick, giggled at a response, and something inside of her was demanding that she stop this mare from trying to take her stallion. That’s when she stopped herself. Somewhere inside she was laying claim to Frederick. She calmed down, followed them into the store, still watching the blond human mare, and still not trusting her.

“This is the college experience section. We have bedding, cabinets, and pretty much everything else here that should work on a budget,” she said.

“Thanks,” Frederick replied.

“Would you like some suggestions, or help choosing anything?” she asked.

“No, thank you, but I think that we’ll be okay on our own,” he said.

She nodded, watched him for a moment, and then turned to walk off.

“That’s right, keep going tail lifter,” Diamond growled the insult she had heard her father say once a long time ago.

She looked at the frame and mattresses that Frederick was looking at. They seemed simple, sturdy enough to hold somepony up, and to be honest, not that different from the beds in their former home. Those beds weren’t bad, but they weren’t something she was absolutely sold on either. She looked at the area, and then something caught her eye. She walked toward the area and saw the warm colors. Yellows, reds, and soft greens adorned the blankets, sheets, and other bedding she saw in the area. She touched a mattress, and her eyes widened.

It was soft, so much softer than she expected it to be. She ran her hand up and down the mattress, taking in the texture.

“You know, the best way to test a mattress out is to stretch out on it,” a deeper voice said.

She turned toward the owner and saw a human stallion. He was taller than Frederick, his dark hair cut short. In truth it almost matched his skin tone.

“You never know if it’s what you really want until you try it out,” he said.

She stepped back, letting her legs touch the side of the bed. She sat down on it, and it cushioned her flank perfectly. The stallion smiled at her and knelt down to eye level.

“Now tell me that you don’t just love that,” he said.

Frederick looked at the mattresses, and turned to ask Diamond something when he saw one of the store’s associates talking to her. He could read the man’s body language, the way he looked, and he didn’t like it. He walked toward the two, getting closer and smiled at Diamond.

“Diamond, you find something?” he asked.

She looked up at him, grinned, and then stood up to give him a hug. He was a little confused, but returned the hug to her. She felt soft, and warm, which was both nice. She let go and the sales associate looked a little put out. He put on a fake smile and showed them the various beds. Frederick looked back toward the college area. The simple beds, the simple mattresses, those were fine with him, but the look in Diamond Tiara’s eyes as she looked at a Queen Anne full sized bed. He knew that it being Ikea it wouldn’t be overly expensive, and he found himself looking again at the design.

There was a canopy that connected to the four posts of the bed. The frame looked solid, for the most part, and the mattress looked comfortable. He could get himself the cheaper college bed, but she really wanted this, and he wasn’t going to stop her from getting it.

“We’ll take it,” Frederick said.

The sales associate nodded, wrote it down, and handed them a slip. Frederick smiled as he noticed that they’d be able to take advantage of the free delivery today. That would be fine. They walked back down to the college area, and Diamond saw the bedding that Frederick was looking at. None of it looked as nice as what they had gotten for her. She started feeling guilty before he put a hand on hers.

“It’s fine. That’s going to be your bed for a good long while. It should be something that you’re comfortable on,” he said as he looked at the full sized and twin sized beds.

Finally he found something. It was a plain wooden box standing on four posts. The bed was known as a three quarters bed, and it looked a little smaller than Diamond’s bed. She looked at it, touched the mattress and realized that it was comfortable, a bit more firm than the mattress she had chosen for her bed, but still comfortable. The same blond human mare came over and Frederick told her he wanted that bed.

They looked around for a while longer before they found a small table with four chairs. Lastly they looked in the entertainment area, and Frederick picked out another flat screen, basic console, and a cheap tablet. they headed to the front and Diamond listened as the price finally came out to fifteen hundred credits. He pressed his thumb to the scanner, paid, and informed them that he wanted to take advantage of their free delivery. Once he gave them their address they walked out and headed back down toward the automated clothing store.

When they walked inside the warm are replaced the coldness from outside. Diamond could see two booths. They looked similar to the dressing rooms, although it appeared that they were something else. She walked up and looked at the one meant for the mares. It had a curtain around it, it seemed to be none transparent, and then she read the sign.

“The Right Fit clothing company wishes to provide the best fitting clothing for its customers. For that reason scanning stations have been placed in all The Right Fit automated stores. Step into the scanning booth, strip, and announce that you are ready to be scanned. It will scan you, provide your correct measurements, and those measurements will be added to your profile. Simply choose the style of clothes you want, and the vending machines will provide the correct sizes. It’s only the Right Fit if it’s from The Right Fit,” she read.

She saw Frederick step into his scanning booth and she did the same. She closed the curtain, stripped off, and placed her clothes on the shelf beside her.

“I’m ready to be scanned,” she said.

A moment later there was a bright white light in front of her, then it moved to her side, behind her, and then to her other side. A few moments later there was a loud ding.

She quickly dressed again and stepped outside with Frederick. They walked toward the vending machines. She noticed a set of black jeans, and a simple dark purple top. Her clothes had always been dresses. It had been fashion instead of function, and while she liked pretty things, what filly didn’t, she knew that she needed something that would easy to move and work while wearing. The jeans hit both notes. They had a beautiful design on them, and she selected them, the shirt, several pairs of painties, and a few bras. She then selected a few pairs of plainer looking jeans and shirts. When she finished she grinned at what she had purchased. Frederick was holding a slightly smaller bag, and she knew he most likely just bought the basics again. They left and before they headed home he stopped her. She turned and looked at a large grocery store.

“We’ll need food,” he said.

They went inside and she found this was what Frederick was splurging on. He was buying more than their normal foods. There was still cans of Spaghettios, packages of instant Ramen making it into their basket, but he was getting some cans of fruit and vegetables, he got a few cans of something called seafood medley, and she grinned as she read it. It seemed to be a mixture of cooked Shrimp and a few different kinds of Crab. Finally before the walked to the front he grabbed a package of doughnuts. They walked out and Diamond felt Frederick’s hand touch her own.

She wanted to grab it. She wanted to hold it, and she wanted let him know that she cared for him. She wasn’t sure how she wanted to express this to him. She had gotten so… upset at that human mare that talked to him. She didn’t like the fact that somepony else had their eyes on him. She gently touched his hand back and together they walked toward their apartment. They arrived when the delivery truck for Ikea did, and they walked up stairs leading the delivery men to their apartment.

After about fifteen minutes everything they had purchased was waiting on them.

Things began to return something toward normal. Time rolled on, and winter left them for spring. Frederick had found a job coding security measures for a few companies, and he was using what he made to pay rent. Diamond stayed working at the church, but she was told that she should consider trying to go to work for FEMA. They suggested that she would be good at it since she was so organized.

The seasons changed, again, and slowly something began bubbling inside of Diamond. She had more or less been able to deal with it on her own before, but now… Now she was finding herself without Silver Spoon, without a means to deal with this, and was sitting huddled inside of her bedroom. Her clothes too warm, everything too warm. She heard knocking on the door and looked toward it. Part of her could smell the wonderful scent on the other side of the door, and she was trying to fight the desire to rip the door open.

Author's Note

What’s This? An update for Diamond in the Rough? Yep it is… Also… I’m going to be adjusting it to mature. Why? Because things are about to get interesting.