> Diamond in your eye > by Shadow rift > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1: Diamond Girl > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The class bell rings as everyone in the room takes their seats, including you, with a fresh coffee in your hand acting as a hand warmer and something to wake you up. You’ve been peppering it for the past two periods now, and it doesn’t seem to be making you any more awake than you already were. Ironic that you’d still be sleepy in the same class that caused you to be so damn tired to begin with, considering how you pulled an all nighter just to get this assignment done and turned in on time. For a third period class, you were fine with it being English, but the part that really bugged you was the fact that your teacher had recently been giving you a lot of assignments and notes to do for the book you were reading in class. Most specifically, you were asked to write notes. Lots of them. So many you were surprised that no one in the class, let alone you, were going insane yet. As you sit down in your seat, placing your coffee down and trying as hard as possible to ignore the inflammation in your head as a sign of a now growing headache, you look over to the doorway and see everyone come inside, before noticing the purple haired girl make her way calmly into the classroom and gently making her way towards her seat next to you, with two textbooks in her hands and her purse hanging down from her left shoulder. Instantly, your tired feeling and headache, for the most part, disappears as you try to make yourself look slightly presentable and brush your hair into order with your hands into the same style it normally is. Almost exactly on time, the bell rings just as the purple haired girl takes her seat in the desk next to you, placing her purse down on the floor next to her and folding her hands together and setting them on her desktop after getting last night’s homework out, which consisted of three front to back pages of notes on the book you were reading in class. Taking after her, you reach deep into your own Jansport backpack and grab out your notes. Lacking the same smile, you decide to also follow by her example and place your own hands onto the desk in front of you while watching as your teacher and Vice Principal enters the room, Ms. Luna. As she enters the class while the bell is ringing, she quickly takes a sip of her coffee before setting her cup down on her desk and taking off her glasses, a tired expression upon her face as she also grabs her check board and papers for today’s lesson. “Okay class, settle down now…” She begins, making you realize that the class is a little more noisier than normal, “Please take out your notes on the book now. I'll be checking them off today.” She concludes as you see some others take out their notes from their backpacks and others cower in fear as they realize they only have a few of the pages assigned done or none of them at all. Checking them off one by one, she briefly looks through the pages of notes and sets them down before setting them back down on the person’s desk and writing a number down into her chart. Eventually, after some kids in the back of the class state that they don’t have the notes or did not complete them, she finally comes to you and the purpled haired girl, smiling down to the both of you as she shifts her attention away from her clipboard. “Good morning Rarity…” She says in a soft voice, as the purple haired girl smiles and repeats her phrase to her. “And Good Morning, Windy Ridge…” She says to you, to which you also repeat a, “Good morning Miss Luna”, to her. “I'm hoping that out of all my students here, you two would be the ones to bring your assignments with you on time?” She says with a sly smile. “I actually do. It's right here.” You answer your teacher, handing her the three pages of notes that you did the night before. “Very good…” Miss Luna says after looking through the papers and marking your grade down on her grading paper, looking to Rarity for her paper to grade. With no stress whatsoever, Rarity happily gives her own three stapled papers to the teacher, which she also looks through, grades, and gives back to Rarity with a “Nice job.” Which makes Rarity’s smile grow. It's nice to see her smile, you'd probably pay money to get to see her smile a little more. Eventually, your teacher finishes up grading the rest of the student’s papers and goes to the front of the classroom, looking at a few individuals with a stern expression. You hated whenever she did that. It meant something bad was coming. “Well, ladies and gentlemen…” She began, “I hope you realize that, even though this assignment was only about 35 points, it was going to be used for something very important, and you missed the opportunity to get a head start on it.” Oh god, you think to yourself. Of course there was more to this assignment than just ‘take notes and turn them in’. She’s planning a- “Today is the first day I am giving you the extra time to work on these notes. After all, they will be important if you wish to get a passing grade on your project.” Son of a bitch…! You think to yourself, trying your best to stop yourself from flailing arms around like an idiot in a fit of rage. If there was one thing you were definitely hoping not to get yet, was a project. Nobody was ever ready for a project in their entire life, and you sure as hell weren’t any different either. The only, ONLY reason you’d even think about trying to shoot for an A is to have some chance with Rarity. A way to impress her without being all about fashion like she was. If you couldn’t be like her, for the most part, than being intelligent was the next best thing. A couple students let out a sigh of disappointment as they heard what they were in for, making Miss Luna’s expression become even sharper. Great… you think to yourself. Now she’s ticked off… “Ehem… The benefit of this project is that you will be working with one other person in the class to do this project.” She says before going on and grabbing a different clipboard that was red in color and glasses, placing on her glasses and reading from it. “I have selected the ones you will be working with, however. And I believe that the easiest way to do said project is if you work with the person to the right of your desk.” She said, placing her glasses down and picking up a large stack of papers. Well, at least we’re not working with that idiot to the left of us again, your mind says as you shiver slightly remembering what happened the last time you both worked together. The kid next to you was a pretty beefy kid named Stone Cutter, a regular jock who did practically nothing for the assignment. All he wound up doing was sitting around, eating anything your Mom and Dad got you for the pantries, and complaining about how you never had anything really good, even after he’d clean out an entire shelf. He was definitely one dumb, freeloading, son of a bitch. Miracle his own parents didn’t kick him out yet. Turning your head to the right of you, you’re heart hits rock bottom and you’re expression changes swiftly from one of confidence to nothing. You realize you're going to be working with Rarity. Apparently, she notices as well, giving you a small smile with her eyes closed. Your mind goes a million miles a minute as it thinks of all these different questions. What are we gonna do? Is she gonna meet up with us at our home? Oh my God, She’ll be coming over to our home! OUR HOME! What does that mean!? Well, obviously it means get some stuff, but what else?! Holy Crap, We are Fu-! “Excuse me…? Bridge?” You finally hear after some time, shaking your head as you come back from running three hundred marathons in your head. “Uh… Yeah…?” Is your only response as your eyes focus in on Rarity, first appearing as a white skinned and purple haired blob before finally coming back into focus as she appears as her normal self. She smiles at you once again, before putting on a very seductive look. Stay down, thou wretched beast! “It appears as though you and I are going to be working together on this project…” She says, placing her fingers under her hands and placing her gaze on you. “Uh… Yeah…” you say again, mentally slapping your brain to think of more words, which come to you in the form of, “So, uh… did you get the rubric?” Another smile. “Yes, actually. It’s right here.” She says after some time, taking out a piece of paper with some type of writing on it. “Okay…” you say, a now very violent blush growing on your face as you prepare to ask your next question. “How do you wanna… you know… do this?” You ask, trying your hardest not to look like the biggest coward this side of Canterlot High, to which she just tilts her head. “I’m sorry… I don’t quite understand…” She begins, “Did you mean where we would meet after school today? For the project?” “Yeah!” You finally manage to say, a little too loudly. “I mean… Yes… That’s exactly what I meant…” “Well…” Rarity finally said, scooting a little closer to you, to the point where her foot was a mere few inches away from your own. “My parents are out of town for two weeks… If you’d like, we can meet there.” Rarity whispered, to which your heart came up from rock bottom and jumped straight into your throat. “Uh… Yeah. That works out for me… What time?” “At about 4:30, if that’s fine with you. Here…” she said, taking out a marker and your notes, quickly scribbling down something on that before handing it back to you. “That is my address and my phone number should you require it-” She begins, before finding herself cut off by the bell. “Oh… sorry, but i really must dash if i am to make it to my next class. I’ll see you later tonight…” She concluded, quickly grabbing up her things and places her hand on your own, dragging it across your’s, and finally going to her next class. … And there you sit at your desk. Numb as you could be, with the only true feeling you have right now being on your hand where Rarity dragged her own along. And then. Finally. A smile as you look down at the note packet. Clear as the sun in the sky, her phone number and address. You feel big, like you can jump over skyscrapers and destroy tanks. You feel like you just caught yourself that diamond girl of your dreams. … And, what are you going to do now? > Chapter 2: Home and Friends > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When you get through the door to your home, you immediately throw every bit of your school crap into some unforeseen part of your home. "Mom...?! Dad...?!" You scream out and hear nothing but the sound of your own voice. Shrugging your shoulders, you immediately head over to the refrigerator and take out a couple of your favorite sodas and chips, take a look at the time, which reads 2:30 in the afternoon, and let a smile grow on your face. As you start laughing, you place your goods on the coffee table in front of you, slamming down your smartphone onto the table and let the music begin blasting throughout the home while you start dancing around like an idiot. You don't care though. You're happy. Unbelievably happy. Tonight you're gonna get the opportunity to actually talk, meet, and get to know that purple haired girl. The girl you've like for so long, that you never had the nuts to go up and talk to, and you're gonna get to actually meet up with her. And at her house none the less! If there was ever such a thing as a victory lap, then you finally understood what it meant. Besides... It didn't really get bad until it got to the next song... You smile to yourself at the irony of your phone's next choice of music before getting ready to start your next stupid dance. Just as your about to startup dancing, you get the hell scarred out of you as a loud banging echoes through the house. "Hollies?! Oh grandpa, what poor taste you have!" Says an all too familiar voice behind your door. "We all have our own tastes, Rift... Besides..." You begin as you begin to open the door, wrapping your hand around the knob and slowly opening it. "I've got somewhere to be..." As you look through your door, you see the person who you've known a good majority of your life, Shadow Rift, smiling as he helps himself in and keeping his hands deep in his pockets. "Oh, you have somewhere to be?" Shadow asks as he points to you, his hand barely going above his waist line as he points at you. "Actually yeah... Speaking of which, You can hang out here with me for a little, but as soon as I get going, you gotta go too. I don't need my parents riding my ass about my friends thinking they can stay for as long as they want..." You say as you shove your phone back into the pocket, the last few notes slowly fading away inside your pocket and then finally ending. "Damn... I actually invited Astra over here with us. I figured we'd have a night on the town...?" Shadow said as he set himself down on the couch, a large THUMP sound being audible through the house as you continue packing your stuff. "Night on the town? Who's the grandpa now, huh?" You sarcastically reply before suddenly remembering what he had said. "Wait... You invited Astra, too?" "Yeah... He wasn't doing anything after school anyways and, like I said, I thought we'd have some fun tonight. Enjoy ourselves. I mean, come on! It's the beginning of the weekend! Friday night! After all..." Shadow says as he leans forward in his seat, "all the cool kids are doing something tonight..." He finishes, sounding like one of those cheesy 80s VHS PSA film actors for drugs. "Very funny... But like I said... I got somewhere to be." You say, finally shoving away a couple books and extra mechanical pencils into your backpack before setting it down near the door and plopping yourself on the right hand couch near the window. "Yeah... Speaking of which, where in God's name are you going that has more of your attention on than a night with your friends?" Shadow asks, slumping back into the couch and folding his arms together. "Look, if I told you, you'd say not to get my expectations so high..." You say as another audible thump on the door is heard, presumably your other friend. "Oh my god, you're going to a strip club..." Shadow says, trying his hardest not to laugh at his own stupid joke. "Strike one!" You say as you open the door and allow your friend, Astra, a blue haired and Australian accented guy you've known almost as long as Rift, enter the house. As he does, however, a clearly confused expression is on his face at what the 'Strike one' expression meant before looking at Rift, an unsurprised look on his face. "Do I even want to know what's going on right now, Windy?" He asks in an equally unimpressed tone before Shadow finally answers his question. "Windy here is going to a Strip club tonight..." Shadow says with a sarcastic smile on his face, making you look back at him with a look that says more than words ever could. "No... I'm not. I just got done telling Rift here that we can't exactly... Go out tonight, like he had planned. I'm supposed to meet someone tonight." You say as you whip out your phone and check the time, now reading 3:00 in the afternoon. "Oh really? Well, if I may ask, who else are you planning on meeting tonight and for what purposes?" He says as he walks through the door and onto the couch, with you immediately closing the door and locking it. "That's what I got done telling Rift. If I told you guys, you wouldn't believe me..." You respond, placing your phone back into your pocket and planting yourself on to the couch. "Well... How are we to form a conclusion on whether or not you're telling the truth if you don't tell us anything?" Astra asks as he leans forward, Shadow rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "Look, let's stop beating around the bush here. Where the hell are you going Windy?" Shadow says bluntly, causing yet another sigh to escape your lips and an accompanying shake of your head. "Alright fine... You guys know that purple haired girl Rarity, right?" You say while holding your temple, looking up to see both of your friends nodding as an answer. "Well... Ms. Luna paired us up for a project and we were supposed to meet up tonight." "So?" Shadow asks, "You guys are gonna meet up, okay." "It's not like that... It's where we're going to meet and probably work. Her house." You finish while looking up at your friends, both of whom seem to be frozen in place from what you said. "You're crapping us, right?" Shadow says, the only response you give is the note in your pocket with her address on it, displaying it to your friends. "I don't think I need to tell you guys what this is..." You say as Shadow reaches out and grabs it, looking it over and nodding before saying, "Looks legit", and handing it over to Astra, who also confirms it with a nod. "I know where this address is, I walk by there every day on my way to school. Two story house, green lawn, it's extremely hard to not recognize the house. It's nothing spectacular, but it is extremely hard to not notice it..." Astra says as he passes the paper back to you, taking it and immediately folding it up and placing it deep into your pocket. "So... The girl you've had your eye on for a while now is your partner and your gonna meet up with her at her home..." Shadow began, crossing his arms and smiling at you, "What're you gonna do about it?" "I'm in agreement with Shadow, what is it your going to do?" Astra asks, making your hand immediately have contact with your temple. You had forgotten about that... The one thing everyone on earth should remember when it comes to situations like this is that you're best friends know everything about you. Especially if it involves a girl you like and has something to do with you both meeting together... "I'm just going to her house to work on the project we have for Miss Luna's class. That's it!" You say defensively, Shadow immediately chuckling and moving over to you, slapping his hand on your shoulder as he takes a seat next to you. "Don't get so defensive... Only teasing you, dude..." He says, shaking your shoulder a little roughly as he went on, "Besides, Astra and I both know you. And we know you well enough to know that you're not gonna do anything." "What's that supposed to mean...?" You asked as you brow furrows, you're gaze turning to Shadow as you see his freshly imprinted grin. "Oh nothing... Just that you'd be too scared to actually try anything." He says in a seemingly mocking tone. You begin to formulate a response, but immediately opt out of it seeing as how you barely have a proper retort to that, because for the most part, it's actually true. You all sit there in silence for a while until the alarm on your phone rings, immediately reminding you that you need to get going. "Crap, I'm gonna be late!" You shout, jumping up and out of your seat and racing towards your junk. "Jeez, slow down dude, you're gonna hit something going that fast." Shadow says, watching you race all around the place for your stuff, "No, tell you what I am gonna be, late!" You shout from across the house, grabbing an extra charger and your copy of your house's keys. "Well, in that case, we ought to leave then, Shadow." You hear Astra say as you throw the remaining items you need into your bag. "Oh yeah, you guys can stay here for a little but try not to break anything. My Xbox is in my room, stay offline cause I don't want to get kicked off again like last time, and uh..." You trail off, opening up the door with your fist tightly gripping the strap of your backpack, "Oh! No parties here! Alright I gotta go-" you say as you head out the door before you hear a "Wait!" Coming from your home. "What?" You asked as you head back inside, seeing Shadow waving the small slip of paper in the air. "Oh, the address. Thanks. Gotta go." You say, quickly swiping the slip of paper out of his hand and racing down the street like a madman to Rarity's home, all the while just hoping and praying you'll get there on time. > Chapter 3 beta > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's getting later... You think to yourself as you continue walking down the streets of town, past various bakeries and food places as the light inside of them grows ever so brighter and the sun and sky in the window's reflections growing various shades of red, orange, pink, and yellow to turn into a sherbet of varying levels. You never really did like this time of day. Not for the fact that the sky never looked beautiful but more or less for the feel. In the mornings, it was alright, and especially in the fall season. But this in the afternoon and during the winter time, and not only feels out of place, but also unnatural. You could never explain why, but you could... Feel why. You could feel why it felt weird, but explaining it to others would be a Herculean task that would probably just be in vain. Worst yet, it's starting to get cold, and though you're wearing two layers of clothing, you can still, for the most part, feel Jack Frost nipping away at your skin. He were real, you'd be beating the crap out of him. It should be impossible to be this cold under this many layers of clothing. Yet it's happening right now. Eventually, it gets far colder that you're surprised that ice has frozen over the stores. To be fair, some of them have heaters going, and you know because you pass by some and can feel the heat radiating off the windows and out the doors, giving you some relief, but hen there are other stores that you're sure would have at least a few Popsicles of ice hanging down their windowsills and ceilings. Case and point, the local bar should have at least three icicles hanging down from them. Yet it doesn't. What does it mean? It means you're losing your mind because of this cold or are so bored you're noticing something as stupid as this. The idea of turning back and heading for home is all too realistic and tempting to you now as you continue to drudge through this cold. Yet you decide to go on out of spite and because you know you may never have a chance like this again. If you make it through this, you'll be with the girl of your dreams, and if not, getting a chance to actually meet her AT HER HOME would be like opening a portal to your favorite show and being an active part of the universe and lore of its story. Zero to none. You're almost there... Just keep going Windy...! You think to yourself as you finally make it to the street she lives on, anxiously looking around for her home address as you take the slip of paper she gave you, looking down at the paper before looking up at the house in front of you about 8 times before finally finding her home, a large two story house that is mostly white in color, with a nice green lawn and little bird pool right in the center of it. It's clear to you that this house must've cost a fortune. And either by three factors; the cold, the thought of actually meeting Rarity at her home, or the house itself and it's large scale, you're numb. You're scared, nervous, and a little bit on the intimidated side, but you're also fucking cold. And if there's one thing that the cold where you live has taught you anything, it's that keeping warm is more important than any freaking fears. Checking the windows, you're glad to see that there seems to be a light emanating from within the house. Good... You think to yourself, growing a pair and finally going up to her door and knocking on it three times, but caught off guard when you hear giggles coming from within the house itself, accompanied by a few whispers. You weren't expecting her to have company... She never said anything about- "Hello?" You hear from behind the door as it cracks open a bit, barely enough for you to even distinguish who it is. But it doesn't need to. You already know that the voice who's speaking to you is far from Rarity. So far, it could land on the moon. It's far more rough than Rarity's, and lacks the British accent you've come to love about her. "I'm hear to see Rarity..." You begin, furrowing your brow and looking up at the sky, a dark blue now as clouds begin to cover half of the sky, "I was told she lived here." You hear a large "ooooooooo..." Come from within the house and a giggle from the raspy voice inside the house. "Who is it... And why did you come...?" The voice asks, seemingly holding back a giggle. "I'm Windy. Windy Ridge. I'm suppose to meet her here to get started on our project for Miss Luna's class." You say, crossing your arms and slowly beginning to lose your patience and body warmth. Another "ooooooooo..." Comes from the home as you say "I'm suppose to meet her here..." Along with another suppressed giggle from the voice from behind the door. Fed up, you're thinking about just heading back home when you suddenly remember that you're only way of getting home would be to call Shadow and Astra and have them drive you home. The only other option you'd have is to walk, and walking home now would probably turn you into a frozen husk. Going with Shadow would be even worse, because if he knew that he had to drive your sorry rear end back home and that you gave up your one opportunity to be with Rarity. So it's either brave through whoever it is behind the door, weather the cold, or get a guilt trip from your friend for the next 30 years. You finally come to agreement with yourself as you shake your head, thinking about your next course of action carefully before saying anything. Decided, you carry on. "Look, it's freezing cold out here and I need to get this project done. Please just let me in. The last thing I need is either a failing grade or my body found on the street frozen solid." You say with a hint of annoyance, hoping that this is even the right house and that whoever it is speaking to you right now feels bad enough for them to let you in. You don't get much of a response at first. For the most part, all you can hear are a few indistinguishable whispers coming from inside for an arbitrary amount of time. Eventually, the whispers cease, with the finally decision being the voice from behind the door say, "alright." And open the door. Oh this is gonna be fun...