Strategy
Diamond slowly continued to circle the confines of her room, only to stop once every few minutes to glare out the window. Squinting past the blinds, Diamond greeted the sun with wincing eyes and a quiet hiss. Daylight. Bleh. Quietly, the tiny filly twisted the cord attached to the blinds and let the cool touch of darkness flood her room once again. Ever since joining princess Luna's Children of the Night, she found herself slowly becoming more and more sensitive to light. As if the sun lapped up her strength like a thirsty dog leaving her fatigued whenever she was in contact with it long enough. She appreciated the night for more reasons than that, but she enjoyed the idea of her somehow turning into a vampony, which made her giggle.
Since she'd been little Diamond had always preferred an ebony sky opposed to a cerulean one, but as far as she knew, she was the only filly in town that did. In turn, it meant either she failed Luna's mission by avoiding the day, or she would have the venture out into the light to find ponies her own age. She shuddered quietly. Neither of the options seemed appealing in the slightest. Ugh friends, why did it have to be making friends?! Oh, what she wouldn't give for a monster to threaten the town. That would be easy; punch it until it stopped moving! Missions complete. But this...
Diamond glanced at the tiny mirror sitting on her nightstand. Her fur was glittering and silver. Or it would be bright and gleaming like her namesake if she could keep from crash landing every time she took off. Instead, it was dirty and grayish bleeding into the dark black splotch that spread across her nose. Just at a glance you couldn't tell it was part of her coat coloration, but if you looked closer, you could see it: the discoloration wasn't natural. It spread over her hooves across her ears, over her muzzle, around her neck and along her wings.
Her shoulders slumped and for the umpteenth time today, Diamond bounced around ideas to hide her disfigurement. Maybe she could wear a mask or something? No, that wouldn't cover up her wings or hooves. Spray paint? What if it washed off, or if the fumes got to her? Not to mention the other kids would think she smelled funny. Wait, did paint have a scent? She frowned, she'd lost her sense of smell long ago, but common sense (what little she had) told her it probably would smell. She leaned in closer to the mirror, peering past a bright blue eye at the thick black splotch directly underneath it.
Hmmm? Make up maybe? Lots and lots of makeup? The filly groaned and squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head from side to side hard enough to make her ears flap.
"Arrgh, dis is stupid! You'se bein' stupid Diamond! I mean, dis ain't like you'se is fightin' no monstahs, right? Right! Dare just kids, jus' like you'se, right? Right! Dis is a cake walk. Ain't nopony gonna make fun o' you'se and if dey do so what? It ain't like DEY woyk for princess Luna, right? Right! You'se don't mess up on missions! You'se ALWAYS finish da job! Makin' friends is supah easy! You'se is supah dupah cool and everypony is totally gonna love you'se! Right?..." The little girl bit her lower lip peering into the mirror back at her wildly discolored face.
"RIGHT!" A voice bellowed out immediately behind her sending the little filly into a raving shriek that followed her spinning around with fur and mane heckled up like a wild animal. She huffed, drawing in a heavy lungful of air while a hoof rested over her chest trying to slow her racing heartbeat. She hadn't noticed him sneaking into the room with her. She'd been so transfixed on her own face she'd momentarily let her guard down. A sneak attack in her own home! Behind her, large brown hooves crept over her shoulders, and the wildly grinning smile of an older stallion slowly came into view in the mirror.
"Myyyyyyyyy little sister is the most lovable, adorable pony in Equestria, and everypony thinks she's totally awesome!" The older brother pony exclaimed, pulling his little sister into a warm hug, pressed against his broad barrel of a chest. Diamond immediately squirmed, while her cheeks tinted a bright shade of rose. She tugged, twisted and turned, but the loving crush of her brother's arms held her nice and tightly. She didn't have a chance really. He was a thick chestnut brown stallion, with a blonde mane hidden by a tri-corner hat from ages long gone by. Considerably larger than the filly, he had a disturbing talent of scooping her into his arms at a moments notice.
"Barrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrdigan! Leggo! I ain't lovable or adorable! I'm a rough n' tumble pony and a respected warriah of a night! Quit huggin' me before somepony sees! You'll wreck my reputation!" The filly squawked, but Bardigan's grip held true as he nuzzled his little sister's neck
"Did I hear my sister saying her daily affirmations? Let's say them together?! I'm awesome, I'm loved and I can do anything!" Bardigan announced happily, the 'squee' in his voice was squeaky enough to hurt her ears. Diamond gave a rough little sigh and rolled her eyes.
"How did I end up with the goofiest bruddah in da univoyse?! And me? I'm half a step away from apocalyptic levels of awesome at any given time! I'm lightnin' in a jar! Eoyfquake in a can! IM DA MIRACLE MARE!" Diamond exclaimed, throwing out her tiny chest with a bright convincing smile. The stallion nodded his head slowly and a sly, sharp grin made its way across his lips.
"Alright Miracle Mare, Err, I forget how'd you get that nickname again? " He asked with a puzzled frown. Diamond (who had finally peeled herself free of his grip) ran her hooves through her spikey little mane and gave a huff of irritation.
"As if you'se ain't heard dis story. My friends from Manehatten set me up wif dat name when I used to live dare. You know, when I won dat highest flying contest. When I met da Wondabolts, remember?" She gave a haughty snort. Bardigan made an exaggerated show of taking off his hat in shock.
"Really? You lived in Manehatten? Where they called you the Miracle Mare? You've met the Wonderbolts? You won a flying contest? You did alllllll of that? I wish I had that many interesting stories to tell! Whelp, since it's about noon, I should get some shut eye. I guess you're up so late working on some sort of top secret project for princess Luna, huh? It must be tough being a member of the Night Court. G'night Little Gem." The older pony explained, leaning in to peck his sister on the forehead, before bouncing out of the room on his hooves like Pinkie Pie.
With a quiet groan, Diamond let herself collapse on her bed, her face colliding with her pillows. Aside from the briefly amusing interlude of her brother dropping by her room, she was not one step closer to figuring out a good way to make friends. She caught herself idly wishing she were like Bardigan, it was easy for him to make friends. He could walk into a room and just start talking and instantly everypony in a fourty yard range loved him.
He just had such a way with words, and speech and he always had a story tell. She wished she had stories like he di... hey wait-a-minute...