Your New Friends
They didn’t get to Baltimare. It was Babs who noticed the guards walking towards the train in Hoofington. She woke Diamond Tiara up and before the guards reached their carriage, they left it and hid in the darkness.
The railway station in Hoofington was probably bigger than the town itself. After all, it was the place where tracks from Canterlot were splitting into two lines, one leading to Fillydelphia and the other to Baltimare. Thus, the small town on the eastern border of the Everfree Forest was a hub joining freight and passenger lines of the whole country. Babs, who spent her childhood in Manehattan, found it easy to hide in a maze of side tracks, carriages, and platforms, especially since it started to snow again.
Diamond Tiara, on the other hoof, was trembling – unlike Babs, she had no clothes. She was also off her meds and she couldn’t get rid of the memory of Cherry Berry from her mind. Her vision was fuzzy – all she could see was the distant lights of the city and Babs, walking through the snow, uttering curses under her breath.
Diamond Tiara stopped, panting heavily. Just a few minutes ago, pleasant warmth inside of the carriage almost helped her forget about everything and fall asleep, but now she was fully awake. The guards were nowhere to be found, but she know that they were after her. Maybe I should turn myself in? she thought.
“C’mon!” Babs shouted. “We need to hide somewhere!”
Diamond Tiara ran forward, focusing only on Babs. At least she didn’t have to walk through the deep snow, but rather the path made by Babs. When Diamond Tiara realised it, she stopped again. “Babs! We’re leaving hoofprints!”
“I know, okay?” Babs muttered. “We need to find some place where there’s more ponies. Our hoofprints will mix with theirs...”
They resumed walking through the snow, tripping from time to time. It was getting colder; first snowflakes were falling from the sky. Diamond Tiara thought that they were going to cover their hoofprints and started to wonder if the guards had already noticed them. Maybe they had dogs? Then even the snow wouldn’t help them.
“I have a feelin’ that we’re gonna feel like at home here...” Babs muttered, stopping.
Diamond Tiara raised her head and stared at some old, abandoned building, made of yellow bricks. There was no door and all the windows were broken. There were some holes in the roof made of tar paper, but it didn’t seem like it was going to collapse soon. Diamond Tiara opened her mouth to say something, but couldn’t think of right words to describe it.
“What?” Babs asked. “We had a similar warehouse in Manehattan...”
Diamond Tiara followed Babs inside. The interior of the building was littered with rubbish and smelled of urine, but at least it provided a cover against wind and snow. A couple of large, fat cats looked at them with disdain as they trotted to some cleaner spot on the floor and sat there. Babs looked around – among the rubbish there were some charred pieces of wood she could gather to make a bonfire. Diamond Tiara was still shivering, but Babs was worried – what if somepony would see the fire? She went to Diamond Tiara and gave her her jacket.
“Thanks,” Diamond muttered. “But what about you?”
“Meh, I’m used to cold,” Babs replied. “Ya wouldn’t believe how cold nights are in the desert... Are you okay?”
“No.” Diamond Tiara closed her eyes and lowered her head. “I... I killed again... And now we have to run away...”
“Don’t worry...” Babs said, wrapping her hooves around Diamond. Her stomach grumbled, but she knew that it had to wait till tomorrow. Another thing was worrying her. “And how’s your head? The medicines...”
“I can manage...” Diamond Tiara replied. “But I don’t know how long...” She shuddered, hugging Babs. Soon, she was asleep, breathing calmly.
Babs knew that she wasn’t going to do the same. She had plans to make. She had to watch out for the guards.
And, what was even more important, she had to watch out for Diamond Tiara.
“So, Ms. Bon Bon...” Front Kick looked deeply into Bon Bon’s eyes. “You’re saying that somepony dumped that body into your basement, right?”
“Y-yes,” Bon Bon replied blankly. She was sitting at the table in her kitchen, still shaking despite a cup of tea she had. In the living room, Chocolate Donut was talking with Lyra, while in the basement, Dr. Tulp, who had been woken up only fifteen minutes ago, was examining the body, accompanied by Scootaloo and Archer.
“And that they saw you and beat you?”
“Yes,” Bon Bon muttered, avoiding his gaze.
“Did you know them?”
“Yes. Babs Seed and Diamond Tiara,” Bon Bon said. “They killed Cherry Berry.”
Somepony knocked on the kitchen door. Front Kick sighed and went to open it.
“Excuse me,” Archer said, walking into the kitchen, not even bothering to ask Front Kick for permission. “Dr. Tulp said that–”
“Maybe we’ll talk in the hall?” Front Kick said dryly, looking at Bon Bon. Technically she wasn’t a suspect, but he didn’t want Archer to spill something about the details of the investigation in her presence.
“So,” Archer said when they went out of the kitchen. “Dr. Tulp says that it’s a big load of horseapples...” She looked at Front Kick unsurely. “I mean, he didn’t exactly say that... Nevermind. Anyway, me and– Scootaloo and I checked out the street and there are, like lots of traces there. Mostly Cherry Berry’s, but also some leading from Diamond’s house. I checked that myself. Diamond Tiara went for a walk...”
“To the point, Archer...” Front Kick muttered.
“Okay...” Archer sighed. “Diamond Tiara was walking here and met Cherry Berry. The snow not far away from here is trampled, but then it looks like somepony dragged something heavy to this basement.”
“So, Diamond Tiara dragged Cherry Berry here?” Front Kick asked.
“Nope!” Archer exclaimed, grinning. “The hoofprints show that it was Cherry Berry who dragged Diamond Tiara here. Also, Dr. Tulp says that Cherry Berry crushed her hoof while beating somepony.”
“Diamond Tiara was attacked?” Front Kick asked.
“Yep. Scootaloo said that Cherry Berry was fu– I mean, she wasn’t happy that Diamond came back here. Then Seed came here... Her trace led us from Sweet Apple Acres, y’know... Scootaloo was suspecting that she murdered that rich scoundrel in Canterlot and confronted her about it...”
Front Kick raised his eyebrows. “What now? Or no, you’ll explain it to me later. Tell Scootaloo to stop helping Dr. Tulp. She’s Diamond Tiara’s friend so the lawyers may make problems with that...”
“Yes sir!” Archer saluted. “Fucking lawyers...” she muttered under her breath.
Front Kick shook his head. Then he remembered that ten years ago, when Diamond Tiara first started to kill ponies, he was quite similar. He sighed and went back to the kitchen. “Ms. Bon Bon,” he said. “Would you like to rethink your statement?”
“Heartstrings knows nothing,” Chocolate Donut said. They were back at the station. Archer and Scootaloo were with them, together with Apple Bloom, who was sitting on the chair, her face pale, and silent Filthy Rich, accompanied by Silverspeed. “When she woke up it was already over.”
“Bon Bon said a few very interesting things about Ms. Cherry Berry...” Front Kick muttered, sighing.
“Ah don’t understand one thing...” Apple Bloom said. “If it was self-defence, then where are they now?”
“We informed guards in Hoofington to look for them on a train,” Front Kick said.
“A train?” Apple Bloom asked. “Why would they run away?”
“Because Babs went nuts and killed that guy in Canterlot, that’s why,” Scootaloo said bitterly. “And now she’s dragging Diamond Tiara with her.”
“What?” Apple Bloom asked. “Why?”
“We don’t know yet,” Front Kick said. “The guards from Canterlot are looking for anything connecting her to him. But from what I’ve heard, they found the gun in the bat ponies’ district.”
“Ah’m gonna kill her...” Apple Bloom muttered. “She said that she changed...”
“What’ll happen to Diamond?” Filthy Rich asked, his voice hollow. “D-did she...”
“Again, we don’t know yet,” Front Kick replied. “Dr. Tulp has to make an autopsy, the hospital laboratory has to check the blood samples... But it seems that Cherry Berry was killed with a knife, similar to one Babs Seed owns.”
“And that’s the only reason why you’re here,” Chocolate Donut said to Scootaloo. “You can’t help us with the investigation officially, but, after all, you and Archer figured out Babs before the guards from Canterlot did. You know her best... What do you think she’ll do?”
“She’ll try to get to some big town and disappear,” Scootaloo said. “She won’t ask anypony for help – she doesn’t trust anyone. If Diamond Tiara gets in her way, she’ll stab her and dump a body in some ditch...”
Silverspeed cleared her throat. “But what if Diamond snaps?” she asked. “You talk about her as if she was innocent, but remember that it’s mostly because of her meds. Does she even have them?”
“No,” Filthy Rich said. “She left them at home...”
“If Diamond snaps, we’ll find them even faster...” Front Kick shook his head. “They need food, shelter... Even if they get to Baltimare, I doubt any of them have friends there or knows the town...”
It was an early morning. Citizens of Hoofington were still sleeping after the Hearth’s Warming Eve. Babs looked behind the corner and, finding that nopony was there, she trotted through the street. “Stay there,” she muttered to Diamond Tiara. “I’ll be right back...”
She looked at a sign above the door of the building in front of her. “Daktari’s Potions and Remedies”. She started to wonder if, apart from zebra medicines, they had something more conventional.
Diamond Tiara sat in the nook and rubbed her temples. She sneezed – even though Babs had warmed her with her own body, she caught cold.
“Bless you,” Silver Spoon said. She had a blue scarf around her neck and Diamond Tiara smirked, seeing that her friend was better prepared for winter than she was. Curtain Call was with her, dressed in a red coat that was clashing with her orange mane. She watched Babs as she was checking out the shops.
“I don’t like it,” Curtain Call said. “I don’t like Seed. She has a knife and she killed that bitch.”
“She saved us,” Silver Spoon observed. “If it wasn’t for her, Cherry Berry would kill us and Bon Bon would make candies of us.”
“Bon Bon doesn’t make candies of foals,” Diamond Tiara said. “She only looks like that.”
“We wanted to kill Cherry Berry ourselves,” Curtain Call whined. “And then we’d feed that other bitch’s liver to her. And Seed let her live.” She spat on the snow. “We should kill her before she kills us...”
“Not so fast,” Silver Spoon said. “She saved us! We can’t kill her like that... We should vote, or something...”
“Did I tell you why I don’t like democracy?” Curtain Call asked. “Okay, I didn’t, since we haven’t had an occasion to talk... But anyway, before we decide, we’ll wake up with Seed’s knife between our ribs.”
“Shut up, both of you!” Diamond Tiara shouted. “We’re not voting anything. I’m not gonna kill her.”
“Why not?” Curtain Call asked.
“Exactly!” Silver Spoon added. “Who gave you the right to be in charge here?”
Diamond Tiara sighed and rolled her eyes. “That’s because it’s my body and you two are just... just...”
“What?” Curtain Call asked, leaning closer to Diamond Tiara. “What we are?”
“You’re just...” Diamond Tiara tried to remember what she wanted to say, but for some reason her mind didn’t want to work the way she wanted it to.
“See?” Silver Spoon asked. “We’re in charge of your body in the same way as you are. So stop telling us what to do!”
“I think it’s time for me to rule for a while,” Curtain Call said to Diamond Tiara. “Though I must admit you’ll be useful... We’ll kill Seed... eventually. Now she sees it coming.”
“I watched her when you slept,” Silver Spoon said. “She was watching us with her hoof on a knife. We need to make her think we’re not with you. Then we’ll kill her.”
“She’s useful for now,” Curtain Call observed, watching if Babs wasn’t coming back. “She knows where to find food and how to avoid guards... But once she outlives her usefulness...” She made a gesture as if she was cutting her own throat.
“And then we’ll finish off Scootaloo...” Silver Spoon laughed.
“Diamond?”
Diamond Tiara looked around nervously, before her eyes rested on Babs. She was carrying a red coat, very similar to the one Curtain Call was wearing, and some canned hay, bread, and cheese.
“The pharmacy here doesn’t have your meds,” Babs said. “I broke into a grocery. And I think this may be good for ya...” She gave Diamond the coat. “Will ya manage to not kill me for a few more days?”
“Yeah...” Diamond Tiara muttered. “I think so...”
Behind Babs’ back, Curtain Call smiled maliciously.
At some point I automatically added "my precious" to Curtain Call's dialogue... 
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....... yeaaah story rubs me every wrong way and just seems off. they would ahve found them already.
5070296
Well, that'd be slightly anticlimactic... And it's not easy to see anything during the blizzard, not to mention finding someone...
I can't say that I don't completely disagree with Curtain Call and Silver Spoon's plan.
Hear me out, hear me out. Throughout this entire story Babs has been the one causing the most trouble. Diamond on the other hoof, is just a sad, scared young mare who wants to be left alone.
Let's face facts here for a second, if this story and Manehatten Blues are any indication, Babs' bodycount is higher than Diamond's ever was.
Whereas Diamond has stopped murdering (I'm calling self-defense for Cherry Berry.), Babs hasn't. Her mindset always seems to be "look out for number one". Survival at all costs.
And Scoots is right, the moment Babs starts seeing Diamond as a liability... Who knows what could happen?
5070960
Yeah, if I recally correctly, Diamond killed 7 ponies. Babs' bodycount is currently 8 or 9, depending if we count Carnation.
And yeah, Curtain Call is getting smarter. Maybe she learns from Babs? Also, trivia: Curtain Call appeared in person only once, in Sleepless. The rest of her appearances are DT's hallucinations...
Lest I missed it, Diamond wasn't very surprised when she heard that Babs killed Cherry Berry, not herself (Diamond.) All of a sudden we go from Diamond thinking she killed Cherry to her (or, Curtain Call and Silver Spoon) knowing it was Babs, with no reaction from Diamond.
Or maybe Diamond overlooked that point. I dunno.
I still really like Curtain Call as a character, though
5080883
I guess she was more concerned with the fact that her hallucinations are getting more real. Though indeed, her reaction is rather calm...
Well I've caught up finally. And holy shit on a shingle. Diamonds condition, the guards. And it looks like besides the eventuality of her snapping, that the law is aware of the self defense and seems mostly after Babs.
I was wondering if the self defense thing would be found out or if it'd be a tragic misunderstanding. In any case, dayum. I really have few (good) words for how...impressive their situation is.
Looking forward to the next chapters!
Jeesus Ghost Silver! where the fuck did that come from
WHERE THE BUCK IS THIS COMING FROM GHOST SILVER SPOON?!
you use to be nice......