Addendum
"So, uh, Diamond. So... What'd ya do to... ya know... the original?" Apple Bloom scuffled along with the other Crusaders and Diamond Tiara into the clubhouse. Apple Bloom looked down nervously, as if she said something wrong. Diamond raised a brow confusedly.
"What? What does that mean?" What was she talking about? The original? Apple Bloom bit her lip, unwilling to elaborate.
"Well, we were just wondering... When did you come along? Was it before or after her cute-ceañera?" Scootaloo followed up, giving a fake grin. Diamond blinked. Who's cute-ceañera? When she came along? The confusion must have been apparent on her face, as Sweetie Belle gave an exasperated sigh, stomping her hoof.
"When'd you come to Ponyville and kill the pony Diamond Tiara, and how'd you do it?!" Everypony stepped back, surprised from the outburst. Diamond shook her head, missing Scootaloo knock Sweetie Belle across the head.
"What do you mean I..." Her eyes widened. Did they mean...? "You girls think I came to Ponyville and k- ki- replaced a filly to get love?" That was horrible! She couldn't imagine physically hurting someone, let alone... and a filly!
"Well, I thought... Rainbow Dash said... That's what changelings do, right?" Scootaloo asked apologetically.
Diamond rubbed her head, sighing. Of course that's what they thought of changelings. Perhaps they were right. She wouldn't know now, would she? She hadn't even known what she was before the Canterlot Invasion.
"I... Well..." She looked up, the Crusaders looking to her nervously. "I guess, yea, that's what changelings do..." She sighed, looking down. They had accepted her, but maybe the scars the changelings had sown in the ponies through the Royal Wedding was too much to ever forgive.
"But it's not what you do, is it?" A white hoof lifted her chin, and she saw Sweetie Belle smiling. The others nodded, stepping forward in-line with Sweetie. They... understood? Did they?
"So, you don't think I replaced some filly and took her identity?" she asked hopefully. Apple Bloom chuckled lightly, patting her.
"Now that's just plain silly. How could a pony... uh..." she paused, looking thoughtful, but in seconds donned a confident look. "How could a pony replace themselves? That's just crazy talk!" Apple Bloom chuckled again, and Diamond couldn't help but laugh along.
"Yea, I don't know bout' you, but you're the only pony I know named Diamond Tiara!" Scootaloo joined in on the laughter, and Sweetie Belle followed.
"And I wouldn't have any other!"
It hit her.
A pony. Just like them. She wasn't a changeling, an outsider, an imposter.
She was just another pony.
"You... You girls..." She could feel the tears building in her eyes again, and pulled them in a bearhug. She could live like this forever.
"Wow... Pinkie's got... competition!" Apple Bloom gasped out. Diamond quickly let go, blushing. This was friendship, in the purest form known by ponies. This was... bliss.
"I think... I think I want to tell you. How I got here." The others composed themselves, and sat down, prompting her to do the same.
"We're all ears!" Scootaloo said.
"Y'all dun' hafta say nothin' 'bout anythin' ya dun' wanna!" Apple Bloom added, anticipation written across her face.
"Well, the first thing I ever remember was waking up, down near the Everfree. I was just a foal at that time, and there weren't any changelings around."
"You mean you were abandoned?" Sweetie gasped.
"I... guess. I don't know. But there were ponies coming. I heard them talking, but I didn't understand Equestrian then. When I finally figured out where they were, they had already spotted me. Too late to run. So I started panicking, and... Well, I'm not sure, but I think my magic just... did it's thing. The next thing I knew, I looked like Diamond Tiara. Well, a Diamond Tiara foal. The ponies... There were two. They liked me. I guess I chose a good look. Kind of looked like the mare of the two."
"How'd you know they liked you?" Scootaloo asked, raising a brow.
"It was my first taste of love. The moment I felt it, I just... knew... that love was a good thing."
A chorus of 'aww' made Diamond blush.
"They adopted me."
...
"Oh," Apple Bloom managed to mutter.
"So they raised me. They gave me love and pampered me. It was all good, up until I got my cutie mark." She sighed, glaring at her flank.
"How did you get your mark? Did it appear like ours?"
"No, I just asked about cutie marks one day, and got curious. Ponies told me you couldn't force a mark to appear, but I thought I could, since I seemed to be able to change other parts of me. So I got together with Silver Spoon and asked if she thought we could do it. I made mine the tiara I always wore, and she made hers her favorite spoon her parents owned. But-"
"Yer kiddin', right? Silver Spoon's a changeling." Apple Bloom's flat look returned. Diamond blinked, realizing Silver Spoon would have wanted to keep her secret.
Oops.
"Yea, that’s not a problem, is it?” The Crusaders gave each other suspicious glances. Why would it be a problem? The three had accepted her, and she had bullied them much more than Silver Spoon ever had. There was no reason they would stay friends with her and not…
They weren’t Silver Spoon’s friends.
Even if was only for a short period, Diamond Tiara was friends with the Crusaders. They said they forgave her because of friendship. And they weren’t friends with Silver Spoon. What if they tattled on Silver Spoon to Twilight? She might have just costed Silver Spoon her... Her life! She’d lose her best friend… the one she’d known the longest, and it would be all her fault. They couldn’t take her. They-
“You okay, there, Diamond? Concern rolled off Apple Bloom in waves. She could feel it, and it calmed her. Surely, she could trust these ponies... Her friends, to keep the secret, right?
“You… won’t tell Twilight about Silver Spoon, right? Even if… she’s not your friend?”
“Hey, you know what they say! A friend of our friend is a friend of our enemies! Wait… was it…” Sweetie Belle rubbed her chin, grunting.
“No.” Scootaloo smacked her, before smiling to Diamond. “Don’t worry, Diamond. You trust her, we trust you, s’all good.” Apple Bloom nodded in agreement.
“As long as she ain’t hurtin’ nopony, there ain’t a reason we’ve got to put her through anything!” Diamond let out a breath of relief and smiled at the Crusaders.
“Don’t worry, she hasn’t hurt anypony any more than I have.” The Crusaders nodded approvingly.
“Rarity always said, ‘No double standards, or may you burn in Tartarus!’” Sweetie smiled widely, and everyone stepped back again. Scootaloo snickered.
“Rarity said that? Well, Tirek’s going to get a real nice suit soon.” Apple Bloom smacked them both.
“So you stuck with the cutie marks?”
“Right. We weren’t originally planning to, but after we changed that day, father walked in on us with the marks. He was absolutely delighted! I couldn’t change back after I felt his love for me then. Not to mention that ponies don’t just lose their marks. Unless there’s a giant centaur involved.” The Crusaders giggled at that, which made her smile.
“You would not believe how scared I was that Tirek would come and steal my magic. I heard Tirek didn’t otherwise hurt the ponies he drained, but I don’t think that would matter after I turned out to be a changeling, whether it was Tirek or the ponies that got me first.” The Crusaders stopped giggling at that.
“Mood whiplash, much?” That earned Sweetie another hit on the head.
“So anyway, that’s how we got our cutie marks. Turns out the love I got from them was a red herring. It all really went downhill from there. That was the first day I heard the term ‘blank flank’, and mother started telling me about how I was ahead of the game now, and I needed to stay in the lead, else I disappoint her. Uh, sorry about the name calling, by the way.” She felt ashamed of it, considering how hard they tried to help her when they saw the chance.
“It’s nothing- Okay, it wasn’t nothing, but it’s in the past now, right?” Scootaloo reassured.
“Of course! Anyway, they started telling me how I should act, what I should be doing, how I should present myself. It… started alienating everypony at school, and I wanted to stop. Not only because I stopped getting anything at school, but because Silver Spoon started following my lead. She always listens to what I say, and copies what I do.” Diamond sighed.
“At least, up until today. I’m sure she realized what I was doing was costing both of us food, but she stuck by me. I never understood why she would. But it was friendship, wasn’t it? She didn’t want to abandon me to having no one at school who liked me.” She smiled as she considered all that Silver Spoon had done for her.
“Aww, that’s so sweet!”
“Great friend I turned about to be.” She pretended not to hear Sweetie whisper ‘mood whiplash’ again.
“Before that, I’d always split the love I got with her. She always had trouble getting the love she needed. I used to help her out, but soon enough she was the one sharing with me. She still got something when she talked with others at school, and I was hardly getting anything, even from my parents. Just disappointment. But I couldn’t just leave them and take a new identity… They were still family, you know? Ugh, a cutie mark was supposed to show you just what you’re meant to do in life. But I didn’t have a real one, did I? It just confused my life to no end.”
“But yer back on track now, right?” There was a hopeful tone in Apple Bloom’s voice. Diamond quickly nodded.
“Yea. It only got worse from the invasion, though. I don’t think I’d ever been more scared my life. I was so shocked when I saw something that looked like I did in the news. I thought that maybe, I could find my true parents, or at least understand what I was. But then I actually read the paper. You could hardly get through a line without it insulting the changelings. And they deserved it. What they did… it was atrocious! But… do you know how relieved I was when I heard they banished the changelings?” The Crusaders looked confused.
“Why were you relieved?”
“Are you kidding me? Every time something is deemed a major threat to pony society, it’s Twilight and friends who deal with them, and I live in the same town as her! Nightmare Moon made the moon freeze in the sky, and gets shot by a giant rainbow laser that turns her into a completely different mare. Twilight was just some unicorn, and Nightmare Moon was Celestia’s sister! Those Elements sent her to the moon a thousand years ago!
“Discord made the world go crazy and he got turned to stone. Him! To stone! His powers… he… he’s like a god! He makes alicorns look like foals! And all it took for Twilight to beat him was a speech and a giant rainbow and he was a piece of rock! I was there! Did you see how scared he looked when he was a statue? Did you hear him scream when he realized he, Mr. Oh-look-gravity’s-a-cookie-now, realized he was doomed?” She realized she was panting, so she stopped to take a breath. The Crusaders didn’t say anything.
“I thought he had it coming when I saw them beat him, but suddenly I could be on the receiving end of that! I read the report; they wanted to blast the queen, but they couldn’t reach the Elements. I was relieved because I thought that, maybe, if they realized they didn’t need the Elements to beat a changeling, they wouldn’t use them on me when they found me.
“But then, it was their first option. Banishment was a last resort. The papers said they banished them with an eleventh hour spell when they had nothing else. Well then, what if... they were in control? What if Twilight came back with a spell that could instantly find changelings, and... get revenge? They shot down her mentor, controlled her brother, imprisoned her soon-to-be step-sister! I was so scared when they came back… so, so scared. I… I thought… she would...” She was crying again. She shouldn’t be. She had friends now, who could keep her secret. And they were hugging her again, she realized.
“It’s okay, Diamond Tiara. She won’t ever find out. And even if she did, we’d stick up for ya!” Diamond returned the hug, smiling through the tears at Apple Bloom’s words. Truly, these were the best friends a pony could have.
“Hey, aren’t you starving?” Sweetie blurted out.
“What?”
“Well, you feed on love, right? But nopony in town’s liked you since the cute-ceañera, and your parents think you’re a disappointment. Not to mention you’re trying not to hurt anypony when you’re feeding.” Scootaloo gave Sweetie the stink-eye.
“Say, she’s right. Are ya getting enough… uh, food?” There was that concern again. She didn’t deserve it. They didn’t need to constantly worry about her and make her feel better.
“It’s fine, really,” She winced at how rough the lie felt. “I have you girls now, right?” She faked a smile. Apple Bloom didn’t look impressed.
“Yer lyin’. Ah can tell. Listen, Twilight’s not like that. We’re her friends’ sisters. She trusts us a lot, and when she sees our friendship is real, she’ll understand. Ah promise! She’s the princess of friendship! She can figure out some way to get ya more love if we just tell her!” Diamond gulped.
“Please… I just can’t! I know she’s a great pony, but I’m not willing to bet my life on that!”
“But she’s never killed nopony! Princess Luna’s back on the throne with Celestia… or… she’s sitting on the floor beside Celestia’s throne, apparently. Um… Discord’s back out of stone, and he’s now one of their friends! I think. Even that changeling queen didn’t get hurt by them! Unless they’re bad at surviving falls. Well, King Sombra was… not their fault, shut up. And… Tirek was locked in Tartarus! You’ve got nothing to worry about, Twilight’s got a great track record.”
“I swear you’re doing this on purpose!” Scootaloo shouted at Sweetie.
“I… I just…” It was true. The rational part of her brain was telling her she had nothing to worry about. But if they were wrong…
“You... promised me you wouldn’t tell,” she managed weakly. The Crusaders looked doubtfully at each other, considering the answer. She couldn’t risk it. She wouldn’t dare. They wouldn’t do it, right? They promised…
“Make that a Pinkie Promise, then.”
…
“I love you girls.”
“We love you too, Diamond.”
“I know… I know…”
"And we'll make sure everypony else at school sees why they should too."
"You and Silver Spoon."
"'Cause that's what friends do."
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Incomplete.
6517639 yeah
This story has potential for at least a few more chapters. I mean, Diamond Tiara apparently lied about having enough food. You could go somewhere with that. Maybe. Just a sugjestion.
Have DTs starvation be what gives her away to Twi. That would make it interesting. Twi investigates the parents, finds she eats plenty of food then does a medical scan. Finds changeling.
6517639 Thanks! I decided I would have an alternate ending here, so it'll stay incomplete for now.
6517684 I did think about it, but I realized I was losing inspiration for this story, so I felt things were better off finished here.
Not that I remembered to add that detail.
6517753 That's definitely an interesting idea. But I know I'm not the author for the job. I don't think I can effectively portray the happenings needed to make the scenario believable.
Thanks for the brilliant suggestion, though! As it is, I've implied that the CMC will try to get DT and SS popular at school, and possibly through the town (wouldn't be hard to get Pinkie on board without telling her), so they aren't starving.
6517873
I am sorry to hear that.
6517891 I have been writing stories for over 22 years. Mostly for Table top RP games though. Glad to know you liked the suggestion.
6517892 Inspiration comes and goes. It's not a good or bad thing. All that's left for me is to rework the alternate endings and wait for more inspiration for a new story, likely from a new episode, and hope for the best.
Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed the story!
6517909 That's an impressive amount of years! And I hoped you liked the story!
6517928 Indeed I have and thank you.
the Crusaders gave each other.
that's funny but what?
only errors Nice job, MAN TIARA IS A STREEIN OUT! someone give her chill pills STAT!
6520849 Ah, I was just finished rechecking for errors on the second chapter when you commented this! I got the Luna mistake, but I didn't even notice the They Crusaders! Thank you!
And FimFic sends me notifications for every comment, so you probably don't have to worry about authors not seeing their comments. (Then again, maybe those super popular stories with thousands of views might have too many for an author to read every one)
Anyway, I hoped you liked what you read otherwise!
6520934 I did your welcome
I can't believe you're ending the story here. Do you know how much potential this storyline is? Apart from the CMC struggling to keep Diamond's true identity a secret and explaining Silver Spoon's story, there's also the possibility of Diamond's secret getting out and her ending up being accepted (especially the Mane Six) and her confronting her fellow changlings with them trying to sway her to their side, not to mention explain where she really came from.
There are so many directions you can take this idea.
6523056 I do see the potential, and I know that, if done correctly, it could be something amazing. Unfortunately, that's the problem.
I won't be able to do it right. I'm very driven by inspiration, working in the heat of the moment. My strength is working in one-shots. I have many ideas I'd like to write to a story, but unless I'm really in that mood, where I can imagine every single line of the fic as I'm writing it, I won't be able to do it.
I was originally going to end this with the first chapter. The second chapter was already mostly written when I was in that inspirational mood, as it was originally part of the story. I just had to do a bit of restructuring to get it to work as an addendum. I'm not even sure I'll be able to effectively write the alternate ending I promised here, but I'm still getting a feel for my abilities, and I'm hoping that since I did think into that ending a lot when I was in that mood (and it's really short), I'll still be able to capture it.
Hey, just read my profile bio that's at the top of this page under my name.
Anyway, I do hope you liked this story as it is. And thank you for the suggestions, they're pretty good.
Perhaps one day I'll look back to this story and feel inspired for an expansion.
6523231
Well, if you feel your own writing skills wouldn't do the story justice, why don't you ask another writer to continue this story for you?
6523797 If another author really liked the idea, I'd be totally fine with them continuing it, but I don't see the need to actively seek an author to continue this.
6524232
This is nice, though I guess I'd like for the crusaders to have checked with experienced individuals first.
THIS MADE ME LAUGH SO HARD!!!
6514146 Well, that makes sense. Overall, I think it's a nice, healthy balance of humor and seriousness. Definitely worth reading.
Changeling or a flea, it's still not good.
6529823 Thank you!
6525519 Glad I could make you laugh! I'm sure she meant well
666 views.
I gues I arived at a good time, eh?
6559671 There's never a bad time.
Except for Twilight Time.
Woah, Diamond Tiara is a changeling!!!!!!!! That is amazing!
I was first confused if she's really one now, went through she's just pretending to test them, then saying the truth that she isn't one again, then back to she's pretending in a skilled way to really test them out.
But she really is one!!!! This idea is amazing! Both Diamond Tiara being one (that fits so well for her, all that stuff of not receiving love because of the way she acted) and the general idea of a pony being secretly a changeling who lost his memory.
Both amazing ideas! Are you sure this story is finished? Or will you add more chapters?
6563820 I don't think I'll be expanding it anytime soon, though I'm very glad you liked my story! Thank you for the favourite!
6563998
You're welcome! I just wonder because the story is still marked as "Incomplete".
6564086 Oh, right! I forgot about that.
I was originally going to do an alternate ending, but I didn't think it turned out too well, so I decided to scrap it.
6564323
That means there will be no follow-up or sequel to this?
6564332 Well, there's none I have planned, sorry. Though it's possible I might come back to it one day on a whim.
6564373
6609600 Well, my thoughts were more so that DT was scared of the CMC telling Twilight something that might give her away. Twilight has been in Ponyville for a long time since the invasion, so DT realized Twilight likely didn't know, else she would have acted already. She specifically fears Twilight discovering, but since she hadn't, DT eventually gained the courage to approach during Twilight Time, in fact trying to get on her good side. Perhaps she's not so scared of the pony Twilight Sparkle, but rather the Princess of Equestria who fought against the changelings for her country. It's like a criminal that's friends with a cop. No reason for e criminal to fear his friend until he found out.
And thank you so much for the comment! I'm glad you liked the writing so much.
It's an interesting story, but then what happened to Diamond Tiara the pony? Why is Silver Spoon a changeling as well?