Rude Awakening

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“Ugh…” I said as I dropped my bag next to my bed as I fell face first on it, sighing deeply into the comforting embrace of the blanket sitting upon it. It had been a rough night at work, with two food trucks plus the large GM truck…it didn’t help that they had thrown me from one side of the store to the other, and with all the chaos, I still hadn’t managed to get my schedule for the next week fixed.

Unfortunately, I had a few things to do, as my mom was more than willing to remind me of as she poked at my back with her finger. “Cain, you can’t lay down and die yet, you got chores to do.”

I tried to say something colorful and sarcastic, but all that came out was a series of mumbles as I got to experience exactly how bad my blanket was. My mother’s response was of course uncaring.

“Sorry, but until you have your own place, you can’t do the chores just when you want to. While you live here, you help out when I say so.” She replied, and I could hear the smile on her face as she added, “And if you don’t, I’m dropping your cat on your back.”

Despite how tired I was, that got me up. Trying to wipe the sleep out of my eyes, I said “Yes ma’am, I’ll get right on it.”

Nodding at my assurance, she turned and left my room, no doubt heading off to get ready for her own day of work. I looked at the clock, groaning when I saw it read 7:23 am. I only had about an hour to at least get started on my chores before she headed off, as mother dearest always insisted that I get them done before she left for work. It’s not like I had a tendency to stop half-way through them and go on ahead and sleep…

Okay, maybe it was, but so what? Graveyard’s not easy.

Taking a brief second to stretch, I slapped my headphone back into my ear, flipping the power switch on my mp3 as I headed out of my room to take care of my morning chores. Thankfully, thanks to many wonderful brony artists out there, the work went much faster as I had pony music blasting in my ear.

Rather than bore you with more descriptions of what I spent the morning doing, we’ll just skip to where I got ready to hit the hay, and when the event that stole me from the home I knew and dropped me into a world both familiar and alien occurred.

Having finished my chores, and now feeling more exhausted than I had previously, I dragged myself back to my room, not even bothering to get undressed as at this point, I hardly cared, I just wanted to get some much needed shut eye. I had only enough energy to do the one thing I always require to be able to sleep.

The last few days, I had fallen asleep to Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, but by this point, I was tired of hearing it as I slipped into unconsciousness. So, it was that time of the week to pick something different, and thankfully, I had finally gotten around to burning the first season of MLP FIM onto some dvds. Now, I could listen to my favorite show as I fell asleep.

Slipping the first disk into my PS2, I flopped on my bed and closed my eyes, letting the soothing sound of Friendship is Magic’s opening intro float into my mind. Soon enough, I could feel myself beginning to doze off, and I prepared myself for the usual rash of weird dreams most of which I wouldn’t remember. I had no idea what was about to occur to me, and I suspect that even if I had, I wouldn’t have been prepared.

I don’t know exactly when the transfer happened, but I do remember being in the midst of a dream involving Angel Bunny and Tofu teaming up against a ponified Nemesis, when all of a sudden there was this strange sensation. It felt as if the universe itself were preparing to sneeze, and was closing its eyes in anticipation of this action. It quickly faded, and my dreams resumed their normal insanity.

Soon enough, I could feel myself slowly drifting away from the realm of sleep, and soon could feel the warmth of the sunlight, the singing of the birds, and the ringing of chimes…

Wait…chimes?

This was the first clue to me that something was wrong, but since it takes me time to wake up, my brain was lagging behind in the “Processing of the world around you” department. Rubbing my eyes as I tried to clear the fog from them, I turned my head to my right and saw the source of the chime sound; a small alarm clock that had a small green pony striking what looked like a xylophone.

That’s funny, I could swear my alarm clock was a windup, and when it went off sounded like what I figured an air-raid siren would sound like from five feet away.

It was at this point that my brain suddenly realized something very, very important. When rubbing one’s eyes, one’s hands do not feel like they are one big blob of flesh. One is able to feel the fingers and the knuckles, and must always be careful to not poke one’s eye out in the process. When I had rubbed my eyes naught but a few seconds ago, I did not feel either, and unless I was missing something, it didn’t feel like I was going to poke my eye out.

With this information in hand, although I would soon discover that this was the wrong word to use in this situation, I slowly raised my hands up and held them in front of me, rapidly blinking as I forced my vision to become clearer and more focused. Slowly but surely, my vision began to solidify until I could see what it was that I was holding up in front of me.

My hands…were no longer hands. They had instead been replaced with pinkish-purple forelegs and hooves. I waved them in front of me, my eyes watching as they moved, my brain processing the fact that they did indeed respond to my commands. I looked down to see that my body was no longer that of a human, but that of a pony, though I had yet to discover the full depth of what was going on. I took one of my hooves and lightly poked my side, confirming that they were indeed hooves and not hands.

Okay Cain… don’t panic. Lets think this over rationally. This is all just a dream, or a hallucination. You’re not a pink-purple pony, you’re a twenty-one year old human… gah will someone shut off that alarm clock!

My thoughts weren’t exactly coherent at this point, but the chimes of the small alarm clock were beginning to make it hard to focus. Thus, I glared at the alarm clock for a full minute before I finally picked it up with my hooves and turned it off (which was surprisingly easy, I must admit. I figure it would have been harder. Maybe it was and I was just too annoyed to care.)

With the alarm clock now silent, I set it back on the nightstand next to the bed and crossed my…legs I guess, over my chest, glaring at the room around me. It was at this point that I realized something else.

Hold on a minute… don’t most of these HiE things have the human waking up in the forest or something? Where the heck am I?

I turned my head and looked around the room, trying to place where I could be. The room was painted a grayish purple, and it didn’t take much to figure out that I seemed to be in a little girls room. Dolls and toys normally associated with girls were set neatly about the room, and there were a few posters here and there of what I could only assume were celebrities, since one of them did happen to be of Sapphire Shores, not to mention the obvious princess motif the room carried.

There were also a few photo’s scattered about the room, and while I had trouble seeing most of them, there was at least one close enough that I could see who was in it. Sitting on a small dresser to the left of the bed was a picture frame that showed two fillies splashing in what looked vaguely like the ocean. One of them was a grey filly with silvery colored hair and glasses, while the other was a pinkish-purple filly with darker purple hair streaked with white, and a small tiara sitting upon her head.

Maybe I still wasn’t fully awake yet, maybe my mind was just lagging due to the sheer insanity of being a pony and in Equestria, but I do remember that it took a full minute for me to make the connection of where I was…or in fact, to be more precise, who I was.

Perhaps it was the small tiara sitting next to the picture that finally hammered it home to my mind, as it finally dawned on me just what had happened.

No…there’s…theres no way, it’s not possible, I can’t be-

“Diamond Tiara, honey, are you up yet?”

I went stock still as a voice floated into the room, one I recognized from Family Appreciation Day. Filthy Rich, Diamond Tiara’s father, had just called out to her-me, no, I couldn’t think like that, I just couldn’t accept the idea that I was the horrible, prissy little princess wanna-be Diamond Tiara. I could have accepted being Snips or Snails. Heck, I could probably have handled being one of those three Diamond Dogs.

I heard foot…err…hoofsteps approaching the door, and I quickly ducked back under the covers, squeezing Tiara’s eyes shut as I silently repeated a mantra in my head, There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home, there’s-

Hey, sue me, I was desperate. I know it was a stupid thought then, but I didn’t know what else to do!

“Princess? Are you still asleep?”

I heard the door open, and the hoofsteps continued until they stopped right next to the bed. I heard a sigh, and yelped as I felt the blanket being pulled away from me. I tried to cling to the safety that the blanket offered, but my attempts to keep the blanket over me were for naught, and only succeeded in sliding me from the top of the bed to the center.

With the blanket removed, I could see the stern face of Filthy Rich looking down at me. Quick, act like Diamond Tiara would! I heard a voice in my mind call out, and thinking quickly, I decided to do just that. Gulping down my nervousness, I tried to give him a smile as I murmured, “Ehehe… hi Daddy.”

Gah, I even sound like her! This day can’t get any worse…wait, no!

He gave me a knowing smile, but it was not one that filled me with warmth of any sort. It was the sort of smile you got when you were caught doing something red-handed. “Morning Princess, I trust we’re awake now?” Somehow, I seem to have managed a weak nod at his words, and he tilted his head to the side as he added, “Though I could have sworn we were past this sort of thing. Aren’t you a bit old to be hiding underneath the covers?”

“Err…” I muttered, unsure how to respond. I actually had no idea how old Diamond Tiara was, either in Equestrian years or human ones. And for that matter, for all I knew, Diamond Tiara had been pulling something like this for years.

Filthy (heh) sighed again as he leaned over and grabbed me by the neck and gently lifted me off the bed, eliciting a “Hey!” from me before setting me down on the floor. Once done with that, he put a hoof underneath my chin and raised my face to look at his as he said “Look, I know why you’re wanting to avoid this, but as I explained to you yesterday, this is your punishment for what you did.”

Without fully realizing it, an agitated expression appeared on my face as I asked “Why? What the hay did I do wrong?” Despite the fact that I was in Diamond Tiara’s body, and was therefore DT to everypony else, I didn’t like all too much the idea of being punished for something that brat had done to somepony. After all, it was her who did it, not me… err… sort of.

Filthy’s expression was one that told me it should have been very obvious to me what I had done, and I grimaced a bit as I realized I probably should have thought first before I opened my mouth. “As I recall, you forced three of your classmates to get as many ‘juicy’ stories as they could get their hooves on, and spread them all over town. You nearly ruined their friendships with everypony here in Ponyville, not to mention in the process smearing our name.”

Well, at least I know when I am, I thought to myself as I did my best to look downcast, which was actually rather easy considering the situation I was in. I figured that Tiara would probably try to defend what she did to her father, but from my perspective, there wasn’t anything to defend.

Then don’t think from your perspective, look at it from Diamond Tiara’s. Why would she have done what she did? I bit my upper lip, trying to think quickly. Why would DT have gone so far with that newspaper thing?

She thinks of herself as being better than everyone, but seems determined to prove it by taunting others, she strives to be the center of attention, and seems concerned about her popularity…so she did it to embarrass everyone else and make herself feel important. After all, everyone in Ponyville was reading the school paper, she must have felt on top of the world.

With this thought in my mind, I did my best to make my face look innocent as I looked up at Filthy Rich and said “But I only wanted the paper to be popular! I wanted everyone to think I was doing a good job…”

Filthy’s stern expression shifted, but only by a bit at what I had said. “I won’t deny that some of the blame lies with everypony in town. But you could have found another way to make the paper popular Diamond Tiara. You didn’t need to reveal the entire town’s secrets.” He sighed, adding on, “I didn’t raise you to be like this…”

I said nothing to that, merely going back to looking sad. Though within my head the words Are ya sure about that floated around for a moment. Not that I could say it aloud, as not only would that likely make him mad (which was most certainly something I didn’t want) but it wasn’t something DT would say.

“But then again, that’s why your punishment is to help every single pony whose secrets you revealed.”

“WHAT?!” I shouted, my eyes going wide at what Filthy said. Not only was I stuck in DT’s body, and not only would I have to try to figure out some way to get back home, I was going to have to do that while avoiding suspicion and helping every single pony DT had slighted with her gossip column!

“You heard me young lady. Every single pony your newspaper hurt, you’re going to help them with one task that they ask of you. I already had those three classmates of yours spread the word.”

I will tell you, right now, I do not have a problem with the CMC, in fact, of all the kids in the show they are my absolute favorites. But at that moment, I wanted to track them down and lob…I don’t know, something at them. The fact that I wouldn’t have minded them doing this if I didn’t happen to be in possession of DT’s body was not lost on me.

I briefly entertained the thought of trying to weasel out of it somehow, but the look on Filthy’s face told me that any such attempt would only be digging me a deeper hole. So, taking a deep breath, I sighed and murmured “Yes daddy.”

He gave me a genuine smile, reaching a hoof out to ruffle my mane as he said “That’s a good girl. I know you probably think I’m being harsh, but I’m only trying to make sure that you grow up to be the wonderful pony I knows in there.” He pulled me into an embrace at the last, and I had to thank whatever gods here that I liked getting and giving hugs, as otherwise I might have done something stupid to give away that something was off. “Now, why don’t you go wash up, and then come on down stairs, breakfast is almost ready.”

As if the mention of food was all it took, my stomach grumbled loudly, causing Filthy to laugh as he said “And just in time too.”

I tried my best to laugh sheepishly, though it was rather disconcerting to hear DT’s laughter as my own. Filthy gave me one last smile before turning and heading out the door, closing it behind him. I quietly waited till he was out of earshot before I said “I’m fucked.”

It’s actually rather funny, after saying that, I had a sudden urge to rinse my mouth out with soup. Then I remembered that I was going to have to endure what was supposed to be Diamond Tiara’s punishment, and dark frown crossed my features as I said to the empty room,

“You owe me Diamond Tiara. Big Time.”

Would you like lumps with your Tiara?

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Last time, on A Jewel of a Problem…our hero Cain had his mind flung from his world of Earth into the one mind no brony would ever wish to be stuck in; Diamond Tiara. Having learned when and where he is, Cain is now faced with the difficult task of finding a way to get his mind back home to Earth while avoiding letting slip that DT is no longer the bitch everyone knows her as, and to add insult to injury, he has to help every single Pony that Diamond Tiara slandered while she was running the school paper.

Will he succeed in his endeavor, or will he be trapped forever in the body of a pink and purple filly? Only time…will tell, muahahahahaha *hack, cough, cough*!

Where the heck did that come from? Don’t tell me I’m going to start hearing things as well, I’ve got enough problems now if ya haven’t noticed!

After Filthy had left, I sat my plot down on the floor as I took a moment to contemplate the situation I was in. I looked down at the floor and using the awesome powers of my imagination, I imagined a small sheet of paper sitting on the floor before me. Peering at it, I saw what looked like a list that seemed to describe my situation. At the top was a little sticker of what Equestria looked like when they showed it in Friendship is Magic.

Okay, so first off, we’re in Equestria. I looked around the room, trying to imagine any other place this could be, not forgetting that I seemed to be stuck in Diamond Tiara’s body and had just been lectured by Filthy Rich. Check.

The next item on the list was a sticker of a pony, with the words “You are a pony” following it. I turned and twisted my head, looking at each part of me to confirm I was indeed a pony, and not a human. I wasn’t going to bother checking to see if I was a filly or colt, but then I decided it was required. I did not need to somehow find out that I had also swapped DT’s gender in whatever had brought me here. That would blow ANY chance of avoiding suspicion with the ponies of Ponyville. One brief check later, I checked that one, adding to it “and am a filly”

The third item on my list… what the heck? Running out of time to get washed up? What the hay is that doing on-

“Diamond Tiara, five minutes till breakfast! Finish washing up and get down here!”

“Crap!” I yelped as I did a short jump into the air, my head twisting around as I tried to figure out where the bathroom was. There didn’t seem to be one in the bedroom, which annoyed the heck out of me as I stood up and started to make my way towards the door. I was only a foot away from it when I suddenly thought aloud, “Wait a minute, why am I not having trouble walking?”

Smack!

Just by saying that sentence, I seemed to have broken whatever it was that was making it so I could walk without a problem as I slipped and smacked my face into the door. Yelping in pain, I tried to stand back up on my hind legs, only to fall backwards and smack my head on the floor.

This… just isn’t my day, I thought to myself as I rubbed the back of my head and my nose, both of which stung but were otherwise undamaged. And I had a feeling that it was only going to get worse if I couldn’t figure this out, which would be hard to do if I let the already building anger at my inability to even walk get the better of me.

Taking a deep breath, I steepled my… hooves in front of me as I took a moment to look over how I had messed up, aside from the obvious invocation of Murphy’s Law (damn you to hell Murphy!)

I was doing just fine…until I realized I wasn’t having any trouble…I thought to myself, looking back at the bed which was several feet away. I had walked nearly all the way across the room before having any trouble, without even realizing it.

Come to think of it, I didn’t have any trouble turning that alarm clock off... I don’t think I even remember how I did it… I just did it…

An idea was forming in my head, but I had to try to confirm it somehow to know if I was right. Standing up, I started thinking about how I shouldn’t be used to walking on four feet. With this in mind, I tried to take several steps towards the bed…

Smack!

Into the floor I went! I rubbed my nose again as I got back up, and gathering my senses, I imagined my mind not having anything in it. No thoughts, just an empty void. Then I took a step forward, and another, and another one after that. Within a few seconds, I was back to standing next to the bed.

So that’s how I did it! I didn’t think about how walking on four hooves should be hard, I just walked! That’s… That’s… My mind trailed off as I tried to think of a good word that would fit this discovery. I decided that after a moment, convenient was a good word, though I had to wonder if using that word might come back to bite my plot later.

It certainly makes sense. I don’t think most people think about how they walk, they just do it. Now, if only all the other things I’m bound to have trouble with are this easy…

So, with this little obstacle cleared, I walked over to the door, feeling proud that I only nearly tripped once, and reached up to open the door with my hand-

Hoof, idiot. you have hooves now.

Right, how was it most ponies opened doors? I couldn’t open it with magic, since I wasn’t a unicorn. Did ponies ever use their hooves to open doors? I couldn’t quite remember if there had been an instance of such. I did however, remember that they used their-

Ugh. Why didn’t I pay attention when Filthy Rich did it?

With a grunt of frustration, I leaned forward with my mouth to grab the doorknob, when I saw it start to turn on its own. I gazed at it as it made the full turn, thinking to myself Am I doing that?

I think those smacks to the head left me a little slow, because I really should have known what was happening. In fact, I should have realized and then jumped out of the way. As it was, I was gazing at the doorknob as if in a trance when the door opened and smacked into my head, again. This time though, the door also slammed me into the wall.

“Miss Tiara? Your father sent me to come check on you. I didn’t see you in the washroom… um… Miss Tiara?”

“This is getting ridiculous…” I murmured as I slowly got up from behind the door, rubbing a hoof on my forehead in small circles, my entire head pounding from the brutal beating I seemed to be inflicting upon myself. I heard a yelp and looked up to see what looked like an amber colored mare with orange curly hair, wearing a maid outfit rushing over to me with a look of concern mixed with fear on her face.

“Miss Tiara! Are you alright? What happened to you?”

I tried to focus on the mare in front of me, or was it three? I shook my head to try to clear it up, but that only made my head hurt more. “Oww! My head!” I turned and glared at the door, wishing upon it a horrible and slow death by wood-chipper. She seemed to get the idea, as she suddenly started spouting,

“Oh my, I-I’m so sorry Miss Tiara, I didn’t mean to do that! Please don’t get mad at me! It was an accident honest!”

I turned to see her laying on her belly, hooves laid out in front of her as if she was bowing to me, fear written all over her face. My ears were ringing a bit, so I wasn’t sure of everything she was saying as she continued. I closed my eyes and shook my head lightly this time so as to not make it hurt as much. This seemed to work better, and opening my eyes I saw that she had stopped talking, and tears were running down her face as she looked up at me expectantly.

What the fuck is up with her? Hell, who is she anyway-oh. I fully noticed the maid outfit, and my brain reminded me who I looked like to this pony, along with everypony else in Ponyville. She’s probably a servant who works for the family, she must think she smacked me into the wall. Which, she had, in a sense, but that was because of my brain being stuck on park when it should have been in drive.

I should probably say something to her before she freaks out anymore. Causing panic attacks is not the way you go about keeping a low profile. “Uh hey, it was only an accident, no need to freak out over it or anything.”

For a moment, I thought she hadn’t heard me correctly, or that my mouth wasn’t doing what my brain instructed, when she started babbling out, “Oh please don’t tell Mister Rich! I don’t want to get punished! I-I know, I’ll take you to your favorite ice cream store, I’ll-”

“Huh? What are you talking about? I said it was an accident, geeze, do you need hearing aids or something?” I rolled my eyes at her babbling, wondering if I had waited a bit too long to say something to her, when she seemed to perk up at my words, though what she said next caught me a bit off guard,

“You..You mean you’re not gonna ask your father to punish me? Or fire me?”

I gave her an incredulous look as she stood up, hope twinkling in her eyes. A sick feeling was beginning to form in my gut, so I decided to keep talking so I wouldn’t have to think about it.

“Are you deaf?” She shook her head no, and I added “Did I say I anything about telling daddy?” She shook her head no again. Sighing, I put a hoof to my face as I said “Look, just forget about the whole thing okay? I need to go get cleaned up before daddy comes up here and scolds me again-gyah!”

The maid had grabbed me with her forehooves and was hugging me to her chest as she repeated “Thank you thank you thank you!” I tried to say something, but all that came out was an unintelligible mumble. “Oh, you don’t know how much this means to me Miss Tiara! I was so worried about making a mistake after the others told me about you and I…”

Great, she’s new. I thought to myself, wondering if that would make things easier or harder. It didn’t sound like she had stopped, and I’m sure she would have kept going on like that, were it not for the fact that I decided it was time for her to let me go so I could get some air. Since she didn’t seem to be paying attention to my attempts at talking, I did the only thing that came to my mind.

I bit her.

“Ouch!” She yelped, letting me go, which, much to my annoyance, meant a short drop to the floor. Luckily, it was only a foot down, so I didn’t have any trouble landing on my hooves.

“Air!” I gasped, taking in a deep breath and releasing it before looking up at the surprised face of the maid as she rubbed at her chest. “Next time… find a different way… to express your excitement, would you?”

Her cheeks went a bit red, and she sheepishly murmured “Yes Miss Tiara.”

I shook my head, rolling my eyes again. This was a waste of time for everyone involved, so I decided to get things moving by asking “Sooo, why are you up here?”

“You didn’t hear me when I came in?” She replied, and my response was to point a hoof from her to the door, and then back to my head. She got that embarrassed look again as she murmured “Right, I could see how that would make it hard. Your dad sent me up to see if you were getting washed up…Err…did you already get washed up?” I shook my head at this, and she put on a weak smile as she said “Well then, I guess I need to help you get washed up then, your father wanted you downstairs as soon as possible…” That fearful look came back to her face, and it wasn't hard to guess what she was likely thinking about, so I sighed and turned towards the door, replying,

“Well, let’s get it over with.” She nodded, and started for the door. I started to follow after her, then stopped and added “Hold on a sec.” I didn’t bother to see if she had stopped or not, figuring she would stand as still as a statue if I told her to, and I ran back inside the room and over to the dresser. As much as I didn’t want to, I grabbed the little tiara that was Diamond Tiara’s and trotted over to the maid and mumbled “Ready.”

And so, with a freaking tiara sitting in my mouth (which tasted disgusting I will add) and a nervous rookie maid leading the way, I finally stepped out of Diamond Tiara’s room and into an expansive hallway that was painted a soft white, with large windows showing the thatched roofs of Ponyville in the distance.

Wonder how big this house is…I thought to myself as I followed the maid, who quickly led me to a spacious bathroom that was a good four or five times bigger than my own house's bathroom. It actually looked like it belonged in one of those fancy hotels you see commercials of on TV all the time, which makes sense when you consider that Diamond Tiara’s dad was rich (Filthy Rich, HAH), and that’s not even taking into consideration the possibility of her mom. If she has one I reminded myself.

The maid, who I learned was named Ginger Gold and had been working here for a week, quickly led me towards a big bath tub. I don’t know if Diamond Tiara always had a maid help her get washed up or not, but considering the fact that I wasn’t exactly sure if I could do it myself properly, I didn’t complain. I did, however, make sure to memorize what she did so I would know in the future. After all, I had no idea how long I might be stuck in DT’s body, and I don’t know about you, but I can bathe myself perfectly well thank you very much.

After drying off, she helped brush my mane into its normal state after I tried and failed to do so with my mouth. It was my turn to be embarrassed when she gave me an odd look and simply picked the brush up with a hoof and started pulling it through my mane.

Guess that answers that question. With that knowledge in hoof, I was able to ensure that I was able to at least do something by myself as I set the tiara atop my head, looking at Diamond Tiara’s, or I suppose I should say my, reflection to make sure it was sitting where it should. Since it didn’t seem out of place, I hopped down from the stool I had been sitting upon and made my way out the door with Ginger in tow. As I stepped back into the hallway, I picked up the wonderful smell of muffins floating in the air. My stomach growled, reminding me that I was indeed hungry, and without thinking, I dashed down the hallway, following the scent of breakfast like a dog chasing after a cat.

“Miss Tiara! Slow down, you’re going to-”

I turned my head and shouted back to her, “Don’t you say it!” but as I finished saying that, I did exactly as she expected as one of my hooves got caught in the rug and I was sent rolling into a nearby wall. When I opened my eyes, I saw an upside down Ginger looking down at me in concern.

“Are you alright Miss Tiara?”

I closed my eyes and groaned, and wondered if this was an omen of what was to come.

This was going to be one long ass day.

~^~

After that incident, I walked the rest of the way to the dining hall, with Ginger walking right beside me. I had a feeling she thought that if I wasn’t right next to her at all times, I might get myself hurt again. Which, considering the brief time we had known each other, wasn’t all that much of a surprise. I wouldn’t have been amazed at all if she suddenly pulled out a roll of bubble wrap and wrapped me up in it.

Reaching the dining hall, I saw Filthy Rich sitting at the end of a long table that could have comfortably seated twenty or more ponies. Like the rest of the house that I’d seen so far, it looked like what you figure a rich person’s dining room would be. I guess it was a good thing that having lots of nice stuff didn’t impress me, as otherwise I probably would have been looking at everything in awe a few times, and for me to do that while imprisoned in Diamond Tiara’s body would not be the smartest thing to do.

“I was wondering when you’d get down here. I was getting ready to send a search party.” Filthy said, looking up from the newspaper that was sitting in front of him, smiling at me. “You look as pretty as always my little Princess.”

Not being someone who really cared how I looked, the compliment meant nothing to me, but I put a smile on anyways as I sat down near him and I replied “Thank you Daddy, Miss Ginger helped me.”

He nodded at this, and flashed a smile at Ginger as he said “Cherry Tart should be finished with the muffins, bring the plates out here please.” Ginger nodded and headed through a nearby door into what I assumed was the kitchen. I noticed that as she left the room, Filthy’s gaze seemed to be following her back before the door blocked her from sight. I remained silent, pretending I saw nothing as I sat quietly at the table. Filthy took his eyes away from the door and went back to reading his paper, leaving the room in an (in my mind) uncomfortable silence. As the seconds ticked by, I decided I couldn’t stand the silence and asked,

“So, Daddy…”

“Yes Princess?” He replied, not even looking away from his paper. This rankled me, but I did my best not to let any of my annoyance slip out as I continued,

“Do I really have to help all those ponies?”

He sighed, turning the page before answering. “Yes dear, you have to help each and every pony the paper slandered while you were heading it. I’ve been lenient in the past, but not this time. Besides, it’s a good thing to help others out. It helps build character.”

I wasn’t going to argue that Diamond Tiara couldn’t use some character, heck, I was all for it, but not while I was her. I nodded weakly, looking down at the table, figuring he was finished. He seemed to be, as he said nothing else, going back to focusing on his paper. But then he added,

“Oh yes, you’ll be helping the Apple family today, seeing as you slandered all of them here in Ponyville.”

The brony in me wanted to jump into the air and shout “HUZZAH!!” at the idea of getting to meet the Apples, but the me that wanted to find a way to get home as soon as possible forcibly dragged the brony down and tied him to a stump. I then retorted, “But I didn’t put anything about Apple Bloom in the paper, just her kooky family.”

“That ‘kooky’ family happens to provide us with nearly half of our wealth, and you’ll do well to remember that,” He said. This time, he looked over his paper to gaze at me, his eyes as stern and unyielding as a glacier. “And you threatened to slander Apple Bloom and her friends, so that counts just as much. You’ll be helping each of them today with some of their work, or whatever else they ask of you. Is that clear?”

I gritted my teeth but nodded all the same. I had the sudden hope that the Apples would give me small, simple, and easy-to-finish tasks so they could get me out of their hair and I could work on finding a way out of here. But considering how my morning thus far had gone, I didn’t expect it’d be that easy.

“That’s my Princess. I know you don’t like it, but you’ll understand why I’m doing this someday.”

I highly doubt that, I thought to myself. I was tempted to make some sort of sarcastic comment, but Ginger chose that moment to push in a cart laden with all sorts of muffins and a pitcher of orange juice and a big steaming cup of coffee. My eyes lit up at the sight of them and a wide smile made its way across my face. There was oatmeal raisin, banana nut, chocolate chip, apple cinnamon, I think I saw one that looked like someone had decided to cross cherry cobbler with a muffin in there. I waited until she had set everything down before I reached out to snag a muffin…

“Ah ah ah, I know you're hungry sweetie, but aren’t you forgetting something?” Filthy said, and I looked over to him and saw that he had placed his hooves together on the table in a manner roughly similar to how a human prayed before a meal.

Intrigued, I merely nodded and did the same, and he bowed his head down and said “Thank you Celestia, for without your life-giving sun, we would not have this bounty of food upon our table. Amen.”

Well, that was certainly interesting to hear. Guess that’s something to tell the bronies back on Earth, I thought to myself as I reached out and grabbed a muffin, this time not being stopped as Filthy himself did the same. Ginger excused herself, giving me a sheepish wave before darting back into the kitchen.

After several delicious muffins and two tall glasses of OJ later, and I felt loads better than I had a short while ago. My head still throbbed softly, but it was fading away. I looked over at Filthy, who was finishing off his glass of coffee, and I decided to ask something that I had become curious about as I ate.

“Hey Daddy, when do I have to go help the Apples?”

Filthy looked up at a clock set in the wall, which read half past eight. “I told the Apples that you were to be there by eleven o’clock, so you have until then to do what you wish. But,” he said, putting emphasis on the word to make clear that I should make sure I remember what came next, “I don’t want you to try to find a way to sneak out of it. If you do try to, I won’t let your friend Silver Spoon come over for a week.”

You would think that I wouldn’t care about that, but surprisingly, I did. Firstly, because Filthy would probably get suspicious (or at least I would in his position) if his daughter didn’t care if she couldn’t have her best friend over for a week. Secondly, she was the only pony in Ponyville I could think of that I wouldn’t have to act like an asshole towards, not to mention it’d be somepony who wouldn’t want to keep about a ten foot distance from me.

And third…I don’t know why or how I felt this way, but I felt that if there was anyone I could tell my situation to at the moment, it would be Silver Spoon. Obviously, I couldn’t do it right away, but if I needed to, I had a feeling that Silver Spoon would be the first to believe me.

“I understand Daddy. I’ll be there.” I said the last with a huff, but I laid my head down on the table as a resigned expression spread across my face. Short of finding a book called “Interdimensional Mind Travel for Dummies” or me just suddenly being sent back, I was going to have to behave, and not behave, as Diamond Tiara would.

Still, with two and a half hours, I could try to get somewhere in my quest to get back home. And there was only one logical place to start.

Ponyville’s Public Library…or whatever the fuck they called it.

“Well…I’m going out for a bit then. Maybe I’ll see if I can find Silver Spoon and talk to her for a while before I go to Sweet Apple Acres.”

“That sounds like a good idea. Just remember, eleven o’clock is when you need to be there. Oh, and you’ll be there for six hours, so try not to exhaust yourself before then,” Filthy replied, to which I nodded before standing up and walking out of the dining hall and into the house's main hall.

It’s a good thing that they're right next to each other, and I would have hated to have to try to find the front door by myself. I thought to myself as I made my way towards it, pushing it open and stepping into the sun-filled courtyard. I had to shield my eyes for a brief moment, as the sunlight was brighter than I had expected it to be.

It’s what I get for working graveyard…though Luna would probably think it’s awesome there are people up and about during the night. Once I had adjusted to the light, I saw that the path leading up to the doors also lead out of the courtyard and towards Ponyville. It looked to be about a twenty minute walk or so, but that would have been as a slightly heavy human. As a young filly Earth Pony however, I had to hazard that at most it would take ten minutes.

“Only one way to find out…I hope you’re not so prim and proper that you can’t run, Tiara.” I muttered, taking a deep breath as I broke into a fast trot, quickly heading out of the courtyard and down towards Ponyville. Hopefully, it wouldn’t take long to find the library, or to find what I needed.

And hopefully, nopony will bother me and take up some of my precious, precious time…

…

Luna damnit, I did it again.

Fun times in Ponyville

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As it turned out, Diamond Tiara wasn’t as up to speed on the physical department as I had hoped. So it did take me about twenty minutes to reach the outer edge of Ponyville. I stopped for a moment, taking the chance to take a breather as I looked up ahead into the town. The streets were only beginning to fill with ponies, and for the most part it looked like adult ponies, which I viewed as a good thing. Adults were less likely to potentially bother me unless I got in their way, where as any children in town were likely to take this opportunity after recent events to ridicule Diamond Tiara, or in this case me.

And too much ridicule directed at Diamond-err, me, isn’t going to end well. I had always had a low tolerance for those who made fun of others, Diamond Tiara included, which was this situation sickened me to my core, and why I needed to get out of it as fast as possible, but I had never taken well to those who decided to make fun of me.

Thankfully, the only child I saw was a younger looking pegasus filly walking in my direction with her mother. She looked too young to be in school, a tad smaller than Pips size I’d wager, so unless her mother or someone else in her family had been slighted by DT when she was running the paper…

Last time…on A Jewel of a Problem…

Dear sweet Luna, not this again.

Ehehehe…After a series of repeated attempts to inflict harm on Diamond Tiara’s body…

Hey now, only one of those was my fault! Wait, why am I even responding to this voice?

Our hero has left the Rich manor, on a quest to locate and find Twilight’s tome-filled home in his efforts to find a way to free himself from this current predicament. But he doesn’t have long, as he has already taken twenty minutes of his time-

It’s not my fault Diamond Tiara’s body isn’t up to the norm for Earth Ponies. Give me a break here.

-leaving him only a total of two hours and ten minutes to both find her home, find anything that may give him a hint of how to get back home, and find his way to Sweet Apple Acres in time to help the Apple Family.

Crud. I hadn’t thought of that. Finding Twilight’s home might be hard, but getting to Sweet Apple Acre’s could take a significant chunk of my time. And if I didn’t get there in time, they’d probably assume that I was trying to skip out on the punishment, and then I’d be in big trouble with Filthy Rich.

Ehehehe…that’s right. So you better get moving, muahahahahah!

“Did you hear something Mommy?”

I glanced to the side at hearing this, seeing the small young pegasus filly looking up at her mother expectantly. The mother’s ears seemed to be twitching, as if trying to discern if she had heard anything. After a moment, she replied “It was probably just the wind honey.”

I frowned at this. The only thing I’d heard was that weird voice… nothing else. There wasn’t anypony else nearby, and the birds were either still asleep or slacking off today.

Which can only mean…that the little filly over there heard the same thing I did… but that doesn’t make sense! If I am hearing voices, I should be the only one able to hear it… shouldn’t I? If I wasn’t the only one who could hear the voice, that meant I wasn’t hearing voices in my head, and that someone… or something was talking to me

Eheheheheheheehhe…

“Mommy, I heard it again.” I heard the little filly say, and the mother was silent for a moment before murmuring

“I did too, but it sounds like an animal. Let’s just keep going.”

Alright, it’s official, I’m not hearing things, something really is talking to me. Yet I can only seem to hear it in my head, but others can hear it, though understanding it seems up for debate…ugh this is making my head hurt.

Oh I’m sowwy, is the purty little filly having a headache? Let me give you a kiss and make it aaalllll better!

“Bite me.” I muttered aloud, hoping that whatever was the source of the voice would go away and leave me alone.

“Okie dokie!” I heard someone behind me say, followed by a pinching sensation on my rump. I stopped, my eye twitching as I recognized the voice, before slowly turning my head, and I saw the only pony in the universe who could have taken what I said literally to heart. I could already hear my inner brony jumping for joy and singing the song of her people.

“Pinkie… why are you biting my rump?”

Yes, it was none other than Pinkie Pie who had her teeth gripping my rump. Her eyes blinked innocently at me as if she had no idea why I would even be asking such a thing. My inner brony was crying out, thrashing at the chains I had placed on him in my head, wanting me to glomp Pinkie and give her the biggest hug ever, and then spend the rest of the day helping her with pranks or whatever other random stuff she did.

My only response was to put more chains on him. I didn’t need Brony-me getting DT tossed into the loony bin. And thanks to Read it and Weep, I knew they had such a thing.

She mumbled something that I wasn’t able to catch, as her mouth was still clinging to my rump. Smacking a hoof to my face, I asked, irritation getting into my voice “Can you let go of me and say that again?”

Pinkie did so, taking a moment to lick her lips before saying, “Mmmm, Cherry Blossom!” I gave her glance that said I didn’t care if I tasted like three-day old mayonnaise as I waited for her response. She looked down at me, her mouth making an ‘o’ shape as she remembered I was still waiting and she said “Well duh, you asked me to you silly filly.” She ruffled my hair at that last, careful to avoid the tiara.

You know that meme image that says ‘implied facepalm’, when something is ridiculous or stupid that you don’t even need to facepalm? Yeah, that’s the expression that was on my face at that moment. I wish I had a mirror, as it probably would have been the funniest thing ever. Okay, maybe not, but it would have at least made me chuckle.

As it was, I simply went “Ugh, Pinkie, it’s a figure of speech-”

“Oh! Twilight uses those all the time! I don’t understand some of them, but some of them are really funny. But I’ve never heard her say ‘Bite me’. Hehehehe, that’s a funny one, Bite me. Bite Me! Bitemebitemebitemebiteme!”

Dear God, what have I done? I haven’t been here even a day and already I’m tainting Pinkie Pie!
“And besides, I wasn’t even talking to you!” I said, raising my voice so I could get Pinkie’s attention, as she had been hopping around as he tried to come up with a song based on the very phrase I had inadvertently taught her. She stopped in mid-air, turning her head upside down as she asked,

“But… if you weren’t talking to me, who were you talking too? I didn’t see anypony else…oooh, heeeyyy, maybe Twilight’s learned an invisibility spell! That would be so awesomeriffic! Ya here Twi? Heellooo? Twiledly yodelly who?”

I could feel my eye twitching again as Pinkie began searching the nearby area for Twilight, drawing a few stares from the animals that were up and about. “Ugh, I wasn’t talking to anyone! I was just speaking out loud.” It wasn’t exactly what had been going on, but I didn’t want to tell Pinkie Pie I had voices talking to me in my…

Actually, Pinkie would probably be the only one I could tell I had voices talking to me in my head, but that’s besides the point.

Pinkie stopped her search, her head popping out of a nearby birds nest, with said birds looking at the pink pony like she was crazy or something, and she tilted her head as she gave me a… confused doesn’t work here, I have to go with confuzzled, expression as she asked “But… doesn’t that mean you were talking to yourself.” I nodded at this, hoping that would be the end of it, when she added “So… why would you tell yourself to bite yourself? Seems kinda silly if you ask me.”

Says the bright pink earth pony whose head is sticking out of a bird’s nest I thought to myself as I tried to come up with a good explanation for why I would say such to myself. Or better yet, I needed to come up with a good reason for Diamond Tiara to say such to herself.

“Uhm,… well ya see…” Sadly, I had nothing, and as I tried to work something together in my head, Pinkie popped out of the nest and bounded over to stand next to me, her eyes gazing at me curiously. Realizing I wasn’t going to come up with anything, I decided I needed to distract her, and suddenly, a brilliant plan came into my head.

“Say… Pinkie Pie… would you like to play a game?” I gave her a friendly smile, my eyes glittering conspiratorially.

The effect was immediate. Pinkie went from questioning what was going on to possessing a smile that should have broken some sort of bone or tore a muscle. “A game? Oh I love games, which game are we playing? Tic tac toe, pin the tail on the pony, OH! Please say Bingo, it’s my favorite!”

“Actually, it’s none of those. It’s kinda like follow the leader. Only it’s called ‘Destination’. I pick a place to go, and then we take five minute turns trying to get there. The first one to get us to the destination wins. Oh, and you can’t tell the other players if your going the wrong way. Sound like fun?” I was making this up from the seat of my…I’d say pants, but I’m lacking those right now, or any clothing at all, so I guess the proper phrase would be that I was pulling it outta my plot. Suffice it to say, I had no idea if it would work or not.

Pinkie Pie sat back on her hind legs and tapped her chin for a moment, before hopping up and shouting “You betcha! I’ve never heard of that game, but it sounds like fun fun fun! Can I go first?”

“I think I should go first, since I suggested it. Next time we play, you can go next.” Pinkie seemed to deflate a bit, but I said “That just means I pick the place we’re going to. You get to lead the way for the first five minutes.” This made her perk up a bit, so I finished by saying “Alright Pinkie, our destination is the library. Ready… set… lead the way!”

“Whheeee!” Pinkie shouted, galloping off into town, a determined look on her face. Smirking to myself, I charged after her, hoping my plan would work in time.

~^~

As it turns out, my plan worked, though it took longer than I thought to reach the library. Unlike Pinkie, I had no idea where the heck I was going, so during the few turns I had I basically wandered aimlessly, Pinkie happily bouncing along. The trip wasn’t exciting, though it was informative of just how much of the town had been slandered by Diamond Tiara. More ponies were out and about now, and about one in three would give me a dirty look. My belief that Diamond Tiara was universally disliked seemed to be wrong however, as there were some ponies, both adults and kids, who would wave or smile at me. In the latter case, it was roughly one in twelve, though that’s more of a guess on my part. I have no idea how many ponies are in Ponyville, and some of them look really, really similar to each other. I could almost swear that one glared and smiled at me.

Now, your probably thinking the library looks as it does in the show right? That looking at it’s sight was a familiar thing right? Well, you’d be wrong, because it was actually a bit different from what they showed in the episodes.

For one thing, it was bigger, and it was obvious that there were at least a few more floors. At the top, I could see what looked like a small balcony, where a fancy looking telescope sat pointed at the sky. There was also a sign that said “Ponyville Public Library”, with a smaller lettering underneath that said “built YE 641”. I had no idea what that meant exactly, though I was certain I’d learn at some point.

Pinkie stopped in front of the door and turned to give me a wide smile as she said “Well, here we are. Ponyville’s Public Library. Which means I won the game!!” She clapped her hooves excitedly at this, and I returned the smile with one of my own.

“Eyup, you won alright. And here I thought it was going to be me who got us here…”

“Oh don’t feel bad, I’m sure with one more turn you would have been the one to get us here. I was really worried that with all those wrong turns you were making you’d be the one to get us here first.” She replied, giving me a curious look as she seemed to think about that. I didn’t give her much of a chance to think about it, as I stepped toward the door and said,

“I guess I’ll have to rethink my strategy then for next time we play Pinkie Pie. I really did enjoy playing, but I’ve got some things to do before I…*sigh* go start my punishment, so if you’ll excuse me-” I had my hoof on the door, ready to push it, but a sudden gasp and brief blast of air behind me caused me to turn and see Pinkie’s face only inches away from mine. I yelped, backing into the door as her eyes bored into mine.

“Ya know, I just realized that there’s something off here…” Pinkie said, her eyes looking up and down at me, causing me to sweat as I tried to figure out what the heck I could have done that would make her say that. Was I not rude or pretentious enough? Did I say something that Diamond Tiara wouldn’t say? Or was this because Pinkie’s Pinkie Senses had some way to detect when a human was in possession of a ponies body?

Suddenly, her eyes drifted back towards my head, and then they lit up as she pointed a hoof at my mane and said “That’s it! Your missing your tiara! I knew there was something different about you!”

I reached a hoof up and felt around my mane. Sure enough, the tiara that represented Diamond Tiara was missing. “Huh, it must have fallen-”

Just before I could complete that sentence, the world flashed white for a moment, and I could hear a strange sound. It sounded like Diamond Tiara…but I’d never heard her laughing like this. It sounded like she was… happy.

“Look Mommy! I won, I won!!”

I didn’t see anything, but I was able to clearly hear Diamond Tiara’s voice. The tone of her voice was so different from what I’d heard when watching the show on TV. It almost sounded like a completely different pony.

“Oh that’s wonderful dear! I knew you had it within you. And would you look at that...”

Another voice joined the conversation, one that I had never heard before. But from what I had heard just moments ago, it wasn’t all that hard to figure out who it belonged too. Of course, any further thoughts about it were drowned out by the ecstatic squeal of Diamond Tiara as she shouted out

“My Cutie Mark! My Cutie Mark! I got my Cutie Mark!”

With those words, the brightness faded, and I could see the concerned face of Pinkie Pie looking down at me, and I don’t mean in the glancing down at someone who’s shorter than you sense, I mean in the sense that I was laying on the ground and she was looking down at me. “Hey, are you okay? Your eyes went all shrink winky and then you fell over like this.” She then did what I suspect was an exaggeration of how I fell down, but that wasn’t important as I stood bolt upright, only one thought in my mind.

“My tiara’s gone!! Oh where could it have gone?” I glanced all round me, worry and dread welling up inside me as I failed in spotting it anywhere nearby “I don’t remember bumping into anything, ohh Pinkie ya gotta help me find it!!”

Pinkie Pie smiled and saluted, replying, “Okie doki loki! We’ll find that tiara lickety split!”

I could feel my heart swell up at hearing that, and I turned to run off in search of it, my mouth moving without me realizing it as I said “Come on then, if we hurry we can find it before I-Wait, you’re going to help me?”

Yeah, my mind wasn’t entirely there at that moment, as I’m sure you’ve already figured out. Nevertheless, it seemed odd to me that Pinkie Pie would help me look for the most important thing in the world to me right now. I could understand playing the game, its Pinkie Pie after all, but helping Diamond Tiara?

“Why of course silly, why wouldn’t I help you?”

I frowned as I stated what should have been obvious to her, saying “I published a story calling you a party animal in the Free Foal Press, not to mention I’m normally a jerk-pony whose mean to everyone?”

Pinkie got a blank look on her face for a moment, then she started snorting and giggling, which while it was nice to hear her laugh, what she was possibly laughing at was lost on me. She managed to get it under control after a few seconds as she said “Oh, that newspaper things all water under the bridge, though I don’t know what else you could have under a bridge instead of water. Maybe strawberry pudding…” She stopped to shake her head for a moment, trying to regain her focus I imagine before she continued, “And besides, I am a party animal!” She threw confetti into the air, and despite their clearly not being one present, I could hear a party horn go off as she did so.

“Well…that makes sense…but what about-” I tried to ask, but she stopped me by saying,

“You mean being a meanie-pants? Actually, you’ve never been a meanie-pants to me before, except the newspaper thing, and I’ve already forgiven you for that. Besides, I know how much that Tiara means to you, and I can’t stand to see anypony and I mean anypony being upset. So I’m gonna help turn that frown upside down and make those sad eye’s get all sparkly when we find your tiara!”

I tried to file those pieces of information away in my mind, but all I could think about was finding my tiara. It consumed my mind, overwhelming any other desires or thoughts I had. Forgotten was my plan to search the libraries magic section to see if I could find anything that could point to a way home. All that mattered was getting that tiara back.

“Then let’s find it before something happens to it!” With that said, Pinkie and I ran back the way we came, with only one goal on our mind.

~^~
It had been an hour since we started looking for it, and with no luck thus far. Each minute that passed with no sight of my tiara left me feeling worse and worse. Tears had already started forming in my eyes, and for some reason I couldn’t figure out why it was so important for me to find it. No matter how hard I tried to think about it, the reason eluded me.

“Oh its hopeless, we’ve searched everywhere!” I said, sitting down on the ground, letting the tears flow freely down my face.

Pinkie came over and sat down next to me, a sad and disappointed expression evident on her face. “Don’t give up Diamond Tiara, we’ll find it. We haven’t searched all of Ponyville yet…”

“But where else could it be Pinkie? We’ve checked all the places we walked by, we’ve asked everyone we’ve passed, and no one’s seen it!” The fact that some of them possibly wouldn’t bother looking for it or even tell me they’d seen it had occurred to me, but I wasn’t going to tell Pinkie that.

“I’m sure we’ll find it soon, it’s got to be somewhere around here. I mean, it’s not like it could have just vanished or something… or could it…?”

Despite how bad I was feeling, I had to roll my eyes at that. The idea of it simply vanishing into thin air was utterly ridiculous and not worth commenting on. I laid my head down on the ground, covering my face with my hooves as a few more tears fell onto the ground.

Why is this affecting me so? I shouldn’t give a damn if I have the tiara with me or not, yet I can’t stop thinking about it! What’s happening to me?

“Um…excuse me…uh…”

I heard someone talking, and it sounded like they were talking to me. I tried to place the voice, but it wasn’t one I recognized from the show, which actually meant it could be just about anyone. At that moment though, I just wanted my tiara back, and unless whoever it was happened to have it or know where it was, I didn’t give a damn.

“Sorry whoever you are, but unless you’ve found a small diamond studded tiara, just leave me alone.”

“Um…well…is this what you lost?”

I felt something being softly set upon my head, and without even looking I knew that it was my tiara. It felt as if I was whole again, and I lifted my head up to see who it was who had found that lost piece of me. Looking up, I saw a grey coated pegasus with light blonde hair. One of her eyes was looking down at me in a mixture of concern and curiosity, while the other looked up and away.

I couldn’t believe it. Ditzy Derpy Hooves was standing in front of me, and more importantly, she had found my tiara. A broad smile filled my face as I began hopping around Ditzy and Pinkie, shouting “My tiara! My tiara! You found it you found it!” Ditzy seemed a bit surprised by my exuberant reaction, though Pinkie wasn’t.

“Wow, where’d ya find that Ditzy? We’ve been looking everywhere for that thing.”

Ditzy rubbed a hoof along the back of her neck as she replied, “Well, I was doing my deliveries, and I ended up crashing again… I crashed into a tree, and right in front of me happened to be a bird’s nest with a small tiara sitting in it. I recognized it as being Diamond Tiara’s, so I picked it up and brought it with me.”

Well, that would certainly explain why me and Pinkie Pie hadn’t found it. Knowing that it was back however filled me with such an intense joy that without thinking about it I launched myself at Ditzy, wrapping my hooves around her neck as I gave her a great big hug, much to her and Pinkie’s surprise.

“Thank you thank you thank you! You have no idea how much this means to me!”

Ditzy returned the hug after a moment and gave me an awkward smile, though maybe it was awkward only because one of her eyes wasn’t looking at me. “Hey, it was no problem kid.” We both let go, and I sat on the ground next to her, the smile still on my face. Ditzy seemed like she had something more to say, as a focused look came to her face. After a second, her eyes lit up as if she remembered something, and she turned her gaze to Pinkie as she said “Oh, hey Pinkie, I think Fluttershy was looking for you earlier, I can’t remember what she wanted though.”

Pinkie gasped and jumped into the air at this. “Ohmygosh, I totally forgot! I have to help Fluttershy plan Angel Bunny’s birthday party today. See ya two later!” And with that, Pinkie zipped off and away, leaving me and Ditzy by ourselves. Glancing back up at Ditzy, I said,

“I really appreciate you bringing this to me…I was really worried I wasn’t going to find it ever again.”

Ditzy gave me another smile, this one seeming much less awkward as she tried to focus both eyes on me. “As I said, it was no problem, that bird didn’t need a tiara anyways.” She looked away from me, glancing at a clock-tower nearby. I glanced at a too, and with a gulp realized that I only had half an hour to get to Sweet Apple Acre’s.

“Well Miss Tiara, I got to get back to delivering the mail. You make sure to keep a better eye on that tiara of yours, wouldn’t want to go losing it again would ya.”

“No, I wouldn’t.” I murmured, stroking the tiara softly. Ditzy nodded, and turned, ready to fly off, but I called out to her “Hey Ditzy! Can I ask for a quick favor?” Ditzy turned and gave me a curious look, but nodded. “Could you point out which way to Sweet Apple Acre’s?”

Ditzy nodded and pointed her hoof in the direction of what I hoped was Sweet Apple Acre’s. “Thanks a bunch!” I shouted out, turning and running off for the Apple family’s farm. Ditzy just shook her head, a smile on her face, and went back to work.

After about ten minutes of running, I slowed down once I started seeing row upon row of apple trees in the distance. I took a second to reach up and confirm to myself that the tiara was still sitting safely upon my head. As I brought my hoof back down to continue walking, I stopped, a thought coming to my mind. Turning my head back towards Ponyville, then glancing up at the tiara, I asked the only thing that came to my mind.

“Wait, what the heck just happened?”

~^~

What indeed has just happened, eheheheheh. Is this the first instance of Diamond Tiara’s personality asserting itself, or was this entire event merely orchestrated to waste his precious time. I’m sorry to say, but you’ll have to wait for the next chapter of A Jewel of a Problem to find out, muahahahahhah!

Would you quit that out already? Its getting really annoying.

Eeenope.

Down at the Farm

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I trotted quietly towards Sweet Apple Acres, my thoughts still sprinting and flipping as recent events seemed to elude me. I softly jostled my head, making sure my tiara was where it belonged. Satisfied that it hadn't vanished again, I continued down the dirt path.

~Ehehehmmmguahaha~

An icy chill suddenly traveled up my backside and all the way to the tip of my nose. Wh-what the!? I took several short breaths, attempting to calm my nerves. I tried my best to ignore the crown strewn on my mane, and instead brought up my mental checklist, hoping it would help me sort out what had happened back in town...only to find it was now covered with ink.

~Ehehehehehehehe~

“Oh cmon!!!” I yelled out, my eyes darting around everywhere, even though I knew there was nopony or nothing around me. “You-uh-Annoying disembodied voice in my head!! Are you serious!? ” I cried out, not caring at how stupid I sounded.

Without warning, my front hooves spasmed uncontrollably, causing me crash into ground with a thud. "Ow!"

~BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! ~Funnnnn~ I want do that again!!~

"H-Hey, what are you doi-" I tried to ask, shakingly raising myself from the ground, but again, my legs jerked and I slammed headfirst into ground.

~GWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!~

“Listen… whatever you are,” I huffed, pushing myself up. I gritted my teeth, as the thing’s gleeful cackles continued to mock me. “Stop now. Before I force you out.” The voice’s cackling grew louder. “I-I’ll tell Twilight on you.” I’d never felt so childish in my life, but combined with what had happened back in town and everything else that had happened, I couldn't help it.

~Oh poor itty bitty pony~ Tell Twilight ~ She’ll definitely believe youuuuuuuu… guahahah~ Oh!! And I know the perfect little song~

The voice suddenly started singing, and it didn't take me long to recognize the song. I furiously shook my head as the voice went on singing "They're coming to take me away", hoping that maybe that simple action would make him be quiet, but it didn't seem to do anything but give me a headache.

Sighing, I put one hoof in front of the other as I resumed my walk, doing my best to ignore the singing in my head. It wasn't long before I could finally see the growing form of the Apple Family’s barn, and their home just a ways past it. Row after row of Apples trees surrounded both of them, and just looking at it made my mind race with images of all sorts of apple flavored treats, and the thought of meeting the Apples themselves.

If I hadn't been stuck inside DT's body, it would have been a brony dream come true. But even stuck inside her, I was going to get to work alongside the apples. I picked up the pace as a small smile formed on my face, the sound of the voice's singing fading into the back of my mind as thoughts of being next to some of my favorite ponies drowned it out, and my earlier thoughts.

But, just when I thought I could completely ignore the singing in my head, the voice decided to change songs.

~I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts, coconuts, here they all are standing in a row!!~

Sweet Celestia, someone save me!!!

-*-

“Ya think she’s gonna show up big brother?”

Big Macintosh looked up into the air for a moment, chewing on a piece of straw as he took a moment to consider young Apple Bloom’s question. When he looked back down, he nodded his head in reply as he let out his trademark “Eeyup.”

“Hah, and I’m telling you that she’ll find some way to weasel out of it. That kid’s a no good spoiled brat, just as bad as some of them Canterlot ponies.” AJ replied as she stood nearby, an eye on the path that lead out to Ponyville.

“I wouldn’t say she’s that bad. I met some pretty snobby ponies up there when we went to see the Hearth Warmings Eve pageant. She’s still pretty bad though.” Apple Bloom commented, getting a nod from Big Macintosh and a slightly annoyed look from AJ.

“That’s only on account of the fact that she lives here in Ponyville. Only other richy rich ponies in town is the Spoon family, and they’re decent at least.” AJ retorted, shifting her attention back to the road.

The three of them were standing at the gate to Sweet Apple Acre’s and waiting for the arrival of the work-hand they’d been promised by Filthy Rich; His daughter, the spoiled, stuck up, better than thou brat that had the misfortune of living in the same town as them. AJ still wasn’t happy about it, as she had flat out told Filthy Rich she would rather work with a Diamond Dog then with his little daughter. After all, the latest incident wasn’t the first time the kid had slighted the Apple Family.

Granny Smith however, would have none of it, and had overridden her wishes and accepted Filthy’s offer, though why Granny thought this would do anything for the kid was beyond her. AJ had been preparing herself all morning to deal with complaints about dirtied hooves and how the work they did was ‘below her’.

In other words, AJ was preparing herself for one long and frustrating day.

“Y’all should make good on Grannys advice sis. Just take anything the kid says with a grain of salt.” Big Macintosh said, a small smile gracing his muzzle as he added “And ya might wanna start counting those bits.”

“What are you-” AJ tried to say, but Big Macintosh simply raised a hoof and pointed at the road, where the distant form of a small pink filly with purple and white hair was approaching. AJ’s mouth fell open as Big Mac chuckled and looked up at the sun above them.

“And what do ya know, she’s early too.” He added, which combined with AJ’s slackjaw expression made Apple Bloom fall into a fit of giggles. That was enough to get AJ’s attention, but the glare she gave her younger sister only caused the giggling to transform into full out laughter, which did little to improve AJ’s mood.

AJ started grumbling to herself, watching the approaching form of Diamond Tiara with undisguised annoyance. As the kid drew closer, she could see a look of annoyance on the filly’s own face, which oddly enough made AJ feel better. At least I’m not the only one that doesn’t find this funny, she thought to herself.

“Well, I have to say I’m surprised ya’ll showed up. I figured ya would have tried to weasel your way outta some old fashioned hard work.” AJ called out to the little filly as she got within ear shot. Diamond Tiara however, didn’t seem to hear her, still walking towards them. In fact, she walked right past them and AJ thought she heard a strange muttering coming from her as she passed by.

AJ looked at Big Mac and Apple Bloom, both of whom shrugged, before turning and asking “Uhm…did you hear me Diamond Tiara? Miss Tiara?” Sighing, AJ raised her voice and shouted “Equestria to Diamond Tiara!”

“Huh?” She asked, her head suddenly whipping around to look at them in confusion, as if she had just realized where she was. Unfortunately, she was still moving forward when she did so, so it was no surprise when she crashed into fence. With a yelp, she jumped away from the fence, giving it a glare worthy of Fluttershy’s famous stare before turning around and walking back over to them, a hoof rubbing her muzzle as she did so.

Glancing at Apple Bloom and Big Mac, both of whom looked just as confused as she was, AJ asked “Um… Are ya’ll alright?”

“Just peachy, it’s not like the universe is out to get me or something.” Diamond Tiara muttered, shaking her head briefly as she stopped in front of them. Her face looked rather blank, without a trace of annoyance or any emotion. The only noticeable thing was a small tick at the edge of her right eye. She closed her eyes briefly, taking in a deep breath before saying “Well, I’m as ready as I’m going to be.”

“Okay then, if you’re ready to get to work, I guess we can get started now. No point in wasting time dilly-dallying. You’ll be working with Apple Bloom, since you’re not big enough to be helping us with any of the other farm work.”

AJ expected some sort of comment, or at the very least, a roll of the eyes, but Diamond Tiara simply shrugged her shoulders and said “Alright,” before turning to Apple Bloom and saying “Let’s get this over with.”

Apple Bloom smiled and said “Sure thing, just follow me!” before bouncing off in the direction of the barn. Diamond Tiara just sighed and followed at a fast but resigned pace. AJ waited until they were out of sight and earshot before giving her smiling brother a playful nudge.

“You’ll get your bits mister, but if there are any problems with her, I’m letting you handle her.”

Big Mac’s smile vanished, replaced by a look of discomfort at the prospect. AJ just laughed, leaving Big Mac there as she turned and headed off for the south field, ready to get back to doing what she loved most.

-*-

Following Apple Bloom, I kept my face more or less expressionless as I went back to thinking, now blissfully free of the voice’s attempts to annoy me. Since I had bumped into the fence, it had instead been doing its best not to send itself into hysterics, and so all I had to worry about was the occasional chuckle interrupting my thoughts.

What was I thinking about? Many things, mysterious things, things that had been asked since the dawn of time, the very questions that bothered both mankind and ponykind… okay no, I was just thinking about how to scratch the middle of my back without hurting myself. But that wasn’t the only thing I was thinking of, oh no.

Ya see, with the distraction of the singing gone, and my brief interaction with AJ past, I was thinking back to my decision to try my best to behave as Diamond Tiara would. Could I actually pull it off? Possibly, I mean I could be an asshole or a jerk at times, though it was usually reserved only for when someone ticked me off or someone else was acting like a jerk. I might have even been able to pull it off if I didn’t care about hurting other peoples feelings.

But I wasn’t a mean person at heart, and the idea of saying anything hurtful to anypony (unless they actually were deserving of it) here in Equestria was bothered me greatly. But what else could I really do? I didn’t want to be found out, not until I knew whether or not there was even a way to get home. Who knew what would happen if they found out?

Well, they could just believe you and try to get you home, but that’d be too nice of the universe wouldn’t it.

The voice was correct. Despite this being Equestria, I had sincere doubts how anyone finding out (and even if they believed me) that I was a human stuck inside Diamond Tiara could necessarily end well.

“Hey, are ya okay Diamond Tiara?”

“Hmm?” I asked, glancing to Apple Bloom to see her looking at me curiously. I looked around and noticed that we were no longer outside, but in the Apple Family’s barn. Realizing how deep in thought I must have been, I frowned and replied “Sorry, I’ve got a lot on my mind right now. What did you just say?”

“I said we gotta feed the animals first, then we have to check around the barn for any loose boards or anything else that needs repaired. After that, we head outside and water and check the vegetables.” Apple Bloom repeated, and I nodded to assure her I’d heard, and she added “Well then come over here so I can show ya what we got to do.”

We spent the next few minutes talking back and forth, Apple Bloom explaining what we had to give to each of the animals. Rather than being bored out of my mind as she expected me to be, I paid complete and utter attention so as to make sure I didn’t forget anything. I hadn’t thought about it at the time, but in hindsight, I should have known that if anything was going to make anyone think something was up, it was going to be my work ethic.

Once she finished explaining everything to me, I got right to work. I didn’t work more than I needed to, and I went at a pace that was, while a tad slower than that of Apple Blooms, wasn’t me half-assing it. Several times I noticed that Apple Bloom was watching me, but I was too focused on getting the job done to think much of it. She was probably amazed that I was even bothering to do the job properly, let alone the fact that I wasn’t complaining. Heh, the irony of it was that at least at home, I was lazy as could be. Doing an actual job though…

I poured out the last bucket of food and sighed, glad to have finished one thing on the list of things to do. I took the bucket and put it back where Apple Bloom had told me it went, then turned around to find her looking at me with the most bewildered (and somewhat adorkable) face ever. A bit surprised to see her so close to me, I gave her a confused look as I asked “Is there a reason you’re in my personal space?”

Apple Bloom tilted her head one way and another, the bewilderment only seeming to grow as she looked at me. I was starting to wonder what on earth…err, Equestria she was doing, when she finally asked “Why are you being so cooperative?”

My face went blank at that, and I responded by asking “What are you talking about?”

She rolled her eyes at me when I asked this, and she asked “Oh come on Diamond Tiara, you’re the most stuck-up pony in town, and I’ve never seen you willing to any hard work of any kind. Your dad had to push ya, literally, into helping with the Zap Apple Jam, and ya complained the entire time. Yet ya just helped me feed all the animals here in the barn without so much as a peep, and you were actually keeping up with me the entire time!”

Oh, so she was wondering why I hadn’t been moaning and groaning or dragging my hooves along. Thankfully, I had already thought of an answer to such a question earlier. Deciding now might not be a bad time to try to get into DT’s attitude, I stood up tall and, in an annoyed tone, replied,

“Here, let me answer that by asking you something. Has complaining about the work you’ve had to do ever got it done faster?” Apple Bloom shook her head, to which I then asked “And has dragging your hooves and not putting in any effort ever gotten you anywhere?”Again she shook her head, though this time the annoyance evident in her expression had faded.

“Well, there you go. Just because I’m doing this doesn’t mean I want to, because I really don’t. I have more important things I could be doing right now,” Which was actually true, but not what she probably thought I meant, “but I have to be here and I have to help, so complaining about it or not working hard isn’t going to get it done any faster. Besides, if I didn’t at least put some effort in, daddy would find out and I’d be in more trouble than I already am. So excuuusssee me if I’m trying to be smart about this.”

Apple Bloom seemed to mull over this, and for the briefest moment I thought that maybe I had made too much sense. Sure, I wasn’t Pinkie Pie, but from Apple Blooms point of view Diamond Tiara was probably a pony she never expected to hear anything truly sensible or intelligent coming from her…er, my, mouth. But she shrugged her shoulders and muttered “Huh, I guess I didn’t think you’d think about it like that. I guess me and AJ were both a bit wrong.”

I smirked, the thought of how agitated this deal with Filthy Rich must have made her. I raised my head a bit, walking past her and towards the door as I said “I may be many things, but an idiot is not one of them. Now, what’s next?”

-*-

Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara tackled one chore after another. Normally, it would have taken Apple Bloom three or four hours just to get most of them done, but with Diamond Tiara’s help work was going by in a flash. Apple Bloom still couldn’t believe how hard Diamond was working.
Oh sure, she wasn’t working as fast as she was, but she wouldn’t have expected her to be able to on her first day of hard labor anyways. The fact that she was keeping up though was astounding.

And that wasn’t all. When they started checking for any repairs the barn needed, and when they had started pulling some of the vegetables that were dying from the garden, Diamond Tiara had asked questions on how to do the chores the right way, making sure she understood exactly what Apple Bloom was telling her.

Maybe she’s not always a jerkfaced filly… Apple Bloom thought to herself as she finished explaining the next chore on their list, repainting one of the storage sheds near the house. She told Diamond Tiara to wait near the shed while she fetched the paint, figuring it best to do that herself lest Diamond get lost trying to find it. It also gave her a chance to think about how Diamond was acting. This didn’t seem like how Diamond normally acted around her, but then again, she didn’t actually know Diamond Tiara all that well, although the reason would be fairly obvious to most ponies.

But then again, I only ever really see her at school. And she does have other friends besides Silver Spoon…Apple Bloom considered the possibility that maybe Diamond Tiara only acted the way she did when others were around, but that made no sense when she remembered how Diamond Tiara had acted when she and her father came by during the Zap Apple Jam harvest.

I guess I should just believe what she said earlier…she’s just trying to get this over with as fast as possible. Nopony likes getting punished for something after all, Apple Bloom thought to herself as she reached the tool shed where they had all the tools. And besides, as Twilight had once told her, “We should always assume the best in somepony, never the worst." And I guess even if it is Diamond Tiara, I shouldn't expect the worst from her without proof.

With this thought in mind, and actually feeling a bit better now that she wasn’t thinking bad of somepony, she grabbed the stuff they needed and then headed out of the shed, nearly bumping into her big sister in the process.

“Woah there gal, no need to run me over now, I know how much you don’t like doing those chores.” AJ said as she back-pedaled to avoid running over the burdened filly. Apple Bloom smiled at AJ and replied,

“Sorry big sis, it’s just that thanks to Diamond Tiara’s help, all my chores are a lot easier than they normally are.”

AJ looked at her oddly when she said that, and an eyebrow quirked up as she asked “You mean the brats actually working with ya?”

Apple Bloom smiled and replied, “Yup! She’s not as fast as me, but she’s not doing a bad job. And best part is she hasn’t really complained at all!”

The look of surprise on AJ’s face almost sent Apple Bloom into a fit of giggles, but she composed herself enough to ask “Are ya sure you’re talking about the same Diamond Tiara here? She hasn’t complained, hasn’t dragged her hooves in the dirt while working?” When Apple Bloom shook her head to both of these, AJ muttered “Something’s gotta be up here…”

Apple Bloom didn’t exactly like what her big sister was implying when she said that, so she said “AJ, ah know that you’re still mad at her for what she pushed me and my friends into doing, but she’s just trying to get this whole punishment thing over with as fast as she can. She doesn’t like it anymore than you do.”

AJ’s expression softened, and after a moment she dragged Apple Bloom into a hug as she ruffled her mane. “You know Apple Bloom, I think your right, and that’s a very grown up thing to say, even if it’s defending that brat.”

Apple Bloom gave her sister an awkward smile as she said “Actually, I got that from Diamond Tiara.” When she saw the incredulous look on her sister’s face, she explained how she had been suspicious earlier, but then after thinking over what Diamond Tiara had said, had decided that she was telling the truth, much as it amazed her.

AJ looked thoughtful for a moment, and as Apple Bloom tried to figure out what her big sis was thinking, she asked, “Where is Diamond anyways?”

“Oh, she’s waiting next to that shed you said needed a new paintjob. I didn’t want to have her get lost trying to find all the stuff we’d need, so I told her to stay near the shed. Why’d ya ask?” Apple Bloom replied, to which AJ smiled and said

“I just want to check up on our worker for the day is all. Nothing to worry your head about Apple Bloom.”

Apple Bloom nodded and smiled, but she sighed as her sister started ahead of her. There was no way this could end well. She shook her head and galloped after her sister, dropping to a trot as she caught up with her. They soon saw the shed in question, as well as Diamond Tiara, who was patiently sitting nearby, her eyes on the semi-clear skies above them and a smile on her face. It wasn’t the smile that normally graced her face, the one that said “I think I’m totally better than you”, but instead a sincere, calm smile. Apple Bloom couldn’t help but feel a smile of her own forming on her face as they neared, it was just infectous. Glancing at AJ however, she didn’t see the same happening to her.

Deciding it was best that she do something to keep things from heating up, seeing as neither of them were really happy about the situation, Apple Bloom spoke up “Hey Diamond, I’m back with the paint!”

Diamond Tiara glanced back down, the smile thinning a bit as she did so, though it vanished and was replaced by a thin line when she saw AJ. Her eye twitched for a moment, and for a split second Apple Bloom could have sworn Diamond’s eyes changed color, but it happened so fast that she took it to be a figment of her imagination.

“Hey Apple Bloom, Applejack.” She said, remaining where she was until they reached her. Apple Bloom started taking the paint and brushes next to the shed. “So, what color are we using?”

“Bright Green, since this shed is for the Green Delicious apples.” She said, looking up at the weathered shed, its previous paint job having faded to look more akin to the color of olives.
“Okay. Is Applejack helping?”

AJ shook her head. “Nope, I’m just here to see how you’re getting along with the work.”

Diamond Tiara shrugged before grabbing a paint brush and a paint can and getting to work, with Apple Bloom doing the same a second later. They took opposite sides of the shed, with AJ watching off to the side as they worked. Apple Bloom wasn’t lying when she said that Diamond was working hard to get the job done. She certainly wasn’t as fast as Apple Bloom, but for somepony who was doing hard work for the first time, she wasn’t bad.

Just as they were getting finished, they heard a ringing sound come out from the direction of the house. Apple Bloom put her brush down and let out a whistle as she said “Boy, I didn’t know time had gone by so fast. I don’t know about you two, but I’m starving!”

Diamond Tiara set her brush down carefully before looking at her side, then Apple Bloom’s. Apple Bloom’s side was nearly finished, while her own was about two thirds of the way done. She looked at Apple Bloom in confusion as she asked “Shouldn’t we finish painting the shed first?”

“Nah, you two have worked hard enough.” AJ said as she walked over to them, a thin smile on her face. “I hate to admit it, but you really are working hard. You’re not as fast as Apple Bloom is, but then again, she wasn’t all that fast when she started doing these sorts of chores either. I have to thank you for being willing to help us out, rather than dragging your hooves through the mud.”

Diamond Tiara scoffed, an eye twitching as she said “I don’t need your thanks, because I’m not doing it for you. I’m only doing it so I don’t have to do it again. If I dragged my hooves, you would tell daddy, and then I’d probably have to come back and do it all over again.”

AJ frowned at this, and she said “Hey, no reason to be like that. I may not like what you did, but at least I’m trying to be polite.”

Apple Bloom looked at Diamond Tiara, expecting some sort of retort to be coming forth from her. Her eye’s twitched again, and then she sighed and said “Fine, you’re welcome, now let’s go eat. The faster we eat, the sooner I can get back to work and the sooner I can be done with this.”

Diamond Tiara turned and made her way off in the direction of the Apple Family’s home, leaving Apple Bloom and AJ watching her leave, both with confused expressions on their face’s.

-*-

I can’t do it. I can’t keep it up! I haven’t even been Diamond Tiara for a day and I’m already cracking!

In case you’re wondering what I’m talking about, back when AJ told me thank you, and said that I was actually doing a good job, my first instinct was to say you’re welcome, no problem, happy to help, and of course to let out a squee worthy of Fluttershy (okay, the last parts questionable). But instead, I went with trying to keep up my act of acting like Diamond Tiara would, and taking AJ’s thanks didn’t seem like something she would do.

Yeah, I know, technically Diamond Tiara working hard at all is out of character for her, but I can’t help it! I may be a lazy ass at home, but at my actual workplace I have a better work ethic than half the other employees! I inherited my dad’s laziness at home and my mom and grandma’s work ethic! I’m just glad she didn’t say I was slow or doing a bad job. Any pretense at trying to be Diamond Tiara would have gone out the window right then and there if she had. Never tell me I’m doing a bad job or not working fast enough, unless you want to see me mad as heck.

*Sigh* Anywho, as I made my way back to the Apple Family’s home, I thought about what I had said to AJ, and about some of what I said to Apple Bloom back in the barn. I felt terrible for telling Apple Bloom that I didn’t want to help, which…well…it wasn’t completely a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either. I would have loved to have been helping the Apple Family with their farm work, but not as Diamond Tiara.

And what I said to AJ? My chest hurt, as it usually did whenever I got angry at someone or said something hurtful to someone who didn’t deserve to be treated that way, and none of the Apples deserved to be treated how Diamond Tiara would treat them, or had treated them.

I can’t do it…I just can’t. As both a brony, and… well, me, I cannot keep this up. But what else can I do?

Well, there was one way, but I wasn’t sure if it would work.

Back on Earth, I was a follower of the one rule they teach in school, the one rule that was very important to learn. The Golden Rule, the one that states “Treat others as you wish to be treated.”

I had learned that rule, and had taken it to heart, and maybe a bit farther than that. Those who treated me nicely, I was as pleasant as could be with, nicer than the other person even, which made them feel good and me feel all warm and fuzzy (yay fuzzy feelings!) Those who left me alone, I left them to their own devices, interacting with them only if interacted with. And those who were jerks and assholes to me? Well, I was one in kind to them.

What does this have to do in this situation? Patient, I’m getting there. The point is, I could act like myself, following the Golden Rule, and try to do it in a fashion that Diamond Tiara would do. I could be nice to others, but I could still have the attitude of smug superiority. I could definitively do that. And anyone who was rude or mean to me, well, I wouldn’t have to act at all. And that would let me leave everyone else alone, leaving me feeling better overall, and more importantly, keeping my brony self in check.

Seriously, I came really really close to losing my control back there. I’ve had to put the brony inside of me in a cement bunker now, as the chains weren’t working.

But there was the slight possibility, in my paranoid mind of mine, that this could lead me to getting found out. But on the other hand…

Considering how close I just came to acting like a hyper-crazy fanboy in front of AJ, imagine what might happen if I continue trying to be just like Diamond Tiara? Could I really truly act like her, be a jerk to ponies that I loved, respected, and admired, and still call myself a brony? Could I really be hurtful to those who helped to create a fandom that re-inspired some of my faith in humanity?

A rumbling sound from my stomach made me smile sheepishly, reminding me that there was a bit more pressing of a matter to deal with. Seeing that I had somehow managed to reach to front door to the Apple Family home, without crashing into anything thank the gods, I decided to put the question aside for a moment.

After all, to paraphrase a certain lavender unicorn, it’s better to make an important decision on a full stomach. With this in mind, I pushed the door open and stepped inside.

“Oh howdy there little missy! Are ya working hard or hardly working eheh?” I looked towards to sound of the voice and saw Granny Smith standing in a doorway leading into what I presumed was a kitchen. She was smiling at me in a way that reminded me of my late great-grandmother, which only served to reinforce the similarities she already shared with her, and for a brief moment I felt a pang of sadness flow through me before I managed to (somewhat) stifle it down inside me. I must not have down it fast enough, as Granny’s smile thinned a bit. “Are you okay there little miss?”

“It’s nothing, I’m just tired.” I replied, which was true. Work was nothing new to my mind, but it was new to Diamond Tiara’s body. If Diamond Tiara had acutally been doing it, she probably would have been ready to call it a day. Through the force of my will, I was just wishing for a short nap.

Granny seemed to gaze at me for a moment more, and I wondered if she was buying what I’d said. Her smile returned to its former state though as she said “Well why don’t ya come on in here then and sit yourself down and have some good ol apple fritters, fresh out of the oven.

I’d prefer bourbon chicken with a side of rice noodles, I thought to myself as I put a weak smile on my face and nodded. The idea of eating apple fritters, or anything sweet, for lunch, was insane to me. The fact that my sweet tooth had dulled and I was no longer a fan of sweets didn’t help much. But I was stuck in Diamond Tiara, so unless I found out that the ponies were actually full out omnivores…

Stepping into the kitchen, I discovered it was bigger than what had been shown in Family Appreciation Day, having more counter space and cabinets, and a longer table dominating the center of the room. Otherwise though, it looked the same as it had on TV. Sitting in the middle of the table was a platter full of fritters, with a pitcher of what I could only assume was apple juice next to it.

“Help yourself to as much as you want, we’ve got plenty for everyone.” Granny said, grabbing a plate for herself and putting several fritters on it before taking a seat at one end of the table. Screaming on the inside, I grabbed myself two fritters and a glass of juice and sat down at the opposite end, trying my best to not look unexcited about the fare.

As I dug in, discovering that they actually weren’t as sweet as I’d imagined them to be, the rest of the Apple Family stepped in, lead by Big Mac and followed by Apple Bloom and AJ. They chit chatted with Granny Smith and each other as they grabbed their own plates, each of them sitting next to each other at their end of the table, leaving me to myself at the other end. I listened to their conversation with a third of an ear as I slowly ate my food, using the time to rest and think about my situation, and what I had considered a very short while ago.

The meal went by rather quickly, for me at least, as I was full enough after the two fritters and three glasses of juice I’d had, but the Apples took a bit longer to finish their meals. Not knowing whether or not I could go back to work after finishing, and figuring they’d probably find it odd that I’d be so eager to get back to work, I just sat there and stared at the wall. Having already made a decision on my earlier thoughts, I instead wondered to myself what was going on back home, or more specifically, to my body.

“Thanks for lunch Granny, those were delicious!” I lifted my head up when I heard Apple Bloom say that, and I slipped out of my chair as she gave Granny a hug and a smile. Granny simply ruffled Apple Blooms mane as she replied in kind.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it sweetie, I always love getting a chance to make some fine grub for the family. And what about you Miss Tiara, did you enjoy it?” She asked, turning her smiling face towards me, her eyes gazing at me expectantly.

This would be the moment of truth for me. I could continue trying (and possibly failing) to try to be like Diamond Tiara, or I could choose to be myself, with the addition of some of Diamond Tiara’s attitude. I walked towards Granny Smith, looking up at her kind, caring face, and I could feel it in my heart.

I can’t be mean to these ponies. I just can’t.

I looked down for a moment, and I could feel the tension in the air mounting. I had noticed that the other three Apples were watching me carefully; Apple Bloom with a look of worry, AJ seeming to glare daggers at me, daring me to say something mean, and Big Mac looking like he normally did, stoic as always.

Preparing myself for whatever their reactions would be, I looked back up at Granny Smith, a smile on my face as I said “They were great Miss Smith, best apple fritters I’ve ever had.” This was actually true, as I’d never actually eaten an apple fritter, to my recollection anyways. I dipped my head slightly and added “Thank you for letting me have some.”

Granny Smith’s smile widened, and I heard a loud thump sound coming from the direction of AJ, a quick glance telling me that her jaw had dropped and hit the table. I would have laughed at the scene if Granny didn’t take that moment to ruffle my mane, jostling the tiara as she said “Why thank ye kindly little missy, it’s always nice to know I still haven’t lost my touch.”

“Hey, watch the tiara, I already lost it once today.” I said, a yelp escaping me as it tried to fall off my head, but Granny nabbed it before it could fall further than my nose and placed it back on my head. “Thanks.” I said, and she nodded her head at me as I turned my gaze towards Apple Bloom, whose eyes were wide and gazing at me in shock.

Smirking, I trotted towards her and said “Well, it looks like your done eating too. What say we go finish painting that stupid shed, and those other chores, so I can get out of here and you can do…whatever it is you do in your free time.” I waved a hoof in the air vaguely as I said the last bit, figuring DT wouldn’t know much about the activities of the CMC.

“Uhm, okay sure thing Diamond Tiara.” Apple Bloom said, and I just chuckled as I walked past her and out of the room, making my way back outside.

As I stepped outside, I took in a deep breath of fresh air and sighed. I had been doing what I often did when I was overwhelmed by something, over-thinking and over-worrying about the situation and making my day otherwise unpleasant. With that simple decision made, I now realized that I was focusing far too much on the negatives, and not on the positives. This was the chance of a lifetime for me, or even any brony.

I need to find a way home, and keep myself from getting stuck here, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make the best of this once in a lifetime opportunity. I need to do what I’ve always done, and make the best of what I have, and face everything one thing at a time. And right now, that shed needs to be painted!

With that thought, I cantered off in the direction of the shed, a smile on my face and a bounce in my step. I didn’t know what lay ahead of me, but I think I was more prepared for it now than I was when I left Diamonds home, and I looked forward to facing head on whatever else the day threw at me.

And so, another chapter of a Jewel of a Problem comes to an end. Will Cain’s new found optimism and plans lead him back to his strange world, or could it spell doom for any hope of ever returning to Earth? Well, I’m afraid you’ll just have to wait, and see, guahahahahah!

First Apologies

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-*-Apple Bloom-*-

With Diamond Tiara’s help, the rest of Apple Bloom’s chores went by in a flash, finishing with an hour to spare and nothing to do, which was why they were sitting in the kitchen enjoying two bottles of ice cold apple soda.

Diamond Tiara sipped at her soda for a moment, then laid her head on the table and grumbled “So booorreedd! Isn’t there anything else to do?”

“Not really, ah’m afraid any of them other chores we’d have to both be bigger and older before AJ or Big Mac would let us do them.” Apple Bloom said, then frowned and added “Ah’d have figured you’d be happy to be done with the chores.”

Diamond Tiara grinned for a moment. “I am glad.” Her voice softened. “But I was hoping we’d be done later, when it was time for me to go home, not with an hour to spare.” She waved a pink hoof in the air. “So booooooorreedd-”

“Well, why don’t ya help Apple Bloom fix up her clubhouse?” interrupted Granny Smith. “I heard her bellyaching about it a few days ago, but she hasn’t had any time lately to do anything about it.” Granny Smith rocked forward and backwards from her stool in the corner, where she was busy sorting out apples.

“Hey, yeah! Ah’ve been meaning to fix up some of the loose boards and take care of a few of those bent nails. Do you think AJ would agree to that?”

Diamond Tiara shrugged. “I’m sure she’d prefer me to be busy than to have me just sitting around drinking your supply of soda.” She said, lightly tapping her nearly empty bottle.

Apple Bloom hopped out of her chair. “Ah’ll go see what she thinks. Keep an eye on Granny Smith!” Apple Bloom called out the last as she neared the door. Before she stepped outside, she was able to hear her grandma’s response.

“Do wha?”

Shaking her head, Apple Bloom walked outside and looked around, quickly spotting her sister heading for their Apple cellar. “Hey Applejack!” She called out, causing her sister to stop and wait as she ran up to her.

“Hey Apple Bloom. Is the brat behaving herself still?”

“Yup, in fact we even got done ahead of time. But now she’s bored and wanting something to do, so I was wondering if I could have her help me fix up the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse.”

AJ quirked an eyebrow up, but said “Well, to be honest sis I don’t really care what she does, as long as she’s not causing any trouble, so sure, she can go ahead and help ya’ll with that.”

“Thanks a bunch AJ, ah’ll go get her then.” Apple Bloom replied, turning and heading back towards the house, giving Big Mac a quick hug as she passed him heading towards one of the fields. Just as she neared the house, a soft, almost frightened voice, caught her attention.

“Miss Smith…can ponies change?”

Apple Bloom hesitated, before she decided to press herself up against the wall, listening intently as Granny Smith asked “Huh? What’s that you’re asking about little missy?”

“Well…it’s just that I haven’t been very nice to a lot of ponies…and yesterday, that didn’t bother me. At all. But when I woke up this morning, I don’t know, I just felt different, and thinking about everything I’ve done to ponies just made me…not feel good.”

Apple Bloom gasped, immediately putting her hooves over her mouth. A light sheen of sweat formed over her brow, thankful nopony heard her. She lightly used her hooves to prod her ears and make sure there wasn’t something inside them that could perhaps make her hear those words coming out of Diamond Tiara’s mouth.

“Ah, you’re just growing up is all Diamond,” Granny Smith’s voice grew warm. “I remember back when I was about your age there was this filly named Emerald Shine. One of the prettiest fillies in Ponyville then, but she was meaner than a dragon during shedding season. Then one day, she stopped being so mean, and was one of the nicest ponies around. She even gave me a brooch she made from an Emerald Leaf.”

Apple Bloom was able to pick up a hint of suspicion from Diamond Tiara’s voice as she replied “So, just like that, she stopped being mean? It was that simple?”

“Now that I think about it, I think she got turned down pretty harshly by a colt she was pining after, but I like to think it was more than just an attempt to prove she wasn’t just a jerk to somepony. I think everypony is capable of being nice, just as everypony can be mean. They just have to make up their mind about how they want to act.” Granny Smith said, and Diamond Tiara was silent for a moment. Just as Apple Bloom thought the conversation was over, and she could stop eavesdropping, Diamond Tiara asked

“Do…do you think…that maybe…maybe I could change Miss Smith? Do you think I could be like Emerald Shine?”

Silence followed, and with no more words coming from either of them Apple Bloom decided she could walk on in. Her jaw dropped, as she witnessed Granny Smith finishing off hugging Diamond Tiara. The pink filly seemed just as speechless, nodding numbly as Granny then patted her on the head.

Diamond jumped up, making sure her tiara was perched just right, before noticing Apple Bloom’s entering. “A-ah! Apple Bloom there you are!”

Apple Bloom rubbed her eyes, it took a moment to gather her thoughts. “AJ says it’s alright for you to help me with the clubhouse Diamond Tiara.” She stepped into the room, glancing at both of them in curiosity.

“Oh, okay…well, thanks for the talk Miss Smith, I have a lot to think about now.” DT said as she marched towards the door. Before she reached it, she turned and smiled at Granny Smith as she added “You know, you’re pretty smart, even for a kooky old lady.”

Granny’s lips turned up in a smile as she started to say “Why thank ye-hey, wait a minute…”

Diamond Tiara winked conspiratorially at her and laughed slightly, the sound holding no malice or haughtiness, just a good natured laugh, which Granny Smith responded with a chuckle and a wink of her own.

“Come on Apple Bloom, let’s get going, the sooner we get to your clubhouse-thing the sooner I can stop being bored to tears.” Diamond Tiara said as she walked out of the kitchen. Apple Bloom made to follow her, but she got a gesture from Granny Smith, beckoning her over. Gulping, she replied,

“Uh yeah, sure thing, I’ll be out in just a sec.” After hearing an affirmative from Diamond Tiara, she trotted over to Granny Smith to see what she wanted; though she had a feeling she knew what it was. Her thought was confirmed when Granny Smith leaned in to whisper into her ear,

“It’s not very nice to eavesdrop Apple Bloom. I expect you to apologize to her before she has to go home, do you understand?”

“Yes Granny Smith…Ah’ Pinkie Pie Promise. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Granny Smith beamed at her, tussling her mane as she said “That’s my little missy. Now go on and show Miss Tiara where your clubhouse is before she gets lost in the orchard.”

Apple Bloom nodded and made her way to the porch where Diamond Tiara sat waiting.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The two walked on, with some of the apple tree’s being replaced by acorn, maple, and other breeds. Silence lingered between them, until it was broken up by a soft voice.

“Ah’m sorry ah’ eavesdropped on your conversation Diamond Tiara, it really wasn’t any of my business.”

Diamond Tiara looked up, giving Apple Bloom a sad smile. Apple Bloom felt her cheeks heat up, until Diamond chose to look away. She fumed quietly, as her guilt doubled. “Ah said, Ah’m sorry! Just-just don’t act like ah’m the bad mare, here...” She paused noticing Diamond trembling.

The pink filly shook lightly, her eyes watering. “Do you think I am a bad pony?” Apple Bloom took a step back. “I’m sorry,” whispered Diamond.

“Wh-What did you say!?” Apple Bloom blurted out, her mind not completely registering what she had just heard..

“I AM SORRY!!” cried out Diamond, now unable to control her tears. “For everything. For calling yo-you a blank flank. O-or making fun of Granny. Sh-she’s really such a nice pony. And for teasing you all the tim-ti-time...” the pink filly dipped her head, her tiara falling in the mud. “I-I’m so so-sorry...”

Diamond hated herself right now. She didn’t want to cry, but it was as if all of her emotions had been building up, and had finally broken through. She just glared at the ground, too frightened to look up, and she’d never felt so homesick in her entire life.

A soft pat, startled her. Apple Bloom had her tiara in her mouth, before placing it back on her head.

She gave Diamond Tiara a strange look.

“..Ah forgive you Diamond Tiara.”

Apple Bloom slowly patted the shaking filly, yelping in surprise as Diamond latched herself onto her.

“ACK!!!!!” Apple Bloom toppled backwards, trying to push Diamond Tiara away. “Woah there, no huggin-’ GAH!!! You’re getting mud on my mane!”.

They mud wrestled for several moments, before both fell over giggling.

Diamond Tiara gasped for air, looking up at the clouds. “So, is the clubhouse much farther?”

“Nooppeee, it’s not that much farther. Just another minute or two.” She paused, before squinting at Diamond. “Ah promise, if you’re just pretending ta be nice, ah’ll gladly smack you all the way to the moon.”

Diamond Tiara grinned, “Cutie Mark Crusader Moon Explorers!!!” She laughed before running past Apple Bloom into the forest.

“Yo-you can’t say that!” Apple Bloom sputtered in shock, before chasing after her. “Get back over here!!” She couldn’t stop grinning.

-*-Cain (Diamond Tiara)-*-

~Wonderful, performanceeeeee~ cooed the voice.

I gritted my teeth, running further into the old orchard. I ducked underneath another branch, ready to spring out away any nasty surprises. The rocky terrain was rough underneath my hooves, having almost tripped over several unkempt roots.

~To think… Apple Bloom swallowed all your dirty lies. The old hag was even dumber. Bwahahahaha!~

“SHUT UP!” I screamed but the rotten feeling in me didn’t go away. The voice had suggested the whole idea, and I took it. My fur still had patches of dried mud.

The voice went quiet.

“Golly, did you say something Diamond!?” announced Apple Bloom, having finally caught up with me. She gave me a wide grin. “Oh!!! Here we are!”

I turned around. There was Apple Bloom, pointing her hooves excitedly at…

“Sweet holy Celestia!!! What did you gals do to that thing?” I glanced over at Apple Bloom, who looked rather sheepish as she pawed at the ground, an embarrassed chuckle escaping her lips as she glanced at the clubhouse, drawing my own eyes back towards it.

What had been a happy and homey looking clubhouse was now a slightly charred mess of broken smashed tiles and splintered wood. It was a miracle that the structure was still standing, what with the gaping hole in one side of it. All in all, it looked like someone had set off some dynamite. Looking back at her in shock, I asked, “I thought you said we just needed to fix some loose boards and nails!” She smiled awkwardly, leaving me to gaze at the wrecked treehouse as I added “Seriously, were you girls trying to be demolition experts?”

“Actually, we were trying to see if we could be Cutie Mark Crusader Al-che-mists. Ah think Ah’ve got the hang of it, and Scootaloo doesn’t seem too bad at it…but ah think Sweetie Belle missed a step or two…” She murmured, looking at the clubhouse before her eyes widened and she said “Hey, maybe we could be Demolition experts! Ah’ll have to suggest that at our next meeting.”

Dear god, what have I done? I thought to myself, images of Ponyville once again ruined and nearly destroyed popping into my head. Note to self, tell Granny Smith not to let them near any explosives. Out loud, I smiled and said “Well, you can’t do any of your cutie mark hunting…”

“Crusading.” Apple Bloom corrected me, and I dipped my head as I resumed speaking.

“…Any of your crusading until you get this place fixed up, and you’ve only got an extra hoof to help for a little while, and I’m still bored, so let’s get hopping.” I replied, doing my best to do a pony equivalent of ‘after you’.

Apple Bloom just nodded and walked over to a pile of construction and cleaning materials nearby that I hadn’t noticed, the damaged clubhouse drawing most of my attention. I trotted after her, and when I got near she pushed an apron, bucket of soapy water, a sponge, and what looked like the latex socks, over to me as she quickly began putting her own set on.

I looked at what she had given me, looked at the ruins of the clubhouse, and sighed, setting about getting ready for what was going to be my least favorite task today.. This was going to be one long ass hour.

-*-

Despite my utter dislike of the job, I quickly got over it and fell into the same mindset I’d had for every other chore I’d helped Apple Bloom. Humming some of my favorite tunes to myself helped, though Apple Bloom’s attempts to follow along every so often proved distracting. Excepting that, we didn’t say anything to each other that didn’t involve getting the clubhouse cleaned up.

“Are you sure she’s in there?”

My ears twitched as a familiar voice floated up to us, and I turned to give Apple Bloom a questioning glance, and she shrugged, looking as confused as I probably did.

“Eyuup, that’s where AJ said she’d be.”

I’d recognize Big Macintosh’s low southern drawl anywhere. I frowned, trying to figure out who the other voice could be as I dropped my sponge back in its bucket, flicking my ears in the direction of the large hole in the wall. “Thanks Big Mac, I think I’ll be fine from here.”

I crashed to the floor, scampering for the exit. I recognized that voice!

A hoof poked me on the forehead. I craned my neck, noticing Apple Bloom staring at me. “Ya’ll right there, Diamond?” she whispered.

“I know you’re in there!” said Silver Spoon, her voice dripping with acid. The glasses-wearing, prim looking filly stood tall. “So don’t bother hiding. We need to talk, now.”

I crumpled myself to a ball, my tiara peaking from the window sill.

“Don’t try that with me Diamond Tiara!” Silver yelled. “You’ve been avoiding me, and after what you did last week…” There was a brief pause, which gave me only a few seconds to wonder why on earth Diamond Tiara would be avoiding her best friend, when I heard, “Look, you’ve got a lot of explaining to do, so just get your sorry flank out here this instant!”

I glanced at Apple Bloom helplessly. “Help me,” I whispered.

The crusader blinked slowly, as if confused why Diamond Tiara was acting so…afraid.

“Hey there Silver Spoon!” hollered Apple Bloom, sticking her head out the window. She propped her chin on her hooves, “About Diamond Tiara-” She looked at me, before winking. “-Ah’m sure she’s sorry for whatever she did. But she’s not here right now!”

~Whats this? A member of the Apple Family lying? Ohh, I knew you’d muck up with things!~

Silver Spoon glared. “You’re such a liar, Blank Flank!”

“Hey!!! Don’t call her that!” I yelled, abandoning my hiding spot. Apple Bloom looked at me, as if I’d grown another head, before giving me a tiny unguarded smile. “Sooo…what’s up Silver Spoon?”

Silver Spoon’s expression shifted instantly from uncertainty to righteous fury as she shouted “What’s up? What’s up! Is that all you have to say to me after five weeks of not talking to me? Is that all you have to say to me after what you did last week with that stupid newspaper? What’s up, guh!” Silver Spoon shook her head and stalked over to one of the walls, punching it and adding a new hole to the already damaged club house. She looked back at me and shook her head sadly, saying “We were friends Diamond Tiara…why…why would you treat me like this?”

I saw the anger, pain, and sadness in her eyes, but I was at a loss as to what I could do. I didn’t know why Diamond Tiara had stopped talking to her, though the bit about the newspaper was leaving a nasty thought in my head. Diamond Tiara…she wouldn’t have let her paper publish a false story about Silver Spoon…would she?

~Oh, I don’t know, why don’t you see for yourself~

“Wha-” I murmured softly to myself, but before I could say or do anything else, my head started to spin and my vision went white. I vaguely heard Silver Spoon speaking to me through the sudden…whatever I was experiencing, but it was all jumbled up, so I couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

Suddenly, my vision cleared a bit and I looked around to see myself still in Diamond Tiara’s body, but I was no longer in the clubhouse. Instead, I was sitting inside the schoolhouse that Apple Bloom and the other children of Ponyville attended. I saw Silver Spoon slowly starting to clap, and the rest of the fillies and colts in the room soon followed suit. My eyes turned and saw Granny Smith sitting at the front of the class, and in an instant I knew when I was.

<They’re…they’re applauding her story? But she’s just a kooky old granny! She’s not important, she’s not special!>

What the heck? I thought to myself as I heard a different voice floating around me, the voice of Diamond Tiara. She had said something like that in the episode, but-oh, they must be her thoughts, which meant I was inside one of Diamond Tiara’s memories. Which seemed rather convenient to me considering, but then I wasn’t the one who had initiated this, but I wasn’t going to complain.

Someone’s got insecurity problems I thought to myself, rolling my eyes and becoming just a bit disconcerted when Diamond Tiara’s didn’t do the same. I briefly waved a leg, and discovered that I was simply an observer in this little memory when it didn’t react.

The classroom faded, and was replaced by the walls and desks of the Free Foal Press’s newspaper office. I was in the big swivel chair that Diamond Tiara had been using when she ran the newspaper, and Sweetie Belle was setting a story on the desk before me. Diamond Tiara picked it up and I skimmed the story and the photo accompanying it.

The photo was that of Silver Spoon, a paintbrush in mouth that was dripping with a grey paint the same color of her coat. And the photo clearly showed a splotch of paint covering part of her cutie mark.

<This…this is perfect! She’ll regret the day she decided to betray me for those nobodies! I won’t let anyone make me feel like nothing ever again, not after…>

Diamond Tiara’s voice began to fade, and the office went white as a familiar voice pervaded my mind.

~Well, I think that’s enough for now. Now go chat with your frienddddd, Bwahahahah!!!!~

“Wait! I want to know what else happened!” I shouted as everything went white again, my head spinning as the voice laughed at my discomfort. Soon, the whiteness began to fade, and through a dissipating fog I could see both Silver Spoon and Apple Bloom standing in front of me.

“-should go get AJ and Big Mac.” I heard Apple Bloom saying as I started to regain control of Diamond Tiara’s body. A groan escaped my lips, and alerted the two that I was coming around.

“Don’t bother, I’m alright.” I said, slowly lifting myself from the floor and into a sitting position.I rubbed my head, wishing the feeling that everything around me was whirling would go away. I would have gotten my wish, had a certain grey filly launched herself at me, hooves wrapping around me in a tight embrace.

Are hugs that strangle you common around here? I thought to myself as I pulled away from Silver Spoon enough to breathe. With fresh oxygen in my lungs, I looked at Silver Spoon and asked “What gives? I thought you were mad at me…”

“I am still mad at you! But that doesn’t mean I want something bad to happen to you, you’re my best friend…or at least I thought you were…” Silver Spoon replied, breaking the embrace and looking down at the floor.

“Silver Spoon…” I murmured, feeling a pang of guilt rising within me as I gazed at her. Diamond Tiara had been the one to make Silver Spoon question their friendship, but Diamond Tiara wasn’t the one standing in front of her. Not exactly anyways. Reaching out to her, I started out slow as I told her,

“You remember the end of Family Appreciation week right? When Apple Bloom had Granny Smith there? Well…after the end of her story, I saw you clapping, and I thought back to when my daddy was talking, and you didn’t look all that excited. I got upset, and when you agreed with what Apple Bloom said about my family…I, I just couldn’t take it!” I stomped a hoof on the ground, removing my hoof from her shoulder as I walked over to the hole and stared out at the trees.

“So I spent the last few weeks stewing over it, I felt betrayed and I couldn’t get the anger to go away…until I saw that story Apple Bloom and her friends wrote.”

“Oh…yeah, Ah’m still sorry ‘bout that Silver Spoon.” Apple Bloom said, rubbing her head briefly and drawing our attention away from each other.

“It’s okay Apple Bloom, I already forgave all of you.” Silver Spoon replied, before turning back to me as she asked “But I don’t get it, what did you think publishing that story would accomplish? What did you expect me to do, be happy that you made half the town think my cutie mark was fake?”

I sighed, digging into my mind as I tried to discern a reasonable explanation. After a moment, I said “I wasn’t thinking about you, I was thinking about me…which I’ve been doing a lot lately. I figured that embarrassing you would make me feel better, and that maybe, hah, maybe you’d come back to me and say you were sorry for siding against me that day…”

I felt tears beginning to form in my eye, and I wasn’t sure if they were tears of regret or tears of rage, at myself or Diamond Tiara. “I might have felt good about it before…but now…*sniff* now I feel bad about it…about it and every other mean thing I’ve done…” I grit my teeth in anger, and without thinking about it I struck out with a hoof, punching yet another hole into the wall as I shouted out

“I’M A BAD PONY!”

I slumped to the ground, tears still falling down my face as I let out some of the emotions that had been swirling around in my head all day. Maybe it was because of some lingering dizziness in my head, maybe I was already beginning to become Diamond Tiara. Or perhaps it was because of what I was doing, manipulating ponies who didn’t deserve to be lied too.

Regardless of the reason, I really did feel like I was a bad pony, that all the mean things that Diamond Tiara had done were somehow my fault. I didn’t want everypony to hate me, and I especially couldn’t stand the idea of losing Silver Spoon as a friend.

What is happening to me? What is wrong with me?

“Diamond Tiara…” I heard Apple Bloom say as she walked over to me, resting a hoof on my back. I turned my head to look at her, finding a soft smile on her face as she gazed down at me. “Ah already said you’re not a bad pony. If you were a bad pony, you wouldn’t be upset or sad about this, and you wouldn’t have said you’re sorry about making fun of me and my friends and family.”

My heart was seizing up, and in that instant I knew why I felt so bad. Apple Bloom’s words struck me deep down, and brought the reason forth to me. I was feeling guilty for lying to both of them, for lying to Granny Smith. But what could I do? I couldn’t risk finding out what might happen if they learned the truth…

As much as it bothered me, I needed to keep the act up for now. Celestia forgive me… I thought to myself as I said, “Yes I am…a good pony wouldn’t have published a story saying her best friends cutie mark was fake…a good pony wouldn’t have avoided her for weeks without saying a word…”

“Hey.” Silver Spoon said, and I turned my head towards her as she sat down next to me. “Hearing what you’ve said, I think I understand why you felt like you did…”

“You do?” I asked, sniffing a bit as I gave her my full attention. Despite how upset I was feeling, if Silver Spoon was somehow able to make sense of it all, I was all ears.

“Yeah, I mean, after all the things you’ve told me those losers back in Canterlot would say to you, I can understand why you would get upset about that day, and I’m sorry it came across that way. It doesn’t excuse what you did…but I understand why you did what you did to me.”

Canterlot? Losers? What on Earth is she talking about it? I thought to myself as I mulled over all of what she had told me. This was something I would have to look into when I had the time. For now, I turned my eyes back to Silver Spoon as I asked “Do…do you think you could forgive me for what I did Silver Spoon? I really do regret letting that story get published…and I’m really sorry I let my anger get the better of me.”

Silver Spoon seemed to look away, the expression on her face looking like she was really taking it seriously. For the briefest of instants, I thought she was going to turn back to me and tell me that no, she wouldn’t forgive me, and that she didn’t want to be friends anymore. But instead, she turned back to me and smiled slyly.

“I can forgive you Diamond Tiara…on one condition.”

Gulping as a feeling of foreboding fell over me, I asked “What condition?”

Silver Spoon inched closer, our snouts now touching. “The tiara.” She eyed me carefully. “For the weekend.”

I hesitated, just for a second. “Fine.”

-*-Applejack-*-

AJ waited quietly, occasionally glancing towards the Everfree Forest. She sighed, unable to squash the worrisome feeling building inside her. Big Mac stood beside her.

“Seen ‘em yet?”

“Nope,” clipped Applejack, her eyes scanning the tree-line.

Big Mac eyed his sis. “Ya’ know. Granny was spoutin’ on about that pink filly. Said she’d be a good friend for Applebloom.” AJ scoffed, still keeping her back turned.

“Ah reckon, she’s right.”

AJ glared at her brother, before slumping her head in defeat. “Not you too, Big Mac. It’s not natural. Ponies don’t just suddenly change overnight Big Macintosh, especially ponies like Diamond Tiara.”

AJ hoped that Big Macintosh would just leave it at that, and for the few seconds of silence there was between them, she thought that for once, he wouldn’t have something profound to say to jar her thoughts.

“Your right, Ponies can’t change overnight.” He said, causing her frown to turn into a smug smirk. It vanished a second later when he stated, in that special way of his, “But little fillies can grow up AJ.”

Silence fell between them as they waited. It was, thankfully, not a long one as soon three forms could be seen passing out of the woods and into the neat rows of the Apple Orchard. Apple Bloom, Silver Spoon, and Diamond Tiara were heading straight towards them, though they seemed to be taking their time.

Not interested in waiting, and wanting that brat off her farm as soon as possible, AJ set out to meet them at a quick trot. The sound of heavier hoofsteps behind her told her that Big Mac was following.

As they neared, AJ was able to pick up tid-bits of conversation the three were having, and she was more than a tad perplexed to see that Apple Bloom was talking amicably with Diamond Tiara, laughing even at some stuff she was saying.

“Hey Gals!” She called out, causing the three to pause in their tracks as they saw them approaching. “We were about to come looking for you three. What were ya’ll doing that it took another hour for ya to make it out here?”

“Oh, sorry sis,” Apple Bloom said, glancing back at the two fillies as she went on, “After Diamond and Silver made up, we started cleanin’ up the inside of the clubhouse. We...kinda lost track of time while we were working...”

AJ glanced suspiciously at Diamond Tiara, but she gave her a terse nod as she said “Well thank ye kindly for helping out Apple Bloom here with her clubhouse, and all her other chores. At least its a start on making up for all the trouble you caused.”

Diamond looked down, dragging a hoof along the ground as she murmured “Yeah, I’ve got a lot of work cut out for me to make everything alright,” Her gaze moved away from the ground, and she looked directly into AJ’s eyes as she said “But I’m going to do my best to make it up to everypony.”

AJ took a step back, startled by the young filly’s response. For a moment, she remembered another stubborn young filly pleading to Granny for forgiveness, after returning from Manehatten. Sure, it wasn’t a mistake like the one Diamond Tiara had made...but didn’t Big Mac say that fillies could grow up?

AJ looked towards Big Mac, before looking back towards the young filly. She rubbed her head awkwardly, stumbling to find the right words. “Ah-Ah think Ah misjudged ya’ Diamond.” She gave a heavy sigh, before giving the filly a weak grin.

Diamond returned the grin with a wide smile of her own. AJ was about to speak, when she noticed that for a single, brief second, something was off about Diamond’s eyes. She blinked, wondering if she had simply imagined her eyes turning yellow and red.

Applejack shuddered for a moment, a strange tingling sensation spreading from her head to the rest of her body. Then just as quickly it vanished, a dull throbbing sensation being the only sign that anything was amiss.

“Well, I better hurry on back home, I’m sure Daddy’s wondering why I’m late. Tell Granny Smith thank you for the wonderful lunch. I’ll see you later Apple Bloom.”

“Ah had fun Diamond...wow, never thought ah’d be saying that in my lifetime.”

Everypony laughed, any tension soon melting away at Apple Bloom’s words. With a final farewell from Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara, the two fillies turned and headed back towards town.

AJ watched them disappear over the horizon, trying to ignore the sudden headache she was beginning to develop.

“You okay, sis?” Apple Bloom asked as she came over to her, looking up at her in worry. “Your not pushing yourself too hard again are ya?”

“Ah’m fine.” AJ lied as she rubbed her head, giving her little sis a comforting smile. But as Apple Bloom and Big Mac turned and headed back towards the house, AJ couldn’t help but look back towards town. Just after Diamond had started off, she could have sworn she had heard a familiar laugh whispering in the wind.

~Authors Note~

Rainbow Sparkle: Dear god, that chapter was a hell and a half to write. I’m not sure how everyone will like this chapter, but thanks to HoneyHoneyHoney’s help, I am fully content with this chapter now. If there’s any grammar mistakes, I’ll make sure to get to them and the ones in other chapters ASAP (which means sometime this weekend preferably)

Anyways, read, enjoy, and don’t forget to comment! Anything to add HoneyHoneyHoney?

Honeyhoneyhoney: *gives Rainbow a muffin* Psssst. And to all ya readers. Don’t forget to complain~!!! How else can we improve? Mwahahahahahaha!!!
*throws muffins into the crowd* Bwahahahahahaha!!

End of One Day, Beginning of Another

View Online

-*-Diamond Tiara (Cain)-*-

I marched down the road, grimacing at the crusted, dried mud which stuck to my fur. The Apple Family’s barn was only a speck in the horizon as we neared Ponyville. Luckily, Silver Spoon seemed content with walking in silence.

We’d past several ponies by now, and I could've sworn they were watching my every move, whispering snarky comments behind my back. But I couldn’t muster the energy to care, as my legs began to wobble. Sweat stuck to my back -- like a soggy sweater -- and with no tiara, my mane was left hanging over my eyes.

My left fore-hoof clipped a rock, and I crashed forward. Before I could respond, Silver Spoon lifted me onto my hooves. “We’re almost home.” Silver trotted next to me, providing support, despite my weak protest. She simply shook her head, and reluctantly, I accepted the help

Luna’s moon was now visible, peeking over the rooftops, as we neared Diamond Tia-my house. Silver stepped back as I managed to stand on my own four hooves. We stood there. I fidgeted, playing with a tuft of pink fur on my forearm. As the silenced stretched, Silver Spoon was the first to break it. “I should go.” She hoof-bumped my shoulder, before turning towards the large metal gate.

“Silver Spoon,” I called. She looked over her shoulder. “Thanks again!” The shadows had made it difficult to see, but I could have sworn she smiled back. She finally exited the courtyard and turned past the gate. I was on my hind-legs waving.

I lowered my hooves; then I carefully craned my head towards the gargantuan doorway. The mansion that stood proudly before could have easily swallowed four or five copies of the Apple family’s barn. How I did not really notice its enormous figure? My mind must have been really, really distracted.

“... home sweet home.” I gulped.

Ominously, the door smoothly opened. I blinked twice, before venturing forward. My hoofsteps -- despite my tiny limbs-- echoed. Golden chandeliers littered the ceiling, which was bright enough to shine off the marble tiles. I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable, as I left a trail of dirt.

My head lowered as I continued walking. Several stationed servant ponies watched aghast, while another few rushed over to me, hastily arguing amongst each other on the best case of action. The panic was now spreading like wildfire --several ponies were scrambling on top of one another-- and I could only cringe as their actions became more and more frantic.

“Enough!”

Everypony went quiet. The servant-ponies edged away, letting through the oldest pony I’ve ever seen. Granny Smith’s great-grandpa came to mind. His expressionless, wrinkly face had gotten only closer. “This is inadequate.” As he turned, I caught sight of his cutie mark -- a very fancy bow-tie. He clapped his hooves, and in seconds everypony else shuffled out of the main hall.

“Umm…” I shifted side-by-side, fidgeting as he resumed his stare. I gave the pony a sheepish smile as I nervously asked “Surprise?”

He sighed, shaking his head.

I tilted my head to the side, my eyes widening as I asked “Huh-”

A pair of doors slammed open, near the stairwell. The furniture shook, as angry hooves clopped forward. Filthy Rich, with a pipe hanging from his mouth, did not look happy. “Jeeves!!! What is with this ruckus about my little princ-” He stopped mid-sentence, surprise registering on his face as he caught sight of me.

“Diamond?” He asked, and at my nod he rushed over to me, stopping inches away from my beaten up appearance. “P-princess, what did those Apples do to you!?”

“Umm-” I tried to say, but Filthy went right on, not seeming to listen as he started pacing in front of us.

“I trusted them! The bad lot, all of them, making my baby do Celestia knows what!!!”

“Da-”

“Jeeves, go prepare Diamond a bath.” Filthy grimaced. “Please forgive Daddy, if I had known they’d work you like a dog…” He sighed. “That’s it I’m tearing that list up, and I’ll burn it for good measure. Now go have your bubble bath, princess. I’ll have the cooks prepare your favorite dinner.”

“Wait!” I yelped, surprising Filthy Rich and Jeeves. “The Apples didn’t do anything wrong... I just worked a little too hard.” Not to mention mud-wrestled Apple Bloom I thought silently as I looked down to the floor. “I just...” My mind went blank, as I stumbled for words. “Just please... don’t get mad at them.” I squared my shoulders, looking into Daddy’s eyes. “I want to finish that list.”

Filthy Rich and Jeeves kept quiet, watching me. Daddy trotted closer and then roughly hoof-brushed my mane. I couldn’t see his face, as he turned away. He hesitated. “Extra bubbles, Jeeves.” With that, he walked away.

I didn’t know what to feel, as the wrinkly-butler pony led me in the opposite direction.

-*-

I flailed my pink hooves into the air, trying to push the extra bubbles from my face. The strong perfumed water, had me hacking. I’d bet two bits, that the rose-flavoured water was making my fur more puffy and soft that I’d thought was humanly possible. But despite my unmanly protests, my two “scrubber-ponies” --whom I’ve lovingly named Wishy and Washy-- massaged and shampooed every bit of my tiny pink body. I had squeaked loudly as their hooves rubbed and rubbed certain spots... including certain non-existent spots... “You’re as pretty as your Mommy,” cooed Washy,which made me grumble.

I wanted to protest, but another pair of hooves lowered right under my shoulder. I shuddered at the sudden spasm, my back beginning to soften. I fluttered my eyes, as Wishy rubbed right next to my sore calf. I gave a content mumble, as the pretty pink bubbles tickled my cheeks. I giggled as I popped the yummy-smelling bubble.

“Tsk-tsk. Your mane is absolutely filthy,” chided Washy or Wishy. “Do you want me to schedule your Friday stylist.”

I chortled. “Sure. It’s been days since my last trim,” My body lurched forward, startling the two scrubber-ponies. Water splashed over the tub, as I tightly held my head. Washy kindly held me close, as I tried to steady my heavy breathing.

For the first time that day, I’d wish the ominous voice in my head would speak. But it was silent, probably taunting me, as I quietly wondered how I knew the bathroom’s decor originated from Le Herb’s design from Prance; or that the water was not only scented with crushed White Bella rose petals but also half-a-bottle of Manehatten chardonnay; or that “Wishy” and “Washy” were Equestria-renowned masseuses that would make Rarity cringe with jealousy.

Then memories of my real mom, of my real family, flickered through my mind. They were joined by memories of my life back on Earth, and in that moment the fear that had been building inside of me was washed away. “I-I’m just imagining things.” I whispered softly into the bubbles as I felt the soothing hooves of Wishy and Washy trying to comfort me.

“Is everything alright Lady Diamond?” Washy asked, and for a brief second I worried that they had heard me.

“Y-Yeah, my head just hurts a little.” I chuckled awkwardly, making my eyes go cross-eyed. “Probably just the bubbles.”

“Oh dear, maybe the bath mix we got was stronger than usual...” Washy murmured, concern written across her face as she glanced at Wishy.

My eyes became wide as saucers,worried they’d think they’d somehow gotten Filthy Rich’s daughter drunk, and were fearing for their jobs. Remembering how Ginger Gold had reacted when she accidentally smacked the door into me, I needed to say something quickly to assuage their fears.

Rubbing my head with a hoof, I gave them a weak smile as I said “Sorry, I was just kidding around...”

Before anypony could say or do anything else, the door to the bath opened, and Mister Wrinkles stepped in. “Ahem-” He called out, getting our attention, “Young heiress, dinner is prepared.”

-*-

Dinner turned out to be baked oats with a side of dandelion petals and asparagus. While I wasn’t sure about the flower petals, the oats and asparagus were perfectly fine by me, though I was already beginning to miss the meats I loved eating. What I wouldn’t give for some nice juicy chicken right now…

Once again I was in the dining hall, sitting next to Filthy Rich’s spot at the front. We were alone again, except for Ginger who was standing nearby ready to fetch anything either of us asked for. Both of us were eating in silence, and it was starting to get to me, especially when I noticed that every so often Filthy would glance at me curiously. But he kept eerily quiet, as if imitating a statue.

I was just about to finish the last few petals when Filthy said aloud “I talked to Granny Smith on the telephone earlier.”

I nodded carefully at Filthy’s words. I was wondering where exactly this was going to be going, hoping that I hadn’t somehow done something that would land me in more trouble.

“I was surprised to hear about how well behaved you were, what with how you’ve been acting lately.” His gaze was making me uncomfortable, so I turned my focus to finishing the petals that were left on my plate.

A full minute of silence followed as I gulped down the last bits of my dinner. Pushing my plate forward, I turned to look at Filthy Rich. The uneasiness building inside me was growing exponentially, and I was half-hoping it was dinner. Before I could speak, Filthy spoke. “Ginger, why don’t you go check on the dessert.”

Ginger bowed, offering a quick ‘yes sir’ before ducking out of the room and leaving me with Filthy Rich. Once the door closed, Filthy looked at me. It took a moment for him to realize, I was beginning to shake. His face softened. “Princess, are you feeling alright?”

The question caught me off guard, but then again anything he might have said would have done so, as I hadn’t the faintest idea what was going on through his mind.

“Yes Daddy, I’m fine, just a bit exhausted is all.” I replied a bit too quickly.

His demeanor softened, his stiff posture inclining a few centimeters, his shoulders loosening. He looked to the distance, as he softly swirled his glass, half-filled with Zap Apple Brandy. Silence returned to the room, and once again I started feeling very uncomfortable, fidgeting a little as I waited for whatever it was Filthy was going to do.

“I knew a young colt once...” Filthy said, speaking suddenly as his voice carried through the empty dining hall. “He worked hard princess. He worked very, very hard.” He gave a weak chuckle. “From dawn to dusk he’d work, sacrificing his very soul for every bit.”

I was perked up on my seat, unable to know Filthy was watching me through the wine-glass’ reflection.

“And then one night, as that colt slept, a terrible storm blasted through. The worst Equestria had seen in decades, according to Pegasi. That young pony lost his estate, his bits, and his very livelihood. All his items cast into the wind, lost and never to be seen again.” Filthy carefully sipped his glass.

“The days grew long... as that colt trudged through Canterlot, covered in mud and rags... Everypony, friends he’d once known, offered him help. But he was a proud pony. Strong in his beliefs. So with his head held high he continued his journey.”

I sat patiently, waiting for Filthy to continue his story, but he seemed distracted by his drink. I almost didn’t want to speak. “What happened next?”

He looked at his glass for a moment, his eyes closing as he seemed lost in thought. A moment later, he set down his glass as he opened his eyes, gazing directly at me. “That colt died, the next day.”

Before I’d knew it, I was yelling. “That’s stupid!?” Diamond’s squeaky voice actually seemed to surprise Filthy. “Equestria is about friendship, not-not stupid pride.” I glared at Daddy. “He probably had horrible friends anyways, if they just let him out to just...” I tried my best to hold my composure, anger bubbling within me just under the surface. “Friends don’t just let each other go like that. Friendships are worth fighting for...”

I looked up, surprised by his smile.

“Diamond, I am proud of you.” My heart skipped a beat. He gently brushed my tiara-less head, his eyes shining. “After our meal...” He hesitated, before nodding to himself. “Please, accompany me to my study. I believe you have a story to tell me as well.”

I couldn’t hold my excitement. Daddy had never let me into his private study!! I was about to question how I’d known that, but Filthy had clapped his hooves loudly.

The door clicked open.

The dessert took my breath away, and I was very, very glad my human teeth hadn’t come along with me as I gaped at the stupendous, monstrosity, before me. Cake on cake on cake, coated and filled with creamy frosting, towered above me. Its sugar frosting sparkled in the light. Even more shocking, I recognized the confection towering over me.

“It-It’s the...”

“Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness,” finished Daddy, seemingly smug at my gobsmacked expression. “Or an incomplete version according to that pink pastry chef.” He fetched two silver platters. “Either way, since we’ve lent some funds to the Cakes, they’ve sent us their plans for the upcoming National Dessert Competition.”

It was... glorious.

“Enjoy princess.”

-*-Filthy Rich-*-

After enjoying a slice with his daughter, watching as she happily bit into the sugary creation, Filthy Rich excused himself, telling his princess that he had a few things he needed to check on briefly before they adjourned to his study. Before leaving the dining hall, he couldn’t help but give his little princess another pride filled smile, which she returned before diving back into her cake.

As Filthy Rich made his way towards his study, he was intercepted by Jeeves, who gave a quick bow before hoofing over a basket and declaring “Today’s mail Mister Rich. I apologize for its lateness, but the mail-mare seemed to have once again gotten side tracked in her delivery route. Something about battling mutant mail eating muffins at the Cake’s place.”

“Miss Pinkamena is experimenting again? Well, we better keep our orders from Sugar Cube corner to a minimum again until the dessert competition is done. Thank you for the mail Jeeves.”

Jeeves simply bowed again and went on his way as Filthy Rich took the basket in his teeth and entered his study. Setting the basket on his desk, he quickly sifted through the usual junk mail and left the bills and business letters off to the side to review later. It didn’t take him long to find what he and his princess had been waiting the last week for.

Filthy Rich quickly walked over to the talking tube set into the wall, making sure to flick the switch that would connect the study to the dining hall, before saying “Diamond Tiara, when you’re finished you can come on in.”

He heard a soft yelp from the other end, and then the soft patter of hooves before he heard Diamond Tiara replying “Yes daddy.”

Filthy Rich turned away from the tube, glancing at the letter he held in his hoof, a soft smile gracing his face as he carefully opened it and gazed at the beautiful writing of his beloved wife.

To my dear King and darling Princess...

Please forgive a silly mare’s lateness, but I have been so terribly busy here in Paris. I love you both, so much. Never forget.

Oh! Negotiations in Prance are nearing to a close. Of course, I’ve attracted several Prench suitors, sent to sweep me off my hooves. And my dear King, you’ll find great humour that I’ve broken many hearts.

Filthy Rich broke into laughter, his navy-blue eyes brimming with tears. He leaned on his side, his dark auburn fur pressing against his armchair, as he returned to the letter.

My King, you have already swept me away and I cherish the moment I return, to feel your warmth next to mine. And it gives me great pleasure and enthusiasm to announce that I will be soon returning to Ponyville.

He collapsed into his chair.

Princess Celestia has confirmed the date, I should be home by next week -- four days after you get this letter.

And to my darling Princess, I’ve missed you so. My wonderful, darling daughter. As promised, I have your Prance-Le Floure’ gown, and I will be bringing it with me when I return home. I just know you’re going to love it, you’ll look as regal and beautiful as any princess in Equestria.

I miss you both dearly, and I can not wait to be home holding both of you in my hooves,

Love, your darling Queen,

Silver Tongue

He blinked slowly, stunned at the wondrous news. He looked towards the family portrait which hung proudly above his fireplace. Filthy Rich sat quietly, lost in the image.

He did not turn as a light knock reverberated through the room. Clearing his throat, Filthy Rich called out “Enter.” A second later, the door was pushed open, and his little princess stepped inside.

“Daddy?”

He pulled back a cry, as he weakly turned to his side. The family portrait flickered in his memory. Diamond stepped gently forward, her worry apparent. To think, that just yesterday he’d saw her shrieking at an elderly mare till she was left in tears.

But now...

Filthy Rich couldn’t help but notice her gait. There was an apparent softness to her features, missing ever since her mother’s departure.

Everypony knew his Cutie Mark meant his special talent was moneymaking. They were partially right. But his success, had also derived from his talent in catching trickery and deceit.

“Daddy, are you okay?” His princess was not acting. He could sense it.

He gently patted the space next to him, amusement playing on his features as his little filly hesitated. Filthy Rich felt his heart strings strung gently, as she walked over and sat down next to him. She seemed a bit nervous, but a few loving strokes of her mane seemed to ease the tension out of her.

“Now Princess...why don’t you tell me about your day?” Filthy Rich asked, pulling her close in a soft embrace as he waited for her to start.

He listened quietly as his Princess launched into her intricate tale of her day in Ponyville. She’d press up onto him, nestled next to him as she tried to move her own tiny hooves to keep up with her exciting tale.

He caught her small yawn, as she begun to mutter about Silver Spoon, and letting her borrow the tiara for the while. His princess rubbed her eyes, her posture getting droopy as she spun her words further.

And as Luna’s moon drifted long past the sky, he kept perfectly still as his princess eventually fell to sleep. She muttered quietly, before snuggling further into his embrace.

Looking down at his precious child, Filthy Rich never felt so fragile, knowing that his wonderful Princess had come back home. They were going to be a family again. He rested his head, catching one last glimpse of the dusty portrait -- a younger him, held by his darling wife, while a playful pink filly sat on his lap -- before he too closed his eyes and drifted off.

-*-

That first night was not an easy one for Cain. Being so far away from home in both body and soul, and plagued by nightmares left him tossing and turning, whimpering as he saw images of a trapped small pink filly being chased by horrible monsters that were born from the shadows of the dark.

“Somepony help me!” Cain could hear her screams, with the only response being a mad, deranged cackle that echoed around her and bore into her mind. The filly begged for help as the monsters inched closer.

The sight of the terrified filly sent feelings of rage and helplessness through Cain, as he could do nothing but watch the scene. He wished desperately that the images and sounds would fade away and allow him some peace, but that was not to be. As he was forced to watch, he hoped to himself that he was not the only one suffering this night.

~As it would so happen, he was not, but I’m afraid my friends that’s a tale for another eve. Why yes, I can see you all out there through your silly little screens. I’m even making funny faces faces at you when your not realizing it! But I’m sure you don’t want to hear from little ol me, so I think we’ll just move things right along now.~

*Snap*

-*-Diamond Tiara(Cain)-*-

Day 2

“GUAH!” I shouted, shooting up and smacking my head into something, or someone as I heard a similar yelp a second later. I opened my eyes, seeing a blurry pony shaped face standing before me. Ginger Gold was rubbing her forehead, before looking at me with wide eyes. She leaped at me, and squeezed my cheeks to check for any bruises.

“Oh thank Celestia, you’re finally awake!” I flailed helplessly, as Ginger Gold then pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. “I was starting to worry that something was wrong with you. You kept tossing and turning, and you were muttering in your sleep...” She paused, and then decided to gently put me down. I thankfully sank into the large marshmallow-like pillow.

“I was?” I thought back to my dream, unable to remember. I rolled off the giant cushion, and toppled off my bed. The bed sheets that fell with me were wet, probably from sweat. I unwrapped myself, trying to ignore how sticky my fur felt.

“Definitely. But you were mostly muttering gibberish.” She kneeled down towards me. “You sounded very scared though...were you having a bad dream?”

I tried to remember, but failed. “Maybe. But I have a huge headache.”

Ginger Gold patted me gently. “Well, a warm bubble bath always cures headaches. At least, according to my mother...” She tapped her chin, before smiling widely. “And Mr. Rich did say I needed to...” I shivered, as Ginger giggled to herself.

“That’s not really necessary Ginger...” I murmured as I attempted to crawl away.

“Nu-uh.” She lifted me up, and carried me down the hallway. I gave up trying to escape after several minutes, and was sorta listening to her instructions. “-young ladies. And one more thing. Mayor Mare and Twilight Sparkle are expecting you.” My ears wiggled. “The Mayor at town hall. Then after, Twilight requested to give you a special assignment.”

My face blushed red, “Twilight...”

I clamped my jaw shut, realizing Ginger Gold was looking at me funny. “Ehehe. Umm.” I caught sight of a nearby clock. “I mean-umm- Right off the bat? Can’t it wait like an hour or two?”

Ginger’s answer was straight to the point and very direct; She simply lifted me up and unceremoniously dropped me in the tub.

Coughing and sputtering, I brushed my drenched mane aside and muttered “I’ll take that as a no then.”

“Sorry Miss Tiara, but Mister Rich was very clear.” She poured a bucket of water on top of me. “He wants you punctual, on the dot.” Rose-scented shampoo was slathered on top of me.

Bath time was a blur, as she massaged my tiny soapy body. After squeaking too many times (obviously, in the most manly of ways...), it felt as if I had just woken up at the breakfast table all squeaky clean.

I stared at the bowl of oatmeal, as the chef bowed away. I poked the mooshy gloop before gobbling it up.

-*-

I was all dressed up, sitting out on a red-silk cushion. There was a ruffly pink skirt, wrapped around my torso. And our house-stylist had ponytailed my mane. I should have been more irritated, but it did keep the hair from my face.

I looked at the note, Filthy Rich had left for me.

Princess,

Daddy received an urgent call. Sorry, we could not meet at breakfast.

Ginger Gold volunteered to pass all instructions. Remember Princess: 1) Mayor Mare 2) Twilight Sparkle. Both are very influential ponies.

Keep making Daddy proud.

Love,

Daddy

PS~ Don’t let the maids do your homework. Jeeves will tell me if you do.

I stopped at the last part, and my eyes went wide as saucers. “HOMEWORK?! B-But it’s supposed to be summer!”

Or, at least, it was back on Earth.

“Is everything alright Miss Tiara?” Ginger asked, poking her head through the kitchen door.

“Calendar! I need a calendar! And I need every school book I have! NOW!”

There was suddenly a flurry of movement, and I watched in amazement as several staff members that seemed to pop out of the walls ran off, returning moments later with the items I had requested. Ginger Gold set a cutesy calendar on the table, and a quick glance confirmed two things.

That it was indeed summer, and that it was the exact same date it would have been back on Earth. Which meant that in Equestria, school went on even in the summer.

Great, not only do I have to take Diamond Tiara’s punishment, I also have go to school for her! This can’t get any worse!

A door opened, and Jeeves poked his head out and said, “Miss Tiara, I’m afraid you only have ten minutes, seems some of our clocks are off half an hour.”

With a groan, I banged my head on the table. Today was just going to be a blast.

-*-

“Here we are Miss Tiara.”

“Thanks Rickshaw.” I said, hopping out of the carriage. I flashed a smile at Rickshaw, an old brown Earth Pony who worked for Filthy Rich as a carriage driver. He gave me an odd look before shrugging and trotting off with the carriage.

Frowning slightly, I briefly wondered why Rickshaw didn’t return the smile before shaking my head. I had more important things to do, like getting this ‘being the mayor’s assistant’ bit out of the way as soon as possible. To that end, I turned and marched up the steps of the town hall, some excitement making its way through me as I pushed the door open. I was after all going to get an inside look into how Ponyville was run.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped inside.

The room was spotless-- bureaucracy at its finest. I almost tripped over several stairs, as a gaped at the amount of ponies zipping and zooming everywhere. Unlike the first MLP episode, the structure was jam-packed with working ponies. There were typing ponies, delivery ponies, janitor ponies, greeter ponies, secretary ponies, arguing ponies, agreeing ponies, and ponies who seemed to be doing assignments that left my mind boggled.

I would have said it was similar to a fresh, clean DMV (or any other government setting) but the COLORS were almost blinding. The pristine pinks and reds and yellows were overloading my cutesy-senses.

I shook my head, attempting to regain my focus from the crowd of colorful ponies.

“Oh boy!!! I mean, oh girl-!!” A bubbly voice greeted me. “Oops! I mean, hi there Diamond Tiara!” l turned around, just to see Derpy (Ditzy?) knocking a stack of papers as she rushed towards me.

She gave me a kind smile as she flew over, though her smile faded and she tilted her head in confusion. “Hey, what happened to your tiara? That bird didn’t take it again, did it?”

I shook my head, replying “Oh no, my friend is borrowing it for the weekend.”

Derpy’s smile returned. “Ah! That’s so nice of you. You’re totally an awesome friend.”

“Yeah…but it does feel kinda odd to not have it on.” I shook away the feeling. “Anyways, I trust Silver Spoon will take good care of it.”

“Friends are definitely the best!” Derpy’s smile faded for a moment, before giving a happy cheer. “It’s never fun to lose a friend.” I nodded to her, and she gave my head a quick pat before she said “Well, I’ve got to get going! Lots and lots and lots of mail to deliver. See ya later!”

I waved back, watching her vanish through the front window. My heart was racing, having met another pony I’d adored from the show.

*ahem* “Miss Tiara?”

I looked over my shoulder. A unicorn looked at me, tapping her hoof. “Miss Tiara, I presume?” She levitated a notepad with a black quill.

I nodded politely “Yes, ma'am.” I straightened my posture, before bowing. “Miss Tiara, reporting for duty.” I couldn’t help myself, as I politely walked alongside her.

She quirked an eyebrow at me, surprise clearly written on her face as she silently appraised me. I kept my face blank. She soon made a ‘hmph’ sound before turning and stating “Just follow me, the Mayor is waiting for you.”

I followed her through a pair of doors, which led into a long hallway filled with office-cubicles. Swathes of ponies were busy at work, behind their desks.

As we continued to walk, we eventually reached a doorway. The unicorn tapped the door with her horn, and the doorway -clicked- loudly. “She will see you now.” Before I could speak, she was already hurrying off to her next task.

“Miss Tiara!” exclaimed a cheerful voice, and suddenly I was pulled inside. A gray-maned mare smiled broadly, as she sat me down onto a cushion. “I was so startled that the daughter of my best sponsor wanted to assist me.” Mayor Mare quickly trotted behind her desk, trying to hide the beads of sweat on her forehead.

“Oh. Umm. I wanted to apologi-”

“Haha. No need to apologize my dear!” she interrupted quickly. I didn’t know ponies could smile that wide. “Such a smart filly would normally want to explore her natural talents at journalism.” She seemed to calm slightly. “But when your generous father asked to have you assist me. Oh my, I was so surprised! Of course, I do love the help........eheheh.”

I was about to speak, but Mayor Mare had already rushed me out her room. I spent the first few minutes doing absolutely nothing, as every other employee had been ordered to do cater to my every whim. An office pony had even brought me lemonade. For some, this would have been a lucky break, and I did think of it as such.

For about five seconds. Then it got annoying. I wasn’t a big fan of pampering, and that’s basically what they were doing, and it made me sick to my stomach. The only problem was, I wasn’t sure how to get them to stop.

Then, it came to me.

“Excuse me...Misty Rain, right?” I asked the Pegasi Mayor Mare had told me to talk to if I needed anything.

“Yes Miss Tiara? Is there something I can do for you?”

A small smirk came to my face, and I said “Yes actually, you can give me something to do.”

“O-Oh...but, um...the Mayor said that you-”

My smirk vanished, and I sighed as I gazed at her, my expression clearly stating how tired of this I was. “Mayor Mare said to cater to my every whim, right?” Misty Rain seemed to hesitate for a moment, before nodding. I continued on “Well then, my whim is for you to find something productive for me to do! Chop chop!”

Despite my annoyance at the staff, it was rather amusing to see how fast she dashed off. A minute later she returned with the dour and unhappy face of the unicorn I’d seen earlier.

“Why did you bring me over here Misty Rain? I’ve already told you I’m not kissing the brats hooves.” She said, which only served to make several of the nearby workers glance nervously our way.

“Quick Quill...don’t let the Mayor hear you saying that, you don’t want to lose your job do you?” Misty Rain whispered to her, but the Unicorn snorted and replied

“If keeping this job requires me having to babysit that sorry excuse for a filly, then to Tartarus with this job.”

Amazingly enough, I smirked. I was suddenly liking this mare’s attitude. It was refreshing from having to deal with the servants who did whatever they could to please me,...well, technically, ah you know what I mean.

“Excuse me Miss Quill, but I think you’re going to want to hear what I have to say.”

Quick Quill turned her eyes towards me, glaring daggers of eye-death at me as she asked “Oh really? And what in Eques-”

“Give me some work.”

“-what?”

“Work! You know, the stuff you do everyday? Give me something to do, I can’t just stand around here all day doing nothing.”

~Oh my, what a face, guahahaha, that is just priceless!~

I had to agree with the voice, the look on Quick Quill’s face was an amusing one. This only caused my smirk to widen into a smile as I did a short hop in the air.

“C’mon, I’m bored! Give me something to do, I don’t care what it is!”

Quick Quill seemed to be just a tad confused, as she quickly took a look around before asking “You didn’t swap the brat out for a long lost twin sister or something when I wasn’t looking, did you?”

I sighed, giving her a tired stare as I said “Look, are you going to give me some work to do, or do I have to go around doing random things until you give me one to get me outta the way?”

Quick Quill finally seemed to come out of her dazed state, as a mischievous spark appeared in her eyes. “So...” She purred, “You want something to do that badly eh? I think I’ve got a few things you could work on...”

My enthusiasm vanished, and I gulped. Somehow, I had a feeling I might regret asking her for the work.

-*-

As it turned out, she didn’t give me anything highly impossible for me to do, or anything that was demeaning even to me. No, she basically used me as a messenger pony, delivering files from one part of the office to another. Every now and then she’d also have me go get her or one of her underlings coffee, but other than that, it was nothing hard.

I think she had a bit too much fun ordering me around though.

“Minion! It’s lunch time, take 15, and be back on the dot!”

I rolled my eyes at Quick Quills use of the word minion, but gave a nod as I gathered my lunch from my bags and made my way out to the steps. I quickly set about devouring my tulip and honey sandwich, letting my mind wander off on its own as I zoned out.

“Hey Diamond!”

I glanced up to see the approaching form of Silver Spoon. It was actually a bit disconcerting to see DT’s tiara perched on her head, though it certainly didn’t seem out of place on the silver filly.

“Hiya Silver Spoon.” I called out to her, giving a quick wave as I downed what was left of my lunch. When she reached where I was sitting I got up and instinctively we went through the motions of their trademark greeting, laughing a bit when we finished.

“It feels good, doing that with you again.” Silver said as she sat down by me. As cheesy as the whole thing was, I had to admit that part of me enjoyed doing the little sugar lump rump thing.

“Thanks for accepting my apology...I’m not sure how I would have felt if you didn’t...”

“Okayy.” Silver Spoon tilted her glasses. “You’ve been apologizing wayyy too much recently, are you feeling okay?”

I was silent for a moment, trying to decide how to answer that. After a moment, I settled on a half-truth.

“I guess you could say...I feel different. Like I’m seeing things in a whole new light, or something.” I murmured, gazing up at the sky for a moment. I glanced back at Silver Spoon, and a small smile formed as I said “You know, that tiara looks really good on you.”

Silver Spoon frowned, then put a hoof on my head. She then looked at my dress, smudged with several ink-blots. “Diamond, maybe you sho-”

“MINION! LUNCH BREAK IS OVER, GET YOUR PLOT BACK IN HERE!!”

I groaned, face-hoofing as I said “Ugh, the slave-driver calls.” I offered a weak smile to Silver and said “Sorry, but I guess I have to go back in there. At least it’ll be over soon.”

I got up to head back in, but a hoof on my back made me pause, and I turned to see Silver looking at me in concern. I pulled her into a quick hug and said “Sorry, I wish we could chat more, but...” I sent a glance back at the town hall, rolling my eyes as I did so.

“Hey, Diamond, listen...” Silver Spoon started, concern still in her eyes as she continued, “If you want to talk after you’re done here, I’ll be at SugarCube Corner.”

I nodded. “If I have time, I’ll be there.”

Silver nodded, and trotted off in the general direction of SugarCube Corner, while I headed back inside, where I got a short tongue lashing from the slave driver.

Round 2 of the slave-driver was as exciting and funtacular as expected. As it would turn out; however, we’d both somehow lost track of time. We learned this when Mayor Mare finally decided to poke her head out of the office, and shrieked as she caught sight of me balancing a stack of folders on my back.

“Wha-What in Celestia are you still doing here!?” She crashed through a desk chair, as she charged forward. “And what are you doing?!”

“Umm...working?” I innocently asked as I brought the folders over to Misty Rain’s desk, who quickly hopped into the air and cried out,

“It wasn’t my idea!!!” She cried out. “I swear!”

“Oh put a sock in it Misty.” Quick Quill spat, quickly stepping forward. Her demeanor softened as she gave the Mayor a fake-smile. “Miss Tiara simply inquired that she be given something to do.” She rubbed my mane hard, digging into my scalp. “Her performance was...” I noticed her grimace for half-a-second. “Exemplary.”

“Oh, but look at her!” Mayor Mare screamed loudly, causing the worker ponies to cringe. “She’s a mess!! And her father-oh no oh no... and I was so hoping nothing would go wrong.” She stormed towards Quick Quill, pointing her hoof. “You-You-You...” She stammered, unable to shriek the right words.

I rolled my eyes at the scene unfolding before me. As I did so, I happened to glance a nearby clock...

… and I yelped, nearly leaping into the air as I read the time. I had five minutes to get over to the library!

“Ohnononononnononononno... I’m going to be TARDY!!!”

~Blech, that was terrible!~

“Shut up annoying disembodied voice!” I said as dashed off to grab my stuff, giving quick “BYE!” to everyone in the town hall as I sped out the doorway, down Ponyville.

If I’d stayed longer, I’d likely have heard Mayor Mare ripping into Quick Quill, spouting how she had me talking to imaginary voices now. But unfortunately I didn’t, as I was too busy swerving past ponies. I could see the big tree in the distance.

Suddenly, I crashed backwards as my head slammed into sompony. I toppled over, as parchment and quills rained down upon me. Climbing to my feet, I was about to try and help whomever I had bumped into, when...

“Oh my, are you alright?”

…
…

I recognize that voice!!

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-*-Silver Spoon-*-

Silver Spoon stole a glance at the clock and frowned before setting her head on the table, idly poking her melting beverage. She waited quietly, now glaring at the two soggy milkshakes sitting on the table.

“Hey ther’ Silver!”

Silver spun backwards. She immediately recognized the voice of her classmate, and former tormentee. “Oh... it’s you.”

“Well of course it’s me, who else did ya think it was?” Apple Bloom replied, her tone becoming defensive out of reflex.

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes a bit, then asked “So what is it you want?”

Apple Bloom was about to speak, but somepony bumped her hard. She flailed her hooves before landing loudly on the floorboards. Silver Spoon calmly looked at the new arrival, a young filly named...

“Glimmer Mane at your service,” she swished her ruby mane and attempted to pose dramatically. “You must be Silver Spoon. I’ve heard that you’re one of the popular fillies here in Ponyville, and since I just moved here, I figured it’d be smart to get acquainted.”

Silver Spoon slowly reached for a milkshake, her eyes briefly flicking over to Apple Bloom who was beginning to get up. “What about her?”

Glimmer Mane frowned. “What about who? You mean the Blank Flank? Pfft, she doesn’t matter.”

Silver tilted her head, causing her glasses to glint from the sunlight. “You just knocked down a heiress of the affluent Apple and Orange family.” Apple Bloom’s eyes widened in shock, and she nearly fell back onto the floor.
For her part, Glimmer Mane had the decency to look taken aback as she stumbled backwards. “Wh-uh what?”

Silver Spoon glared. “They have a monopoly on half the produce in Equestria.” She snorted, lowering for a moment to help Apple Bloom. “Now scram, before you do anything else you might regret.”

Glimmer Mane tried to gather her thoughts. Apple Bloom tried to get a word in, but she bumped the table as she stood up, knocking a milkshake off the table and into Glimmer’s face. Several eavesdropping fillies laughed loudly, causing Glimmer Mane to run out to the street sobbing.

“...Did ah do that?” whispered Apple Bloom. She was about to run out and apologize, but was interrupted with a thunderous applause from a batch of filly’s she’d seen from school.

“Nice one, AB!”

“Woah. You’re so cool!”

Silver Spoon grinned, loudly exclaiming, “Well duh. That’s why Apple Bloom’s MY friend. She’s obviously an important pony!”

Apple Bloom waved awkwardly, before crawling onto a nearby seat. “Uhm. About what’cha said.”

Silver rolled her eyes. “It’s true.” She prodded Apple Bloom. “You’re like the only rich pony pretending to be...” She shuddered. “Poor.” She nudged over her spare cherry milkshake to Apple Bloom. “Take it.”

“But we are-”

“Well duh.” She groaned. “Even my Mom tried that on me.” She stopped, and looked at Apple Bloom with wide eyes. She huddled closer, and whispered. “Oh Celestia. You never knew? And all this time, we thought you were trying to one-up us.” She pounded the table loudly, causing a pink pony to suddenly appear. Pinkie Pie was balancing several dishes on her head, whilst walking atop a rainbow-striped inflatable beach ball.

“Hiya-!!! Did you want anything else?”

“10 more milkshakes.” Apple Bloom was about to protest, but was quickly shushed by Silver’s hoof. “And charge it on Daddy’s tab, please.”

“Okie dokie lokie!!!” chirped Pinkie Pie, quickly vanishing behind the counter.

“Wh-Wha-?”

“Hey everypony!” Silver Spoon looked to the crowd. “Free milkshakes for everyone!!! Thanks to my new friend, Apple Bloom!!”

Cheers filled Sugar Cube Corner, followed with plenty of compliments. Silver Spoon looked at her new gobsmacked friend. “Oh, anyways.” She hesitated for a moment. “You didn’t finish. What was it you wanted?”

Apple Bloom looked taken aback, before answering. “Well... ah didn’t want anythin.” She continued, “Ah just thought you looked a lil’ lonely, an’ what kinda friend would ah be if I didn’t try ta cheer ya up?” Silver Spoon recoiled, as if slapped.

“Ah mean, ain’t that what friends do?”

Silver Spoon took one last look at the clock, before deciding. She turned and studied Apple Bloom, then slammed her hoof on the table as she declared “Apple Bloom, we’re going shopping.”

“Huh? What are you-gah!” Apple Bloom tried to say, but Silver Spoon was already dragging Apple Bloom down towards the business district.

“Come on Apple Bloom, it’ll be fun.” When that didn’t work, Silver stopped and glanced at her, adding “You said you wanted to cheer me up right?” Apple Bloom nodded, and Silver Spoon flashed a smile as she said “Well, shopping cheers me up. So lets get going. There’s a new boutique that I’ve been waiting to check out.”

Silver Spoon sprinted down the bustling street, as Apple Bloom chased from behind. Both failed to notice a certain pink filly and purple unicorn...

-*-Diamond Tiara/Cain-*-

“Oh my, are you alright?”

The words floated over me, but my mind was blank as I stared helplessly at the familiar purple pony. Twilight Sparkle, I crashed into Twilight-

“Are you okay little filly?”

I heard her that time, and realized I needed to say something. Anything at all. I opened my mouth but nothing came. A tiny squeee was all that came out. I awkwardly looked away, then at the ground around me. My blood went cold as I noticed the-

“AHH!!” I rushed underneath Twilight’s legs and toward the dirty books. My crash had sent all the lovely manuscripts, scrolls and tomes near the mud. I thanked my little heart that no mud had assaulted the precious texts. I hurriedly and gently grabbed a book, amazed I could read the title.

Then purple magic pulled me to the sky. It felt tingly. Twilight Sparkle was now eyeing me, but I couldn’t look at her face without stammering or blushing. The book was wobbling between my grip.

She then plopped me to the ground.

She hummed lightly, and then peered at me. “You’re late.”

“WHAT!!!!” My eyes started getting watery. ‘Stupid mood swings.’ I mentally scolded myself as I tried to control my emotions. I failed. Instead, my pink fuzzy body began to shiver uncontrollably. “...I’m sorry.”

“I’m not mad.” Twilight nervously looked over several passerby ponies. “Really, I’m not mad, so please Diamond Tiara, don’t cry.” She stepped close, watching as I hugged a giant textbook titled Exceptional Equestrian Exponentials.

I took a deep breath, and wiped my face. “I-I’m okay...I don’t know what came over me...”

Twilight looked at me with a raised eyebrow, her expression telling me she wasn’t quite sure about that. But after a moment, she said “Phew...that’s good to hear...I think.” She frowned after a moment, her gaze drifting towards my head as she said “Oh, you seem to be missing something. Guess it must have fallen off when you crashed into me.”

It took me a second to realize she was talking about Diamond Tiara’s...tiara, and I sighed as I said “No, I didn’t lose it. It’s a bit of a long story though...”

Twilight smiled. “Well, why don’t you tell me about it on the way to the library?”

~*~

“... So Silver Spoon is wearing it for the weekend as an apology,” I shook my head as I added “I really wasn’t being a good friend.”

“Oh, well that’s great news Diamond Tiara.” Twilight walked beside me, carrying the rest of her cargo. “In fact, I think you’ve learned a very important lesson about Friendship. I think it would make an excellent report to the Princess.”

“I wouldn’t exactly say I learned it…” I whispered quietly to myself, my mind taking a moment to process the second half. When it did, my eyes went as wide as dinner plates as I exclaimed “Wait, you want me to write a friendship report!?”

“Sure, why not?” Twilight replied, giving me an odd look as she said “Apple Bloom and her friends have sent a few, and there’s nothing saying you can’t send one. Unless you’d rather not, I suppose I could just write it up instead…”

I vehemently shook my head. “No no, that’s fine, I can write the report. I was just surprised you wanted…well…me to write one.” I could feel the panic bursting inside me. “I mean, you’re letting me write to the princess of Equestria, and with what I had the paper say about her-”

“-and me,” completed Twilight.

I nodded dumbly. “Eyyup. And youu-yo-you...” My brain skid to a stop. My four legs begun to wobble as I stumbled to spout an apology. Warm, magenta magic again wrapped around me and lifted me upwards.

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “No more apologizing,” she gritted out, then heaved a long sigh, before plopping me down. “...Please?”

I sighed to myself, and nodded. “Alright, I promise not to apologize to you anymore.”

“Good, now lets get going, you’re already late as it is. If we keep dawdling, I’ll have to revise my whole schedule.” Twilight said as she resumed walking down the street. I shook my head, taking a moment to take a deep breath and try to clear my mind. All this feeling sorry stuff was getting to be annoying, and I was starting to wonder if there was some unseen force messing with my mind.

~Oh that’s rather clever of you isn’t it? Trying to pin the blame on innocent ole’ me? It’s not my fault you’re such a prissy pink filly.~

“Oh go stuff a sock in it...” I muttered to myself as I trotted after Twilight, not wanting her to think I was trying to sneak off.

The trip to the library was short, but it went by in silence, Twilight keeping to her own thoughts and leaving me with my own jumbled up head.As much as I hated the idea, it seemed I wasn’t completely alone in my...Diamond Tiara’s head, and that didn’t bode well for my hopes in quickly finding a way to get home.

I must have been deeply lost in thought, because the next thing I know -SMACK- right into something hard. With a yelp, I immediately jumped back and my jaw dropped as I came face-to-face with Twilight’s tree library. I had ran right into the door!

Twilight was shaking her head as she turned to me, her horn glowing as she opened the door for the both of us. “You’ll be taking care of some of Spike’s chores. He’s come down with a bad case of Dragon Flu and hasn’t been feeling well because of it.”

“Oh…” I mumbled, not exactly liking the sound of that. Spike seemed to have an overwhelming amount of mundane chores on his little shoulders just from what I’d seen from the show. Who knew how much work he actually did?

~Such a lazy, spoiled ponyyyyyy princesssss~ taunted the voice in my head. I bit back a retort, as Twilight continued to walk me to the nearby room.

“Don’t worry Diamond Tiara, Owlicious and I have already taken care of the difficult stuff, you’ll just have to do Spike’s easy stuff.” Twilight said as she walked in ahead of me. I followed her in, a sullen expression on my face despite the prospect of having an easy time of it.

“Spike, I’m back!” Twilight called out as she set her bags on a nearby desk. He gave a muffled reply, before barking out a couple raspy coughs. Twilight quickly headed upstairs with a small bottle of what looked vaguely like swamp water, leaving me alone in the main hall of the library. I took this opportunity to look around and explore.

The library looked much larger on the inside than it did from the outside, in fact it looked bigger than it had in the episodes. There were far more bookshelves lining the walls, and numerous tables and desks were placed strategically about for visitors to use. In the center of the room, where a round table usually sat with the wooden bust of a horse head, was instead a C shaped counter with a small push door. The head bust was set on one side, as was a small notebook with quill and ink. Piles of books sat all along its surface in neat stacks.

It was almost surreal, actually being inside this place. Out of curiosity, I walked up to a bookshelf and brushed my hoof along the row of books. As I did so, my ears stiffened, and I let out a quiet whimper as my hoof continued its journey before stopping on a ruby-red, oldened Equestrian Almanac. I snatched it off the shelf greedily and glimpsed at its contents. Here I was... in Equestria, living out one my my deepest desires...

And I felt empty. In the one place out of the universe I wanted to visit more than anything, and yet I was here, not as myself, but as one of the most hated fillies in the entire fandom. Stuck playing the part of Diamond Tiara, with no idea when or even if I would ever get home and see my family.

Oh Celestia, I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t fucking breathe!!

“I need to go home,” I whispered to nopony. My pupils dilated, as I thrashed loudly onto the tabletop. “I need to go home now!! GET ME OUT OF HERE!”

A lavender blur appeared behind me, but I kicked my hind legs hard and launched myself forward as I darted towards the door. But a sudden force yanked me hard to the floor.

“LET GO OF ME!” I cried.

“~... shut up, Cain.” whispered the voice, its pitch beginning to rise. “You need to... relax...”

“Diamond Tiara!! Please, calm down,” shouted the blur, my mind in too much chaos to process who it was that was talking to me.

“I AM NOT DIAMOND TIARA!” I screamed. I couldn’t stop the tears pouring down my cheeks. “AND YOU’RE NOT REAL! Please, go away.” I curled up into a ball, and began softly murmuring to myself over and over again.

“Ple-please go away. I- I just want to go home.”

-*- Twilight Sparkle -*-

Twilight had just started putting away the groceries she had bought earlier when she heard a loud shout coming from the main library.

“I need to go home now!! GET ME OUT OF HERE!”

“What in Equestria-?” Twilight asked aloud as she heard the sound of something thumping against the wall in the next room. She dropped what she had been holding and rushed into the library to see Diamond Tiara madly thrashing her hooves against one of the shelves.

Twilight had been prepared for the possibility of a tantrum from the spoiled ‘princess’ filly, but she was not prepared for this. This seemed to be far more than just a simple tantrum, in fact if the filly’s movements were to be any sign, it was almost as if she was terrified.

‘If she keeps that up, she’ll hurt herself,’ Twilight thought as she rushed over to grab Diamond Tiara, but the filly suddenly stopped and made a mad dash for the door. Thinking quickly, Twilight’s horn lit up as she grabbed the distraught filly with her magic.

“LET GO OF ME!!” Diamond shouted as she struggled to escape, but Twilight wasn’t letting up as she stepped closer, trying to get her attention as she tried to calm her down. But her words didn’t seem to do any good as Diamond turned to look at her, tears streaming down her face as she screamed ““I AM NOT DIAMOND TIARA! AND YOU’RE NOT REAL! Please, just, just go away!”

Twilight moved closer, despite hearing the words. Her eyes locked with those of Diamond Tiara’s, and she saw somepony who felt confused, afraid, and helpless.

“Ple-please go away. I just want to go home,” Diamond Tiara softly whispered, her head tilted forward, masking her face with her disheveled mane as she curled up into a ball.

“Twilight? What’s going on?” Twilight turned away from Diamond Tiara, just to see Spike coming down the steps. He was holding his yellow blanket in one claw and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with the other.

“Spike, march right back up those stairs pronto. The Dragon Flu is a serious ailment, and must be treated as such.” She grimaced, noting Spike wasn’t paying attention. “Pleeaasee rest? Everything is under control.”

Sensing Twilight’s discomfort, Owilicious flew from his perch and nudged the baby dragon back up. Immaculately, she swiftly returned her attention to the immobile filly, still curled to a ball.

“Umm…Diamond Tiara?” Twilight grimaced, as the young filly flinched at the sound of her name. “Listen…I…I don’t know what’s wrong, but I can’t help you if you won’t talk to me.”

After a moment with no response, she reached down and soothingly nuzzled Diamond Tiara.

Just as she moved to pull away, she felt a brush of magic wash over her, and in an instant, the library burst with color, causing her to scream from the sudden blinding pain. It vanished just as soon as it came, but in its place...

“Bravo! Bravo!!” chimed a disturbingly familiar tenor. “To think, that goody-four-shoes Twilight could shatter a young child’s mind.” A loud snap echoed around her as the voice added “In half.”

“No...” breathed Twilight, recognizing the owner’s voice immediately. She opened her eyes and stared aghast as Discord stood towering over her. “You...”

The draconequus rolled his eyes, “Yadda yadda yadda.” He vanished, before slipping behind Twilight. “Discord’s back,” he whispered. “Missed me?”

Twilight bolted forward, scrambling to get away, but paused as she noticed her surroundings. “Where did you take me?!” Twilight ordered, hoping she sounded brave enough. She noticed everything was an inky black, reminiscent of a thick fog in the dead of night. She gasped as she noticed that Diamond Tiara was nowhere in sight. “What did you do to Diamond Tiara!?”

The tall, lord of chaos grinned. “Oh dear, oh my...” he purred. “It wouldn’t be any fun if I just told you now would it..” He snapped his fingers, causing a pink filly to reappear. “Let’s play a game!” Discord tossed the tussle of pink at Twilight, casting a spell just as Twilight managed to catch her.

Instantly, Twilight was slammed into the floor, as the fog vanished in a powerful gust of wind. Pillars of rock appeared all around her, many going higher than the skyscrapers she’d seen in Manehatten.

Gingerly, Twilight got to her hooves, noticing that she was standing on a rather small pillar, and that to either side of her was nothing but a long drop into a dense plum colored fog. She looked around, casting her gaze about for any sign of Discord, but she couldn’t see him.

“You won’t get away with this Discord!” She shouted out to the skies above them. She wasn’t expecting an answer, so she was a bit caught off guard when she got one.

“Oh, I don’t know, perhaps I will and perhaps I won’t. It really all depends on how you do.” He said from behind her, causing Twilight to yelp as she hopped into the air.

“Do what? I don’t even know where here is!” She exclaimed, his laughter at her reaction only working to make her more angry at the spirit. “This isn’t funny Discord!”

“Guahaha, oh of course it is, you really should see your face!” Discord cackled, pulling out a mirror and placing it in front of Twilight. Needless to say, his antics were beginning to grate on her nerves, and she knew getting any angrier would only amuse him more.

And so, taking a deep breath and giving him a level gaze, she asked “You’ve had your fun Discord, so would you mind explaining just what in Equestria is going on?”

Discord let out a few more snickers, but finally relented when he saw her focused gaze still locked onto him. “Oh very well, I suppose it won’t hurt to let you in on some of my scheme.” He reappeared next to her and spread his arms out wide as he began.

“You see dear Twilight, as real as this may seem, you haven’t actually left your precious home, oh no. Right now, you’re inside the mind of the very filly your holding.”

“What?!” she exclaimed, her expression shifting to show just how incredulous she found that to be, but she had to remind herself just who she was dealing with. Rubbing a hoof into her forehead, she asked “But if that’s true, then why is Diamond Tiara right next to me?”

Discord snickered at her, his smile growing wider as he whispered “You might want to check again my dear.”

Twilight did so, fully expecting to see the pink body of Diamond Tiara. But instead, she gasped as she caught sight of something completely different.

Lying on its side next to her was a strange, bipedal creature with a dark blonde mane atop its head and a flatish muzzle. What she initially thought to be a dark blue coat turned out to be thin, coloured fabric that wrapped over its peach skin.

Its legs were hidden with a much coarser, thick material. His feet were covered by what she guessed to be shoes...though she grimaced when she realized they were made out of leather.

“W-Who, w-what, is that thing?” Twilight asked, turning back to look at Discord but finding him nowhere to be seen. A feeling of panic began to rise in her as she up and down and everywhere for a sign of the trickster.

“You like tests don’t you Miss Sparkle?” His voice rang out, and Twilight yelped as she watched Discord pull himself out from the ground below her. “Of course you do, you can’t even go a week without thinking about one. Well, I have a test for you my little pony, one I’m sure you’ll find fascinating.” Ominous thunder roared overhead, but Twilight just rolled her eyes at the spectacle.

“I’m not interested in playing any of your games Discord! Whatever test you have in mind, you can count me out.” Twilight declared, turning away from the mischievous spirit.

“S-Someone, please, help me...” came an unfamiliar voice. Twilight spun around, seeing the creature trying to push itself up, only to fall back to the ground.

“Oh, well, since you said please,” Discord chuckled, and with a wicked twinkle in his eyes he sucked in a breath before releasing it in the direction of the creature. Another burst of wind tore through, sweeping around Twilight, flipping the peach-creature over the edge. This seemed to wake him from whatever stupor he had been in, and he grasped for the edge... but missed.

It looked at her briefly, its blue eyes locking with her own, just before gravity finally decided to act and pull him down below.

“NO!!” Twilight’s horn illuminated lavender, releasing a beam of magic. She felt unnaturally fatigued, but continued levitating the creature. Discord gave her a round of applause, before clicking his fingers with a chuckle.

A flash of light drew her eye, and Twilight’s eyes bulged as she saw Diamond Tiara appear in the air over the foggy depths below. She clenched her jaw, simultaneously firing another pink beam as her horn began to glow brighter. She barely managed to catch the slumbering form of Diamond Tiara, her head splitting in pain at the effort of holding them both up.

“Why? Why are you doing this?!” gritted Twilight, her legs buckling slightly as she strained to levitate the two targets. When Discord didn’t answer, preferring to file his eagle talons, Twilight shouted, “Answer my question, Discord!”

Discord peered at his talons, blew on them, and then ate the file he had been using before giving Twilight a coy smile. “Celestia often brags about you, you know. Such a loudmouth really, you’d think she’d have better things to do than tell a lawn ornament about her ‘precious pupil’. Anyways, yesterday’s yesterday, after Celestia’s usual garden visit, I decided to try and escape.” He stretched, gagging as he added “Even if I failed, it had to be better than listening to her yatter on.”

“Anyway, this pink little filly was nearby, so I sent a bit of me into her mind. And, inadvertently, I created this thing.” He lazily pointed to the peach-creature, laughing at Twilight’s gobsmacked expression. “So why don’t you help her out?”

Twilight’s mouth hung open as she tried to take this in, which wasn’t easy to do with her concentration being spent keeping the creature and Diamond Tiara up. Discord rolled his eyes and leaned in to whisper to her, saying, “Three minds in one body, Ms. Sparkle. The stress will kill the innocent filly, eventually. Since old, senile Celestia believes in you so much, I think the you should be the one to decide. Which one?”

“What do you mean by that?” She uttered, her voice sounding pained as the strain of holding the two seemed to increase.

Discord sighed, his face beginning to express boredom. “Oh come now, anypony with half a brain would get it.” He floated right up to Twilight, and in a brief flicker, he now held two miniature dolls. He moved ‘em up and down as he said, “Pick. Let go. Then, let the fall end it.” He punctuated the last by dropping one of the dolls, which faded into nothingness before it hit the ground.

“Nobody... will... fall, Discord!!” Twilight snarled loudly, and tried her best to ignore the burning hot sensation traveling down her horn. She poured all of her focus, all of her strength into the beams keeping the two afloat. Then, with pained shout and a bright flash, she launched them safely back to the ledge.

For a moment, Discord simply stood silently as Twilight panted heavily, her body feeling like it had just ran a marathon. Then, she heard a soft chuckle, which quickly turned into guwaffs as Discord held his sides, his laughter filling the air around them. Eventually, his uncontrollable laughter began to lower, and an amused grin was plastered on his face. “Now who's the crazy one, hmm? Like a doctor protecting a virus. How odd of you miss Twilight.”

Twilight stood firm. “I stand by my decision Discord. I may not know that creature, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you use it as a pawn in your horrible games.”

The creature seemed to perk up at this, his chest still heaving from the sheer terror of floating over a bottomless pit. It started to open its mouth, but Discord interrupted him.

“You win,” shrugged Discord. He turned and faced out towards the vast void around them. “I can spare you seven days Twilight. Seven days to fix my mistake.” The draconequus flexed his wings, looking like he was preparing to leap off and take flight.

Twilight’s jaw dropped. She couldn’t... no... It was too easy, this was Discord after all. Surely there had to be-

Then it came to her. “Three minds. You said three. There was another choice all this time, wasn’t there?” She looked at the long back of the draconequus, her eye’s shining as she understood, her voice softening as she murmured, “They never were in danger. It was all just a test.”

Discord turned his head around to gaze at her, his eyes dancing in amusement. “You figured it out. I suppose there is a light bulb in there after all.” Twilight scowled in response, bringing him to a smile. “Death is ironically unfunny, Ms Sparkle. Even I have standards.”

This time, he flapped his wings and leapt off the edge, letting the nothingness erase him from existence. With that, the world around her whirled away, and Twilight vanished into the void.

~*~

Twilight snapped awake,mind awhirl with thought and images as it tried to sort itself out. Tentatively, she opened her eyes and looked around, surprised to find that the library was dark as night, with the only light being the soft glow of the moon as it poured into the main room. Shaking her head, she muttered, “Oh...my head...that has got to be the weirdest dream I’ve ever had...”

She felt something prodding her side, and she looked down, and smiled at the sight of the familiar pink filly slowly waking up, her eyes blinking rapidly as she shook her head. Twilight got ready to say something, but something seemed...different about Diamond Tiara, who had turned and was gazing at her with a peculiar look in her eyes.

“You chose me,” Diamond whispered, and hurriedly wiped away the tears that were beginning to form. “I mean, you chose both of us... but you didn’t let me go. You don’t even know who I am, but you cared enough about me to risk trying to save us both.”

Twilight’s eyes widened, and she grew a little pale as it all rushed back to her. All of it... the strange void-place, Discord’s test, the creature and Diamond Tiara.

“So that was real...it wasn’t just some weird dream, Discord did all of that...” Twilight murmured, looking at Diamond Tiara as she nodded her head in confirmation. An odd look seemed to cross over her face though, and suddenly Diamond let out a shout of rage and slammed her hooves into the ground.

What followed was a string of obscenities and horrible suggestions of what Discord could do to himself that would make a Royal Guard’s jaw drop. At one point Twilight actually clapped her hooves over her ears, fearing that if she heard anymore her mind would be ruined beyond all repair. The fact that all of this was coming from the small form of Diamond Tiara really drove home the point - that what she had just witnessed and done had been very real.

When the swearing seemed to have finished, Twilight uncovered her ears and looked at the now out of breath filly, the fury that had been burning in her eyes now dying and becoming nothing more than embers.

“Feel better?” Twilight asked, and after a moment, Diamond Tiara nodded her head tiredly.

“Yea... Oh, oh! Sorry about the... uh that. I just can’t believe how stupid I was, to not even realize Discord’s been hanging in my mind.” She snarled. “So damn cliche!” She said, though Twilight had no idea why it was cliched. “And the thought of what he could have done... I just- I’m just so.” Diamond pounded her head on the floor. “I’m not thinking straight Twilight. Forget I said anything at all.”

Twilight frowned, a thought occurring to her. “Something tells me that there’s more to this than Discord told m-”

“What did he say!?” interrupted the filly, her eyes beginning to rekindle the anger Twilight had just witnessed.

Twilight thought back on what Discord had said, and stated, “Well, that he made you. That you were a mistake of his escape attempt.”

“THAT LIAR!! I’m not some imagined, ill-conceived, made-up anomaly!” Her pitch rose, eyes flashing in rage as she made gestures with her hooves. “I have a family, a job... I have a damn life back on Earth, granted not much of one but its still my life!”

Twilight frowned, not sure how to respond to that. This entire situation was way over her head, and was starting to really make her head hurt. “So, Diamond-”

“It’s Cain,” she interrupted. “My name’s Cain. It’s a dream come true to get to meet you in person...even if I’m stuck in Diamond Tiara’s body.”

“What a nice name. Well Cain, its, uh, nice to meet you-Wait,” she paused, mind registering Cain’s full statement. “What was that last bit about?”

“Oh yeah, ahahaha....”Cain chuckled, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head as she said “Riiight, forgot about that...well ya see-”

However, instead of an explanation, Cain let out a big yawn, swaying in place as her eyes grew heavy. “Huh...for some reason, I feel very tired no-” She didn’t even finish her sentence, suddenly flopping down to the floor and curling up. Another yawn escaped her lips before she seemed to slip into slumber.

Twilight frowned, for a moment thinking that perhaps this ‘Cain’ was trying to slip out of explaining what he had said...not to mention a great deal more, now that she thought about it. But then a yawn escaped her own lips, and she too realized that she felt exhausted.

“I guess answers can wait until morning...” She murmured softly, slowly picking up the sleeping filly with her magic and setting her on her back. “Lets get you home. Filthy Rich is probably wondering why you haven’t come home yet anyways.”

Once she was sure Cain wouldn’t fall off, she trotted out the door and made her way down the street that would lead to the Rich’s manor.

-*-

As the door closed, a light filled the room the pair had just left as a small scaly form emerged from the 2nd floor.

“Ugh, would you girls keep it down, I’m trying to-Twi? Hello?” Spike glanced around, seeing an empty library, and no sign of Twilight or Diamond Tiara. “Huh, guess I must have been hearing things.”

Shrugging his shoulders, he turned around and went back to bed.

-*-

Bright New Day

View Online

-*-Twilight Sparkle-*-

Twilight quickly made her way through the streets of Ponyville, her small passenger snoring against her back. She whisked a glance toward the filly, shaking her aching head as she forced herself to focus on the road, along with the promise she made to Diamond, err, Cain that is.

“Twilight slow down!!!” came a sudden yelp.

Twilight snapped her head forward, only to immediately slam into a short wooden wagon. She momentarily flew forward, doing a single roll before landing flat on her stomach - with an ‘oomf’ - as her head smacked the ground.

“Umm…Miss Sparkle? Are you alright?”

She lifted her head up, shaking it to make the small bouncing Pinkie Pies fade away, and allowing her to concentrate on the voice that had spoken up. She lifted her head to see both Silver Spoon and Apple Bloom, who were both pulling a small wagon filled with shopping bags.

DIAMOND!!! Twilight immediately looked at her backside, half expecting she’d bucked Diamond Tiara off into the night sky. Her panic swiftly subsided when she realized her stick-me spell had worked, keeping the filly firmly attached.

“Phew. Sorry about that girls.” Twilight carefully got to her hooves. “Is everypony alright? Sorry for making such a ruckus.”

“A ruck-what-now?” Apple Bloom quickly cut off Twilight, before she could speak further. “Aw shucks Twi, you don’t hafta apologize. It’s just an accident.”

Twilight nodded, a quick look around making it clear she hadn’t knocked anything over. Then she recalled how late it was, and asked “Why are you two out so late anyways? Aren’t your families worried?

“Mother already knows I’m out with friends, I told her I was taking Apple Bloom for a little shopping spree.”

Apple Bloom piped up, “And AJ’s used to me and mah friends hanging out late crusading for our cutie marks.”

“Well, just make sure not to stay out too late girls, growing fillies need their sleep after all.” Twilight said, her word being punctuated by a soft snorting sound from her back. The two fillies peered over Twilight’s back, spotting Diamond Tiara as she briefly shifted slightly before returning to sleep.

Silver Spoon’s mouth perked up, then she turned and ruffled through her saddlebag before fetching a familiar tiara. She hoofed over the trinket to Twilight. “Please, tell Diamond Tiara that I appreciate her letting me borrow it.” Silver Spoon said as Twilight placed it back where it belonged.

“She’ll be sure to know. Now be careful walking home, alright?” Twilight said, to which the two fillies nodded their heads vigorously. “I have to get Diamond home; I expect both of you to get a good night’s rest.”

“We will Twilight. See ya at school tomorrow Diamond!” Apple Bloom said, getting a stern looking glance from Silver Spoon and Twilight. Apple Bloom blushed as she said, in a softer voice “Sorry.”

Silver Spoon unhitched herself from her wagon, walking over to Twilight and reaching up to Diamond, giving her a hug as she whispered “Good night BFF.” She then returned to her wagon and waved at Twilight as she and Apple Bloom set off once more.

Twilight waved in kind, nearly forgetting her own aching limbs. With newfound determination she turned to resume her own walk, her other hooves already carrying her off in the direction of Rich Manor, her precious cargo shifting slightly on her back before finding a more comfortable position to continue her nap.

For the forty eight time, she looked over her shoulder. Then, at that moment, Twilight realized she was smiling. Twilight felt energy course through her, as she realized she was overthinking something that was so simple. And it had taken two well-dressed fillies to remind her. Diamond, or this new creature, was now her friend.

“Everything is going to be just fine.”

Twilight quickened her pace, her thoughts and plans scurrying in alphabetic and numeric order as she decided on the best course of action. If failure wasn’t so lethal, she’d probably be overcome with trepidation in discovering a brand new alien species. Still, at least this project reminded her of homework. Twilight sighed happily.

Her thoughts kept racing as she continued walking through the mostly empty streets of Ponyville. She watched as some ponies that were out began to head to their homes or set about preparing for bed. Others were just leaving their homes, grouping together and talking and laughing as they headed further into town, no doubt heading off to one of Ponyville’s few night-clubs.

It only took another ten minutes for her to reach the gates of Rich Manor, and she had to say that she was a bit impressed. Though she had seen plenty of magnificent and extravagant manors and noble houses back in Canterlot, this was the first time she had been this close to Rich Manor.

While it was by no means a large building, it was built upon a large, open estate. The front lawn was taken up by rows of tree’s even placed on opposite sides of a simple dirt path, with beautiful bronze lamps lighting a path to a small square, where a marble fountain sat slowly dribbling out a stream of cool water.

Beyond that lay the manor itself, which looked much simpler and efficient than she had expected it to be. Unlike most of the houses in Ponyville, it was made out of pale brown bricks, and stood at three stories high. The only thing taller than it in Ponyville was the Town Hall and Golden Oaks library, and that was only by a bit. Here and there small vines of ivy seemed to be climbing up the manor walls, but from the signs of it these were only the ones allowed to do so. It gave the old building an air of character to it that it would have lacked otherwise. Light shone out through most of the windows, casting their soft glow on the ground below.

Twilight walked up the steps to the large oak doors and rapped lightly on its surface, trying to peek a glance through one of the windows near the door to see if anyone was in. A moment later the front door opened and an old stallion wearing a suit stepped out, giving her a look of indifference as he asked “Can I help you?”

Twilight cleared her throat and offered the stallion, no doubt one of the Rich family’s servants, a smile as she said “Yes, I’m Twilight Sparkle, and I wanted to bring Diamond Tiara back home.” She turned to the side, her horn aglow with magic as she carefully picked Diamond Tiara up and set her softly upon the porch.

The movement seemed to wake Diamond Tiara up a bit, her tired eyes opening a bit and blearily looking around. Twilight gave her a soft nuzzle before looking back up to the servant and saying, “I know she was supposed to have been home earlier, but while she was helping me get the library organized we both lost track of time. So sorry for not getting her here sooner.”

The stallion glanced down at Diamond Tiara, who was beginning to drift back to sleep. He shook his head and let out a soft whistle, and two mares dressed in maid uniforms rushed over. He didn’t need to say anything as they quickly plucked the tired filly from the ground and took her inside. It was only after Diamond Tiara was inside that the stallion said anything.
“Thank you for bringing Lady Tiara home Miss Sparkle. We assumed she was just spending the rest of the day hanging out with her friends before coming home. We were going to send somepony into town to pick her up soon enough, but this saves us the trouble.”

“Oh, it was no problem sir. If you would, could you make a note for her? I would like to properly thank her for her help tomorrow, if that’s alright.” Twilight asked, and the stallion nodded in response.

They exchanged goodnights, than Twilight turned from the door and made her way out of the estate and back onto the road towards town. The walk back was uneventful, though her mind was certainly still abuzz with thoughts and plans. But though her mind desired to try and sort everything out, her body was telling her it was time for sleep.

“It can wait till tomorrow…it’s not like anything bad is going to happen before the morning…”

With a great big yawn, she stepped back into her home and made her way quietly up the stairs, stopping only to give Spike a gentle nuzzle and goodnight kiss before climbing under her own bed sheets. Worming her way into a comfortable position, it wasn’t long before she fell into a deep slumber.

-*-Applejack-*-

Luna’s moon was visible from the kitchen window. The light stretched across an old rickety table. From the nearby family room, a hoof-carved grandfather clock clicked and clacked continuously.

Applejack swerved away from the window to glare at its face. 10:15

She cracked her neck. The popping of joints sent a soothing sensation down her side. It didn’t last, as her forehead begun to burn. It wouldn’t bucking stop. She threw her head back, swallowing more of the Zecora’s remedy. The potion’s slimy and thick texture trickled down her throat. The pain doubled.

“You’re all worked up over nothin,” interjected Big Mac, his strong voice easily carried across the kitchen. “Applebloom is a sharp filly.”

“She needs to learn responsibility!” snapped Applejack. She stopped cold, realizin’ she’d screamed. She took a slow breath. “Ah’m sorry Mac. I’m just. . . tense yer know. . .”

Big Mac took a seat, the chair creaking under his weight. The moon light barely covered his large shape as he craned his neck her way, his eyes easily showing his concern.

Applejack hesitated, as if unsure of her own voice. “Ah don’t want to talk ‘bout it Mac.” The door chime jingled, as Apple Bloom entered.

“An’ where were you missy?” Apple Bloom wilted from her sister’s angry glare. “Tomorrow's a school day. Now what did ah say about school?”

“That-”

“Are those shoppin’ bags?! Of all the irresponsible, frivolous, and fru-fru frolickery ah’ve ever seen you-you-yo...” She sputtered, trying to gain control of her temple and only getting another throb of pain in her head. Shaking her head, she added, “Now go march up those stairs sister.”

“But ah-”

“Giddy up.”

Apple Bloom looked like she was going to protest, but after a moment she muttered,“Fineee.” under her breath, grudgingly trotting up the stairs, pulling along a trail of shopping bags. The last bag was pulled out of sight, and then followed with a door slamming close.

Silence filled the room for a moment after the outburst, and AJ was glad for the brief reprieve. Sadly, it didn’t last.

“You could have at least let her finish.” Big Mac spoke up, his face expressing his thoughts on how AJ had reacted.

“Let it go Mac.” Applejack gritted her teeth, as another headache ripped into her skull. “Ah’m goin’ ta bed. G’night.”

She slipped into her room, tail snapping the light switch off, and then climbed into bed and slid under the covers. She was more than ready for a good night’s sleep and to wake up feeling collected and ready for another day of well-earned hard work.

But no matter how much she tried, her body wouldn’t relax. Sweat was now visibly dripping down her mane, and she was sure her face was turning a bit red.

She tossed and turned, threw off the blankets, fluffed her pillow and every other thing she could think of at the time to try and get to sleep. After about an hour of agony, and a slight gurgling from her stomach, she decided that maybe a midnight snack would be what was needed.

She attempted to tip-hoof from her room and down the steps, but ended up stumbling against the banister. The stairs creaked in protest, causing her to sloppily slow her steps.

Her stomach churned painfully, until she reached the fridge. Hurriedly, she opened it wide and gazed inside. Freshly baked apple delicacies were proudly positioned on several individual racks, all awaiting the same fate at the hooves of a hungry pony.

But something was wrong. Normally the mouthwatering delectables would soothe about anypony’s taste buds, AJ’s especially, but the familiar strong apple scent was causing her to gag. Wiping her tearing eyes, she snatched the least repugnant snack from the ice-box and quickly bucked its door close.

Applejack peered downward, taking in a couple seconds to realize she’d grabbed a basket of oranges. The grandfather clock continuously clicked behind her. For a moment, she simply gazed at the orange globes, trying to recall where they’d come from.

...Oh yeah, Auntie Orange sent them for Granny last harvest. Guess Granny must’ve forgotten ‘bout ’em. She looked them over, and with but a moment’s hesitation, set the basket on the counter.

She normally wasn’t a picky mare, so she chomped down on one.

“...” The chilled juice that dribbled down her muzzle was-was-was... Applejack snagged another and ravenously devoured a second, and a third, and then a fourth. With each bite, her body’s aching lessened and a euphoria of sudden happiness filled her. She squee-ed in content.

Applejack immediately clapped a hoof over her mouth a moment later. She kept it there and listened to see if anypony heard her, but except for Granny Smith’s snores, the house was quiet. Applejack then burst into giggles. To think... oranges were the perfect remedy for head pains.

She then proceeded to take another bite, and another, until the basket was empty.

Her joy evaporated, until she realized she could wake up early and buy some more. Her mind was already concocting several recipes that made her mouth water.

“Ah’ve gotta thank Aunt and Uncle Orange,” smiled a content Applejack. Her excitement doubled as she fetched some parchment and quills. Her happiness made her feel like a little filly again. “Now what ta write...”

“Dear Aunt and Uncle,” she whispered out loud as she wrote. “AJ here. Ah wanna give a mighty thanks...” Applejack paused, before trashing the letter. She shook her head. “They deserve better than that.” She licked her muzzle, sighing as the tangy flavour relaxed her shoulders further.

“Ahem.” She quickly pulled another blank parchment.

“Dearest Aunt and Uncle,
This is Jacqueline Apple. I apologize for not writing sooner, but I must say ‘thank you’ for your latest assortment of fruits. They were simply divine. Until now, I haven’t realized how much...

I love oranges...

-*-Cain (Diamond Tiara)-*-

I bolted upright, barely managing to contain a scream as my mind was swiftly dragged from sleep into that of the waking world, hooves holding tightly to the blankets that were draped over my small pink form.

“Maybe this is normal for Diamond Tiara...” I said to myself, trying to recall the images and sounds of the dream-no, nightmare I had been having just moments before, but the details were quickly fading away. All I could remember was the sound of sobs and a cruel laugh. Both of them sounded familiar, one of them shockingly so, but that was all I was able to retain it seemed, much to my annoyance.

“Stupid body comes with stupid dreams...” I muttered, tossing the blankets off, then glancing at the clock sitting on the nightstand. It silently told me that it was 5 in the morning. I frowned, looking around me as I tried to remember something else, specifically, how I had ended up back here in DT’s room.

Shaking my head, I decided to go ahead and get out of bed and get ready for the day ahead. I certainly wasn’t going back to bed, in no mood for more nightmares I was about to head for the door, planning on heading to the little fillies room first and take a nice hot shower, but a small glint of light drew my attention back to the nightstand.

Sitting next to the clock, I had somehow missed DT’s trademark jewelry. I briefly thought about ignoring the thing, not wanting to wear it and having enjoyed the previous day not having to deal with the thing.

But then, a sudden and incredibly strong wave of emotion rode over my thoughts and I very nearly charged at the nightstand in an attempt to get the thing upon my head. Only once it was sitting firmly atop my mane did I feel like my old self…or as much of myself as I could feel.

“Ugh, what is wrong with me, it’s just a dinky little tiara. If DT’s dad wasn’t rich I’d swear it was plastic…” Nevertheless, I felt a strange sense of comfort and security with it on my head. Shrugging, I decided to push the weirdness of it to the side and get on with my morning. With the first day of me having to take DT’s place at school, I needed to be prepared as I could be.

With that thought in mind, I left my room and headed for the bathroom, surprising several manor staff by apparently being up this early. I managed to wave away the one who tried to help me take my shower, in no mood to be pampered today. This feeling followed me into the kitchen as I took the initiative with my own breakfast.

I couldn’t have sausage and bacon like I wanted, but I settled for my next favorite of grilled PB&J. It took two tries, but after a bit of a mess and a number of expletives that made the cooks nearly faint, the third sandwich managed to stay together and with a triumphant cheer I took my plate and made my way to the dining room and set about enjoying the fruits of my labor.

“Umm…Excuse me Miss Diamond?”

I looked over and saw Ginger Gold peeking out at me from a nearby door, her eyes clearly showing a combination of disbelief and amazement. I took that moment to look down at myself and realized that my earlier attempts at sandwich making had nullified my earlier shower.

I must be surprising everypony today…good, I’m tired of even trying to act like that prissy little brat. I thought to myself as I offered the mare a tired smile and replied “Sorry, the kitchen and I had a disagreement. Can I help you?”

My response seemed to only further confuse Ginger Gold, but she got over that as she rattled out “I was instructed by Jeeves to let you know that your mother and father will both be coming home today. Your father will arrive shortly after school, and your mother is coming home ahead of schedule. She should be here before dinner is served."

“Thank you for letting me know Ginger, I can’t wait to see mother again.” I said sincerely, that same strange feeling I felt when wearing the tiara coming to me with those words. I pushed away the feelings as just my own inner curiosity about DT’s mother, the mare having never made it into the show thus far. “By the way, think you could help me get back to the shower after I’m done eating? I think I’ve already made enough messes today…”

Ginger Gold nodded affirmative, and patiently waited till I was finished devouring my sandwich to pick me up by my neck and transport me to the bathroom. This time I didn’t fight her efforts to assist me in cleaning up, figuring it was a better use of my energy to mentally prepare myself for the day ahead.

School in Equestria!? I’ve never felt so nervous-xcited in my life. My thoughts were in a whirl as Ginger Gold helped me out of the tub and proceeded to mercilessly wield a hair dryer at me. Once I no longer looked like a filly that had decided to play in a pool of peanut butter and jelly, I had Ginger Gold help me gather up all the school books I’d need for the day.

“You’re all set Miss Tiara. At 6:45 Rickshaw will take you on up to the school. Try to behave yourself in the meantime; I think you nearly gave Chef Iron Stove a heart attack.”

“Probably get one from natural causes…” I murmured, remembering how large Chef Iron was. Just then panic gripped me as I noticed Ginger’s horrified expression. “…kidding! I’m just kidding! Ya don’t need to give me a look like that! I’ll be good. Probably.”

She gave me a look that told me she wasn’t really buying it, but I didn’t give her a chance to push it as I pulled out one of the school books and flipping it open. I had no intention of going into class blind, and I had a good hour and a half to prepare myself.

If only I’d inherited my mother’s speed reading…Shaking my head at the thought, I delved into the books, telling Ginger Gold to pull me out of the books when it was time to leave.

-*-

“Miss Tiara, it’s time for you to get going.”

I pulled my head out from between the pages of Equestrian History- A Beginners Guide and yelped as I discovered that Ginger Gold’s face was just inches away from mine.

“Are you trying to scare me!?”

Ginger Gold shrugged. “Well, I tried to get your attention from the door, but your nose was so far inside that book I almost thought it was glued to the pages. Now come on, I’ll walk you to the carriage.”

I closed the book and slipped it back into my bags, quickly falling into step beside her, my face expressing my displeasure at the idea of having to have an escort. Then again, I still wasn’t entirely used to the layout of the house, so I just told myself it was better than getting lost in the mansion and having to ask for help.

Soon enough, I was being lifted into the carriage as Rickshaw hooked himself up, still looking as bored as he had been yesterday. Once I was in, we set off, on what for Rickshaw was just another day of service to the Rich family, but for me was a daunting prospect. I silently prayed to any spirits that were merciful that the day would go over smoothly.

Knowing how me and the universe got along, I wasn’t expecting much.

-*-Apple Bloom-*-

If this morning was any sign of what her day was going to be like, Apple Bloom was in for an exciting and fun filled day.
And by exciting and fun, she meant crazy and weird.

When she had woken up, Apple Bloom had immediately sniffed out what she could only figure was supposed to be breakfast. It smelled a little different than normal, but her nose assured her that whatever it would be was going to be good.

She had leapt outta bed, nearly tripping over the bags she had unceremoniously dumped on the floor in her haste to make it to the kitchen. Racing down the stairs, she made it to the kitchen door, only to crash into a big red wall of pony.

The kitchen was a mess of flour, orange peelings, and various other cooking utensils. The only thing that seemed to have any order in this room of chaos was the dinner table, which was fancily decorated with a green lace tablecloth that Apple Bloom only ever saw come out for special occasions. Piled atop the table was a smorgasbord of orange themed dishes, from orange cobbler to a citrus-zest quiche.

And in the center of it all, snoring softly into a cake bowl, was Applejack. She was wearing a frilly looking apron and one of those chef hats she had seen Rarity wearing once, and her hair was done up all fancy-like.

“Apple Bloom, go wake up Granny. I’ll check on AJ.” Big Mac had said, and Apple Bloom hadn’t needed to be told twice. She ran back up the stairs and jumped into Granny’s bed.

“Granny Smith! Granny Smith! Something weirds goin’ on in the kitchen.”

“Hey now, hold your horses, Ah’m not used to bein’ bounced on so early in the mornin’.” Granny Smith yammered out as she was rudely awakened. Apple Bloom hopped off the bed, fidgeting as she thought about what could be wrong with her sister.

Granny took a few minutes to slide out, stretching out her old bones before sighing in relief as a series of loud pops echoed through the room, making Apple Bloom’s ears twitch.

“Alrighty then, what’s all the hubaloo again?”

Apple Bloom lead Granny Smith downstairs so that she could see for herself. When they reached the kitchen, they saw Big Mac just beginning to rouse a smiling AJ.

“Oh, morning everypony, I hope I didn’t disturb any of you last night with all this. Heheh, I just don’t know what got into me.” She said sweetly, gently rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she used Big Mac as support.

“Applejack, what in tarnations is all of this?” Granny Smith demanded, Apple Bloom and Big Mac nodding in agreement.

AJ looked around at the state the kitchen in and giggled, sounding more like Rarity than her old self. “Oh this? Well, I just couldn’t get to sleep last night, so I figured I’d get myself a little midnight snack. I found the oranges that Auntie Orange sent, and well, I guess a snack wasn’t enough” She took a whiff of the delicious aroma that filled the room and smiled. “Not that I’m going to complain, I do believe I’ve done a wonderful job, if I do say so myself.”

Apple Bloom looked to her big brother and Granny Smith, and was glad to see that she wasn’t the only one thought AJ was acting…well, weird. “Ah…AJ, are ya feelin’ alright? Ya don’ sound like yourself.”

AJ’s smile seemed to flicker, faltering as she thought about it. “Ah…I…I think so. I don’t have that headache anymore…though I’ll admit I do feel kind of strange.”

Granny snorted “Ya sound like yer Auntie Orange Applejack, and yer hair is all gussied up too!”

Applejack’s eyes narrowed, as she caught the unsaid insult. “Granny, now you hold yer prejudice to yerself. Ah never questioned how ya made yer Zap Apple Jam, so don’tcha criticize how ah think up mah orange recipes.”

AJ’s frown softened as she looked to her family. “Ah know it might seem strange, heck... it’s a bit strange ta me too... but dressin’ and talkin all fancy like helps me with makin’ orange treats.” She took a deep breath, and carefully straightened her apron. “An’ I would honestly appreciate my family’s support.”

Granny resembled a pointed statue, before slumping her shoulders followed with a short sigh. “I reckon Ah was a bit harsh.” She motioned everypony to sit down. “Now ya’ll, this here delicious lookin’ breakfast ain’t gonna eat itself.” And with gusto, she heartily slurped down some orange-ginger soup dazzled with freshly plucked mints.

Apple Bloom watched as Big Mac followed suit. Shrugging, the filly sipped the murky orange broth. “Now ain’t that fancy!” she exclaimed, before taking another spoonful. She was about to refill her bowl, before AJ had stopped her with a hoof.

“Sorry for last night,” she whispered. “...Ah promise to be a better sis. Ah love ya, Apple Bloom.”

Before the filly could speak, Applejack swiftly slipped into that crisp accent. “Now you simply must try my mandarin-orange cake, dazzled in dried orange strips.”

“Um... sure.”

“Marvellous!”

The rest of the morning was spent sampling the many dishes AJ had spent the morning making. Everything was delicious, but things just felt a little...odd. Applejack had never had an interest in making anything with oranges before, and as they ate she seemed to speak more and more in that funny accent.

“Hey AJ, are ya sure ya’ll feelin’ alright?”

“Apple Bloom!” chastised Granny Smith, “Now you be a mindin’ yer manners.” The elderly matriarch settled on snatching the remaining empty dishes off the table and brought them to the sink. “Thank ya for the lovely breakfast Applejack, an’ for remindin’ me on a thing or three. Sometimes ah forget how grown up you are.”

The filly watched as Big Mac nodded in agreement, and she sighed as she kept her mouth shut, not wanting to get in any trouble. Still...this just felt weird, and not exactly the good kind of weird.

“Well, Ah think Ah’ll slip into the bath for a few, can’t just waltz around looking like I’ve spent the day rolling in flour after all.” AJ said, the fancy accent slipping for a moment before returning in full force.

While Granny Smith set about cleaning the dishes and Big Mac headed out to get a start on the morning chores, Apple Bloom took a look at the clock and decided that after she got ready for school, she’d check on her big sis.

It only took a few minutes of work to have her bags set and ready next to the door, and with that out of the way she was free to spend the next ten minutes checking up on her sister.

Making her way up the stairs, she stealthily slid up to the bathroom door and quirked her ears, catching the telltale sound of the shower turning off and hooves on the tile. Apple Bloom squinted through the door suspiciously, as she caught her sister touching up on her mane, now wrapped again in her usual ponytail.

“Hmm…everypony seemed to love my creations… maybe I should share some with the rest of the gang. I’ve heard Twilight say she loves orange dishes, maybe she can give me some inspiration…”AJ seemed to say to herself, all the while touching herself up and all around acting more like Rarity than anything.

“Somethin’s goin’ on here…” Apple Bloom muttered to herself, moving away from the door and managing not to alert her bigger sister. “Maybe Twilight would…That’s it!”

The idea was obvious to the filly, heck, AJ herself had just mentioned it. She did a 180 and dashed into the bathroom, nearly running over AJ in her excitement as she said “Hey AJ! Ah got great idea!”

“By Celestia, please knock next time Apple Bloom!” AJ exclaimed, clearly surprised by Apple Blooms sudden appearance. She calmed down quickly though, shaking her head as she added “Ah’m sorry sis, what was it you were saying?”

Apple Bloom ignored the outburst, deciding it was probably due to whatever was making her big sister act so weird. “Ah overheard ya thinking about sharin’ those treats ya made with yar friends, and Ah think that’s a great idea! If ya’ll want, Ah could even take some with me to school to share with Sweetie and Scoots.”

“Apple Bloom, you know better than to eavesdrop on somepony…” AJ reprimanded, causing Apple Bloom to briefly bite her lower lip in guilt.

“But I’ll let it slide, because that’s an even better idea! I stashed some of what I made in the fridge; give me just a minute more to touch up and I’ll have a grab bag of orange goodies ready for you to share with your friends.”

Apple Bloom nodded, even as she grew more concerned. Gussying up? Speaking Fancy? Making a smorgasbord of orange themed dishes and treats? This was just so out of the blue that it made no sense. She dearly hoped that when her sister went off to share her treats that one of her friends would figure out what was wrong.

After spending the last few minutes she had left putting away some of the things she had gotten the night before with Silver Spoon, Apple Bloom was standing on the front porch, school bags on her back and a snack pack or orange goodies clenched tightly between her teeth.

“Make sure to have a nice day at school Apple Bloom, and let me know what your friends think of the snacks.”

“Ah will.” Apple Bloom mumbled before setting off down the road at a brisk pace.

This brought her back to where she was now, half-way down the road to school and her mind awhirl with thoughts of what could be wrong with her big sis. Was she sick? Did she accidentally hit her head and think she was some fancy orange chef or something?

“Hey Apple Bloom!”

“Huh?” Apple Bloom turned her head to see where the voice had come from, and was surprised to see that the carriage that carried Diamond Tiara had stopped right behind her, its two passengers gazing at her curiously.

How in Ponyville didn’ Ah hear that thing? Apple Bloom thought as her two former bullies waved her over. With some caution, she trotted over and asked “Ya want something?”

“Not really, I just figured you might like a change of pace.” Diamond Tiara stated matter of factly, patting the spot next to her as she added “Wanna ride with us?”

Apple Bloom stared blankly at the open seat next to Diamond, wondering if she had heard her correctly. She set her bag of treats down and looked at Diamond Tiara directly as she asked “Ya’ll really want me to ride with ya?”

“Of course Apple Bloom, why wouldn’t we?” Silver Spoon asked, an eyebrow quirking up as she added “Aren’t we all friends now?”

Thinking about it, Apple Bloom had to admit they certainly weren’t bullies anymore. Silver Spoon had already proven she had turned over a new leaf, and Diamond Tiara seemed to be doing so as well.

“Yeah, Ah guess we are, never thought Ah’d be sayin’ that though, but Ah don’ know... Ah usually walk with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.”

Diamond Tiara surprised her then, as she smirked and said “Well then they can ride with us too. There’s more than enough room, and it’ll be a good way to start making it up to them as well. Two birds with one stone.”

“Uhm. Alright then.” Apple Bloom climbed in the carriage and set down her basket. She looked at the strange assortment of snacks, and remembered that she was supposed to share them... “Cupcake?”

Diamond Tiara took the offered treat, while Silver Spoon opted to snag a pastry. She paused, immediately recognizing the snack. She bit into the soft pudding filling, and smiled at the familiar taste. “This is delicious! I usually import my tarts from Prance. Where did you get these?”

Apple Bloom eyed the orange confectionary. “Heck if I know.” She was greeted with playful laughter, as if she’d made a witty joke.

The filly didn’t bother to correct them. Instead she settled on looking out the carriage side, as she settled herself into the carriage’s plush cushions. The carriage started back up, its steady pace helping to calm her down.She tried to get into the conversation Silver Spoon was having with Diamond Tiara, but she didn’t know much of anything about Manehatten fashion or the latest gossip from Canterlot.

Sighing to herself, Apple Bloom simply watched the countryside pass her by as she lost herself in her thoughts...

-*-

A few yards away, two fillies peaked from behind a dead tree. They just stared at the spot where the carriage had stood.
“What... just happened Scootaloo? Scootaloo?” The soft flutter of Scootaloo's wings answered back. “Wait. Wait for me!!” Sweetie Bell leapt onto the scooter, just as the orange pegasus pushed her wings into high gear. Rapidly they sped down the path to the school house.

Scootaloo narrowed her eyes, as she replayed in her mind how Diamond and Apple Bloom spoke to one another. If somepony would betray the special covenant of friendship it would be that spoiled prissy filly.

Nopony messes with my friends. Scootaloo thought to herself as she increased her speed. Sweetie Belle held onto her for dear life, unaware of the pegasus’ menacing grin...

Frustration

View Online

-*- Cain (Diamond Tiara) -*-

I looked out my window. Touching the dirt road, the countryside rolled by. Lush, bright green meadows stretched across. It was very pretty, but empty, and went well with the current state of my mind as I tried not to think about anything in particular, doing my level best to just zone everything out…

“Diamond. Hey, Diamond!” Apple Bloom’s sudden scream caused the carriage to swerve off the road, and remind me that I wasn’t alone with my thoughts. I watched as the filly’s basket flew dramatically into the air. The carriage lurched again, which knocked Silver Spoon to the wall.

In an instant, I went from being zenned out to furious. “Rickshaw! You incompetent sack of donkey dung!” I shrieked. “Why’s Daddy even paying you!?” There, visible behind the thick glass, the old pony driver scuffled into view, clenching at his chest.

“Get us back on the road now, or you’re fired!!!” Smug satisfaction filled me, as the carriage immediately jerked back onto the main road.

‘Daddy will be so proud!’ I even giggled in delight, but paused as I caught my reflection in the window. For a moment I just looked at myself, and then slowly, I looked at my tiara.

That happiness vanished, as if somepony poured frigid, ice water down my mane. I shook myself as my mind reeled. I am not supposed to be Diamond Tiara! I’m me! I’m Cain! Not some prissy little filly...right?

Time ticked by, and with each second I struggled to keep calm. I’m not Diamond Tiara… I’m not Diamond Tiara… I’m not Diamond Tiara... The more I focused on those words, the more uncertain I felt.

My inner turmoil was interrupted when Apple Bloom nudged me. “Huh? What is it Apple Bloom?”

Apple Bloom dug at the cushion a bit, before she began. “Ah-um...sorry for startling everypony...eheh...Ah was just wantin’ to say thanks, for giving me a ride Ah mean.” She paused for a moment, seeming to consider her next words. “Um... What Ah mean to say is, yer...yer a real pal.”

On the outside, I put on a fake smile, but inside I was grimacing. “Thanks, that means a lot to me Apple Bloom.” She seemed to look at me for a moment, and I wondered if she was buying the front I was putting up, but she soon gave me an uneasy smile in return and let go, moving back to the spot she had been sitting and giving me the personal space I needed to deal with the turmoil in my head.

Boy, I really hope Twilight figures out a way to send me home. I don’t know how long I can stay sane at this rate. And I don’t even want to think about being stuck in this body for the rest of my life...

I pushed that thought out of my mind, reminding myself that I had Twilight’s help now, and that getting home would be easy as pie. I instead let my attention drift back to the sudden chatter beside me as Silver Spoon started talking about Canterlot fashion or something. The trivial facts meant nothing to me, as I had never been all that into fashion, but they offered an excellent distraction for my troubled thoughts.

“Oh, hey Diamond, how’d you do on Friday’s homework?” Silver Spoon suddenly asked, drawing my attention back to the real world. Of course, I think I would have preferred what I was thinking about to what she had just said…

“H-Homework? W-We had homework l-last week?” I asked, a lump forming in my throat as a panicky feeling began to form in my stomach.

Giving me a rather quizzical look, Silver Spoon replied “Umm, yeah. We always have homework on Fridays…” The way she said that and the look she was giving me did nothing to help my growing fears.

Facehoofing, I groaned as I pulled the school books I had out, quickly hunting down the assignment and promptly deciding to introduce my face with the carriage floor. Floor, meet face. Face, meet floor. “Ugh, with everything that went on this weekend, it must have slipped my mind…”

I was rather surprised when I felt a hoof on my left shoulder, and looked up to see Apple Bloom giving me a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry bout it Diamond, Ah’m sure ya got time to get it done before class starts. Sides, I’ve forgotten once or twice before, and Miss Cheerilee never got angry.”

That did reassure me, but I had no intentions of going into class without at least giving the homework a shot. I mean, it couldn’t be that hard could it?

-*-

Equestrian homework sucks.

That was my assessment of what Silver Spoon and Apple Bloom called ‘homework’, and what I very much wanted to shred to pieces and toss out the window as the carriage bounced along the road. It didn’t help that a strange buzzing sound just at the edge of hearing was distracting me. My ears flicked in annoyance as I tried to focus on the last assignment before me, my most dreaded enemy of all...MATH!

And not just any math, I’ll kid you not, this was Algebra! Something I hadn’t done in nearly five years. I let out a grunt of annoyance as I threw myself into work, doing my best to blank out the added distraction of Silver Spoon sharing celebrity gossip with Apple Bloom.

“...but that’s all I’ve heard since Sapphire Shores last concert.” Silver Spoon said, a smirk on her face as she thought about the hijinks the pop star had gotten into. The carriage then went quiet. “Hey Apple Bloom, you haven’t said much since you got in...everything alright?”

Damnit Silver Spoon… I thought to myself as I slowly craned my head and watched Apple Bloom drag her hoof along the carriage edge. Her statement had me curious, and I knew that would make it damn near impossible for me to get any work down. “Hey Apple Bloom, you alright?” I asked.

“Well…” Apple Bloom said, seeming to think about it for a moment before sighing and continuing. “Ah think something’s wrong with AJ, she had this headache yesterday an’ now she ain’t acting like herself.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it Apple Bloom.” Silver Spoon said, offering her a comforting smile. “Your sister is a really tough pony, and whatever it is she’ll probably pull through just fine.”

I nodded, a thought coming to my mind as I interjected “Have you thought about talking to Twilight? Or Zecora? If something’s wrong, one of them should be able to help out.”

“AJ’s gonna be seeing Twilight and her friends later today, she wants to share all the orange stuff she baked this mornin’.”

I was at a loss for words. AJ made the orange treats that Apple Bloom had offered? Before I could say anything I was pushed aside as Silver Spoon zipped over to Apple Bloom and exclaimed “You mean Applejack made all of these? I can’t believe it: these are way better than any of the ones I ever ordered!”

I didn’t hear whatever was said next, because as I was pushed aside my tiara fell off my head and tried to drop out of the carriage. With a soft yelp, I dashed to side and snatched it with my teeth before it could get away.

With my neck stretched out the window, I struggled to pull myself in. The heavy wind had flung my mane over my face, and I could taste the metal accompanied with the strong flavor of sweaty strands of lavender hair. I don’t know how I kept my composure. Ponies either had sensitive tongues, or I badly needed another bath.

Two pairs of hooves quickly pulled me back inside.

Silver Spoon sheepishly looked away, while Apple Bloom seemed adamant to see if I was alright. Their mouths flapped open and close, most certainly saying something important, but I couldn’t concentrate. That faint, ‘buzzing’ sound was getting louder. I rubbed my ears.

“Give. Her. Back!” came a sudden yell from outside. “Give us Apple Bloom!” We all turned to the window and watched as Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle sped up and alongside the carriage. The unicorn filly’s body was lifted to the air, with only her front hooves anchoring herself onto Scootaloo as the pegasus filly sent what was a poor impression of a death glare my way.

“What are you talking about?!” I shouted out, not exactly understanding what Scootaloo had shouted out.

I don’t know if they heard me, but the next thing I saw was Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle crashing into a large boulder along the road. As Apple Bloom sputtered incoherently and Silver Spoon looked at me for answers, I commanded Rickshaw to turn the carriage around.

The instant we were stopped near where they had wrecked, Apple Bloom hopped to her hooves, rushed out of the carriage and called out, “Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo! What in tarnation was that!?”

“Ohh… why didn’t I put my helmet on…” Scootaloo groaned as she pulled herself from the floor. “Ugh. Sweetie Belle...You alright!?”

“Ov-over here.” A shaky voice replied, and I looked past the still groaning Scoots to see Sweetie Belle stepping out of a nearby bush, spitting out some leaves and branches that had managed to lodge themselves in her mouth.

Like a good filly, I rushed over and tried to help Scootaloo get back on her hooves, but she angrily shoved me away. “Get offa me! I don’t need your help!” She tried to stand on her own, but then thumped back down from the lack of balance, letting out an angry grunt as she did so.

I don’t clearly remember what had happened next, but I could feel my chest clench. “Well fine, you dumb blank flank! Don’t know why I bothered helping anyways!” The sensation of triumph evaporated and shifted into pure, unadulterated horror. I watched helplessly as Scootaloo flinched away as if stung. Once again, I was shocked by what I had said, cursing at myself as confusion filled my head. Why was I acting like that? Why was I saying mean things like that?

I stumbled forward, desperately attempting to craft an apology. That’s when I saw the orange hoof heading for my face. My head snapped backwards, colliding into the dirt road.

-*-

"...That wasn’t very nice Scoots."

"Whatever. She had that one coming. Sides, she’s waking up."

"Diamond. Wake up." Silver Spoon’s voice drifted to me as the darkness slowly began to dissapate. Groggily, I got up on my hooves, blearily remembering what had happened. Slowly, I stared at Scootaloo. No, I didn't just stare, I was glaring at her. I was pissed. Steadily, I walked closer, unwilling to look away as my anger, and a bunch of other feelings, all became focused upon one pony.

"What are you lookin’ at?" Scootaloo began, her anger returning as she continued, “Nopony likes you. Nopony needs you! Get away from me, you selfish, arrogant, spoil-”

I punched her-hard. A loud crunching sound rang out, meaning I'd probably broke something. Scoots wings buzzed loudly as she was sent flying a few feet away, landing in a crumple.

As she started to get back up, I marched over to her, looming above her as she looked back up at me, angry defiance in her eyes. But it wasn’t there for long, as I leaned down and let my rage filled eyes sit inches away from hers. I felt a sadistic spike of pleasure run through me as I watched her squirm and shift under my gaze.

"This is your only warning Scootaloo. Never. Ever. Hit me again. Not if you ever want to be able to fly. Got it?"

Scootaloo seemed conflicted, but another look into my eyes and I could see that she realized I was speaking truth. She gulped and nodded her head, which was enough for me. I pulled away from her and stomped off, noticing the school in the distance, along with two approaching forms.

Miss Cheerilee, and Rickshaw. And neither of them looked all that happy.

There was only one thing I could say at a time like this.

“Shit.”

-*-Twilight Sparkle-*-

"Alright…let me see if I get this straight."

Twilight didn’t turn to acknowledge what Spike said, but she was paying attention all the same as five quills scratched against five scrolls.

"Diamond Tiara is possessed by the soul of a hyomon-"

"Human." Twilight corrected.

"Right, whatever. She’s possessed by the soul of a human who Discord brought to Equestria, even though he’s still stuck as a lawn ornament back in Canterlot. He wants your help finding a way to get his soul out of her body, and back home, and you’re going to help him."

Twilight nodded her head. Spike stopped his pacing and gave her an even stare as his eyes grew distant, no doubt mulling over what she had told him. Which hadn’t been much, but that was because she wanted Cain to explain everything in front of all her friends AND the Princess.

"Okay, how much of Pinkie’s gum-drop and spiced pear pizza did you have last night?"

Twilight let out a groan, her head dropping as she shouted "Spike, I’m serious! I remember everything that happened in that weird dream-scape, everything Discord said, and I didn’t imagine everything Cain said."

"You mean miss prissy crown?"

"Spike, that’s rude, in more ways than one. Miss Prissy Crown is nothing like how Diamond Tiara normally acts." Twilight said as she finally set the quills aside and rolled the scrolls up. She looked up and around before spotting the sleeping form of Owlowiscious up on his perch. With a soft whistle, he was roused from his slumber and less than a minute later he was flying down to perch upon her horn.

"Hoo?"

"Morning sleepyhead. Would you be a dear and take all of these to my friends? Its really important."

Owloicious gave a salute with his wing before snatching the letters up with his claws. Without even looking, he set off for the open window near the front door and was gone, leaving just Twilight and Spike in the library.

She grabbed another scroll and began writing the letter meant for Princess Celestia, but was sadly interrupted when Spike poked his head into her field of vision.

"Come on Twi, you can't seriously be falling for this? This is crazier than that day Pinkie said she wasn't Pinkie..."

"Spike, Pinkie was like that because she accidentally walked through Poison Joke again. There's just too much here that can't simply be explained away for this to be any sort of trick or plot." She let out a breath as she closed her eyes and remembered that dream world.

"And besides Spike, when I saw Discord last night, it wasn't like that nightmare I had after we beat him. I know that Discord was there in...whatever that place was." She opened her eyes and looked directly at Spike as she went on. "I gave my word to Cain, both in that place and to him here in this room that I would help him, and I intend to do that."

Spike seemed to decide it was a good point to change tactics. "Alright, so let’s say Discord's involved. How do you know helping this Cain guy, if he isn't some sort of creation of Discord’s, won't be playing right into his hands? For all we know, this is some master plan of his to try and break free again!"

Twilight gave him a coy smile as she went back to writing. "Why do you think I'm sending a letter to the Princess Spike? If Discord's involved, then the Princesses have to be made aware of it. And even though I've grown in my magical abilities, I'm still nowhere near where Princess Celestia or Luna are. Maybe they've encountered something like this in the past, or maybe Discord tried this sort of stunt before. We need their help in this."

Spike still didn't seem completely convinced...but after tapping his foot on the floor for another moment or two he let his arms drop to his sides. "Alright Twi, if you're really dead set on doing this, I guess the best thing I can do is support you."

Twilight pulled the dragon into an embrace with a forehoof, nuzzling his face as she said "That's my number one assistant! Now, could you go ahead and sent this to the Princess?"

She presented the finished letter to Spike, who took it and gave a short bow. "It'd be my pleasure Twilight!" With a blast of his draconic breath, the letter was sent wisping into the air, headed off for Canterlot. Spike turned back to look at Twilight as she started gathering books on advanced magic and setting them next to her. He walked over and laid a claw on her back, causing her to look to him as he spoke.

"Ya know Twi, even though I'm not sure about this whole thing, I'm glad you’re not taking it all on your own. Sending the Princesses a letter is a great idea."

Nuzzling him again, Twilight smiled as she replied "I'm glad you approve. Now, we've got a lot of work to do before everypony gets here, so could you help me find Starswirl's Guide to Rare and Unusual Magical Phenomenas?"

Spike nodded and rushed upstairs to Twilight's personal collection of literature as Twilight grabbed the first book from her pile and opened it up, setting it on the floor as she began her research into the most unusual task she had ever taken up.

-*- Cain (Diamond Tiara) -*-

You know, sitting as I was in this small little corner, stuck staring at the juncture where two pieces of wall met and joined together, I had to admit that Miss Cheerilee was right when she said that being in time out was a great way to think about what a pony had done wrong. Only, in my case, I wasn't thinking about what I had done wrong, so much as what Scootaloo had done wrong.

Oh yeah, I was still pissed of at that little paperweight.

Said Crusader was sitting in a similar corner on the other side of the classroom, holding a bag of ice up to her mouth. Originally, it had seemed I was going to be the only one stuck in a corner, but the other two Crusaders and Silver Spoon had told Cheerilee that Scootaloo had been the one to start it. Thus Cheerilee had decided to put Scootaloo in time out as well...after giving her a potion to fix some of the damage I did to her jaw.

Guess Diamond has more strength in her than I thought. Or maybe I was just pissed off enough that I made up for her lack of it. Speaking of which, despite the fact that I was in trouble, something I had so far tried to avoid since arriving here, I actually felt rather good. It was hard to describe, but it didn’t feel like there was some second person trying to butt in and take control. I could only feel my own thoughts and feelings, and that was a plus any day in my book.

A small bell above the door rang out, and I could hear a murmur of excitement coming from the fillies and colts behind me. “Alright everypony, that’s enough for the moment. Go on outside and have fun, I’ll come get you when break is over.”

A cacophony of hooves racing outside filled the air, even as I kept my nose stuck in the corner. With me being in the mood I was in, I wasn’t in any rush to go outside and play with anypony. When I was like this, solitude was generally the best option for everyone involved.

When the room was quiet once more, I heard murmuring at the other end of the room. It sounded like Cheerilee was trying to quietly talk with Scootaloo, but thanks to there not being any other noise in the room, and because I had nothing better to do, I was able to catch most of it.

“You need to go apologize to her Scootaloo. I know the two of you don’t really get along…”

Scoots reply was muffled, but I could detect a hint of frustration in it as she replied “We’ve never gotten along Miss Cheerilee.”

Heh, much as I may be angry at Scootaloo, I could understand her frustration.

“...Be that as it may, what you did was wrong Scootaloo, and you need to make up for it. I’m sure if you do you’ll feel better about this whole mess.”

“Ya gonna make miss ‘I’m better than everypony’ apologize too?”

The sigh Cheerilee let out forced me to put a hoof over my mouth to keep from laughing. “I’m going to be talking with her too Scootaloo, and yes, I’ll be telling her to apologize for hitting you.”

Fat chance of that happening I thought to myself. Sorry Scoots, but right now you’re on my grudge list. Give it a day or two and maybe we can talk.

Unsurprisingly, Scootaloo and I were on the same wavelength for that. “Yeah, like Diamond’s gonna apologize for anything.”

Cheerilee sighed again. “At least think about it, please? For me at least? It’s not healthy to let things like this sit and fester.”

Now it was Scootaloo’s turn to sigh. “I guess I can try… got any more of that medicine?”

“Certainly, there’s another bottle in my desk, second drawer on the left.”

“Thanks Miss Cheerilee.” I heard Scootaloo’s hooves upon the floor as she made her way towards the desk. Even though I couldn’t see her face, as I had no interest in turning around, I could feel her gaze boring into me nonetheless.

Scootaloo didn’t waste much time, soon following everypony else outside. This just left me and Cheerilee, with enough tension in the room to choke an Ursa Minor. Maybe. The Ursa could probably eat it all up, but I doubted I'd ever get a chance to ask one.

"Well Diamond Tiara, I believe we need to have a talk." Cheerilee finally said, drawing my thoughts away from the image of me asking a giant cosmic bear if it could eat the school in one bite.

"Do we have to?" I responded, keeping my head stuck in the corner, every fiber of my being declaring my intent to be defiant to the end. Or until it stopped being fun. "I think the wall is much more interesting than anything we could possibly talk about."

"No games today Diamond, I want you to turn around and come over here. You can't leave until you do."

"Leave? Why would I want to leave? This stool is very comfy to sit on, rough edges and all."

“Diamond Tiara…” Cheerilee murmured, with no response from me. After a moment, she sighed and began again. “I know you’ve been having a tough time getting along with your classmates since you transferred from Morningstar’s Private School back in Canterlot, but hitting someone? That’s not like you at all…”

Well, that was something I hadn’t known, though I had to say I wasn’t too surprised that Diamond hadn’t hit anyone. “Yeah well, getting a hoof straight to the face has a tendency to do that to a pony.”

“That doesn’t mean you had any right to hit back Diamond. All that does is make things worse.”

I really wanted to laugh at that statement. I’d heard it before, and frankly in my experience, it was mostly utter bullcrap. Of course, trying to tell that to Miss Cheerilee probably wouldn’t get me anywhere, and to be honest with how I was still feeling, nothing she said was going to do anything.

“I beg to differ on that teach, but you know what?” I said, hopping off the stool and finally turning around to look her in the eyes, “I don’t think it matters, because we’re done here.”

With that said, I started walking towards the entrance, but Cheerilee moved to intercept me. “What do you mean Diamond Tiara, we’re not done talking-”

“Yes, yes we are. Ya see, right now, I’m still really, really irritated, and frankly, any little bit of nonsense you spout right now is just going to go through one ear and out the other.” I replied, using a hoof to demonstrate such to her. “Right now, the best thing for everyone involved is to leave me alone, and let me go vent somewhere. Preferably away from everypony else. So, if you’ll excuse me…”

I didn’t even wait for a response back from her, simply dashing out the door and shutting it behind me. Frankly, even if little miss Tiara would have stayed to get lectured, I simply wasn’t in the mood. Anger and frustration were still bubbling within me, and it was plain to see from the scowl on my face.

Thankfully, as I made my way through the various foals going about having fun and enjoying their break from the drudgery of school, no one was foolish enough to bother me. Maybe they could pick up on my emotions, and were getting the pony equivalent of “DANGER WILL ROBINSON, DANGER!” from me. Or maybe they’d seen DT with an expression like that before and had learned not to mess with her. Either was fine with me, as long as it meant nobody interacted with me.

I probably shouldn’t have thought that last bit though, as just as I was making my way towards the edge of the playground, I heard running hooves headed my way. Four to be exact, and since no one else had bothered coming near me, they could belong only to…

“Diamond, wait up!” I heard Silver Spoon cry out, and turning back a bit I saw her and the rest of the Crusaders making their way towards me. Silver Spoon looked worried, as did Apple Bloom, while Sweetie Belle seemed rather apprehensive. Scootaloo was purposely not looking in my direction.

"No, nu-uh, no way, nein, nyet." I shouted back, turning my head away from them and picking up my speed. Now was not the time for them to be bothering me, and I had no desire to end up saying anything I might regret.

"Ah pony-feathers, she's trying to get away." I heard Apple Bloom say as I started running, no longer within the confines of the playground but now racing across one of the empty pastures bordering the school.

I heard Silver call out again as they tried to keep up. "Slow down Diamond, we just want to talk to you!" Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon were keeping up, but the other two were having trouble.

"Teach wanted to talk too, and I didn't give her the time of day! Just leave me alone!" That was what I wanted really, some time alone to vent my frustrations, somewhere where no one would be able to say or do anything to cheer me up or calm me down. I just needed to let all my stress out, and I couldn't do it with anyone else around.

Especially any of these ponies.

I quickly looked around me, trying to see if I could find someplace I could lose my pursuers. I didn't see anything useful at first, but then I saw it. A nearby hill had a single tree sitting atop it, and I could see some low hanging branches.

Maybe if I can get up there fast enough, they'll just pass by. It was better than nothing at this point, so digging down and grasping some of the frustration I still felt, I used it to give me some extra speed as all four legs thundered beneath me.

With the sound of my heart pounding in my ears, I made it behind the tree, the four of them far enough away that I had just enough time to try and hide. But as I hopped up and tried to grab one of the branches, I discovered that unfortunately, ponies are terrible at climbing trees.

Well now what genius? I growled softly as I again looked up at the tree...which was when I noticed a hollow spot that looked just big enough for a filly to slip inside.
I could hear them getting closer. It was now or never.

"Huh? Where the hay did she go?" Apple Bloom said as she and the rest came into view. Sweetie Belle fell to the ground, breathing raggedly and reminding me vaguely of a half melted marshmallow.

"May...huhhuhh...Maybe she got away?"

"Nah...Diamond's not that fast. Besides, I don't see her anywhere." Silver Spoon replied, looking out at the fields around the hill and trying in vain to spot me. Or so I thought, as her eyes turned to the tree and she peered at it suspiciously.

Please don't spot me please don't spot me.

Silver's eyes locked onto me, and for a moment, our gazes were linked. There was no doubt in my mind as I stared back into her lavender eyes. I had been found. Slowly, I closed my eyes and lowered my head in defeat. I guess letting go of all the stress and anger would have to wait.

But she didn't say anything. I waited for her to call me out, but nothing ever came. Chancing it, I looked up, and we stared at each other once more. This time, Silver Spoon looked away.

"Do we really have to do this right now?" Scootaloo said, bringing my attention back to the crusaders. "I'm not in any hurry to apologize to miss high and mighty you know."

"Cheerilee said ya oughta try, and sides ya said it yarself, it was wrong to hit Diamond for somethin' she wasn' even doin'."

Silver Spoon turned to face the others. "We can try again later Apple Bloom. I think its best if we leave Diamond Tiara alone for now."

"Are you sure Silver Spoon?" asked Sweetie Belle, who seemed to have finally recovered from the run.

"Yeah...I don't think talking with Diamond's gonna do any good right now anyways. We can talk after school." Silver said, turning back in the direction of the school and the playground. The crusaders watched her go for a moment, and then, shrugging their shoulders, followed after her.

I sat there in stunned silence for a few minutes, wondering if they were somehow trying to pull a fast one on me. It seemed like something the crusaders might try after all. It had to be nearly ten minutes after they left that I finally poked my head out and glanced around.

No one was around. Except for some birds chirping in the tree, I was alone.

"Ugh...finally." I muttered to myself, climbing out of the tree and plopping myself on the soft grass, glaring at everything around me. Now that I wasn't being bothered by anyone, all the feelings I had lost focus on came back to the forefront.

My thoughts went back to what had happened earlier with Scootaloo, but looking back on it, that frankly didn't really bother me anymore. I'd gotten over that. But that outburst did unleash all the stress I'd been burying deep down since I got here.

"I'm tired of this...I'm tired of trying to be someone I ain't. I never wanted to get stuck here. Especially not in this brat’s body. Having to even try and act like that pretentious spoiled rotten brat disgusts me to the core.

As if being in one of the most hated ponies in the show wasn't bad enough, I'm stuck taking her punishment. All for something Diamond Tiara did. And I'm even getting in trouble for the stupid things that she says."

I stopped my rant and rapped my head, continuing. "Yeah, I'm talking to you prissy princess, I'm sure your in there somewhere. I certainly didn't say anything mean to Scoots. At least, not until after I decked her..."

I sighed, looking once more out at the land around me. The bright blue of the sky mixing with the fluffy white of a few clouds. The soft grass of the plains and hills around me blowing gently in the breeze. The birds chirping as they flew and flittered about…

It was beautiful, peaceful, and for most, it probably would have gave them a feeling of peace. But not for me. Because as peaceful as Equestria was…

It wasn't home.

"You know what, I don't care if this is the chance of a lifetime, I don't care if I get to explore the land of my favorite series ever, I don't even care how wonderful and nice it is here. This isn't where I belong, this isn't my home!

I miss my family, my mom, my sister, and our two annoying cats! I miss my grandmother and her silliness! I miss all the friends I've made since becoming a brony! Heck, I even miss my crappy-ass job at Wal-Mart!

I don't want to be a pony! I don't want to be Diamond Tiara! I want to be me! CAIN!! I WANT TO GO HOME!!"

I slumped down, laying on my belly as a I splayed myself across the ground, closing my eyes and trying to imagine I was back home, that this had all been some sort of horrible dream. For a few wonderful seconds, I had myself nearly convinced...but then reality decided to crash down upon me.

"Well, sounds like somepony has had a tough time." A familiar voice replied.

I rolled my eyes as the plains around me returned to my vision. "That's the understatement of the week Rainbow Dash." I then sat there for a few seconds, just staring out into space...until my brain processed everything.

What the- I thought as my head snapped up and I started looking around, trying to spot the rainbow maned pegasus.

"Up here kiddo."

My head jerked up and I found her, her familiar face peeking out from one of the clouds that I'd seen earlier. She was looking down at me, a neutral expression on her face but her eyes told me that she was concerned.

I gulped, staring up at her for a moment, not exactly sure what to say or do. I didn't really think running again would do any good, not against Rainbow Dash anyways. Finally, gulping again, I asked "H-How much d-did you hear?"

Her lips formed into a smirk as she stood up, shaking some of the cloud off of her. "Dia-I mean Cain, I've been up here since you decided to pop into that tree. I heard everything."

Well...I thought knowing how much she'd heard would help my brain figure something out, but it kept pulling up a blank. I heard Rainbow Dash sigh as she hopped off her perch, gliding down and settling down next to me. "Hey chillax, there's nothing to worry about, Twilight already told me everything."

My ears perked up, and though I was still freaked out, a glimmer of hope welled up within me. "Really? So you don't think I'm crazy?"

"Well, I think the whole story is crazy, but Twi said that Discord was involved, so I guess that's to be expected." Rainbow Dash replied, tapping her chin with a hoof. Her eyes widened, almost as if she suddenly remembered something.

"Oh yeah! That's why I'm here, Twilight sent me to come find you and bring you back to Golden Oaks."

The knowledge that Rainbow Dash seemed to believe everything, and wasn't at least immediately planning on handing me to any counselors of any sort, allowed me to calm down a bit. "Why's that? Surely she hasn't found a way to get me home that fast."

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Nah, Twilight's good, but not that good. No, she said something about Princess Celestia coming by to talk with you."

Okay, now I was worried again. Mostly, because I'd never met royalty before, and this wasn't just any royalty, this was an ageless possible goddess I would be meeting.

More than that though, was the worry of what might happen if the Princess, after hearing my story, believed me to be crazy.

What other choice do I have? I thought to myself as I stood up. "Well, I suppose I can't keep Twilight or the Princess waiting. Now...which way to-YAAH!"

I was suddenly lifted in the air and plopped on Rainbow Dash's back, and from the way her body was shifting and tensing up, there was only one conclusion I could reach. And it was not one that appealed to me.

"Oh no, ohnononononooo..."

Rainbow Dash turned and gave me what I'm sure she thought was a comforting smile, but did nothing to calm me down. "Ah relax, its a short flight, especially when flying with yours truly."

"Its not that...I'm just really really scared of..."

She didn't seem to be listening. "Just hold tight and it'll be over in a flash."

And then she kicked off, and we launched into the air, the wind rushing past me as I clung onto her with all my strength. The last word I screamed out was lost to the wind.

"HEEEIGGHTSS!!!!"

As Rainbow Dash turned towards Ponyville, I closed my eyes and made a mental note to myself that the instant we were on solid earth, I was going to throttle Equestria's greatest flier.

Moving Things Along

View Online

-*-Cain (Diamond Tiara)-*-

I don't know what they say about one's first flight, but I do believe that generally they're referring to a plane trip. Lucky me that my first experience would be from the back of Equestria's greatest flier.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!"

Oh right, heights...yeah, me and heights don't get along well. Neither does yelling at the top of one's lungs while going over a hundred miles per hour.

"Would you shut up already! Its hard to fly with you screaming in my ears!"

Easier said than done RD, no wait I'm out of breath. You got lucky this time, mad pony.

I spent most of the flight with my eyes shut tight, not wanting to know how far away the ground was, nor how much time I'd have to relive my life before I went splat. The last few seconds of it wherein RD was kind enough to not demonstrate how she had acquired the nickname 'Rainbow Crash', I opened my eyes and saw to my delight the giant tree that housed Twilight Sparkle.

Which also meant this nightmarish pony-ride was nearly over.

RD touched down just outside the door, smiling as she folded her wings in. "See, that wasn't so bad no-"

I didn't give her a chance to finish as I promptly launched myself onto the ground and cried out, "LAND!! Dear sweet solid land!!", I promptly kissed and hugged the grass beneath me with all my might, promising it that I'd never ever allow that mad pony to take me into the unforgivable, death filled sky.

RD scoffed, and I didn't need to look up to know she was rolling her eyes. "Alright alright I get it, sheesh. Now would you stop making out with the ground? Its kinda freaking me out."

I stopped, smirking at that as I got up. "Heh, that's kinda sad if that's enough to freak you out. Now if you really want to be freaked out, I can fix that..."

RD smirked at that. "Says the kid who was scared of a short hop in the sky."

"If thats your definition of a hop in the sky, I don't want to find out what you consider to be a real flight." I replied, turning my attention away from her towards the library. "So Twilight really got the Princesses to show up for this?"

"Actually, she said Luna was staying in Canterlot to take care of Celestia's duties while she's gone. And Celestia did say that anything involving Discord is worth investigating." Dash's eyes got a bit of a distant look to them, as if recalling something.

"Considering how messed up he made things before we sealed him back up, I can understand why the Princess would be willing to look into this."

That made sense, after all if he could get out once, there was always the possibility that he could do so again. And besides, as a brony watching the show, like every other brony I got but a glimpse of all the trouble the Spirit of Chaos had caused. The fandom had come up with plenty of ideas, ranging from the tame and harmless to the psychotic and savage, of all that he had done while Twilight was busy restoring her friendships.

"Right then...well, after you. No offense, but I'm not in a big rush to meet her royal shininess."

That got RD’s attention. “Hey, are you making fun of Princess Celestia?”

I thought about it for a moment. “Welllll….”

Before I could say anything one way or the other, a bright flash of light, followed by a bang and a shriek from within the library drew our focus. In an instant, RD had forgotten about what I’d called Celestia and was throwing the door open and racing in, looking ready to bash in someone’s face. I quickly followed after her, taking in the scene before me.

And my, what a scene it was.

The library was a mess, with books, quills, and scrolls scattered all over the place. Fluttershy was just peeking her head out from the stairwell when I walked in, surveying the damage, while Rarity was busy using her magic to remove ink that had gotten into her mane. Pinkie Pie's head popped out of a surprisingly neat pile of books which, upon closer inspection, had been turned into a fortress.

And at the center of it all were two ponies. Twilight was busy picking herself off the floor with the help of Spike. She looked rather ragged, and her horn seemed to be on the fritz as tiny sparks of magic popped from it.

Next to her-that left just one pony-was busy straightening out an elegant dress that perfectly matched her eyes.

"I'm sorry Twilight, but I really do think we should wait for her highness to get here." Applejack said as she trotted over to help her friend up. "I know all of you find my behavior and mannerisms today a bit, surprising, but there's no need for you to work yourself to exhaustion trying to fix this."

I just stared. This...this couldn't be Applejack. The pony before me looked as gussied up as Rarity was for formal gatherings, and her good old country accent was gone, replaced by one that wouldn't have sounded out of place in the streets of Manhattan.

RD sighed, her limbs loosening as the tension drained out of her body. "You’re still working on this problem? What's the matter with you Twilight?"

"Uhh… give me a break Rainbow, this isn't as easy as you think it is." Twilight replied, groaning and rubbing her head. "This isn't like what Discord did to all of us last time."

"Twilight dear, I'm as worried about Applejack's behavior as the rest of us, but draining yourself with the Princess on the way isn't going to solve anything." Rarity added, joining AJ as she tried to comfort her friend.

Shaking myself out of my stupor, I cleared my throat. "I don't mean to interrupt… but could someone explain what the heck is going on here?"

Every eye in the room turned to look at me. Pinkie's head popped out of her book fort as a wide smile spread across it. "He's here, he's here!" She quickly bounded out, spilling some of the books and nearly running into Fluttershy as she drew closer.

Twilight smiled as she saw me, before looking to Rainbow Dash. "Well, I'm a bit surprised to see you two here so soon. I take it Cheerilee didn't have any problems with you picking up Diamond Tiara?"

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to say something, then stopped, looked at me, and slapped her face. "Oh horse apples... be right back!"

She sped back out the door, heading off in the direction of the school, leaving everypony staring at the spot she had been floating. Twilight smacked a hoof to her face. "Tell me she didn't just take you from the school..."

I chuckled. "Yes and no...its a bit of a story. I can explain when she gets back." My attention was then drawn back to the pink form that was bounding happily in front of me.

"Now, is there a reason Pinkie Pie is so bouncy today, besides being Pinkie Pie?" I gave her an odd look as she stopped in front of me, peering at me from just about every direction imaginable, and a few that weren't.

"Oh don't mind her, she's just excited about this whole story surrounding you." Rarity said as she gently placed a hoof on Pinkie's back to stop the bouncing. It worked, but then Rarity started bouncing in place instead.

Twilight rolled her eyes, half in amusement and half in irritation. "I told you Rarity, it’s not a story. I fully and honestly believe what Cain has told me, and I know what I saw wasn't some sort of freaky dream!"

"And I understand that. But I wasn't there to witness it, and you have to admit, it is a big stretch to accept that Diamond Tiara is 'possessed' by an alien spirit."

"I resent that notion, I'm not possessing her. Not by any choice of mine anyways..." I muttered, attempting to glare at myself and failing miserably.

Twilight nodded. "I don't think possession is the right word Rarity. Regardless, I do believe what he says, even if I still have many questions for him." She sent a glance my way, and it wasn't hard to get the gist of the look.

If I had any hope of getting everypony on my side, honesty would be my ally. Not that I had any intentions of lying, it would serve no purpose here. That didn't mean I was going to simply play the role of open book right then and there.

"And I will answer all of them, in due time. But before we get to any of that, could somepony please explain why AJ is acting like some gussied up Manhattenite?”

“Oh, oh I know that one!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, hopping up and down again as Rarity stepped back in surprise. “Its cause the lines between the universes are blurring, and the AJ from another universe in which she didn’t go back to the farm and stayed with the Oranges in Manehattan is blurring into our AJ, thus making her act like Orangejack but with AJ’s memories! Soon we’ll all start acting strange as our alternate selves merge with our current forms!”

Everypony in the room just stared at Pinkie Pie for a moment, who had finally stopped bouncing and had a wide smile on her face. Then the smile vanished as she put a hoof to her chin and tapped it. “Or is that the plot of that comic-book I read last Tuesday…?”

“As interesting a theory as that is,” Twilight said, attempting to bring some measure of normality to the conversation, “I believe that this has something to do with Discord as well. In fact, with what AJ told me and what I learned about your situation Cain, I believe that the two are linked.”

I frowned at that. "What exactly do you mean? Do you think I had something to do with AJ being… well, this?"

"Of course she doesn't mean that, darling!" AJ butted in before Twilight could speak up. "You see, the other day when you came by to help out at Sweet Apple Acres, I noticed something off about you, but at the time I thought I was just imagining things."

I was about to ask what tipped her off about that, considering that when I thought back on it I hadn't really acted much like Diamond Tiara, but what she said next caught me off guard.

"Right before you left at the end of the day, your eyes changed. Just for a second. For one brief moment, they were the same colors as Discord's eyes. It took a while before I started feeling anything abnormal, but Twilight thinks that Discord left something inside of you when he brought your spirit here to Equestria."

So not only had Discord spirited my consciousness away from my home on Earth, he was using my-err-Diamond Tiara's body as a vessel to sow chaos? If it was someone else, I would have found it funny, but since I was involved, it ticked me off.

It must have shown on my face, because AJ came over and put a hoof on my head as she ruffled my mane. "Oh don't worry about it Cain, its not your fault that this is happening." The others nodded in agreement.

"That doesn't mean I like it..." I muttered to myself, closing my eyes for a moment as my anger intensified. "Ohh... if I ever get my hooves on Discord, I'm going to smash his face in for all this!"

I was going to stomp my hooves on the floor for good measure, but the gasps from the girls and the look of surprise on Twilight's face stopped me. "... What? Too violent?"

"Not at all Dia-Cain. Personally, I share your desire to give that ruffian of a chaos spirit a good thrashing." Rarity replied, her eyes transfixed on me. "Its just that… well, when you said that..."

Pinkie interrupted her as she zoomed over, looking deep into my eyes. "Wow that's a neat trick Cain! I didn't know ya could make your eyes change like that! Do it again!"

Come again? "Wait, are you saying my eyes changed again? Like how AJ saw it?"

All five of them nodded and added sounds of acknowledgement. Which did nothing to help my mood. Even the bubbly presence of Pinkie Pie next to me wasn't soothing my frustrations. "There they go again! Boy, with that scowl and those eyes you look really mean and scary!"

"Hold on a sec..." Twilight said aloud, a contemplative look on her face as she studied my face. "Cain, why don't you try thinking of something happy?"

"Huh? Uh sure..." I wasn't sure where Twilight was going with this, but I took a moment to think of things that might boost my mood: Watching MLP FIM, chatting with friends on Facebook, cool cloudy days…

"Alright, now try thinking of something that makes you angry."

At that I harrumphed, shaking AJ's hoof off my back. "Think? Thinking isn't necessary, I can tell you something that makes me angry." I took a moment to look around at everyone, and then myself, and felt anger beginning to boil within me again.

"Every time I open my eyes, I'm reminded that I'm stuck inside a body that isn't mine, in a world that isn't mine, and for all I know, my family thinks I'm in a coma or dead. Each and every single waking moment is a reminder that I'm not me, that I'm not on Earth with the family I love!!"

I hadn't really raised my voice, but if the looks I was getting were any indication, I looked ready to maul something. Venom dripped with every word I said, and I could see Fluttershy was almost cowering behind the remains of Pinkie's book fort.

I stood there a moment, glaring at everything and everypony in the room. A part of me wanting to keep going, list every single thing that I missed back home and every single thing that had bothered me since I woke up in Diamond Tiara's body.

But I had already let my anger get out of control once today, and I'd vented enough today. So instead, I closed my eyes and took some calming breaths. Slowly, I felt the anger shrink back down to mild annoyance, and with that I opened my eyes and sighed.

"I'm sorry everyone, it’s just… it’s just not easy and I've been holding all of it in..."

I closed my eyes once more and simply continued to breath, trying to keep my anger from regaining any strength. We did NOT need me to end up hitting anypony else or putting a hole in Twilight's library.

Silence reigned over the room, no one saying anything. I for one was thankful for it, as it helped calm me down some more. But it was soon broken, not by someone speaking up, but instead by the soft sound of a pair of wings flapping.

The sound drew closer, and then stopped right in front of me. And then, without any warning or notice, I felt a pair of hooves pulling me forward into a hug, as a soft voice filled my ears.

"There there, you don't need to be sorry… and you don't need to worry anymore. We'll help you out."

I opened my eyes and looked up, finding myself pressed against the body of Fluttershy. Her eyes shined with sympathy and determination as she let her words soak into my head.

That look, the fact that Fluttershy was hugging me, and what she said, was apparently too much for me to take in my current emotional state. My anger vanished, and I felt my heart seize up as my eyes watered. An instant later I had buried my face into Fluttershy's coat, tears streaming down my face.

I couldn't see anything, but as I let everything out I heard the sound of hooves walking over, and I soon felt more bodies pressing in against me, one of them was even nuzzling the back of my head as I let out all the stress, all the pain I had been holding back. All the feelings that I had told myself I couldn't feel at that moment because they wouldn't help my situation one bit.

In the embrace of five of the six characters that had helped make me a happier and better person, I let it all go.

I'm sure it lasted only a minute or two, but it certainly felt longer. Like all good things though, it had to come to an end. And it did so when Rainbow Dash said "Woah, I was only gone a few minutes. What the hay did I miss?"

"A nervous breakdown." I commented dryly, pulling my face away from Fluttershy and trying to clear my eyes. "I think I needed that...thanks girls."

Rarity smiled at me. "Oh dear, there's no need to thank us. I must say though, after that little outburst, I can declare that any doubt about your claims have vanished."

I shrugged, though inwardly a part of me felt a bit better at such information. "Well, that wasn't my intention, but thank you for that Rarity."

Twilight meanwhile, had turned her attention to Rainbow Dash. "So I take it Miss Cheerilee is now aware that Diamond Tiara is here?"

"Yeah yeah, I told her ya’ needed to talk to her about the work she did here last night." Rainbow Dash said, waving Twilight back. "Its no big deal, Miss Cheerilee just said she was glad we'd found her in the first place."

Twilight sighed in relief. "Oh thank Ce-Wait, 'found her'? What do you-"

Before Twilight could say anymore, light began to stream into the room, and everypony turned to watch as a bright, golden orb floated towards the library. It passed through one of the windows, and soon alighted upon the floor, where it shifted into the form of Princess Celestia herself.

Twilight quickly forgot about the question of how exactly Rainbow Dash found me, and instead ran up to her mentor. "Princess Celestia! I'm so glad you were able to come!" She chuckled a bit, running a hoof through her mane. "Though I wasn't expecting you here so soon."

Celestia gave Twilight a gentle nuzzle, gracing the rest of us with a radiant smile. "It is always a pleasure for me to pay you a visit Twilight. And with the nature of your letter, I felt it best to leave the less pressing matters to my sister and some of my court."

“Well, I don’t know whether to be happy to hear that, or worried.” Twilight said, turning back to gesture at me, and then Applejack. “But I’m afraid the problem might be a bit bigger than I first thought.”

“Is that so?” Celestia murmured as she turned to watch us both step forward, her eyes examining us critically as we both fidgeted under her gaze. Its not that I was intimidated by Celestia...I mean sure, she was the ruler of all of Equestria and essentially an immortal for all I knew, but unless this Celestia was secretly one of the other estia’s, I doubted I had anything to worry about.

Besides, not like there was anything worse that she could do to me, given my current situation.

Twilight nodded her head. “I wish it wasn’t Princess, but it seems Diamond Tiara is not the only one who has been affected by Discord.”

“I still find the idea that Discord could be behind any of this to be rather nonsensical…” Rarity muttered aloud. I felt myself rolling my eyes as a hoof smacked into my face.

“Rarity, he’s the king of madness and the lord of insanity. Not making sense is exactly what Discord is best at.”

“This is indeed true, though if what Twilight’s letter told me is true, I am curious as to how you would know this.” Celestia said, and this time I did feel intimidated. It felt like she was using those eyes of hers to stare into my soul. I gulped, but did my best to stand my ground, willing the shaking that was starting to build in my legs to cease.

Thankfully, she turned her attention away from me a moment later and began to ask “But what is this additional problem you have? I’m not sure I understand-” She was interrupted by Pinkie Pie zooming over next to her and giving her an apologetic smile.

“Sorry Princess, but we already did this, so you get the short version. We think Discord’s made Applejack act more like Rarity, right down to the embellished accent!”

“My accent is not embellished…” Rarity pouted, gaining a hug from Pinkie Pie who popped up next to her.

“Of course not! But point being, AJ isn’t acting like herself, and this is way WAY WAY out of the normal for her.” Pinkie declared, rising up on her back hooves and gesturing at just how out of line this was for everyones favorite apple farmer. And promptly falling backwards into a pile of books.

“Um… Pinkie?” Fluttershy asks as she hovers over her friend, who giggles in response, “I think Princess Celestia gets it now.”

Pinkie Pie places a hoof to her chin, looking to the Princess of the Sun who now had a bemused twinkle in her eyes, even if her mouth remained in a passive line. “Okie dokie lokie then, carry on Princess!”

Twilight coughed, bringing the focus of things back onto her. "As Pinkie Pie so eloquently explained...I think...Applejack has also been altered, and I believe Discord is to blame. My attempts to dispel the magic haven't worked, but the spell does feel like the same magic that Discord used to make us all act like mirror opposites of ourselves."

"I see." Celestia said, turning towards Applejack and giving her the same look she had given me but a moment ago. This time however, her horn began to glow softly as magic surrounded it. The same glow surrounded AJ, who began to squirm a bit, eyes closing in discomfort.

"Don't worry Applejack...I am not going to hurt you." Celestia murmured, her focus completely on AJ. Twilight and the others shared a brief look of concern at this, before Twilight walked up and asked,

"Umm...Princess...what exactly are you doing?"

"Testing a theory, you could say." Was her only response as the glow intensified, and with it her eyes narrowed as she whispered "You can't hide in there forever..."

"Who said I'm hiding?"

A gasp rang out from the assembled Ponies, save for myself and Celestia as all attention became focused on Applejack, who had opened her eyes, only now...rather than AJ's warm and welcoming emerald eyes, red and yellow glared out at us as a dark chuckle dripped out of AJ's lips.

"So a part of you did escape… Discord."

The smile that formed on AJ's face was definitively not one from everyone's favorite apple farmer. "Duh, I'd have figured you'd have noticed that by now dear Celestia, you must be losing your touch."He looked at the other girls, eyes full of contempt as he inquired,"Did all of you really think that after having been bested by the elements before, that I wouldn't have a back-up plan? Did none of you really ever bother to look at my statue? Or were you too busy being fawned over as the saviors of Equestria to notice that I was missing a spine on my delightful tail?"

Rarity huffed. "Considering what you did to each of us, I would have been more than happy to see your statue smashed into a fine powder and scattered to the four winds then to ever have it's sight inflicted on me again... but Celestia wouldn't let me."

"I'm afraid as soothing to your psyche as that could have been, it would only have played to Discord's advantage." Celestia replied, her eyes never moving away from her old foe, who was smirking at their exchange. "I can only assume that you're planning on breaking the rest of you free."

Lifting AJ's hoof and giving it a bored look, Discord declared "Oh, at some point, certainly, but I'm in no hurry. If being petrified for over a millennia has taught me anything, it’s that patience does have it’s uses."

Celestia seemed to consider this, and then a smirk of her own crossed her face. "You discovered you couldn't just use one of the bearers connection to the Elements to break yourself free, didn't you."

Now it was Discord's turn to harrumph. "Don't be absurd, I can break the rest of me free whenever I feel like it."

Rainbow Dash flew over and hovered before AJ's face. "Oh yeah, Dissy? Then prove it, so we can kick your sorry flank again!"

Discord glared defiantly at Rainbow Dash. “I don’t have to prove anything to you Traitor Dash.”

RD smirked. “Heh, are silly insults all you got left Discord? I thought you were the king of chaos, surely you could do better than that.”

My mouth curved up in amusement as I watched Rainbow Dash stare Discord down, her expression clearly daring Discord to make good on his word. A munching sound from my right briefly drew my attention to Pinkie Pie, whom was now sitting next to me munching on a bag of popcorn. She mumbled something and held the bag out to me. Shrugging, I took a hooful and turned my head back to contest of wills.

Finally, Discord had AJ sit on her haunches as he crossed her hooves and said "Oh fine, so I can't do it right now. But don't worry, I'll find a way to break free soon enough. And then I'll make sure I can't be beaten again."

"Not if Celestia blasts ya to bits." I said, glancing at Celestia as I asked "You do intend to get that piece of him out of Applejack right? Frankly, one pony acting like someone else is enough for everyone I believe."

Discord stuck AJ's tongue out at me. "Oh my little mistake, do be quiet would you." My response was to glare at him, but he waved it off as he returned to glaring at Celestia. "Miss Sunbutt here isn't foolish enough to try and pluck me from one of her subject's minds. I could turn honest Applejack into nothing more than a thoughtless vegetable if she did that."

"Turn AJ into a vegetable?" Pinkie asked. "That'd be silly. If you turned her into anything, it should be a fruit!"

"I think what Discord means is that he could render Applejack brain-dead." Twilight replied.

Fluttershy glanced between AJ and Celestia, hooves rising to her muzzle. "Oh my, that's not true is it Princess?"

"He could." Celestia nodded, drawing gasps from the girls and a smug grin from Discord. "But only if he was facing me a millenia ago."

She took a step forward as the glow around her horn intensified, soon moving to encompass her whole form as the air began to be filled with magical energy. I could feel it thrumming around me as the light gathering from Celestia became bright enough to cast shadows across the room. I saw the others wincing, but I had diverted my attention to AJ.

To say that I wasn't taking a small amount of perverse pleasure from the look on AJ's face would be an outright lie. Discord's pupils shrunk, and AJ's head was looking about for some sort of possible escape. Purple magic quickly surrounded the windows and doors as Twilight cut off potential escape routes. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash surrounded him and were keeping him pinned down, unable to break out.

"I'll do it Celestia! I’ll ruin her mind!"

Celestia shrugged. "I am confident in my abilities to repair any damage you may inflict upon her." With that, her horn flared and light filled the room. I shut my eyes just in time to keep it from trying to blind me, and I heard Discord shout out and then...a soft groan, belonging to Applejack herself.

"Uhhh...mah head...why does it hurt so much-P-Princess Celestia! What are ya doin' here? And why in Ponyville am I dressed like Auntie Orange?"

Before AJ could respond, her friends quickly pounced on her, hugging her and saying how happy they were that she was fine, that she sounded like herself and whatnot. Having already been part of one big group-hug thing today, I wasn't all that interested in watching as I instead turned my attention to Celestia, whose horn was still aglow with magic as she lifted up a small petrified dragon spine.

"Well, that escalated quickly." I said, walking over to her and taking a look at it myself. I found it kind of odd that such a small piece of Discord could pull off all that it had managed, especially if Discord really was behind my being stuck in this pint sized pony. Or maybe there was more going on than meets the eye…

"Yes, it did at that." Celestia said, conjuring up a small pouch and placing the spine inside it before glancing down at me. "Which just leaves your part in all of this to solve."

I felt a tad nervous when I heard her say that. Did she think that maybe I was some thrall of Discord or some sort, and was going to lock me away? I did have to remind myself that this WAS the ruler of the land, and that thus far when it came to dealing with potential threats to her ponies, she took such things seriously.

It must have shown on my face, because she gave me a warm smile in an effort to calm me down. "Do not fear Cain, from what Twilight's letter told me you are but an innocent victim of Discord's games." This did make me feel better...but what she said next didn't. It was something I was not looking forward to.

"But that doesn't mean that I am going to simply help you without some questions being answered."

I sighed, looking over to the girls who were now walking closer to join the two of us. AJ was now looking much more like herself, her hair back in its usual state courtesy of Rarity, and she had removed the dress, though she was still lacking her hat. "Ah'm up to speed on what's going on Princess...though Ah think its all crazy, but then again Ah was just possessed by a piece of that dang varmint Discord, so Ah guess Ah can't say much."

I looked at everypony that was around me, and it looked like it was time for me to spill the beans. To truly tell them everything. I knew that this could potentially backfire horribly, but frankly not telling them would just make my case look bad...not to mention serve no purpose on my part.

"How about I just tell you everything I know, and we'll go from there. It'll be much faster that way, and should answer any questions ya'll have."

Twilight beamed, pulling out a long scroll and a quill. "Certainly! Just give me a sec...Spike where's the ink?"

Spike rolled his eyes, smirking as he said "On your writing desk...where it always is."

"Oh. Right." Twilight muttered as she grabbed it and set it down next to her, dipping her quill and getting ready for my confessions. I shook my head, wondering if she'd be able to keep up with what I was about to drop on all of them.

"Well...here goes nothing..."

-*- Silver Spoon -*-

Silver Spoon spent the trip back to the school house thinking about the events of that day. First Diamond Tiara hit and threatened Scootaloo, now she was hiding herself in a tree to keep away from them. Both of these actions were VERY out of character for Diamond Tiara… well, maybe not the threatening bit, but she never threatened to physically hurt anyone.

That itself scared her more than her best friend running away from herself and the CMC. The way Diamond Tiara had stood there, the look of rage that was blazing in her eyes, even her tone...it was like someone had taken somepony else and placed them in Diamond's body.

At least she had the fortune of not being the only one who was confused by Diamond's actions today. Even Scootaloo, who really hadn't wanted to apologize and had taken some cajoling from Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle to even consider it, was taken aback.

They spent the rest of recess talking near the swings, Silver having decided the other day to try and make amends with Sweetie and Scootaloo.

"I just don't get her! One moment she's miss high and mighty, the next she's trying to be nice, and then she's turning around and hitting me!" Scootaloo shouted as she sat brooding in the swing opposite her.

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. "Scoots, ya hit her after she tried to help ya up."

"She insulted me before that you know." She replied, before looking over at Silver as she asked "You know her pretty well, right? Has she always been like this? I wouldn't know, we've always tried to avoid Tiara if we could help it."

Silver shook her head. "Actually, she's been acting differently for the last two days, ever since she apologized for that whole newspaper fiasco."

Sweetie looked up from the book she had been reading, eyes wide. "She apologized for that? From what I remember overhearing, it sounded like she didn't want anything to do with you after that."

"She didn't. We hadn't even so much as talked to each other for over a month. We'd had arguments before, but nothing like that." Silver frowned for a moment, as she thought back to that day. "In fact...when I called Apple Bloom a Blank Flank, she told me not to call her that."

"What?!" Sweetie and Scoots asked, looking visibly surprised. They glanced to Apple Bloom, who nodded sagely.

"Eyup, it surprised me too. Ah almost thought she was a different pony for a moment...she certainly hadn't been acting how Ah figured she would when she was at the farm to work."

Apple Bloom then explained how Diamond Tiara had been acting when she came to the farm, what she'd overheard between her and Granny Smith…

"Wow...she does sound like a different pony." Sweetie Belle murmured, looking off in the direction they had gone off to chase DT down. Apple Bloom was glancing that way too, but Scootaloo looked rather uncertain about all this. Whether it was because she doubted DT was wanting to change, or because she thought it was some sort of ploy, Silver didn't know.

What she did know was that hearing that from Sweetie and Apple Bloom made her wonder if something was up with Diamond Tiara. Diamond had never really shown any guilt or remorse at teasing or bullying others, so her wanting to change that didn't exactly make sense. Especially considering her history back in Canterlot…

"Alright my little ponies, recess is over!" Cheerilee called out, getting a bunch of sighs from the various fillies and colts. Silver looked out towards the surrounding fields, wondering if Diamond Tiara was heading back or if she was still hiding out in that tree.

"Well, Ah guess we can try again after school. Maybe she'll have calmed down by then." Apple Bloom said as she got up and made for the school house.

Silver hopped off the swing as Sweetie and Scoots were about to follow them, when Scoot's face suddenly brightened. "Hey, its Rainbow Dash!!"

Indeed, it was Ponyville's best, and laziest, flyer around. Scoots raced after her as Silver and the girls watched Rainbow fly over to Cheerilee, where they struck up a conversation. Curious as to why Rainbow Dash would be visiting the school house, Silver trotted on over with the two crusaders following along.

"...So I'm afraid she may be unavailable for a little while, you know how Twilight can be."They heard her saying as she ruffled Scootaloo's mane, flashing her #1 fan a wide smile before returning her attention to Cheerilee.

"Well, I must say that this is rather sudden...but I suppose it might do Diamond some good to be away from the school for a bit. Which reminds me...Scootaloo, did you apologize to her like I asked?"

"I tried, honest, but she ran off before I could say anything."

Cheerilee sighed. "Well, at least you made the effort. Maybe when Diamond Tiara is done talking with Twilight Sparkle you can try again."

"Wait-What's going on?" Silver Spoon asked, confused as to why Diamond Tiara would need to be talking with Twilight Sparkle during the middle of a school day.

"Oh, well as I was telling Cheers here, Twilight needed to talk to her about the job she did working at the library yesterday. Ya know, part of that whole punishment for the newspaper gig." Rainbow replied quickly, eyes flitting to each of them as she shifted about.

Before anypony could say anything more, she stretched and added "Well, my jobs done, I'll tell Twi you don't have a problem with it, then I've got things to do. See ya kids!"

And with that, she launched herself off into the air, speeding back towards Ponyville.

"Well, come along girls, its time to get class started again." Cheerilee said, turning around and walking back in. Silver Spoon looked at where Rainbow Dash had flown off to, questions forming in her mind as she thought about what Rainbow had said...or more specifically, how she had said it.

"Silver, Apple, what are you two waiting for?"

Silver glanced back at the door, noticing that Sweetie and Scootaloo had started following Cheerilee in, but Apple Bloom was still standing next to Silver, looking at the ground, eyes closed in thought.

"Ah don't know...it's just...didn't none of you notice how Rainbow Dash was acting? Ah hate to think this...but Ah think she was lying."

Scootaloo instantly flared up at that. "Rainbow Dash wouldn't lie!" Sweetie was a bit more practical in her skepticism though.

"Why would Rainbow Dash be lying about that? She doesn't even like Diamond Tiara, and there's nothing Diamond could do to make Rainbow Dash tell a lie...is there?"

"Ah know, Ah just had a feeling something was up. She seemed nervous..." Apple Bloom said, obviously conflicted by what she was thinking.

"I agree with Apple Bloom." Silver declared suddenly, drawing the crusaders attention. "Rainbow Dash was nervous, and she was certainly quick to get out of here before anything else could be said."

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Maybe she was just worried she'd be late! She is the head of Ponyville's weather team. And she's always doing something with Pinkie Pie."

"Would Rainbow Dash ever be late meeting with her best friend in the whole wide world of Equestria? And from what I've seen, she never really worries about the weather, not unless its something unexpected from the Everfree." Silver replied evenly. "No, I think something is up...and I'm going to find out!"

The crusaders all gasped as Silver took off running, heading for the road into town. "Silver Spoon! What the hay!" Apple Bloom called out, giving chase, Sweetie and Scootaloo soon following after her.

Silver Spoon didn't try to stop them from following her. She was sure they were just as curious to know what Diamond was up to, but she was also concerned. Something told her that something was going on, and that she needed to know.

She just hoped she wouldn't get into too much trouble for ditching class…

-*- Cain (Diamond Tiara) -*-

"...and that's the gist of things, really." I finished, sipping on a glass of tea that Spike had been nice enough to bring me during the big reveal that I had just thrown upon them all. Surprisingly, they were handling it rather well...in the sense that they weren't getting overly panicky or anything.

Mostly.

"Rainbow Dash, I am positive that there are not any invisible magic camera's following us around now, or ever. I'm not going to spend all day canvassing Ponyville with my anti-invisibility spell."

Was only one of the reactions my news had garnered from the Mane Six, Spike, and Celestia. To make things short though, the rundown was as such:

Celestia seemed...well, like Celestia and was keeping her thoughts to herself. Spike seemed to approve of this, as it meant that he was famous, even if he was considered more of a sidekick. Twilight had noted everything I said down, and had already mentioned that this was proof of Starswhirl’s theory of the Multiverse. Fluttershy surprisingly took it well, after I did elaborate that we bronies didn't see EVERY moment of their lives, though she was a little bothered by the fact that people had seen her not being herself before.

Rarity had fainted at least once, especially after the knowledge that those monstrosities from Suited for Success had been seen by millions. Well, that and the whole 'Tom' thing. AJ was still trying to get over the fact that Discord had taken control of her, so I don't think her head was all there. Pinkie and Rainbow however took it pretty bad.

"S-So that means that when I thought my friends weren't really my friends, and when Discord made me hate laughter..."

"Yes." I had replied, but before I could allow her to break down at this, I had added "But thanks to you, alot of people have smiles on their faces, some who had trouble smiling and laughing, and some who wouldn't even be able to if not for Ponies like you. All of you, in fact."

That had helped calm things down at least. I could see each of them swell with pride and joy knowing that the virtues of the elements they represented were being spread, and not just to the ponies of Equestria.

The only real question left...was Celestia. What did she think of it? All this hinged on Celestia not viewing me as some crazy mad-pony, or secretly some thrall of Discord or some such.

"Well Princess, what do you think?" Twilight asked, turning to her mentor and gazing up at her. "His explanation is the only one I can think of that makes any sense with what he knows."

"It is certainly hard to disprove what he has said." Princess Celestia replied neutrally, but my hopes were already starting to dwindle. One didn't say something like that when one thought one was being honest. "However, I believe I will need something a bit more substantial to ascertain truthfully whether what you say is true."

I cursed under my breath, stomping a hoof on the floor. "Why? What more can I give you to make you believe?"

Celestia looked ready to answer, but Twilight stopped her. "Princess...you aren't thinking of-"

"I am indeed. A Mind Delve is the only way to be absolutely certain, and it may give us answers to more than just the truth of his claims."

That...I did not like the sound of that. Granted, this came from the fact that the stories I'd read involving such usually didn't end well, but also because anything involving minds and magic was just ASKING for something to go wrong.

Twilight seemed to share this sentiment. "But Princess, the Mind Delve is still considered a dangerous spell to use, even for beneficial purposes. The risks of doing damage to the patients mind is seven out of ten!"

"What?!" I shouted, turning to glare angrily at Princess Celestia. "By the gods, what are you thinking?"

Celestia raised a hoof to stop us from going any further. "I understand the possible risks, but I believe they are worth it. As much as I would like to believe you Cain, there is always the possibility this is somehow a ruse by Discord. Doing this will allow me to be absolutely certain that you are not somehow a threat to my subjects. But that is not the only reason I am doing it..."

"You want to check and see if Diamond Tiara is in there." I finished for her, to which she nodded sagely.

"Indeed. Regardless of her past actions, she is still one of my little ponies," She smirked slightly when she said this, and it spread to everyone else in the room. "And so long as I draw breath, it is my duty to protect and help them. Besides, I'll have my greatest student, and dear friend beside me to help ensure nothing goes wrong."

Twilight beamed, gulping down her anxiety as she said "Alright Princess...if you think its the best thing to do, then I'll do everything I can to make sure you and Cain come out of this alright."

"Well, I suppose if my mind isn't the only one at risk..." I mumbled, before looking up to Celestia, a thought coming to mind. "Before we do this though, I want a promise from you Celestia." She inclined her head, and I stood up as tall as I could, boring my own gaze into hers as I said "If something does happen to me, and you don't end up a vegetable in the process, promise me you will find some way to let my family back on Earth know what happened."

She sat back in thought for a moment, no doubt going over whether she could keep the promise. I wasn't an idiot...if she knew there was no way she could tell them, then I would just have to live with that.

"On the honor of my family, I swear that I shall do so." She said, finally looking back to me. Her eyes were enough to tell me that with every fiber of her being, she meant it.

"Good. Right then, so what do we do? Hopefully nothing too complicated or convoluted."

"Oh no, its rather simple actually. I will begin channeling the spell, and then all that is required is a simple tap upon the forehead." Celestia replied, her horn already glowing.

I mused over that a moment. "So wait, does that mean Twilight did a Mind Delve with me the other day when I was freaking out?"

Twilight shook her head. "Not a traditional one at least. I think that was something Discord initiated anyways."

"If you are ready Cain..." Celestia said, horn ablaze with magical energy. I took this moment to ready myself, not quite sure what would happen. Though I knew death was a fact of life, that didn't mean I looked forward to the end of my existence, which with what Twilight had said, was a possibility.

With a steadying breath, I nodded. I took one last chance to gaze upon the ponies who had helped to change my life, the ponies I never thought I'd get to meet.

Here's hoping I'm able to come back and get to know ya'll a bit better. I'm gonna have to have a stern talking to with whatever runs the universe if this ends up being the end.

I felt something press upon my forehead, and then the world spun, and I felt like I had been dropped into a pool of ice cold water. And if that wasn't bad enough, the next feeling I had was one I am not very fond of.

Falling.

The sensation of air rushing past me continued on for what felt like an eternity until finally, I hit something. It was soft, and felt like a pillow. Very warm too, and a tad bright…

Hmm...why do I have a feeling I just landed on-

"Forgive me for disturbing you, but if you wish this to be over with quickly, you must get off my back."

I opened my eyes and saw that my face was indeed laying upon Celestia's backside. I quickly scrambled off, and then, to my utter delight, shouted out,

"I'M ME!!! Oh by the great gods and spirits of the Earth, I'm me!"

Indeed, I did appear to be in my own human body. Dirty blonde hair upon my head, peach colored skin. I was still wearing my clothes from working at Wal-Mart, though thankfully I didn't seem to smell.

I hugged myself in glee, I had missed being me after all. Even the annoying wart on my left hand's index finger was something I had missed.

Celestia was watching me with a bemused expression, but got my attention with a quick cough. "Sorry Princess, its just good to be in one's own body, even if its only cause of the Mind Delve. So, where are we?"

Celestia and I turn to look down what appears to be a hallway...of sorts. There is only a single path, with doorways on the sides every few feet. Around us is a swirling and shifting landscape of distorted colors. Frankly, it was a bit painful to look at.

"We are in a representation of your mind, specifically where you store your memories. It is here that I will be able to determine the validity of your claims to the fullest extent possible. I do not believe that even Discord has the power, or most importantly, the attention to detail, to be able to create a fully fleshed out mind with the life experiences of an adult."

That made a certain amount of sense. Still, I wasn't keen on walking around here for long, the place was giving me the creeps. "Is it supposed to look like this?"

Celestia chuckled. "It is your mind Cain...you can freely shape its appearance to look as you wish."

"Really? Hmm, well then..." After a moment of thought, the world around us dimmed, and was soon replaced by a different hallway, one that could have easily been taken out of any Starfleet ship, circa 24th Century.

What can I say, I'm a nerd.

"So, now that the background isn't making my stomach twist, I guess its time for the royal tour. Please keep your hooves to yourself at all times, and no flash photography."

Celestia raised an eyebrow at my comment, but said nothing as I lead her up to the first doorway. It whooshed open, and a rush of memories flowed out and around us. They were shaped like small balls of light, and within these orbs glimpses of my life could be seen.

This door seemed to contain most of my earliest memories, many of which I had forgotten due to the passage of time. I wasn't sure exactly what to do, but Celestia didn't have this problem. Her horn lit up and she grabbed one of the passing orbs, bringing it closer as it grew into a large portal.

"Oh...I remember that, a family game night. We were playing a board game based off one our favorite shows..."

"I couldn't have guessed." Celestia said, glancing at the design of the hallway around us before watching as my family played the Star Trek Interactive Board game. I couldn't see myself, but then these were my memories, seeing myself in them would have been a problem I'd bet.

She looked through several more, some of which were bright and clear, others which were dull and dim until she poured some magic into them.

"I take it those are the memories I've mostly left by the wayside?"

She nodded. "We all develop new memories each day, and as time passes many of them will fade to obscurity. Even I do not remember the events of every single day of my life. And I have a very long life."

"And yet you don't even look a day over 100." Slipped from my mouth, and I briefly smacked myself for saying something like that. I didn't even know how long Equestrians lived, let alone Alicorns.

She smiled however and said, "Thank you, such words are always nice to hear."

We viewed a few more memories, which included some bad ones that I had mostly moved on from. Such as the night when my dad pushed me and my mom down our porch stairs, giving me a scar on my scalp. Or the time I burned my hand making breakfast for me and my sister because dear ol' dad was passed out in the bathroom after a night of drinking and doping.

"Are such things typical for children in your world?" Celestia asked as we moved away from the door and walked down the hallway, making brief stops to check the other ones.

"Define typical." I said, and at the look she gave me, I shrugged. "I'm serious, Earth is a big place, with alot of people. When you have a population of 7 billion, I think its kind of hard to say what a typical childhood is like...especially when not all parts of the world are in the same situation."

She didn't push any further, likely thanks to the fact that my memories were providing the answers far better. It wasn't just images that were being shown. Thoughts, information, everything was displayed before us. If I saw it and absorbed it, it was here.

We were soon nearing the end of the hall-way, where most of the memories were bright and easy to call upon. Which also happened to be the point where Celestia finally started to see my memories involving MLP FIM.

I will freely admit that having the Princess of the Sun viewing some of these did bring some embarrassment...it shouldn't be too hard for you to figure out what ones were responsible.

"My my...your kind certainly do have interesting imaginations. And you certainly have excellent tastes. Its rather flattering to know that I am considered desirable across space and time."

"Not another word..." I grumbled, my face a brilliant crimson as a smile and grimace fought for dominance upon my face. They eventually settled for a tie as I took to examining my fingernails. Celestia simply giggled, and continued viewing my memories.

As she was finishing, I moved to look at the door at the end of the passage. It wasn't opening when I stepped near it, and it was then that I noticed a control panel next to it. "Odd...wonder what's behind here..." I murmured to myself, tapping it idly and getting an Access Restricted message in response.

"Well, this has indeed been enlightening." Celestia declared, closing the last of the memory doors and drawing near. "I believe I can safely say that what you say is true Cain. I do apologize for not taking your word for it."

"Understandable, I suppose. Now, you wouldn't happen to have any guesses as to what is behind here would you?"

She tilted her head and looked at the door. "I am unsure, but if I was to make a guess, it may be that-"

Before she could finish her sentence, the silence of the hall was pierced with a shrill scream. A scream that belonged to only one person.

"Diamond Tiara!" We both exclaimed, the sound coming from behind the door. I turned and smashed at the controls, but it wouldn't open. A glow from behind me told me that Celestia was planning on going for the old fashioned way of getting in.

I quickly dashed past her and threw myself against the wall as she launched a bright lance of energy at the closed portal. It crackled with magical energy, briefly resisting before being overwhelmed by the raw magical power of Celestia. Buckling, it soon blasted inward, and Celestia rushed in, with me following after.

The room we stepped into resembled that of a theatre, only the rows of seats in front of us were empty. Upon the stage itself however, was none other than Diamond Tiara, who was busy crying into her hooves as a scene played out before her.

"Your daddy may have money, but that doesn't make him important!" A little foal declared to a younger, cutie markless Diamond Tiara. The foal was a butter cream Unicorn with a very fancy mane style, and noble looking clothes. Another unicorn, a dark blue colt, laughed.

"Yeah, and your mother, pfft, well she may work for the Princess, but she isn't anything big. Lots of Ponies work for the Princess, and no one remembers any of them."

"That's not true! My daddy is a very important Pony! Mommy is too!"

They both laughed at this, shaking their heads. The look they gave the younger DT was like that of an adult looking down upon a child.

"Silly filly, that's not true at all. Your daddy might have been able to buy you a place in this school, but here in Canterlot, you’re never going to be anything. Don't be too sad, its not like you can do anything. Being somepony special is something that runs in the blood...something you don't have."

"Well come on, lets go. We got better things to do than hang around nopony like you."

They turned and walked away, laughing all the way. Soon the laughter's tone changed, becoming darker and far more malevolent.

"Ah yes...poor wittle Diamond wiamond. What a horrible thing to say to one so young..guahahaha."

There was something off-putting to that voice, and yet something oddly familiar about it. I wasn't able to focus on it much though, as I could feel my anger boiling at what I had just seen.

"And yet that wasn't all, was it deary. No, that would have shown mercy, and when you’re a nopony, you don't get that luxury now do you."

"S-Stop...p-please...I don't want to see it anymore..." She squeaked out as the Princess and I stalked towards the stage. The voice only laughed.

"And end such a wonderful and delicious performance? I think not. I've not yet been satisfied, perhaps I'll pull up that one where everypony in school ignored you for a week, even the staff."

This caused renewed sobs to come out from Diamond, and I couldn't stand it any longer. "Alright, this has got to end."

"Indeed." Celestia said, rearing back and launching herself into the air, aiming for the stage. Since I lacked wings, I made for the conveniently placed set of stairs nearby.

Celestia beat me to Diamond Tiara, placing herself protectively in front of her while I scooped her up in my arms and started trying to comfort her.

"Oh? What's this? It seems we have some...uninvited guests. Didn't you know this was a private showing?"

"I will not allow you to torment this foal further." Celestia replied evenly, horn aglow as she readied herself for the invisible entity. "If you wish to get to her, you will have to get through me."

"And me." I declared, standing up in support next to the Princess. I wasn't sure what kind of monster would torment someone in such a way, but I was ready to give it a thrashing.

"Well now, that's rather amusing. The Princess I understand...but you? You would defend her? And here I thought you believed that those who are cruel to others, deserve cruelty in turn."

"I...well..." Actually...that was somewhat true. I did tend to believe that to fight cruelty you had to be cruel right back...but I hadn't really had such thoughts recently.

"Besides...I'm the reason she hasn't taken control, and I'm sure you don't want that. Would make it rather hard for us to get back home, wouldn't you say?"

"Us? What in hells name do you mean by that?" I asked, and at first, the only response was mad cackling. When it calmed down, the voice replied,

"Oh...I think you know who I am...your the one who just recently gave me a name after all. I suppose with all that's been going on, it would be easy to forget about little ol' me."

No...there was no way what the voice just said could be possible. That...that was supposed to be part of me, it couldn't have been-

The laughter bellowed out across the room as a form began to emerge from the shadows. It was hard to discern at first, but soon it took on the form of a human. With each step it took towards us, I felt a mixture of horror and amazement.

Finally, it stood before us, mere feet away, and as my eyes looked upon a darker, twisted caricature of myself, I couldn't find anything to say.

"Hello and Welcome, to the home of your neighborhood monster...the one and only..."

"Strife."

Mind Delve

View Online

-*- Cain -*-

"Cain, would you mind explaining who this is?"

It took me a moment to register what Princess Celestia had said, which was understandable, considering that I was looking at a dark mirror of my own self. Physically, he was my exact same build and height, but he looked substantially creepier. His blonde hair had a sickly look to it, his skin was paler, and what should have been steel-blue eyes were a dark red.

The dark smirk on his face certainly wasn't going to help him win any beauty contests.

"Oh my, you haven't told anyone about me? And we had such deep and meaningful discussions at work. Tisk tisk, I am disappointed in you Cain."

I shudder, hearing Strife's voice. It sounded so close to my own, but there was an edge to it, what I would almost describe as a low hiss, or maybe a distorted echo.

"This… thing is Strife, an aspect of my personality that about a month ago I gave a name. He represents my darker side, where most of my anger at people and the world rests. The part of me that cackles like a madman at horror movies, and gets gratuitous amounts of pleasure from anything that involves psychological torture."

Strife smiled, and it was not exactly a pleasant site. "Don't forget that I always find a great deal of humor when the bad people of the world get what's coming to them."

"Like when that shard of Discord was about to get blasted by Celestia?"

He nodded, a twinkle in his eye. "Indeed, most of that amusement you felt was coming from me, though some of it was directly your own. Even in my current state, I can't be completely severed from you."

Celestia eyed Strife warily, glancing between the two of us. "So… this is a part of you? That would certainly explain a few of your memories."

"I've gotten better at handling my issues… suppressing the emotions doesn't do any good, you just have to find healthy ways to express it is all." I quickly said, not wanting the Princess to get the wrong impression. "But what do you mean 'current state'? And why in the name of the Gods were you puttying Diamond Tiara through this! She's only a kid, I thought even you had standards!"

Strife glared at me in response. "The only standards I have are the standards you and society push upon me. We both know what I'd be like if I was truly free, if I wasn't merely a piece of a whole. Which is why I was taking advantage of such a delightful opportunity."

Strife paused, taking a moment to give a smile and a wave at Diamond Tiara, who had begun to poke her head up to see what was going on, but quickly disappeared back into my shoulder. This only made Strife chuckle.

"Although, my fun did have a beneficial goal to it, one desirable of us both. Now, to answer your other question… I think I won't. The two of you should be more than smart enough to figure it out."

Strife must have been referring to my question about why he was, well, like this. I frowned, trying to think about it… and then smacked myself because it was so obvious.

"Discord… he made you like this, didn't he?"

"It does indeed seem like something Discord would do… though why I cannot comprehend." Celestia replied, her eyes locked upon Strife. I had the feeling it was taking a great deal of effort on Celestia's part not to grind Strife into a fine paste. Or maybe I was just projecting my own feelings.

Strife leaned back, as if there was a wall behind him, pulling out a file and looking rather bored as he scraped at his nails. "The most obvious answer would be to sow chaos, but I haven't quite been doing that have I? No, I've been a little too busy in here to do that, I'm afraid."

He then scoffed, tossing the file as he added "Besides, I only do what I wish to do. Discord may have given me a bit more freedom, but that doesn't mean I'm going to obey him willy nilly. And since he wasn't able to do much else but bring us here, I wasn't all that concerned about his wrath."

"Hmph. I don't know whether that's a good thing, or a bad thing." I said as I walked over and placed Diamond Tiara on Celestia's back, who quickly clung to her for protection. As Celestia turned to comfort the poor filly, I stalked forward, anger welling up in me as I confronted Strife.

"So, are you going to bother telling us why you were torturing this poor filly?"

"Besides the fact that I was bored and it was entertaining?"

"YES!"

If Strife was fazed by my anger, he didn't show any sign of it. Not surprising, considering what he represented.

"If you absolutely must know..." Strife said, getting off his wall and walking towards the center of the stage. He snapped his fingers, and the sound of gears churning filled the air. A circular edge showed, and an instant later a large hour-glass rose up, the tumbling sand within glittering with magical energy.

"This is a representation of how much time we both have before our soul gets consumed by that of Diamond Tiara's. As it turns out, the body of a Pony cannot harbor more than one soul for long." He points down at the bottom half, which isn't all that full yet.

"When I first realized I truly had my own thoughts… I noticed that this was draining rather quickly. I knew that if I didn't do something, my brief taste of freedom would be gone within days. So I decided to do a little… damage control." He glanced over at Diamond Tiara, flashing her a twisted smile.

"Keeping little miss Tiara here occupied turned out to be the easiest and most efficient way of doing so, and I was quite pleased at this discovery."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, in more ways than one. All this time… I really had been on a time limit. And here I'd been for the first two days trying to hide who I really was, fearing they'd label me crazy and throw me in the funny farm.

"How long?"

Strife gave me a quizzical look. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to be clearer. How long what? How long have we been in here, how long is Celestia's mane, how long can I torture a filly-"

"You know damn hell what I'm asking Strife!" I spat out, my glare intensifying. His form seemed to waver slightly at this, and he sighed as he relented.

"If I was to make a guess...had I not interefered, I suspect that by tomorrow morning at the latest, Diamond would have reasserted herself."

Now I really felt sick. Suddenly, as much as I hated the fact that Strife had been putting so much stress on a defenseless filly, I was now conflicted with the reality that if he hadn't…

"So Discord lied then about the time table he gave Twilight?" Celestia asked.

Strife shrugged. "From a certain point of view. I mean, with my help we do have at least a week of time left to work with, maybe a bit more." He glanced towards the hourglass, and then smiled.

"Although, that's dependent on me having my fun with our host here. If I don't keep her repressed, the speed will pick back up within a day or two." Strife looked me straight in the eye, his smile not wavering as he asked "Are you so keen to interfere now Cain?"

I shivered, as that question rattled around in my head. I looked to Celestia, who was watching me, no doubt wondering what I might do. I had a feeling that regardless of what I did, she would do everything she could to defend Diamond Tiara. Glancing back at Strife, the look on his face told me that he was sure of what my response would be.

It became rather obvious to me then that the universe was clearly putting me on the spot, judging just who I was by the choice I made here. A choice that should be easy to make… but it wasn't.

Thus, I decided to stall.

"Why exactly should I be afraid of the process speeding back up? I've finally got the help of some of the best Ponies in all of Equestria. With the help of the Mane Six and the Princesses, there's no way Diamond's soul will have time to destroy us."

Strife scoffed. "Really Cain? You can't honestly tell me you truly believe that in your heart and soul. This isn't some episode from the show… Equestria it may be, but that doesn't mean good is always going to win."

I glared at Strife, very much wanting to take his head and introduce it to my knee, but I had a feeling that wouldn't do… well anything. Strife would probably laugh. Instead, I turned to Celestia, seeking to find another way to resolve this.

"Celestia, is there any way you'd be able to slow the process down?"

She looked at me evenly, Diamond Tiara peeking at me through the feathers of her wings. "And if I can't?"

I closed my eyes, and thought about it. Taking a deep breath, I simply said "I will cross that bridge if I must. Now, is there anything you can do?"

"I can try, but I am not sure how much I will be able to accomplish. If the process simply can't be stopped, merely slowed, then I suspect it is a natural occurrence for this sort of situation. I can offer no promises."

I didn't like that answer...and Strife knew it as he cackled to himself. "Hear that Cain? I know how much you prefer certainty, so this must so be causing you so much pain. 'Oh what a burden, what a choice to make, what would a good person do?' Guahahahaha!"

As Strife laughed at my misfortune, I closed my eyes, tuning him out as I looked deep inside myself for the answer. And then… something Strife said clicked in my head.

"You know Strife, its actually not as hard as you… or I thought."

Strife stopped laughing, gazing at me curiously. "Oh, so I get to have my fun?"

I looked up, and I had to hold back a laugh as Strife's cheery expression began to drop as he gazed at me. "Not at all. You’re going to behave yourself, whether you like it or not."

Now Strife scowled. "Are you kidding me? Is this some kind of joke? You can't be serious!" His eyes flicked over to Celestia, and understanding dawned upon him. "It's because of Miss Perfect Pretty Pony Princess here, isn't it. That's got to be it."

"To quote a wise pony… 'eeNope'. It wouldn't matter if she was here, hell it wouldn't matter who was here, all that matters is that I'm here, and while I may not be a good person, I do know one thing, one thing that I shall always be."

I felt determination flooding my heart and soul as I started walking over to Strife, who began backing away, almost shrinking with each step I took. I didn't stop till I was towering over him, and could look him straight in the eyes.

"No matter how much you may try to get out, no matter how much you may want to bring harm to others or influence how I think Strife… I shall always do the decent thing, and help those that I can. And right here, right now, I can help Diamond Tiara. I can make it so you can't hurt her anymore."

Strife tried to remain defiant, glaring up at me with hatred, his red eyes beginning to glow. "And what if I refuse?"

I smirked. "Then me and Princess Shiny over there will stomp you so flat I won't have to worry about you for weeks. You may have power here, but this is my mind, and at the end of the day, I rule here. Got it?"

Strife looked almost like a cornered animal, one that was just seconds away from completely losing it and going hog wild on everything. But then the glow in his eyes faded, and he started laughing.

"Oh very well, have it your way. I'll behave, for now. If worst comes to worst, I can always try to take the reigns, and maybe then we'll get somewhere… or at least we can go out with a bang. You did always say that's how you wanted things to end, after all."

Strife stood up, glancing over to Celestia and DT. "Enjoy your reprieve while you can my little brat, and be glad that you've got this sucker watching your back.

"As for you Cain, I have but one thing to say before I go back to fiddling around in your imagination. Be wary of your emotions, for if you're not careful, they may get you into trouble here, more than you can possibly think. Let things get too far out of hand… and I might wind up behind the wheel."

He turned and gave us all a bow, before twisting into shadow and slinking off into the darkness.

I stared out into the black abyss that lay at the edge of the stage, not moving or breathing until I was certain that he was gone. Then I let out a sigh of relief, shuddering as I tried to get over the fact that I had just met my darker side face to face.

"Is she alright?" I asked, not turning around to look at the object of my question. I heard a soft whimper from Diamond Tiara, and Celestia whispering softly to her, doing her best to comfort the poor filly.

"She should be fine as long as this 'Strife' does not bother her further."

"Anything you can do to help with that would be most appreciated." I said, finally turning around and moving towards the pair. I gave DT an apologetic look before my face grew more serious as I gazed at Celestia. "Well, it seems things are worse than even I thought they were."

"Indeed, it does seem that way. Which is why we will need to act quickly."

I smiled, grimly looking around this place within my mind, which now that Strife was no longer here, was beginning to revert back to my control and reforming itself into a bland and empty room. "Then I guess its time we hop on out of here. I don't know how much time has passed here, but I'm certainly in no way to waste any time. But there is one thing I need to do first..."

I walked over to Celestia, and moved to her side to gaze at Diamond Tiara. Celestia's wing lowered so that the young filly could see me. She flinched when she first saw me, and that was not something that made me happy. I felt anger spark within me, and my hand clenched as I shook my head.

Strife would have to be dealt with, but that was for another time and place. I reached out and gently held her head in my hands, forcing her to meet my regretful stare.

"I am so sorry you had to go through with that, and I will do everything in my power to ensure he can't hurt you again."

Diamond Tiara fidgeted under my gaze. “A-Are you sure? H-He won’t come back?”

I looked up to Celestia, quirking an eyebrow up at her. She seemed to understand my unspoken question, for she turned and smiled at Diamond Tiara.

“Yes. You will have nothing more to fear from Strife. You have my word as a Royal Pony Sister.”

I noticed that Celestia’s horn was glowing, and watched as Diamond started to drift off, the fear on her face being replaced by a smile. "Thats...good. I...I think I'm gonna take a nap now..."

"May the gods ensure your rest is full of bliss." I murmured as Diamond finally fell asleep. Once she was no longer conscious, I looked to Celestia. "Please tell me that wasn't some kind of bluff."

"It was not. I know a number of spells that should be able to keep Strife at bay, though for long I cannot say. If he possesses even a fraction of Discord's magic, he could try to chip away at any defenses I enact. Diamond Tiara would need your help to ensure he does not repeat the harm he has already wrought."

I nodded. It looked like I was going to have to get back into the swing of dealing with Strife again, and this time I doubted he was going to be as easy to corral into behaving on Earth. It was unlikely letting him have his own fun in my imagination or reading some dark stories would keep him out of trouble.

"I'll do what I can. I've dealt with Strife for nearly all my life. I doubt Discord giving him some more free will will make things harder. Now, if you don't mind, I think we should be getting out of here."

Celestia nodded, horn beginning to glow as she called forth her magic. A few wisps of light flew out and surrounded Diamond before soaking into her coat and vanishing. Shortly after that, she faded from view, and I felt a rising sensation overcome me as Celestia broke the spell.

As the world twisted and blurred around me, I could swear I heard the laughter of my darker half echoing below, and then everything went white.

-*-Silver Spoon-*-

It hadn't taken them all that long 'til Golden Oaks was within sight. She raced over to one of the windows and looked in, gasping at what she saw. The surprise that she felt at the sight within was enough that she almost didn't hear the CMC barreling right towards her...and not stopping!

"Apple Bloom, slow down-WoaaaH!!"

Silver Spoon barely managed to avoid being bowled over by all three of the Crusaders as they somehow managed to trip over each other and crash into the tree, a loud thump and "OW!" sounding out.

"Quiet!" Silver Spoon hissed, glancing towards the window and hoping no one inside had heard that. "Do you want them to know we're here?"

"Hey, its not my fault. Apple Bloom tripped over me first!" Scootaloo mumbled as she disentangled herself from her friends.

"Ah did not!"

"Why should we be worried about whether or not they know we're here?" Sweetie Belle asked, not all the interested in playing the blame game.

Apple Bloom replaced the bow in her mane, then looked to Sweetie Belle as she said "Besides the fact that we're skipping class?"

"Yeah, why do we need to worry?" Scootaloo queried. "I thought the whole point was to come see what they're doing with miss high and mighty."

Silver Spoon glanced towards the window and quickly pushed them all into one of the bushes, shushing them all as Rarity opened it and looked around. "Pinkie darling, are you sure you heard someone out here?"

"I didn't just hear someone! My third eyelash is waving around, it means we're being watched!"

"And just when I didn't think your Pinkie Sense could get any more weird..." They heard Twilight mutter as she joined Rarity. She looked about as well, and for a moment Silver Spoon thought she had seen them, as she started gazing exactly at where they were hiding.

But then she shrugged and turned around. "It was probably just Derpy passing by."

Rarity closed the window, and the four foals tumbled out of the bush. Silver Spoon wiped her head with her forehoof. "Phew, that was close."

"Ya'll wouldn't mind explaining what the hay's going on Silver Spoon? Why did we need to hide?"

Silver Spoon simply pointed at the window, and the three Crusaders walked over and peered inside. A moment later they all sat down on their rumps, eyes wide in various mixtures of surprise, awe, and terror.

Sweetie was the first to speak up. "What's Celestia doing in there with Diamond Tiara?"

Silver Spoon shrugged. "I have no idea...I don't know anything about Unicorn Magic."

Scootaloo stood back up, stretching herself as she worked to crack the window open a bit. "We ain't gonna find out sitting here. Let's see if we can listen in."

It took a moment for Scootaloo to get it open from the outside, and it would have been impossible if Rarity had properly latched it in place. Once there was a crack, all four of them crowded around it, ears twitching as they tried to catch any snippets of conversation within.

"Hey Twilight, how long are these Mind Delve things supposed to take?" Rainbow Dash asked, a low whine in her voice.

"Mind Delve?" Sweetie asked, looking at the rest of them. They all shrugged, just as clueless.

"Rainbow dear, I know and understand that you sometimes do not like sitting and waiting...but its only been three minutes." Rarity said, her voice flat with no trace of irritation. Being friends with Rainbow Dash did make one grow used to her habit of whining.

"Tell ya what RD, if you can sit still and be quiet for ten minutes, I'll give ya a whole barrel of Sweet Apple Cider for the trouble."

"Hah, you're on AJ!" Rainbow Dash called back.

"Twilight," Fluttershy spoke up, making the four fillies crane their ears just to be able to hear her, "How will we know if anything has happened to them?"

"I'm doing as the Princess asked and monitoring the spell. So far, Celestia and Cain seem to be alright. I'm having trouble getting anything from Diamond Tiara...but that could be because of Cain's presence in her mind."

Glances of confusion were shared between Silver and Crusaders. Who was this Cain they were talking about? And what did they mean by it being a presence in Diamond's mind?

"Eyaah!"

They all nearly jumped at the cry that came from Twilight, and they heard calls of concern come out from the others. The four foals stood on the tips of their hooves, now more interested in seeing what was going on then listening in.

Twilight was sitting near Celestia and Diamond, gasping as she looked towards the pair.

"Twilight, is something wrong?" Pinkie asked when nothing else seemed to happen.

"I...I don't know. All of a sudden, I felt something from Diamond...and then I felt ANOTHER presence."

"Was it Discord? We did just finish banishing a piece of him from Applejack a little bit ago." Rarity commented, and eliciting a hiss from Apple Bloom.

"That must have been why AJ was acting all funny. Discord was messin' with mah big sis!"

Silver Spoon shushed Apple Bloom as Twilight spoke.

"No...it wasn't Discord, actually, it felt kinda like Cain...but it felt so...dark. Malevolent."

Suddenly, Celestia and Diamond Tiara convulsed, drawing everypony's attention. A moment later, the glow on Celestia's horn faded, and the two fell to their hooves, each one taking in heaving breaths as if they had just ran a marathon.

"Princess, Cain! Are you both alright?" Twilight asked as she rushed over to them. Celestia seemed to recover faster, and raised her head to smile at her student.

"We are both alright, and Diamond Tiara is safe and in good health. And I can with the utmost confidence confirm everything Cain has told us." Celestia remarked.

Diamond Tiara slowly hauled herself up to a sitting position, trying to regain control of her breathing. "I'm...glad...that you...think that now...Princess. Do you...think we can skip...the mind delve next time though? Meeting my darker half was not one of the most pleasant things I've done."

"On that we can agree." Celestia said, standing up and looking at everypony present. "There is much that needs to be done now and in the coming days, but I think first we should probably explain everything to our uninvited guests."

Silver Spoon and the Crusaders yelped in surprise, tumbling backwards as they tried to hide themselves again, but a purple glow surrounded them and pulled them through the window one after the other. As they were set in a row before everypony, Pinkie clapped her hooves together.

"See see! I told you somepony was watching us!"

"We never doubted you Pinkie." Twilight said as she sternly looked at all of them. "Shouldn't all of you be in class?"

"Shouldn't Diamond Tiara?" Silver fired back, glancing over at her friend...or who she at least thought was her friend.

"Well, yes, normally, but this is a special situation." Twilight said, looking over to Diamond as well, who was currently trying to hide herself behind Celestia. Turning her attention back to them, she asked "How did you even know to come here?"

"Ehehehe...that might be my fault." Rainbow Dash said, rubbing her neck a bit as a flush came to her cheeks. "Silver saw me talking with Cheerilee when I told her where DT was. She was a bit suspicious...so I kind of skedaddled before I let something slip."

"Wait, so you WERE lying, Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo asked, looking distraught at the mere thought of her hero doing such.

"Er, well...Kinda?" Rainbow Dash finally said as Scoots gazed at her.

Celestia picked this moment to intercede. "Rainbow Dash had good reason to not tell the truth my little Ponies. You see, your friend Diamond is not quite who she appears to be."

As if on cue, a golden light surrounded Diamond and dragged her out from where she had been hiding behind the Princess. "Go on Cain. I believe it is best if you explain it to them."

Diamond...or Cain? groaned when she said this. But after glancing around and seeing that no one else was going to say anything, she sighed.

"Alright alright, I guess I'll go ahead and tell them." Diamond said, turning to fully face Silver Spoon, and the CMC who were all looking very confused. Silver felt apprehensive about this...something told her she wasn't going to exactly like this.

"Right, I suppose I'll start from the beginning. Take two..."

*Sometime Later...*

Silver Spoon did not like what she had just been told.

She and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were all sitting in front of Diamond Tiara, who as it turned out, was Diamond's body under the control of some spirit from another world.

It certainly bothered her greatly that her best friend in the whole world had been, for some time, buried deep within the recesses of their joined mind. More than that, she had been tormented by this 'Cain's' darker half until Cain and Celestia's timely intervention.

But that wasn't what really ticked her off.

"So all this time...I haven't really made up with Diamond Tiara? It wasn't her that apologized for everything she's done?"

Cain at least had the good grace not to look her in the eyes, his shame clearly written all over her face...by the sun this was going to be confusing.

"I would like to think that it wasn't just me doing it...heck, I'd like to think that I didn't do it just to make my life easier. Personally...you'd have to ask Diamond Tiara herself, but I don't think she's quite capable of talking right now."

Silver harrumphed. "Is that because she can't, or won't talk?"

"Diamond Tiara is currently recovering from her encounter with Strife." Celestia said, making Silver feel a bit disgusted with herself for talking like that. "I believe Diamond may be able to speak for herself shortly, but for now she is resting."

"That's not saying that she will talk though...which I might add, I am not looking forward to being in the back seat when she wakes up." Cain chimed in. "Especially with Strife being more willful."

"Well...when Diamond DOES wake up, you best make sure to tell her that she and I have a LOT of talking to do." Silver finally said, deciding that there wasn't much more to be done at this point. She was still trying to digest everything she had been told.

The Crusaders seemed to be in a similar state, if the varied expressions on their faces were any indication...well, except for Scootaloo…

"Can you believe this girls!! We're famous in another world!" Scoot crowed again, bouncing in place at the thought.

"Scoots, did ya hear what she-err he-"

"Its alright Apple Bloom, just go with she."

"Right, did ya hear what she said? This is serious!"

Scootaloo stopped bouncing, rolling her eyes. "Yeah yeah, alien spirit trapped in the body of the biggest pain in the flank in town, been here for several days, needs the Princesses and Twilight's friends help or he'll be gone forever. I heard all that."

"And that doesn't bother ya at all?"

Scootaloo waved a hoof in the air. "Pfft, not one bit. I think it's kind of cool. Sides, they'll be able to fix it, and then we can go back to having the normal Diamond Tiara around...actually I think I'd rather have Cain around. He seems to be better at being Diamond then the real deal."

"Hey! That's my friend you're talking about." Silver replied, though it didn't have as much oomf to it as it might have had before.

"No offense Silver Spoon, but your choice in friends could use a bit of work." Scootaloo replied, looking her in the eye.

Silver was incensed by this statement, even considering that the status of her friendship with Diamond Tiara was probably in question.

As she opened her mouth and started telling Scootaloo just how wrong she was, Sweetie Belle moved away from the group to stand near Cain, giving her an appraising look. Cain responded merely by raising an eyebrow. After a moment, Sweetie stopped by her side and finally asked,

"So...in your world you're a hairless monkey?"

"In a nutshell, yes."

Sweetie seemed to think about this. "And you're also as old as a stallion?"

"Yep."

There was a pause as Sweetie seemed to take that in, mulling it over in her head. Finally, she proclaimed "That's gotta feel really weird."

A smile broke out across Cain's face. "You have no idea."

At this point, Apple Bloom had intervened in Silver and Scoot's argument. Just as they were dropping the subject, the clock chimed three times.

"Jumping hay seeds! Apple Bloom, you've missed half of school!" AJ exclaimed. Rarity soon joined in.

"Sweetie Belle, you all need to get back to school and explain yourselves to Miss Cheerilee. I'm sure she's worried sick about the four of you just up and disappearing."

"It is probably for the best." Celestia said, looking over to Cain. "I will need to escort Cain back to Diamond Tiara's home so that I can explain the situation to her parents. Twilight, I want you and your friends to come to Canterlot tomorrow, Luna and I will likely need your assistance in finding a way to help both of them."

"Of course Princess Celestia." Twilight said, her friends murmuring similar things.

"Come on ya'll," AJ said, coming up along side Silver and the CMC. Rarity and Rainbow Dash joined her. "We'll walk you back to the school."

The Crusaders quickly complied, albeit with many a grumble. They all seem interested in learning more about Cain, and Sweetie Belle expressed a desire to try and help, explaining it might earn them their Cutie Marks.

As this set off the suspected CMC cheer, Silver Spoon said "Wait, I'll be just a sec." She turned and walked over to Cain, locking eyes with her for a moment as she thought about what she wanted to say. There was many things she could say...but she decided on something simple.

"Promise me that as soon as Diamond can show her face, that she and I have our talk."

Cain nodded. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

Silver gazed at him a moment longer...then nodded, satisfied. "I'll hold you to that."

Cain chuckled nervously. "Trust me, I have every intention of fulfilling that promise. I've seen how Pinkie can get when somepony breaks a Pinkie Promise." He turned and glanced over at Pinkie, who had been busy rebuilding her book fort.

Sensing she was being talked about, she stopped and hopped over, a wide, and somewhat disturbing smile spread across her face. "That's right! Nopony breaks a Pinkie Promise." She leaned in close, pressing her muzzle against Diamond's. "Noooponnyy."

"And with that, I am reminded why you are both the most hilarious, and scariest, pony of the bunch." Cain said, scooting away from Pinkie and nodding to Silver Spoon. "Don't worry, first thing tomorrow I'll stop by your house. Even if I have to drag DT kicking and screaming."

"Alright. I believe you." Silver Spoon said, turning about and following the others out. As she walked, she thought about everything she had heard...and shook her head as she came to the conclusion that it would be a while before she fully comprehended it all.

-*-Cain/Diamond Tiara-*-

I watched as they left, and felt a great weight upon my shoulders lift. That had gone better than I expected. I had really been figuring the foals would be the ones to freak out most, especially over the fact that portions of their life had been seen by millions of people.

Then again, it helps when you have the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony and the Princess of the Sun backing your story. I thought to myself, turning to gaze up at the aforementioned Princess. "Well, I suppose there's no reason for me to stay here, we might as well get the next bit over with."

Celestia nodded. "Indeed, though you needn't worry. I believe this time it would be best if I be the one to explain everything."

I smiled. "Princess, I wouldn't stop you from doing so if you offered me a million dollars...not that that'd do me any good here."

Celestia simply smiled while she headed out the door. I turned and gave a wave and a bow of thanks to the rest of the Mane Six before quickly following after the Princess. As much as I would have liked to spend some time talking with them, I figured it was best to get along. After all, according to Strife at least, I didn't have much time.

Which reminded me…

"Princess Celestia, do you think Strife was telling the truth? When he said that I only have a set amount of time before I no longer exist?"

Celestia kept her head looking ahead, but her gaze did shift to me as we walked. "I don't know...if I understand correctly, Strife is a part of you, and thus you should know him better than I ever could." She said, making me slump down a bit. I had been hoping for a second opinion.

However..."But if you are looking more for someone to help you think about it...I would have to ask if Strife is the type to lie, especially when his own well-being is on the line."

"Strife is far more likely to lie than I...but we both hold the idea that lying is a waste generally. The difference between us being that there's almost nothing I could gain from lying, while Strife has numerous desires that he could fulfill through deception."

Celestia nods, understanding. "And do you think he has anything to gain from pushing you into action now?"

I had to take a moment to think about that. Normally, figuring out what the darker half of me wanted was easy...but then again, normally he was more part of me than he was now. It was almost as if he was a separate being! His motivations and knowledge were out of my reach unless I wanted to try and probe him for such...and he wouldn't give such information freely.

"It's possible he's hoping that none of you will be able to figure out a way to get me free and send me home, either because it means he'll have a chance at trying to find a way himself or because he doesn't wish to lose the freedom he now possesses if we are sent back home...and he'd rather I suffer knowing there's nothing I can do about it so he can get some final laughs."

"I must admit Cain..." Celestia began, stopping only to smile and wave at some of the citizens of Ponyville who bowed as we passed, "I find it a bit worrying that you do not even know the motives of an aspect of your own mind."

"Welcome to my world." I said, shivering as I thought back to the meeting. "I've been unsettled from our encounter."

Neither of us spoke for a time, and it was only as we left Ponyville proper and were on the road leading towards Rich Manor that Celestia spoke again.

"So Cain...do you think Strife is lying?"

Sighing, I shook my head. "I don't think he is, which just makes this all the worse for me, and him by extension. I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a part of me that wasn't a tad regretful about making Strife back down."

Celestia hmmed at this, but then stopped as she looked down at me. "And why is that?"

I stopped as well. "Isn't it obvious? If Strife speaks the truth...then if we can't find a way to get me out of Diamond Tiara...I'll cease to exist. I won't be able to see my home or my family again...or even get a chance to have my own." I looked down at the ground, feeling a bit disgusted with myself, even if it was understandable.

"I know it would have been cruel to allow Strife to torture Diamond Tiara just so I could have more time to try and get home...especially since he would have enjoyed it immensely."

"Then why did you choose to stop him?" Celestia queried, her tone and expression neutral. I had a sudden feeling that I was being tested.

I closed my eyes for but a moment, and then looked up at her as my regret was shoved away. I knew why I had made my decision, and stewing over it was only going to make me feel bad.

"Because I knew that if there really was no way back home, then all extending my time here would do is bring further suffering not just to myself, but an innocent person who shouldn't be involved in this. And I would not be able to live with myself knowing that, even if that time would be short-lived."

Celestia beamed at me, her smile wide and radiant as she pulled me close, nuzzling my face. "And it is because of that choice that I will do everything in my power to help you. There are not many who could say with any sort of certainty that they would do that, here or on your world. That you choose to do so shows who you truly are at heart, Cain Toomey."

My face flushed, even as my eyes grew a bit wet. Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria, was essentially saying she was proud of me. It was rather embarrassing, and comforting at the same time.

"Yeah well, we're wasting time, lets get on down to DT's house. I may not be the one spilling the beans this time...but I'm still not looking forward to this."

Celestia simply chuckled, and resumed her pace as we walked off together. I felt better after that little talk, and somehow I had a feeling that Celestia had specifically chosen her words to help me reach that conclusion...or simply reaffirm it at least.

Now? My regret could go take dive. I had some of the most powerful and dedicated Ponies in the world on my side. Hope had been rekindled in my heart and soul, and I was not going to let it go out.

Not if I had anything to say about it.

Author's Notes:

That didn't take as long as I thought it would! Phew, and now to get to work on Chapter 12.

I'd like to first take this time to say how much I appreciate everyone's feedback, even if its just a 'keep up the good work' or something along those lines. Secondly, please, I really can only improve if you comment and let me know what you think, so any of you lurkers out there, don't be shy! Share your thoughts!

And now, its time for an announcement. I am looking for someone who can make a new cover for this fanfic. I would dearly love to have something better than what I have, as frankly what I have was something I just threw together at the last minute. Thus, I am holding a contest! Supposing of course that anyone actually submits anything of course.

The rules are, well, simple. The cover has to fit the story. So long as it does that, its a viable entry. Again, supposing that anyone puts anything in, the judging would be done by me and my helpers first, and then after narrowing it down, I'd let you the readers have a vote!

What is the reward for winning? Well, besides my eternal gratitude, the first thing is that the winning artist gets to become a helper for the story as well, and thus will get to see chapters before everyone else! Secondly, you will also earn a cameo in the next chapter, part of which is going to be taking place in Canterlot!

Runners up will also earn a cameo spot. Again supposing anyone puts anything up, I really don't know if any of you reading this are either artists or interested in taking part.

The contest is running until I get Chapter 12 finished, which as those of you who have been here from the start, could be up to 6+ months, but hopefully with the inspired mood I'm in, that won't happen.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter!

Revelations part Dos

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Author's Notes:

Firstly, this story is still on hiatus. This was actually much longer, and only after a few people suggested it, did I split this chapter into two separate chapters. Chapter 13 has what's left of this chapter in it, and is still unfinished. I also have no idea when I'll be working on said chapter.

The problem has become that I am simply not having fun writing the story anymore. I had fun writing it at the very beginning, and even more when HoneyHoneyHoney was around. Now though...its just dragging on and on.

If there is anyone out there who is a fan of this story and wants to see it end decently instead of stalling forever, please PM me to let me know. Note: More than anything, I need help writing, even if all you ever end up adding to the next and future chapters is one paragraph, that might just be enough to get my brain churning things out.

At any rate, please enjoy this chapter.

-*-Cain/Diamond Tiara-*-

The rest of the walk was a silent one, Celestia no doubt thinking about what she needed to do in preparation for tomorrow and my own thoughts focusing primarily on my more current and immediate troubles.

The most obvious one was Strife of course. A part of myself, the darker side of me, for all that it mattered, was separate from me thanks to Discord. Who knew what kind of trouble he could cause in my head, or here in the physical world should he somehow get in control of Diamond's body.

Then there was Diamond Tiara herself. While I now had an inkling of an understanding as to why she acted like she did, I still suspected she was going to be her usual bratty self, and I doubted she would be all that happy with the idea of me keeping the wheel in my hands, rather than her hooves.

And, of course, the impending talk with Mister Filthy Rich. That was something else I was NOT looking forward to, even if Celestia was going to be doing the talking.

So, needless to say, my head was elsewhere when I was brought back to the world around me as Celestia said "Another few steps, and you're going to end up with a rather sore face."

I looked up, shaking my head, to find that I was only a foot away from a rather fancy carriage. "Huh? Where the heck did this come from?"

Celestia put a hoof to her face, trying to hold back her amusement. "I would assume it came from whomever owns it. If you had been paying attention, you would have noticed that we are here."

I looked around, recognizing the front yard of Diamond Tiara's home. "Oh. Sorry, my head was elsewhere."

Celestia managed to bring her humor under heel as she made for the front door, while I took a moment to inspect the carriage, figuring perhaps I could make a guess at who it belonged to.

While it had a regal air to it, its construction was rather simplified, almost humble even. Snow white paint with silver and gold along its thin trims. There was a seal on one side that looked like a coat of arms, and when I peered closer, saw that it WAS a coat of arms. The moon and sun melding into one another much like a ying-yang, with two Alicorn heads poking peering out from the sides. Wreathed around it was branches of olives, and a small banner underneath it all.

Royal Equestrian Diplomatic Corps. I read to myself, quickly becoming confused. Why in Equestria would a carriage belong to Equestria's diplomats be here at Rich Manor?

I know why!

"What in the nine hells?!" I yelped, jumping at the voice that resonated through my head.

Hey, be careful with my body ya hairless buffon!

Composing myself, I let out a sigh of relief when I realized the voice wasn’t Strife.

"Diamond Tiara? You're awake already?"

No, I’m the bubblegum princess of Candy Island, here to fill your head with sugar. Of course its me!

I rolled my eyes, already turning to follow Celestia. “Nice to meet you Princess, do you realize your stuck inside a pint sized brat?”

I could almost see Diamond glaring daggers at me. Oh wow, that’s soooo funny. It’s so funny that I forgot to laugh.

“Your a riot, ya know that?” I replied, earning a rasberry from her spoiledness. Not in the mood to engage her in witty banter, I asked, "So, if you know whose carriage it is, mind filling me in? Frankly, I'm getting really tired of surprises."

Oh, you don’t like surprises? Well then, I’m definitely going to keep it a secret.

I gave a squawk of protest, but couldn’t do much else, as we had reached the door. Celestia’s side, who was wrapping up a conversation with Jeeves. "Yo Celestia, her royal brattiness has woken up."

*Yawn* Sorry, were you trying to insult me? Better luck next time.

"Oh, that’s excellent news. Strife isn't bothering you, is he Miss Tiara?"

I wanted to ask why she was asking Diamond, who was stuck in my head currently, when suddenly I felt a strange sort of detached feeling come over me.

"No, no he isn't, and thank you for asking your majesty." Diamond Tiara said, giving a small bow to Celestia. I could only gawk from where I was...which I suddenly realized was an empty room with a viewscreen.

"Why you little-" I began, but all I got was a 'shhh' from Diamond.

Celestia smiled in response, inclining her head. "Make sure to thank Cain letting you have some control again."

"Don't worry Princess, I’ll be sure to thank him properly for everything he’s done." Diamond replied, while I gesticulated and flipped off the room around me.

"I hope she sees right through that." I declared, stomping over to the middle of the room and conjuring a couch with a thought, throwing myself upon it unhappily as I became a passenger within DT's body.

Oh be patient will you? You’ve been running around with my body for three days, I think its my turn now. Diamond's voice echoed around me. "So Jeeves, is she really here?"

"Um..er...arr Yes, yes she is here. She said she wanted to surprise everyone by arriving early." The butler said, looking very confused by what Diamond and the Princess had been talking about.

"That's great! Move aside stuffed shirt!" Diamond declared, and the butler did so though he sent a glare her way as she bolted into the house, going full speed through the main hall and making her way to Rich's study.

I was gripping onto the couch as the room seemed to bounce around. "Hey! Slow down! You almost ran into one of the maid's for Pete's sake!"

If Diamond heard me, she made no sign of it as she finally reached the study. Through the new view I was given, I could see two ponies standing within. One was Filthy Rich himself, who was laughing at something the other Pony had said.

Said Pony was a Unicorn Mare with shimmering white hair that reminded one of a fresh field of snow, with a wisteria colored coat. Her cutie mark was a dove carrying an olive branch.

Diamond Tiara finally stopped, standing in the doorway, simply looking at the mare. She didn't breath, just became still as a statue. I suddenly wondered if something had happened to DT, and if I would need to retake the reins so that she was able to breath at the very least.

Its almost been three years... I heard the thought from DT as the room suddenly filled with an intense, powerful happiness. The next few seconds were a blur, as Diamond moved so fast that I was actually thrown out of my seat. All I heard was her shouting "Momma!!" and then the world spun.

"Ugh...hey Diamond? Can I get back in the driver seat, I don't wanna ride the tilt-o-whirl anymore..." I muttered as I got back up, to see the face of the mare who had borne Diamond Tiara staring directly at me. Well, actually Diamond Tiara, but you know what I mean.

"Hello my little Princess. Momma's missed you." The mare said as she spun Diamond around in her magic before bringing her into a tight embrace. Diamond Tiara squealed in delight before nuzzling into her mother's neck.

My heart warmed a bit at the sight and the feelings of happiness, but it also made me painfully aware of the fact that I myself hadn't seen my mother, or my sister, for three days. And no way of knowing if they even knew what had happened to me.

The spike of sadness was quickly replaced by one of anger, and I felt a familiar presence in the area, even though a look around showed that Strife was nowhere to be seen.

"Diamond, what's wrong? You're shaking..." Her mother asked, pulling Diamond Tiara far enough to look at her face.

"I-Its a long story...you'll know soon." Diamond responded cryptically, as I took in several deep breaths and reigned the anger in. That familiar presence quickly vanished.

Diamond Tiara was set back on the ground, her mother giving her a concerned look while Filthy Rich taking that moment to glance the other way. Jeeves chose that moment to enter the room.

"Mister Rich, Lady Silver Tongue, we have an important guest who needs to speak with both of you, immediately."

"Who is it Jeeves? I don't recall there being any important appointments today." Filthy Rich queried.

The melodious voice of Princess Celestia preceded her arrival. "My apologies for the unannounced visit, but I'm afraid waiting would have been a mistake."

Both Filthy Rich and Silver Tongue gasped and bowed to the Princess. Filthy Rich seemed to be bowing lower than Silver Tongue, and I idly wondered why that would be.

For a second, the world spun again. When the spinning stopped, I was gazing at the two with Diamond's eyes once more. Seemed Diamond was done driving for now.

"Princess Celestia, to what do we owe the pleasure?" Filthy Rich began, standing up a moment later.

"As much as I would like to say otherwise, I am afraid I am here because of your daughter." Celestia said as I started to move towards the Princess. Before I could even take a step however, I felt hooves wrap around me and I yelped as I was pressed against Silver Tongue.

"Forgive me your highness, but why in Equestria would you be here about my daughter?" Silver Tongue asked, holding me tightly even as I squirmed uncomfortably.

Filthy Rich let out a nervous cough, trying not to glance at Silver Tongue. "Is it about the article she wrote about her majesty in the school paper? Are there more apologies that needs to be said?"

"What! What article? What apology?" Silver Tongue exclaimed, and I felt myself shudder, feeling sorry for Filthy Rich. Oh dear, that's not going to end well.

"Oh...that was the incident I mentioned in my last letter. I had taken care of it with everypony involved...even her majesty. At least, I thought I had." He glanced at the Princess, his eyes shrunken somewhat as he doubtlessly came up with assumptions for what Celestia wanted.

Celestia shook her head, giving the two concerned parents a warm smile. "Oh no, it is not about that. Dear Diamond Tiara is not in trouble for that...but what I am about to share with you is going to confuse, and likely alarm you. I need you both to please be patient as I explain why I am here..."

"Celestia, before you start telling them everything, do you think you could tell Silver Tongue here to stop squeezing me like a stress ball?" I finally spoke up, not exactly comfortable being held so tightly by Diamond's mother. It just didn't feel right, especially with what she was about to learn.

As it would turn out, that was more then enough to get Silver Tongue to release me, and for me to earn stunned looks from both of DT's parents.

"Diamond...princess..." Filthy began.

"You've never called us by name before..." Silver Tongue finished.

"Yeah, well you might be DT’s parent’s, but you're not mine. Though it is nice to meet you." I replied, walking over to sit next to Celestia and looking up at her expectantly.

Filthy Rich and Silver Tongue both looked at each other, clearly not understanding. "What...what are you talking about?"

"Please Cain, as I promised, I will explain everything to them." Celestia assured me. I nodded, grateful that it wouldn't be me giving the news to Diamond's parents. I didn't think I'd be able to do it.

And so I sat, and watched, and waited. This was not going to be fun. Not fun at all

-*-

Well, I was half right. It most certainly wasn't a blast, but it was certainly entertaining. The faces Filthy Rich made throughout the talk as he ran the gamut of emotions from confused disbelief, to horror, and finally to anger.

Silver Tongue seemed far more capable of keeping her emotions reigned in. I had a feeling it had something to do with her cutie mark.

The confusion was obvious. I mean heck, you go up to someone and tell them that someone close to you is being possessed by an alien spirit. Even if it's someone you trust implicitly, you'd surely think at first that its got to be a cruel joke.

And the horror was an obvious one. Especially when you factored in Discord. Not to mention when one was worried about the welfare of one's own child.

And then, well, I don't know about Silver Tongue, but Filthy Rich was not happy. Like Silver Spoon, he was infuriated when he learned I had been pretending to play the part of 'redeemed' Diamond Tiara.

"Why didn't you try telling me this when you first came here?" Filthy had asked. Celestia had been ready to respond, but I had beaten her to the punch.

"I can count the reasons on my...oh right, no fingers, well, I would think the reasons would be obvious. I mean, honestly Fil-"

"Mister Rich." He had corrected. Apparently, only a few select ponies could use his full name. Not at all unreasonable.

"Mister Rich, anyways, would you have honestly believed me if I had told you when you woke me up 'Hi Mister Rich, I'm not actually your daughter, I'm a hairless intelligent monkey possessing your daughter. Will you help me phone home?' that you would have believed me?"

Filthy Rich's angry frown had thinned into a line as he looked uncertain. I went on and drilled my point home further by adding in "And that's not even assuming you didn't think it was some ploy to get out of Diamond Tiara's punishment."

That had been enough to shut him up on the topic.

Celestia, bless her soul, did not mention Strife to either of them. No doubt throwing his existence into the mix would push them over the edge.

"So...is Diamond Tiara alright?" Silver Tongue asked when Celestia finished explaining everything. "You said she's only now come out of her dormant state?"

"Yes Momma, I...I woke up when Celestia performed the Mind Delve." Diamond said, which allowed me to exactly experience what it's like for one to not have control over one's mouth.

"That is you saying that, right princess?"

"It was...she didn't take full control though, for which I thank her." I shook my head, groaning as I added "Gah, this is going to get confusing, there's got to be a way for you guys to know-"

As I was saying that, I was rubbing the top of my head, wracking my, well, Diamond's brain for an idea, when I realized that I was nudging the tiara sitting upon her head. Glancing up at it, I felt a manic smile spread across my face.

Cain? W-What are you thinking?

"Don't worry DT, I'm not gonna do anything to your tiara. I'm just taking it off." I replied, the smile still on my face. I couldn't help it, that darn little thing had been a low level annoyance since I'd first put it on. Now I had a perfectly valid reason to not wear it.

Carefully, almost giddy with excitement, I plucked the tiara of my head, took a moment to gaze at it, before promptly dropping it on the floor, a smug smile gracing my face.

"There. Much better." I said, happy to finally be rid of that thing.

For about ten seconds.

Suddenly, I slid forward as control of my hooves vanished, the two pink limbs reaching out for the piece of jewelry as if it was the most important thing ever. "Hey, what gives?"

"You aren't taking that thing off unless I say so mister!" Diamond shouted, briefly steeling control of her mouth yet again. This proved to be a distraction for her though, and allowed me to stop one of the hooves from reaching for it.

"Oh yeah? Well I'm tired of wearing it! Its just a silly little accessory!"

"It is NOT!" Diamond declared, and for a moment, as silly as it likely looked, Diamond and I fought for control over her body, causing said body to twist and turn and flail about before the three adults in the room.

Celestia simply shook her head as the scene unfolded. Filthy looked ready to intervene, but it was Silver Tongue who did so.

"Cain. Diamond Tiara. That is enough."

She didn’t yell, she did not raise her voice. She didn't sound angry, irritated, or even agitated. Her voice was calm, collected, and carried with it the very air of authority. It was no wonder that we both stopped, Diamond's front hooves nearly twisted together.

"Cain, from what Celestia said, you are supposed to be an adult. I would have expected better behavior from you, especially when dealing with a young one." She said, her disapproving gaze boring into me and making me feel tiny. I glanced away, feeling rather embarrassed.

Diamond took that moment to blow a raspberry at me, but her amusement was short lived, for Silver Tongue addressed her next. "And you Diamond Tiara, would it not have been better to explain to Mister Cain why the tiara is so important to you? Did you not consider that perhaps then he wouldn't be bothered by it so much?"

Diamond placed the tiara back upon our head, and mumbled "But Momma, this is my body, and my tiara! Shouldn't I be the one that gets to decide whether its on or not?"

Diamond withered as her mother stepped closer, stern eyes looking down upon her. I was already feeling pretty bad, but now I was feeling worse, picking up on DT's own guilt.

"If you were the only one in there, yes. But you are sharing your body and mind with another my little princess, and from what I understand Cain has been rather accommodating so far. So you need to show good manners, and give him some say in the matter."

Diamond Tiara was looking at the floor, but she was soon looking face to face with her mother, who nuzzled her as she said "I know why the tiara means so much to you dear, I was there when you got your cutie mark remember? But would it really be too much trouble to take it off, if only for a little bit?"

Diamond was silent for a good minute, mulling it over which let me reassert control of her body. Not that I was going to do anything at that moment anyways.

When DT was ready to speak, I let her do so. "No...I guess not."

"That's my princess. Now go ahead and put it back on, I'm sure Cain can stand to it on his head for a little while longer." Silver Tongue replied, a mischievous smile gracing her muzzle.
Diamond giddily returned the tiara to its rightful place, chortling as she did so. Which resulted in a rather weird sound as I grumbled and mumble to myself.

"If we are done with the histrionics," Celestia remarked, clearing her throat to return everypony's attention to her. "As I was getting ready to explain, I will need Diamond Tiara to come to Canterlot Palace tomorrow as early as possible. I do not know how much time Cain has, and we must work quickly to help both him and Diamond Tiara."

"Of course Princess. Do you wish us to come along as well?" Silver Tongue inquired.

Celestia seemed to think about this. "I do not see why both of you cannot come along. It might even be beneficial for you to be there, for Diamond Tiara's sake if nothing else."

"Darling, I hate to say this, but if either of us is going, it will have to be you. Tomorrow I'm supposed to take the train to Manehatten for the Equestrian Retailers Convention." Filthy interjected, not looking all that happy about it. "I've got a presentation to make, and I can't just pass it off to one of my aides."

I gave Filthy Rich a reassuring smile, even as Diamond spoke.

"It's okay Daddy. I get to see you most of the time, it wouldn't be so bad to spend some time with Momma."

"You do realize DT that we might be rather busy right?" I asked from my couch once more.
Shush, don't remind me. She replied tersely.

"Then tomorrow morning we'll head for the train station to catch the first train to Canterlot. I trust that during this time I will be off ambassadorial duty Princess?"

Celestia nodded. "Your last mission to Prance was to be the only one for some time Silver Tongue. You've more than done your part to help Equestria through your services."

"Thank you your majesty." Silver Tongue said, bowing, before looking up and meeting the Princesses gaze. "I suppose then there is not much else to discuss, we all have much to do before tomorrow."

"Indeed we do." Celestia replied, turning and making for the door, though she stopped beside me as she glanced down at me. "Do make sure to behave, both of you."

"Yes Princess Celestia." Diamond Tiara replied, moving to bow us before her, but I stopped that and sat back, crossing my hooves and smirking at Celestia.

"You've seen my memories. I offer no guarantees, though I shall do my best not to start anything."

Celestia rolled her eyes, shaking her head in amusement as she left, bidding all of us a good evening before disappearing. A short flash of light in the hallway signaled that she had teleported away.

With Celestia gone, that left the three...err, four of us all to our lonesome. Filthy had sent Jeeves off to do some errands, and none of the other servants seemed to be out and about. It was just Filthy Rich, Silver Tongue, and Diamond Tiara.

Oh, and me. Can't forget about me now can we.

"Well...now what?" I finally asked, after a full minute of awkward stares, and silence, had filled the room.

Silver Tongue and Filthy Rich seemed unsure...until a loud gurgling sound broke the new silence. I looked down at my stomach, and chuckled, though it sounded more like a giggle what with having DT's voice and all.

"Uh...would now be a good time to say I haven't eaten anything since this morning?"

-*-

Dinner was looking to thankfully be a tad more animated than things were after we had been left to ourselves in Filthy Rich's study. It helped that I was able to share my love of cooking with Silver Tongue, who had waltzed into the kitchen and told the staff to take the day off, as she was going to be making a special meal for her family herself.

The look of surprise on her face when I asked if I could help made me ask "Does Diamond Tiara not like cooking?"

"No, at least not that I'm aware of. Its just she usually leaves it up to me or the servants to do it. I suppose that one time she burnt the cupcakes she was trying to make me for Mothers Day likely has something to do with it..."

"Momma!" Diamond Tiara whined, while I chuckled quietly to myself.

"What? You did say after you saw the face I made that you never wanted to cook again."

I could feel the embarrassment DT was feeling as I started rolling on the floor in her mind. "Yes...but that doesn't mean you need to mention it to him...and would you stop laughing Cain!"

I snicker some more, speaking aloud this time. "Oh lighten up DT. I'm sure you were really adorable when you did that. I'm already picturing the pouty look you had on your face, how you probably stomped a hoof on the ground to make it clear you meant it..."

Silver Tongue was trying hard to hide a smile on her face, disguising it by taking a taste of the soup. "Mmm...as I recall she also got her mane all bent out of shape too..."

I could feel Diamond Tiara seething, which only made me laugh harder. Then she started smiling as she asked, in a bit of a singsong voice "Oh, I guess that means you've never messed up a meal before?"

Before I could reply, Silver Tongue said "Cain, would you be so kind as to grab the broccoli? Its over in the fridge over there."

I nodded, trotting over to the fridge and taking that moment to calm down so I could answer DT's question. I could sense her waiting impatiently for one, so I gave it to her.

"Actually DT, I've ruined a few meals before. In fact, the first time I did I wanted to throw the pot of mac'n'cheese at the nearest wall." Before she could say anything else, I continued.

"But when I told my mom I didn't ever want to cook again, she asked me how many meals I thought she'd messed up. Seeing as she was a good cook, I figured she'd never ruined any, but she set me straight."

I paused, to let that sink in for a moment, as I dropped the broccoli on a cutting board Silver Tongue had set out for me. "We all make mistakes DT, we just have to learn from them, and try again. No one is perfect."

Diamond was silent for a moment as she stewed over that, which left me able to devote my entire focus to breaking the broccoli down for the soup. I saw the knife that had been set before me, and I picked it up with my hoof. And then looked from said hoof, to said knife.

"Someone really needs to explain to me how you ponies are able to do this without fingers..."

Silver Tongue raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as I slowly started cutting and breaking it apart, reminding myself that while I had done this before, that had been when I had FINGERS.

"Hey Cain?" Diamond asked, making me yelp as I nearly dropped the knife in surprise.

"Yikes, don't do that when I'm focused, this ain't easy you know."

I waited a moment, expecting some sort of snark from the spoiled brat, but instead she said "Sorry..."

"Its okay...just try not to do that again." I muttered in response...then realized she had been wanting to ask something. "What is it?"

"Could...Could you let me have some time with Momma? I...I want to try helping her to cook dinner."

My first thought was to say no, simply because I wasn't all that keen on letting control of the body to her...but then I thought about what all had just been said, and realized I couldn't say no...at least, not without being a dick.

"Sure...shouldn't be too difficult to find some way to amuse myself while you're behind the driver seat." I murmured softly, withdrawing and allowing Diamond Tiara to take control, which she did quickly, eagerness to spend some time with her mother obvious.

Which meant I was back in mind-void land. Wonderful.

"Hmm...you look rather bored. I can fix that you know."

I rolled my eyes as I resummoned the couch and plopped myself down in ignoring Strife. I sent a glance at the floating tv screen that showed me that Diamond Tiara was busy handing Silver Tongue spices.

"Oh, isn't that cute. Little miss prissy pants spending quality time with mother. It's so sweet I think I might get diabetes."

I sighed, waving a hand and giving Diamond Tiara the privacy she needed right now. "Go away Strife, I don't want any entertainment that you may have in mind."

My darker side hummed to himself as he walked to the back of the couch before leaning back and sliding onto the cushions. His eyes twinkled mischieviously as he hung upside down.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that. I think I've found something you might be interested in."

I glared at him. "Should you even be capable of being here? I thought Celestia cast a spell to keep you away."

Strife laughed "Like Princess Sun-butt could keep me from doing what I please." As I continued to give him a disbelieving stare, he shrugged.
"Hey, Diamonds not here right now. And I've had my fill of tormenting her. Its not like I'd do anything if she showed up. Celestia's spell isn't some restraining order, its just a magic blocker."

"Why are you even here anyways? Didn't you say you were going to go mess around in our imagination?"

"I did. I got bored. Figured I'd bother you instead."

Ugh. This was why I didn't have conversations with Strife all that often.

"Well have fun with that, you'll be sitting there a while."

Strife frowned at me while I went back to ignoring him, conjuring some headphones from the air and slipping them in as I tried to recall what my mp3 player had on it back home.

As the first strands of Personal Jesus started playing, I felt something poking my knee. I opened my eyes a bit and looked over to Strife, whose index finger was ever so slightly prodding me.

"Really? You're sinking to poking my leg?"

Strife looked at me like I had asked him why the sky was blue. "What? You won't let me show you what I found, and I don't feel like messing with imaginary beings. So I figured I'd do something to keep me entertained."

I groaned, and closed my eyes, doing my level best to ignore him. He's not there, he's not bothering me, he's just trying to get a rise out of me.

Poke poke poke…

He's not there, he's not poking my arm now...he's not poking my nose...

Poke...Poke...Poke...

Okay that's it, he's losing that finger.
I opened my eyes, hands balled into fists and ready to deck my darker half. But he was nowhere to be seen. Huh...maybe I was just imagning all of tha-

Poke.

"Gods damnit to hell Strife, would you quit it?!"

Strife fell to the floor from where he had been floating upside down from, rolling and cackling with glee at the death glare I was sending him. "Oh calm down tightass, you poke dear mother and sister all the time."

I rolled my eyes, still glaring at him. "Yeah, but I do it out of love. You do it to annoy people."

"And everybody wins! Well, except right now. I'm the only one winning." Strife declared, chuckling to himself as I shook my head, irritation giving way to annoyance.

"Are you going to keep this up till I see what you found?"

Strife yawned, floating in the air lazily. "Maybe. Or, you know, I could just be bored and trying to amuse myself."

Groaning, I did an about face and marched over to couch, wondering if DT was done spending some time with her parents so I could be in control again. Then at least I wouldn't have to deal with my darker half...even if he was behaving himself at the moment.

For a given definition of behaving anyways.

Before I could sit back down and keep myself from dying of boredom, Strife appeared in a flash, sprawled over the couch and smiling up at me. "Sorry buddy, this spots taken."

If it had been anyone else, I would have probably asked them nicely if they could make some room, or if they'd go find another spot. If I wasn't already irritated at him, I probably would have just lengthed it, or made myself a couch.

Instead, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath...and flipped the couch over.

"Hey now! That was uncalled for!" Strife yelled after his initial yelp of surprise

Paying him no heed, I picked the couch up and set it back before plopping myself where I had been sitting down previously. Not a second more and I was joined by Strife, who laid himself down on the couch and used my head as a footstool.

I felt irritated, and I knew that if I just ignored it, in this case at least, it would just boil and grow until I couldn't keep it in anymore. Sighing, I glared at Strife for a full minute before I spoke.

"If I appease you by seeing whatever it was you wanted to show me, will you leave me alone?"

Strife hummed to himself as he thought about that, taking the opportunity to reposition his feet atop my head. "Well, I won't be using your head as a footstool. I can't guarantee you anything else beyond that."

I shrugged, not surprised by his response. "Fine, but if I don't like what I see, I'm beating you with a wet noodle."

"Duly noted. Now get over here already!"

I blinked, and noticed that Strife was no longer laying on the couch next to me. Instead he was about ten feet behind me, standing next to rather intricate pink hued door that had not been there a moment before.Engraved on its surface was a diamond studded tiara.

"Is this what I think it is?" I asked as I flipped myself over the couch and made my way over to stare at it. Strife had a twinkle in his eye that was leaving me very concerned about whatever he was planning.

"That would depend. If you think it is a doorway to a long repressed dream to be a pretty pony princess, sorry but that's door #7." Strife replied flatly, his serious looking visage twitching as he tried to keep his amusement at bay. "If however you suspect this to lead to Diamond Tiara's memories, you'd be absolutely right! We had some prize money lined up, but I used it to buy thirty 50ft sub sandwiches."

I put a hand to my head, pinching the bridge of my nose a bit as I muttered "Okay, I've changed my mind. I'm beating you to death with a whiffle bat." Strife just shrugged nonchalantly as I focused on something more interesting, and less annoying. Reaching forward, I opened the doorway, revealing majestic hallway bathed in the colors of DT's coat and mane.

"After you." I said as I gestured from Strife to the hallway. Strife cocked an eyebrow up at me, and I sighed, rolling my eyes as I said "Hey, for all I know you're up to something. I'm not going to be stupid enough to have my back to you."

Strife feigned shock, a hand dramatically moving to his chest. "You think I'm up to something? Moi? Well I never..." He turned his head away from me, playing up the offended look that was gracing his face. "What in the wide wide universe would make you think such a silly thing?"

He turned his head just enough to glance at my impassive face, and his pose dropped as he let out a morose sigh. "Oh relax, if I was up to something it wouldn't matter whether you were in front or behind me. Especially here." When I continued to stare at him, he shook his head before striding on through the portal, followed a moment later by me as I closed the door behind us.

Strife looked about the pink hued hall, making soft gagging sounds every so often as we passed several doors, before finally stopping before one. He stepped to the side, looking to me and waiting for me to do something.

When I didn't do anything, he gave me an annoyed look as he poked my chest. "Come on already, I'm certainly not doing everything here. I'm not your nanny."

Well, I supposed I should have expected that. "Fine. Here goes nothing..." I muttered to myself as I reached out, and opened the door, bright white light suddenly filling my vision, before I felt a rough shove from behind, and for a moment, everything spun.

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-*-Diamond Tiara-*-

Diamond Tiara could scarcely recall how long it had been since she felt this happy. Here she was: sitting with two of the ponies that she cared so deeply about. Daddy was happily partaking from the soup she and Momma had made together, and telling them both how delectable it tasted. Despite the fact that Momma had been the one doing most of the cooking, Momma was letting her take the credit for dinner.

As she took in a deep breath, basking in the savory aroma before reaching forward to pick up a spoon, her head throbbed for a moment, sending the spoon clattering to the floor.

"Princess, are you alright?" Momma asked, worry creasing her face.

Diamond Tiara thought about it for a moment. Her head didn't throb again, and the burst of pain was already fading. Smiling, she nodded "Yes Momma, I'm fine. I'm just worn out is all."

"With all that’s happened, that's understandable." Daddy said, gesturing for one of the servants to come over. "But once you’re done with Dinner, you can go take a relaxing dip in the bath hall."

"And I'll join you, just like we used to." Momma said, her loving smile making Diamond Tiara feel like the most important pony in the world.

"Yay!" She exclaimed, before quickly digging into her meal, the manners that had been drilled into her briefly forgotten in her excitement. A half hearted "Ahem" from Daddy pulled her muzzle out of the soup, and she giggled a bit in embarrassment. Momma just shook her head, giving Diamond a quick nuzzle before she too dived into her own bowl. Diamond didn't hesitate and quickly picked her bowl up, trying to slurp it down as fast as she could.

Filthy Rich just shook his head, trying and failing to hold back a wide smile as he watched Diamond and his wife go at it, forgetting for a moment the grey clouds that hung over his mind.

-*-Cain-*-

I found myself in an unfamiliar but spacious living room, where rather fine and posh looking pieces of furniture were set about. There was a fireplace set into the wall behind me, and on its mantle were several picture frames, with a rather intricate looking urn situated amidst it all. Above that was a large portrait of an olive colored mare with a long, curly bark colored mane.

The room had not a soul in it, and all was quiet and peaceful.

"It won't be quiet for long." Strife said, stepping past me and making for one of the windows, where he situated himself and looked towards the open space at the front of the room where a simple hallway lay.

Out of that hallway came a small pink blur, followed by a larger wisteria one. Both of them were laughing gayly as the larger one tackled the smaller one into one of the plush chairs.

"M-Mamma! Hehehehehe, s-stop it!!"

Silver Tongue only chuckled, before continuing her relentless assault on a young Diamond Tiara's tummy and sides. This was not a side of Diamond Tiara I had seen before, this wasn't the Diamond Tiara who bullied others to make herself feel better at the expense of others.

The wide grin on her face, the mirth dancing and twinkling in her eyes as her whole body shook with joyous laughter… this was a different Diamond Tiara.

I couldn't help but smile at the sight, feeling the love in the air. Strife, for his part, had a smile as well, though I had a feeling it wasn't because the scene was adorable.

"You wouldn't think such a happy kid could be such a spoiled bitch, would you?" He asked, smile changing to a dark smirk. "Want to see how she started down the path of being a bully?" I nodded, my eyes only glancing at him briefly, as I just couldn't take my eyes of this happy pair.

Strife, of course, didn't exactly care about that, as he grabbed the back of my shirt and yanked me, the world going white once again…

-*-Diamond Tiara-*-

Dinner was done, and now Diamond Tiara and Silver Tongue were in the bath hall. Ginger Gold was setting some towels and other bath accessories nearby, then gave a small bow and left them to their own accord.

"Ah… it’s so good to be back home… I missed doing this." Silver Tongue murmured, allowing most of her body to slip further into the warm water, blowing a pile of bubbles out of her way so she could see her wonderful daughter.

"Me too!" Diamond Tiara said on the other side, diving into the water for a moment and then popping back, sending a spray of water towards her mother, who let out a surprised whiny before she started giggling. She quickly swam over and splashed her daughter, who sputtered and laughed as she tried to escape the watery attacks.

As Diamond tried to dive under her mother, her head throbbed again, and she yelped, taking in a mouthful of soapy, warm water. She thrashed as she came up, coughing and spitting out the water as she tried to draw in some air.

"Ugh… I… I think maybe we should take it easy." Diamond Tiara muttered as she held her head in her hooves, rubbing her temples, the throbbing still there this time, and for a brief instant she thought she saw a familiar face… one she would rather not remember.

Hooves wrapped around her, pulling her into a gentle hug as Silver Tongue nuzzled against her wet mane. "That's fine Diamond, I think we've had enough excitement for one day anyways." She pulled away and looked into Diamond Tiara's eyes, adding "Let's just relax together."

Diamond slowly nodded, not wanting to make her headache any worse, and laid her head against her mothers side, trying to ignore the pain and the images that were trying to fill her mind.

-*-Cain-*-

Now we were somewhere else, and if I was any judge of Equestrian locations, all the high end buildings around us and the rather fancy dress of the few ponies walking about meant we had to be somewhere in Canterlot. The fact that I could see the palace high in the distance certainly helped.

"Momma… do I have to go to school?"

I turned my eyes away from the castle and down to the street we were standing on, where Silver Tongue and a smaller Diamond Tiara were currently walking. The two looked like they were heading to some big shindig.

"This is when wee little DT went to school in Canterlot. Please tell me you remember Silver Spoon mentioning such." Strife said, his gaze following them as the pair talked.

"I remember, no need to get cranky." I replied, wondering what it was I was about to see.

Strife waved his hand, and things sped up. Diamond Tiara was introducing herself to her class, which held not a single Earth Pony. The room was full of Unicorn colts and fillies.

I could already see where this was going.

Nopony was listening, in fact it looked like even the teacher wasn't paying that much attention. When she finished, the teacher told her to find a place to sit… seeming to either forget or ignore the fact that there wasn't any extra chairs in the classroom.

Diamond looked about the room uncertainly, but when she asked the teacher where she should sit, the teacher just gave her a shove before returning to the topic at hand. A few snickers flitted about the air, but otherwise no one said or did a thing.

To the other foals, Diamond might as well have not been there.

This seemed to go on for the rest of the day, until lunchtime arrived. Then a unicorn, who looked far more prissy and stuck up than Diamond Tiara had ever managed, passed near the table she was sitting at. I recognized her as the filly Strife had been using to torment Diamond earlier.

“Uh, excuuse me, but servants aren’t allowed to sit in here.”

“Huh? I-I’m not a servant…” Diamond Tiara replied, a confused look on her face as she looked around, no doubt trying to see if there was one around the filly was talking to.

“Very funny, you are the servant.” the unicorn said smugly

“What?” Diamond Tiara squeaked, an indignant look on her face as she started to reply, but the Unicorn didn’t give her a chance.

“Didn’t you notice how everypony ignored you? Have you seen anypony in class who wasn’t a unicorn? Mud Ponies like you are only fit to be servants.”

I started to walk away, this was… too much. It didn’t justify Diamond Tiara being a jerk, after all, no pony in Ponyville was rude to her unless she was rude first, but it gave me a good idea how she turned into a bully herself.

I kept walking away, even as I heard Diamond running out of the room. I knew how the rest was gonna go, I’d seen enough of it both on TV and in real life.

Strife seemed amused at my reaction “Aren’t you gonna stay to see the whole thing? There’s so much more to her wonderful time spent here.”

“I saw enough.” I keep walking away, where the hell was that stupid door?

“Oh, but then you will never find out about the Tiaraaa…” Strife said in a singsong voice, imitating a girl “My little bully, my little bully, friendship is a lie! My little bully my little bully, I wonder how much of a jerk I could be?”

I tried to ignore it, I really did, deep down, I knew that even in a world where ‘Friendship is Magic’ abusives, bullies and so on would exist. But somehow, I hadn’t really ever figured that Racism would exist… at least, not at the very heart of Equestria…

Strife floated over, his face a mask as he watched me think. “Not the world of sunshine and rainbows you supposed it was, huh?” Strife asked, my ear twitching at how close he was.

“So what?” I replied, staring Strife right in the eyes, surprising him.

“So what? So what?! That’s your reaction? Where is the anger? Where is the rant about how unfair things can be?” Strife snapped his fingers, and I found myself in a suit of shining armor reminiscent of a crusader.

“Aren’t you the one always railing against all the injustices of the world Cain? Aren’t you the one who always wants to go forth and fix everything? To how you think it should be?”

As I said, I’ve seen this before. I might be quite emotional, I might let anger and such get the better of me, but I was familiar enough with it. I could control myself... and besides...

“So what if Diamond Tiara was abused? So what if she later became Queen jerk? I can’t do anything about that, it’s all in the past.” I looked down at the ground, reminding myself something that sometimes, I would forget. “You can’t change the past... but you can change the present.”

Then I looked back up at Strife, glaring at him. “Besides, I’m done learning this through you. If I want to know more, I’ll go ask Diamond Tiara.”

I expected Strife to get irritated, maybe angry that I was ruining whatever plan he had, but he just shrugged, snatching a muffin up from one of the unicorn foals and biting into it as he said

“Well, that’s fine. I’ve had my fun, and I look forward to seeing what you’ll try to do to change things. It should be quite interesting.”

Strife’s smile at that last bit was unsettling, and it was unfortunately the last I saw from him as the room flashed, and I found myself back in the void room with the couch from earlier.

Sighing, I moved over to it, flopping myself down into it as I thought about everything I had just seen...

-*-Diamond Tiara-*-

Diamond Tiara was listening to her mother as she read her a story. It was a story she had read countless times herself, but it was always better when Mamma read to her. It made her feel special… important. It made her feel like she was somepony.

Suddenly, she noticed her headache softening, then she heard Cain’s voice. ‘You can have the rest of the day with your mother, I don’t mind.’

‘What, really?’ Diamond Tiara asked, rather surprised that the talking monkey was willing to let her have control for so long.

‘Yeah… you deserve it, and I can understand why she’s so important to you. So enjoy yourself.’ He replied.

Diamond Tiara was sure to not let her emotions show too much, not wanting to ruin the time she was sharing with her mother, but even then she couldn’t help but feel a subtle smile forming on her face. ‘What made you change your mind?’

Cain was silent for a moment, and there was something about his response that made her inwardly shudder. ‘It’s complicated, but we need to talk later...’

‘What? Why? What's going on?’

‘Later. It can wait, go have fun.’ She then felt his presence retracting. The headache was also gone, so she was free to spend quality time with her mother, all on her own.

So why did she suddenly feel worried?

“Honey? Is everything okay?” Silver Tongue asked, making Diamond let out a soft squeak of surprise. She felt her mother’s concerned eyes upon her and she quickly put on a smile for her.

“Its okay Mamma… I was just thinking about how long you might be staying is all.”

Silver Tongue sighed, leaning down and nuzzling Diamond, who respond in kind. “I know you don’t like how I have to spend so much time away from you...but the job I do is very important. It helps to keep you and everypony else in Equestria safe.”

Diamond Tiara nodded, even if she didn’t like hearing that. She’d heard it before, but it never made it any easier. “I know… I just hope you don’t have to leave anytime soon.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that.” Silver Tongue said, drawing Diamonds eyes to her own. “Princess Celestia promised before I went on my assignment to Prance that I wouldn’t have to go back out for the rest of the year.”

That… that meant… that Diamond Tiara had six more months of being around her mother. Her eyes grew large as her joy flooded into her, and with an excited squee, she launched herself at her mother. Her hooves wrapped tightly around her, hugging her for all she was worth.

Silver Tongue smiled, then laughed as she turned and tickled Diamonds belly with her nose. One bout of laughter quickly followed another, and before long Diamond was being chased around the study, giggling all the while as she tried to avoid her mother's ‘evil’ hooves.

A soft cough stopped them both, Diamond trying to squeeze herself underneath a chair while Silver Tongue was crouched nearby, gripping a hind hoof and just about ready to pull her out.

Filthy Rich and Jeeves were standing in the doorway. Filthy had a thin smile on his face as he looked at them, while Jeeves was… well… Jeeves. “Sorry to ruin the fun… but we all have an early start tomorrow. So its time for bed.”

Diamond Tiara let out a soft ‘Aaaawwww’ but her mother brokered no argument. Lifting her up on her back, Silver Tongue and Diamond Tiara made their way through the halls of the manor. When they reached the bedroom, Silver Tongue gently tossed Diamond onto the bed, a short tickle fight ensuing between the pair.

“Alright my darling little princess, its time to shut your eyes and rest your mind. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day…”

Diamond nodded, knowing that they would be heading to Canterlot to get help from the Princesses. She had every confidence in their ability to free her of her unwanted guest.

Silver Tongue tucked Diamond in, and then sang a soft lullaby. Diamond Tiara felt a smile forming on her lips as she snuggled further into her bed, the last thing she saw before her eyes slipped shut was the loving face of her mother smiling down at her.

-*-Cain-*-

When Diamond Tiara went to sleep, I was mediating in the void room, simply trying to mull over everything that I had gone through thus far. Suddenly though, I felt the world around me waver, and I quickly opened my eyes.

I was prepared for just about anything… figuring that Strife was no doubt prepared to mess with me again.

Instead, I found myself in the Cutie Mark Crusaders treehouse, or at least a dream version of it. Strife was nowhere to be seen, and I was in Diamond Tiara’s body. Which quickly caused me to groan in annoyance. “Damnit it Strife… its bad enough I have to be stuck in her body when I’m awake. Can’t I get my own body when she’s asleep?”

“Relax child… this is not the work of Strife.” A voice called out… a voice I knew all too well. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have been surprised by this… but I certainly hadn’t expected to see Luna so soon.

“Princess Luna? Are you here?”

“Yes.” Luna walked into the room, her body in the form we had all seen back in Season 1. Nevertheless, she was still taller than me, and so I had to look up to her as she spoke. “I wanted to talk to you in private.”

For a moment, I just gazed up at her. Then, my ‘best princess sense’ went up to eleven and I glomped Princess Luna before I could stop myself “Oh my gosh! You are so cute!!!”

Luna blushed, but her eyes creased as she gave me a stern glare, her hooves working to push me away. “Thank you, but please stop, we don’t have much time.”

Blushing in embarrassment, I quickly let go, looking away as I replied “Sorry about that… it’s just that you’re my favorite Princess.” This got an even deeper blush from Luna, and I saw her mouth quirking into the beginnings of a smile before she recomposed herself.

Sensing that she wasn’t here to get fawned on by a Brony, I asked “So, what do you want to talk about Princess?”

Princess Luna turned away, looking out the window for a moment before speaking. “It’s about Strife. As I am sure you are aware, I had a similar problem before.” I nodded, immediately knowing what she was speaking of and urging her to continue.

“Ponies are still arguing if Nightmare Moon was myself or the influence of an external force. I myself am still not sure. But if your case is as clear as my sister describes it, then though he might have started as a part of you, Discord changed Strife into something more dangerous than it was before.”

I silently nodded. While Strife indeed represented a part of me, I had a hard time picturing myself torturing anypony, even Queen Jerk, like he had done. Not without me going off the deep end at least.

But I also knew the potential was there, a sad fact of life that even the most innocent are capable of evil. “I wouldn’t say Discord did much… Strife doesn’t have the rest of me to balance him out right now.”

Princess Luna nodded in understanding. “Regardless, we must do something to both weaken Strife’s own strength, as well as Discord’s.” She paused here, thinking deeply as her eyes closed. She must have come to a conclusion, as she sighed, looking back to me as she said

“So, I have this idea, that while it might seem a tad silly, it might help.” The Princesses horn glowed, and a moment later Strife appeared in the treehouse in a poof of smoke. Only that he looked…

“Ahahahahaha!” I blurted out, quickly falling down and proceeding to laugh my ass off. I just couldn't help it, it was too funny!

“Yeah yeah, go ahead and laugh. You do know that you don’t look any better, do you?” Strife grumbled, crossing his hooves over his chest as he pouted. He looked exactly like Diamond Tiara, save for his eyes and the fact that his coat and mane were darker.

“Ehem.” The princess gave a little cough as well, drawing our attention. “May I continue, please?”

“Sorry! Hehehe… ” I worked on bringing my laughter under control, eventually managing to do so. Strife was still sending daggers my way, but I was ignoring him. “So, what’s your idea Princess?”

“Playing.”

You could have heard a pin dropping as we both stared at the Princess with the pony equivalent of a ‘wut’ face. Then Strife let out a roar of laughter, falling onto his back and rolling around, dark laughter peeling out of his mouth and rousing me from my stupor. “Um Princess Luna… forgive me for asking this… but have you completely lost your marbles?!”

“Strife might have been altered by Discord, but he is still a part of you.” Princess Luna explained, glancing towards said part as he continued to express his own opinion on her plan.

“Celestia and I believe that Strife is somehow tied to Discord now. And the more you reject him, the more Discord’s power can increase. Fighting with an aspect of yourself… its more than a spirit of Disharmony could ask for.” Luna’s horn glowed, and a moment later, Strife’s laughter stopped-his lips having been zipped shut by Luna.

“This is why I believe that ‘playing’ is a way to slowly start to bring the two of you back together… possibly even purging Discord’s influence completely and making our job of freeing you from Diamond Tiara that much easier.”

I put a hoof to my chin, considering what the Lunar Princess had said. Strife in the meantime, finally managed to get tired of trying to grip the zipper, instead managing to somehow snap his hooves and dispel her alteration.

“And who says I want to play with a high and mighty lady of CAPS LOCK and a guy in a filly body?” Strife asked, sticking her tongue out when I glared at him.

“If you ever tell anypony about what I am going to do, I will find a way to exile you two to the sun, understand?” Princess Luna sighed, then put on a hat that seemed made out of a of map. Taking in another deep breathe, she said

“I am princess Woona, do you want to play with me?”

“Yes!” I shouted, immediately jumping up and down with glee. The idea of playing with ‘Pwincess Woona’ was too much to resist, even if I was reluctant to play with Strife. And I am far too much of a fanfilly to say no to playing with princess Woona.

The fact that I had referred to myself as a ‘fanfilly’ not just as a fan or a ‘fancolt’ didn't bother me until after Diamond Tiara woke up.

Strife however, gave us both a raspberry and said “To hell with that, I can have my own fun. Maybe I can go bother Diamond Tiara some more… maybe snatch that stupid crown off her head and hide it in a bucket of rusty nails…”

Luna’s eyes twitched, and she growled “You will do no such thing. While I am here, you shall not harm anypony.”

I groaned… mumbling “Not… not what you should have said…” And indeed, glancing his way, I could already see the glint in his eyes as he defiantly stomped over to Luna.

“Oh really? Do you think that just because you are the Guardian of Dreams that you can just boss me around in my own head?” Strife replied, his tone and posture indicating he considered her statement to be nothing more than a challenge.

“Um… technically this isn’t exactly your head… ” I began, but Strife shushed me by throwing a rock my way.

Princess Luna growled for a moment...but then she smiled and stuck her tongue out at Strife. “Fine, is not like I want to play with you anyway. I’ve got someone who’s plenty fun to play with.”

She then shrank down to the size of a small filly, took out one of the comics the CMC had in the Treehouse and started to ignore Strife while she read it. She did look up at me though, smiling as she gestured for me to join her.

It didn’t take much for me to get the idea- after all, if any part of me was going to be the contrarian, it would be Strife. “Yeah, its not like we need you over here to have a good time or anything.”

Strife frowned at the two of us, eyes narrowing as he glared at us. “You really think that’s going to work? B-Besides...this means you’re rejecting me! That’s not what you said you’re here for Miss smiley butt.”

“Ah, but we’re not rejecting you Strife. We’re just not including you. There’s a difference.” I said, raising the book I’d picked up to shield the widening smile on my face.

“Hey, why don’t we play Go Fish!” Luna suggested, grabbing a deck of cards and shuffling them together. I nodded enthusiastically, and we soon had a game going, all as Strife sent death glares our way, even as he tried to pretend he wasn’t interested in joining us.

“Fine! Play your games! I’ll be over here having ALL SORTS OF FUN without you.” He declared, turning away as he tried to generate something to mess with...only to growl in frustration when nothing happened.

“So Cain, got any three’s?” Woona asked as we waited for Strife’s stubbornness to cave in...

-*-Diamond Tiara-*-

While asleep, Diamond Tiara had a strange dream, she was playing with both Silver Spoon and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. It was weird, but it felt really good.

‘I dunno why I am having this dream, but… maybe… I could make it real someday.’

‘I am glad to heard that.’

‘Princess Luna?’

‘Yes, I am talking with Cain. Could you avoid going to the Cutie Mark Crusaders treehouse and the Apple family farm?’

Diamond Tiara seemed to think about this for a moment, before shrugging as she replied ‘Sure Princess Luna… I’d prefer not to visit either anyways.’ Though she may have been playing with the CMC in this dream… she still didn’t have all that high of an opinion on their clubhouse, or the Apple Family in general.

She went back to the game they were playing, which at the moment seemed to be tag. It was actually her favorite game, one she had often played with her mother… and occasionally with Silver Spoon.

But playing it with the Crusaders… she felt rather out of place. After all… weren’t they different than her? Weren’t they inferior because they lacked cutie marks? Wouldn’t playing with them make her soft and weak again like she was back at that terrible excuse for a school in Canterlot?

“I apologize for that in behalf of my sister. Now that we share royal duties again, mistakes like what happened in that school are being corrected. Celestia has been a bit more reluctant to stir up the anger of the nobles than I am.”

Diamond Tiara’s mouth opened wide, then closed it as she noticed Princess Luna was in front of her. She quickly bowed to the Princess, such protocols instilled into her from birth. However, the fact that she had read her thoughts made her more than a little angry.

“Hey, what gives you the right to read my mind!”

Princess Luna gave Diamond Tiara a rather flat expression, saying “You do recall I’m visiting you in your dream, correct? I tend to be aware of a lot of things that happen in it, including the fears and thoughts of the dreamer.”

“Oh...right…”Diamond Tiara said, feeling rather stupid at that moment. Then she registered the last bit of what Luna had said. “Fears? What fear? I’m not scared!” The little filly blurted out.

“The more you deny your fears, the stronger they will become in your dreams.” The sky seemed to become darker, and both the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Silver Spoon were gone.

For a moment, the only sound was that of the growing wind and the rustling of leaves in the trees. Then, softly at first, and then angrily, she asked “What gives you the right?”

“Excuse me?” Princess Luna asked, brow furrowing in confusion as she took a step back. But Diamond Tiara wasn’t having any of that, and took several furious steps forward, glaring up at her as she shouted

“What gives you two the right to mess with my life? To take my mother away of me, to put me in a school were non unicorns are treated like trash? Why does having horns or wings make you think you are better than me? Why? It’s… it’s not fair! I… I missed my mommy, I had no pony who cared…”

The little filly started to cry as the weather reflected her mood and clouds formed over the sky. Princess Luna quickly approached Diamond Tiara and hugged her.

“I am really sorry little one. I know my apologies are not enough, but no matter how hard we try, we cannot change the past.”

The stress of the past few days must have finally been hitting her. “What… what if I am never back to normal? What if… I have to share space in my head with that monkey forever? What if one day he just locks me up again and pretends to be me?”

Luna pursed her lips after hearing this, knowing that it was certainly a valid concern for the young filly to have. Thinking about her own experience though... “Can you keep a secret?” Princess Luna asked, a mischievous smile forming on her face.

“A secret?” The filly asked surprised

“Yes, a secret, but I will only tell it to you if you Pinkie Promise to not tell anypony.”

“Pinkie Promise? No way, that pink mare is way too weird!”

-*-

Meanwhile, in a dream filled land full of things that only Pinkie Pie, or perhaps Discord could imagine, a certain Pink Pony stopped munching on a sugar frog, tapping her hoof to her chin as she said “Hmm… I think somepony has insulted the Pinkie Promise…”

Then the pink pony went back to fight her battle against the soapbox robot "FOR CANDY AND FREEDOM!"

-*-

“Then I am not telling you.” She said, turning around and taking a few steps before glancing back at her. “But lets just say… that just because you have somepony else stuck in your head it doesn't mean you can’t work things out.”

It took a moment for Diamond to make the connection, and when she did, she stared in horror at the Princess of the Night. “What? Are you telling me that you still have Nightmare Moon stuck in your head?!”

“No, I am not saying that.” Luna winked, horn glowing as she moved the filly over to her back “So, want to fly around for a bit before the dream ends?”

“Uh…” Diamond murmured...not exactly sure now if she should do as the Princess asked. But considering that she had never had a chance to experience flight, she gave a small nod as she said “Sure… what’s the worst that can happen?”

-*-Cain-*-

We’d finished our third game of Go Fish, with Woona having beaten me in all three games. Strife meanwhile had given up trying to use his powers, seeing as Luna seemed to be dampening them. His left eye was twitching as he twisted the head of a plushy.

“Are you two just going to keep ignoring me!?”

“Oh, why not? I mean, its obvious you’re having sooo much fun by yourself over there…” I murmured, asking Woona if she had any fives, and getting a flat no in response.

Strife let out a hiss of anger, and for a moment, seemed to be intent on remaining stubborn. Finally though, as he managed to rip the head off the plushie, he said “You know what? I’m playing with you guys whether you want me to or not!”

Woona and I shared a sideways smirk, before turning to him and asking “Well… what would you like to play then Strife?” Maybe the perfect synchronization when me and her said that together was a bit much, but… dream logic.

"Tag, you’re it!" Strife immediately declared, booping Woona’s nose and hightailing it out of the clubhouse, a filly shaped cloud of dust the only indication he had been there a second ago.

"You know what this means, right?" Woona asked, and I frowned after a moment, still rather surprised it had worked.

Thinking that she was going to quote another pop culture reference she got from my head, I replied "Uh… this means war?"

"No, you are it!" She said, bopping me on the nose and quickly running out and away from the clubhouse as quickly as Strife had.

I stood there, dumbfounded for a good ten seconds… before I got a devilish smile on my face and shouted “Oh no you didn’t!!!”

The dark, mirth filled laughter of Strife and the giggles and squeals of Pwincess Woona filled my ears as I quickly gave chase to both of them, the rest of the night in dream world being spent getting more exercise than I was sure I ever needed...

-*-Diamond Tiara(Cain)-*-

“Time to wake up Diamond…”

A voice softly pushed its way past the dark fog of unconsciousness, stirring up the subconscious bit, and then telling the part that resided in the waking world to get its butt moving.

Groaning, I rolled over, opening my eyes to see the familiar face of Ginger Gold, who was giving me a wide smile as she said “Oh good, I was worried it’d take all morning to wake you up. You really sleep like a rock sometimes don’t you?”

A part of me wanted to say "Ginger! I met Princess Luna and we flew for hours in my dreams, it was amazing!" But I felt a tad too old for that, plus its not like she would believe it.

'Uh… DT, are you in there?'

'Cain?'

‘Good… just making sure I wasn’t the only one who had to be awake’

"Diamond, are you alright?" Ginger asked, apparently noticing that I had done that spaced out face again. She was even waving her hoof in front of my face, and looked ready to ask ‘Equestria to Diamond’.

"Yes. What’s for breakfast?" I quickly asked, which caused Ginger to frown, and quickly replied with a ‘Be right back’.

With her dashing out of the room, I had some privacy to conduct my conversation with Diamond Tiara. 'Hey Diamond… there is something I wanna ask you… but... can we eat first?'

'Um… I guess that’s okay.' She replied, though considering the rumbling from our stomach, it’d have to be quick.

'Actually scratch that… do you remember a dream of two fillies playing with Princess Luna?'

'Yes, why?'

I was silent for a moment, wondering if I should even mention this...'Because I remember you flying with Princess Luna in a dream. And for a moment when I woke up I almost believed that I was you."

'WHAT?'

'Hey, it’s not like I was pretending to be you! I believed I was you!'

‘I warned you that letting her have free reign would be a problem’ A familiar voice butted in, and I could instantly feel my mood turn sour.

'Oh, like it has been all dreams and sunshine for me, shut up Strife.' I could swear I imagined DT blinking inside my head after she said that. ‘Wait, I don’t even want to talk to you! Go away ya big bully!’

I shook my head, already hearing my other half snickering as he sent back ‘Says Ponyville’s premier bully.’

'Pot calling the kettle black, I know. Wait… am I agreeing with that thing?' Diamond Tiara shivered at the thought, while Strife rolled on his ass, laughing up a storm.

DT must not have wanted to be that close to his mirth, because she soon took control of her body, landing me back in the room, with smartass… wait, was that a Woona plushie?

"Mine!" Strife shouted, diving for the doll up and holding it away like a small kid who doesn't want to share.

However that wasn't the only thing that caught my attention. While our voices were normal, neither of us were in our human form. We were ponies, young colts about DT’s age to be more exact.

"Okay… we’re ponies. That’s… not all that strange."

"You sure about that? Cause the other day when you and shiny ass were in here we were both human."

"Fine, I get the idea, you told me this could happen. But why now? It’s like… we are…"

"We are what? Say it." Strife smiled while he pet the Woona plushie, it was disturbing yet adorable at the same time.

"Fusing with Diamond Tiara."

"You two are WHAT?" DT’s voice roared, echoing across the whole room

"Calm down please." I said, holding my hooves to my ears as they shook from the ringing.

"Sorry, but… what if it…"

"DT, I am sure Twilight Sparkle and the Princesses can fix this."

"And if they can't?" Strife had sat on the couch, trying to look like an evil villain petting his cat, using the Woona plushie as the cat. The effect was naturally ruined because he looked way too cute to pull off the bond villain look.

Wait… thinking that Strife colt form is cute… and I called myself fanfilly in that dream…

"No, just no, My name is Cain! I am a guy, I am human. I am not a little filly and I don't find cute colts and handsome stallions attractive! Most of the time!"

"See what happened for trying to be the good guy? You are losing your humanity, your gender, your identity. Soon you will just be a part of Diamond Tiara mind, maybe not even that." Strife chided, smirking for a few seconds before he seemed to recall a very important fact.

"Wait… that means that will happen to me too! You’ve screwed us both!" Strife set the Woona doll on the couch, launching himself at me as he tried to make me pay for, in his mind, ensuring his death (his was obviously more important to him after all, it being Strife).

'Guys, breakfast is ready, are you okay Cain?'

Upon hearing the word breakfast, we both stopped fighting, but for different reasons. Strife because he was probably hungry, me because I needed to ask a question.

"DT, how can you be so calm about this?"

“Did you say food?”

Diamond sighed, and I could imagine she was likely starting to get really annoyed over the both of us. 'Well, first of all, freaking out won't solve things. Second, focusing on negative emotions is what Discord wants, and third, there is nothing we can do anyway so, why worry?'

Diamond was right… but rather than putting me at ease, it only caused me to worry. “Diamond… that’s the sort of thing I should be saying.”

'I know. Do you feel like you want to bully the CMC or something like that?'

"No… I feel… like I been an idiot. That I should have gone to the right ponies asking for help instead of… ya know? And that's weird because… I am not even supposed to be a pony to start with."

'Hey, I am eating breakfast, do you two feel anything?'

“Well, I have the taste of freshly baked hay muffins, meh, steamed dandeloin petals...tastier than I would...wait a second, I don’t wanna be some veggie stuffing prey. Give me meat damnit! Or heck, anything besides pony junk, bleck!”

I rolled my eyes at Strife’s reaction, ignoring the fact that he was now trying to get the taste of flowers out of his mouth.

'Ponies do eat cheese and eggs, is not a vegan diet, well save for some ponies who are vegans.' Diamond Tiara muttered, but I was frankly tired of being in the same room as Strife, so I decided it was time for a brief change of drivers.

The world spun a bit for a moment, and I could swear I heard a yelp… then I was once again seeing the world with Diamond’s eyes. Which were currently looking down into a bowl of peaches and cream oatmeal. Literally.

At least it tasted good.

"Of course it tastes good, the chef’s always make sure breakfast is delicious." Strife said, and I could swear I heard the sound of that pony doing a facehoof. "Great… now I’m even saying what she’s thinking. Hurry up and shovel that goop up your mouth so we can get going!"

“Diamond… or is it Cain? Are you alright?” Silver Tongue asked, glancing at me from my right, while Filthy Rich was conversing with Jeeves and Ginger Gold.

"Well… lets just say I hope they fix a solution to this soon.” I mumbled into my food, deciding to take Strife’s suggestion to heart as I did a very good impression of a pig eating out of a trough.

“I believe it is the one called Cain.” Jeeves said, his tone perfectly flat as he watched the scene unfold.

'So… wanna play cards or something?' DT asked to Strife as I attempted to drown myself with my glass of orange juice.

'Why would I?'

‘Because I’ve got the Woona doll, and if you want it back you have to keep me from getting bored?’

'Fine, but if we end playing dress up I will dye your mane green… dye your mane? ARG! Even my threats are getting lame!’

“So you weren’t kidding Mister Rich… D-Diamond really is being possesed by some furless talking monkey?” Ginger asked, obviously surprised by the sudden change in eating habits.

I feel ashamed of the way I was eating, years of training at Miss Sunshine Summer camp for Proper Fillies kicked in and I started to eat like a lady. Then I looked at the spoon of food I’d picked up… and no longer felt hungry. “Mister Rich, Missus Tongue? I think I’m ready to get outta this body now if its all the same to you."

Mister Rich nodded, turning and asking Jeeves and Ginger to go fetch the bags they’d prepared last night. Silver Tongue offered a comforting hoof to me, but I wasn’t really going to feel all that comfortable until I was in my own body… or at least not in Diamond Tiara’s.

-*-

By the time we got to the train, DT was back in control and when I got back into the room I saw Strife… with make up smeared all over his face.

“Do I even wanna know?”

“I got Woona back!” He shouted triumphantly, an almost mad grin on his face as he clung to her. It was almost strange how protective he was of that doll, but then he was basically the negative parts of myself. And being greedy was the contrary of being generous.

With nothing better to do for hours, I decided to try to follow Princess Luna's advice and play with Strife, taking advantage on how foal like he had become.

Which mostly meant I spent the entirety of the train ride getting chased by an enraged colt, screaming bloody murder and other nasty things as I clutched the Woona doll between my teeth.

By the time we arrived to Canterot, both me and Strife were exhausted, so we fell asleep. Neither of us knew what exactly was in store… but I remained confident that the Princesses could help.

As I would soon find out… my faith was a tad… misplaced.

Canterlot Ahoy!

View Online

-*-Diamond Tiara-*-

It had been a long time since Diamond Tiara had been to Canterlot. The last time she had been to the glorious capital city of Equestria was when they had returned to get the very last boxes of their belongings, finishing the process of moving to Ponyville the very next day.

That was roughly four and a half years ago. On the outside, Diamond Tiara had changed. Even if she was, by some mad twist of fate, going back to her old school, she wouldn’t have been the meek, timid foal who was ignored and looked down upon. The mask she had forged while living in Ponyville made sure of such.

Of course, such would have been true on any normal day. Today however, like the last few, was not normal.

“Get ready dear, we’re nearing the city.” Filthy Rich said as he read the morning paper. Her dad was currently giving off an uninterested, distant air that normally would have bothered her. She knew Filthy Rich didn’t always know how to deal with, or help her with her problems, but he could at least be honest about it.

“Actually… we might be a bit… something is up.” Silver Tongue murmured, looking past the window and frowning at something she saw.

“What is it Mamma?”

Before Silver Tongue could reply, the end of the train car glowed, and then a thin wall of magical energy swept over everypony. This elicited several gasps and a scream or two., while a young filly who had been playing with some blocks while her mother watched started to bawl.

Diamond shivered after it had passed her, feeling no worse for the wear, though a little tingly. She saw that Filthy Rich was no longer reading the paper, his nose twitching like he was about to sneeze. Mamma in the meantime had become rather tense, a worried look creasing her muzzle.

“That was a protection spell… a pretty powerful one too. Why on Equus would there be one covering Canterlot…” She heard Silver Tongue murmur softly to herself.

Protection Spell? Does it have something to do with why we’re here? Diamond thought to herself, wishing for a moment that Cain wasn’t asleep so he could provide some info.

A train conductor passed through a minute later, assuring everypony that things were fine, that it was the Royal Guard conducting their annual security test. This seemed to soothe the other passengers, but not Silver Tongue.

“Is something the matter honey?” Filthy Rich asked, clearly showing that Diamond wasn’t the only one who had noticed.

Silver Tongue was silent for a moment, before gesturing for Diamond and Filthy to lean in. “The only time the Royal Guard is supposed to cast a spell this powerful is when a direct threat has been made to the city.” She whispered, before adding

“Its supposed to be powerful enough to keep anyone from directly attacking the city. Nothing short of a High Dragon or Discord should be able to crack it without a great deal of effort.”

That wasn’t very reassuring… although that did rule out the possibility, to Diamond at least, of this involving them and their problem.

After all, since it was Discord’s fault she was carrying around a hairless ape’s mind (and his darker half), raising a force field around the city his statue was kept in would be silly.

It wasn’t much longer before the train pulled into the station, a loud whistle signalling their arrival. The other ponies were quick to disembark and go about their business, while she and her parents waited for the crowd to thin.

“Come on, let’s not keep Princess Celestia waiting.” Silver Tongue said, grabbing the few bags they’d brought along and leading the way out.

As they stepped onto the platform, they saw that the train station was rather busy. Soldiers were moving about, checking passengers and their baggage before letting them head further into the city.

A Pegasus who had a red plum on his helmet stepped forward as soon as he saw them. “Are you Miss Tongue’s party?” When Silver Tongue nodded, he returned the gesture. “I am to lead you to the Royal Palace, though first I need to perform a security check. Orders from the Princess herself.”

The soldiers horn glowed, and that tingling feeling returned for a few seconds. “Alright, you’re all clear. Make sure to stick close to me and we’ll be at the Palace in no time.” He turned about, clearing his throat with a deep cough before shouting “CLEAR A PATH!”

Instantly, soldiers and civilians alike dashed to the side or stopped where they were as he lead them out of the station and to a chariot awaiting them. Once they were all aboard, he made a clicking noise and the two guards tethered to it quickly took off.

Diamond’s mind wandered as they went sailing over the roofs and spires of the great royal city, thinking about what might happen when they reached the Palace, what the Princesses might do to try and get Cain out of her.

She also found herself wondering about the dream she had last night, of the flight with Princess Luna and the talk they’d had with each other. She didn’t remember everything, but she did recall that Luna had told her she needed to let go of her past, to not let those foalish bullies turn her into one of them.

I don’t know if I can do that… I don’t want to feel like that again… but as she thought about it, in a way, she was already beginning to experience such yet again. Ever since the Cute-Cinera, she had started to feel isolated again… it almost seemed like she couldn’t win.

Maybe… maybe I could try to be better. Ponyville, its not like the school. The ponies there… are different. The Crusaders certainly prove that…

Her pride told her doing such would be a huge show of weakness, but she wasn’t sure about that anymore. The last few days were making a lot of things come under scrutiny.

“Look Diamond… we’re nearing the Palace.” Silver Tongue murmured, leaning down as a hint of a smile made itself known. Diamond shook her head, clearing it of all the thoughts she had been considering as she gazed at the majestic sight of Celestia’s home.

She had been here before with her class for that field trip, when they saw what they had all thought was nothing more than a silly statue before being rudely shown the truth just a day later. It was a hard reminder that appearances could be deceiving.

Still, it was a rather impressive sight, and she found herself staring at it in awe. She could see a similar, if muted glimmer in her mother’s eyes, while her father was apparently trying to keep the contents of breakfast in.

Rather than landing in the front courtyard like they had when they were here for the field-trip, the chariot was instead taken around to a more private garage, where Princess Celestia and Luna were awaiting them.

-*-Cain-*-

I awoke after DT passed through the forcefield, but I felt tired, and I also decided it would be wise to not startle her or try to take control until we were in front of the princesses. I didn't want to get my… our flank kicked by an overzealous guard, thank you very much.

I must admit that the first thing I did was look myself over, and I was somewhat relieved that while I still looked like a young pony, at least it was a male one.

I could also feel some of the emotions Diamond Tiara was dealing with. It wasn’t like I could read her thoughts or anything, but if I focused enough I could get a grasp of what she was likely thinking about.

Considering the visit Luna had given both of us last night, I figured it would be better to let DT sort through them herself.

With a sigh, I got up from the couch and looked around, the room having turned more girly than last time. The TV that let me see what Diamond was seeing and hearing was bigger, while Strife was nowhere to be seen.

"Strife? Are you there?"

For a moment, I didn’t hear anything. Then, I heard some mumbling from a corner of the room, but no one was there. “Come on Strife, I’m not in the mood for whatever game you’re up to now.”

"Strife isn’t here right now, please leave a message after the beep."

I rolled my eyes, ears turning this way and that as I tried to pinpoint his voice. “Yeah sure you aren’t. And I’m the Queen of America.”

"Really? I didn’t know royalty was going to be visiting, otherwise I would have spruced the place up a bit."

"Strife, where are you?"

"Little ol’ me? Oh, nowhere important."

"I sincerely doubt that" I muttered to myself, glancing around, finally spotting a small blue door only a foal could use. I walked to the door and tried to open it, ignoring the fact that with hooves I shouldn’t be able to do so, but the knob wouldn’t budge.

"You can't come in, this place is mine!" His voice shouted out, though it was starting to lose the snarky edge to it.

Well, that answered the question of where he was… though I wasn’t exactly comforted by such knowledge. "Strife… are you hiding in there?"

"NO! I don’t hide from anything or anyone! I just don’t want to be in the same room as you mister goody two shoes!"

Strife sounded a tad… different. Which was really starting to bug me. "Can I come inside to talk?"

“Sorry, try again.”

I rolled my eyes, hoof palming as I snarked back “May I come inside to talk you?”

"Hell no."

“Listen Strife…” I ground out, trying the door handle and considering trying to give it a good bucking, “You can’t hide in there all-day.”

“Sure I can!” He shouted back… followed very quickly by a mumbled “Crap!”

I laughed, head pressing against the door as I grinned victoriously at Strife… or at least the door he was hiding behind. “I knew it! Well, too bad for you, you’re not allowed to hide.”

“Says who? I can do whatever I want!”

I shook my head, groaning as I said “Of course you can. But that whole tough guy thing you like to try and pull off isn’t gonna work if you’re in a closet… or whatever it is your in.”

There was no immediate response, but after a few seconds, the door opened and I carefully walked inside. My body was tensed up, fully expecting some sort of surprise from Strife.

What I wasn’t expecting to see was Discord with a badly made Diamond Tiara sock puppet over his lion paw. Without any warning, the door closed behind me as he cackled.

"Oh Cain, Cain, Cain, do you honestly think they can help you? There are places in Equestria I messed up so much that they still haven't been fixed, and that was over a thousand years ago! I am the only one that can help you and deep down you know it!"

“Go away Discord, you’re wasting your time.” I replied, turning my eyes away from him and ignoring him as I looked around for Strife. Which wasn’t easy, considering the room was a hodge podge of all the room’s I’d ever lived in.

"Get out Cain! I don’t want anything to do with you!" Strife's voice echoed out, but it sounded weird, like another voice was trying to merge with it.

Eventually, after trading a few barbs with him while Discord chortled in the background, I traced his voice down, finding him underneath the bed of all places. But that wasn’t all… like me, he wasn’t in human form, but now what had been a blue coat was covered in splotches of a familiar pink, and he seemed to be sporting a tiara on his flank.

“I SAID GO AWAY!” He roared out at me, eyes flashing with anger and rage even as tears streamed down his face. The Woona plushie was tucked underneath him and he clung to it as if his life depended on it.

Seeing this, my own anger flared up as I whirled to face Discord. "WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"Me?” He asked, placing a talon over his heart as he feigned ignorance. “I did nothing. This is nothing more than the results of your choices. After all, Diamond Tiara isn’t being repressed anymore… so her spirit is starting to assert itself." He chuckled darkly, adding “Strife’s just getting the most interesting bits.”

"No." I murmured, not liking where that was going. Strife was who he was in part because of the environment I’d grown up in, not simply because he was my ‘evil’ half, as much as I sometimes thought of him as such.

There were times where Strife had served as my defense against bullies, and even as a way to deal with my lack of friends. Having to deal with even a small portion of Diamond’s own life… and believing it was his own… Strife had to be positively livid.

"Oh yes! And as long as you keep this silly ‘faith in friendship’ instead of caring about yourself, it’ll only get worse. You’ve already started to get it too." Discord flicked my face with his tail, laughing at the glare I sent his way before vanishing in a flash.

Growling and muttering about Discord’s no doubt messed up lineage, I turned and crawled under the bed, ignoring the hisses and attempts to push me away as I hugged Strife.

“Don’t listen to him Strife. You should know more than anybody that he’s trying to mess with us.”

Strife’s eyes glinted dangerously, even as he choked back a sob. “I want to tear his horns off and shove them where sun don’t shine.”

I offered him a smile, chuckling as I stroked his mane. “Hey, I won’t stop you. I ‘d even help you. Now come on, hiding under here isn’t doing you any good. Its just amusing Discord… and you don’t want to give him anything to laugh at do you?”

Strife seemed to consider this, and was able to regain some control as he brought an end to the waterworks. Together, we crawled out from under the bed and walked back to the big screen room. Then I noticed Diamond Tiara arriving to a garage where the princess were waiting for us.

“We’re at the palace already? Huh… I thought that would take longer.”

Strife rolled his eyes. “Yeah well, when you’re having SOOOOO much fun, time flies.”

I shook my head, even as the smile started to widen. Strife was starting to sound so much more like himself.

Then I suddenly remembered something very important. It was probably because Strife wasn’t locked away anymore, or maybe it was because Discord had left?

"Hey DT, I need to talk to the princesses about something important. And… Strife is starting to remember the bad years you had at school like it had happened to him. He is kinda… traumatised, so try to be nice to him, okay?"

Strife harrumphed, looking away from me and the screen. "I am not traumatised! And I don’t want anything to do talk with a loooser like her! Wait… is that the best I can do? Grr...I’m gonna chase that foal up and down the walls if she comes in here."

I felt a bit sorry for Diamond, as I had a feeling Strife was going to take out some of his frustrations on her. Nevertheless, I needed to talk to the Princesses, so with a bit of work, I felt the sensation of being in control of the body again and blinked, feeling a little disoriented this time around.

"Your majesties,” I began, looking up at them as Filthy Rich and Silver Tongue stepped off the chariot, “May we talk in private without anypony else? I got information that I think you two might find interesting." I said, looking at them expectantly. A part of me nagged me that I wasn't acting quite in the proper way to address royalty, but I ignored it. Was probably just Diamond anyways.

Celestia and Luna horns glowed, and the tree of us were teleported to what I guess was a secret room. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant sensation, and my head spun for a few seconds afterwards. “Warn me next time will you… jeez…”

"What's is this matter you want to inform us off?" Luna spoke first, sounding rather awake for being up in the morning. This briefly distracted me, as I wondered whether either of them really needed much sleep.

Focus Cain, you saw the setup of things on the way in. Let’s get this over with.

"Princess Cadance has been replaced by an imposter, and is currently imprisoned within the caves below the City. The Imposter is Queen Chrysalis of the changelings."

The two looked to each other for a moment… before Celestia smiled. “Oh yes, we already know that.”

I nodded my head, saying “That’s good to-wait what did you just say?”

“During the Mind Delve, I saw what, at least according to the show, was going to happen soon. I looked into it, and indeed discovered that my niece had been replaced. Chrysalis is currently in the dungeon, and the Royal guard is sweeping the area around the city for the rest of her invasion force.”

My mouth hung open for a moment as I just sat there, not sure what to say. A smirk slowly worked its way onto Luna’s face as she leaned toward Celestia, murmuring “I think you rendered him speechless.”

“It would indeed seem that way.” Celestia said, a warm chuckle flitting out of her lips as I shook my head about, regathering my thoughts after having been caught off guard by this revelation.

“W-Well, that’s not all. I’m afraid we need to get to work on splitting me from Diamond Tiara… things seem to be going faster than we thought.” I then explained what had just happened, making sure not to leave out a single detail.

“I was worried about this…” Celestia said, shaking her head and moving to gaze out a nearby window… where the statue of Discord was plainly visible. “I suspect Discord is at fault for the increase of your souls merging, now doubt using his connection with Strife to accelerate it.”

“We will need to get started immediately then. I will send word for Twilight and her friends to make all due haste.” Luna declared, gathering a quill and ink as she scratched out a letter and sending it off in a glimmer of smoke.

“Indeed. We are not as prepared as we would have liked, but such is life.” Celestia said, turning back to me and taking up a spot to my left as Luna sat opposite to her. Their horns glowed, and I felt the air around me thrum with magical power...

-*-Diamond Tiara-*-

"Hi Queen Mean!"

Diamond Tiara looked annoyed at the offending colt named Strife, who was carrying that doll he was so obsessed about in… was that a foal seat over his back?

"Why do you like that plushie so much?"

Strife rolled his eyes, looking at her like the answer should be obvious. "Because Princess Woona is my best friend ever!"

She watched him as he pulled her out of the seat, hugging her to his chest. It reminded her of a few of the younger foals back home. "Oh, I get it… she’s a safety blanket."

"No she isn't! Don't listen to her my princess! Your black knight Strife will keep you safe from the bullying forces of Queen Meanie!"

DT ignored Strife and sat on the couch, flipping her head down and closing her eyes as she tried to block his weirdness out... only to have her tiara stolen and put on the doll, which she noticed instantly.

"Here you go my princess, a cute tiara for a cute filly!"

Diamond Tiara then touched her head, her tiara was gone. Anger started to well up within her at this, even though she knew it wasn't the real one, it was a matter of principle. Besides, it was hers!

But... she had promised Princess Luna to try to be more polite to the two of them… especially Strife.

"Please give me back my tiara Strife." DT said, standing up on the couch as she gave Strife a look that suggested it was in his best interest to do so.

"No, my princess needs it!"

Well, she had already tried being polite at least.

"Do it or else!"

“Or else what? You’ll hit me?" Strife said sticking his tongue out, then laughing. “You know for a fact you can’t hurt me. I’m much, much worse than you could ever be.”

Diamond growled, but held her tongue as she tried to keep her word to the Princess. She’d already had a ‘makeup war’ but Strife didn’t seem to care about that. She remembered the other advice Luna had given her last night...

'If you are awake in a dream, and you are aware that is a dream, you can, with time and practice, control it.'

Well, this might not be a dream, but she was awake, and it was her head, not that of a stupid monkey's evil side.

DT stomped her hooves on the floor, and there was a white flash. When it cleared, Strife looked just like Silver Spoon.

'Try with easy changes at first, like making things and ponies you know well.'

"What did you do?" Strife shouted only to notice he sounded like Silver Spoon, and didn't seem to be a colt anymore. He tried to repeat what she had done, but he seemed unable to do so.

“Look, you stole from me, I politely asked you to give my tiara back and you refused. Well, this is your punishment. So enjoy being a filly." DT then picked back the tiara since Strife seemed to be in shock, and went to sit back to the couch and put her tiara back on.

"So what? I can change back. I can I can I can!" Strife stomped her hooves repeatedly on the floor, and this time she seemed to have some success… but only some. She managed to change her coat and mane color, returning them to the blue and dirty blonde they had been before.

She tried again but while she was able to do several small changes that made her not look like a Silver Spoon recolor, she was unable to change back into a colt. Diamond watched her as she growled, snorted, and stomped some more.

'Its strange, I should be war angrier with him than this. But… he is made of negative emotions. He deals with all the stuff Cain doesn't want to deal with, and now it seems he also remembers being bullied like I was. If he is all darkness and no light, could I really expect him to act any different?’

Talking with princess Luna really had been an eye opener.

'The more you deny your fears, the stronger they become in your dreams.'

What if that worked for more than dreams? The control trick had worked even if this wasn't a dream after all.

She shifted about, not sure if she wanted to try what had just popped into her head. But after some thought… she decided it would be better for both of them to go ahead with it.

Plucking her tiara off her head, she walked over to Strife, who was stubbornly still trying to change back and said "Here, take the tiara, you seem to need it more.” She even went as far as to place it on the woona plushie, but she gave him another glare as she added “I’m still not changing you back though. Think you can handle that?"

Strife mumbled something nasty but seemed disinclined to argue the point, moving over to a corner and chattering with the doll as Diamond shook her head in amazement.

It was quite strange, since that dream with Luna it felt like she was calmer, more focused. She wondered why that was, and if the presence of Strife or Cain had anything to do with it or not.

Both young ponies failed to notice how the tiara shrank to fit the plushie better.

-*-Cain-*-

'Somehow... I got a bad feeling about this.' Was the only thing I could think before I was hit with both princesses combined power.

At first, everything was fine. I felt their magic flowing around and within me, and it felt like they were searching for something first. They must have found what they were looking for, because I could feel the power gathering...

And then everything hurt, pain lancing through my body as I fell down, screaming and flailing about in agony. I could distantly feel that I wasn’t alone in this, for Diamond Tiara and Strife were screaming too.

Then I blacked out, darkness taking me and all sense of the world beyond fading away…

When I eventually came to, I found myself in sitting in the town square of Ponyville, Luna’s moon high in the sky above me. The most interesting thing was that the place looked totalled, as if a Marine battalion had come thru and decided the place needed some… ‘redecorating’.

I wasn’t alone either. A small filly, which looked a lot like a Silver Spoon recolor, was sitting nearby, eyes focused on the moon. Her mane was a little messy, but otherwise she seemed fine.

“Well congrats Crusader Cain, look what those oh so great Princesses have done. Quite a mess if I do say so myself.” Strife said, turning his eyes away from the heavens above and glaring at me. “This is all your fault.”

"Strife?" I called out, running over to him and looking around, jaw open as I surveyed the scene before me. “What the heck happened here?”

"Really, you don’t know?” Strife asked, sounding rather irritated as he look from me to the ruined town. “What do you think happened! The Princesses spell backfired! It didn’t work! Your stupid optimism that the Princesses would be able to help us isn’t exactly looking all that great right now.”

"The princesses tried to separate us… and this is what happened?”

Strife rolled his eyes. “No, me and Diamond just felt like redecorating. We figured Ponyville would look sooooo much better in the Bombed Rubble style of architecture.”

Strife’s attitude was starting to irritate me, but it was understandable. We were slowly being absorbed by Diamond Tiara’s soul, Strife more so than me at the moment. Unlike him though, I wasn’t going to give up hope in the Princesses.

“Just because the first attempt failed doesn’t mean a second one will. Anyways… where’s Diamond Tiara?”

“She’s in a lot of pain right now, so she’s hiding in the only place that hasn’t been knocked to the ground.” Strife said, pointing to Ponyville's hospital, the only place around town that was left intact.

“Just how bad is she doing?” I asked, not quite believing that she would have gotten the worst of it considering we were the invaders.

“I don’t know, maybe because we’re slowly merging with her, whatever brilliant spell the Royal ass hats decided to use had to try and pull what’s already joined her mind out, forcibly?” Strife suggested, his tone telling me that he was amused I hadn’t figured such out.

That… wasn’t a good thing though. It meant we needed to hurry things up. “Shouldn’t we go check up on her, make sure that nothing else is bothering her that could make things worse?”

"Dont worry, I left Princess Woona guarding her."

I blinked, confused on two levels by Strife’s decision. The first was because… it was just a doll, and thus incapable of really stopping someone like say Discord from bugging her, or any of her past memories.

But most importantly, Strife had shown himself to be VERY possessive about that doll. Him leaving it with Diamond Tiara didn’t fit with his character.

"You left the doll with her? But you love that doll!"

"Yes, but I love to live more, but the doll is making her feel safe, and if something happens to her, what do you think will happen to us, genius?"

Right, of course Strife would think on himself first.

"Lets go and visit her then."

Strife shook her head vehemently. “No way mister., I’m just fine staying out here and enjoying the scenery.”

"Why?" I asked, glaring at him… her… whatever as she sat back down, not even giving me a glance.

"For starters, I don’t want to be near her. Secondly, we need to talk."

"Now? When we need to be telling the Princess its getting worse?"

"Do you really think they aren’t already aware? We’re probably in some hospital wing in the palace, with all sorts of old bearded pointy hatted quacks casting all sorts of spells on us to try and figure out how to get us out."

His insults aside, he was probably right about that. That spell must have really done a number on me if I wasn’t figuring these things out on my own.

"Fine. What do you want then?"

She turned around then, staring me directly in the eyes as she declared "Change me back into a colt. Now!"

Considering I didn’t even know why he was a filly right now, it was like asking me to bring the moon down here for him to touch. "What makes you think I can do that, I don’t even know why you’re like this!"

"I am part of you, if you want it to happen, I should get enough power to change back. And it was Queen Meanie who did it. She must’ve thought it would be funny."

Hearing that Diamond Tiara had been the one to do it… I felt my sympathy for him vanish. "Oh, well then, I have no problem leaving you like that.”

"What? Why?" She snapped at me, looking furious

"You know why." I glared back, not in the mood for his little spat with DT. “You tortured her in her own mind, for who knows how long from her perspective. Frankly, she deserves to enjoy a bit of payback.”

"Oh, so thats it? I get all the blame ? What about you partner? Can you honestly said you are completely innocent in this?"

"No, but I wasn’t trying to inflict more pain on her. If nothing else, I deserve the same treatment because I allowed you to hurt her for so long, not to mention being more worried about myself to bother seeking help as soon as I could have."

As soon as I said that there was a flash of white light, I looked myself over and noticed I had changed gender again… which at this point was nothing really.

“Now, maybe if you behave yourself, I’ll think about changing you back. Right now though, I’m going to go check on Diamond. You’re free to come along if you want.”

Strife sat there for about a minute as I slowly trotted on towards the hospital, before giving out a disgruntled sigh and following on after.

The hospital may have been intact, but there wasn’t a soul walking about its halls, giving the darkened halls a very, very Silent Hilly type atmosphere. Nevertheless, I seemed to know where I was going as I turned this corner and then another one, stopping before a room that had Diamond’s name on it. Opening it, I slipped inside and called out “Diamond? You okay?”

Muffled sniffles atop the nearby bed was my answer, and I hurried over, lifting the covers up and spotting Diamond, who didn’t look all that good as she held onto the Woona doll. She didn’t actually have any visible injuries, but she looked like she hadn’t slept for days.

“It hurt… it hurt so much…” She murmured, staring out into space and not seeming to really register my presence right then. “It felt like something was trying to tear my brain apart, only it couldn’t do it. It just kept trying… no matter how much I begged it to stop…”

I grimaced at this, Diamond had gotten it worse then. I had felt pain all over, but my head hadn’t felt like that. Just a really, really bad headache was all I would compare it to. Not knowing what else to say, let alone do, so I just threw a hoof around her neck, cuddling up next to her and laying my head over hers protectively.

Strife came in, saw us, and gagged, before stomping over to one of the chairs in the room and plopping himself down in it. We all sat in silence, until eventually sleep overtook us, and the world once again went black…

-*-Celestia-*-

Celestia felt very tired as she walked back into the Medical Wing, rubbing a hoof against her head as she worked to compose herself. This was proving to be one heck of a day, and as much as she hated to admit, she’d be happy when she could flop down into her bed and drift off for a few hours.

After nearly killing Diamond Tiara with that first spell, she and Luna had vehemently agreed to try a different approach. A very different approach, seeing as the direct route had failed utterly. Thus, they had enlisted the best of Celestia’s school for Gifted Unicorns and given them the task of finding something else they could try.

When Twilight had arrived, she had immediately jumped into the project, especially after hearing the earlier results. Her friends offered moral support, but couldn’t do much to help yet. One of them had already asked if using the Elements would be a good idea, but Celestia saw those as a last resort.

After all, with some of Discord’s magic being within Strife, using them could turn Diamond Tiara into a lawn ornament. And she had no wish to inflict such pain onto anyone… not even Discord. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t resort to it in case there was no better choice.

However, Diamond Tiara and Cain were not her only problems. Hunting down the Changelings was proving to be both time consuming and bothersome, since they seemed determined to at least attempt a fight to the death whenever a guard found one hiding somewhere.

If it wasn’t for Shining Armor’s work leading the search, they’d likely have had more than just the single casualty so far, and he was being tended to in the Royal Guards infirmary.

And as the icing on the cake, her nephew had spent an hour of her time explaining why the Grand Galloping Gala needed to go off without a single ‘incident’ this year.

Sometimes, she wished she could hand the throne and all its responsibilities to someone else. She had Luna now to share the burden, but there were still times when she dreamed of letting it all go, and living life as a normal pony, rather than that of a Princess.

Shaking such thoughts off, knowing that now was not the time to humor them, she opened the doors, walking towards the only bed that was currently occupied. One of the nurses was busy checking her vitals, but she nodded when she saw the Princess stepping forward.

“She is recovering rather well Princess. She might even wake up in a little while… she’s been sleeping normally now for a good hour.”

Celestia nodded her head in gratitude. “Thank you Nurse Red Clover. I can watch over them for now.”

“Of course Princess. Just call for me if anything changes.” She replied, bowing again before heading off to her office to take care of her other duties as Head Nurse. Once the door closed, Celestia set herself off to the side of the bed, gazing out one of the many windows, and then sent a glance towards the pink filly nestled within the sheets.

“So, how long have you been awake?”

Diamond Tiara stirred, opening her eyes and looking up at her. “About an hour or so. I didn’t feel like getting out yet though, and I had a lot of thinking to do.”

Celestia had only to look into the filly’s eyes to know who was currently behind the wheel, though it wasn’t necessary in this case. She had already noticed the differences in tone and phrasing between Cain and young Diamond Tiara.

“And what were you thinking about Cain?”

Cain shifted about for a moment, his eyes moving to look out one of the nearby windows. Celestia said nothing, allowing him time to gather his thoughts.

“To be honest, I’ve been thinking about a lot of things… but mostly, I’ve been thinking about what happens if we can’t get me out in time.”

An eyebrow quirked up when Celestia heard this, and she asked “Do you not have faith that we can find a way? From some of the memories I saw, you hold both myself and Luna in high regard, as well as Twilight and her friends.”

Cain nodded. “Yes. I do. But I’ve been thinking… maybe drawing a bit from Strife here…” He went silent for a moment, before letting out a tired sigh.

“I come from a world where magic is not accessible to humans. Where miracles are rare, and debatable. Where sometimes… the good guys lose.”

Celestia nodded in understanding. Comparing what she had seen of his world with what little the humans had seen of Equestria, they were a veritable Utopia.

“I know it was optimistic to think that the first attempt could save me and Strife. But the merging process seems to be picking up speed. Strife says we have, at best, two days before he and I become merged with Diamond Tiara.”

Cain rose one of Diamond’s hooves, turning it this way and that, though Celestia wasn’t exactly sure if he was looking at it, or imagining something else in its place.

“So, I’ve been wondering… will I really die? Will I really cease to exist as Diamond’s soul absorbs me and Strife, or will we continue on? Its a rather interesting thought, even if its rather morbid.”

“Well, I suppose that depends on how you see things, doesn’t it?” A voice called out from the other end of the room, one that caused Cain’s ears to twitch as his eyes widened in recognition.

Celestia smiled a bit as she turned her gaze towards the double doors, where a pink alicorn stood with a warm and loving smile on her face. “Cadance, I thought I told you to spend some time recovering.”

Cadance rolled her eyes as she strolled over to join her aunt, sitting opposite to Celestia. “I’m tougher than you think Celestia. A good soak in the royal baths and some time with Shining was more than enough to leave me feeling better than ever.” She glanced over to Cain, who seemed to be frozen in an expression between awe and...something else.

She tittered a bit, smiling down at him as she said “I heard it was thanks to the memories you possess that I was rescued so soon. I wanted to come down and thank you in person.”

Cain gulped, a blush slowly forming on his cheeks as he stared directly at Cadance’s face. “N-No p-problem. Though you can thank Celestia for it… I didn’t actually do anything.”

Celestia was again gazing curiously at him, while Cadance seemed to be trying to hold back laughter, though her face certainly didn’t give it away. “Even if you played a tiny part, its still thanks to you that I am free from the Crystal Caverns now, rather than at the end of the week.”

“Not to mention it had kept Canterlot from dealing with all of the damage the Changelings would have caused to both its inhabitants and the city itself.” Celestia added.

“Exactly.” Cadance declare, her smile widening as she scooted closer, which only served to cause Cain’s blush to increase. It soon became a glowing crimson when Cadance wrapped her hooves around Cain’s body, placing a soft kiss on his forehead as she said “Thank you Cain.”

Cain shuddered, eyes getting a dreamy look as a silly grin appeared on his face. “C-Cadance is hugging me… and gave me a kiss… I think I can die happy now…” He then proceeded to mutter softly to himself as he became overloaded by the loving feelings he could feel coming from Cadance.

A moment later, his eyes closed shut, and Celestia shook her head in bemusement. “Cadance, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you did that on purpose.”

Her nieces wide smile only confirmed it as warm laughter peeled out of her. “Yes, and I enjoyed every second of it.” Her mirth quickly slowed though as she looked back to him. “Besides, I think it did some good… I don’t think it’ll help him or us if he’s having such dreary thoughts.”

Celestia could only nod as a guardpony stuck his head into the room, informing her that Twilight wished to speak with her. “Very well, tell her I'll be along shortly."

The soldier nodded, leaving Celestia and Cadance alone as they gazed down at Cain, both of them thinking about the nearly impossible task of saving his spirit from oblivion.

-*-Diamond Tiara-*-

Diamond Tiara woke up in the bed in her room, but once she pulled the covers away she knew it wasn’t really her room. The fact that the Woona plushie was there and that Strife seemed to have fallen asleep next to her bed hugging it was a big clue.

Strife no longer had Silver Spoon’s cutie mark. The filly looked around, and noticed the room had the decorations it used to have when she was much younger, before she had to go to that horrible school.

She remembered those days, they were happy days, when her mother was around a lot and Daddy wasn’t so busy running his business.

Diamond Tiara wondered if she should wake up Strife or not, but soon decided against it. She moved a pillow to hold Strife’s head up, pulling one of the covers him up.

Neither her nor Strife noticed the plushie eyes glowing white for a brief moment.

Once she was done, Diamond Tiara decided to explore the place. For some reason she felt full of energy and curious, and though she was worried about she might find, she didn’t really feel like sitting in bed with Strife.

Leaving her room, she tried the first door she found in the hallway, which turned out to be the bathroom. Stepping inside, she went up to the sink and looked into the mirror, noticing that she looked a lot younger and that her cutie mark was missing.

Seeing the absence of her cutie mark nearly sent her into a panic, but then she remembered where she was… and that worse had happened in this place. Instead, she thought about how the bedroom she had woken up in looked, and then glanced back to her blank flanks.

Was this a memory of the past? Was that why she and the room looked different? If so, then why Strife was there?

Leaving the room, she wandered the halls for a time, seeing no one. She noticed though that this wasn’t her home in Ponyville, but the one she grew up in back in Canterlot. She stopped when she reached the kitchen, her stomach growling softly. She didn’t exactly feel all that hungry, but she decided to go ahead and grab something. Opening the door however revealed the form of someone she had no desire to see.

"Oh, look who we have here!" Discord declared, hovering behind the little island in the middle of the room, chomping down on a wax apple. "A little filly, all alone and without her parents!"

"What do you want Q?" DT asked, not bothering to question why she called him that as she moved towards the fridge, trying to ignore the spirit's’ presence.

"Q? Oh, you’re finally getting some of Cain memories now. Wonderful just wonderful!" Discord snapped his claws and with a flash he was wearing a Starfleet Captain uniform. "I was getting a tad tired that no pony but Pinkie Pie gets my pop culture references!"

Diamond rolled her eyes, not sharing his amusement. "Why are you bothering me? Why are you doing all this?” She let out a huff, whirling around and stomping her hoof. “What's the point?"

"Oh It amuses me, that's all."

Diamond Tiara sat there for a moment, eye twitching. THAT’S his answer? That can’t be it… she thought to herself, mentally counting to ten as she worked to keep from venting too much anger at him. Such emotions would only make Discord stronger. “And what, pray tell, is so amusing about what you’re doing to us?”

Now it was Discord’s turn to roll his eyes. “Oh, haven't you figured it out yet? I thought you were a smart filly, how disappointing!”

Diamond Tiara tried to glare at him, but his condescending, 'better than thou' smile was messing with her. “Figured out what?”

Discord smiled, wagging a finger at her like she was a misbehaved pet. “Oh no, I’m not telling you, that would ruin all the fun.” He pressed a talon to his chin for a moment, frowning as he said “Although I suppose it couldn’t hurt to give you some hints…”

He snapped his claws, and suddenly they were back in the classroom she had gone to when in Canterlot. Discord was wearing a professional looking jacket as a piece of chalk hovered near the chalkboard.

“Alright, now, why don’t we start simple. Why do you think I would be doing all of this?”

Diamond Tiara tried to focus despite the memories the place had over her. 'This isn't real, this isn't real, and even if it was, I am not alone anymore. Don't get nervous.'

"You like to play games with ponies, to break their minds, it amuses you. And you are also a bad loser, when Fluttershy wasn't falling for your tricks you just cheated."

She frowned at that last bit, not having heard of such from anypony. It must have been one of Cain’s memories… which wasn’t a good thing.

'But… maybe I can use this? Maybe I have enough of Cain memories to throw Discord off his game?'

“Partially true. I don’t really care for breaking Ponies, it means one less toy to play with.” Discord said, smirking as he recalled some of them to himself “Some Ponies just have weak minds is all. But you’re close enough.”

What Diamond had said appeared on the chalkboard, rearranged at random and sitting next to what looked like a bad drawing of Celestia without her mane. “Next, what would I have to gain from doing all of this?”

"Well, it can't be getting free, or you would have waited until after you got free to start catching the attention of Twilight and her friends. Maybe you just want to see what happens when no matter what they do, they can't save everypony? That they have to chose between me or Cain, or end with someone who is not me or him? To see what happens when you take someone greatest wish and twist into a nightmare?"

Diamond Tiara’s brow furrowed at that. Greatest wish? How sad was Cain's life that even being an adult, he would have preferred being a pony in a completely different world than staying with his loved ones?

“Correct! But your thoughts there are a little off the mark. Cain never wanted to end up STUCK here you know. Guess he hasn’t merged enough for that tidbit to float in.” Discord commented, adding what had been said to the board. “Oh, and I do intend to break free, but that’s just the bonus for me.”

Diamond shuddered, not liking the idea that Discord could hear her thoughts. “So… how does doing all this to us help you any?”

“Well, here’s a hint. If just having the three of you arguing with each other and being discordant was all I need to break free, I would have done so by now. I need something bigger… something truly disharmonious.”

'Yeah right, like that is a real clue, what could be that disharmonious? Insanity? No, just an insane filly would not do it… last time he broke Twilight and her friends to break the elements. Maybe he wants Twilight Sparkle to fall into despair? Luna and Celestia are too old and experienced to lose it just because they could not save somepony.'

"You want to break Twilight Sparkle with something a few friendship lessons letters won't fix."

“Well, that’s a good guess, but not the one I want to ‘break’. Try for someone a bit… closer to you.”

"You… you want Cain as your minion?"

Discord smacked a claw to his face at that. “No… ugh, must I spell it out?” Discord frowned at Diamond, thinking for a moment. “I guess you need another hint. Well, how about this one.”

He then slithered over to her, his muzzle inches from her own as he said “Cain want’s to get back home. But what if he couldn’t go back home? What if there was something that would prevent him from doing that, hmm?”

Diamond Tiara didn’t get what Discord was wanting… until… a memory that wasn’t hers flashed before her eyes. She saw Discord, Twilight, and Cain on a rocky platform in some weird mindscape.

“Anyway, this pink little filly was nearby, so I sent a bit of me into her mind. And, inadvertently, I created this thing.” Discord lazily pointed to the peach-creature, laughing at Twilight’s gobsmacked expression. “So why don’t you help her out?”

DT blinked, then opened her mouth wide, then closed it as the memory repeated itself several times, before she found herself again staring at Discord, who hadn’t moved.

That memory… Discord had said in it that he created Cain… was that what he was trying to get at?

"So… are you saying that… Cain… he’s not real?”

Confetti exploded around her and Discord took her a hoof in his claws, shaking it enthusiastically as he shouted “Congratulations! You figured part of it out! Now if you want the ten million bits, you need to connect the rest of the dots!”

Before Diamond Tiara could do so, a thought passed through her, and she stood on her two hind legs, looking at him defiantly "You are the worst dad ever!" She then gasped a hoof over her mouth. Where in Equestria did that come from?

Discord fell to the floor, laughing at her reaction. “Ahhaha… that’s not important, but it was fun to hear.” He picked himself up off the floor, literally, and then went back to the chalkboard, turning his attention back to her. “Come on now, you’re getting warm. You’re almost there.”

"You want Cain to… " At that Diamond Tiara drew a blank… she nevertheless tried to figure it all out.

So, Discord did not want a minion, didn't plan to break Twilight Sparkle again, he wanted to escape but it wasn't a priority. Oh and Cain was Discord's creation.

Wait… if… if Cain was created by Discord… then that meant Cain could never go home… because he was already home...

But that alone would not be enough chaos, unless…

Having Cain in so much denial he would break? What? It was hard to think on something logical when your enemy did things even the alicorn princess or the element of magic couldn't do.

Then… she remembered something. Cain wasn’t alone. It wasn’t just the two of them inside her body… and the third one was full of discordant emotions...

And that’s when it hit her. Cain and Strife were two parts of a whole. Light and darkness, good and bad. Strife dealt with everything Cain didn't want to. If Cain broke, then Strife would…

"You want Cain to break so Strife gets you free?"

The smug look on Discord’s face was all the confirmation she needed. “Yes. You’ve got it. Imagine all the anger, the hatred… all those negative feelings being directed at Cain, and the Princesses. At Twilight and her friends… this world even. And me for good measure.”

That...was actually a good plan. Disturbingly so in fact. But… "I admit, that's quite a good plan. Brilliant, but you are forgetting something important."

"Oh really? And what could that be?" Discord asked, seemingly interested in hearing what she had to say.

"Cain and Strife might have originally been two parts of a whole, but now… now they are part of me too."

Discord hummed at that, leaning back on nothing for a moment. “Hmm… and you think that’ll stop what I’m doing? Do you think the mind of a little filly will be enough when Cain snaps and Strife takes advantage of it?”

The landscape changed, turning into a dessert as Discord grew bigger. He took on a giant and monstrous form that towered high over her, casting a long shadow across the shifting sands. If Cain was here he would probably do a joke about Godzilla, whatever that was.

“Just face it little filly… your way out of your league in this.”

Diamond should have been intimidated… but strangely she wasn’t. "Maybe, but this is still my head and my body."

While Cain, or probably Strife, would have tried to go giant himself and battle Discord, or something silly like that, Diamond Tiara remembered Princess Luna’s warning about conflict making Discord stronger.

"Besides, my body is in the castle, and that Celestia, Luna, the elements and Twilight Sparkle and her friends are probably here by now, right? It won’t be much longer before your plan is ruined!”

There was a poof of smoke and Discord was back to his regular size and appearance, "Oh, I don't think so. As they say, is not over until the fat flanks sings!" Discord snapped his claws again and DT found herself in the last place she ever wanted to be. That accursed classroom.

"Now lets see if you are so smug about this, Ta Da!" Discord left in a puff of pink smoke leaving her alone to deal with her fears. The room soon filled with the many foals who had ignored, or tormented her, and they all grinned maliciously at her.

Diamond Tiara closed her eyes and tried to focus once more. 'This isn't real, this isn't real, and even if it was, I am not alone anymore.'

Luna words played in her mind, soothing her greatly as she recalled all they had talked about. Her words had been helpful so far… now it was time to see if her most important advice was up to snuff.

'Do not deny your fears, if you never face them, your subconscious mind will keep bringing you nightmares about them. And remember that since you are the dreamer and is your mind, If you keep calm and focus on happy thoughts, you will be able to overcome the nightmare.'

Diamond Tiara opened her eyes, and grinned. This time, she was ready.

-*-Strife-*-

Strife woke up and noticed the pillow under his head and the blanket covering him. He yawned, pulled the blanket off and looked at Woona.

"Hi my little princess, did you sleep well?" As usual, the doll said nothing. Strife then looked at the bed and noticed Queen Mean was gone. A gleeful smile broke out across the filly face at this revelation.

"More for me!" Strife shouted and jumped upon the bed a few times, quickly growing bored.

"Hey Woona, do you know what we could do for fun?"

The doll said nothing.

"That's a great idea!" He declared, quickly snatching up Woona. Placing her back in the foal seat, he jumped off the bed and went looking for Queen Mean.

As it turned out, he didn’t need to waste the time getting up. A flash of light, and a moment later, Strife was next to Diamond Tiara in a classroom he found familiar. One that, thanks to their continued merging, was a painful place for him to be.

Before Strife could start to panic, or try to set the place ablaze more likely, DT hugged him. He glanced down at her in confusion, not understanding what she was doing. Or why she was so small.

"Its okay, we can face this… together."

Strife looked out towards the snobby faces of the little monsters some would call foals. He felt Diamond’s fear of them fading, and with it, his own fear of them was swept away… though the hatred remained.

“You're right… let’s show these bozzo’s who is the boss round here!”

"No."

"No? What?"

"There is a better way to deal with this."

Strife harrumphed at that. "What? You are gonna run scared and cry to your mommy and daddy like a loser?"

A smug grin came upon Diamond’s face, which in this case, Strife found to be a tad disturbing. "No. I am gonna take this up with the proper authorities."

Strife’s jaw fell down "But… but… that's so boring! And dull!"

"And Discord will hate it."

Strife had been about to say something snarky… but then he smiled "Well, why didn't you say that in the first place?"

“So we’re agreed?” Diamond asked, watching as the other foals tried to draw closer to them.

“We are indeed.”

They shared a nod to each other, and then, drawing in a deep breathe...

They dashed out of the classroom, racing down the halls as the foals gave chase. Eventually, they rounded a corner and saw the door for the School Director's office.

When they entered it, they were surprised to find…

Princess Luna?

"This might not be a dream, but when I told you we were going to take care of that school, I wasn't ‘kidding’.” She said, even as Strife fell to the floor laughing his plot off. "In real life I plan to become the Director there, so what do you think?"

"I think you have what it takes princess." Diamond Tiara bowed and forced Strife to do the same. He wasn’t there for long, as he heard the sound of the foals coming after them.

“Right, if you excuse me, I’m going to be sitting here with popcorn. I think I’m going to enjoy this.” Strife said, managing to conjure such up as he watched the foals try to turn tail when they saw Luna, their true forms quickly being revealed to be nothing more than scary looking shadows.

“Sorry, but none of you are going anywhere.” Luna declared as she grasped them all in her magic, but rather than dispelling them… she brought one toward the two of them.

“They are your nightmares Diamond… you must be the one to banish them, to no longer let them hold you back. I can only help you.”

Strife smirked darkly as the shadow was dropped in front of them. He placed a hoof on Diamond’s back as he said “Go ahead Queen Mean. Don’t hold back.”

"Fine."

Diamond Tiara took a deep breath and stared at the shadow "I don't care if you can do magic or fly, I don't care if you call me a mud pony, but I do care if you keep insulting my family for being Earth ponies. If you keep doing it, you will not like the results, understand?"

Strife chuckled in delight as the shadow nodded before poofing away, leaving not even a wisp of smoke. “Right then Princess, bring on the next one!”

Luna did so, and Strife sat and watched as Diamond finally faced her fears, basking in every single moment of it...

That was until she brought the last three shadows, for some reason, she could not just grab one of them so it got the three together, and once in front of the filly, they took the form of the cutie mark Crusaders.

"Ah, um...hi..." Diamond Tiara murmured, glancing away for a moment before steeling herself, looking at the shadow CMC, accepting their gazes full of hatred and meeting it with hope.

"Look, I will make peace with you three, but it will be in the real world, okay?"

The fillies smiled, nodding in understanding as they faded back into the hall disappeared.

"What was that?” Strife asked, curious.

"My fear of them hating me forever for being a bully."

"Ugh, so you do have a heart! How droll."

Diamond rolled her eyes, shaking her head at Strife before letting out a yawn. “Ohh… who knew letting go of the past could be so tiring… I think I’m going to take a nap.”

"Very well, I will leave you to rest then." Princess Luna murmured, shifting into a shadowy mist and floating off through the nearby window.

With that, Diamond laid down on her hooves, another yawn escaping her lips before she faded away, slipping into blissful unconsciousness… leaving Strife all alone in the room.

“Well, that was fun…” Strife muttered, turning to get Woona’s opinion… only to find a Discord's doll in its place.

Strife was about to scream out, anger coursing through him, but then remembered what Queen… no, what Diamond Tiara had said. How solving things in a friendly way would annoy Discord. She put the Discord doll in the trash can and returned with a flash of white light, back to their bedroom. Unlike before, now there was two beds, Strife saw that Woona was guarding a sleeping Diamond Tiara.

'You will have to try harder than that… Dad.' He thought as he moved over to the same bed, clambering up and settling in next to where Diamond Tiara rested. He gagged a bit, but then moved the plushie so it would be between them, sighing contently as he rested his head there.

The eyes of the doll flashed for a moment, before returning to normal, even as a pair of red eyes glared at them from the shadows.

Troubled Mind

View Online

-*-Celestia-*-

“Are ya’ll sure we should be doing this right now?”

Rarity rolled her eyes as she put the mirror she had been using down. “Oh come now Applejack, Pinkie Pie said Cain needed to have some fun for a bit before they start doing all those ‘freaky weaky’ magic tests on him, and I happen to agree.”

Celestia listened with half an ear as she watched Cain race by, managing to dodge an attempt by Fluttershy to beat him with a pillow. Rainbow Dash succeeded, but then promptly got a return on it when he sent it whirling back.

Sitting next to her on the bench they were occupying was Twilight, who was nose deep in several books and scrolls, one of which was a detailed analysis of the spell they had tried on Cain earlier, and how it went.

“AHA!” Twilight finally said after examining the information of the spell in detail, then noticed she was alone as everypony else had left. “Uh… Girls?”

“Hello Twilight Sparkle.” Princess Luna announced, walking up to her and her sister as she pulled her eyes away from the ongoing pillow fight. “Have you determined why the spell failed?”

“Yes, its fascinating really. The spell was originally created to destroy evil spirits. Then it was modified to exorcise possessed ponies. Then Starswirl the Bearded...”

Princess Luna turned out most of what her sister’s student was saying, because she already knew of such things. She had been around when that spell was made after all.

“... In conclusion, I have the hypothesis that the reason the spell didn’t work was because you forgot to compensate for the mind fusion.”

Celestia hummed softly at hearing this. “I see… do you think Queen Majesty’s body split spell would work?”

Twilight perked up at this. “Oh, I’ve heard of that spell! I've read scrolls mentioning the spell in the restricted section of the Royal library, but I never found anything else. I have a few theories of course but…”

Celestia saw Luna’s eye twitching slightly, chuckling to herself as she moved a wing to brush across her student’s back. “Luna knows about the spell, just as I do.”

“And I also know what you’re thinking sister. That it is far too dangerous to use, let alone on one so young.”

Twilight frowned, glancing between them before settling on Luna. “Why is that? What I’ve read has hinted that its a difficult spell, a tier 12 I believe, but why would…”

Celestia answered, her smile fading. “Queen Majesty’s body split spell is meant to separate two aspects from a pony that contradict each other. It was originally meant as a means to try to reform villains, by removing their bad traits, though I’m sure you can imagine how well that worked.” Twilight nodded, shuddering a bit before Luna continued.

“Our records show that even when it worked, it was a painful experience, and that the negative beings it created were uncontrollable. A pony made up purely of cruelty ended up killing Queen Majesty. That is believed to be one of the reasons that led to ponies separating into the pegasi, Earth pony and unicorn tribes, since there wasn’t a strong leader to unify pony kind anymore. But I am not sure, since it was long before me and my sister were born.”

“And… when it didn’t work?” Twilight asked, though the look on her face told them both she already had a good guess of the answer.

“If the pony didn’t die, they usually became either insane, or withdrew into themselves and became incapable of interacting with the outside world. Only two cases had no adverse effects afterward.” Luna seemed sad she had brought on the topic.

“What were those two cases?” Twilight asked, curious.

"One of them was a pegasus mare that was quite strange, to the point the spell just couldn't find two aspects that contradicted each other enough to split it in two. And she was already a bit weird, so no pony noticed anything different."

“And the other case?”

“It was an Earth pony pony that had double personality, since the two personalities had learned to tolerate each other, the spell just didn't work as there wasn't enough conflict."

“Then why did Princess Celestia suggest that spell?”

“Because Cain is not an aspect of Diamond Tiara, but something that was introduced to her mind by Discord. Therefore, she would not have that many problems if he was removed.”

Luna looked at her sister “Only if it works. If it doesn’t...”

Celestia looked back “Unlike our first try, this isn't a spell meant to remove a ghost, but one to separate a pony in two. Due to Diamond Tiara merging with Cain, it should work as long as the spell isn’t used too late.”

“But… what would that do to Cain?” Twilight Sparkle asked, remembering how she had chosen to save both Cain and Diamond Tiara, not destroy one of them like Discord wanted.

Luna then looked at Twilight Sparkle. “The reason why I don’t like that spell is because I am not quite sure what would happen to Cain if we try it.”

“I am confident that he should survive it.” Celestia said, wait, did Luna just stick her tongue out at her? No, it must have been her imagination.

“SHOULD?” Twilight Sparkle gasped, her eyes wide as her jaw fell open at Luna’s uncertainty and Celestia’s apparently disregard for Cain’s life.

“What about using the Elements Of Harmony?” Twilight was wondering why their usual solution to defeat evil wasn’t used this time.

“I am afraid that since Cain isn’t evil it wouldn’t work well.” Luna looked annoyed at her sister

Celestia shook her head. “The Elements might also have an adverse effect due to the presence of Strife… or simply because it was Discord’s magic that brought them into her.”

“Are you sure there’s no other way?” Twilight asked, her eyes drifting over to see her friends dogpiling Cain, who was rolling amongst the pillows, laughing his head off.

Celestia dipped her head in thought for a moment, drawing on her knowledge of magic that she had accumulated over the ages. “There might be a few, but they either take too much time to pull off, or would require us to spend a week studying Cain’s essence within Diamond Tiara.”

“The only other option would be to see if Discord would reverse it, and I have no doubt he wouldn’t do so without us handing Equestria into his claws.” Luna growled, her gaze shifting towards the royal hedge maze where his statue rested.

“Wait if… we get Discord free and then blast him with the Elements Of Harmony? Wouldn't the healing wave caused by that also cure Diamond Tiara?”

“I am afraid that wouldn’t happen. The only reason that worked the last time was because Discord had used his chaos magic to affect a great part of Equestria itself. And again, it might end with Diamond Tiara turned to stone.”

“And… what would happen if we just let the mind fusion to continue?”

While Celestia was about to answer, Luna glared at her, Celestia remembered that this was somewhat personal for Luna, and let her sister be the one to answer.

“We would end with a pony that isn’t Cain, Strife or Diamond Tiara, we would be basically be destroying the three of them.”

“No…. no.. no no… there has to be a way…” Twilight Sparkle said nervously and started to pant hard. “I… I can’t do this! I can’t destroy a pony to save another, much less destroy three ponies like this…”

Luna looked around, sensing a presence watching them, her sister did the same just a moment later.

“Well, aren’t you going to come here and say hello? It’s quite rude to eavesdrop you know.” Luna suddenly declared.

“Oh, you well know me well enough to know I don’t care Princess Moonbutt, or should I call you Big Snooty?”

The royal pony sisters and Twilight looked surprised at the rude language Discord was using. Then noticed that for good or bad they seemed to be the only ones able to hear him, otherwise Cain and the others would have reacted.

Twilight Sparkle still tried anyway “Applejack, Rarity? Pinkie Pie, Cain, anypony?”

“They can’t hear you, this is a private matter between the four of us.” A ghostly image of Discord appeared before the three mares. and focused on the moon princess “Oh Luna, don’t think I haven't noticed you doing your own plan behind your sister, quite ingenious I must say.”

Celestia looked at Luna in shock “Your own plan?”

Luna shifted about, wilting a bit under her sisters questioning gaze. “Its a safeguard spell to make sure Diamond Tiara isn’t trapped in nightmares anymore.”

“Oh really? And how come I can't get rid of it if that’s the case?”

“It also has three layers of the Discord’s proof spell my sister put in the Elements Of Harmony, in case you got free again.” Luna replied tersely, clearly growing agitated by Discord’s presence.

“Wait, wait, you both know a chaos proof spell? How come I wasn’t taught it?” Twilight Sparkle was not pouting, no sir, she was an adult mare, not a little filly that was acting childish because she was denied a chance to learn a new spell.

“Because the spell is quite draining. The only reason me and my sister can do it without needing to rest for long is because of our connection to the sun and the moon.” Celestia said, giving her sister a knowing smile. “And while we will talk later about why Luna didn’t inform me of her plan, I trust that she did so for a good reason, like certain pests eavesdropping.”

“Oh, no arguments and fights because your sister went behind your back? that’s so boring! You two think you are so mature don’t you? Well, I will have none of that!”

Then there was an explosion of pink smoke, Celestia and Luna coughing as it slowly cleared. They looked around, then noticed that the ground looked a lot closer than it did before. And that Twilight was looking down at them.

“Discord...” Celestia growled upon realizing she and Luna had seemingly been transformed into fillies.

Luna looked herself over and seemed thoughtful. It seemed like she was trying really hard to not jump around in happiness.

“How? I thought he wasn’t free yet?” Twilight Sparkle was confused, age changing was quite a powerful spell. One even she couldn't do.

“Oh, I am more free than you think. How else could I have affected both Diamond Tiara and your friend Applejack? The Discord that's imprisoned in the form of a quite handsome statue is not all of me. Also, all that information Cain knows has to have come from somewhere, don’t you think?”

“Wait… you mean that all this time… you’ve just been playing with us?” Celestia asked, a shocked look on her face, while Luna just hit her hoof with her face in frustration. It was getting harder and harder to think like adults for the two of them.

“Of course! Granted, I am way more limited now, and the magic of the elements hurts me if I try something too bad. But Cain, Orange Jack and turning you two into fillies isn’t exactly evil.” He chuckled, which soon devolved into chortling as he held a talon to his lips. “Although its VERY entertaining.”

“What about Strife torturing Diamond Tiara?” Twilight Sparkle asked, trying to find out both loopholes and limitations about Discord’s current abilities.

“Oh, that wasn’t me, that was Cain, remember?”

"And you making me choose between Cain and Diamond Tiara?"

"Test of character."

"Tag, you’re it!" Luna cried out, booping her sister’s nose before running off.

Twilight looked off in the direction Luna had gone, jaw hanging open as he tried to process what was happening."W-Wha… Luna? What are you doing?"

Celestia seemed to struggle for a moment before letting out a pained sigh. "I am sorry Twilight but… its up to you now.” An evil grin spread across her face as she shouted “Wait for me ya cheater!" Celestia then ran after her sister, unable to keep resisting the forced childish impulses.

"No, I can't do this alone! What I am supposed to do now?"

Discord snapped his claws and put a fancy crown over Twilight's head "Enjoy the new workload, Princess Twilight, guahahaha!"

With that, Discord snapped his claws again, vanishing from view as the faces of Cadance, Cain, and her friends appeared before her.

“Um...Twi?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking rather perplexed as she glanced towards the royal hedge maze. “Why are two little fillies that look like the princesses playing tag?”

Twilight’s ears twitched, several hairs popping out of place as she summoned up a sound proof bubble around her head.

Even with that, several birds flew off from the nearby roofs as Twilight screamed “DISSCOOOORDD!”

-*-Cain(Diamond Tiara)-*-

It took us all the better part of an hour to hunt down and catch Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. While Twilight was just not powerful enough to change them back, and the princesses themselves seemed unable to, at least Twilight was able to cast a spell to return their minds to normal. But after she cast the spell on Celestia, Luna booped my nose and ran away. I admit that they then had to expend half an hour chasing me and Luna, as I couldn’t help but join in her game of hide and seek.

Needless to say, I got a stern talking to from Twilight, even if Celestia said she hadn’t seen her sister happier in weeks.

Still, with both Celestia and Luna as little fillies, they couldn't move the sun and the moon, and they legally couldn’t be rulers, so that left poor Twilight in a bit of a pickle.

"What I am supposed to do? Even if I learned the old spell to move the sun and the moon, that one took the power of the entire Council of High Mages to do it! Plus, what will happen when everypony finds out no one is in charge?" Twilight Sparkle started to hyperventilate and teleport around nervously while she walked in circles.

“Um, hello? Third Alicorn over here…” I said, pointing at Cadance who was watching it all with an amused, knowing smile on her face.

Celestia then shouted "STOP RIGHT THERE!" with enough force that it nearly threw Twilight into a nearby wall. Then, in a much softer tone, she said "I know this seems like a bad situation, but I have a solution."

“Does no one else realize there’s a Pink Princess Pony right here next to me?” I asked, waving my hoofs in the general direction of Cadance. “Am I the only one who remembers this?”

"Really?" Twilight asked hopefully.

"While me and my sister are currently not powerful enough to move the sun and the moon on our own, if the three of us combine our power together we can still move them.” She said, offering her an encouraging nuzzle, though I had the feeling it didn’t have the same effect thanks to the whole ‘size of a filly’ bit.

Luna nodded. “You are the most powerful unicorn I have ever seen, and while our power is reduced, the sun and the moon still recognize us. Your power is all we need to bridge the gap."

“Cadance, Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Sparklebutt. Celestia, Luna, Sparklebutt, Cadance.” I droned out, pointing to each in turn even as they continued ignoring the two of us sitting off to the side.

“Oh relax Cain, I’m actually thankful they’ve kind of forgotten I’m an Alicorn.” She said, giggling as she added “I haven’t learned how to raise the sun or the moon yet, so I wouldn’t know what to do anyways.”

I nodded in understanding, tuning back into the conversation only to see that Twilight was busy hugging Celestia, gushing and otherwise acting silly as Celestia tried to break free.

"Twilight…" Celestia started to say, but then Twilight started to tickle her, the Princess of the Sun soon devolved into a fit of giggles as the rest of the Mane Six did the same to Luna.

“Uh… Cadance? What the heck did we miss?” I asked, looking to her and finding she was similarly confused.

“I-I’m not sure… but I sense a low amount of Chaos Magic around Twilight and her friends… Discord must be trying to mess with us some more.”

I growled, looking about the room for that damned spirit, but seeing no sign of him. “Can you do anything to fix it?”

Cadance’s brow furrowed in thought. “Well, I can try a Tier five dispel… anything lower than that wouldn’t work.” She closed her eyes, horn gathering energy before she let loose a sphere of magical energy, which expanded to encompass the entire room and let my head feeling a little itchy.

It took a moment, but soon a blue aura faded away and everypony was able to calm down. "Uhh... what just happened?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, I tried to cast a calming spell… but I messed it up." Luna announced, face blushing a deep red. "Sorry?"

“Oh, so it wasn’t Discord…” I muttered, then shook my head as I decided it was time we got back on track. “Right, well as interesting as it is to wonder who's going to be raising the sun and moon, I think we should be figuring out how to return the Princesses to normal.”

“Ah agree. And Ah think Ah know just what’ll do the trick. The Elements fixed everything else that Discord changed last time, so they should be able to do it again.” AJ said, with the others nodding in agreement.

"The vault only opens with Alicorn Magic… but neither of us have the power to open it any more." Celestia said, gently touching her much smaller than usual unicorn horn.

Cadance seemed to decide this was a good time to make everypony else aware she WAS in the room. “Um, Auntie Celestia? Couldn’t I open the door? You showed me once before, remember?”

“Oh… that’s right, I did show you that spell.” Celestia murmured, frowning as if she was having trouble recalling it. “I believe it was nearly a year ago, just after I changed the spell so Discord couldn’t pull the same stunt like last time.”

“Well then what are we waiting for? Let’s go grab those Elements and zap the Princesses back to normal!” Rainbow Dash said, rearing back and more then ready to go zooming off to the Canterlot Tower, where the Elements resided.

"Umm… well… does it have to be right now?” Luna asked, drawing stares from everypony. She scuffed the ground with a hoof, looking down as she added “I-I wouldn't mind staying like this for a while."

Just as Princess Celestia was getting ready to no doubt explain to Luna WHY they shouldn’t remain like that for longer than absolutely necessary, I felt myself being yanked away-

-*-Diamond Tiara-*-

Diamond Tiara blinked, looking at the two fillies that looked like younger versions of the princesses, then blinked again. "Uh… this isn't a dream, right?"

"Discord did this, and none of us are powerful enough to undo the spell." Luna remarked, even as Celestia sent her a low intensity glare.

“Oh… well aren’t you going to do something about it?” She asked, glancing between the two of them, rather amazed they hadn’t been changed back already.

“We would,” Cadance began, “But Luna is reluctant to change back… and she’s also run off again.”

“Oh by Epona…” Celestia said, dashing off after the sound of giggles as she tried to drag her sister back.

Twilight simply placed a hoof on her head, groaning as she said “Come on girls, let’s go get her again…”

As Twilight and her friends galloped off, that left Cadance and Diamond Tiara alone in the hallway. They looked at each other for a moment, before Diamond said “So uh… I really like your mane?”

-*-Cain-*-

Back in the void space again huh? Oh what wonderful fun, its always a laugh riot when I’m slapped into this place. Sighing, I took a look around, finding that the room looked much like the grand entry hall of Diamond’s home, only instead of a door and windows, the front wall was taken up by a large, currently blank screen.

I glanced about, looking for a certain annoying part of myself, and quickly found him poking the wall nearby, Woona doll still in hoof. He was still stuck as a filly, but now there was something different about it.

“Strife… are you wearing a dress?”

“I was bored.” Strife replied, moving away from the wall and heading towards one of the corridors nearby. He… or she didn't seem bothered by the fact he was a filly anymore, or that he was in a dress.

I followed after him, going at a gallop until I was right alongside him. “And you decided to… hold on, is that a horn too?” I peered at his head, noticing something that hadn’t been there before. A small, spiral unicorn horn.

“Yes, yes it is. Got a problem with that?” He growled, glaring at me as his nostrils flared a bit. “I felt like I being a cute little unicorn princess, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

I stopped, looking him in the eye for a moment before a knowing smirk spread across my face. “You’re just doing this to irritate somepony, aren’t you?”

“Pretty much.” Strife horn glowed and I found myself wearing a cute pink dress. Not bad, a bit long for me, but maybe with a few slight adjustments… I shook my head, pulling my attention back to Strife.

“Surrender to the filly side, we got milk and cookies!” He sang out, smirking as he threw a platter with both my way. I ducked as it sailed over my head, landing with a crash and clang somewhere behind me.

“Why are you doing this? Aren’t you supposed to be all the things I… oh by the gods, I know I wonder about my gender sometimes, but please don’t tell me I have been suppressing the desire to be a little pony filly!”

“No, is just that Diamond Tiara’s been really nice with me, unlike you.” Strife said and stuck his (I still couldn't think of him as female) tongue out to me.

“So you really don’t mind being female anymore?”

Strife shrugged, not at all bothered by the question. “Have you ever considered that you just don’t repress the bad parts of you, but what would be considered socially unacceptable? Or what you think your family won’t accept? You’ve never bothered trying to see anyone about some of your thoughts because you think dear Mother wouldn’t accept such.”

I frowned, thinking about what Strife said. I recalled how Mom had shrugged or pushed such suggestions that I might possibly be trans, or at least something outside the gender norm aside. Along with these thoughts, came memories when I was younger, having wanted to be pretty and wear dresses, and felt that only girls were pretty.

But… these weren’t exactly things I was suppressing. I wasn’t even sure about such thoughts, considering that I was Autistic and it could just be that I was wired even more weirdly than I’d thought I was. Besides, I was young. I had plenty of time to figure that sort of thing out.

Why was Strife fixating on something so inconsequential?

“Oh, are you finally catching on? Took you a while little filly!” Discord’s voice said in a mocking tone, appearing in a flash of white light where Strife had been standing but a moment ago.

“Discord? What the heck are you doing here?”

Discord found a pillar to lean against, smiling as he said “Oh nothing much… must I always have real reason for why I do anything?”

I snorted, stomping a hoof on the ground. “You may be the Spirit of Chaos, but even I know that you don’t do anything simply because. You always have a reason, even if its not what we’d think it is.”

“True. Ouch!” Discord said as he was hit by a rock, one thrown by Strife, who was still a unicorn filly, but no longer in some frilly dress.

“Go away ya big bully!” I noticed that the Woona doll was floating over Strife, and was wearing a Sailor Moon costume. Why exactly-? You know what, I think I’m better off not asking.

“Oh, is that the way to treat your beloved Dad? Besides, aren’t you forgetting something? Something about avoiding conflict so I don’t become more powerful?”

Wait… what was that Discord said? The first part, not the rest.

Strife closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them he seemed more calm. “As I said before, you are the worst dad ever!”

Okay, I’m not hearing things. “Why are you calling him Dad?”

Strife seemed to have heard me, since he glanced my way, but Discord’s attention was no longer on me, but upon Strife.

“Oh, I’m hurt that you would think such… but then again, you’re not much of a son either. I mean really, becoming best buds with Diamond Tiara, the filly Queen Bitch?”

Strife looked at me, then to Discord, then his horn glowed and there was a weight on my back. I turned and noticed I was now a pegasus. Why the heck did I have wings?

Ignoring Discord, Strife walked around me, looking me over and up and down and making me feel like I was one of Rarity’s latest fashion show cases.

Then he looked back at Discord, and said in a very obnoxious voice “Oh Look! I’m a unicorn, Cain is a pegasus and Diamond Tiara is an Earth pony, we are like the new cutie mark crusaders, that’s like, so totally awesome!”

I just stared at both of them, still trying to process several key things I’d heard them say. Well, that and I didn’t really have a clue as to what the heck was going on.

Discord growled, snapping his claws, removing my wings and Strife’s horn.

“And that’s why you’re the worst dad. Because you’re a big. dumb. bully.” Strife was back as his normal (For being a filly at least) tone of voice.

“And you are trying to change the topic.”

“Fine. Cain, Discord is our father.”

I sat there for a moment, brain not quite caught up with everything, until my ears registered exactly what Strife had said.

“WHAT?!”

Strife brushed his mane back into place as I gaped at him. “Well, technically he’s our creator, but eh, same difference.”

“Oh, finally!” Discord grinned “So, aren’t you gonna give Daddy a hug Cain? Is not like you would exist if it wasn’t because of me you know!”

I was confused, Strife and Discord must be lying, I was a human, not Discord’s creation. I mean, what about my memories? There was no way he could have created them... could he?

Discord seemed to sense this, chuckling as he said “Those aren’t real memories Cain… they’re all made up!”

Made-up memories? But… they didn’t feel made up… or fake even. Everything I knew felt real, like I had experienced it myself. There was no way that they could be fake!

But then… how the heck was I able to know Chrysalis was going to try and take over Canterlot? Discord hasn’t shown an ability to see into the future… otherwise he would have known he was going to be beaten the second time!

“Look into your heart Cain, you know it is true!” Discord said using Darth Vader’s voice.

“Really? That's the best you got dad? A quote from a movie that's decades old and has been referenced to death?” Strife looked at him with… was that disappointment?

Hearing that, I looked deeper inside… and knew that Discord had to be lying. Discord may be all powerful… but there was no way he could have created everything I recalled, every memory inside my head. Sure, he could probably create an entirely new personality, but a whole new person with even a small lifetimes worth of experiences.

Because… to accept what he was saying as truth… no, it wasn’t something I could do. I wouldn’t… I couldn’t accept such.

“Nice try Discord… but your tricks aren’t going to work on me. I don’t know what you’ve done to get Strife to believe them, but I’m not falling for it.”

Discord rolled his eyes, letting out a groan as he said “Come now Cain, surely if you’re other half is willing to accept it, surely you can.”

“Yeah Cain… it’s not like its the end of the world is it?” Strife said, giving me a worried look as I glared at both of them.

My head was starting to hurt, as was my heart. Discord didn’t sound like he was lying… and I could see honesty in Strife’s eyes. But… there was no way… no…

“No… no… nononononono NO!”

-*-Diamond Tiara-*-

Diamond Tiara and Cadance had wandered off to her quarters, figuring that they would hear from Twilight or the other Princesses when they had managed to track Luna down again… and figured out how to proceed in helping Cain out.

Then all of a sudden, she felt her mind being pulled inward, and before she knew it, she was back inside the mindscape. A quick look around informed her that she wasn’t alone.

Cain was staring at the ground, an aura of swirling emotions around him as Strife looked on in concern, while Discord sat on a couch eating popcorn.

“What’s going on?” Diamond Tiara asked

“Cain knows what he really is… but he can’t accept it.” Strife was hugging the Woona plushie, and he seemed sad. “He’s starting to pull the negativity out of me… he might blow his top soon.”

Diamond Tiara glared at Discord “What did you do?”

“Oh, I just told Cain the truth.” Discord said, smirking as that earned a visible twitch from Cain. “Perhaps Cain forgot that sometimes, the truth hurts. Guahahaha…”

“Shut it Discord…” Cain growled as black and red energy started to spark around him. Diamond Tiara took a step back at hearing the venom in his tone. It was almost like she could literally feel the building fury within him!

“Ohohoho, well, I think my work here is done. I hope you three have fun!” With that, a bright flash filled the room, and Discord vanished.

Even without his presence, Cain didn’t seem to be calming down. If anything, she could swear she now felt a cold wind blowing through the hall, a pained whisper carried along it.

‘Not true… Not possible… I am me… ME!’

“Uh...Diamond? I don’t know about you… but I really think we should try and do something right about now!” Strife called out as the wind started to pick up speed and intensity. The Woona doll tried to take off, but Strife clamped his hooves around it as he clung to the rug.

“But what the heck am I supposed to do?” She asked, looking to Cain as her mind raced. An idea popped into her head, but she wasn’t sure if it would work. “Strife, try giving him the doll! I’ll be back with help!”

Strife’s jaw fell open as Diamond started to concentrate on returning to her body, but now wasn’t exactly the time to argue as he crawled over, ignoring the powerful emotions flowing through and around Cain as he wrapped his hooves around him, pressing the doll to his side.

Then Diamond Tiara was back in Cadance’s room, shaking her head at the momentary dizziness. “Diamond? Is everything okay?” She looked up, seeing that Cadance was no longer across from her, but was instead standing next to her, a hoof on her back.

“No… not at all. I need your help Princess Cadance!” She said, tears starting to well up as she felt a new emotion welling up from within her soul.

‘Pain… Cain is in pain.’

Without giving the Princess any warning, she threw herself at her, wrapping her hooves around Cadance. A moment later, she felt Cadance sitting down as she wrapped her up in a hug. Almost immediately, Diamond could feel all of her worries fading away… but it wasn’t she that needed this hug.

With a deep breathe, she delved back into the mindscape. Cain was still looking at the ground, but the wind hadn’t slowed down. If anything, it had picked up speed.

“There you are! I hope you’ve got something up your sleeve, because this isn’t doing anything!” Strife shouted over the raging storm.

Not sure if she’d be able to scream over the howling currents, instead she steadfastly made her way closer, joining Strife as she wrapped her hooves around Cain.

‘I hope this works.’ She thought to herself as she concentrated on pulling him out of this mindscape, and into the embrace of somepony full of love and warmth...

-*-Cain-*-

One moment, it felt like my world was falling apart around me, the cold harshness of reality beating me down as I wrestled with what I had been told. It couldn’t be true… it just couldn’t...

And then… I felt a pair of hooves wrapped around me, holding me tight against something soft and warm. It felt nice, like my mother hugging me when I was a little colt... little colt? But I… no… everything was too confusing right now, and I had no desire to face what was now gnawing at my mind.

Whether it was truth or fabrication, I wished only to stay far, far away from it.

Opening my eyes, I saw a coat of pink fur, and looking up, I saw the concerned gaze of Princess Cadance, and along with it a glimmer of motherly love.

I felt a tear forming at the corner of my eye, and I buried my head into her chest, just taking comfort in her presence.

“T-Thanks Cadance… I-I needed this.” I mumbled, shaking a bit as I used her as an anchor to regain control of the roiling storm that was my emotions.

“Its alright Cain… though you should probably be thanking Diamond Tiara. She’s the one who told me she needed help… I take it something terrible has happened?”

‘Ugh.’ I thought, not wanting to even vocalize what had been told to me, my mind still wrestling with itself over it. “Y-You could say that…”

Cadance seemed to get the idea, and held me tighter as she said “Well, whatever it is, just remember that you have friends who can help you deal with it. You aren’t alone Cain… whatever troubles you have, you’ve got friends willing to face them with you together.”

Sniffling, I felt myself calming down as I nodded, her words helping to soothe my soul. ‘She’s right… the others can help me. The Princesses, the Mane Six, even Strife and Diamond Tiara… they’re all here for me...’

“Oh for crying out loud!” A voice shouted out, before the ghostly form of Discord appeared above our heads. “I break Cain’s spirit and he just happens to end in front of a silly princess of love? This is just getting ridiculous!”

Cadance leveled her eyes at Discord, clearly not welcoming his intrusion, or his admission. Her horn began to glow, gathering energy before letting loose a giant sphere of magical energy that struck Discord’s form, causing him to writhe in pain.

“Fine! If you want your privacy that bad, I’ll go somewhere else!” He declared, quickly scattering to the four winds before Cadance could try anything else.

Cadance let out a hmph at his retreating form. “And good riddance to bad rubbish.” She then looked down, catching sight of my widened eyes. “What?”

“You just sent Discord packing… just like that?”

“Tier seven dispersal field, that’s the best I can do so I am glad it worked.” She said, letting out a sigh as she sagged a bit. “Cain, I have a feeling that Discord is behind whatever is bothering you. And I can sense its weighing heavily on your heart.” She bent her neck down, nuzzling me softly as she said “I know it might hurt to think about… but I’m here for you. Whatever is ailing you… I’ll do my best to help lift your heart from it.”

She pulled away, her expression serious but radiating compassion as she added “If nothing else… do it to save yourself the pain keeping it buried will bring you.”

I looked away, uncertain if I could do what she was asking. I didn’t want to think about it… it caused my entire being to hurt… and I wasn’t even sure if it would do any good.

Did she really care about me that much? Did she really wish to help alleviate the pain inside… or was it just her nature as the princess of love?

‘Listen to pink flanks Cain. You and I both know its bad for us to dwell on these sorts of things… especially when we keep it to ourselves.’ Strife murmured to me, reminding me that I wasn’t the only one who had to deal with the feelings.

‘Guess I don’t have much choice…’ with a heavy sigh, I looked up at Cadance and asked “Can I still hug you while I share?”

Her giggle was warm and kind, as she set me against her side and draped a wing over my back. “Of course Cain. I would be happy to.”

Smiling back at her, I took a deep breathe to steel myself, before slowly explaining to her just what was causing me such pain.

-*-Twilight Sparkle-*-

Twilight watched the young royal pony sisters chasing each other, it seemed that both had forgotten the need of going back to being adults and were just having fun. She wasn’t sure if Celestia’s mind had changed back, or if she was just humoring her sister. Aside from Pinkie Pie, everypony else was just watching from afar.

‘I wonder, when was the last time they both had a chance to relax like this?’ She thought to herself as she informed one of the Guards to keep things quiet, knowing that if word got out of the palace that Discord was even partially on the loose, Canterlot would go to the dogs.

A surge of magical energy from the other side of the palace caught her attention, especially when she recognized the signature of its caster. “Girls, can you keep an eye on them? I have to go check something!”

“Wha- wait darling, this is rather sudden!” Rarity tried to say, but Twilight had already teleported away.

Appearing in the northern wing of the Palace, it took her a moment to orient herself. She hadn’t been to this section all that often, and thus she had opted for teleporting to as close to the surge as she could.

Lighting her horn and setting off at a gallop, she murmured “Alright… I just need to pinpoint the spells origin and I’ll-GYAH!”

Twilight had been in such a rush to find which room Cadance had cast the spell, that she didn’t even notice that Cadance was heading down the same hallway, a foal riding along on her back as they unintentionally played a game of chicken. Only in this case, no one swerved away.

“Ugh… Twilight?” A voice spoke up, and as Twilight’s head stopped spinning from the impact, she realized who the foal was.

“Diamond? Cain? What’s going on?” She asked as she pulled herself up, Cadance doing the same as she brushed them both off. She looked over, seeing that the little filly didn’t seem any worse for the wear… though she was wearing something that hadn’t been there before. A silver pendant bearing the sigil of the Lunar Throne.

“I could ask you the same question… but I still have about three Pinkies singing ‘Hello my baby hello my honey’ around my head, so I’m a little preoccupied at the moment.” Cain said, rubbing his head and swatting at the imaginary Pinkies.

Cadance quirked an eyebrow up at this, but Twilight just shrugged, giving her a ‘don’t ask’ look. Deciding she probably didn’t want to know, she instead explained “We were actually looking for you and the Princesses. We’ve got something important we need to discuss with them immediately.”

-*-Diamond Tiara-*-

Diamond Tiara relaxed slightly when she could feel everything in her head calming down, it seemed they got Cain to Princess Cadance in time. Still, the room was a mess, all the furniture was broken, and the giant screen wall was cracked.

The filly looked at Strife, did he look… smaller? About the size Diamond Tiara herself had in that school related nightmare.

Diamond trotted over, picking Strife up and gave him a look over. “Are you okay?”

Strife squirmed in her grasp, glaring at everything as he said “Not really, everything hurts. And I got turned into a pint sized brat.”

Diamond Tiara then noticed something else “Since when are you a unicorn?”

He shrugged, giving her a bemused look. “I dunno, I just woke up as one after the whole you facing your fears deal.”

Shrugging, not seeing much importance in the change, she instead turned the conversation to something a bit more pressing. “Can you try talking with Cain, to see if he is alright?”

“I can try… but I think he’s barely keeping it together.” Strife closed his eyes and his small horn started to glow with blue magic. She sat back on her haunches, not sure what else she could do.

In fact, she found herself wondering if there was anything that she could even do… it seemed like everything was falling upon the Princesses finding some way to separate Cain and Strife from her… but something at the back of her mind left her wondering if they would even be able to do so.

“Cain says he’s fine for now… but I know him well enough to know that he’s trying not to think about it. He’s not suppressing it… otherwise I’d be the one worrying about it. But he’s not acknowledging it either.” Strife said, shrugging as he sat plopped himself on what was left of the couch.

-*-Celestia-*-

Celestia almost crashed into Luna when her sister stopped running and looked to the palace. Seconds later, every unicorn could feel a big explosion of powerful magic. And then Twilight Sparkle teleported away without giving so much as a word of what she was doing.

"It looks like somepony just used a Tier seven dispersal field, it must have been Cadance." Luna said, then sat down. "I hope my safeguard spell is able to help those little ponies.”

Celestis blinked “Wait, were you just pretending that you wanted to stay as a filly in some kind of master plan?” If that was the case, Celestia was going to have to wonder if Luna had been taking lessons from Discord.

Luna shook her head, eyes focused elsewhere as she replied “I wasn’t pretending, and yes this was part of my plan. Be honest big sister, had it not been because of your sense of duty, wouldn’t you be enjoying being a child again a lot more?”

“I admit it has been a big stress reliever.” She said, pawing at the ground with a hoof as her cheeks briefly tinted pink. “So what does exactly your safeguard spell do?”

“The more in Harmony Diamond Tiara is with the other two, the more my spell can help them to fight off Discord. And since the spell was set in Diamond Tiara’s mind with her consent, it does have a powerful effect there.”

“Her consent?”

“She agreed to let me help her in any way I could.”

“But you didn't tell exactly what that help would be, right? That’s very sneaky of you little sister.”

Luna smiled deviously at her sister. “I learn from the best, sister dear. You yourself have been rather sneaky when it is required or it strikes your fancy.”

“Duly noted.” Celestia said, sighing as she started heading out of the Garden, Luna following along a moment later. “Well sister dear, as much fun as this distraction has been, I think its time we get down to more serious matters.” She stopped, staring up at the Palace wing Twilight had teleported to.

“I have a feeling that we don’t have time to waste.”

-*-Cain-*-

Twilight, Cadance and I met the Princesses on the way back to the gardens, quickly filling them in on what had occurred. Celestia expressed sincere doubts about the idea that Discord could have created me… considering how detailed my memories were, she just couldn’t see Discord spending that much time or effort for such a fabrication.

Which didn’t exactly leave me feeling any better. If they figured Discord didn’t do it, or wouldn’t do it, there were decent chances that he had in fact done it, just to spite the expectations.

However, despite the urgency I felt about getting things moving, Celestia’s next words had my jaw dropping in utter bewilderment.

“What do you mean we’re waiting til tomorrow to try and separate us?!”

Celestia easily weathered my gaze as she explained.

“For starters, to perform the mind separation spell, both Luna and I will need to be in our normal forms. Thus, we need to return ourselves to adulthood before attempting the spell. Its dangerous enough in general, surely you don’t wish us to perform it while underpowered.”

I grimaced, nodding as my head went through all the lovely possibilities of what could happen if it went wrong.

“We will also need time for Twilight and ourselves to recover. Should the spell fail, we will have no choice but to attempt using the Elements. And while you might think they might be the ultimate weapon against evil and a fix it all, the truth is that in this case we don’t know what will happen when we use them.” Luna continued, as Twilight nodded to confirm such.

“And…” Celestia said, stopping and looking around, and if fearing someone was listening. Her face gaining a sad look to it , “I believe it would be beneficial for Diamond Tiara’s parents to spend some time with their child… in case we aren’t successful.”

I moved my mouth open to protest… but closed it as I thought about it. She’s right… if none of this works, the three of us will merge… and who knows what we’ll be like after that. DT’s body would still be the same… but would she still be Diamond Tiara in heart and mind?

“Alright… I guess I can wait a while longer anyways. Its not like I got much choice in the matter.” I mumbled, glaring at the floor rather than anypony around me. I was angry that I had to wait… but I understood why it was necessary.

I felt something soft nuzzling against me, and turned to see that Luna had pulled me against her. “I am sorry that we must make you wait. Know though that once we are ready, we will use every ounce of our power to help save you from your fate.”

Celestia nodded. “Yes, now if you’ll excuse us, we will need to summon several of the best magicians in Canterlot. We will need all the help we can get to reverse the spell Discord cast on us.” She turned to Cadance, giving a small smile as she asked “Would you be kind enough to escort Cain to the quarters we assigned to him and Diamond’s parents? They’re in the East wing near the observatory.”

“Of course!” Cadance quipped, turning that warm, dazzling smile upon me and making most of my worries melt away. “Come along Cain, I can give you a bit of a tour along the way if you’d like.”

“That sounds good…” I said, having trouble pulling my eyes away from her as Twilight and the Princesses headed off, Cadance turning and leading me down a different hallway as we trotted off to go check in with the Riches.

Time quickly flew, and I don’t think I actually absorbed half of what Princess Cadance told me about the Palace, not that she seemed to mind. My head was still preoccupied with what Discord had told me. I tried not to think about it, but its one of those things that you just can’t push aside no matter how hard you try.

I thought my home, the old trailer I lived in with my mom and sister, and our two cats. I recalled the tone of Spot’s meow and how it made my moms ears hurt whenever he wouldn’t shut up.

I remembered the time I’d lost control in third grade, and was standing on a desk threatening to throw a chair at the principal. I could picture Strife laughing himself silly at the memory of that scared shitless look on the poor guy’s face…

Those, and many others, were as clear as day to me, and felt utterly real. Could Discord have really created those all on his own?

‘You know Cain, I’m surprised this is bothering you so much. Weren’t you the one who would sometimes wonder what existence really is?’

I rolled my eyes at Strifes statement as we reached the doors to our room, Cadance knocking lightly as we waited for them to let us in. ‘Yeah, well philosophizing it is different from having it be hanging over your neck.’

“Oh hello Princess I-Ah, Diamond!” Silver Tongue exclaimed as the door was opened, pulling me into a hug which I didn’t resist, though made no move to contribute too.

She seemed to sense this, holding me at hooves length as she asked “I take it you’re Cain right now?” I shook my head in the affirmative, and she sighed.

“I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up. Princess Celestia only told us that they had performed a spell to try and help you both. She promised to inform us once she knew if it had been successful at all.”

“Who is it honey?” The voice of Filthy Rich blew in from an open balcony nearby, where I could see the edge of a newspaper and a chair, but little else.

“Princess Cadance was kind enough to bring Cain back to our rooms.” She called back, giving a friendly smile and a slight bow to the Princess of Love. Cadance returned the gesture, taking a moment to pull me into a hug, whispering to me that everything would be alright in the end.

I gave her a smile, trying to latch onto her confident assurance even if I wasn’t sure it was well founded.

“I should probably tell you what’s been going on, and what’s still planned.” I said, rubbing the back of my head with a hoof and looking away from Silver Tongue. “I think an abridged version would probably be best though.” After all, there was no need to tell her that Discord had changed the Princesses into fillies.

Relaying what I figured was most important, I quickly finished with a sigh. “And so, both Celestia and Luna think its best that you spend the rest of the day with your daughter… since if we aren’t separated tomorrow… we’ll be squished together into a whole different Pony.”

Filthy Rich had come in during my explanation, and the two shared a pained look with each other. I could see some tears forming in Silver Tongue’s eyes, leaving a sick feeling in my stomach at having to deliver such news to them.

“Here, give me a sec and I’ll let you three have your privacy.” I said, closing my eyes as I focused inward, pulling Diamond Tiara out of whatever it was she had been doing moments before and sliding her into the driver seat.

When I opened my eyes, I was in my foal form again sitting on a ruined couch.

“I take it this is from what happened a little while ago?”

It didn’t take long for Strife to pip up. “Eyup. The place is kind of trashed after that miniature meltdown you had.”

A scowl spread across my face, not exactly pleased to hear that. “Yeah well, try not to sound too pleased about it. I’m not exactly proud of how I reacted.”

“Hey, I’m not happy about it either. It almost gave Mister Chaos what he wanted. If it hadn’t been for me and Queen Brat, Discord would probably be free.” Strife replied, giving my head a good thwack with a hoof.

I groaned from the smack, even if it hadn’t been that hard. “Was that really necessary?”

“Yes.” He replied, as if it was silly of me to even ask.

“Ugh.” Was all I said as I laid down, covering my face with my hooves. I was feeling exhausted from everything that had happened today, and really wasn’t in the mood for any of Strife’s shenanigans. “I’m taking a nap. Wake me up when Diamond’s done visiting her folks or something important comes up.”

If Strife had anything to say, I didn’t hear it as I closed my eyes, taking in a deep breathe and allowing my mind to drift off into blissful rest.

-*-

A few hours passed, during which I thankfully wasn’t visited or bothered by anything. A dreamless sleep was exactly what I had needed. What I didn’t need though was to wake up and find myself sitting in the playground outside Ponyville Elementary.

“Oh great, now what?”

Strife walked past me, nomming on a lollipop as he said “Beats me. Diamond said something like ‘I want to show you something, in case I forget when we merge’. I think its supposed to be important.”

That piqued my interest, and I looked around as I tried to see if there was anything interesting going on. As it just so happened, I saw a familiar carriage approaching the school, and sure enough, out stepped Diamond Tiara, albeit without her namesake. She looked a bit taller than she had been when I had seen her in the memories of her time at that Canterlot school.

“I know you’re worried my little princess, but you’ll do fine. This school isn’t like the other one.”

“You keep saying that Mamma… it doesn’t make me feel any better.” Diamond Tiara replied as she looked up at her mothers face poking out of the window.

“Just please give it a chance.” Silver Tongue hugged her daughter, and I could somewhat feel the hug.

“Okay Mamma.” Diamond Tiara put on the mask of indifference I knew she usually wears and walked into the school playground. It was still early, so most of the foals were playing or chatting with each other before the school bell rang. As she looked about, Diamond Tiara spotted a familiar silver filly sitting by herself.

“Oh please, how stereotypical can you get?” Strife complained, but he was still looking on with interest. I gave him a bonk on the head before turning back to the scene playing out.

“Hi… uh…” DT said nervously after approaching the silver earth pony filly. “My name is Diamond Tiara and this is my first day here.”

The silver filly looked at the new pony with what it seemed lack of interest yet replied politely “Hello, my name is Silver Spoon.”

Diamond Tiara nervously sat next to the other filly then asked another question “Are you new too?”

Silver Spoon looked around at the other fillies before shaking her head. “No, I’ve been attending this school for a week already.”

Diamond Tiara opened her mouth, only to close it, as if she realized she was gonna say something that could be taken the wrong way. I was amazed to see the bully that usually went against the Cutie Mark Crusaders acting so differently in front of the filly who would become her best friend.

They sat there, silent for a few minutes, neither seeming to look at the other, before finally Diamond Tiara spoke up.

“Um… I know it might not be any of my business… but why are you sitting by yourself?”

Silver Spoon fiddled with her glasses for a moment. “W-Well… I just don’t feel all that comfortable around the others…”

“Oh come on! I can’t believe she was a mini Fluttershy!” Strife seemed angry about this, then I notice it was more like he was angry with himself, if that made any sense.

“I tried to talk with some of the others… but no one really understands most of what I’m talking about.” She added, looking rather irritated, but at whom, I wasn’t sure.

Diamond Tiara frowned, noticing that Silver Spoon seemed to be relaxing a bit. “You don’t seem to be having any trouble with me.”

“Well… you seem different.” Silver Spoon replied, looking Diamond over with an almost critical eye before giving her a soft smile. “Maybe its how you're holding yourself.”

Diamond didn’t say anything at that, instead shifting a bit on the bench she was sharing with the filly. She did however look Silver Spoon over in kind, noting that she was holding herself sort of how her mother sometimes did.

It was then that Diamond Tiara noticed something. Silver Spoon had a cutie mark, while she didn’t. It was the image of a silver spoon with a small pink heart in it.

“Uh… what does… your cutie mark mean?”

“Oh that?” Silver Spoon replied, looking down at her flank. She didn’t look all that happy about it. “It means I’m very picky with my food.”

Diamond Tiara quirked an eyebrow up at that, briefly glancing at her own blank flank and asking “You can get a cutie mark for that?”

Silver Spoon frowned at DT’s response, no doubt taking offense at that. “Daddy calls it being a food critic.”

Diamond’s mouth formed a round ‘o’ before she offered a tentative smile. “That sounds much better than what you first said. More refined and special.”

Silver Spoon opened her mouth, seeming to be ready to make a retort, but then stopped, registering what Diamond had said. “Oh… t-thank you… that… that’s very nice to hear.”

Then they heard the sound of the school bell and ran inside the school with the other fillies. It was then than Diamond Tiara finally realized how SMALL the place was, the whole Schoolhouse seemed to only have space for a single classroom. From outside it seemed like it had two floors, but the second was probably just the attic.

Then the teacher called Diamond Tiara by name and after her to introduce herself. At least most foals didn’t have their cutie marks yet, and no pony was rude to her. Maybe she could get used to this.

Then it seemed like the memory had become a sort of montage, showing DT becoming close friends with Silver Spoon and trying and failing to become friends with other fillies due to the fact she wasn’t like them. Not many foals their age wanted to talk about high society after all.

As the first week passed by, more and more ponies won their cutie marks, making Diamond Tiara start to feel more and more insecure. She recalled how most of the foals back at the school in Canterlot had had cutie marks...something they had enjoyed commenting on all the time.

Until one day…

“Today we are going divide the class in two groups for an exercise in teamwork.”

Half the class groaned, while a few chattered excitedly, wondering what exactly Miss Cheerilee had in mind. I could see that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon weren’t that excited about it either.

“This year’s Summer Sun Celebration, the theme for the town’s parade is the founding of Equestria. I want all of you to break up into teams of five and come up with an idea for a float to enter into the parade. There won’t be a grade on this, but I still want everypony doing their best so you can all learn the value of working together.”

That didn’t sound so bad, but as I quickly saw, most of the foals already seemed to know who they wanted to work with, leaving Diamond and Silver Spoon alone with three other foals. Another Earth Pony, a Pegasus, and a Unicorn.

“I’m surprised that those three aren’t the CMC. Would have been amusing if they’d had to work together before they became their little dinky club.” Strife remarked. This time, I hit him with a nearby book to shut him up.

The other three started talking about ideas, but didn’t seem all that into it, which I noticed seem to be annoying DT a bit. Silver Spoon was sort of stuck in the middle, looking between her friend and the three foals they had to work with, unsure of how to proceed.

Finally, after about five minutes of this, Diamond slammed her hoof on her desk and declared that if they had to do this silly little project, then they were going to do it right. It wasn’t long before Diamond had the three wrapped around her hooves and was busy organizing what float the group would design and who would be responsible for what.

“This is reminding me of the school paper episode… how she took charge with that. Do you think-” I began, turning to Strife who seemed to be ignoring the scene.

“What, that her Cutie Mark involves being a leader, rather than just wearing a silly little tiara? No, why on earth would I think that?”

I rolled my eyes at that, deciding to ignore Strife for the rest of this little diversion unless I absolutely needed to.

Things briefly ground to a halt when, after deciding they would do a float on the Unicorn Tribe, the only actual Unicorn in the group said she should play the role of Princess Platinum.

“Hey, if anypony should be the Princess, it should be me!” Diamond declared, stomping a hoof for added emphasis. Silver Spoon chimed in with her support, but the Unicorn tried to comment on her not being a Unicorn…

“Do you think I care if I don’t have that little twirly bump on my head? I’ve seen how actual nobles walk and I know how they talk. Unless you can say the same, I expect you to drop it so we can get started on this.”

The foal looked like she wanted to argue the point, but the glare she was getting from Diamond Tiara shut her up. I walked around them, watching as they got everything, down to the tiniest detail, figured out.

The memory shifted suddenly, with us outside the Filthy Rich’s study. Both Strife and I were being pulled along behind an excited Diamond Tiara, who burst into the room and shouted “Mamma! Daddy! I’m going to be a Princess!”

Silver Tongue and Filthy Rich looked up from their work, flashing her smiles as Silver Tongue asked “Oh? And aren’t you already our darling little princess?”

“Yes. But I’m going to be Princess Platinum for the float we’re entering into the contest.” She said, pulling a folder out and laying everything out for them to see as she explained the project to the two.

“Well, I suppose you’ll need a crown then won’t you.” Silver Tongue replied after hearing everything, Diamond Tiara being a little out of breath considering she had sort of sped through it all.

“Well duh Mamma, of course I’ll need a crown, but we already-” She began, until Silver Tongue pulled a wrapped box out from behind her chair, placing it in front of Diamond, who was gazing at it with apprehension. “M-Mamma? Is… is that what I think it is?”

“Mmm… why not open it and find out.” Silver Tongue replied, and we watched as Diamond Tiara carefully, almost reverently, undid the wrapping and lifted the top off the box.

“So… this is when she got it.” I murmured softly to myself as she slowly pulled out her namesake- a dazzling diamond studded tiara.

“Yes, that's why she is so attached to it.” Strife said, taking out the same tiara out of nowhere and putting it over his head. I had to admit, still looking like a unicorn filly, with that dress and tiara, Strife looked rather cute.

I briefly wondered how I would look wearing that myself… before shaking my head at such thoughts. Now wasn’t the time for that.

“Hey! There is nothing wrong with being a mare you know. Specially around here, in case you forgot, the main protagonist, the leaders and heroes are all female. Well save the few times Spike does something useful!”

“Yeah whatever, let me see how this ends.” I focused on the memory to avoid thinking about our continued fusion and its likely end results.

Diamond Tiara squeed and bounced about in joy as she placed the tiara on her head, glomping both Silver Tongue and Filthy Rich before they managed to calm her down and remind her she had a project to work on.

“A good Princess always attends to her duties after all.” Filthy Rich said, to which Silver Tongue nodded as she settled back down in her chair.

Diamond Tiara stopped running about, let out a cough, and straightened up. “Of course. And I shall do so immediately. If you’ll excuse me Mamma, Daddy, I’ve got some work to do.”

Diamond Tiara did her best not to go racing out of the room in excitement, but couldn’t contain her excitement and soon was galloping through the door, off to gather the rest of her group. The soft chuckling of Silver Tongue and Filthy Rich followed us as the scenes shifted again and again.

Diamond Tiara and her group worked hard, and when the time for the parade came, theirs was the most well made float, and under Diamond’s watchful eye, they didn’t even mess up the small dance number Silver Spoon had come up with. And they even sang Unicornia’s old national anthem properly!

When the various entries into the contest were lined up, it was rather clear who the winner was. Mayor Mare smiled as she undid the envelope, and declared in a loud voice

“And the winner is… Team Unicornia!”

Diamond Tiara, who was standing next to her mother, started beaming as she bounced up and down. “Look Mamma! I won I won!”

“Oh that’s wonderful dear, but don’t you mean we? You didn’t do it alone after all.” Silver Tongue asked, a bit of a chiding look in her eyes.

“Yeah… but if I hadn’t pushed the group so hard we wouldn’t have won!”

Silver Tongue nodded, leaning down and nuzzling her side. “Of course my little princess. I knew you had it in you… you’re a born leader.” There was a small flash past Silver Tongue’s head, and she turned and smiled as she said “And would you look at that…”

“Huh?” Diamond Tiara began, twisting her head to see what her mother was talking about. When she saw the image of a tiara emblazoned on her flanks, her eyes went wide, a whirlwind of emotions rushing by in an instant before a smile that could challenge Pinkie’s spread across her face.

“My Cutie Mark! My Cutie Mark! I got my Cutie Mark!”

The view faded out from there, and Strife seemed to vanish for a moment, before reappearing ahead of me, and manning a camera. Diamond Tiara was sitting on a stool, giving Strife a nod. He looked to me, glaring as he said “Not a word.”

“Hi Cain, that was how I won my cutie mark. I wanted you and Strife to see it in case… well in case we do merge and I somehow forgot about it. Its one of my happiest memories… even if I didn’t understand what it actually meant.”

“I was an idiot back then, thinking my cutie mark meant I was superior to everypony and I had the right to boss them around. You could say Canterlot helped pushed that idea into my head… but I shouldn’t have assumed that.”

“A good leader doesn’t just tell people what to do, and doesn’t bully them. A good leader leads by example... without the two of you, I would never have realized how much of a jerk I have been. I could have gone without the torture, but by talking to Luna I understood Discord also had some of the fault with that. ”

Strife gagged, rolling his eyes as he watched and filmed this little confession of sorts.

“What I am trying to say is, I might not have wanted for all of this to happen, but thank you and Strife for helping. I don't’ know exactly what will happen, but I think of you two as friends and I don’t want either of you to be destroyed.”

Strife faked vomiting up the contents of his stomach, only to cringe and try to squirm away as Diamond pulled him into a hug. She waved a hoof over to me, obviously wanting me to join in.

I didn’t even have to think about it as I walked over, wrapping my hooves around both of them and taking comfort in their presence. It reminded me that I wasn’t the only one at stake here… that my life wasn’t the only one hanging in the balance.

“Come on guys… we should get some sleep. We’re going to be very busy tomorrow.” Diamond said as Strife finally manage to tug himself free, summoning a sponge and scrubbing himself all over.

The room shifted again, or rather the perspective shifted. I was seeing through Diamond Tiara’s eyes again, and was staring up into the loving face of Silver Tongue.

“Good night my sweet princess… and her special guests.” She leaned in, placing a kiss on our forehead before turning and heading out of the room, giving us a soft smile as she closed the door behind her.

‘Gug, too much mushy lovy-feely crud. I’m gonna be sick all night long’ I heard Strife whining as I shifted about, getting comfortable in the rather large bed.

“Oh hush you.” I muttered, soon lying on my side and taking in a few deep breathes, gazing out the window at Luna’s moon as it slowly made its way across the night sky.

So much had happened today, it felt like it was a jumbled, rushed mess as I tried to sort it all out. A failed attempt to separate us, Discord gaining enough strength to start messing with things even while sealed… the ‘truth’ he had shared with me.

I sighed, shaking my head at it all as my head started to hurt. Trying to think about it all would just make it harder to fall asleep, and I was already stressed enough without overthinking everything. That’d probably just give Discord more fodder to play with anyways.

I nuzzled into the pillow as I pushed all the fears and worries I had out of my mind, recalling something my grandmother had often said. ‘You can only face the problems of today, so don’t fret yourself over the future.’

With those words floating around in my head, I closed my eyes, and softly drifted off to sleep… but just before the darkness took me, a chilling whisper brushed across my ear.

“Oh, don’t think you have won yet Cain, after all, betrayal is the most devastating loss you can experience. And the closer your friends are, the more it hurts when they finally abandon you.”

Shivering, I curled myself up within the blankets, mind trying to block out the words as the sandman finally cast his spell, and I slipped off into a turbulent slumber...

A Gathering Storm

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-*- Diamond Tiara/Cain/Strife-*-

“Diamond honey, Cain, time to wake up.”

I groaned, consciousness coming to all three of us as I shifted under the covers. “Five more minutes… had a rough night.” I managed to mumble out, though my heart wasn’t all that into it. Physically, our body felt refreshed and ready to go… but mentally…

“Bad dreams?” Silver Tongue asked as she stopped prodding me with a hoof and instead slid into the bed next to me, giving me a soft nuzzle no doubt in an effort to make us feel better.

Amazingly… it didn’t really work.

“Yu culd sey thaf.” I grumbled into the pillow and earning a slight push that removed my mouth from the pillow. “Gah… sorry, I won’t try talking pillow-speak again.”

Silver Tongue gave me an amused smile as she replied “Good. Now, do you want to talk about it? Holding it in will only make whatever’s troubling you worse.”

Before I could manage to say anything, Strife did something he hadn’t really done thus far. He took control of Diamond’s mouth, a fair bit of venom dripping from each word as he said “Gee, do I really need to share when it should be rather OBVIOUS what my dreams were?”

Strife must have really laid it on pretty thick, because Silver Tongue managed to scoot an inch or so away, looking somewhat hurt from the emotion she heard come out of her daughters lips. Seeing such, I quickly took the reigns back over, mentally smacking Strife upside the head as I apologized.

“Sorry Mrs. Silver Tongue… Strife is rather… testy right now.”

She took in a breath to compose herself, the smile returning, though I could tell it was somewhat forced. “I can understand… things could go any which way today, many of which could end badly for all three of you.”

I nodded my head at this, her words bulls-eyeing the gist of what our dreams had been. None of us had been fortunate enough to have a decent dream, despite the efforts of Princess Luna on at least several occasions

Thinking about those dreams also made me realize that going back to sleep, even if all I really did was lay in bed for a few minutes, was NOT something I wanted to do.

“Personally, if its all the same to you, I’d rather not talk about it. Sharing it won’t do any good… since its all outta my hooves. What happens…” I paused here, not exactly wanting to say the last bit. Silver Tongue seemed to get it though, gently rubbing my back with a hoof as she got up.

“Well, if you want some time alone for a bit, I’ll leave you be. Breakfast is being served though, so don’t take too long or you’ll miss out.”

“Kind of hard to be alone with these rocks for brains.” Strife said aloud again, Silver Tongue shaking her head and leaving me and Diamond to deal with Strife. Which we did, albeit in a rather tired and ‘mind your manners’ sort of approach.

It had been a really rough night.

With Silver Tongue out of the room though, we all descended into an uneasy silence… or in Strife’s case, sullen silence. The weight that we had gained the previous day from the first spell’s failure was now looming over us, and had only grown with the knowledge that by tomorrow, or even a day more, all three of us could be merged into a single entity… our individual existences coming to a rather abrupt end.

I don’t know about Diamond, and I couldn’t entirely speak for Strife at this point, but I at least wasn’t afraid of death per se. After all… all things died and faded in time, so fearing that eventual end was just silly.

Besides, technically speaking, none of us would be ‘dying’ if we just allowed it to occur. Our existence would simply… change.

But it was that unknown, that inability to know what would come after… that was what scared me. For all I knew, my consciousness could cease to exist, wiped from Diamond Tiara’s mind with only some scattered memories to be left behind. Or I could end up being a sort of inner voice, that only came out every so often and then went back to sleep in the confines of her mind…

“You know Cain, for someone who doesn’t want to think about it, you’re really doing a lot of thinking.” Strife commented aloud, shaking me out of my reverie… and making me realize that we had gotten out of bed and were heading for the main room of our quest quarters.

Apparently, Strife had been the hungriest of the three of us, though Diamond Tiara seemed to be in the same boat. I guess I was the only one lacking an appetite right now.

Not much talking was done between the five of us. Filthy Rich was busy going over some business papers, and Silver Tongue was trying to distract herself with a message one of the Royal Guards had brought in when we entered the room.

I was content to let Strife handle the all important function of keeping our shared bodies ‘engines’ chugging, though I had to yank control back when I realized he seemed intent on sending a glob of scrambled eggs flying off towards Filthy Rich. I left him to pout in a corner as I finished the plate, my motions almost mechanic in how automatic they were.

“Do either of you know when the Princesses will be ready to attempt the separation?” I asked when I finally finished eating, looking to Silver Tongue for an answer. Instead, Filthy was the one who answered.

“The Princesses said that sometime before noon they would send a member of the guard over to escort you to their throne room. I believe that’s where they are planning on performing the spell.”

“Yes. I believe they are making sure everything is ready and in place before commencing…”

-*-

Elsewhere…

“Luna, we really need to return you to normal.”

“But everypony thinks our new form is so adorable and huggable now! I haven't seen such affection from thine subjects since the day of our return!”

Celestia, now back to her full size thanks to the help of Cadence, Twilight, and Archmage Ley Line, smacked a hoof to her face as she stood in front of her sisters room. The three aforementioned ponies stood behind her, gazing on in equal amounts exasperation, bewilderment, and amusement.

“Luna so help me if you don’t come out of there I’m emptying the Royal Pantry of every last coffee bean we have.”

Silence fell upon them all, and after a moment, there was some muffled hoofsteps behind the door. Then it opened, and a sullen Luna stepped out, glaring up at her older sister who could only smile at the pout on her face.

“Cheater…”

-*-

“Alright then… is there anything I can read while I wait?” I asked, figuring maybe I could do something vaguely productive with my time.

“Sure, you can look over the Canterlot Times if you want, I went through it already.” Filthy Rich said, pointing to a stand nearby where a rather thick newspaper was currently sitting on.

I gave a soft thanks as I excused myself from the table, snatching it up with a hoof and throwing it on my back, heading back to our room and flopping myself on the bed as I look at the cover story.

CHANGELING INVASION HALTED! ROYAL GUARD CALLS FOR CALM!

Just the other day, we learned of a most disturbing event that nearly took place within the streets of our most magnificent city. The capital of Equestria, it’s crown jewel, was nearly invaded by a force of beings we have been told are called “Changelings”. These beings are shapechangers that can take pony form…

“Bla bla bla, we know that already!” Strife protested “Go and read the funny pages!”

I rolled my eyes, but thought ‘Fine’, flipping through pages until I was at the funny pages, which turned out to be quite boring, even dull.

“You know, I think if they had Pinkie working for them, you could actually dignify calling them the Funny pages.” I said after trying to find one that could get even a chuckle from any of us.

“No way, that mare is way too weird.” Diamond Tiara protested.

Strife quickly chimed in, “Weird or not, she’d probably do a crap ton better then these baboons… hmm, maybe they actually have baboons doing the comics. Would explain the shitty art for half of them too.”

“Hey now,” Diamond replied, our face shifting into a frown as she continued “I think some of the comics look rather well done. They just aren’t funny.”

As Strife and Diamond began arguing over the quality of the funny pages, I kind of just zoned out, using their conversation to drone out the worries and fears floating around my head. It was actually kind of helpful, as it was certainly more effective than just trying to ignore them.

Just as the two seemed ready to start shouting at each other (which would no doubt have seemed rather strange to anyone watching or listening in), the door opened and Silver Tongue poked her head into the room.

“Cain, Strife, Diamond honey… its time.”

The argument immediately came to an end, and I could feel them both tense up. Swallowing the fear I felt welling up, I took a moment to clear my mind as best as I could before nodding and saying “Alright… no use putting it off.”

Heading out the door, I saw one of the stone faced Royal Guards waiting for us. I felt a strong urge to try and make silly faces to see if I could get a rise out of him… and a moment later, was doing exactly that.

“Is that really necessary?” Filthy Rich asked as he watched us from the table. Seeing as I wasn’t getting any rise from the Guard, I stopped.

“Yeah. Had to try it at least once. Never got to do it with those stuffy British Guards, so I figured I’d try with this guy here.” I nodded to the Guard, gesturing a hoof to the door as I declared “Lead the way oh masked one.”

"As last wishes go, we could have gone for ice-cream first." Strife complained. "Seriously, this is the best you got?"

“It wasn’t really a last wish Strife. My last wish would be to see mom and sis again before...well, whatever happens happens.” I replied, which seemed to shut Strife up.

The walk to the throne room was silent, with both Diamond Tiara and Strife choosing to remain quiet as we were escorted to our destination. There wasn’t much to say at this point anyways...not yet anyways. We could say any possible final goodbyes or good lucks for when the spell was actually being performed.

“The Princesses are awaiting you within.” The guard said once we reached the doors, giving a stiff bow before turning and marching off.

“Well, once more into the breach.” I said as I pushed up against the doors...and promptly found that I couldn’t get it open any more than a smudge.

“Oh for crying out loud…” I growled, getting irritated as I tackled the thing, pushing with all my might and creating just enough room to squeeze through. After I dusted myself off, I looked ahead and saw the Princesses and the Mane Six sitting in a circle around a ritual circle of some sort. It reminded me vaguely of some that I’d seen Wiccans make, or just about any show or movie that involved magic.

“Good morning Cain, Diamond Tiara. I hope you had a good night’s rest.” Princess Celestia said as I walked over. I felt a grimace crossing my face, and before I could stop him, Strife said

“Its not just the two of them ya know sunbutt. And suuure, we had an excellent night. It was all fluffy bunnies and rainbows with butterflies filling the air.”

“Oh really? That sounds absolutely wonderful.” Fluttershy commented, drawing several looks from her friends. “W-What? I-I mean, it sounds w-wonderful to me…”

“I think he was being sarcastic Flutters.” Rainbow Dash said as she shook her head in amazement.

Celestia let out a little cough, bringing her attention back to more important matters, rather than idle chit-chat. “Cain, Strife, Diamond Tiara. We are ready to attempt the spell whenever you are ready.”

Strife rolled our eyes. “Its not like we have much choice. Its this, the Elements, or we get to find out what happens when we merge. Frankly, I think I’d prefer oblivion to being merged with these two dunderheads.”

“That’s rather uncalled for Strife. I think you’d actually do much better with their influence.” Rarity declared, giving us a look that rankled even me, as it seemed to smack of smugness and superiority. “After all, from what Twilight has told us, you’re already an improvement from that beast who was torturing Miss Tiara.”

Of course, if it rankled me, then it had to have angered Strife, who turned and gave Rarity a very sweet… very dangerous looking smile. “My dear, if you truly think that’s torture, you have no idea of what I am capable of.”

“Enough!” Luna shouted, stopping things before they could get out of hand, which with Strife was very likely. “Strife, I know your darker desires are there, but it is in your interest to control them. Do so.”

Strife grumbled, but let me retake control as I said “I think its best we go ahead and get this over with.”

As the Mane Six backed away, Celestia and the other Princesses taking up positions around me, I closed my eyes and worked on making myself as calm as possible. As it would turn out though, Strife didn’t intend to let me do so.

"Dammit, we missed the chance to get autographs of the mane six. We really should have gotten some!"

“Autographs?” I whispered softly, deciding to keep this conversation to myself. “Why the heck would you want their autographs?”

"Are you saying you don't want them?"

"No… I’d certainly like to have some. What I’m wondering is why you want them, and why you are thinking about that right now?"

"Well, for starters, I’m sure we could get some cash for them. Or bits I suppose, since they probably don’t have paper money here.” I had to facepalm here when I heard this, ignoring the soft chanting of the Princesses as their horns began to glow.

I rolled my eyes as I muttered “Really? That’s your reasoning? It can’t be that simple.”

“Of course it isn't asshole!!!” Strife shouted, making both me and Diamond Tiara wince. “Do you really think I’m looking forward this? Even if it works...I’ll probably still be stuck with you, and I’ll have to deal with the fact that I’ll never be free to be myself! And if it doesn’t work...then we’ll BOTH probably end up a part of Tiara butt.”

The air around us began to spark and quiver, swirls of light forming and spinning about as the channeled magic grew stronger. If I’d been paying more attention, I might have been nervous, worried even.

“Strife, you being free to be yourself would be a bad thing. You’re why I call myself chaotic neutral all the time! You’re not just the part of me that has darker thoughts, that has been forced to deal with and face some of the bad times in my life… you’re also the part of me that would do whatever he wanted to if he could get away with it!”

I think Strife might have tried to respond then, but all three of us became incapable of speech as the spell was finally cast...and the most agonizing pain began to tear at each of our minds.

Describing it is...difficult. The best I can think of would be to say that everything down to the atomic level felt like something was trying to pull it apart. The universe itself seemed to be seeking to destroy us, the only way it would be satisfied was with our eradication.

It certainly felt like that anyways.

I, or I suppose we, must have been screaming our lungs out, because soon enough the pain subsided, our body collapsing to the floor in a heap of sweat, fur, and a bit of blood which happened to be draining out from our head.

The Princesses instantly rushed over, casting healing magic as a certain cyan colored Pegasus decided to state the obvious. “Uh, I don’t think it worked Princess Celestia.”

“Nah, REALLY? Because I thought that it was FUCKING BRILLIANT!!” I and Strife shouted together as DT tried to recover on her own. The anger I felt left me blind to such though as I sought a release for the pain.

“Cain, you need to calm down…” Twilight tried to say, but when I turned my gaze to her she withered and took a hesitant step back.

“NO, what I NEED right now is something to hit, rend, smash, and otherwise break into tons of little pieces.” I growled out, indeed looking for something like that to vent on.

Rarity chose that moment to speak up. “I’d say you should take such feelings out on the one truly responsible for your predicament, but as Celestia has said, it wouldn’t do any good.”

Actually, at the moment, beating up and whaling on Discord's statue sounded pretty good, but Celestia shook her head and said “There is no need to encourage him. Luna, I believe some of your night guard are up right now still, correct? Stormy Shadow tends to stay up late to practice her fighting does he not?”

Luna hummed in thought, quickly catching onto her sisters line of thought as she replied “Yes he does. Its his way of winding down.”

“Good. Once Cain has recovered a bit more, why don’t you take him to the training yard. Perhaps Stormy can help him relieve himself of this anger.” Celestia said, leaning down to try and nuzzle me, but at the moment I wasn’t in the mood for such. She simply gave me a sad smile as she said “I am sorry that it did not work…”

Both Strife and I might have protested, neither of us being all that happy to have experienced such a sensation as that we had just felt, but Diamond took charge as she stammered out “T-That’ll do I guess…”

As we turned to follow Luna out of the room, I spent most of my energy trying to get over the pain… but eventually I noticed that while Strife and I were fuming (well, Strife was actually boiling, but I wasn’t particularly concerned about that at the time), Diamond Tiara seemed to be dealing with it rather well.

And this only served to fan my frustrations.

‘Aren't you mad too?’ I asked her as we walked silently through the halls. ‘I know it wasn’t just us feeling that pain, I heard your screams as much as I heard Strife’s and my own.’ I didn’t understand why she seemed to be taking this in stride, while Strife and I wanted to beat something into a bloody pulp.

'We knew this could happen. I am glad we didn't have ice-cream before this, or I would be throwing up.’ She replied, quickly reverting her focus on what was in front of her as she nearly collided with Princess Luna. ‘Besides, Strife's torture was worse than this.’

That’s right, Strife had tortured her for who knew how long in that mindscape. And she had shown amazing resilience in recovering from it so quickly. Maybe it was just Earth pony stubbornness, or perhaps she had figured out that dwelling on it wouldn’t do her any good.

The change in topics had switched the focus of my ire. Now I was angry with myself at not having tried to step forward earlier… I could have kept Diamond Tiara from having to deal with those memories…

“Think she would be like this right now if I hadn’t?” I heard Strife mutter as we made another turn. I could see out into what looked like a training yard where members of both Celestia and Luna’s guards were busy training for future threats.

Celestia was probably thinking that having me go out there, interact with this Stormy Shadow in some fashion, would help to vent the destructive impulses I had been close to showing off in the throne room.

Now though, I felt too tired to be all that angry… our eyes felt rather heavy, and a good nap suddenly sounded like a very good idea… so much so that we just tripped over our own feet and collapsed to the floor, darkness quickly taking us.

-*-

I found myself back in the mindscape, the room looking like an Ursa Major had decided to go on a rampage. Diamond Tiara was on the couch, hugging Strife who seemed to be… crying? Why was Strife crying? Then I thumped myself upon the head, recalling the failure of the spell, that we were now both relying on the EoH to save us…

And most importantly, that Strife was where I sent the feelings I had no desire to deal with at the time, be it anger, stress, sadness...

Guilt…

Guilt was one of the things rather prominent in my mind now, when I took a moment to think about it. Everything that was happening now in this manner was because of my own actions… and inaction.

I felt guilty about fighting with ponies, insulting them, especially those that did not really deserve it. I knew this was Diamond’s guilt, but I felt it all the same, especially when I thought about how I could have just been honest from the start, instead of hiding what was going on. I had usurped the life of another sentient being, who no matter how much harm had done to to the CMC, it was still a mere child. One who had her own pain to deal with… and was now sharing in mine.

Shame…

I was starting to enjoy being in Diamond Tiara's body, and a part of me was really growing attached to the idea of being a child again, of getting to experience what it was like to be a girl, even if it was in the form of a magical candy colored equine...

Shame was not something I was fond of. It was something I rarely felt, but when I did feel it it bugged me to no end. Why was liking these things shameful? Why was I still using the standards of my own world when I wasn’t even in it anymore?

Fear…

What I was truly afraid of, was that Discord had not lied, that I had been really created by him, that I…

That I wasn't real.

Or rather, that I wasn’t actually someone who had existed in another world. That all my memories, and everything else about me… were mere creations by him.

Sure, it didn’t make sense for such to be true. I mean, Discord may be the spirit of Chaos and Disharmony… but surely he couldn’t create an entire lifetimes worth of memories… could he? He also wasn’t supposed to make any sense, so by that extension…

Ugh, I could feel my head hurting from the loop that was beginning to form from that thought. I shook my head, trying my best not to think about such things. Instead, I thought about Diamond Tiara, and the strange relationship that had been forming in the last days...

She had forgiven me for using her body and pretending to be her, forgiven Strife for the torture he had inflicted upon her, and the strangest thing of all was that she saw us as friends.

How crazy was that? How could the queen of brats be so kind, especially after all we had done? Okay, she hadn’t exactly been kind immediately… but how was she so willing to forgive either of us?

Diamond Tiara didn’t seem to care about the possibility that we might not be ‘real’ people. In fact, it seemed like she wanted to help us as much as the others did… not just so we wouldn’t perish, or merge into her and perhaps destroy her in the process. She also seemed to have a desire to atone for her own actions towards everypony...

A young filly who I would have expected to be angry, to hate me and Strife’s very presence within her body, and messing with her life… she considered me… and even Strife of all people… her friends.

Not only her, but also Twilight Sparkle! She hadn’t even gotten to know who I really was, yet she had refused Discord's twisted game and chose to save both Diamond Tiara and myself. Maybe that action didn’t seem like much because its what one EXPECTED of the Element of Magic…

But, expected or not, she had helped me. We weren't close friends, and we didn’t really knew each other... but I would be the biggest idiot in all of ponydom to forget what she did for me.

And Princess Luna… why did I feel as if I owed her something too? She hadn’t talked much with me, mostly with Diamond Tiara. And yet I felt indebted to her. Why?

Then, out of nowhere, or so it seemed since I had become so absorbed in my own thoughts, I felt Diamond Tiara, and surprisingly Strife, hugging me. Without really thinking about it, I found myself returning the hug, drawing strength from their presence as if a heavy weight had been pulled off my shoulders...

Ah horseapples! How stupid could I be?

I had let myself get so worried about my problems that I forgot where I was, a magical land called Equestria, a place where friendship was very important, and possessing a power in of itself that could bring down beings as powerful as Discord. A place where friendship literally was magic. Where one did not always need magical trinkets like the Elements to defeat evil, like it had happened in the first Hearth's Warming Eve.

And at this moment, I was relearning that, Diamond Tiara, and even Strife, giving me the strength to face what was ahead of us. I wasn’t alone...we were all in this together.

I then felt something poking me lightly in the ear, which made me look at the source, a horn placed upon Strifes head. Strife was back to being a unicorn… going by a gut feeling, I looked myself over and saw wings. I frowned, wondering for a moment why we weren’t all Earth Ponies like Diamond Tiara.

Come to think about it, me being a Pegasus made an odd sort of sense. My impulsiveness, the way I acted before thinking… or at least without doing a lot of thinking, it was a trait some pegasi seemed to share.

And Strife… well she… he… whatever, had a big ego, and was full of himself, but the positive way to see it, was that Strife was full of confidence. Unicorns needed to believe in themselves and what they were doing, or their magic would fail and go wrong. And DT… well… I just said she had the typical Earth pony stubbornness, didn't I? It showed itself in her previously determined desire to not become a victim again like she had once before, by turning into a bully herself to ensure she was never as low as she had been.

Sadly, had Strife and I not been dropped into her life, that same stubbornness would have insured she remained stuck in her ways, even if there were hints Silver Spoon didn’t seem all that willing to continue such a path. But now it could be put to a good purpose… and I got the strange feeling that it already had been.

A brief memory flashed through my eyes, of an office where a dark Princess and two fillies stood against a horde of shapeless shadows, a mass of fear stalking towards them as they stood defiant against them.

And that wasn't all, I also saw… myself? No, it was DT, having a long talk with Princess Luna.

I finally understood why I felt like I owned Luna something. Princess Luna had helped Diamond Tiara face her anger against us, which had helped DT face her own fears. Through her efforts, we had come together, forging bonds of friendship. I recalled the Woona doll, and wondered if that had been part of Luna's efforts as well.

I wondered if the reason I was able to realize all this was because we were merging together. That thought bugged me somewhat, but I quickly decided it didn’t matter how I figured all this out. The important thing was that I remembered that I was NOT alone. …

Dammit, I am not crying! These are manly tears!

After a few minutes of this, I was pulled back into the conscious world, Luna looking rather concerned as she asked "Cain? Strife? Diamond Tiara? Are you alright?"

Our body was still rather sore, but our spirit was doing better so I waved her off. "Y-Yeah Princess...just had to sort a few things out. Come on, let's go meet this Stormy Shadow guy, I still got some frustrations to vent."

Luna nodded, accepting my response as she turned and resumed leading us through the halls. I was looking forward to meeting this soldier, and having a chance to vent, something I hadn't really done since Twilight found out what was going on, or when I ran away from the CMC and the Silver Spoon. Sure, I'd already sort of had a moment in our head...but this would help make things easier when the final attempt came.

And as we stepped out into the training yard, my eyes and ears taking in the sights and sounds of Ponies being whipped into proper members of the royal guard, I found myself wondering just what the others were up too...

-*-Cutie Mark Crusaders (And Silver Spoon too)-*-

“Are you two sure this is a good idea?”

Apple Bloom peered out the window as she watched the countryside pass by, enjoying the sound of the train clacking down the rails. She could see the edge of Canterlots many towers drawing closer as they rounded the great mountain the Capital of Equestria had been built upon.

“No, not really Scootaloo… but Ah know that the four of us should be there to support Diamond Tiara and Mister Cane.”

“I don’t think that’s how his name is pronounced…” Sweetie Belle murmured as she took a sip of some lemon soda, her stomach still feeling a tad upset from the breakfast she had hastily made for herself that morning.

“I just wish they had brought me with them… I should have gone with them!” Silver Spoon muttered, nearly shouting the last bit, only to be shushed by someone sitting on the opposite side of the train car.

Prying her eyes away from the window, she shook her head as she said “Ah don’t know why they didn’t bring us along. Maybe they thought we’d just get in the way.”

“Ah come on, that can’t be it.” Scootaloo said, even as Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes and interjected

“Of course it can’t. There’s no reason at all that they wouldn’t be worried about us getting in the way or causing trouble.”

"Are we really that bad?" Applebloom asked as she pulled her eyes away from the window to look at the others.

"You three always end in trouble, and tree zap seems to love you girls." Silver Spoon said. "But I think there was also the fact that… if things go wrong for Diamond and Cain… they might not want us to be there to see it.” Silver was silent for a moment, before adding “If, if it happens that is."

"Wrong? But The princesses and Twilight Sparkle are on the case!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “And Twilight is Princess Celestia’s personal student, she helped save Princess Luna from Nightmare Moon, and even sealed Discord away. How could they fail?"

For a moment, no one answered. After all, recognizing that a happy ending wasn’t always what happened was one of the blessings of being a child.

When the silence became too much for Silver Spoon, she spoke up. “Things don't always go well Sweetie Belle. Remember how Princess Luna used to be Nightmare Moon? And Princess Celestia had no choice but to seal her away for a thousand years on the moon?"

Apple Bloom didn’t like where that was going. “Now hold on a minute! Are ya’ll saying they’re gonna have to seal Diamond Tiara and Cain in the moon for a thousand years?”

“Apple Bloom, that’s a bit of a stretch.” Scootaloo said, rubbing a hoof on her head as she added “And I don’t think that’s what Silver Spoon meant. I think she was saying that things don’t always end with smiles and rainbooms.”

“Close enough, yes.” Silver Spoon said as the train whistle blew, the conductor informing everyone that they would be arriving at Canterlot station shortly… and that everyone should remain calm as they passed through the detection field.

“Detection field? What the hay is that?”

Sweetie Belle and Scoots looked rather confused as well, but Silver Spoon was more uncertain. She’d heard of such in a story book Diamond had gotten from her mother while she was abroad. They were used to dispel illusions… which meant the Princesses thought someone was trying to get into Canterlot that they didn’t want coming in.

As they passed the field, all the fillies felt a tingle as it touched them. Scootaloo looked around, as if expecting something else to happen, but nothing else happened.

"Ahhh, I wanted something to happen, like finding out a disguised thief or something!"

A moment later, they heard the door at the end of the car opening, and the sounds of someone struggling. A quick look down the aisle showed two guard ponies frogmarching...what at first glance looked like a black unicorn with blue eyes, but upon closer inspection turned out to be some sort of pony-insect hybrid.

“What the…” Scootaloo asked as the guards pushed the struggling creature down the aisle, the thing chittering in its own language and sounding like it was rather unhappy about this development.

"Was that… a Changeling?" Sweetie Belle asked, which drew the confused look of the others. “I think it was in one of Twilight’s books about rare creatures, it had a drawing that looked like that."

"So, what's a changeling?" Applebloom asked with interest.

"It’s a shape changing insect like creature that feeds on love. It pretends to be one of your loved ones and then sucks love right out of you."

"That's it?" Silver spoon asked, as if expecting more.

"Well, it was a quick guide, mostly I read the book because of the drawings. Supposedly they have a Queen and they act as a swarm of… of… insects? I can't remember any more.” Sweetie Belle shrugged as she finished, watching as the creature was taken into the next car.

"Oh, that was kind of disappointing, don't you think girls?"

That got a good jump out of all four fillies, especially when it seemed that no one else in the car had heard it. "Who said that?" Applebloom asked, shaking a bit as she realized she had recognized that voice. It can’t be… th-the Princess took care of him!

Unfortunately… "Guahahahah, yes my little ponies, guess who’s back ahahahaha!" A bright flash of light filled the center of the car, and when they could see again, they were staring into the face of the twisted chimera himself.

“H-How is this possible?" Silver Spoon asked as she tried to back away from him, only resulting in bumping her back against her seat.

This got a chuckle from the Lord of Chaos. “My dear, when you embody chaos itself, anything and everything is possible.” He took that moment to snatch up a neighboring ponies mane, chewing upon it as if it were cotton candy.

"What do you want?" Sweetie Belle asked, knowing that he had to have a reason for being here.

"Oh, I want many things…” He replied, chewing thoughtfully on his snack. “Mostly I want to get free of this stupid stone prison so I can have some real fun.”

Finishing his treat, he licked up the remains off his talons, then gave the four a dark smirk as he declared “But, since I only have some of my powers… I have to make do. Now, look into my eyes little fillies!"

Suddenly, Discord’s eyes started to swirl and rotate like a hypnotic disk, and they could all feel their gazes being drawn to the spinning pools.

"Don't look!" Scootaloo cried out, closing her eyes as the other fillies attempted to do the same. But Discord wasn’t having any of that, and simply used his magic to force them to look.

And then… the his twisted thoughts began to sink inside their heads, poisoning their minds and leaving them blind to their true feelings.

Diamond Tiara and Mister Cain are jerks. They lied to us! They tricked us!

Diamond Tiara is always mean because we don't have cutie marks!

Diamond Tiara isn’t gonna change! She’ll still treat you as nothing more than a convenient side kick! You’ve always meant nothing to her.

Cain let Diamond Tiara suffer for his own comfort… he doesn’t deserve to be saved!

More and more, the twisted images and emotions flooded into them, the four fillies soon gaining a faded color to their coats.

"Oh, that won't do, I already did that trick before! Mmm… I know! You girls need a new paint job!" Discord then pulled a brush out of nowhere and painted the fillies to make them look their usual colors.

When the images finally drew down to a trickle, and then simply stopped, they rubbed their heads, looking around the car to see if Discord had anything else planned for them.

But he was nowhere to be seen.

“Ugh… hey girls, what are we doing in Canterlot again?” Scootaloo asked, her head throbbing from what she had just experienced.

“S-Something to do with Queen Meanie Pants I think…” Sweetie Belle said after a moment, though she didn’t sound too sure about it. Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon however…

“Hey yeah! We came to give Diamond a piece of our mind!” Apple Bloom said, thumping her hoof against the seat for emphasis.

“Not just her, but this Cain guy. They’re both jerks, and they need to learn just how we feel about them!” Silver Spoon declared.

"Uh… but… isn't that a tad mean?" Sweetie Belle murmured aloud, unsure of herself as she tried to think back to before Discord popped in… but doing so made her head hurt.

"Applejack always say Ah don't have to let bullies push me around, this might be mean, but we have to make it clear to those two that we aren't pushovers!" Applebloom shouted, drawing a few shushes from other ponies in the car.

Before anypony else could say anything, they felt the train slowing down, the whistle announcing that they were arriving at their destination. “All off for the Royal City of Canterlot!” The conductor shouted as Ponies started to slide out of their seats and make their way towards the exit.

Apple Bloom was the first to hop out of her seat. “Come on girls, we’ve got a score to settle.”

Sweetie Belle was the only one who didn’t let out an excited ‘Yeah!’ as they stepped onto the platform, glancing up towards the Royal Palace where, no doubt, Diamond Tiara and Cain were currently residing as the Princesses tried to help them.

Unbeknownst to the four of them, as they began the trek towards the castle, a lone statue in the Royal Hedge Maze gained a few small cracks...and dark laughter drifted off upon the winds.

A Jewel of a Problem Indeed

View Online

-*-Cain and Company-*-

“I am sorry Cain, but I really don’t think this is a good idea.” Luna said, frowning as she looked down at me. “You fainted just a short while ago, surely it would be better to rest rather than push yourself like this.” Luna was really worried for the small filly, even though she seemed to have improved.

I resisted the urge to let out a whine and stamp my hooves on the ground. “Luna, I really need this. I haven’t had many chances to vent, and physical pain is something that I usually need to respond to in some way.”

Luna shook her head as we stood on the sidelines, members of both the Solar and Lunar Royal Guard going about training, or in the process of finishing it. “I understand Cain… believe me I do, I can sense that your anger and destructive urges are simmering under the surface.”

“Yeah well, Strife picturing himself running roughshod over the training dummies is not helping matters Princess.” I replied, earning the attention of the aforementioned individual.

“What? I only want to murder them with lots and lots of tough love. Surely that’s not a problem for anyone?” Strife thought aloud, both of us rolling our eyes at him.

“Anyways Luna… I feel fine… enough. I won’t do anything too crazy or rough, and I’ll feel a lot better. I’ve pushed some of it aside, but its not gone, its just simmering under the surface.” I pouted a bit, giving her the best impression of puppy dog eyes I could, hoping to convince her.

Luna stared into the blue eyes of Diamond Tiara, and shook her head, placing a hoof to her head as she murmured, “I have a feeling I will regret this...Alright Cain, you can do so...but don’t push yourself, and if I feel your overexerting yourself, I’ll put an end to it immediately. Got it?”

Hearing this was music to my ears, and I did a little happy hop in the air as I said “You bet! Now let’s go meet this Stormy Shadow guy and get this show on the road!”

Heading towards where he was cleaning his gear, Luna called him over, quickly exchanging hushed words with him before introducing me to the veteran guard. He was a dark grey pegasus with a short cut mane of silver grey, with a lightning bolt shaped scar running down his left eye. I resisted the the temptation to make some sort of Harry Potter or the flash reference as I shook his hoof as firmly as I could.

He quirked an eye up however when our hooves were back on the ground. “So, you, a small little filly, are wanting to spar with me. You haven’t hit your head on anything recently have ya?”

“Stormy, I did explain…” Luna began, but the guard waved her off.

“Yes yes, she’s got two alien ape souls stuck inside her thanks to that chaos spirit. That’s not too crazy, but this pipsqueak wanting to fight a Royal Guard, even in a mock duel, to get some stress out? That is crazy.”

I laughed at that, smirking up at him with an amused glint in my eye as I say, “Thanks for the compliment. Crazy runs in my family, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. So, are we going to fight or not?”

Stormy looked to Princess Luna, clearly thinking this was insane. The Lunar Princess simply shrugged, leaning in to whisper, “Just don’t go all out on him. He just needs to vent after all.”

Letting out a sigh, Stormy bowed his head to Luna before giving me his full attention. “Alright maggot, lets get going then. We’ll grab you a training sword, and then we can get started.”

I nodded eagerly, racing off towards the weapon racks, a giddy smile on my face as the two older ponies followed behind me at a more subdued pace, shaking their heads at what they perceived to be madness on my own part.

-*-

As it would turn out, spending some time with Stormy Shadow was just what I needed to unwind after the failed attempt with that mind splitting spell.

“You almost got me kid. Try aiming a little lower next time and you might just come close to tapping my legs.”

I gripped the training sword in my teeth tightly. Despite the fact that I had been shown I could use my hooves to wield the thing, I found that using it in this fashion was strangely easier. Now, if I had wings like Captain Shadow here did, I could probably be a tad more dangerous; assuming I didn’t try to pole vault myself with a training staff instead.

“Grr...u’ll puy fur thut!” I shouted around the hilt as I charged once more, deciding to try and leap at him instead, turning my head so I could bring the foam covered baton on his head. Instead, I ran head first into the padded end of his spear.

“That was brilliantly done Cain. I give it a nine point five on the scale of ways NOT to attack a well trained enemy.” Strife mumbled, as Diamond Tiara giggled softly to herself.

“Up shut Strufe.” I mumbled as I picked myself up, looking at the smug grin on Stormy Shadow’s face as he remained exactly where he had been for the last ten minutes.

“You need to reevaluate what you’re doing kid.” He says, his gruff voice helping to give him the air of a grizzled, battle-hardened veteran. “Try thinking for a moment rather than just charging at me, and maybe you’ll manage to land a hit.”

I grumbled around the handle. Technically, I wasn’t all that concerned with landing any hits; the physical exertion was more than making up for my depressed and infuriated mood from earlier.

However, the challenge in his tone got my blood boiling, and so I took in a steadying breath, looking him over as I thought about what I could do. His left wing was holding the ‘spear’, so his ability to attack with it to the right was limited. He would have to turn to engage if I came from that direction.

Of course… to ensure he didn’t do that immediately, I’d have to psyche him out. This called for a feint maneuver.

With this in mind I took a few steps back, then launched myself towards the Lunar Guard, determination shining in my eyes. Shadow doesn’t seem all that worried, but considering my ill-fated charges before now, I wouldn’t be either.

As I drew within range of his weapon and he launched it forward, I rolled to my left, landing on my hooves and charging for him once more. I was nearly there when he gave a flap of his wings, the burst of wind pushing me back enough for his flank to be safe once more.

“Better, but not by much. Nice to see you can learn though.”

As I felt a strong desire to stick my tongue out at him, Luna sat nearby, watching our sparring match with an amused look on her face.

She could clearly see that Cain, and by extension Strife and Diamond Tiara, were doing much better now. She heard some soft hooffalls, and turned her head slightly to see Twilight approaching.

“Shouldn’t you be with Princess Celestia preparing the Elements for our next attempt?” Luna asked, her focus shifting more towards Twilight even as she kept herself aware of how Cain was doing.

“Princess Celestia decided to take some time looking over both spells, the one for the elements and the one the three of you used. She wants to be as sure as she can that… nothing bad happens.” Twilight replied, looking away as a forlorn expression crossed her face.

Luna sighed, draping a wing over Twilight’s back as she tried to offer her some comfort. “If this fails, you know that Celestia will still try to save all of them.”

This didn’t seem to help Twilight’s mood any. “But what if we run out of time? They’re merging together, and soon we won’t be able to do anything for them…”

Another muffled yelp from Cain informed Luna that he had once again been thwarted by Stormy Shadow. She placed her gaze firmly upon Twilight as she said, “If that happens… then it happens, and it is up to all of us as friends of Cain, Diamond Tiara, and even Strife to make it as easy for them and Diamond’s family as we can.” She paused as something Celestia had mentioned returned to her, and quickly added,

“And we would still have Cain’s own family back on Earth to try and reach, to give some form of closure to them, or for Cain’s own comfort anyways.”

“I know… I just don’t like the idea of failing any of them… and the idea that the Elements may not do what is right to free them, scares me.”

Luna is silent, so as to give Twilight a moment to herself. Sure enough, Twilight continued. “The Elements of Harmony...we’re supposed to bear them but Princess Celestia told me that they have a will of their own as well...which means they might not do what we the bearers wish.”

“It is a heavy price to pay for having such powerful artifacts at our disposal. They will do what they feel is necessary to protect Equestria...and it might not be something we always agree with.” Luna said as she turned her attention back to the duel, finding to her surprise that, now that Cain was taking things seriously, he seemed to be improving with each pass at the captain.

Twilight giggled softly as she watched Stormy Shadows narrowly deflect another attack. “If I didn’t know the truth, I’d say that he looks like he’s having fun.”

Princess Luna made a soft humming noise before stating, “I think he is actually having fun… though you are right to believe he is using this as a distraction. We all have things that we use to keep our worries at bay.”

A moment of silence passed between the two as they turned their focus to the filly taking on a stallion three times her size. Twilight seemed lost in her thoughts, but Luna felt it necessary to impart a piece of wisdom her sister had shared with her.

“Twilight… you must learn to accept that what happens, happens. Do not worry about the things you cannot control… only concern yourself with the things you can. Otherwise, you’ll wind up a nervous wreck, or maybe even worse.”

“You’re right Princess Luna, I guess I’m just over worrying about things agai-”

“YEOOUWCH!!!”

Both ponies turned their attention back to Cain and Stormy, finding the former standing triumphantly with the training saber pointed at Stormy’s neck, while the latter’s front hooves were reaching underneath his body and towards his…

“Did Cain do what I think he did?”

Princess Luna was doing her very best to not laugh, holding a hoof up to her muzzle as she let out an occasional chuckle. “I believe he did...hmhmh, I feel sorry for Stormy, even from a foal her size, an earth pony kick right there had to hurt.”

“Do you yield?” They heard Cain asking loudly, drawing the attention of some of the Solar Guards who were in the training field.

Stormy let out a very unmanly whimper, glaring up at the pink filly that had brought him down. “That was a dirty shot!”

I let out a dark chuckle, drawing on Strife slightly as I admitted “Yes, yes it was. Wasn’t many options for me though, since you’re bigger, faster, and stronger than me. So I went for what would work...eheheh, and what do you know...” I leaned in a bit, smirking as I added, “It worked very, very well. So, do you yield?”

Stormy Shadow let out a resigned grunt, leaving me with a pleased smile as I headed over towards Luna, seeing that my audience had gained a new member. “What’s wrong Twilight, you don’t approve?”

“Well, I can’t argue with its results.” She said at first, but then went on to add, “But I don’t think it was very nice. Very unsportsmanlike certainly.”

I rolled my eyes at that. “Duh, of course its both of those things. But he wanted me to treat the duel seriously, so I did. The goal of a fight is to win, to defeat your opponent and achieve your goal. If it takes dirty tricks or cheap shots… then you use them.” My smile twisted into a dark smirk, as I allowed Strife to add “No fight is ever fair, and to assume otherwise is foolishness of the highest caliber.”

The expression on my face must have unsettled the two of them, so I quickly replaced it with a small grimace. “Now, I think I’m ready to head back inside, and get pampered until its time to get blasted with the Elements, what a joy that’ll be.”

“A wise move.” Princess Luna quickly said, nodding to the two of us as she added, “Twilight will escort you back to your quarters, and I’ll send some staff by to help take care of any aches and pains you have. I will go thank Captain Shadows for his service today.”

“Righty then, tell him it was nothing personal,” I called out as the Princess went off to inspect the poor stallion. Twilight was shaking her head as I turned to her, waving my hoof back towards the hallway as I said, “Well, after you Sparkle.”

Twilight and I headed back inside, quietly walking through one castle corridor after another as Twilight led the way, me deferring to her knowledge of this place, as I was certain to have gotten utterly lost if I was on my own.

After a few minutes of silence though, it seemed that Twilight had grown tired of the silence. “Did all that really make you feel better Cain?”

I perked up at her question, sliding my gaze towards her as I asked, “What exactly do you mean by all? The duel, the getting hit repeatedly with a foam covered spear, or the bringing Stormy Shadow to the ground with a well placed buck?”

Before Twilight could form any sort of reply, I felt myself suddenly being lifted up by a pair of familiar blue hooves. Said hooves then proceeded to wiggle into my sides, laughter soon spilling out of me as I writhed under the surprise assault.

Luna smiled, adding her heavenly soft wings to the attack, "Are you feeling better now, Miss Cain?"

"Hahaha, stop that, hahaha!" I couldn’t help but laugh, my giggles filling the corridor even as I found myself wondering why Luna was doing this again.

Twilight Sparkle’s expression at seeing Luna act like that was priceless. "Princess Luna! What are you doing?" She tried to intervene on my behalf, but Luna shot her a look that seemed to keep Twilight at bay. I don’t know what it was exactly, as I was too busy being tortured to check.

Finally, after some more begging and even a few tears of laughter, Luna stopped tickling me… only to jump at Twilight Sparkle and start to tickle her! What the heck was going on?

"Hahaha, please stop Princess Luna, hahaha, oh that's it!" Twilight Sparkle shouted, falling under the same impulse that Luna seemed to have fallen under, using her magic to tickle the moon princess back.

'Egh, thank the gods she let us go.' Strife’s voice surprised me, and I rolled my eyes at his comment as I watched the two go at it like a pair of foals.

Then, without warning, I felt myself being pulled inside Diamond Tiara's mind.

Diamond Tiara, for her part watched amused, as Princess Luna and Twilight Sparkle had moved from tickling each other to throwing pillows at each other, the pillows having apparently been teleported from somewhere else or created using magic.

"Well, look at the silly foals playing!" After hearing DT saying this, Twilight Sparkle noticed what she had been doing and blushed, while Princess Luna stopped playing and used her magic to tidy things up.

"Ehem… now that everypony is more relaxed, I think, we must begin preparations." Luna stated, just as Celestia and the others arrived.

-*-

Inside Diamond Tiara's mind, I was back to being a pegasus while Strife was a unicorn. We were watching what happened outside using the slightly damaged flatscreen TV that never seemed to leave the mindscape. I shared DT’s amusement, while Strife was busy gagging.

We were both fillies, but neither of us seemed to care about it anymore. Perhaps it was because of the mind fusion, or maybe we had just accepted that this was what we were now. Or, at least in one of our cases, we figured it wasn’t worth the time and energy thinking about it.

Strife decided to style my mane while we waited, and I decided to humor her. I wondered how much of it was DT's influence and how much it was my supposedly suppressed desire to know what it was like to be a girl. I found that I didn’t mind it much, which was no surprise to me- I’d always enjoyed having my hair brushed. It was a little weird to have my ‘darker’ half doing it though.

I looked around, kind of expecting Discord to show up, but he didn’t. That made me worry; what plan did he have this time? Strife, Diamond Tiara and I were getting along quite well, so he wouldn’t have much luck attacking us emotionally again, at least not in a direct way, but what about being indirect? What would Discord do to others just to make us snap?

Thinking about that, I also found myself thinking about Twilight’s question. I hadn’t really gotten a chance to answer her before Luna started tickling us. Taking a moment to consider it, I discovered that I was actually feeling better now after the brief bit of silliness with Luna, and with Strife messing around with my hair than I had after the fight.

Not to say it hadn’t helped. The destructive urges from within myself, and more predominantly Strife, were gone now, but it hadn’t really been enough to have me feeling happy and ready to skip about playfully as I felt now.

'Is it really any surprise? Strife’s usually the one wanting to lash out, I’m the one who wants to be comforted more than anything.' I thought to myself as I saw Celestia and Luna leading us back to the throne room, where the chest containing the Elements of Harmony was now resting.

“Well Strife, looks like its time for attempt number three. Think it’ll work?” I asked, turning to look at her, only to find her holding her hooves over her mouth and snickering. I glanced up and found that he’d changed my mane into an exact replica of what Trixie had done to Rarity’s mane back in Boast Busters.

“You’re lucky swamp green goes with my dark blue coat…” I muttered, pushing her onto the floor before standing up and shaking it back to normal. “Come on ya big oaf, we might as well face whatever is going to happen with honor.”

Strife harrumphed at that. “Honor is for the living, if you recall. If this kills us, we won’t have much honor to think about.”

I was trying not to think about that possibility, so I simply said, “Oh, I didn’t forget. Now come on, I’m tired of playing observer.”

With that, I pulled Strife against me, ignoring his complaints as I closed my eyes, feeling like I was swimming up through water, until I eventually breached the surface, reasserting control of Diamond’s body.

“... and so I wish to reiterate, Diamond, that even if this does not work, we will do everything in our power to try and save all three of you.” Celestia finished saying, drawing my attention to her as I became responsible for movement and speech again.

“I understand Princess… though if we merge, I don’t know what good it’ll do to keep trying. It could take years to find an answer if the Elements fail as well.”

“Speak for yourself. I don’t care how long it takes, I’d prefer to be stuck with just you than merged with you and Tiara butt.” Strife commented, earning glares from me and Diamond, not that anyone else could see. “What? I may be able to stand Cain, but I prefer being myself, not absorbed into someone else!”

“Do not get too upset at him, Cain. Individuality is a very important thing to many people.” Luna declared, though I got the distinct feeling she wasn’t talking purely to me. “And Strife is very individualistic, even if the merging has weakened it somewhat.”

“And that’s part of the reason I’m so irritated by this. So come on! Let’s get this show on the road, and blast us with that Friendship Cannon of yours!”

Celestia and Luna rolled their eyes at this, while the Mane Six looked rather confused. “Twillight, do ya’ll have any idea what she’s talkin’ about?” AJ asked, to which Twilight simply shook her head.

“Oh oh oh! Maybe he’s talking about my Party Cannon!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, whipping out the aforementioned piece of celebratory artillery.

“Where did thou pull that from?” Luna inquired, eyes wide with shock as she gazed first at the pink party pony, then at the cannon.

“Don’t ask.” Everyone said at once, earning a few giggles and chuckles as Celestia asked Pinkie Pie to save the cannon for later.

“You’re right, this isn’t a time for partying. We can party after we get Cain and his meanie-pants side out of Diamond Tiara!”

Strife was ready to start sputtering indignantly when Pinkie called him a ‘meanie-pants’, but Twilight cleared her throat and said “Cain, would you step into the center of the circle please? We’re ready to give this a shot.”

I took a moment to gather my thoughts, relax and slow my beating heart. I had a feeling that being anxious or worried was going to make this even less likely to work, so I needed to be completely and totally calm. When I was sure I had prepared myself, I solemnly stepped into the center.

Looking around me, I soaked in the faces of everypony. Each of them had a look of determination and hope in their eyes. It filled me with renewed hope that this would work. With all of my friends around me and lending me their strength, how could it not?

Twilight closed her eyes as magic began to thrum within her crown, the Element of Magic soon glowing with a radiant light as it was activated. As the magical energy flowed, the remaining elements began to brighten as the arcane power swelled. I could feel my body tingling from how much magic was beginning to fill the air.

The glowing elements soon were joined together by a band of multicolored light, which began to circle around all of us before spiraling towards Twilight’s crown. It gathered there in a single orb of energy...before blasting out towards me.

The rainbow blast struck me, and at first, it seemed to work. I felt a feeling of peace beginning to fill me, and I could see the outline of a human forming next to me.

But then it wavered, briefly shifting into a familiar mismatched shape, and promptly, it scattered into nothingness. That’s when the most agonizing sensation began to creep up my legs. It was like my hooves were being dipped into molten lava, and then promptly dropped in liquid nitrogen. And it didn’t stop, spreading slowly up first my front, and then my back legs.

“M-M-Make it ssstooopp! PLEASE!!!" We screamed out as one, all three of us getting the honor of feeling it, which only served to amplify the torture we were being placed under.

At this point, I would have preferred either of the other two methods. At least I could feel something still. For in the parts already transformed to stone, all I was left with was a sort of detached, ghostly essence. I knew my legs were still there, but they might as well have not existed to my mind.

It was maddening.

"Stop! This is only making things worse!" Luna yelled, and seemed ready to bolt and get in front of the elements, but Celestia held her back, biting on her tail and stopping her from interfering as Twilight and the others desperately worked to cancel the spell.

The rainbow of light slowly weakened, until it faded completely, and with it, the magical aura surrounding the bearers of the Elements. Of course, it didn’t do me much good, as the lower half of my body was still stuck in stone.

“H-H-H-Help! S-Somepony do something!” I shouted, feeling a desire to stomp my hooves in distress, and the inability to do so only seemed to heighten my growing anxiety.

“Calm down, all three of you.” Luna said, just as the moon pendant that Luna had given us flashed with a brilliant light. It bathed us in its magic, and when it faded, the petrification was gone, my legs and lower body feeling as normal as ever.

Unfortunately, it seemed to be way too much for the magic trinket, for cracks quickly criss-crossed over it before promptly crumbling into ash and dust. And with it...much of my control.

Angry, dark emotions that had been buried deep down by both myself, Strife, and even Diamond Tiara began to surface up. A black and red aura of magical energy began to glow around me as a furious scowl formed on our face.

“I knew it...I knew it would fail! I knew the elements wouldn’t do us any good, and now I’m going to get stuffed inside the melting pot with you two asshats!”

“I-I’m… I’m never going to see my mom and sister, my cat… my home…”

“W-Will everypony accept the new me? W-Will I even realize I’m different? W-What if Mamma and Daddy d-dont want me anymore?”

Anguish, anger, fury, despair, horror, fear, trepidation...I felt these and many more welling up, boiling up to the surface and seeking a way to be unleashed. And the perfect targets for it all for standing around me, many of them looking at me with concern and worry…

And that only made the feelings worse.

Then, Princess Luna approached us, gazing down at us as darkness began to swim at the edge of our vision. I could distantly hear Celestia trying to say something, sounding almost panicky, but I was slipping too far in the black and inky void to be able make any guess of what was going on.

And soon… everything faded away.

-*-

The darkness didn’t remain around us for long, at least not entirely. Soon I could feel our body moving with slow, stuttering breathes. Slowly, I opened my eyes, finding that I could see our own hooves and everything, but everything else was draped in an inky blackness.

“Cain? Can you hear us? Can you see us?”

I looked around at the sound of Luna’s voice calling out to me, all the emotions raging within me forgotten for a moment as I tried to figure out what was going on. After a minute of fruitlessly looking around, I growled “I’m not in the mood for games, Princess! Just show yourself if you wish to speak!”

“Such an impatient child, isn’t he? No appreciation for drama and tension,” a different, but no less familiar voice called out. An orb of light up above came into being, bathing this place in silvery moonlight. The moon sent a shaft down to illuminate a small table, where Princess Luna sat with another, one I did not expect to ever meet in my time here.

“Nightmare Moon?” I asked, now adding confusion to the bubbling cauldron of my emotional state as I slowly walked forward, feeling oddly wary of this place now that I knew the Tyrant of the Night was here. Even if she was smiling and seemed to be having Tea with her good hearted double.

“I told you Luna, you should have introduced us before.” She remarked as I took a seat a good six feet away from the two of them, not in the mood for joining them in their nonsense.

“Cain, we need to talk.” Luna began as she tried to gesture me closer, but I wasn’t budging, so she simply continued. “Nightmare Moon might or not have been born because of an outside influence, but she was still a part of me. I know that you understand there is no light without darkness.”

“And so, to be able to get back to my full power upon my return, I had to accept what was left of her.” A cup then rose up, to which she poured some tea and offered it to me. “Do you want sugar with it?”

My response, or rather Strife and I’s response was to backhand the cup and saucer, sending it flying off into the darkness that still surrounded us. “I don’t want any damned tea, I want you to get to the point.”

Luna frowned at my aggressive display, but sighed as she said “Cain… the truth is, you might not have originally existed. You might be a copy from a being from another world, or even a creation of Discord’s twisted imagination, but Diamond Tiara has accepted you anyway, with all your faults and virtues. She even accepted Strife, the part of you that hurt her the most. Do you have an idea how rare that is? How strong the bonds of friendship that you three share are?”

Nightmare Moon chose that moment to chime in, “Cain, you and I have a lot in common. And I am not talking about evil and eternal night!” She chuckled at this, but stopped when she saw I wasn’t joining her. She grunted as she idly sipped her tea. “We both are beings that should not exist, created to inflict harm and pain, yet despite all that, we went beyond that. Because we were offered friendship we did not really deserve.”

“So, are you just going to let go of that? So what if you never return home, whatever it is? I can see it in your eyes Cain. You… you weren’t really happy there. Just like Luna wasn’t happy in the past, when ponies prefered Celestia over us, when they went to sleep early in fear of the monsters that hid in the darkness and they ignored our beautiful night. When our own sister ignored us because her duties as a ruler did not leave her enough free time!”

My previous glare intensified, anger beginning to manifest itself. This whiny bitch thinks she can tell US how WE feel? Strife and I thought together, even as Luna tried to calm things down.

“Nightmare! That’s enough! ” Luna shouted, also glaring at her darker counterpart, but Nightmare Moon didn’t seem to care.

“No, she needs to hear this!” Nightmare Moon said as she used her magic to draw me closer to her, ignoring my attempts to stay back as she brought me muzzle to muzzle. Her eyes locked gazes with mine, and we stared daggers at each other.

“Why can’t you stop being so blind? You have real, true friends here in Equestria. Why can’t you talk with your friends about what troubles you? Twilight Sparkle, without knowing you, decided to save both you and Diamond Tiara. And that was just the start of kindness you have received. Are you just going to ignore all that? Will you continue to spit on the face of your friends?”

Any other time, we might have thought about that and realized that she was speaking at least somewhat truthfully. But… what she had said a moment ago, and the assumptions she was making about us…

“You’re right Nightmare Moon...we are alike. But not how you think.” I said, the rage surging to the surface as our eyes began to see red. “The only similarity we share is being taken away from the world we love and care about, the world that we call home. Only you at least had the ability to go back to your home, you had the chance to regain what you had lost.”

Our voice was rising, going from a soft whisper to a furious bellow. The lid to our emotions had been taken off, and we weren’t going to hold back.

“But us? NO! We’re stuck in a land that is not ours, in a place that we do not belong. We have no way of telling our loved ones what has happened to us, if they even know that we are gone! We can’t even see them from on high as you could!” Strife and I were speaking in unison know, drawing on our combined feelings as an insatiable firestorm of anger welled within us and lashed out against Nightmare Moon.

“And you dare to tell us we were not happy! Our life might not have been perfect, but we had moments of joy, of happiness and laughter despite its pitfalls. Even when times were tough, we stuck to each other and supported each other through it all!” The irony of this would not hit me til later, but I was too consumed in the moment to consider it.

“I want MY life back. I want OUR life back. Its ours, and I don’t care what you say, I will never stop desiring to return to it. Not you, not the elements, not even Discord himself can tell me that I will never be able to return to my home, to MY family. To where I belong!”

My head was spinning, stomach churning as the strength of the emotions pouring out of me began to overwhelm me. I fell to the ground, Nightmare Moon no longer able to hold me up as I stumbled back.

“My life… my family… I want them… I want it back…” I mumbled softly, the darkness swirling back in, blocking the Princess and Nightmare Moon from view as they called out to me.

I didn’t hear them. I didn’t want to… and so I embraced the darkness as it swallowed me whole.

-*- The Crusaders and Friend -*-

“Here we are, the Royal Palace of Canterlot!”

The four fillies stood before the gates of Canterlot Palace, the heart of Equestria and residence of the Royal Sisters. Even with the anger they were all feeling towards Diamond and that hairless ape Cain rattling around in her head, they took a moment to stand and stare at it in awe. It was so big, and seemed like the place might swallow them whole.

“Well, enough gawking, we need to go tell Queen Brat Flanks a thing or two.” Scootaloo declared, stomping a hoof on the bridge as she started forward, Silver Spoon and Applebloom following along after her.

“Yeah! They’ve got a lot coming to them after everything all of them have done to us!” Applebloom shouted, Silver Spoon nodding in agreement.

“Most certainly true, don’t you agree Sweetie Belle?” Sweetie Belle?” She stopped and turned, noticing that Sweetie Belle was looking between two stone statues, looking highly confused. “Sweetie, are you okay?”

Scootaloo craned her neck around upon realizing their friend was still on the bridge. “Yeah Sweetie, what’s up?”

“Girls... I really think we shouldn't do this.” Sweetie Belle said nervously, "It feels… wrong."

"Come on, don't be such a scaredy cat, are you gonna let bullies push you all your life?" Applebloom said, nearly glaring at her long time friend as Scootaloo joined in.

“Yeah! Diamond Tiara has been a pain in our flanks for far too long, and she even turned on her best friend!”

Silver Spoon nodded, smirking as she said “We’re not doing anything wrong Sweetie Belle. We’re simply helping to wake up Diamond Tiara to the truth. She’s long overdue on a wake up call wouldn’t you say?”

"F-Fine then! Lets go and do this! A-And I’m not a scaredy cat!" Sweetie Belle said, ignoring the sensation that something was wrong due to both peer pressure and not wanting to be called a coward. I have to be brave, why I was worried about this anyway?

Unknown to the four of them, a ghostly visage hiding in the shadow of a nearby tower chuckled darkly, before slipping off further into the palace.

-*-Diamond Tiara-*-

Diamond awoke to find that she was back inside the guest quarters, and for a moment she was very confused, and a little scared. What had happened? How had she gotten here? The last thing she remembered was being in the throne room with the Princesses and the Bearers of the Elements…

And then...darkness, and a great deal of voiceless pain and fury. Everything else was blurry though, as if she was looking at it through a dirty window.

Guess I should see what’s going on… maybe the Princesses told Mamma and Daddy they have another plan…

Jumping off the couch, she looked about the room, finding that no one was around, except for one of the Palace servants who was cleaning her parents bedroom. She was kind enough to say that her Mom and Dad were with the royal sisters, discussing what had happened earlier.

Thanking her, she left the room, trying to track down the conference room...which wasn’t proving all that easy, as she quickly found herself getting lost and unable to find anyone who could help her. The halls seemed to be strangely lacking in guards and servants, leaving each corridor eerily silent as each hoof-step became the only sound in the palace.

Eventually, she managed to stumble her way outside into the Royal Gardens, quickly stopping at a bench next to a rather realistic looking statue of a gardener.

“Where the heck is everypony… matter of fact, why hasn’t Cain or Strife said anything?” She asked, well herself since there wasn’t anypony to talk to. She could feel both of their presences in her mind, but they also seemed to be...elsewhere. Preoccupied.

“Cain! Diamond Tiara! We need to talk to you!” A familiar voice shouted out, causing her ears to perk up as she looked up from one of the stone tiles that had been set into the ground nearby. She found, to her amazement, that Scootaloo and the rest of the Crusaders, and even her best friend, were striding towards her.

“Girls? What are all of you doing here?” She asked, completely surprised by this turn of events. She wondered for a brief moment if this was the doing of the Princesses… but as she looked at her friends… she noticed that not a single one of them looked happy.

In fact… they all seemed to have hatred blazing within their gazes, save for Sweetie Belle who seemed to be more confused then anything.

“We’re here to tell you how we really feel Diamond Tiara, or should we say Queen Meanie, Liar Tiara, or Jerk-Flanks?” Silver Spoon began as she stopped in front of her, the CMC taking up positions on her sides.

“Yeah, we’re tired of yer lies and abusive behaviour! Ya’ll could have sent poor Scootaloo to the hospital!” Applebloom said, poking Diamond accusingly in the side as she stared daggers into her.

W-What is going on? I-I thought they forgave me? Her mouth flapped open as she tried to say something, but for some reason, she couldn’t get any words to form.

“Diamond Tiara, you, you, have yet to apologize to me and make up for that newspaper article you wrote about me. Cain was the one who did that, and he only did it to try and make things easier for himself. Wasn’t all that hard for him really, since that dinky tiara you always wear meant nothing to him, right?” Silver Spoon said.

“Uh… Diamond Tiara, I’m tired of you… being a big meanie pants?” Sweetie Belle said, a hint of hesitation in her voice. She didn’t seem as sure of her words, but the others...

This must be a trick of Discord, i-it has to be... but…

“Cain, Diamond Tiara, both of you are nothing more than liars and cheats! I don't want to be your friend, in fact I’m surprised I ever considered being one!” Scootaloo shouted, looking quite angry. If she didn’t know any better, she’d have said she was just seconds away from lashing out at her with her hooves.

Applebloom again chimed in, “We aren’t gonna tolerate what ya do no more Diamond Tiara. Always insulting us, calling us blank flanks, mocking us. No more, Ah don't want to ever talk to ya ever again!”

W-Where are all the others? Princess Celestia and Luna? The mane six as Cain and Strife call them? Why are they letting them talk to me like this? Why can't I tell them anything? I know I am not the best pony around but… I’ve been trying to be better!

A chuckle filled the air, sending shivers down Diamonds spine as a voice said, “Oh, its just like the good ol’ days back in Canterlot, isn’t it DT?” A moment later, Discord flashed into being next to her, even as the rest of the world around her seemed to grow still.

“Discord!”

“After all, Friendship is Magic but you… you don't have friends!” Discord guffawed at this, mimicking a sad and distraught pony as he added, “Oh woe is a pony without friends to prop her up, guahahaha!”

"That's not true! I-I do have friends… y-you just did something to make them like this didn’t you?"

Discord didn’t seem to hear her, as he continued on, “Where are the Princesses now? Twilight Sparkle? Where are the ponies who said they would help you?” His laughter was grating on her ears, but more than that each chuckle was a stab to the heart.

“T-They’ll come and help! They promised!”

Discord’s laughter stopped, but the smirk was still firmly planted on his face as he gazed directly at her. “Really? Because all I see here is four little fillies who got tired of you jerking them around, lying to them, and otherwise being a spoiled little brat.”

Diamond Tiara felt her breath hitching in her throat, gulping as she stammered out, "I… I still have Cain and Strife. T-They’ll will help me!"

A wide, wicked smile spread across Discords goat-like muzzle as he pulled himself to his full height. “Oh really? Do you honestly believe that? Why don’t you take a look at this.” He then turned her around, forcing her to gaze at what he wished to show her.

Only, she wasn’t exactly sure what it was he was trying to show her. Darkness? Chaos? Her mind refused to make sense of it, and just looking at it hurt, so she was forced to close her eyes.

A moment later though...she heard voices...familiar voices, and her eyes quickly shot open as she gazed upon the sight of Cain staring down… somepony… it took her a moment to realize they were staring at her.

“C-Cain! Strife! C-Can you hear me? Are you two okay? Do you feel wrong?”

“This whiny bitch thinks she can tell US how WE feel?”

She cringed as she heard them both shout that at her, taking a step back as her eyes began to water. “I-I n-never t-tried to do that… h-honest… a-and I’m not whiny…”

‘We’re stuck in a land that is not ours, in a place that we do not belong…’

Each word felt like a knife to the heart, and even as she tried to gather her strength, she could feel tears beginning to trail down her face. “W-We can't let Discord win! P-P-Please, I-I’m scared, I can’t do this alone!”

‘I want MY life back. I want OUR life back. Its ours!’

“Guys… are you even listening to me?”

‘My life… my family… I want them… I want it back…’

Their visage faded, leaving her alone in the darkness with only the Spirit of Chaos for company. He snickered to himself as he saw her looking down at the ground, tears now freely falling down her face.

“See? All you did for them, all you sacrificed for those two, and they don’t care!” Discord whispered into her ear.

“Is.. is that true?” Diamond Tiara asked, looking back up at where Cain and Strife’s voices had come from. Though she could no longer see their face, their voice continued.

‘No matter what… I want to go home!’

Diamond Tiara didn’t know what to think anymore… could this really be how Cain and Strife felt? Did everything they’d gone through mean nothing?

Diamond Tiara had tried to be nice, she had tried to be good, but no matter what she did, it didn't work. The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Silver Spoon hated her. The Princesses, Twilight Sparkle and the elements seemed unable to help her… and the two ponies she had sacrificed the most for, the two ponies who she had started to see as sisters to her… hated her.

And then… something broke inside the earth pony filly.

-*-

Meanwhile, in the center of the Royal Statue Garden, dark laughter echoed across the grounds as Discord's statue cracked, fractures slowly spreading from the center and moving outward.

-*-Cain and Strife-*-

One moment, we were yelling at Nightmare Moon, which was a feat in of itself, and then the next, we were in the middle of the Royal Statue Garden, alone with nopony and no one about save for the various statues of ponies working or celebrating some victory or other. Our face had tears flowing down it, and our head spun a bit. It felt like we’d just went through a weird mental whiplash…

“Ugh… this is getting really tiresome… one more adventure in our mind or wherever the hell that place was and I think I’m going to hit something.” I said to myself as I felt the emotions slowly simmering back to the surface.

Then, before I could think, say, or do much else, I felt Strife taking the reigns as our head turned up to look up at a familiar statue.

"Hello daddy, having fun?" Strife said in a sweet, almost sing-song tone, tinged with a bit of sarcasm. Or perhaps a lot, I couldn’t tell.

"Oh yes, this has been quite amusing. So… what happened to all your anger?"

"It’s still there. So… going a bit heavy on illusions have you? Is that the best you can do? I could probably do better." Strife replied, tempering the emotions roiling within us with practiced ease. Not surprising, given that he was born from my repressed emotions and thoughts.

"They worked, didn't they? What, you expected me to go all big and showy with the Elements bearers being a mere trot away?"

“What the heck are you two talking about?” I asked, trying to assert some control so I could glare at the statue. I didn’t get very far on that front.

"Oh, Didn't you figure it out? Discord here been messing with Diamond Tiara while we were busy talking with the moon butt and dark snooty!" Strife commented idly, not seeming to be concerned by such information.

"Really? Well isn’t that swell, as if it wasn’t bad enough you had to torture her, now Discord’s joined in the fun." I replied, wondering just what Discord was up to now and how he planned to further mess with our already sucky day. And what he had done for the mane six to not notice.

"Also, we left the Nightmare-scape, but this is another illusion, so we’re probably asleep in that room. Or something stupid like that..." Strife replied, glaring at the statue with enough hate that it could kill, but he did nothing else, refusing to do what Discord wanted… whatever that may be.

"True, but if you two got me free here, it would give me the push needed to get free for real. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

Strife harrumphed, rolling his eyes as he said, "And why would we do that? I may think the Princesses and the Mane six are a bunch of useless foals, but I also hate you daddy!"

"Power. You want it, don't you? Power to get your own body, power to do whatever you want, power so others stop pushing you! So you can be exactly as you want to be!”

"Let me see if I got this straight...I free you, and I get my own body, free of crown butt here. And I’ll get to do whatever I want?" I felt Strife taking control and moving us in front of the statue. "You should have told me that from the get go, instead of all this bullcrap we’ve had to deal with..."

"Oh, but I couldn't, even if I had wanted to.” Discord said, vaguely waving Strife’s complaint away as he continued. “You weren’t... matured yet. And of course, I didn’t have as much of my power back. I’ll need to thank Celestia for returning some of it to me.”

With that, he chuckled as he pointed to the statue, “So… what do you say, ready to meet your daddy for real?"

"And what about me huh? Are you offering me to get back home?" I asked, not intending to let Strife be the only one who got what he wanted.

"Oh, well, if you’re still hung up on returning to Earth, I guess I could do that, but first, I need to have access to all my powers. To do that… I need to be free.”

The offer was incredibly tempting… and seeing as it was Discord who had brought us here in the first place, it made sense that he would be able to send us back. Besides, the Elements and the best the Princesses could throw at us had failed. Surely Discord could succeed where they failed…

But first, there was something I was confused about, Something Discord had said. "Wait… I want to know, what do you mean by saying Strife wasn’t mature yet?"

"All the pain and suffering, all that torture, it was needed to turn Strife into an actual sentient, thinking being, one who not only had the power of Disharmony, but was willing to use it. To sum it up, I am the daddy, Diamond Tiara is the unwilling mother, Cain is the nanny and Strife is my lovely daughter!"

For a brief moment, both of us stared blankly at Discord… and then Strife started gagging, which was rather difficult as I was busy laughing my ass off. Talk about a twisted up family.

I didn’t really agree with the idea of Strife being created by Discord… but I could certainly see him messing with my darker half and claiming he was his creation. "Ahahah… okay, since you're involved, that makes perfect sense. But then...if that’s true, why were we fusing with Diamond Tiara? Wouldn’t that mess with your stupid plans?"

"Oh, Diamond’s mind is treating the two of you like split personalities. Fusing with her means you would get ‘cured’.” Discord rolled his eyes at the very idea of such a thing, but got back to the issue at hoof.

“All those struggles and fights, they just helped my child to become real enough. Magic is funny like that, without the Element bearers, the princesses and other ponies acknowledging Strife’s existence, she would be incomplete. Oh, and what Luna did to try to save you three from my evil? I don't know exactly what it was, but it helped."

"Clap your hooves if you believe?" Strife humming softly to him… herself, summing up what Discord had just said.

"Exactly!"

I shook my head as I allowed it all to sink into my head. All this gods blasted time..."So… we all just played right into your plans? Everything has gone according to plan?"

"Oh, not exactly. After all, that assumes I had a plan in the first place. Chaos Magic tends to do the opposite of what one EXACTLY wants it to do, unless its something funny or nonsensical, so I just used my magic to find some way to free myself, and I ended being a daddy along the way. Oh my, I think I’m going to shed some fatherly tears… I’m so proud of myself."

"Talk, talk talk… you love the sound of your own voice, don't you?" Strife said then kicked the statue, while I watched, horror struck at what he was doing.

"W-Wait… what are you doing?" I shouted, trying to keep him from doing any more damage, noting that the statue had a hoof shaped indent in it and was beginning to crack.

"What you don't have the balls to do, quite literally, since you’re a filly. I don't care who my father is, or if I was created as an accident, but I don't want to end up fusing with the spoiled little princess here, even if she is one of the few ponies I hate less than the rest." Then Strife kicked the statue again, and again, and I couldn't stop her because despite myself, I wanted the same thing Strife did… well, sort of.

Freedom. We both wanted Freedom… to be free of a body that we didn’t belong in, and in my case, a world that wasn’t mine. Soon enough, I was joining in, and together we smashed our hooves against the statue of Discord again and again and again. Discord tried to make the moment more dramatic by playing "I want to break free" from Queen in the background.

Our emotions boiled over as we stamped the former lawn ornament into nothing more than a pile of rubble, both of us panting as we stood before it, feeling a great deal better regardless of what might come next.

Laughter then echoed around us as the rubble began to glow, and seconds later, a powerful blast of white light blinded us, and the world spun. A feeling of weightlessness came over us for a time, and everything seemed to be fine and peaceful.

Then pain lanced through us as we felt ourselves being pulled away, the distant presence of Diamond Tiara moving away until we couldn’t sense her anymore. Following that, the pain receded for a moment as we suddenly got to experience what it felt like to be outside a body. I would describe it as feeling like an amorphous blob hanging in the air…

And of course, the pain then returned as new limbs began to grow, as our body took shape and form. Neither of us could see yet, but we soon felt different shaped arms… mismatched pair of legs… a tail joined the party soon, and a moment later a set of wings burst forth from our back, and soon a mane and horns began to grow from atop our head.

It wasn’t a very pleasant experience, not that Chaos Magic… or Discord gave a damn. It was only after all of these feelings that the pain began to fade, and our vision began to return.

The first thing I notice is that we are on all fours, chest heaving as we take our first breathes in our new body, promptly coughing a fair bit as the world continues to spin a bit. Our head hurt, our wings hurt… actually, I’ll save time and just say we hurt all over.

The second thing I noticed was that we seemed to be in the Royal Gardens, though not the section that held all the statues. Nearby was the nearly prone form of Diamond Tiara, who seemed to have had a rough time of it as well in the process that tore us away from her.

"Diamond?" Strife called out in a worried tone, trying to get closer to her, only for our body to fall down. Looking down, it seemed we had tripped over our own tail "Dumb tail!"

“You know Strife, it might be a good idea to get used to the new body first before walking about in it willy nilly?” I snarked as I tried to push ourselves up to our back feet. It took some effort, and a bit of pain, but we were able to stand up, something we were much more used too.

Of course, doing so also gave us an opportunity to look ourselves over a bit better. It seemed that whatever Discord had done had turned us into a Draconequus, and at least at first glance, it seemed we might almost be a carbon copy of Discord. I shook our head at that...which brought a tuft of white mane into our field of vision.

Well, thats different at least. I thought to myself as I used the lion paw to brush it back into place, getting a feel for our shorter muzzle as well. So, not a complete copy then. Well, it wasn’t important, we needed to check on Diamond.

After all, we may have wanted to be free, but not at the expense of her life.

Just as we were bending over and trying to make sure she was fine, a single golden flash of light to our left drew our attention. When it faded, we were looking into the concerned faces of The Mane Six, Princess Cadence, and the cold gazes of the Royal Twins.

Strife looked at the Elements and the angry princesses, knew Discord had just set her up and in a move that was completely stupid said "Uh… I will give you guys free chocolate rain if you let me go?"

Neither of the Princesses looked amused, though Pinkie Pie naturally chimed in with a “Oh oh oh could you pretty please? That rain was so awesome and chocolatey and yummy and tasty and-mumumhphh.”

“Not now Pinkie Pie. Not now.” Applejack said as Pinkie continued describing how wonderful chocolate rain was around her hoof. Twilight was the first however to try and take a less… confrontational stance.

"Cain… how could you?" Twilight Sparkle said, her disappointed face making me cringe and take a step back. Having one of your favorite characters of all time looking at you like that burns a fair bit, especially since… she had saved me before.

"I… I did'nt want to end up fused with Diamond Tiara, I didn't want to…. I just…”

Before I could try to say anything to explain myself, before the Princesses could blast me then and there… a gleeful cackle filled the air around us and made the Mane Six look up warily at the area around them.

“Ohhoho, what a wonderful thing it is to be free once again! And I didn’t even have to wait a thousand years this time.” Discord said as he flashed into being a short ways behind me, his casual smirk only managing to draw the Princesses ire away from me.

SPLAT!

Discord was surprised, did somepony just threw a pie in his face? “That’s for making me think laughter was bad!” Pinkie Pie shouted, giggling as she said “Heheh, now he looks like Santa Hooves.”

"Pinkie Pie! This is serious!" Twilight Sparkle complained.

"Oh, you mean the fact that Cain and Strife have just been born as Discord's daughter and that they got their daddy free? And that... " Pinkie Pie then looked at Diamond Tiara "Oopsie, kinda forgot about her, sorry, gotta do something!" She rushed forward, snatching up Diamond Tiara and nuzzling her as she set her on the nearby bench, working to rouse her from her comatose like state.

Twilight and the others simply stared, mouths agape at what Pinkie Pie had just said, turning their gazes back to us even as Celestia took a forceful step towards Discord. “You’ve miscalculated Discord. We’re ready for you this time… and we have the Elements ready to seal you away for good this time!”

“We’ll deal with thou after we finish with this malicious spirit of madness.” Luna added, her gaze having never left me through this entire discussion.

"Oh, but that would be a rerun, wouldn't it? Besides, I just got free, and you think you can end the game at Stage One? I don't think so!" Discord then snapped his claws, got into tourist gear and… teleported away in a spark of confetti?

That left every pony, save for the unconscious Diamond Tiara and for Pinkie Pie... who seemed to be taking notes, with their mouths open.

"What? But this doesn't…" Twilight Sparkle seemed quite confused about what just happened… "Did Discord… just leave? Just like that?"

"My dear student , you’ve been living in Ponyville for a while, you have dealt with Pinkie Pie and Discord before, doing what ponies don't expect is usual for their type." Celestia said, quite hypocritical of her as she was quite the troll herself when she could.

"Hey, don't put me in the same box than him! That’s insulting." Pinkie Pie then looked at the new chimera like being. "Can I have my chocolate now?"

"Wait, wait, wait…. are you saying that this creature here is Discord's daughter, and he just dumped her with us?" Applejack was angry, her distaste at such an action rather obvious.

“I do not know whether or not this is Discord’s ‘daughter…” Luna says as she steps forward, conjuring a set of magical manacles as she said “But she has just broken free one of the most dangerous foes Equestria has ever known.”

"She is Cain… or Strife or both… " Twilight Sparkle said, rubbing her forehead from the headache she was beginning to develop.

"Hey, wait a minute here. Can somepony please explain what's going on?" Rainbow Dash asked confused. "Last thing I remembered was that they sent Diamond Tiara to rest in the guest quarters, and… something about Luna using a shadow or something?"

“Those questions can be answered later… for now, we must ensure that we do not have any further problems to deal with then Discord alone.” Celestia said as she nodded to her sister, who clamped the manacles down on our hands, something Strife was not all that pleased with.

“Get these blasted things off me!” She said, snapping her fingers and trying to use the magic she assumed we had… only for a few sparks to flit from our hands and earn a small zap from the chains.

Meanwhile, I tried to reason with them. “G-Girls...Princesses… I-I’m sorry… I just… I just wanted to go home… see my family…"

"Sorry Strife, but you lost our trust." Fluttershy said in a sad tone. "I admit… we had no way to help you… but… you betrayed us."

"Darling… I understand why you did what you did, but we can't just let you roam free." Rarity then looked at Diamond Tiara, "How is she?'"

Upon seeing everypony look worried at Diamond Tiara, Strife seemed to retreat inside our mind. Leaving me to face the music as Luna pushed us away from the gardens, silent as the night as I was lead to an uncertain fate.

Princess Luna left us in a cell, that was apparently reinforced to deny anypony inside the use of magic. Then she locked the door, shaking her head before turning and leaving us alone.

As we sat there, staring past the bars and feeling a desire to lash out... Strife and I made a solemn vow to each other.

Discord would pay for leaving us in this mess… and not holding up to his promises. Even if it killed us… we would make him regret just abandoning us.

Then, perhaps because she did not like Discord up and dumping us like that, Applejack sneaked close to our cell and left us a few apples. A few minutes later, Pinkie Pie came and left us a birthday cake with the words "Happy Birthday Cain + Strife!"

"Happy birthday to us…" Yeah, as sad as it sounds, today we were technically born by getting our own body was also the day we let the King of Disharmony free to roam Equestria.

What a wonderful clusterbuck.

Setting the Stage

View Online

-*-Princess Luna-*-

Luna sighed as she brought the moon out to shine upon all of Equestria, gazing out at the city of Canterlot below as she allowed her mind to wander idly. She could see the tiny pinpricks of light that belonged to the establishments that stayed open through her night; mostly clubs and gaming halls and the like.

Not exactly the sort of places she would have liked to have operating during her glorious night, but it did at least mean somepony was awake to see the stars and moon in all their splendor. She drew her eyes to the heavens, a thin smile forming as she looked at all the twinkling stars that she had set perfectly in place.

Such thoughts were nothing more than distractions, she knew, but with all that had happened today, even short lived ones such as this quiet moment to admire her hard work were deeply appreciated.

They hadn’t found a single trace of Discord anywhere in Canterlot, and with his magic he could be anywhere in the whole of Equestria… for all she and her sister knew, he could have even left the continent, traveling south, west, or east to the more chaotic lands of Equus. There was no sign of any chaos being created either, so that only made herself and her dear sister more worried about what Discord might be up to.

Until they could find some way to track him down, the Bearers of the Elements had been asked to remain in Canterlot, for several reasons. The first being of course Celestia’s continued desire to test her students abilities.

Both she and Celestia were going to set out in the morning to continue the search beyond the walls of Canterlot, and in the meantime were leaving both Princess Cadence and Twilight in charge of things.

Personally, Luna was not sure if Twilight was ready for such a responsibility...and was somewhat annoyed at her sister’s insistence to not inform the young Element of Magic about such until they were about to leave. But Celestia insisted, saying it would allow Twilight to get a full nights rest.

The second reason was that Celestia believed it would be best to keep the Elements, and their bearers, close at hand, rather than returning home to Ponyville where it would be easier for Discord to potentially divide them once again.

And then… there were two final reasons… one of which was the source of most of her sour mood.

Down in the palace dungeons were two prisoners who needed to be kept under close watch. The first was Queen Chrysalis, who had only just this evening stopped making demands to be released. Her swarm had been, for the moment, put into a deep sleep and left in the crystal caverns below the city, but there was always the possibility she could cause trouble somehow… especially with Discord free.

The other prisoner though… was Cain… and her darker half, Strife.

Princess Luna was quite displeased with herself. Everything had been going well enough… she’d even felt that she was close to getting the three of them to get along, or so it had seemed. She had hoped that, if the three of them could be friends, then if, or perhaps when the merge occurred, they would be able to function as a single entity, just as she did now.

But her effort to save Diamond Tiara, Cain and Strife… it had failed. Derailed by her own dark counterparts insensitivity to their feelings...and her own underestimation of just how strongly both of them felt about their home. And considering how their attempts thus far had gone...

Knowing this, it really shouldn’t have been such a big surprise the two of them had gone for the only one that seemed capable of helping them. Even if it was the biggest monster Equestria had ever known...

Did she even have the right to judge them for the choice they had made? What would she have done, if she was dying and a villain waved the cure in front of her? Would she be willing to do anything to avoid disappearing and being replaced? She fell into darkness once because she believed no pony loved her, how much further would she have fallen if it was to protect her own existence?

This was neither some warlock selling his soul for power, nor getting corrupted by dark magic in search of immortality. This was just three fillies, no matter how old their memories made two of them feel, who had resisted Discord’s attacks and temptation several times, until in the end, they could do so no more. Because it was too much to ask for ones so young, to give up on what they were, to possibly die, just to keep a monster at bay.

So she was trying to tell herself anyways, as she tore her gaze from the stars and headed inside, looking over a map and trying to think of where Discord might have gone off to. Celestia had several guesses, none of which Luna was certain would lead them to that clown of a ‘god’ as he had once considered himself.

Luna simply hoped they weren’t making yet another mistake.

-*-Cain & Strife-*-

Crying.... I… I was crying.

It wasn’t out of hunger, even though no guards had been down to feed me yet. Thanks to the delicious cake and apples that Pinkie Pie and Applejack had left, I was good for at least a few more hours.

No... it was because despite my betrayal, or I suppose I should say our betrayal, they still showed us kindness. I was the idiot that let Discord free, giving him another chance to try and take over Equestria and bring eternal chaos to the land.

Granted, it was either that or ceasing to exist, but it was still wrong. Had I really been so consumed in my emotions to join Strife in releasing him from his prison? Shouldn’t I have tried to convince Strife doing so wasn’t the right way, or at least stopped her from going any further?

In a way, I was surprised we hadn’t snapped sooner. Discord must have been laughing his ass off from the very beginning, watching everything we had to go through in a vain effort to save ourselves.

“You’re right knucklehead, he was doing just that. All the while waiting for his chance to strike and get exactly what he wanted.”

It was at this point that I realized I had slipped back into the mindscape, where the couch and flat-screen TV was. Sitting upside down at the other end of said couch was Strife, who was busy filing her claws and talons.

This gave me a chance to get a better look at our new body, and my assessment of being a Discord Copy was almost spot on. Every part of our mismatched body was like Discord’s, save for our muzzle, which had a more feminine shape to it, and our mane, which, rather than being black and resting on the back of our necks, was a messy tuft of white situated around our horns.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d say we looked like a teenage version of Eris, the gender-flipped version of Discord. All the mis-matched parts were in the exact same spots, and it seemed that the only difference between us was in our eyes. Strife’s were the same red and gold of Discord’s, but mine were my normal steel blue.

“I was wondering when you were going to pop up.” I mumbled, turning my eyes away from her and slumping back into the couch. Covering my eyes with my claws as I grumbled “Come to rub my face in the fact that we’ve screwed all of Equestria over?”

"Honestly, I am kind of surprised we lasted this long."

I harrumphed, mumbling “What do you mean we? You were the one who started smashing that statue in...wherever it was.”

“And you joined in not long after. You wanted to be free just as much as I did.” Strife replied evenly. “You can’t weasel out of this one anymore than I can, not that I would. I don’t really care if that bastard of a father is free, we won’t get absorbed into that spoiled brat.”

I had to nod my head at that after a moment. As much as I hated to admit it, it was nice to know neither of us were going to get merged together with Diamond’s soul. The prospect had not been an attractive one.

Strife then sat up, pulling out a pipe and blowing on it, sending little pink bubbles into the air as she said "Now stop feeling sorry for yourself. We’ve got some important business to discuss with each other."

"Oh? What business could we possibly talk about, besides the current lack of cliche rodents in our little cell?" I asked, feeling some of my anger and self-pity float off. It was still there, but at the moment, I was willing to think of just about anything else besides what we had done.

"That’s scheduled for tomorrow. As for today, we need to figure out how we’re gonna share this body of ours!” Strife exclaimed, smirking as she waved her hand at everything around us.

“Now, Daddy dearest left me as the main personality here, which technically makes you my slave to do with as I please.” I growled at this, but she held up a hand to silence me as she continued.

“However, you still have enough influence and willpower to cause me a good deal of trouble if I do this, and frankly I don’t feel like having to deal with such an annoyance. I am, however, not willing to let you be the one walking around free to do as you so choose. Thus, we need to come to an agreement.”

This really wasn’t something, that should have been our top priority, in my mind at least, but with nothing else that we could actively do...

However…

“Just who says you’re the one in control here?” I asked angrily, trying to reassert control of our body, only to get a splitting headache that had me writhing in pain on the couch. Strife’s mocking laughter only made it worse.

"That’s what you get for not believing me. Well, that and this." Strife then snapped her claws, and in a flash I was wearing a cute pink princess dress, with a matching plastic crown and royal scepter. I was thankful Diamond Tiara no longer shared our head so she couldn't see this… or anypony in fact.

"Fine… so you run the roost.” For now, I thought to myself, “So how are we gonna do it? Flip a coin? Draw straws? Eenie meanie miny moe?" It was better to just go along with Strife whims for the time being. If I caused too much trouble, she could get angry and start doing who knew what to me.

Amazingly, Strife didn’t have an immediate answer to that. "Uh… that's a good question. Hadn’t really gotten that far.” Strife rubbed her chin with her dragon claw and assumed a ‘Thinker’ pose, floating in the air.

I waited for Strife to make a choice… or hell, a suggestion, but she simply sat there, contemplating the ceiling as far as I could tell. It was both utterly boring, and more than a little creepy. Strife being this quiet and thoughtful couldn’t be a good thing.

Too bad DT is not here, we could talk, have tea together, she could braid my mane... I found myself thinking as I lounged on the couch, waiting for something to happen. It took me a moment to realize I had been thinking such things, but at this point I was too mentally and emotionally tired to bother getting upset about it.

Besides, that would have been better than the silence.

With nothing else to do, I explored the mindscape to find what, if anything, had changed. Unlike the last time we’d had a mental episode, the damage seemed to be repairing itself, but now there was a new door labeled "Do not enter, that means you Cain and Strife!"

So of course, being the bored draconequus I was, I let curiosity take the lead.

"Hey Strife, what's behind that door?"

Strife let out an irritated grunt, then looked at what I was asking about and said "You don't really want to know."

I quirked an eyebrow up at that. "Is it really that bad?"

"Enter that door and you’ll find out. Don’t come crying to me if you don’t like what's in there." Despite Strife’s words, I found myself drawing closer to the door, before I was standing right in front of it, my claw reaching out towards it.

It was then that I felt an aura of despair and sorrow seeming to pervade the area around it. Sensing this, I started to force myself away from the door, suddenly having no desire to find out what was behind it…

But then... I heard a filly crying on the other side. And the voice was very familiar.

"Diamond?” I squeaked out, ignoring for a moment the emotions I felt coming from beyond it. “H-How? We’re supposed to have our own body now!"

"That might be true, but that door leads to a copy of the memories she had while she still shared her mind with us. Beware, the last ones are not happy." Strife idly remarked, blowing bubbles out of her pipe as she looked over a few pieces of paper. “You can of course thank our dear father for the joy of having such memories be stuck with us.”

"Discord…" it all came back to him, the reason we were in Equestria, the reason Diamond Tiara was tortured, the reason we were in such pain, the reason we betrayed everypony. It was all because of him! Just thinking about him sent my emotions in a tizzy, anger and rage surfacing back up for a moment.

"So what do you say, princess? Do you want to know?" Strife called in a mocking tone, reminding me where I was and that, at the moment, I couldn’t do anything with said anger. This caused me to deflate a bit as I looked up at the door hesitantly. Did I really want to know what Discord had done to her? Why should I even care? We were already in jail and probably would be here for life. Why make myself feel more guilty about things than I already did?

Then I thought about all that we had gone through. After all we had done… she had seen us as friends… I needed to know, I had to know! It might not change anything, but I needed to know if she still felt such, even with how we had acted recently.

"Do it or don’t, but at least stop stalling!" Strife shouted, interrupting my thoughts and shaking me out of my stupor.

"Fine!" I sent a glare in Strife’s direction before turning my attention back to the door, steadying myself as I reached out and turned the knob. A slight pull later, and I was greeted with a wall of black.

Without a second thought, I stepped in.

-*-Twilight and Company-*-

This morning was turning out to be even more stressful and trying than the previous few had.

Celestia and Luna had awakened her this morning to inform her of their plans to begin personally scouring the lands of Equestria for any sign of Discord. Twilight hadn’t had any problem with that until she found out that she and Cadence were being left to tend to affairs of state in their absence.

Cadence she understood, her being a Princess now and heir to a royal title, but why she was being asked to do so had left her flabbergasted. Sure, she knew HOW everything functioned, (how could she not when she was the star pupil of the ruler of Equestria), but she wasn’t at all prepared for such a huge responsibility.

Especially on such short notice.

“Ugh… this is going to be a long day.” she moaned, moving her hooves away from her eyes as she watched her friends digging into the scrumptious breakfast that had been brought out for all of them.

“Don’t let it get to you Twilight.” Cadence said as she took a bite out of a blueberry muffin. “I’ve been taught by Auntie Celestia to handle Royal Court, so you won’t have to listen or deal with any of the problems of the nobility.”

“I know that…” Twilight groaned, looking at her bowl of daisy and raisin oatmeal, not feeling all that hungry right now. “I just don’t want to disappoint her… or make things worse than they already are.”

Rarity shook her head at this, looking up from her tea to say “Darling, we have every confidence in you, just as the Princesses do. You need to relax.”

“Yeah, and its not like things can get all that much worse.” Rainbow Dash commented, leaning back in her chair and patting her stomach, the three plates in front of her completely devoid of the food that had been sitting on them. “If Discord starts turning the trees into inflatables and makes it rain jelly beans we’ll know he’s in the area.”

"About that: what happens if he’s causing trouble elsewhere and we can't go because Twilight here is busy with paperwork?" Applejack asked.

"Oh! I know this one!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, appearing in front of the orange earth mare "We just have to put a trap Discord couldn’t possibly resist so we lure him here instead!"

Fluttershy raised her hoof "Uh… and why didn't you say this when… uh… Princess Luna and Celestia were still here?"

Pinkie Pie shrugged her shoulders in response. "Oh, because nopony asked, Shy. Also I came up with it just now.” She giggled a bit, and then added “Kinda hard to tell the Princesses when it hadn’t even popped into my head."

Everypony present just shook their heads at that. Princess Cadence then asked, "Well, don’t leave us in suspense Pinkie. Tell us your plan."

A wide, conspiratorial smile spread across her face as she pulled everypony into a tight hug, a rather startling feat given that they were all scattered about the table, and started to whisper into their ears.

-*-Shining Armor-*-

With the Princesses gone, Shining had been called back to duty in the palace proper, leaving the search of the city for any remaining changelings that might be hiding amongst the populace to his third in command. That left his second in command to keep on top of things in the palace while he took a much needed nap.

Ugh… almost twenty four hours now since I last had some sleep… it’s been a while since I’ve done that. He thought to himself as he rounded a corner, eyelids beginning to droop as he felt a distinct desire to just plop down on the floor and get some z’s.

The universe seemed to have other plans, when he tripped over something laying haphazardly in the middle of the hallway.

“Ummphf! Hey!” He shouted after having his muzzle smash into the floor, his nose smarting a fair bit as he tried to get himself back together. “Great, too tired to see what's right in front of me… probably just tripped over a bucket…”

Then he heard movement behind him, tired groans and some shifting. Suddenly, he was wide awake, and as he snapped his head around, the only thing he could think off was Oh buck, I just tripped over someone, and called them a bucket!

He had been expecting to find one of the many servants who did have a tendency to blend into the surroundings if one wasn’t paying enough attention. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d accidentally bumped into one.

Instead, he found to his complete surprise that there was not one, but FOUR little fillies all sleeping in the middle of the hallway, huddled together for warmth.

Sweet Celestia! What are these foals doing here in the palace? And why are they SLEEPING in the middle of a hallway?

Such questions would have to wait… especially when he took a closer look, beginning to recognize the foals. He’d seen them in person once, when a school from Ponyville had come to the Royal Palace for a field trip… though that had been a while ago, so obviously they hadn’t been lost in the palace for all that time.

He rubbed a hoof to his forehead, muttering to himself as he reprimanded his tired head for even thinking of such a silly thing. He knew that three of them were rather familiar, having seen them in a picture before…

Realization dawned on him. These foals… they must be those girls from that cutie mark club Twily told me about in her letters. I think the yellow one is… Applesmack’s sister? No no, its Applejack, by Luna I need some rest.

Letting out a tired sigh, he carefully untangled the four foals, lifting them up one by one, before depositing them on his back and heading back the way he’d come. His sister, wife, and their friends were probably eating breakfast by now… might as well deliver the foals to them before he collapsed from exhaustion.

-*-Diamond Tiara-*-

She woke up with a start, finding herself in a bed inside a room that was not immediately familiar to her. She shook her head, rousing the last vestiges of the sleep from her head as she tried to take stock of herself.

At first, she couldn’t remember much, wondering how she had even gotten back in the bed. Or if this was even supposed to be her bed. Thinking about it gave her an odd feeling, which took a moment to describe to herself.

I feel… numb… and empty… and alone. Like… like somepony should be here with me… or… or inside me…

But instead… she just felt like there was a hole inside of her. As if a piece of her was missing.

"I am sorry…"

She nearly jumped when she heard the soft whisper, looking about the room as she tried to find the source of it. Without even thinking about it though, she found herself thinking Saying sorry is not enough, it’ll never be enough.

Why had she thought that? And where did that voice come from?

"Diamond Tiara you… you became my friend after everything he did to you, even though I didn’t deserve it. You forgave me when I couldn’t forgive myself… even you didn’t deserve such treatment.”

The filly, who now remembered her name was Diamond Tiara, looked around for the pony that was speaking, but couldn’t find one. The voice was strangely familiar to her…

"I know… that saying sorry isn’t enough. I know that no number of apologies will ever fix what I have done. But whatever happens, you were willing to be there to try and help me… us. You had every reason to hate both of us and... urg, just say it! You were my friend, and I yours. I would like to make things right… so that we can become friends again.”

Just ignore it, you will just get hurt again. She thought to herself, closing her eyes and letting out a hmph as she imagined herself giving this voice the cold shoulder.

But…the voice sounded very sorry, almost desperate for forgiveness. Pleading even. Could she really ignore it?

"Please… please tell me what I have to do so we can be friends again! I… I honestly don't know!"

A part of her wanted to try and say something, but another thought came unbidden to her mind. Not worth it, already betrayed once. No matter what you did, you have no real friends, remember? No pony was there to save you when you needed them.

"I… please answer me, say something! Even if its insults, even if you curse my soul to Tartarus or some other demonic plane! I need to know you are there! Please!"

That voice…

It was somepony who hurt her. Somepony who was rude, and insulting, somepony who… who gave up her most valuable possession to heal another friendship. Somepony she had played with, somepony who had lived a mostly isolated and lonely life until she became her friend.

Diamond Tiara touched around her neck, expecting something to be around it. There was nothing…

Why… why had she forgiven those ponies? Why had they become friends? It made no sense! They’d both hurt her!

Those ponies… why couldn't she remember their names?

Its better to forget, memories just give you pain and suffering, and if you can't remember them, memories cannot hurt you. That’s what something in her head was trying to tell her...

But that wasn’t right.

Not all memories are painful, some are beautiful. Some memories warm your heart, while others make it feel like its breaking in two. But life was full of such moments… and focusing solely on them, letting them hold you down. She had learnt that clinging to such pain only caused more pain.

Here she was listening to somepony who wanted to apologize, and she was refusing to do so. How much pain was it causing this pony who seemed so familiar to her?

"Who… who are you?" Diamond Tara finally asked, pushing behind the voice inside her heart that told her it was better to just forget.

"Diamond...did you forget? I’m the friend who helped mend the fence with your best friend, Silver Spoon, and helped get the CMC to not see you as the spoiled rotten brat they saw you to be.”

Diamond Tiara ignored the ache on her heart at hearing about Silver Spoon and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Yes… but who are you? What's your name? Do I know you?"

"Yes Diamond Tiara...you do know me. My…. my name is… Cain."

The memories came flooding in, of how one moment she had been having a pleasant dream about a trip to the beach with her entire family, and the next where a strange towering creature from the shadows with eyes of red had cast a shadow upon her and her dream scape, transforming it into the halls of the school she had come to hate. Conjuring forth those vile foals who had tormented her and subjected her to an endless barrage of their insults and poisonous words.

Memories of Princess Celestia, and of someone who seemed to almost be a lighter opposite, though as she came to know him she had learned he had his own flaws and demons haunting him. Of the darker twin, Strife, bowing down before the might of the Princess and the threats of Cain’s will.

Of those dreams with Luna, in which the three of them had forged the first bonds of friendship and camaraderie, where she learned that Strife wasn’t just some malevolent being who enjoyed torturing her, but a complex entity that was born from Cain’s own hard life.

And so much more… including those final moments before darkness had taken her, and before that strange tearing feeling that had left her numb.

“C-Cain? W-Where are you? W-Where’s Strife?”

The voice was silent for a moment… it almost seemed as if it was having trouble reaching out to her. “Well, we’re in the Palace dungeon… but specifically, I’m in the mindscape...I… I just finished watching how Discord… broke you.” He paused for a moment, and then added “Strife is enjoying her new freedom, despite how limited it is right now.”

She recalled all the hurtful things that she had heard her friends say, including everything that Discord had whispered to her afterwards. It still hurt… as did the things she had overheard Cain and Strife saying.

“W-Why did you say all those things? I-I thought… I…”

This time, the silence was longer, and she could barely hear what he said in reply. It seemed they were losing the ability to communicate like this with each other. “W-Wait Cain! I-I couldn’t hear you! P-Please!” She shouted, getting no response from him… but drawing the attention of somepony else.

“Darling? Princess? Are you alright?” the voice of her mother called as she peeked through the door, her face showing a few worried creases as she slowly opened the door.

“I… I don’t know Mamma…” Diamond said, pulling the pillow nearby to her chest as she hugged it for a moment, staring down at the floor as she imagined herself gazing all the way down into the dungeons where Cain and Strife were. “I… I think Cain was trying to r-reach out to me?”

Silver Tongue’s face didn’t show what she thought about that, but she slowly trotted in, climbing into the bed and settling in next to her as she wrapped a loving hoof around her. “Do you know why?”

“I… I think he wanted to apologize for what happened… h-how he hurt me before he and Strife were freed.”

This got a frown from Silver Tongue, who asked “What do you mean he hurt you? Did they do something before they helped free Discord?”

Diamond Tiara shifted about uncomfortably, feeling a bit guilty about that herself. If she had resisted what Discord had told her, she might have been able to stop them… assuming of course they would have listened to her at that point.

“D-Discord showed me how they really felt… o-or at least the feelings they weren’t willing to share with me.” She replied, telling her all the things they’d shouted at her that had made her believe she had no friends… she didn’t fail to notice her mothers surprise at the brief mention of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but was too busy thinking about everything else to ask about it.

For a moment, Diamond simply felt her mother pull her closer, holding onto her tight and offering a comforting anchor to hold onto amidst all these conflicting feelings now rolling within her.

“Diamond… do you remember how you’ve always felt when I had to go away for a while, to do my job for Princess Celestia and Luna?”

Was this a trick question? “Of course I do… I always count the number of days you’ve been gone, wondering how soon we’ll get a letter and when you’ll come home so we can all be together again.”

Silver Tongue nodded and hummed to herself, Diamond seeming to have answered properly as she went on. “Now Diamond, how might you feel if you, or your father and I, was to go someplace where you would never be able to see me, to talk to me, to hear me or feel my hooves holding you tight…”

At first, Diamond’s heart nearly stopped, suddenly fearing that perhaps her mother was intending to leave her. But then her mind caught up… and she saw where she was beginning to go. “I’d… I’d be really upset. No… upset’s not strong enough. I’d be heartbroken… I’d feel like a part of me had been ripped out and thrown beyond my reach.” Which she already felt had happened, though understood it was different.

“Mmhmm. At least with me, you can write to me, and eventually I’ll come home. But for Cain… and Strife… they weren’t from here. They’re home is another world… with their own family. One that it seems they cannot get to even after being pulled out from you by the very being who brought them here.” Silver Tongue said, rubbing at Diamonds back as she added “The pain they feel from not being able to see their own loved ones, to let them know where they are or to even see them… it must be incredibly painful to them both.”

“I do not think either of them meant to harm you princess… I think they were just letting out the pain they have been holding back since they got here. I think they still care about you… and Cain reaching out to you is proof of that.”

Diamond took a moment to mull over everything her mother had said, trying to imagine what she might have done in Cain’s and Strife’s place. It didn’t take her long to realize that she would probably… no, she would have done the same if she was in there hooves.

“I... guess I shouldn’t judge them then… should I?” She asked, looking up to her mother and hoping she could point her in the right direction, since she hadn’t had much luck on her own.

Silver Tongue nodded her head, though she did say “What it means is you should understand why they did what they did, before you get angry at them. To judge before understanding is always a mistake, whether its between friends or nations.”

Diamond Tiara thought about that, just as her mother was getting called by her father. “Be there in a moment sweetie.” She shouted back, turning and giving Diamond a soft nuzzle as she said “I hope I helped dearie… and I’m sure the Princesses and the Elements will be able to fix anything. You just rest and get to feeling better… you’ve been through an awful lot.”

She nodded, watching as Silver Tongue walked out of the room. She slowly hopped off the bed, walking over to a nearby vanity and gazing into the mirror for a moment and studying her reflection.

For a brief moment, she saw the faces of Strife and Cain beside her, but then they vanished. Again, she felt that strange sense of loss, like a part of her was missing…

“Cain… Strife… I… y-you both hurt me…” She softly said as she rested her hooves on the counter before her, her head soon lying atop them as she continued looking into the mirror. “All those things you said… I… I wouldn’t have thought they’d have hurt so much… but they did. And even if you meant every word of it… y-you could have told me i-instead of holding it in…”

With a sigh, she closed her eyes, picturing them both in her mind for a moment as she murmured “I’m still mad at you… but… but…”

For a brief moment, she thought she could hear an echo of their voice, their thoughts. And for a moment, she felt whole again.

“I… I think, I can forgive you… both of you.”

-*-Strife-*-

Strife was bored, really bored, with Cain busy seeing those memories, she was alone.

"What to do? What to do?" She thought to herself, tapping her claws on the floor beneath her as she waited for Cain to return, having finally figured out how they were going to share this body of theirs.

'Mmm… do I really want to go back home? Sure it’s Cain's home, but the thing is.. they are his family and friends… they’re only mine by association.'

Truth be told, Strife’s main motivation to free Discord was not to be destroyed by the mind fusion. She actually liked Equestria, in no small part because she actually had her own body, of a sort, and was free to do as she pleased once she got out of this cell. Plus it was the place where she finally got a friend that she could say was actually hers.

A friend... that she had betrayed. Or had she? Had the whole mind fusion deal happened, not only she and Cain would be gone, but also Diamond Tiara, what would be left is a new filly that combined the three of them. She did miss Cain's friends and family, but they were friends and family she had never interacted with, save when Cain let his temper get the better of him, and those weren't happy memories. So by betraying the filly, she had also saved her.

Yeah, definitely not the land of happiness and rainbows seen in a cartoon for kids, as weird as it sounded, this was real life.

'My only happy memories that are truly mine are with… these ponies.'

As much as it disgusted her, making her want to gag just as much as their beloved father no doubt would. She would feel a fair bit better, if she could know for certain that her actions hadn’t destroyed the friendships they’d built… however short lived they may have been.

“Ugh, at this rate I’d be happier to even have any of them down here yelling at me… at least I wouldn’t be alone…”

Silence… and then… she heard something else stirring. Her red eyes shot up, gazing past the iron bars of her cell and searching for the source of the noise. It would seem she wasn’t the only one down here.

“Hmm… what a delightful bit of fortune...hmm… and here I thought the Princesses didn’t even use these cells.”

That voice… it was familiar. It had a faint buzz to it, as if it was coming from an insect… but few insects could hope to be as dangerous as the source of that voice could be.

“Queen Chrysalis…” She said, mentally cursing herself for forgetting that Princess Celestia had mentioned the capture of the Changeling Queen.

A hissing chuckle floated through the air from the cell across from her, and soon a pair of green eyes were gazing cooly in her direction. “My reputation precedes me… a pity it seems. Perhaps had I known they were aware of my kind… I could have been better prepared.”

Strife didn’t say anything immediately, considering the fact that she knew how it was that Chrysalis’ plans had failed. This didn’t seem to bother the Changeling Queen, who appeared to be sitting on all four legs, wings buzzing every so often and adding a soft hum to the air.

“So friend… what is it that brought such an interesting specimen such as yourself down here to share these fine dungeons with yours truly?”

Not having anything better to do right now, Strife simply shrugged, leaning back against the wall of her cell and giving Chrysalis an even stare. “Oh, the usual. Just breaking free the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony so that he could be free to roam the land turning the skies perriwinkle, the tree’s into sponges, and filling cream-puffs with poison joke.”

That got an interested buzz from the Changeling Queen. “Well well, aren’t we the ambitious one? I take it you had something to gain from all of that, considering Discord is not known for being the charitable sort?”

She nodded her head. “Oh of course we did. He promised us our own bodies… though he seems to have found it more interesting to leave us glued to one another.”

“Perhaps I am missing something… I see only one person in that cell of yours.” She replied, her expression clearly implying how she thought her a tad mad. Not that that was all that far off the mark.

“One body, two souls. Or, if you want to get technical, I’m suffering from a VERY extreme case of split personality disorder.” Strife chuckled, which soon became a mad cackle as she went on to say “Considering that I’m the spawn of Discord, I shouldn’t be that surprised he decided to keep things this way.”

That seemed to pique Chrysalis’ curiosity, as she got up and drew closer to the bars of her own cell, sitting back on her hind quarters as she said “Oh my… now that is something I must simply know more about. At the very least, it will be better than trying to count each particle of dust gathered on the walls of my prison.”

“Hmph...why should I tell you anything?” Strife asked, frowning at the sudden curiosity Chrysalis seemed to be showing in her.

“Its not like either of us have anything better to do… unless of course you’d prefer the silence?” Chrysalis asked, giving Strife a coy, almost knowing smile.

Unfortunately, Chrysalis was right. Neither her nor Cain had ever been very good at dealing with silence, and since Cain still seemed to be busy elsewhere in their mind, she did need something to do to keep her mind occupied and away from the fact that, until she could find some way out of here, or the Princesses decided to show some mercy, she was stuck down here.

Rolling her eyes and shrugging, Strife said, “Fine, but you’ll need to make it up to me with those freaky changeling powers of yours somehow.” Strife felt a small smirk tugging at her lips, a few ideas already filling her mind.

Chrysalis seemed to consider the offer, then likewise shrugged as she said “Very well. Now, please enlighten me as to what you meant when you said you were the ‘spawn of Discord’.”

Strife took a moment to stretch, then explained “It’s a bit of a story, and to be honest, I don’t think I know every bit… but I can tell you what I know for certain, and give you my theories…” Settling into the bench she sat upon, Strife closed her eyes and began to weave the tale for her captive audience…

-*-Twilight and Company-*-

Twilight and her friends had just been about to head off to do their own things, Twilight speaking with some of the Royal Council while Cadence went off to begin the Day Court, when somepony that Twilight hadn’t seen in a long time walked into the room.

Her delight at seeing her brother, tired though he was, was quickly tempered when she saw that he was coming into the room bearing some unexpected guests.

“What in tarnation? Apple Bloom? What is she doing here?” Applejack asked as she, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash quickly galloped over, pulling a foal each off his back, and leaving Twilight to grab hold of Silver Spoon.

“I don’t know… I found them all asleep in the hallway, just passed out on the floor. They didn’t even budge when I tripped over them…” Shining Armor replied as he collapsed to the floor, letting out a long yawn as he looked up to his sister. “Hey Twily, long time no see.”

“Shining! Have you been overworking yourself again?!” Twilight berated, even as Princess Cadence snickered quietly to herself, lifting a cup of coffee over to him.

“Don’t be so hard on him Twilight, he takes his job seriously, just as you do your own studies. It seems to be a family trait to go the extra mile when an important task needs done.”

Fluttershy came over and nudged Twilight, whispering to her that she could take Silver Spoon so she could confer with her brother. Giving her an appreciative nod, she allowed the filly to be taken away, settling herself next to her older brother and shaking her head at him. “I was hoping that the next time I saw you you’d be awake enough for a hug.”

He chuckled weakly, pulling his head up enough to sip from the offered coffee. “Don’t worry, your BBBFF will make sure to give you all the hugs you could want… right after I take a twelve hour power nap.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” Twilight said as Cadence trotted over, giving him a rather affectionate nuzzle, that Twilight didn’t miss as she began speaking softly to him.

“Come on now Shining… I’ll help escort you to your quarters, and then you can get some well deserved rest. Twilight can handle things from here, and you’ve more than done your part in protecting the palace and the city.”

He nodded, not having the strength to currently resist much, even if he really wanted to. Twilight quirked an eyebrow up as she watched the pair depart, making a mental note to inquire at the rather intimate way Cadence was touching her brother. Shining had mentioned finding a special somepony in his last letter, but he’d kept it secret so as to both tease her, and keep her from playing the role of protective younger sibling.

But that was neither here nor there. She shook her head, turning her attention back to matters of greater importance. Such as why the Crusaders and Diamond Tiara’s friend were doing in the palace, not to mention how they’d even gotten INSIDE it. She’d have to check with Shining’s second in command.

Applejack and the others were in the process of waking the four foals up, but Rarity had stepped away and was now heading towards her, a very concerned look on her face. “Twilight dear, I think we may have a bit more of a situation on hand then their presence alone might imply.”

“What do you mean Rarity? Beside the fact that your sister and her friends somehow managed to slip through what is supposed to be one of the most highly guarded places in Equestria?”

“I believe Discord might have had something of a role to play, actually.” She replied, turning and leading Twilight over to the four, who were now looking nervously up at the older foals around them.

“Uh… Hiya Twilight… n-nice day ain’t it?” Apple Bloom began, but a stern glare from AJ sealed her lips.

“Twilight,” Rarity began, looking at all four fillies for a moment before returning her gaze to Twilight, “Can you tell me if you see anything ‘off’ about these four fillies?”

Twilight looked down at them, first noting that they weren’t all that keen to be the center of attention now… but more importantly, there seemed to be something rather odd about their colors. Twilight didn’t recall their coats or manes being so… brightly hued. One might not notice it if one didn’t have a good eye for detail… but now that Rarity had pointed it out, it was noticeable.

“Rarity, are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Twilight asked, her tone implying it was more of a rhetorical question than an honest one.

“I believe so Twilight my dear. Shall we?”

Before anyone else, who might not have exactly understood where this line of conversation was going, could do anything, Twilight and Rarity’s horns lit up, their magical aura’s wrapping around the fillies for but a moment, glowing brighter even as the magically applied coloring began to fade from each of their coats, mane, and tail.

Soon enough, the magic had faded, leaving four grey-scaled foals looking rather confused at what had just happened.

“What the hay?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, picking up Scootaloo and turning her over this way and that, much to said fillies annoyance. “They look all grey and dull like we did when Discord did his magic mumbo jumbo on us!”

“See girls!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, glaring weakly at the others as she crossed her hooves over her chest. “I told you something funny was going on, but you were all too busy thinking about getting back at Diamond and Cain to notice!”

“Woah there, slow down a minute. Ya’ll might want to explain why exactly you’re all here in the first place, and how you ended up all greyed out.” Applejack said, to which Scootaloo harrumphed.

“We came here to tell Diamond and Cain how we REALLY felt about them. And I don’t know what all of you are talking about, we’re fine.”

“Scoots, I don’t need to be the element of Honesty to know your lying through your teeth.” Rainbow Dash shook her head as she used her hoof to rub little circles into her head. “Come on now, Sweetie there seems to know that something is up with all of you, why can’t you see it?”

“Sweetie is just worried we’ll get in trouble.” Silver Spoon replied, looking rather bored now with the conversation. “We didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Yes we did! Don’t you remember how we said all those mean things to Diamond Tiara, how she broke down crying and curled up?” Exclaimed Sweetie Belle, looking to the others and finding that they were either ignoring her or shaking their heads.

“I think I know how to solve this girls.” Twilight said, her horn beginning to glow as she recalled every bit of the memory restore spell she had used previously. The fillies, save Sweetie Belle, seemed to recoil at the light, trying to back away from her even as the others blocked their routes of escape.

“Sorry dearies, but none of you are going anywhere until we get to the bottom of this.” Rarity said as Twilight leaped forward, pressing her horn to the tip of Apple Bloom’s, than Scootaloo’s, and finally Silver Spoon’s heads. They struggled against her efforts until the spell managed to take hold, and as they were recovering from the rush of memories, Twilight cast the spell upon Sweetie as well.

“Thanks Twilight… everything’s a whole lot clearer now.” Sweetie said, gently shaking her head before turning her head to see how the others were faring.

Other than a few groans of discomfort and a lot of blinking, they seemed fine… until Apple Bloom exclaimed “Sweet holy horse apples, what have we done?”

“I think that’s what everypony here would like to know.” Pinkie piped up as she bounced over, finally joining the rest of them in their little circle of ponies. She licked the whipped topping from a tart off her nose and giggled “In fact, you could say it’s the One Million Bit question!”

"We… ah darn, we… we said a lot of means things to Diamond Tiara and Cain." Applebloom said looking down at the ground bleakly, lower lip beginning to tremble as she recalled every last word.

"Yeah, sorry Sweetie Belle, you were right… we should’ve listened." Scootaloo rubbed the back of her neck, avoiding the eyes of Sweetie Belle and the rest of the Element bearers.

Silver Spoon shook her head, tears beginning to form at the edge of her eyes as she admitted, "I.... I badmouthed my best friend, even after all I know she’s been through… even Cain, after he had tried to help us mend our friendship..."

Sweetie Belle was roughly in a similar state of guilt. “I knew what was happening was wrong… but somehow I couldn’t get my lips to say it. I tried to stop it… but I couldn’t.”

A moment of silence followed this, broken only when Fluttershy asked “C-Could this have anything to do with what happened yesterday? With Cain and Strife freeing Discord?”

"Woah woah, timeout.” Rainbow Dash interrupted, just as Twilight was about to offer her thoughts on said theory. “How is it that Sweetie Belle was able to resist some of Discord’s influence, but the others couldn’t? That makes no sense!"

“Considering that this is Discord we’re talking about darling, it actually makes perfect sense.” Rarity chimed in, earning a dirty look from the cyan pegasus.

"I was able to resist him when he first appeared… but I don’t know if that was because of anything special. Maybe he didn’t have enough powers to do it properly with all four of them?" Fluttershy queried, before glancing down and ruffling Sweetie’s mane. "You’re a very kind hearted pony, aren’t you?”

"Maybe?” She replied, tilting her head briefly in confusion… before going “Ohhh… maybe because I’m such a nice pony, his spell couldn’t fully affect me.”

“That’s certainly one theory, and its the only one I got right now.” Twilight Sparkle murmured.

“So… what happened with Diamond Tiara and Cain'" Apple Bloom asked, looking about for a moment in confusion. “In fact… where are the Princesses. This is the Palace after all, shouldn’t they be here?”

“The Princesses are out looking for Discord.” Twilight said, again ready to continue, but stopped as Rainbow Dash let out an angry growl.

“Yeah, cause those two knuckleheads decided in a fit of insanity to break Discord’s statue, freeing him and getting their own body in exchange.”

"What? Ya mean Discord is loose?"

"He got free?" Scootaloo asked, looking rather worried by such a prospect.

"I… I think we had something to do with that. We messed up big time." Silver Spoon declared, sniffing a bit and wiping away the tears that had been slowly making their way down her muzzle.

Sweetie Belle approached Rarity, nudging her hooves slightly as she asked "Uh… big sis… is there anything we can do to help? We’ve just got to make up for what we did.”

"Well darling, I’m quite sure Diamond Tiara would like to hear all of you apologizing for what you said to her, even if it was under Discord’s Control. That’s a start at least.”

Scootaloo let out a grunt, rolling her eyes and saying, “Duh, we kind of figured that one out.”

"Hold on a minute, so are Cain and Strife helpin Discord now?" Applebloom asked, seeming to be bothered by the idea of the seemingly nice Cain helping that dastardly Discord.

"No, the coward ran away like a fox with its tail between his legs, and left those two to take the blame. So the princesses threw them in a special cell that blocks magic." Applejack sounded really annoyed, showing it when she stomped a hoof onto the floor and asking "What kind of father just leaves their daughters hanging up dry like that?”

"My parents may travel around and leave Sweetie Belle with me a lot, but at least they do care about Sweetie Belle when they are at home. Discord just dropped Cain and Strife off to face the fury of the Royal Sisters.” Rarity commented, shaking her head at the sad state of affairs.

"Wait, wait a minute, I’m really lost now..." Scootaloo said, scratching her head for a moment as she asked “Are you guys saying that Discord is Cain and Strife’s dad?” She had a hard time believing it.

"Yeperroni!" Pinkie Pie said. "Discord is a really big mean mean meanie pants."

"Anyway, we need to prioritize. We can explain everything while we move ahead with trying to get things under control.” Twilight said, taking charge as she drew herself up and turned her attention to the resident party pony.

“Pinkie Pie, could you take the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Silver Spoon to see Diamond Tiara? She should be up by now as well, and I’m sure she could use some cheering up. But NO parties.”

"Oki Doki Twilight, I’ll just-"

"And no singing! We’re in the middle of a crisis."

"Ahh… alright. I can still throw a party later, right?"

"Once we’ve dealt with Discord, you most certainly can." Twilight Sparkle knew she had to agree to that or Pinkie Pie would get sad.

"Well, you heard her girls, let’s go and see your friend." Pinkie Pie got the fillies together and bounded out, leaving Twilight and the others to themselves for a moment.

Watching her friend go, Rainbow Dash shook her head and turned back to Twilight. “So Twi, how exactly are we gonna use Pinkie’s idea to ‘get things under control’?”

“I’m thinking about it Rainbow Dash… I know the Princesses went out to find Discord, but I think he hasn’t left the city, or even the Palace. He could be anywhere.”

“Or anything…” Fluttershy murmured softly, looking about fearfully for a moment.

Applejack looked around as well, before shaking her head and saying “Ah horse apples Fluttershy, if Discord was hangin’ about somewhere nearby, he would have done somethin’ by now. Doesn’t mean the varmint isn’t lurking about though.”

“Exactly. And he might strike soon, especially with the Princesses gone. I’m just glad that Celestia left Cadence here… she still hasn’t taught me the spell to get back into the vault. We’ll need her to help us get the Elements out.”

“I still don’t understand why we didn’t keep the Elements out… what if he shows up and we can’t get to them in time?” Rainbow Dash asked, sending a glance towards one of the nearby windows, which offered a good view of the tower holding the Elements of Harmony.

“For one, that’s part of Pinkie’s plan, if you recall.” Rarity grumbled, adding “Which is such a pity… we all look so magnificent when they adorn our necks.”

“And for another, Discord might be able to use his own magic to try and vanish them away. Celestia has taken special precautions this time, with the help of Luna even, to ensure that he can’t get to them when they’re inside the vault. Princess Celestia didn’t want our only true defense against him to be pulled out from under us again.” Twilight explained, starting to pace as her mind raced through the details Pinkie had shared.

Applejack stepped forward, eyes creased in worry. “But are we all sure that Discord will really come out for this? Discord’s proved to be a pretty slick one before. He might see right through it.”

“And should we really do it without letting anyone else know? We haven’t even told Cadence… I don’t think the Princesses would be happy with what Pinkie has in mind.” Rarity added, getting nods of agreement from Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

"True, but Discord is also egocentric, it’s what got him defeated in the past. Plus we are also the only challenge that he has left to his rule. Leaving the Elements out and within his reach would be a really bad idea.”

"Uh… Twi… I just thought of this… but what if he is listening in right now?" Rainbow Dash asked raising a hoof and gesturing at, well, everything in the room.

Rarity let out a groan, shuddering as she said “At this point, I think I’d take those Changelings. At least they can’t alter reality with a clap of their hooves.”

"There is nothing we can really do if he is. And Rarity, please don't give Discord ideas. We really don’t need him releasing all the Changelings the Royal Guard found."

"Oh please, those bug faces?" Discord's voice echoed in the hall, earning gasps from the assembled Ponies as they looked about for its source. The twitchiness they exhibited resulted in a dark, annoying cackle. "My, Twilight Sparkle, what would be the fun in that? Anypony could use an army, but how many can use this?"

There was a sound of snapping claws, followed by tremble that shook the whole room... yet nothing seemed to have happened. This didn’t help anypony’s nerves.

"What did you do, Discord?!" Twilight Sparkle shouted, running multiplication problems through her head to help keep calm.

"Oh, that's for me to know and for your silly ponies to find out!" He said, his laughter slowly fading away. Then the five mares promptly got a pie to the face.

"Mmm, not bad, Pinkie had a point." Applejack said licking her face, while everypony looked at her. "What? Just because he’s a bad guy doesn’t mean Ah can’t appreciate the pie.”

Shaking her head, Twilight said "Quick everypony, let’s see if anything is different. Even the slightest thing could be important." Twilight Sparkle said and everypony looked over themselves and everything around them, but nothing seemed different.

The earth trembled again and a giant mole appeared from a giant hole in the ground. The beast was wearing a top hat and a monocle, even as it let out a mighty roar that shook the room to its foundations, breaking some of the windows.

"Okay… now I wish Pinkie Pie was here to make the appropriate commentary about this thing." Applejack muttered, before letting out a rather dainty sneeze and adding "Oh my word, a giant mole? That will just not do, it clashes with absolutely everything in this room. And its going to cost a fortune to fix the floor, tsk tsk, the Princesses aren’t going to be happy about that.”

"Applejack?" Twilight Sparkle asked, suddenly worried, only for the Earth pony to sneeze again shaking her head as she seemed to return to normal.

"What? Did Ah say something?"

"You kinda… turned back into fancy Applejack who loves oranges for a moment." Rainbow Dash said sounding freaked, only for her to sneeze herself and her wings turned into butterfly like wings, looking VERY reminiscent of the gossamer wings Rarity had for a short time.

Fluttershy let out an eep, stuttering as she looked up. "Uh…oh dear... Rainbow Dash? Don't look now but your wings look a tad... well I think they look beautiful."

Rainbow Dash looked herself over "What the hay? My wings! He’s turned them into bug wings! These’ll snap off if I get hit by a light gust of wind.”

"Actually, I think he turned you into a Flutterpony, your wings are not frail, but your body must now be lighter and weaker than that of a pegasus. Flutterponies wings are actually as hard as unicorn horns, since they are the focus of their magic… just… try to not crash… I’m not quite sure since they are supposed to be a legend."

“Come on girls, lets get this plan of Pinkie’s rolling before anything else weird happens.” Twilight said, turning about and making a mad dash for the door even as the Mole pulled out a giant edition of the Canterlot Times, humming pleasantly to himself and began reading.

-*-Strife, Cain, & Queeny-*-

"And that's about it, everything that matters anyways." Strife said, letting out a tired sigh. 'Damn I really talked a lot, wonder if it’s because the old man likes to brag… '

Then Strife could finally sense Cain back in her head “Ugh, finally. What took you so blasted long.”

Their eyes shifted for a moment, going from red to blue as I said “Hey, don’t blame me. I had contact with Diamond Tiara for a moment, and then lost it. I thought I heard something but then I got booted out of the room. Door’s not even there anymore.”

"I might be a shape-changing ‘evil’ monster that feeds on love to survive, and I do not see family the same way ponies do, but even Changelings do not abandon their young. At least, not unless there is no chance of their survival.” Chrysalis muttered darkly, frowning as she pondered everything she had heard.

“What is going on?” I asked, rather confused as to why Queen Swiss Cheese was beginning to hiss and chirp in a rather insulting tone.

Strife retook control, shrugging as she thought 'I just told her the summarized version about Discord being our dad, abandoning us to take the blame, without letting her know that it was us who told Celestia and Luna about the changeling invasion. Indirectly at least.’

'I see. Well, I guess that since she is basically like an insect queen, only smarter, she would see what Discord did in a bad light. Heck, what race out there just throws a newborn away like that?'

'I am not a newborn!' Strife said and started to suck her tail in mock protest. And then a moment later added ‘And you know the answer to that mister history buff.’

'Dude, we just got a body like, a few hours ago, technically we are.' I muttered, shaking my own head as Strife retreated inside our head, both of us appearing to be younger versions of our new form, with only a few minor differences between us to tell the each other apart. ‘And don’t remind me about that.’

"Right, nevermind, so were you able to make peace with Diamond Tiara? That took way too long to be a trip down memory lane."

Letting out a tired sigh, I shook my head "I tried, but it was very hard and I don't know if she believed me." I started walking around nervously, not happy with the results and what they meant. "So… what's next?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because I’m not asking her highness across the street, and because I figure if anyone has any idea about what’s going on, it’s you."

"Well, he’ll probably get the princesses out of the way somehow. Then he’ll get bored and start messing with things... other than that though, I got nothing. Despite what I look like, I am not a jerkass chaos god who only thinks about himself. I mean yeah, I am a jerkass, but not to his level. Not yet anyways, and at least when I was a jerk it wasn't because I found it amusing! Well… not most of the time."

"So, the Great and Powerful Strife has no master plan?"

"First of all, I am not Trixie. She’s just a hack who probably ran home to cry to her Mamma. Second, my master plan is to hope that by the time dear old dad has been turned into Discord the Lawn Ornament the Third, that the Princesses will have calmed down enough to let us out. That and see if I can make Queen Cheese copy Celestia to mock her."

"Sooo… you’re just going to sit here and wait it out, hope everything ends up like it does in the show?” I asked, feeling a tad incredulous. I would have thought by now it’d be easy to know that this world wasn’t like the show.

"Why not? Without magic there’s nothing else either of us can do, and he seems to have learned from his mistakes. How should I know what he will and won’t do. He’s got knowledge about our home, or Earth anyways, so who knows what he might do. Better for both of us to sit it out and hope for the best. Not that we have much choice.”

"Now that's a scary thought." I said, shuddering as the possibilities flitted through my head.

"Yeah, no kidding dude, all this time the ponies thought the power of friendship and all that jazz could save us, but in the end, it didn’t work like that." Strife then turned on the huge flatscreen TV "So… care to watch some cartoons we watched as kids? They’re burned into our memory and since I can grab anything and pull it up on here…”

"I’d personally prefer to try and find some way for us to escape.” I muttered, earning an indifferent shrug from Strife as I took control, thankful she wasn’t in a mood to argue about it.

“I believe she is having a conversation with herself- Ah, you’re back.” Chrysalis said, smirking as she looked my way, though that wasn’t what had my attention right now. “You seem to have attracted some rather interesting visitors.”

Four of the Mane six were standing in front of me… in various states of transformation. AJ was back to being Orangejack, Rainbow Dash looked like she had been crossed with a Butterfree, Rarity was a full fledged Diamond Dog, and not looking at all excited about it, while Fluttershy seemed to have been transformed into a cactus of all things. There wasn’t any sign of Twilight or Pinkie Pie.

“What in the name of all the gods above and below has happened to you guys?"

“Do you really need to ask?” Rainbow Dash asked rather bluntly, making me cringe a bit before smacking my head. Of course the answer was obvious.

“So, I take it that Discord is now Emperor of the World or some sort, and you’re his playthings?”

"No, he’s just playing his vile tricks without showing that ugly face of his." Orangejack said, quickly shaking her head though as she continued “Right now darling, that isn’t important. We need to get you out of here so you can help us with Cadence.”

"What did he do? Turn her into a dragon?" Strife asked, shunting me partially out as one eye shifted in color… and a moment later Strife was rolling with laughter, not doing anything to help convince them to let us out.

"Yes, and it’s not funny." Rainbow Dash protested… only to let out a few snickers a moment later as she recanted. "Okay… it’s a little funny. Just don't tell Twilight I said that."

“I won’t… but where is Twilight? Heck, where is Pinkie Pie?”

"Pinkie Pie is cheering up Diamond Tiara, and Twilight… uh… you better go and see for yourself." Rarity grunted, her voice having gotten a bit more… gravelly and deeper than it normally was.

"Fine, if you’re going to let us out, let’s get it over with. You gals got the keys?" Strife interrupted again, only to watch in a fair bit of amazement as Fluttercactus of all things tried to use the keys and open the lock. This didn’t seem to get very far, until Rarity lifted the potted desert plant up and turned it and the key into the lock.

With a click and a clack, the lock was taken care of and they pulled the door open. We took several steps forward and into the freedom beyond it.

Instantly both of us felt a rush of energy flood into it. I’ll just say it was something else, and leave it at that, but Strife seemed to be dealing with it better than I had. "Finally!" Strife snapped her claws, with me fearfully wondering what might happen… only for lollipops to appear in all of their mouths.

That… was certainly not what I or any of us were expecting. And apparently, it wasn’t what Strife was expecting either.

“Well, so much for giving us all plenty of firepower to blast anything Daddy Discord throws our way. Guess it’ll be a while before I have any control over this magic stuff.” Shrugging her shoulders, she looked to Orangejack and RD, waving her arm ahead as she said “Lead the way folks, I’ll be right beside you.”

Nodding, everypony ran down the hallway and up the stairs, quickly leaving the cell and the dungeon behind. And, incidentally, the only other occupant of the steel prisons.

“So… I guess that’s a no on letting me out?” Chrysalis asked, letting out a long hissing sigh as she looked down at a small rat that was making its way into her cell. She let out a tired groan as she murmured “Well, at least I’m not entirely alone.”

The rat looked up at her, crawling over to her hooves and sniffing at her curiously for a moment… before promptly biting her.

One loud stomp and a bloodstain later, and the Queen of the Changelings was back to being all alone.

The Big Finale

View Online

-*-The Royal Pony Sisters-*-

Celestia looked out over the Appleoosian Mountain range, frowning to herself as she thought about the trouble her student and friends were likely going through. Handing the reins of Equestria to the Element bearers, and her niece, while the two of them were searching for Discord had not sat well with her.

But she had a hunch that as long as they were present, Discord wouldn’t dare try and mess with the Element Bearers, or the Elements themselves. Leaving had been necessary, even if lying to her student left a sour taste in her mouth.

Not to say she nor Luna were just meandering about. Celestia had just finished speaking with Chief Thunderhooves, personally relaying the news that Discord was free once again and that the chief should prepare his people, should the Element Bearers fail.

A whisper, softer than any other creature would have noticed, drifted close to the edge of the giant boulder that Celestia was perched upon.

“So, were you able to inform Under-King Iron Tooth of what has occurred?”

Luna shifted from her shadow form and back into her equine one, looking somewhat tired and ruffled. “Yes… the Diamond Dogs within our borders have sworn to uphold the ancient agreement to not side with Discord. They’ll stay inside their own territory where Discord didn’t bother them last time.”

"Oh, but why would I toy with some mangy dogs when ponies are so much more fun?" Discord exclaimed, appearing before them in a flash of light as a paper crown sat lopsided upon his head.

Luna promptly fired an orb of charged magic at him which he easily avoided, much to her annoyance.

"YOU FIEND, WE WILL NOT LET YOU HURT OUR BELOVED SUBJECTS!"

"Oh Woona, you were so much more fun when you were small." Discord snickered, snapping his claws, shrinking Princess Luna into a very young filly, almost to the point of being a baby again.

Which was rather apt, as the little filly began crying before rushing over and wrapping her hooves around her big sister.

"Discord, you will not-" Princess Celestia began, before suddenly realizing she had lost her voice. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

"You talk far too much Celly, so I saved us both the time and just rendered you speechless, muahahaha.” He rolled in mid-air, holding his sides as he laughed at his own antics, ignoring the glare she was sending him.

“Of course, just getting rid of your voice isn’t enough. No, I have to make sure you won’t be able to interfere like you did last time.” Another flash of his damned magic, and Celestia found that she was no longer the Alicorn many would have recognized.

Instead, she had been turned into a pink Pegasus, with a smiley face for a cutie mark and golden locks flowing down her sides.

She hadn’t thought Discord would be so bold as to try something like this… but then she had also been basing that on the idea he hadn’t learned anything from his previous defeat. It seemed she had been mistaken.

"There, now you two will be out of the way for a while. Do enjoy the walk back to the soon-to-be-new and improved Canterlot, Chaos Capital of the world!” With that, he vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving the two princesses stuck at the edge of Equestria without most of their powers… and no way to reach their friends in time.

Now… they were on their own. Celestia could only hope that they would be able to stop him… before all was lost.

-*-Cain and Company-*-

I certainly hadn’t expected I’d be running through the halls of Canterlot with such a motley crew, but then that was only because Discord’s magic had turned them into such. We soon rounded a corner, ending up in a familiar looking hallway.

Stained glass windows were set into the wall to my right and left, all of them depicting memorable, historic moments in Equestrian history. I didn’t recognize most of them, but there were a few I did.

Of course, my thoughts were soon pulled away from the painted windows, and towards a rather odd sight. Taking up a fair bit of space in the room was a large pink Dragon, who I at first thought might have been Pinkie Pie… but then I noticed the color scheme of her spines, and quickly did the math.

“Well… at least she’s a pretty dragon.” I muttered as we drew close, spotting a slightly stooped purple mare with greying hair trying to rub one of Cadance’s new arms soothingly. When she saw us approaching, her wizened eyes sparkled with hope.

“Girls… Cain… I’m glad you’re here. Maybe now we can get things moving in the right direction.” Twilight croaked, coughing for a moment before looking up towards me.

“Geez… the old man did a number on all of you didn’t he?” Strife mumbled as Twilight beckoned for us to come closer. We did so, dropping to our legs as Strife asked the obvious “So, what exactly is the game plan Smarty Pants? You didn’t let us out just to be nice after all.”

She nodded. “You’re right Strife… we let you out hoping that you and Cain could help us beat Discord. It was originally Pinkie’s idea.” She cast her eyes downward for a moment, murmuring “By Celestia’s grace, I hope Discord hasn’t done anything to her or the foals.”

Giving her head a brief shake, she glanced back up to us as she continued. “Now though we have a bigger problem. The elements are locked within the Vault, and with the Princesses gone, Cadance is the only one who knows how to open it. Which… she can’t really do right now.”

“No, really? What clued you into that little fact Sparklebutt?” Strife asked, rolling her eyes when Cadance started to growl at her. “Oh calm down, it’s not like we can’t figure something out to fix this.”

“The question darling, is how? Cadance told Twilight how to perform the spell, but she doesn’t have enough energy right now to pull it off.” Orangejack said, casting her eyes towards the vault doors as she added “And before you ask, we already had Cadance try to open it the old fashioned way.”

“I think when this is all over, we really need to have a chat with Celestia about how we can get easy access to the Elements.” Rainbow Dash added, earning a giggle from Strife when we heard her higher pitched voice. “Hey! What’re you laughing at?”

“Nothing, absolutely nothing.” Strife replied, a smirk on her face even as I drew the conversation back to the matter at hand.

“So, what’s the plan then? Do we try and contact the Princesses and hope they can come here and bust them out for us?”

This suggestion had both Twilight shaking her head, and Strife joining in as well. “I don’t think that’ll work. I can’t send them a letter without Spike, and even then, they might not get here in time before Discord manages to lay a trap out for them.”

Strife nodded at this. “Assuming he hasn’t already done something to render them unable to help.”

“Yes… I was trying not to think about that.” Twilight said, giving Strife a frown before going on. “I was actually hoping that you might be able to help me change Cadance back into her normal self. I know you don’t have any practice with Magic, but perhaps you can give me the power I need to perform the spell.”

“It’s either that, or we throw you back in the cell.” Rainbow Dash added, giving us a stern glare as she said “If you can’t help us, there’s no way we can just let you off the hook after what you did.”

“Rainbow Dash!” Orangejack declared, giving her a glare of her own as Rainbow Dash fluttered a bit lower. “Now that is not the way to be speak to somepony whose help you are trying to receive!”

“Pfft, and that’s assuming you could put us back in. I’m out, and I’ll fight to stay as far away from that cell as I can.” Strife replied in kind, talon glowing with golden colored magic for a moment before she dispelled it. “So grandma Sparkle, how are we doing this? I give you a magical booster shot or something?”

"Hiya gals!" Pinkie Pie shouted, appearing out of nowhere and startling Strife, who looked ready to blast Pinkie with a ray of chaos magic as she took in several steadying breaths, her glare drilling into the oblivious pink party mare.

"Hey, why haven’t you been changed? All of us got messed up by Discord, but you still look like you always do!" Rainbow Dash protested as she buzzed about angrily.

Pinkie Pie looked at everyone with a curious expression "Hmm… who exactly all are of you? I feel like I should remember, but… oh! Wowy wow wow, look at that!” Pinkie exclaimed, her attention suddenly shifting to Cadance, who gave her an odd look as she raced up to the top of her head.

“You look really saddy waddy, and Pinkie Pie has the cure for that right here!” Pinkie Pie then pulled a chocolate cake out of nowhere, promptly throwing it in Cadance’s mouth. Cadance chomped down on it, letting out a low growl of approval as she savored the chocolatey goodness.

“Pinkamena darling, we’re your friends… Discord just made us look a little different than we usually do.” Orangejack explained, earning a harrumph from Rainbow Dash.

“A little? Have you seen what he’s done to us?”

“Hmm…” Pinkie Pie murmured to herself as she sat down upon Cadance’s head, tapping a hoof to her chin. “That would explain why those sweet little fillies said I should go help my friends.”

"What an absolutely novel idea Pinkie.” Rarity muttered, her tone turning sour as she obviously tried to resist the urge to scratch herself.

"Right… so… what do you girls need help with?” Pinkie asked, but just as all of them were about to say something, she spotted us, and her eyes widened significantly. “Oh my gosh, a real life Draconequus!" Pinkie Pie shouted, promptly bounding over and tackling Strife and I to the ground. "Can I keep it? Can I? Pretty please?"

Shaking her head at Pinkie’s antics, Orangejack stepped forward and explained. "Well honey, we need help opening a magical vault, but only the princesses can do it, and we cannot open it by force. If we can’t get into the vault, we won’t be able to stop Discord.”

Strife meanwhile, was feeling really good. In large part, this was because a great deal of attention was now being lathered on her by Pinkie Pie, and she was drinking it up like a kitten with a bowl of cream. The fact that she herself had never been able to physically experience a hug before had something to do with it.

‘Hmhmh… Pinkie Pie hugs are best hugs...’ She thought to herself, spacing out slightly as she hummed happily, leaving me to actually pay a fair bit of attention for both of us.

Pinkie Pie meanwhile, despite her seeming lack of thought on what help the girls needed, suddenly said “Well, why don’t you have someone pretend to be one of the Princesses? You know, use some super duper illusion magic to be a Princess for a bit?”

“Hmm… you know, that might just work.” I said aloud, a lightbulb appearing over our head as Strife rolled her eyes and continued. “Yeah, and you could use Chrysalis to do it, assuming she’d even agree to such.”

"Oh, my baby is so smart!" Pinkie Pie started to give tummy rubs to Strife, which made her squirm about even as I chuckled softly at the scene.

“That despicable excuse for a Queen?” Orangejack exclaimed, shuddering as she thought back to seeing her and hearing what she had been planning to do. “Why in Equus would she help us, and how can we be sure she wouldn’t try to escape?”

“She doesn’t benefit from a world in which Discord rules any more than we do… and you could offer her and her swarm freedom if they help.” I replied, earning a nod from the increasingly tired looking Twilight.

“Indeed… since Celestia left myself and Cadance here in charge… we could offer her such a deal. But we should still try to see if we can help Cadance.”

"Hehehe… well then… go get Queen bug and offer her a deal… I… I’m a tad busy." Strife chuckled, still under the assault of the terrifying pink hooves. She was not at all used to dealing with affection, despite how much a part of her had longed for it in some shape or form.

"Well then girls… go on and go speak… ahhhah… with Queen Chrysalis. We’ll be… here trying to fix Cadance.” Twilight Sparkle slowly said, her eyes drooping a fair bit before finally closing. Soft snores were soon heard coming from the elderly unicorn, leaving the others to continue on their own for the moment.

"Well darlings, we best be off then. It’s a shame we are forced to deal with such a harridan, but, as they say, c'est la vie!" Orangejack said, and the girls, save for PInkie Pie, Cadance, Strife and Twilight, galloped on off towards the dungeons, a new haste instilled with them as they found a reason for hope.

In the meantime, Strife knew she should do something to help, but between the hugs, the tummy rubs and Pinkie Pie acting so motherly with her, she wasn’t exactly in a position to do much. She was feeling way way too good right now.

'You know that she is just doing this because Discord ditched us, right?' I murmured softly to Strife, watching the scene from within us with a fair bit of amusement.

'Shut up, you always got all the hugs and kisses, always got all the love. Now you’re just jealous because it’s my turn.' Strife mentally protested.

‘No, actually I’m not. I’m more concerned about the whole ‘Discord trying to keep us from kicking his ass bit.’ I replied, turning our head towards Twilight and watching as she seemed to be slowly aging before our eyes. 'Look at how old Twilight is getting, at this rate she will die of old age, she saved our life, don't you care at all?'

Strife groaned and hawed and hummed before finally relenting. "Uh… fine… I will save Granny Twilight…" Strife declared aloud and snapped her claws, Twilight Sparkle then went back to her normal self… except that she now looked like a Griffon.

"Uhn, what happened?" Twilight snapped, springing up and looking at herself in horror. “I’m a griffon? I-I can't cast spells like this, t-the element of magic won't work!"

"Oh, shut up whinny bird! I saved you and… oh… that feels good…" Strife complaints were drowned out by her purring, since Pinkie Pie was expertly scratching behind her ears.

'You turned her into a Griffon just because that way you could work with Discord's spell instead of fighting it, right?' I asked, curious as to how exactly Strife had pulled it off.

'No actually, in fact I was just trying to do something to shut you up. She’s no longer aging, that’s all that I cared to bother with.’

Twilight Sparkle meanwhile was taking calming breaks while Cadance consoled her.

"It’s okay Twily, calm down." It was a curious scene, to see the huge pink dragon hugging a purple griffon chick.

"But, but… my magic… the elements…"

"Shh, it will be alright." Cadance then started to sing a song that sounded similar to ‘you are my sunshine’, though I couldn’t be sure as Pinkie Pie had apparently finished up with her tummy rubs and hugs… and was now proceeding to blow raspberries on our stomach.

As we both pealed in laughter, I found myself wondering what was happening to the foals… and whether Diamond Tiara was doing okay...

-*-CMC, Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara-*-

"So… any clue what to do now?" Scootaloo asked, looking at the others as they sat in the middle of Diamond Tiara’s guest room, which had already been affected by Discord’s presence, seeing as the Mirror had gotten out of the vanity and ran off screaming about glass eating lipstick.

Diamond Tiara hadn’t, as it turned out, been all that surprised when they showed up. The process of apologizing hadn’t taken long either, as it seemed Diamond had been thinking about what had happened since waking up.

While Scootaloo at least didn’t exactly see her as a friend yet, the differences between them had for the moment been dealt with… now the only question was how to help everypony else.

"Ah dunno." Applebloom said, watching as a cabinet nearby proceeded to open and close its doors to the tune of Working on the Railroad. She really wanted to go and buck Discord, but she was smart to realize that would not help.

Plus, he’d probably turn her into a bowl of apple sauce.

"I hate feeling useless, but this is Discord we’re talking about, what can a bunch of fillies do against him?" Silver Spoon said, causing Diamond Tiara to give her a reassuring hug even as Sweetie Belle spoke up.

"Look, I know Discord can be scary, but he isn't invincible, otherwise he wouldn’t have been trapped in stone two times." Sweetie Belle said. "Plus I was able to resist him! That’s gotta count for something."

"Yeah, but that was before he got free, now he can make anything he wants." Applebloom said and looked down.

"Girls, stop this! This.. this is just what Discord wants, don't you see?" Diamond Tiara said, quickly clambering atop a soapbox, a determined look appearing on her face. Sweetie Belle would have asked where it came from, but she figured it was easier to just blame Discord.

"When we’re separate, divided, he can take us one by one and do what he pleases. But when we work together… when we become friends and keep that friendship strong… he can’t stop you! That’s the power of Friendship, the power of Harmony, the power of MAGIC!”

Applause rang out amongst the pillows and cushions in the room, then returned to normal as the soap box vanished, Diamond splatting onto the floor as Scootaloo started pacing.

"Oh yeah, and that worked so well for us when we were in the train." Scootaloo said in a grumpy tone. "Face it Diamond Tiara, we’re just little fillies, what can we do to help anyway? I mean, three of us don’t even have our cutie marks yet, so how can we help the Elements of Harmony to stop a chaos spirit?"

"Well… uh…" Diamond Tiara mumbled, ears drooping down as she tried to think of an argument against that. When it was put like that… it really did seem-

No! She could do this, she knew they could find a way to help… she just had to show them that they had the power. "We do what we can, no matter how small it seems! Even the smallest act can make a real difference to somepony!"

They seemed to be warming up to the idea, glimmers of hope and determination shining in their eyes as Applebloom asked "Oh yeah? And just what do ya have in mind?"

"I had to deal with Discord for a while, so I know how he thinks… I think.” She shook her head, pushing any doubt aside as she continued.

“Discord cares only about himself, everything has to revolve around him somehow. He can't stand being ignored, he craves attention. Now tell me my fellow ponies, what's the best way to ignore somepony so much that they can’t help but notice?"

"Oh I know!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, hopping about in place as she said "We’ll make a party and... not invite him?" Sweetie Belle deflated a fair bit, frowning as she scuffed a hoof along the floor. "Uh... it's a stupid idea, isn't it?"

"No, it will work! Ah remember how bad I felt once when Ah was sick and Ah couldn' go to a family reunion in Appleloosa. AJ and Big Mac’ told me all about the party they threw… they had a blast, but Ah felt like Ah’d been forgotten." Applebloom then looked down "But... Pinkie Pie lost her memory, how are we gonna throw one without her help?”

That was a good question. When you needed to throw a party on the spot, Pinkie Pie was the one to turn to. 'Come on Diamond Tiara you can do it, you are a leader, just lead! Think of something!’

"Okay, so throwing a party might be a no… but Discord loves games. Why don’t we start playing a game, it's gotta be really silly, and when he comes to play, we tell him he can’t play. He’ll beg us to let him in, and we’ll keep telling him no. Or maybe we’ll let him join in, either way he’ll be distracted and focusing on us. He won’t be able to bother the Elements of Harmony while he’s doing that, which will let them get the Elements so they can come blast his sorry flanks!”

"Really?" Scootaloo said raising an eyebrow "And why would he want to play a game with a bunch of fillies like us? Couldn’t he have more fun messing with other ponies?”

Sweetie Belle tapped a hoof on her chin, before offering "Uh… because he gets bored easily?"

"I dunno if this’ll work Diamond.” Silver Spoon said, her low tone making it clear how uncertain she was of this. “How are we going to come up with a game that’ll be interesting enough for Discord?”

Diamond Tiara was a bit stumped there, again wishing that Pinkie Pie was there to give them a helping hoof…

Suddenly, a strange memory flashed in Diamond Tiara’s head, one she wasn't familiar with. It had to be one of Cain’s, because she saw a younger version of him reading a comic book that had a small little boy and an orange tiger...

"Girls… have any of you ever heard of Calvinball?" Diamond Tiara asked, her voice a little bit louder than may have been necessary. She had a devious smile forming on her face, and she could see that it was spreading to her friends.

"Nope, but sounds fun, how do we play it?" Apple Bloom asked, Diamond spotting a familiar twinkle of excitement in her eyes, and those of her crusader friends.

“Let me tell you… and listen carefully, because I’m not repeating these.” She said as she carefully explained the rules… and allowed her friends to figure out the rest of the plan.

-*-Queen Cheese (HEY!)-*-

"I am sorry Queen Chrysalis, but you must understand that even if the Princesses put Miss Twilight Sparkle and Princess Cadance in charge until this crisis was resolved. We most certainly can not release you and your changelings and thus allow you and your swarm to feed and prey on other ponies to your heart’s content. That would just be outrageous!" Orangejack said, giving Chrysalis a rather stern frown that might have scared a meek filly, but did little to the Changeling Queen.

"And you recall that the spirit of Disharmony known as Discord is running rampant and doing whatever he pleases, the laws of reality be damned, do you not?" The changeling queen asked. "If you want my help, you’ll have to prove you’re willing to gain it.”

"Now be waitin' a darn minute, if Discord is allowed to do all he wants, then thar won't be much love going aroun', won't there?" Rarity said, too angry to care if she was sounding like a country bumpkin at the time. Her deeper voice certainly didn’t help.

Chrysalis tilted her head, reaching a hoof up to her ear as she said "I’m sorry, I don’t speak dog, or whatever that was. Perhaps someone can enlighten me?” This earned her a dangerous growl from Rarity.

"Now Rarity, calm down, you can’t maim the pony we’re trying to get help from.” Orangejack said soothingly, running a hoof up and down her back as Rainbow Dash translated.

“Rarity said that if that meanie pants Discord keeps being bad to everypony, then there won't be love for you and your bugs to feed on." Rainbow Dash the Flutterpony said, flinching as she muttered “Dangit, I can’t be cool if I stay like this for much longer!”

Chrysalis seemed to honestly consider this. "Hmm… I suppose that him being on the loose would make it difficult to harvest love… our food might get turned into a toaster or a wooden plank when we aren’t looking.” Chrysalis let out a sigh, not seeming to be happy about what she was about to say, but pushing on ahead as she declared.

“Very well, I will help you and your… friend… get the Elements of Harmony out. In exchange, I ask for a full pardon of me and my hive, and to have them released back into my custody once Discord has been dealt with.”

"Free? YOU WILL NEVER BE FREE OF THE WEED! MUAHAHAHAHA!" Fluttershy, now looking like a pegasus version of Poison Ivy, shouted to the heavens. Apparently Fluttercactus was too dull and boring for Discord after about twenty minutes.

"Uh… Fluttershy darling, I don’t mean to offend, but don't you think calling yourself the Weed is a… how to say it… a way for your enemies to think of you as a mere second rate villain instead of the amazing, bashing and beautiful evil flower that you truly are?" Orangejack said off hand, seeming to suddenly forget about everything and everyone else around her.

"Uh... maybe? I wasn’t sure if Poison Bark sounds, um, better?" Fluttershy said, hiding her face behind her now green streaked red mane.

"Ehem." An impatient changeling queen cleared her throat, regaining their attention. “I believe we have a more serious matter to discuss here.”

“Right… where were we?”

“Determining the terms of my release, in exchange for my help.”

“Oh yes, quite right.”

Shaking her head, Rainbow Dash flew between Orangejack and Chrysalis as she asked "What if we just let you and your children free and then escort all of you out past Equestria’s borders? I don’t think you’ll be able to get the pardon bit, since ya know, you tried to invade Canterlot.”

Chrysalis was silent for a moment, seeming to brood over this for a moment as she considered her options. Finally, she replied “Make it the Badlands and we have a deal.”

“And what makes you think-” Rarity began, but Orangejack pulled her close as she said whispered.

“The Badlands will work. That place doesn’t have any ponies save for a garrison of Equestria’s best, the Changelings are just as likely to end up eaten by monsters than bothering anypony.”

Rarity harrumphed at that, still not thinking any of this was a good idea… but she was very much desiring to return to her normal form, and the quickest way to ensure that was to defeat Discord.

“Fine, we agree to your terms.”

Chrysalis let out a pleased hum, her wings buzzing in excitement as she said “Excellent, then please make all due haste and release me from this dreary cell.”

“Hmm yeah… about that…” Rainbow Dash began, looking to the others who started whistling nervously to themselves. She rubbed the back of her head as she mumbled “W-We’re not exactly sure where the key is…”

The Queen’s eye twitched slightly when she heard that. “You came over here and bugged me… promised to release me… and you don’t have the key?”

“Now calm down… we didn’t procure it ahead of time because we were not certain we would be able to convince you to help us in this dire moment.” Orangejack said, frowning at the glaring Chrysalis as her wings buzzed about irritably.

“But you also don’t know where it is…” Chrysalis mumbled, rubbing her head with both hooves in exasperation.

“Hey now, it can’t be all that hard to find, it’s sure to be somewhere around this dinky dungeon…”

Chrysalis shook her head, groaning as the five of them set about trying to find the key. And these Ponies are supposed to save us from Discord? She took another look, watching as the yellow one grew a venus fly trap that began trying to snatch the Flutterpony.

I’m bucked.

-*-Cain, Strife, and Company-*-

Strife was busy eating cake, Pinkie Pie having decided it was Strife’s birthday again and was in the process of trying to throw her a private party. Deer Cadance and Wolf Sparkle had declined joining in after Strife had spent some time trying out her new powers…

Which, naturally, had involved trying to transform them into their normal selves, or so she had claimed. I and the two former ponies weren’t buying it, but there wasn’t much I could do about it.

I had been trying to figure out how to get Strife to stop, or to at least stop amusing herself long enough to actually HELP the two of them, but with Pinkie Pie playing the role of gushing nanny, Strife was too busy happily drinking in the attention that was being spoon fed to her… sometimes literally.

After a few minutes of pacing about in the mindscape, I started to formulate an idea. I wasn’t sure if it was going to work, but I figured, hey, something was better than nothing.

'You know Strife… if it’s attention you’re after, you could be doing a great deal better.'

Strife rolled our/her eyes as she dropped into the mindscape, even as she continued to play along with Pinks. “Oh? And what makes you think I’m not perfectly happy with the attention I have now?”

I smirked as I saw her, placing my hands over my chest for a moment as I replied “I may be the sort who wants to help people because it’s the right thing to do, but you are the one who has the megalomania, the idea of being bigger than life and becoming famous, legendary, of forever etching our names in history and all that.”

“Well of course! I mean, you just want to live a nice comfortable boring life, what fun is that? That’s what nobodies do… and I am certainly not a nobody.” Strife proclaimed, smirking as she gazed into space for a moment… perhaps seeing one of the many fantasies we’d shared of us doing just that.

“But yet here you are, playing party games with Pinkie Pie when you could be doing just that. After all, just imagine how much fame you could earn if you were the one to best Discord, to bring harmony and peace back to the lands of Equestria!” I chuckled, casting our eyes off towards the stain glass windows lining the hall of the Canterlot Tower.

“You might even get a multicolored glass window like the ones the Mane Six have.”

"Hmm… that would be nice." Strife said and rubbed her chin "Plus, I am a little miffed at dear old dad for leaving us like that..."

"A little?” I asked, incredulous at the thought. “You’re only a little miffed at Discord for bringing us here, forcing us to stick around in Diamond Tiara’s body for almost a week, for making us have to go through all those attempts to get free, and then when he does give us something, it’s a new body that gets to rot in a jail cell, and you’re only a little miffed?”

"If he hadn’t done any of that, we wouldn’t have our own body, heck we wouldn’t even exist!” Strife replied, sending a glare my way when I rolled my eyes at that last bit. “Listen, Discord was weakened when he was sealed in stone, and what's easier dear brother, making a copy of a human’s mind or transporting said human to Equestria?"

“And I refuse to believe either of us are just a copy of any sort. Now, what exactly does that have to do with you being just a little miffed at Discord? You should still be pretty damned mad at him.” I retorted, mind unwilling to accept such an idea.

Strife grunted, waving it off as she said “Fine, believe what you want. And the answer should be obvious mister.” She pointed towards herself, a wide smile on her face as she said “Regardless of what he did to me, to us, I got a body of my own out of it, more or less, and I finally get to be free to do as I please.”

Her response reminded me what I was trying to do, and I shook my head as I pulled up next to her. “Well, you’re free to do as you please alright… but here you are wasting that freedom eating cake and getting tummy rubs. That’s not the Strife I know.”

“Oh yeah? And just what do you think the ‘Strife’ you know would be up to then?”

I give her a wide smile as I reply simply “The Strife I know would be finding some way to stir up trouble with whoever is in charge, and making a name for herself.”

I left her to think about that as I pushed her out of the mindscape, Strife finding herself being rocked gently by a beaming Pinkie Pie.

“Oh hey you’re back! Now we can play some of those games I was talking about! I’m sure you’ll just love playing things like Pin the Tail on the Pony, Parcheesi, Who Can Find the Confetti Mines…”

Before I had spoken to her, Strife might have been willing to go ahead and do that, seeming to have been content enough, at the time anyways, to just relax and play with Pinkie Pie. But, as much as Strife hated to admit it…

I was right. She’d had some fun messing with me already, and it’d been great fun to see how Twilight and Cadance reacted to each new form she gave them. But that was small time stuff… she needed to do something big… and while she was a bit loathe to try and play hero…

Messing with Discord’s new reign was just too tempting an opportunity to pass up.

“Sorry Pinks, but I think I’ve got something far more entertaining in mind.” Strife said, pushing out of her hooves and standing tall and straight, a dark smile on her face as she gazed out one of the windows, feeling out Discord’s presence.

Pinkie Pie looked hurt at this, lowering her head and whimpering slightly, her hair shaking ever so slightly. Seeing this, Strife let out a groan and cupped her talon underneath the party pony’s chin, giving a cool smile as she said “Perhaps another time, when things aren’t as… exciting… as they are right now.”

“Wait, what are you up to now Strife?” Twilight Sparkle asked as she got up to her paws, frowning as Strife began to nonchalantly strut towards the door.

“I’m headed out to go mess with my beloved Daddy Discord… I don’t think it’s fair he’s running around and getting to mess with everything without ANY challenge…” She grinned as she waved her hand, the door opening… and showing that somepony had been about to push it open themselves.

“C-C-Cain? S-Strife?” Diamond Tiara stammered out, seeming to be surprised to see us standing there, and it was fair to say that we were as well. We also saw that the rest of the fillies were standing behind her, equally stunned.

“Well now, isn’t this interesting. What in Equestria are the five of you doing here in Canterlot Tower?”

"W-We’re all sorry!" Sweetie Belle blurted out, causing Strife to take a step back as she explained "Discord messed with our heads and we… we insulted you two and Diamond Tiara for no good reason!"

"Yeah… Sweetie Belle kept telling us something was wrong, but we were too stubborn to listen." Applebloom said, then looked over Strife and Cain’s new body . "Is that really the two of ya?"

"Wow, you look awesome, not as cool as Rainbow Dash of course but… it works for you." Scootaloo said, making me blush, and Strife… well, Strife naturally lapped up the attention, standing a bit taller as her smile widened.

"It is alright, all is forgiven." Strife assured them... before snapping her claws and putting dunce hats over three of the fillies’ heads, while Sweetie Belle got a wizard’s hat with a big smiley face that said ‘star pupil’.

"Hey, not funny!" Scootaloo protested

"What, no hat for me?" Diamond Tiara asked, which earned a hum from Strife. A moment later, we had swooped her up into her arms and were giving her a warm hug…

I thought for a moment that it might have been me doing it… but then Strife gave her an incredibly wet and sloppy kiss on the stomach, followed by several raspberries.

Reasserting at least a minimal amount of control, I set Diamond back down and asked "So, what were you guys doing here? Shouldn’t you be somewhere safe?”

Strife harrumphed at that. “With Discord on the loose, nowhere is safe… then again, I’m on the loose too, so it’s doubly unsafe.”

"Uh…well... I came up with a plan for the five of us to play Calvinball and not invite Discord to play.” Diamond replied, scuffing a hoof on the ground as she added “We figured since Discord likes games, we might be able to trick him somehow.”

“O-Of course, we wanted to check with Twilight and see if they’d beaten him first or not… or if he was even here.” Sweetie Belle murmured, eyes shifting about a bit nervously as she said “No point in playing the game if he isn’t around.”

“No point? I think it still sounds like an awesome game!” Scootaloo interjected, laughing “Heck, any game where you can make up the rules as you go along? That’s gotta be fun!”

A game of Calvinball, one of the most chaotic and unpredictable games known to anyone... actually wasn’t that bad of an idea. "Really? Well, I suppose it could work… if he decides to play along of course."

'Yes it might.' Strife snapped her claws, and in a flash small circular pendants flashed into being. They seemed to be based off the one Luna had given us before… but these had a serpentine ‘S’ on them instead of Luna’s moon. "Okay team, are you ready for some chaos?"

The fillies seemed surprised by this, and they weren’t the only ones. 'I’m surprised you just decided to go with DT's plan, just like that.'

'I’ve always wanted to play Calvinball!' Strife yelled in my head, and to be honest, I wanted to play that too ever since I learned of its existence. Too bad I’d been fifteen by that point.

And with that in mind... "Five points for rubbing Scootaloo’s tummy and making her laugh!" I yelled, jumping over the surprised pegasus filly as I did just that, using our tail to tickle her underside. A peel of embarrassed giggles erupted from her, and as we were already darting down the hall, the other fillies quickly followed suit.

"I got the ball, so that makes me the princess of the cosmos and you cannot touch me until you all spin three times in the same place!" Diamond Tiara declared, seeming to pull a ball out of nowhere as she dashed past me and Apple Bloom, who had been leading the pack.

From there, the game was on, and nothing short of Discord or the end of the universe was going to stop us from having a hell of a good time!

The rules and what we did just got even sillier after that, spiraling into a pit of nonsense and swimming deeper and deeper. We jumped, tackled each other, we fought for the ball, we did silly rhymes and we kept making up rules as we played. Like having to play Granny Smith singing the Ponyville Town song while on three hooves.

It was actually quite fun. We even used pink living flamingos to hit the ball for a minute or two and I had Twilight Sparkle, who was now a llama (and also an unwilling participant in the madness) wearing an Alice in Wonderland dress just to fit the theme. Cadance was sometimes the flamingo Strife used… much to her agitation.

Thankfully, none of the foals noticed those last two bits… they were too busy having fun.

I also got the chance to make Sweetie Belle sing a version of "Who is afraid of the big bad Wolf", though with ‘Discord’ in the place of the wolf. At some point we even forgot that the whole thing was a trap to get Discord to come and we just enjoyed the game.

So of course, Discord took the bait. Heck, I would have taken it, and I knew the plan!

Just as we had managed to finagle five giant cheetortises (cheetah+tortoises), and were ready to start playing things polo style, Discord appeared before us in a flash, his chuckle preceding him as he asked "Well, well well, what do we have here? You six look like you’re having fun..."

Discord had a cool, nonchalant expression on his face, but I could see that he was barely hiding his eagerness. He seemed to be itching to join in on the mad fun we were up to.

Strife decided to set the plan in motion then and there. "New rule everypony! Discord can’t play until the Princesses get here!"

"Oh, like that is ever going to happen…" The Spirit of Disharmony muttered, waving a paw dismissively at us. But when he looked back to us, we were already back in gear, sending the Calvinball flying off to smack Twilight in the head.

Discord turned, a scowl on his face as he harrumphed "Oh fine, like those two would make any difference... the last time they defeated any serious danger was nearly a thousand years ago." With a snap of his claws, a pink pegasus that resembled Princess Celestia, with a smiley face cutie mark, and a baby alicorn that looked like Luna appeared in before him.

Without any hesitation, Strife snapped her own claws, changing the two princesses into fillies like the others, though both of the royal pony sisters maintained the other alterations Discord had already made.

"Royal Flush, tag the two princesses and get a free pie!" I crowed, flapping my wings and surging forward, only to earn a face full of hooves as Sweetie Belle did an excellent Luigi impression, stomping me into the floor and giggling as she charged towards the two, who each squeaked, racing off in opposite directions.

"Catch me if you can!" Luna (or in this case, Woona) shouted as she ran off, while everypony else, even Discord, tagged a surprised filly pegasus Celestia.

Snatching the ball from Diamond, I lobbed it at Twilight and shouted "Twi, ya get a ten minute time out, or until Cadance becomes an alicorn again." That was to give her time to get her element and meet the others while we kept Discord distracted.

Luna, even with her power reduced and being filly sized, was surprisingly hard to catch, and I soon lost track of everything else. If I was that distracted, then Discord must have been even more so, since he lacked a "sane" extra personality to balance his chaos.

After nearly five minutes of chase, during which I crashed repeatedly into Discord, not even acknowledging him as I did so, it was Silver Spoon who managed to pin Luna to the ground.

To everypony’s surprise, rather than a pie, a slate grey pony with a straight, simple mauve colored mane appeared wearing a plain blue everyday dress. She looked around blankly at everypony, then wandered over to one of the garden ponds, where she proceeded to stare intensely at the rocks lining the edges of the shallow pool.

'Should we even ask?' I pondered softly as we all stared at her for a moment, before resuming the game, dashing away as the five fillies decided we were the one to be tagged now.

'It’s chaos, you better not.' Was all Strife said as we dropped flat, Scootaloo yelping as she sailed overhead and crashed into a hedge.

Discord was beginning to grow annoyed though, proving the plan was working. We made certain that we left him little room to try and interfere in the game, and even when he turned one of the bushes into a large, snapping tentacle monster, we simply ducked and swerved around it, ignoring it completely.

In fact, he seemed to have gotten tired of us ignoring him, because a moment later, he shouted “FREEZE!” and in a flash, we were all firmly rooted to the exact spots we were in… which left Sweetie Belle floating in mid air while Silver Spoon had the pleasure of being frozen mid-splat with the ground.

Then a Freezer fell from the sky and smacked him square in the head, flattening him and knocking whatever spell he used on us out.

"Really?" Discord said looking at us seconds later as he opened the fridge door and walked out, pulling a slice of cheese off his antler while using his tail to flick off the mutant mystery meat attempting to chomp his wings off.

"Chaos tends to be like that, ‘daddy’. Not so fun when you’re the victim, is it?" Strife replied, unconcerned by the angry glare being sent her way.

Discord paused at that, then shook his head in amusement, chuckling as he murmured "Oh, you are growing up so fast. It seems as if it was only yesterday when you…"

"It was yesterday you git."

"But I’ve still got baby pictures!" Discord replied, pulling out a rather haphazardly decorated photo album entitled ‘Strife’s baby years’. Without any input from the others, he snatched us up and pulled them in close to to show everypony baby pictures of our new body… which would have been embarrassing for either of us if they were real.

“Look, if you want to join in Discord… you’re going to have to level things out a bit.” I replied, snatching the book out of his hands and zapping it, a pile of ashes being all that remained of it as Strife reformed them into the Calvinball.

Strife smirked as she leaned in, while I noticed the others glancing off in the distance… and slowly backing away from the two of us.

“Yes Daddy dear, all powerful ‘master’ of Equestria… if you’re going to play in OUR game… you’re gonna have to pay a price to get in on the fun.”

"After all, if you just use your powers, the game gets too easy, so new rule, no pony can use powers!" After all, we were just distracting him. It didn’t really matter if we could use any powers or not… not that it really applied to anyone besides the two of us.

Discord hummed, stroking his beard in consideration. "No powers you say? Well, I suppose I could… but only if you do something for me first."

Strife wasn’t having any of that. "No dice, no powers or no playing with us."

"Oh come on, tis only a very simple thing."

"What's it it?" I asked with a suspicious tone

"Well, I wouldn’t be a very good Father if I didn’t take an interest in the life of my precious daughter” Discord replied, smirking as he slithered forward, mirth glimmering in his eyes as he asked “So do tell me, is there anypony who has caught your eye?"

"Uh, what?" Strife asked confused, blinking in stunned confusion even as I subtly moved our eyes… this time taking very careful note of the fact that the others weren’t around now.

"Do you love somepony? Young love is so special." Discord asked again, pulling us into his arms and holding us tight, further confounding Strife.

"Uh… I don't think I… I am old enough for that yet."

I could hear something in the distance… familiar voices… and a familiar hum of magical energy. ‘Strife… Strife… Equestria to Strife...’ I started mumbling, even as Discord kept the pressure on.

"Oh come now, surely even you have a silly little crush on somepony here. I can start listing names if you’d like."

“A-And why the heck is it that you want to know about something like that?” Strife stammered out as the hum grew louder, a soft whine beginning to mingle within it.

‘Strife… get away from Discord! Now!’ I shouted in the mindscape, working to try and assert control, to no avail. We were stuck in Discord’s grasp.

"Well, I am your father after all, and all good fathers have to make sure their daughters aren’t hanging out with bad sorts, guahahaha…”

The hum vanished, and a loud whine filled the air as I felt the hairs on the back of our neck begin to stand up. I was finally able to get some movement, tilting our head up and watching as an arc of multicolored light ascended skyward… before beginning a sharp dive towards us.

“Hmm… well, this doesn’t bode well. And here I was looking forward to making so many cherished family memories with you…” Discord murmured softly, a dark chuckle spilling out as he held us tight against him, glaring up at the rainbow of light with a mad gleam in his eyes.

We however, found nothing about this to be amusing, turning as one to stare Discord in the face as we growled out “What in Equestria are you doing?! Let us go!”

Discord chuckled, holding us tighter against him as we felt our magic being dampened, the Spirit of Disharmony not seeming to take any chances as he said “Isn’t it obvious? I mean, after all, if I’m going to end up encased in stone once more, I might as well have some company. A next of kin who I can spend an eternity with as we are gawked at by random tourists!”

So… this was it then? Was this really how it was going to end? This wasn’t at all how either of us wanted to go out. I would have preferred slipping off into a deep sleep that I never awoke from, while Strife longed to out with a brilliant bang… primarily of her own design.

Strife struggled viciously against Discord’s grip, trying to even use her magic to get away, but all that did was just make dozens of random and odd things pop into being around us.

There seemed to be nothing we could do though as the beam of multi-colored light drew closer. I wasn’t sure if this counted as going out with a bang, but Strife's desire on how her end would come was the least of our concerns.

With the mad cackle of Discord echoing in our ears, we braced ourselves for what was to come, Strife screaming in indignant and defiant rage while I simply resigned myself to the idea of being a lawn ornament.

I’m not sure what I was really expecting. A repeat of the last time we got hit I suppose. So I was rather surprised that, when the beam struck us, I felt a strange sense of peace washing over me… as if all my worries were slipping away and the knowledge that everything would be alright flowed into me.

Strife, on the other hand, seemed to be in a great deal of discomfort, twisting and snarling and screaming as the magic of harmony washed over us. Even if she had been improving, she was still the darker half of me, and had an element of Discord’s magic inherent in her very being. Naturally it wouldn’t be nearly as pleasant for her.

The light had blinded the both of us, neither able to see anything or anyone around us, but a moment later we both felt the power of the magic fading as something pushes us away. Our vision swam, our mind spun, and our senses became a jumbled mess as we staggered about, eventually banging our head on something before falling to the ground.

Now we could barely see a thing, and our head was pounding like a herd of wildebeests were doing a tapdance in our head… maybe they were, everything was so twisted up that I didn’t know left from right, up from down, or periwinkle from pea green.

‘Ugh… Cain...’

I let out a groan, trying to focus on Strife’s voice as I heard… or perhaps sensed it echoing in my mind. ‘Yeah Strife?’

There was no reply for a moment, but as a dark fog began to gather at the edge of my senses, I managed to hear Strife one more time.

‘Just for… the record… if we end up as a lawn ornament… I blame you.’

I would have laughed maybe, or snarked back at her, but darkness took us before I could do so.

-*-

For a time, we felt nothing. We saw nothing, heard nothing, we smelled nothing…

Strangely enough, nothing tasted like salt water taffy dipped in gravy.

After a while though, we could both hear… something. It was incredibly distant, like it was coming through a few feet of water…

It sounded familiar… and comforting. We could both sense a feeling of friendship and love emanating from that sound… no… it wasn’t just a sound… it was a voice…

And we both knew whose voice it was…

Dia… Diamond… Diamond Tiara…

We still couldn’t speak, at least not aloud, but soon feeling began to return to us. Where the voice of Diamond sounded like it was having to travel through water, the feeling we were experiencing as we tried to pull ourselves from this dark nothingness was more akin to trying to swim through a thick, cloying pool of mud.

Si-nt Nig-t, H-y N-gh-t…

We kept heading upwards towards the voice, which seemed to be singing something that sent warm, safe feelings through both of us. It was a song… a song our mom had sung when we were little back on Earth.

I wasn’t concerned about how Diamond knew the song… and figured it was something to do with how we had shared minds. Instead, the only thing I cared about was following that sweet, lilting voice…

~Sleep in heavenly peaacccee, sleeep in heavenly… peace…~

It was only as the song ended that we both seemed to break through, a myriad of feelings and stimulation attacking us all at once. Our head spun and we groaned softly as we discovered what it’s like to wake up with a hangover.

My body felt like it had been run over by a rhinoceros, and my head had at least a dozen tap dancing donkeys banging about in it. Every single bit of me was aching in some way or another, and I wanted to just keep my eyes closed and pretend the world outside of my head didn’t exist.

“Ugh… well, I suppose this is better than waking up as a statue…” I muttered softly to myself… which was followed by stirring to my right, and a gasp of surprise from DT.

And then not even a second later, I got to add attempted strangulation to the list of “Today’s physical discomforts” as Diamond Tiara wrapped her hooves around my neck, excitedly exclaiming “They’re awake they’re awake they’re awake!”

Strife was also struggling against the pink hooves of crushing evil. “Help help we’re being repressed!”

Diamond Tiara giggled as we heard the nearby door opening up, a chorus of hooves plodding along the stone floor as the Princesses, the Mane Six, and the Crusaders, walked in. All of them had soft smiles on their faces as they took in the sight before them.

“Diamond Tiara, Ah think ya’ll should tone down the hug there… they’re starting to turn blue.” Applejack said, snickering to herself as the Crusaders also charged forward, adding to the dogpile and earning an ‘oomph’ from us.

Diamond chuckled, letting our neck go as he hacked and coughed, Strife trying to push the fillies back a bit to give us some breathing room as she growled “Sheesh, I know I’m so awesome and everything, but there’s no need to smother me in affection.”

Princess Cadence rolled her eyes as everyone else took a spot around our bed. “I think it has less to do with how awesome you are, so much that they were worried about you.”

“You’ve been out of it for a few days Cain… and uhm Strife.” Fluttershy said as she used a hoof to help pull the foals back. “We were all worried the Elements had put you in a coma.”

“You’re not the only ones who were worried. I was starting to wonder if I’d been turned into a lawn ornament like Discord.” I said, rubbing at my head as we were finally liberated of the beaming Crusaders, and what I could only assume at this point were the two newest additions, given all that had taken place. “What happened to him anyways? Is he still on the loose?”

Princess Celestia shook her head. “He is once more imprisoned inside stone, and my sister and I have studied it thoroughly to ensure that he did not manage to escape somehow once more.”

“We are still remaining vigilant though… his capture seems to me to have been far too easy given our past experiences.”

"I bet two hundreds bits that he just faked being turned to stone somehow, and needed to use us as a shield to do it." Strife said "He got access to our memories about the human world after all, and a villain faking their defeat is a classic."

Pinkie Pie then poofed from her spot besides Rainbow Dash and appeared in front of us, her hooves placed around our body as she sternly said "No bets with money, that's bad!"

We both blinked at that… as did everypony else in the room. "Uhm... ooookayy?" I asked, very much confused, even more so when she smiled tenderly and wrapped us in her hooves. “Uh, Strife… what’s going on?

"You expect me to know what's going through this Pink pony’s mind?" She replied as she squicked at the feeling of the hug… even if I could sense her enjoying it.

Pinkie Pie stuck her tongue out at Strife, giving her a noogie before a more serious and somber look dawned on her face as she said “I already discussed it with everypony else… and even though they all think I’m crazy... I’ve made up my mind.”

She scooped us up in her front hooves as she stood up, which was no mean feat given we probably weighed a bit more then her… then again, this was Pinkie Pie. With both of us giving her lost, obviously curious looks, she booped us on the snout as she said “I’m adopting you!”

We both sat there, staring at her blankly for a moment… before Strife opened our mouth to ask "WHAT?!"

Pinkie giggled nervously, setting us back down as she tried to explain. "Hehe… Uh… I remembered all that stuff I thought about when Discord made me think I was your mommy and… well... I liked it. Really really really really liked it!” She put extra emphasis on the last one, even miming out the words being underlined and slanted as we stared at her in utter amazement.

“Plus you two need adult supervision, or at least a guardian to keep an eye on you. That’s what Celestia said.” She added a moment later, the solar Princess nodding her head in agreement.

Amazingly there was no snark from Strife mocking Pinkie Pie for thinking she could be our mother… instead she simply felt… strangely happy.

I unfortunately chose that moment to bring things down as I said “W-Wait a minute… I… I still have a mom… and a family back on Earth. I… I may be like this now… but… I… I can’t take Discord of all people’s words when he says I’m a copy. Can’t we find a way for me to get back home?”

Pinkie Pie looked down at that, and at first I assumed it was because she was thinking I didn’t want to be adopted by her… but then… I looked around and noticed that everypony in the room was doing their best not to look at me. A sickening feeling began to form in my gut as I gulped.

“W-Why are you all looking like that? D-Don’t tell me you…”

Celestia raised a hoof, before levitating something out of a desk nearby. It was a mirror, made out of silver and containing a black, empty looking center… though a quick tilt of it revealed that it wasn’t empty, and merely that the glass was obsidian.

“While you were unconscious, Luna, Twilight, and I looked through everything we could, recalling the promise we made to you to try and reach your family. We… were afraid we would have to send them a message saying you had passed on… or would never awaken.” Celestia said as she looked us in the eyes… sympathy and sadness clear in them. “We didn’t find any spell that would allow us to send you back home… but…”

It was then that I noticed the mirror shimmering with the color of Luna’s magic as it was set into our hands, Strife gazing at the object with clear interest while dread began to flood into me. “We found this artifact in Starswirl the Bearded’s Archives… it’s a special mirror he created to allow him to gaze into other worlds.”

The mirror began to ripple and glow as I lifted it up, gazing into its swirling abyss as Luna added “We… found your world… your family… and…”

“You.”

I barely heard her as the image in the mirror coalesced into a solid view of my home, the trailer back in that little farm town I had been stuck in. The old black Kia was pulling into the driveway… and I watched in growing horror as I saw first my mother… and then… myself, wearing my uniform for work as they both headed up the steps and inside.

I sat there for a moment… watching myself… my human self go through the same patterns I did as he dropped my stuff off on the counter, slipped into my computer chair and started browsing the net… it… it was me… but it couldn’t be… could it?

I felt Pinkie’s hooves slipping around me, one hoof reaching up to wipe away a tear that I hadn’t realized was falling. Even Strife was silent… sensing that now was not the time to say anything.

“We don’t know if that’s the real you or not Cain…” Twilight spoke up after a moment, looking us in the eye as she saw the pain I was going through. “He could be the copy that Discord left behind…”

I absently nodded my head, even as I felt more tears falling… my arms latching around Pinkie and pulling her into a tighter hug as I let my emotions flow.

So… even if Discord had lied to me… even if I was the real Cain… it wouldn’t matter. They wouldn’t believe me if I somehow managed to get a message through… assuming they would even give me a moment to speak seeing as I was a Draconequus now…

My home… my family… it was still there… but for me, for all intents and purposes… it was gone. Ripped out of my grasp by the God of Chaos.

I felt over a dozen smaller hooves clamber over me as the Crusaders, DT and Silver Spoon joined Pinkie Pie in trying to comfort me, all of them giving me sad smiles as Diamond spoke.

“It’s… it’s going to be okay Cain… you aren’t alone here. You don’t have to be sad…” She said, her smile widening slightly as she said “Our time together has left me with some of your memories… and I can see how much you love and care for your family. But since you can’t be with them… you can at least be with us. We’ll be your family.”

“Ugh… that’s sooo cheesy and ooey gooey…” Strife said, even as a smile formed on my face, moving the eagle claw of a hand to my eyes and wiping the rest of the tears away.

“Oh shut your mouth Strife… you’re enjoying every moment of this.” I muttered as I looked at all the smiling, loving faces around me. Diamond Tiara, who I could almost call a sister now after all we had gone through… the Crusaders, Silver Spoon, all who had worked alongside me to help make up for my own mistake of letting Discord free…

Twilight and the others, who had been willing to do everything they could to help the three of us out in our time of need… Pinkie Pie even willing to go as far as adopt us to help us feel welcome here… in our new home.

Yes… that’s what Equestria was now… even if a part of me still wasn’t too keen on the idea. Whether I entirely liked it or not, I was stuck here in Equestria… and it would be better to embrace my new home and these wonderful friends I had made than to isolate myself… to push them away and wallow in my depression at the inability to ever step foot in my old home… to hold my mom and sister in my arms again…

It would be tough… but with friends like these…

“Yuck… come on, someone get me outta here, I’m going to be sick!”

I shook my head, sticking my tongue out at ourself as a giggle, then a chuckle, and finally a laugh echoed out of my mouth, the others soon joining in as the tension and the sadness were washed away.

Everything was going to be okay… as long as I took everything day by day, I would manage. And with my darker half and these loving ponies at my side… it certainly wouldn’t be a problem.

-*-

Sitting atop a nearby tower, watching through the windows as Pinkie Pie sped off into a rapid fire gasps of all the things they needed to do in the coming days, Cain and Strife trying and failing to calm her down so they and everypony else could understand her, was a lonely, mismatched figure. The figure was smirking as he munched on some popcorn, tossing the last few pieces in the air and expertly snatching them with his tongue when they transformed into candy cane butterflies.

“Hmhmhm… I can see you’re putting on a brave face my boy… we’ll see in time whether you’re really that eager to embrace your new life.” Discord chuckled to himself as he ever so briefly locked eyes with the mismatched offspring of his down below, gazing into the blue and red eyes of his son and daughter respectively.

“As for you daughter dear, Daddy expects a lot from you… make me proud while I’m gone! Make sure to make these silly ponies lives as interesting as you can, guahahahaha!!”

With these final words, the Lord of Chaos powered up his magic for one final act, confident in the knowledge that his progeny would be more than up to the task of creating Chaos wherever they went. He in the meantime would go have some fun elsewhere… perhaps one day he would return to see how well his work had gone.

And so with a wink and a flash… the Lord of Chaos vanished away. Leaving only a pair of dueling personalities inside a single body to take up the mantle.

Author's Notes:

Alright, first, I would like to give a big thank you to HoneyHoneyHoney, who helped me when I was running into roadblocks at the beginning of this fanfic. I would then like to thank Pinklestia for sticking with me and helping me to get this finished... man it has taken FOREVER to do so.

I'd also like to thank everyone who did the pre-reading, your suggestions and help has been very much appreciated throughout this experience.

And of course, were it not for everyone who kept on reading and following along, well I probably wouldn't have kept going anyways. So thank you everybrony who has read this story!

Now, some comments. I'll be honest and say I'm not entirely happy myself with this chapter, but looking at it that may just be because I feel I was rushing to get things wrapped up before this became any more long and convoluted than it already was. It feels rushed to me and its not exactly what I'd originally envisioned the last chapter (well, see further below) being. Then again, that's true for large parts of the story.

Anyone who isn't happy with the ending, the chapter, I apologize. I know I can't make everyone happy, and I simply hope that the majority of you readers like this chapter.

Moving on, this is not the end. Oh no. For one, I have an epilogue in the works as I type this. It will hopefully be much smaller than this chapter and the last few. But it will also serve as a setup... for the stories I'm going to be writing in this universe.

From the very beginning when I started writing this, I didn't want it to be a single story. And while a number of things have changed from my original plans, the desire to create a universe is just too much. So this story is the beginning of what I am, at least for the time being, tentatively calling "The Life & Times of Strife & Cain" or the shorter version being the Strifeverse or LToSC verse. The first two fics following this are going to be set between the last chapter and the Epilogue. I could have crammed them into this story... but honestly I think they'll serve better as being separate. Plus they fit in with my further outline of stories I intend to write. Don't worry, they're going to be one shot's, not long winding things.

Before I get to those though, I will likely be spending some time on two other fics I have. One is for a TCB verse idea I have (keeping things simpler by doing smaller stories/oneshots this time) and another is another Dark Fic in the sort of vein that One Last Letter is in. I want to finish both of these preferably before I do any more work on the verse I plan to build around this fic, but who knows.

Anyways, thanks for being along on the ride. I've had great fun. See ya'll after the Epilogue!

Epilogue

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-*- Cain/Strife -*-

{One Week Later}

“Come on ya lazy bones, if we don’t hurry up she’s going to sick the twins on us again!”

I shook my head as I gazed into the mirror, looking at the reflection that was currently showing elements of Strife’s feminine form and my marginally more androgynous form I had worked to create over the last few days.

I rolled my blue colored eye as Strife’s red one glared at me, blinking our eyelid shut and replacing it with another blue one as I said “Oh hush, it’s bad enough I have to go to this party… Mrs.Cake has already told me that Pinkie’s invited half the town, and you know that I hate big parties.”

Strife wasn’t too happy about being punted back into our shared mind, but relented for the moment. ~And that was a compromise you got out of her only after threatening to sneak oats into her breakfast for a week. A good idea, sure, but I was looking forward to the big crowd.~

“And you can get over it.” I replied, finishing the transition to my form as I let out a content sigh. “Besides, you’ve been reneging on part of your deal on our time sharing of this body… so making sure only a quarter of the town shows up is more than enough to get back at you.”

The party of course was the usual “Welcome to Ponyville” style party that Pinkie Pie loved to throw for people moving into town. We had officially moved into a guest room in the Cake’s home just two days prior, and Pinkie had insisted that we do a party to get us both introduced to the townsfolk.

The idea of being the center of attention for every. Single. Citizen. Had scared me shitless, though Strife had been ecstatic, perhaps thinking of all the sorts of trouble she could get into.

Determined both to keep that from happening, and prevent the party from going sour by my fainting, I had blackmailed our new mother into doing a fair bit of trimming to the birthday guest list. For now anyways… Mama Pie had assured me that she would throw three more parties eventually to make sure we met EVERYPONY in town.

~Just remember they have to get to meet me first you know… Mama Pie said we swap out each hour til the party ends.~ Strife reminded me as I headed out of the bathroom and into the hallway. I could hear Pinkie and company downstairs, busy moving all of the food and drinks into a cart to be transported over to the community center, where the party was being thrown.

“Yeah yeah… keep your horns on buddy.” I mumbled as I headed on down to join them, knowing that Pinkie Pie wanted me to come on down and ride with them… even though we could both fly…well, hover… same difference.

~By the way… I got a birthday present for us....~ Strife said in a sing song tone.

“Better not be the super-duper chocolate frosted cake that has tiny bits of chocolate inside, chocolate filling and white chocolate drizzles. I really don’t want to be sick again from sugar overdose..." That monstrosity had been made while we were recovering in Canterlot, Strife deciding she was really in the mood for something sweet and Pinkie being more than happy to oblige her.

~No, I’ve been working on a way to temporarily split us in two, mostly when you are asleep.~

Hearing this put a glare on my face as I halted, midway down the stairs. “And the reason you haven't told me about this is?"

~It turns me into a filly unicorn and you into a filly pegasus, just like we were when we shared DIamond Tiara's mind. And I can't use chaos magic like that save to change back.~

"And?"

~Turns out Discord left out yet another detail out...~

"Just spill it out already!"

~When we were split like that, I felt a mental connection with you, but also with Diamond Tiara, can you guess what it means?.~

I froze, no it couldn't be, could it?

"Please tell me it doesn't mean the three of us are still part of the same being."

~Fortunately, it doesn't, but once Diamond Tiara reaches a certain age and notices she is no longer getting old I dunno how she will react. We sort of share some of our power with her, and the Elements only muted that connection for a while.~

Knowing that Diamond Tiara was basically as eternal as we would be, I decided to do the sensible thing and just ignore it and go to the party. After all, we had some years until things became evident to her… and maybe Strife was wrong.

A part of me was irritated at the news, fearing we could get stuck inside Diamond’s head again. The other side was happy we would have a friend our age to share the centuries with… at least assuming what Celestia and Luna had told us about Draconequi was true.

Pushing such thoughts aside for later, I stepped out the kitchen door, seeing that everything was packed and ready and Pinkie Pie was eagerly bouncing in anticipation, I gave her and the Cakes a smile as I climbed on in.

“Right, let’s get this show on the road, shall we?” I said as the Cakes started pulling the cart. Pinkie Pie giggled and snorted at this, booping me on the nose as she said

“Silly, we’re not going on the road, we’re just headed into town.”

“I think you took that too literally Pinkie,” Was my only reply as I shook my head, turning my gaze up to the skies above as I could see Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy already flying off towards the center of town.

My thoughts began to wander, as they had been doing a great deal the last few days. Everything that had happened to me since getting here… it was all pretty crazy, and I’d been trying to make some sense of it all.

Strife had suggested I try to frame the thoughts in the form of a sort of friendship letter to the Princesses. I thought that she had been joking… but I had gone ahead with it anyways… I closed my eyes and took a moment to recall everything I had figured out...

Honesty

I still missed my family back on Earth, but after a week of having it sink in, I had to admit that the friends I had made in Equestria were important for me. Twilight Sparkle saved my life even though I was a complete stranger, Diamond Tiara forgave me and befriended Strife of all people,and Pinkie Pie even adopted us… which was still a bit confusing honestly.

I cared about them, and while I would still jump at any chance to get my family back, even if I was just a copy, I think it would hurt me to leave Equestria behind.

Kindness

I could have been a fair bit kinder while I was in Diamond’s body, and afterwards Diamond Tiara found it in her heart to show kindness to us, and she forgave us for having hurt her for heaven's sake!

To forgive your enemies, or those who showed you cruelty or anger... there is no greater kindness than that. Could I ever do the same? Could I ever forgive Discord for what he had done to us?

Yes I could. Not today, or tomorrow, or probably even a year from now. But even if Discord was a monster, he brought us here, he gave us a different chance at life. He even somewhat explained that all that pain and suffering, is what helped us to be real. If only for that, I should be able to forgive him, though I hope he isn’t expecting it anytime soon.

Laughter

I have to admit this has been fitting Strife more than me lately. She can make others laugh better than I can, and while she is rude and a pain in the tail sometimes, I have learned to see her as more than just a split personality. She… she is my sister, and I don't know what I’d ever do if she disappeared. I do wonder if the same is true for her...

Strife of course has her own down times… and she uses laughter to help deal with fears and problems just like the rest of us. She just does it in a different way… hopefully me and Pinkie can keep it to the more playful and pranky variety...

Generosity

Luna helped Diamond Tiara face her fears and gave her a gift without asking anything in exchange, save for Diamond Tiara to try to be our friend. While being kind is to offer help and to forgive, being generous means giving to others even when it’s at your own expense.

Those silly ponies… they’ve given me too much, haven't they? Maybe it’s time I gave something back. I could help Pinkie Pie make a party, let Twilight Sparkle do experiments on me, help Fluttershy clean her animal smelling cottage...

I can start right now, by being nice to everyone in the party. Not that that should be too hard as long as I can manage not to embarrass myself.

Loyalty

I thought my loyalty was to my friends and family back on Earth, but… if there had been a way to return and the price had been to hurt Diamond Tiara, would I have done it? I don’t know… on day one I would probably have said yes. Now though… it would be an incredibly tough decision. It’s no wonder that Rainbow Dash acted as she did in The Return of Harmony.

It has just been a short time, but she has become a loyal friend to us. Heck… we could probably call her a sister. Still, I think it is going to take me time, but… I will endeavor to show them the loyalty they deserve after everything we’ve put them through.

Magic

It was through magic, Discord’s magic, that we were brought here, or created, or whatever it was that he did. And despite the fact that we seem to have Chaos Magic, just as Discord did, the Elements spared us from their powers when it struck us.

Perhaps the Elements sense in both me and Strife the chance to do some real good… to forge bonds and make Equestria better through the power of harmony and...

Friendship

Back home… I didn’t have nearly as many friends as I already have here. Most… I would at best consider acquaintances, work friends and people who I know and am friendly towards, but am not close enough to to really feel any sort of bond.

Here though… the Mane Six, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the Princesses… Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon… I have made many friends, and perhaps in a short bit, I’ll be making many more.

Ah well, I still have time to figure it out.

“Cain? Strife? Hello? Equestria to Draconequus?”

I blinked, looking towards Pinkie Pie as I noticed that we were no longer in the cart… in fact, we were standing next to the rest of the Mane Six… and in front of us was the crowd of ponies that Pinkie had invited to our welcoming party.

“When… when did we get out of the cart?” I asked as I stared at the crowd, all of them doing their best to put on polite smiles even as I noticed a few of them snickering quietly to themselves.

“About five minutes ago.” Pinkie replied, giggling herself as she added “And you’ve been standing like that for a good four.”

Our cheeks flushed for a moment… even as I felt myself being shunted back into the passenger seat as Strife took control. ~Move aside buster, this is where I shine~

With a wide smile of her own, Strife gazed out into the crowd, spotting a number of foals looking at her curiously. A mischievous glint glimmered in her eyes as she opened her mouth and shouted “Who here wants to be the first to ride Ponyville’s one and only Draconequus!”

Much to my surprise, there was a sudden chorus of ‘yays!’ and ‘me me me me!’ that filled the air, a dozen or more of the adults in the room chuckling to themselves as Strife picked three foals at random to take the first lap around the party, quickly turning the ride into a game of tag as she dived straight for Rarity. Laughter soon filled the room as the brief bit of tension was smashed to pieces by Strife’s antics.

I watched it all, shaking my head in bemusement as I said to myself “Here’s hoping this is a good sign of how our time here’s going to go.” A chuckle followed this, and I settled myself in, deciding that I could introduce myself later, after Strife had had her fill of fun and attention.

-*- Canterlot -*-

Light filtered into the small, cramped office as silence filled the chamber. The sole occupant of the room gazed past the messenger who was turning and making a quick exit, knowing that this particular pony would call for his services if they were needed.

Grey Eminence gazed at the letter he had brought, having already unfurled and perused its contents in less than a minute and found them to be wanting. His muzzle shifted ever so slightly, morphing away from a thin line into a slight frown as he thought of what he should do next.

The letter was from one of his many agents, this one being a mare who none was likely to pay much heed to. She was simply informing him of what he already knew, that the target was now settling into town, and as of yet had done nothing to warrant any special actions.

That of course was where he disagreed.

Ever since the Nightmare Moon incident, where the entire kingdom had been caught completely by surprise when Celestia’s long forgotten sister, Luna, had returned in her maddened state to usurp the throne, he had found himself questioning Celestia’s ability to rule.

There had been no plans, no guidelines on how to proceed, and to make matters even worse, Celestia had simply vanished from the scene, leaving him to try and keep the whole of Canterlot from descending into total anarchy. It was only after the fact that he learned of Celestia’s plan, of relying on her prized pupil to somehow track down six magical relics to purify her sister.

And how it had maddened him! It didn’t rely on anything concrete, looking for all the world like she somehow knew it was going to go exactly as she wished it! Celestia may be a powerful Alicorn Princess, but even he knew they couldn’t predict the future. To throw the fate of the whole kingdom on a single young mare, no matter how talented, was simply insane!

And then of course, there was the disaster that was the Grand Galloping Gala. Well… disaster was one way of looking at it. Even he had to admit that the Gala had grown boring and tedious over the last decade, and Celestia had been holding them for centuries. He could understand her desire to spice things up a bit, but did it really have to involve bringing those six mares to the Gala? Only one of them had any idea about what it really entailed, and the moment he had seen them he knew it was going to end badly…

He could have handled having to deal with some of the infuriated nobles who had had their nights ruined because of those mares, and even dealt with helping Stewardess Tilted Scales determine the easiest way to pay for the damages, but having to put up with the whining of Prince Blueblood had almost been enough to push him to resigning then and there!

Discord’s first escape was something that he could almost forgive her for, had High Mage Shooting Star not informed him that they had noticed his Chaos Magic slowly seeping out for weeks, and been told by Celestia herself not to pay it any heed. She had been informed of the coming threat… and done nothing about it.

Which had nearly resulted in Discord keeping his claws on Equestria once more. Another stroke of luck that the Bearers of the Elements had managed to sort themselves out and blast him back into a lawn ornament.

The recent revelation to him and the others of the Equestrian High Council was only another nail in the coffin for his opinion on his liege. He was not willing to buy the idea that Celestia had known nothing of the encroaching Changelings, seeing it as likely being some sort of test for those six mares she was coming to rely on so readily.

The straw that broke the camel's back, or in this case his own, was the second escape of Discord, the agreement to allow the Changelings to make the Badlands a home, and the release of the entity known as Strife from Canterlot’s dungeons. The whole incident was a complete and total catastrophe, even if the Bearers had managed to seal Discord away once again.

Not like it mattered much, since Discord’s self proclaimed child was free to run amok. It was only by the grace of the ancients she hadn’t caused any trouble… yet.

It was, to Grey, as if the Princess had lost all grasp of reality. To allow so many things to go wrong in the span of three years… he could only assume that she had finally cracked and was no longer caring of what happened to her Kingdom or her subjects, or that she had grown so utterly bored after over a thousand years of reigning that she was willing to risk the kingdom being set aflame just for a change of pace.

Which was why he was now paying special attention to Strife. She was an accident waiting to happen… to most at least. To him, she was an opportunity. A chance to show all of Equestria how little their revered Princess cared for the safety of the realm and of themselves. To show every citizen, from the poorest beggar to the highest noble, that Princess Celestia was playing with fire. And that sooner or later, they would all burn for it.

Equestria needed someone much better, far more level headed and down to earth. Someone who would actually seek to secure Equestria’s defense from threats of all sizes… someone who would not be so foolish as to rely solely on six mere individuals and a set of magical trinkets.

Someone… like Grey Eminence.

His frown twisted up into a smirk as he chuckled softly to himself, turning in his chair and gazing out the window upon the city below.

Patience… bide your time… and soon you will have just what you need. Soon Equestria will be on the right track once again… under my guiding hooves.

"To be continued…”