I hold her heart in my hooves, and I don't have the words to describe how I'm feeling right now. It's sort of grief, I guess, but also relief? I don't have to put up with her calling me 'blank flank' anymore, or picking on Scootaloo because she can barely fly, or incessantly mocking Apple Bloom for her family. I can't exactly say I'm sad about this whole situation, and I know that sounds kind of terrible.
This shouldn't have happened, and I really wish that it hadn't. It was supposed to be a simple trip-a few days to travel to Canterlot, a week there with Rarity so that Diamond Tiara could scout out which school she was going to bully into accepting her once she moved up there to get away from our 'manure-caked town', and so that I could deliver a few messages to sis from our little hamlet. But as we were about half-way to our destination, bandits had leapt out of the bushes and rocks around us. we'd had a few others with us, of course. The path to Canterlot has always been a little treacherous, and it gets quite isolated in some spots, so we were all taught that we should always go in groups. That's a large part of why none of us have really gotten out of Ponyville much, because it's just a huge hassle to get anywhere in Equestria, and not all of us can afford to hire bodyguards for the trip. So we did have some support, because Diamond does have the money to do that, but something happened, and then suddenly, Diamond Tiara, bitch supreme of Ponyville is lying on the ground, bleeding out, and I can see her heart.
Everything around me seems to have stopped. I can't hear the bodyguards fighting the bandits, but out of the corner of my eyes, I can still see movement, so it must be happening, but from what I can tell, it isn't going well. But all I can conentrate on the feeling of Diamond Tiara's heart on the base of my hoof. It's still warm, and wet from the blood. And there's something tingling at the edge of my senses, sort of like I feel when Miss Twilight is running one of her magic classes, and she starts going on about 'reaching out to the world'.
And almost just like that, a memory comes to me with almost absolute clarity. Miss Twilight's answering questions before we have a break, because she has her own work to do on the forest. Somepony's asked about other ways of casting spells.
"Well," I remember Miss Twilight saying, "having a horn is the most common, yes, but there are other ways. Earth Ponies, with sufficiant concentration, can produce similar effects as many spells. There's also using runes. They're less used, because they do take time, and you have to be extremely prescise to get the effect that you wanted. There is also blood." Miss Twilight has always had a wierd way with her instruction and thinking about magic. 'Better to know than to live in ignorance,' she had always said.
"Blood," Miss Twilight had said, "Can be used in place of magic. I don't reccomend it, because you need to take it out of either yourself or somepony else, and most ponies don't like that, and it feels wholly unpleasant." She had smiled then, but I always thought that it looked sad, like she knew from experience. "But if you find yourself absolutely desperate, then concentrate, and force your will into the blood, and you could find a final reserve."
*****Time*****
With my hooves more or less in Diamond Tiara's chest, I did the only thing that came to mind, and concentrated. The guards that Diamond Tiara somehow sensed what was happening, and hit the floor, as solid red spikes of Diamond Tiara's blood speared the bandits that had attacked us. Miss Twilight was right. It felt wrong to be doing this, like I was going against some ancient law or something, but it saved all of our lives.
I'm still shaking a little when one of the guards taps me on the shoulder.
"Sweetie Belle? Should we continue on to Canterlot, or head back to Ponyville?"
I consider for a moment. We're about halfway between the two cities, and Rarity did want to get these letters, but...
I glance down at the dry corpse of Diamond Tiara at my hooves. Even as horrible as she was to me, I can't just leave her to rot here. My magic picks her up, and she's surprisingly light.
"We go back. we'll have to tell the town what happened, and the letters can wait."