I LIIIIIIVE! So, at 3 in the fudging morning, I finally get the motivation to finish this piece of crap. So, it’s still a piece of crap, but here it is. And you all will by happy to know that the song is almost totally done! (now we just have to wait for Shuji to finish the animatic that will play alongside it…)
AAAAAAND to make it up to you guys for the long-as-fuck wait, a long-unanswered question will finally be answered in this oneshot…
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Diamond In The Rough
Diamond Tiara’s home, Ponyville…
Diamond Tiara, fresh home from school, hobbled into the kitchen to see her father right where she had left him that morning, sitting at the dinner table with a bottle of scotch in his hoof. “Daddy, I’m home,” she called out half-heartedly, and just as she suspected, there was no response.
She sighed sadly before trotting up the stairs and to her bedroom, shrugging off her bookbag and letting it hit the floor with a thump. She didn’t really feel like doing her homework right now. She honestly didn’t feel like doing anything right now. Life as she knew it had ceased to hold any special meaning for her. Nothing was worth the effort, because there was nowhere she could go now in life.
She was a cripple. Her mom had abandoned the family. Her father was turning to alcohol to drown his sorrows.
Her life was ruined, her family was ruined, and her family name was irreparably tainted, and all of it was her fault.
She was abruptly shaken out of her thoughts by a knock on her bedroom door.
“Diamond? Are you there?” Silver Spoon asked as she peeked out from behind the door.
Diamond didn’t bother to look up. “Hey, Spoon,” she greeted in a dull monotone.
Silver Spoon looked about as despondent as her best friend, and Diamond knew why very well; she hadn’t been the only one out of the two of them who had lost a mother.
“I’m sorry I missed your mom’s funeral,” Diamond murmured. “My dad, he…”
“I know, Diamond, I know,” Silver Spoon interrupted sympathetically.
Both of them were silent for a long time, neither knowing what else to say to the other, until finally Silver Spoon said out loud, “Why’d this have to happen to us, D.T.?”
Diamond looked up at her oldest friend. “Most of it was my fault. I let that monster control me, and…”
“D.T., that was not your fault!” Silver Spoon retorted. “I know that the real you would never try to hurt me. I saw the weird green glow in your eyes when you went ballistic. That look in them…it…it wasn’t equine. That thing took control of you, I know it. That’s why I came back.”
“Why me, though?!” Diamond said a little harsher than she had intended. “Why me?” she repeated more softly.
Silver Spoon sniffed as she shook her head. “I don’t know…I really wish I did, but I don’t. But…we can’t mope about it forever. You’ve heard what everybody in town’s been saying. The monster that took over your mind…Ganon…those Gohma monsters that murdered my mom…they’re only the beginning. It’s gonna get worse, and if we’re too busy pitying ourselves, then we won’t be ready for when it comes.”
Diamond let out a half-hearted chuckle. “You’ve been talking to the Cutie Mark Losers again, haven’t you?”
Silver Spoon shared her chuckle. The two of them still referred to their former nemeses by that nickname, but the term had lost its bite ever since the incident. “You could say that.”
Silver Spoon’s smile quickly fell. “They’re right, though. Bad things are coming, worse than what we’ve seen so far. They’re preparing for it. I think we should too.”
“How?” Diamond replied. “What could I possibly do now? I’m missing two legs! I have trouble just walking!”
“Scootaloo said we might find something in Vaati’s library up at the Palace,” Silver Spoon answered. “It’s chock-full of information about Vaati’s world. If we can find anything, it’s there.”
Diamond suppressed a shudder. “I…I’m scared of going near Vaati.”
Silver Spoon understood why, stealing a glance at Diamond’s prostheses. “I know, D.T. I’ll do all the talking, if you want.”
Diamond smiled sheepishly. “Thanks, Spoon.”
Silver Spoon smiled back. “Let’s head up there. I honestly can’t wait to see what’s in there.”
XXXXXX
“You…want to have a look at my library?” Vaati asked the two fillies standing outside the palace doorway suspiciously. “Why?”
Silver Spoon cleared her throat. “We want to see if there’s anything we can find that might be useful for us to know about what we need to prepare for. You and I both know there’s a lot of stuff all of us need to get ready for.”
Vaati seemed to mull this over for a moment before shrugging offhandedly and stepping aside, allowing them access to his home. “Map’s on the desk right there. Don’t get lost, and don’t get in trouble.”
Diamond sheepishly sidled past the sorcerer and followed Silver Spoon over to the desk in question and took a map of the palace. With the map’s help, they soon found the palace library, where a few monsters, mostly Wizzrobes, were milling about, reading books or perusing the shelves. Glancing at all the bookshelves, Diamond voiced out loud uncertainly, “So…where do we start?”
XXXXXX
About an hour later…
Diamond and Silver Spoon had long since split up, searching separate bookshelves for anything useful. As Diamond was perusing one shelf in particular, a particular title suddenly caught her eye, and she stopped to look.
THE OOCCA: A History of the Technomages of the Goddesses.
“Technomages?” Diamond wondered aloud as she pulled out the book and took a look at the cover. What she saw surprised her; it was an engraving of a strange creature with a body like a chicken’s, with a round head atop a thin neck. Below it was an anatomical drawing of some kind of armored bodysuit that shared some similarities with magical golems and elementals. The suit seemed designed to act as the arms and legs of the otherwise-helpless Oocca. Briefly, a thought flashed in Diamond’s mind, wondering what it would be like to have one like that, before opening the book.
“The Oocca are a mysterious race. Little is known about them or their culture, for they are very secretive and spend virtually all their time in their mighty citadel, the City in the Sky. From what records exist, it can be deduced that the Oocca, as a race, existed before Hyrule, and were, alongside the Fairies, the Golden Goddesses’ very first creations.
According to various manuscripts divulged by the Royal Family of Hyrule, the Oocca and the Fairies originated from the same world, a world that existed before Hyrule. It was known as Tarm, and it was the first world the Goddesses shaped from the void of Majora. In Tarm, only two races existed; the Oocca and the Fairies, and they were created to represent the two worlds of science and magic. The Oocca were masters of technology, creating fantastical constructs, weapons, and devices whose purposes remain unknown, while the Fairies were unparalleled wielders of magic. It is believed that the Goddesses’ ultimate intentions were for the Oocca and the Fae to bridge the gap between science and magic and bring both worlds together in a mutual state of understanding.
But this was not to be, for calamity struck the world of Tarm in the form of the great horror that opposes our beloved Goddesses and their light. Majora, God of Evil and Defiler of Worlds, descended upon Tarm, and through his vile manipulations, relations between the Oocca and the Fae soured, and eventually war broke out, and science and magic dedicated themselves to the extinction of the other, rather than the union of their ideologies. The Golden Goddesses imprisoned Majora for his crimes, but by then it was too late; the war grew so fierce that Tarm itself was torn asunder by weapons of science and magic built for mass destruction.
The Goddesses were able to save a handful of Oocca and Fae whose hearts had not been tainted by hatred, and brought them to live in the newly-created world of Hyrule. But the fallout from Tarm’s destruction released Majora from the prison the Goddesses had made for him, and it was then that his creation of the Dark World was revealed. Among the races of Hyrule that rose to fight against Majora and his demonic legions were the surviving Oocca, who began to create machines of war that had not been seen before or since.
The Oocca are said to be particularly close to the Goddesses, and that this is the reason they choose to live isolated in the sky, so that they may commune with the Golden Ones on matters concerning Hyrule. The current state of the Oocca culture is unknown, for they have not been seen since the War of the Bound Chest, where they aided the Picori in the creation of the Armos that guarded the Palace of Winds before it was plundered by the demon mage Vaati…”
Diamond, intrigued by the mention of their technology, flipped over to Chapter Two, Oocca Chassis.
“To become masters of science, the Oocca had to overcome their own disabilities, namely their true bodies, which lack arms. This was their trial ordained by the Goddesses, and the Oocca prevailed with the invention of the Oocca Chassis, a suit that functioned as their artificial arms and legs. It is unknown how these contraptions worked, but through them, the Oocca were able to craft the way modern Hylians can today.
It seems that the chassis came in many varieties, each suited to a specific Oocca’s role in their culture and society. In the past, serpentine, insectoid, and quadrupedal examples have all been encountered…”
Diamond’s eyes darted to several drawings of these Oocca chasses, and how each individual fit into them. She couldn’t understand why, but the subject of the Oocca fascinated her. What kind of chassis would I have? Diamond abruptly thought to herself. I wonder…what would it be like to have hands? That nut Lyra Heartstrings rambles on about that idea a lot, from what I hear…
What Diamond Tiara didn’t know as she continued to be engrossed in the book was that she was being watched.
Far off, in a secluded spot in the Everfree Forest, a figure stood in the shadows of the forest, monitoring Diamond’s activities through a strange device on the figure’s mechanical wrist. As the figure observed Diamond Tiara’s reading, she mused to herself, “The Three were correct about this one. She has passed the test.”
The figure looked up at the Palace. “Our legacy may endure yet.”
XXXXXX
That evening…
Diamond Tiara returned to find her father asleep in his favorite armchair, and for once, there didn’t appear to be any alcohol nearby. Deciding not to dwell on it, Diamond retired to her bedroom to mull over what she had found.
The Oocca were strangely fascinating to her. They were something she could look up to. Their adversities were not so very different from her own, but they had risen past them to become masterminds of science and technology. If they could rise above their own limitations, limitations they had been BORN with, no less, why couldn’t she?
The only problem was, she wasn’t a genius like they were. For goodness sake, she had a hard enough time just paying attention in math class! How could she possibly do what they did?
As she was headed for her bed, the silence was suddenly shattered by an unexpected voice.
Diamond Tiara.
The young filly’s head shot up as she looked around. “Wh…?”
Diamond Tiara, can you hear me?
Diamond nervously backed up against the wall. “W-who’s there? S-show yourself!”
I am not actually in the room with you. I am communicating with you telepathically through a synaptic transceiver that has honed in on your unique magical signature.
Diamond shook her head. None of that made any sense to her, and the idea of another being inside her head terrified her.
Have no fear, Diamond Tiara. I am not the demon that assaulted your mind prior, nor am I associated with it in any way.
Diamond wasn’t convinced, but she dared to voice out loud, “W-what do you want?”
To make you an offer.
That, undeniably, caught her attention. “An offer? W-what kind of offer?”
Today, you read a book about the Oocca race, and you found yourself drawn to them for reasons you can’t really explain. You see them as something to look up to, to remind yourself that even the harshest adversities can be overcome. I am offering you a chance that no one else has ever been offered, or ever shall again. An offer…to join the Oocca in the skies. To bear witness to our knowledge, to possess our very legacy.
Diamond blinked in confusion. “All I did was read a book, and now you’re interested in me?”
The book was merely a test. I placed it there myself. The three you once called your enemies are not the only denizens of Equestria my mistresses have taken an interest in.
“W-why me?”
I truthfully do not know. Even I am not privy to all the details of my mistresses’ grand designs. But I am not one to question their wisdom. I am here on their behalf. Know that your choice is voluntary, and you may deny it if you wish. But if you do so, I foresee that the remainder of your lifetime will be fraught with insurmountable hardship, and when the dark times come, you will be among the helpless souls that are inevitably swallowed by them.
Diamond shuddered. “T-that doesn’t sound like much of a choice at all…”
Every choice has its consequences. You wish to prepare yourself for the coming trials ahead, but to do so would mean leaving behind your old life to start fresh among those not like you. Do you not also desire vengeance against the monster that wronged you and left you in such a state? I can give you its name. It is called Dethl, and it is the demon that rules the Dark World. Only Majora himself carries more authority and power in that foul realm.
Diamond Tiara lowered her head and muttered the name under her breath. Dethl. She now had a name for her enemy.
I await you in the Everfree Forest. The creatures that lurk there will not trouble you, my superiors have seen to that. A homing beacon is waiting for you at the edge of the forest which will lead you to me. There, we can discuss this offer further, and then you may make your decision.
“Uh…o-okay…I guess I’ll think about it…?” Diamond hesitantly spoke, but she received no response. The mysterious voice was gone.
Whoever this speaker was, they had left her with a great deal to think about. But that would come later. Right now she just wanted to sleep. She sighed as she crawled into bed, and went out like a light.
XXXXXX
Strange visions swirled all around Diamond, blurry and bright. There were strange noises, muffled explosions and the roaring of evil creatures. Soon the visions finally began to clear…
…and she saw herself.
But she was clad in an Oocca chassis just like the one she had seen on the cover of that book. All around her, dark, blurry figures were engaged in battle, and numerous skeletons and demonic beasts rose to challenge her. But these she deftly swept aside, discharging blasts of energy from her thin, mechanical hand, or slashing with a glowing blade of pure plasma energy. And then she was standing before a stone door engraved with the mark of Hyrule, an unfamiliar woman with golden hair and royal jewelry watching from behind in wonder as Diamond opened this door. From within the depths beyond the door came marching a host of strange soldiers, golems clad in white and gold with fearsome weapons, and these she and the woman led into battle against the demonic forces, cutting them down in vast droves. Victory…victory was at hand…
This is the part you will play in the shared destiny of Hyrule and Equestria…
For the good of both our worlds, the event you have seen must come to pass…
Accept the Oocca legacy…accept your destiny…
And then she awoke, panting heavily.
XXXXXX
The next morning…
“I’m telling you, Spoon, that’s what I saw!”
Diamond and Silver were debating in Diamond’s bedroom, where the Rich Family heir had just finished explaining her strange dream to her best friend.
Silver shook her head. “It just seems…strange. How do we know this person can be trusted? They didn’t even give you a name!”
“I don’t know!” Diamond snapped a little harsher than intended, flinching afterwards. “I just…have a feeling. Like…I know this is someone trustworthy.”
Seeing Silver’s disbelieving look, Diamond chuckled wistfully. “I know, I’ve proven so many times in the past to be a good judge of character.”
Silver smiled weakly in response, preferring not to give voice to their unfortunate past history.
“But I mean it,” Diamond continued. “I think…I think I can really make a difference with them. Right now…I’m just dead weight. To society, and especially my dad.”
“Don’t say that!” Silver exclaimed, aghast. “You’re not dead weight!”
Diamond smiled sadly and bitterly. “I’m a cripple with two missing legs who let a demon use me to taint the Rich family name forever. Even if I still had all my legs, where would I go from there?”
Silver didn’t know what to say to that. She never did when Diamond brought it up. “You still could ask Discord to…”
“I don’t deserve that, Silver,” Diamond interrupted gently. “I’ve said it before; I keep myself like this to constantly remind myself of how horrible my mistakes were, and how innocent ponies almost died because of them.” For a moment, it looked as though she wanted to say more, wrestling the thought in her mind. “Did…did I ever tell you how I became a krylock when I was put in Tartarus?”
Silver’s eyes widened as she blinked. “No…you didn’t…”
Diamond sighed again and closed her eyes, hanging her head. “Though Cerberus keeps them from leaving, monsters roam freely in Tartarus. It’s the actual criminals who are put in cells, I guess to keep them away from the monsters. When…when I was put in there, I realized how horrible I had been. I almost killed my best friend, the only pony who could stand to actually want to hang around with me despite how awful I treated literally everypony else. I put a bad mark on my family name forever. I…I-I still remember the look on Daddy’s face when I…” Silver gently put a hoof on Diamond’s shoulder as she sniffed, fighting back tears. “A-after I was locked up, and realized what I’d done, I looked up and saw a krylock passing by my cell. In that moment, I knew that it was there for a reason. I caught its attention, and stuck my hoof out where it could reach it.”
Silver gasped, horrified. “Diamond, y-you didn’t…”
“I tried to kill myself.”
She said that with such a dead look in her eyes, like she had succeeded in spirit if not in body, that it broke Silver’s heart. She wrapped her friend in a hug, but Diamond just continued. “But it didn’t work out that way… I turned into a krylock instead. Then Dethl found me, and that monster got in my head again and made me try again.”
“Dethl…?” Silver repeated, confused.
“The demon, the one who manipulated me,” Diamond replied. “The voice said that was its name.”
“Diamond…” Silver uttered now that they were back on the topic at hand.
“Silver,” Diamond interrupted again. “I’m tired of being a waste of space. I’m tired of living like this. I want to make amends. I want to make a difference.”
Silver’s breath hitched. “Y-you’re really gonna do it…you’re really gonna go into the Everfree Forest and find this person.”
Diamond looked away. “…Yes.”
“What about your dad?”
“I think…I think I’m already dead to him. He just hasn’t quite gotten around to accepting it yet. I ruined his life. Because of me, he lost a major business partner in the Apple family, and my mom left him. I’ve become a pariah, and he drinks because he hasn’t built up the courage to tell me why he can never love me again.”
“…and what about me?”
“You can make a difference here too. You’ve seen what’s going on; all of us need to prepare for what lies ahead in the future.”
“I know,” Silver sniffed. “But I don’t wanna do it without you.”
Diamond put her hoof on her best friend’s shoulder. “Spooney…will you come with me? I want you by my side when I see this person, because if I say yes…”
“…it might be the last time we ever see each other,” Silver finished for her, her expression grievous.
Diamond wordlessly nodded, tears freely falling down her face. “Will you have my back…one last time?”
They embraced as Silver whimpered, “Yes…I got your back, DeeTee.”
XXXXXX
Twenty minutes later…
The two high-class fillies stared up at the foreboding entrance to the Everfree Forest nervously.
“T-there’s still time to t-turn back,” Silver shakily suggested.
Diamond, however, shook her head and took a step forward. “Too late to turn back now.”
The minute she had taken a step, a small, floating circular device emerged from the foliage, a bright white light blinking as it detected them. “Much too late now,” she muttered under her breath.
Without another word, they began to follow the Oocca beacon deep into the forest. The air was still, and the forest was eerily silent, as though every living thing in hearing range had been driven away. As they continued to follow the beacon, Diamond turned towards Silver, seeing the troubled look on her face.
“You know,” she spoke up with a sad smile, “you never did tell me what became of your old crush.”
Silver jolted, genuinely surprised that Diamond had thought to ask. “Oh! I-I, uh, n-never said anything because…”
“Because I was being a little sack of horseapples about it, yeah,” Diamond commented. “I understand. Well?”
Silver hung her head, but she did smile a little. “W-we’ve, uh…talked a bit, and…w-we went o-on a few l-lunch dates…”
“Lunch dates?” Diamond exclaimed. “When was this?”
Silver blushed as she answered, “A couple times o-over the last month.”
Diamond managed a knowing grin. “Moving on up that relationship ladder, huh?”
Silver’s cheeks reddened further as she said, “S-she’s really nice to me, e-even after the things we’ve said about her and her mom in the past.”
Diamond chuckled. “Her mom may be a total klutz, but I think Dinky’s a good match for you.”
Silver looked surprised and elated to hear that. “R-really?”
“She’ll look after you after I’m gone.”
Silver’s smile fell. “That makes it sound like you’ve already decided…”
Diamond said no more, and an uncomfortable silence fell between them the rest of the way there until they reached a clearing. The beacon swooped over to a figure silhouetted against the poor light of the forest. They stopped as the figure turned to face them, a tall, lanky humanoid body with spindly limbs and glowing joints. The realization hit Diamond like a ton of bricks.
“You’re an Oocca.”
The figure glided, not walked, glided slowly up to them until they could be seen in the dim light. She was indeed of the Oocca race, a perfect example of the illustrations she had seen. The figure gave a low bow, her chassis clicking and humming at the motion as she spoke.
“My name is Ooccoo, and I greet you on behalf of the Golden Goddesses of Hyrule.”
Diamond uncertainly pointed a hoof at her equally-nervous friend. “Um…t-this is my friend, Silver Spoon. I-I asked her to come with me…for moral support.”
Ooccoo inclined her head in greeting before addressing Diamond. “Have you given thought to my offer?”
Diamond was silent for a brief moment before her uncertainty faded away as she straightened her posture and her eyes steeled. “Yes, I have. And…I’ve decided to accept.”
Ooccoo put a hand on her artificial hip. “I had a feeling you would.”
“But first,” Diamond interrupted, “I have some questions!”
Ooccoo looked surprised but not offended. “Ask away.”
“What, exactly, will I be getting myself into?”
“You will learn the ways of the Oocca. You will receive a chassis of your own, and you will take my place as the keyholder to the gates of the Silent Realm.”
“Why me?”
“There is no one in Hyrule the Goddesses can readily trust with this power.”
“And what makes me so different?”
“It is not my place to question the Goddesses. The Goddess who watches over your world has looked into your heart on my Mistresses’ behalf and found you worthy.”
“Why do you need a new keyholder?”
“I do not look it, but I am old, Diamond Tiara. I am nearing the end of my lifespan, and I am the last of my kind. If I do not have someone to pass this legacy to, even a foreigner, the doors to the Silent Realm will remain forever closed, and the Guardians that slumber within will not be able to protect the reincarnation of their mistress against the growing forces of the Unmaker. Hyrule and Equestria could very well be doomed if the Guardians are unable to lend their power.”
“Last question. If I join you, will I see Equestria again one day? …Will I see my friend again?”
Ooccoo straightened her posture, the sounds of her suit echoing in the forest. “If you survive the coming trials ahead, the Goddesses will see it done.”
“…Alright,” Diamond conceded before turning towards an openly weeping Silver. “I guess…t-this is goodbye for now.”
“You have t-to come back,” Silver spoke through her tears before they embraced once more. “P-please t-tell me you’ll come back!”
“No matter how long it takes…I will, Spooney. I promise.”
Eventually they separated and Silver stepped back as Diamond approached the waiting Ooccoo. “I’m ready to go.”
Ooccoo nodded before tapping a glowing light on her artificial forearm. Suddenly a bright light tore through the fabric of space and time as a portal opened behind her. “Then say your farewells, and we shall depart.”
Diamond looked over her shoulder at Silver and smiled. “Spooney…will you…will you tell everypony where I’ve gone? That I chose this, and it’s for the best?”
“I-I will, Deetee. I’ll tell them.”
Diamond sniffed. “And tell Dinky…tell her that she’s okay in my book.”
Silver nodded as she wept, watching as Diamond finally turned back towards Ooccoo and slowly hobbled into the cosmic light. Only when it faded, and silence enveloped the forest once more, did Silver Spoon fall to her knees and sob freely.