//------------------------------//
// Anything I Can Do 
// Story: Power Up 
// by Sun Aura 
//------------------------------//

	It was a quiet evening at the Carousel Boutique. Rarity had closed up the shop a few hours ago, made her dinner, and was settling down with a romance novel. She checked the clock again. 
Sweetie Belle was supposed to be back from dinner at Applebloom’s by now. Sure, the walk from the farm was fairly long, but usually she’d be home while Rarity was doing the dishes. 
She heard the bell above the door jingle, and set down her book. She walked to the front room, hoping it was her sister and not another tourist who couldn’t read the word ‘closed’. She nearly fainted when she saw the sight before her.
Sweetie Belle was there, her foreleg draped over Diamond Tiara. Diamond was a mess. Her hair was wild, her tiara was missing, her hooves looked as if she had run through Everfree’s rain. The worst part was her face. Across her cheek was a deep cut, blood still trickling and a bruise quickly forming around it. 
“Oh my stars! What happened!” she ran over to the fillies. 
Sweetie Belle opened her mouth, but closed it again and looked at Diamond. Diamond didn’t meet her eyes. Rarity reached out a hoof to try and see the cut closer, but Diamond flinched and backed away. She put her hoof back down and turned to her sister.
“Sweetie Belle, I need you to run and get Redheart,” she said.  
“Okay,” Sweetie agreed.
She whispered something to Diamond before running out of the house. Rarity herded Diamond over to one of the couches she usually used for customers. Diamond hesitated, looking at her hooves, then back to the expensive couch.
“Don’t worry about messing up the couch,” Rarity said. “I can replace it or maybe Twilight knows a spell to clean it. Stay here while I get a few things. 
She walked off to her fitting room. The medkit in there hadn’t been used for much more than well-placed pinpricks, but she did keep it stocked just in case. After grabbing a few rags, she headed back to the front. Diamond jumped when she opened the door. 
“What happened?” Rarity asked.
Diamond didn’t answer, but she did let Rarity help clean her up. Once most of the dirt and blood were cleaned up, she opened the medkit. The cut looked a bit too deep for any band aids she had, but she could at least disinfect it before Redheart showed up. 
“This will probably sting a little,” she said, holding up a new rag soaked in disinfectant. 
Diamond flinched before it touched her face. Rarity backed off, waiting for her to nod before trying again. She hissed in pain when it touched her cheek, but otherwise let her help. She used another clean rag and some medical tape to make a makeshift bandage. 
“Are you alright?” she asked. 
“Yeah,” Diamond muttered, sinking lower into the couch. 
Rarity might not be Honesty, but she could see through that lie. She looked around for something else to say. 
“Would you like to see what I’m working on?” She asked. Diamond nodded. 
She levitated a few sketches from the other room. Looking through a few sketches, she picked one out and held it up to her. 
“I think this one would look lovely on you,” she said. “A nice blue to match your eyes, maybe a little silver. I think I have some gorgeous spinels that would complete it just lovely. And I do believe I missed your birthday, so consider it a late present! If you would like the dress, that is.”
“Wait, what?” she asked.
“I’m not going to force you to tell me what’s wrong,” she said. “But I can try and make you feel better. It won’t help in the long run, I know, but it’s better than standing by and doing nothing. Now, while we wait for Sweetie to get back with Redheart, I could get your measurements for your gift. Last time I made a dress for you was your Cute-cenera, and you’ve grown quite a bit since then.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?” she asked as Rarity picked up a tape measure. “I was terrible to your sister.”
“True,” she said. “But you’ve changed for the better. And if we didn’t forgive those who regret what they’ve done and try to make up for it, we wouldn’t have Princess Luna, or Discord, or Starlight, or Trixie, or- well, you get the idea.”
Diamond stayed quiet as Rarity continued to measure her. She tried to make her movements more deliberate, hoping to keep the filly from flinching again. Rarity knew she could take a guess at what was going on with Diamond. She knew she could shake the truth out of her, and if it came down to it she would, but for now, she wanted her to tell her because she trusted her.
“I-it was my mom,” Diamond barely whispered. 
Rarity’s magic halted, sending measuring tape, sketchbooks, and a few fabric swatches clattering to the floor. She apologized as Diamond flinched at the sound. She motioned for her to continue.
“M-mom did this,” she gestured to the cut on her face. “And-and more.”
“How long has this been going on?” Rarity asked. 
“Since I became friends with your sister,” she muttered, still not meeting her eyes. “Mom liked how I was before. When I was mean to them. She said they weren’t worthy of my time, that we were above them. Before that she’d just yell at me when I screwed up. When I didn’t get to be flag carrier at the Equestria Games, she screamed for hours. I was grounded for a month. And when the crusaders crashed my Cute-cenera it was the same.”
“But then I realized how terrible I was,” she continued. “So I- I tried to be better. But I wasn’t her ‘perfect daughter’ anymore. So she yelled and grounded me. And every time she caught me with one of my friends she’d do it again. She said yelling wasn’t working anymore, and-and she hit me.”
“The first time, Scootaloo noticed and she wanted me to tell her mom,” she went on. “But I couldn’t. That was about a month after I tried being a better pony. Then tonight I was-we were at Twilight’s castle.”
“We?” Rarity asked. 
“Uh, Sweetie and I,” she answered. “And Spike and Pipsqueak.”
“But Sweetie said-“ she began.
“That-that was the cover!” she cried. “I’m sorry! I couldn’t let mom know I was with them, so I told her I was with Silver and I asked Sweetie to tell you anything else in case mom caught on and asked you about it. Sweetie wanted to tell you the truth, but I couldn’t!”
“And it doesn’t matter anyway,” she continued. “Mom saw us leaving the castle! And that’s when she-“
Diamond stopped talking, gesturing to her face. It didn’t take a genius to guess what happened next. Diamond started shuddering, tears pouring down her face.
“Does your father know about this?” Rarity asked. 
“N-no,” she shook her head. “Mom said I had to keep it quiet around Daddy. She said it’d crush his heart if her heard how much I was screwing up.”
“Diamond, darling, you’re not screwing up,” she said.
Rarity tentatively put her foreleg around Diamond’s shoulders. She pulled her close, careful to not hurt her cheek more. She felt a sob shudder out. 
“It’s alright,” Rarity said, stroking her hair. “None of this is your fault.”
“I could’ve just pretended in front of her,” Diamond sobbed. “I should’ve pretended around her. I could’ve figured out some way to be perfect while still seeing my friends.”
“It’s not your fault,” Rarity repeated. “You’re a kid. And your parents are supposed to be there for you, lead you in the right direction to be the best you can be. But if a parent leads their kid astray, it’s their own fault. Unfortunately, they’re rarely the ones who suffer for it. 
“I know you’ll want to defend your mom,” she continued, “after all, she is your mom. But she’s not a nice pony. Anyone who would treat a child the way she’s treated you- stars I can’t even think of an insult bad enough. But I promise I will help you any way I can.”
“How?” she sniffed. “You can’t make mom better.”
“No, unfortunately I can’t,” she said. “But I can help you get away from her.”
“It’s just another year,” she said. “I’ll be fine.”
“Diamond, you might not last another year,” she insisted. “I know you won’t cut off all ties with her, because you’ll want to see your dad. And even if you did drop her out of her life, you need someone there to remind you that nothing that she did was right. That it’s not your fault. And now that I know this is going on, I’m not just going to sit here and let it keep happening.”
“You don’t have to-“ she tried to say.
”I know I don’t ‘have to’ help you,” she said. “I want to help. I want to get you into a better situation, away from someone like her. And I know it takes time. But until then, if you need anything, you can come to me. If you need someone to talk to, you can come in any time. Or if you don’t want to go home, you can stay here with Sweetie Belle. Even if it’s a school night.”
“You probably have more important stuff to do,” she sighed. “What about your work. You can’t just close shop because I’m having a bad day. And if you got put behind on your dress orders because I kept you from working on them-“
“Firstly, never underestimate my ability to multi-task,” Rarity said. “Secondly, you’re more important. If I run behind because I’m helping someone, it’s worth wrecking my sleep schedule to finish my orders. If there’s anything I can do, I’m willing to give it my all to help out a pony in need.”
There was a change in the air. Rarity was sure it was magical, but she didn’t know where from. It was warm, and rushed through her, making her shiver despite the temperature. It felt almost like the rush of a birthday party, combined with Hearth’s Warming morning. She felt like she could make an entire dress line in a night. 
“It’ll be alright,” Rarity assured her again. “You deserve happiness, and I’ll help you get it. So will Sweetie Belle and the rest of your friends.”
“Thank you,” Diamond said, hugging her closer. 
At that moment, the door burst open. Redheart rushed in, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo hot on her tail. The three froze upon seeing the two of them. 
“Rarity, are you alright?” Redheart panted.
“I’m quite fine?” she tilted her head at the question. “I asked Sweetie to get you so you could look at Diamond’s cheek. I cleaned it up the best I could, but I figured you’d want to look at it. For more reasons than one.”
Redheart frowned, glancing between Diamond and Scootaloo. Rarity assured Diamond that she could trust Redheart as well, before letting the two of them walk into the kitchen to talk more. Rarity went back to her sketches, wondering just what to add to make it perfect for Diamond. 
“Uh, Rarity?” Sweetie Belle interrupted. “You might want to look in a mirror.”
“Why?” she asked. 
She didn’t think she could have gotten any dirt on her from Diamond, but maybe her mane was messed up? Honestly, she knew she could be dramatic, but does Sweetie really think she’d be that upset over her mane? Okay, maybe she had a point. She used her magic to pull a full-length mirror to her. Seeing her reflection, she understood why Redheart was concerned about her.
Glowing lines flowed across her, almost elegantly. Her mane had an orchid streak through it. And stars. It looked like she was dumped in a tub of glitter; little twinkles shifting as she moved.
“Oh,” she whispered. “That’s why.”