Diamond Tiara sat alone on the swingsets in the park. She shivered in the cold, letting out a breath and watching it hang in the air. It was getting late, already past dark. She should be going home, or at least somewhere for the night. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to.
She thought about going to Rarity’s. She had told her to come over any time she needed to talk. But she wasn’t sure if somepony like Rarity is what she needed.
“Hey! There you are!” a voice called.
Diamond looked up, jumping for a moment before she remembered. Spike had grown a lot a few months ago, now being the same size as her and gaining a pair of wings. All of her friends were starting to reach their adult heights, so it shouldn’t surprise her. Then again, most of her friends weren’t dragons that jumped up overnight and now had to walk on all fours just to stop from towering over everyone.
“We were looking for you,” Spike said.
“’We’?” she asked.
“Sweetie, Pip, and I,” he said. “Probably Applebloom, Scoots, and Silver too by now, since that’s where they went to check. You’re not the first pony to run out after results.”
“I didn’t even wait for the spell to stop,” she said. “I just exploded out.”
“No, Discord exploded out,” he laughed. “He and Twilight wanted to see what would happen if they used the spell on the embodiment of Chaos. I’m pretty sure he’s either confetti on the floor or trapped in an alternate dimension. Maybe both.”
“At least there was a bigger distraction than me,” she said.
“That was supposed to cheer you up a bit,” he said. “What’s going on?”
She sighed. She didn’t want to talk. Staring at the ground instead, she tried to subtly change the subject away from her.
“Did you take the test?” she asked.
“Oh, uh, yeah,” he answered. “Twilight wanted to see if the spell worked on non-ponies, and if we could be Elements too.”
“What’d you get?” she was afraid to hear the answer.
“Oddly enough, Magic,” he said. “Imagine if I went into the forest to stop Nightmare Moon instead of Twilight! Think I’d make a good Princess of Friendship?”
“Do you think you’d look good with a unicorn horn?” she asked. “And really, you being Magic isn’t that surprising.
“Why not?” he asked.
“Twilight’s your sister,” she said.
“I’m sorry I have to break the news to you,” he chuckled, “but I’m adopted. Well, mostly adopted.”
“How can you be mostly adopted?” she asked.
“It’s a long story,” he said.
“I don’t have much else to do,” she said. “And I’m pretty sure you don’t either.
“Alright,” he shrugged. “There are some ponies who, well, they’re not good ponies. They steal Dragon’s eggs and hatchlings, which is quite obviously illegal. Eggs are usually, like, museum pieces or something. Something cool to look at. Hatchlings are similar, but they can also be ‘servants’.”
“Slaves,” she corrected. She felt about to throw up, but she tried to put out a hoof to comfort him.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “And worse, depending on the pony. Celestia’s disgusted that it happens. She assigned a team of ponies and dragons to go around and rescue those who’ve been taken before returning them to the families they were taken from. My egg was one of the ones that had been taken. And it was recovered by Celestia’s team, along with a few other eggs and even a hatchling.
“The team stopped in Canterlot,” he continued. “Through some weird shenanigans, my egg got switched with a Fire Salamander egg that was supposed to be used for the entrance exam to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Before somepony realized the mixup, Twilight used her magic to hatch me.”
“So how is that ‘mostly adopted’?” she asked.
“Because of the hatching,” he explained. “Dragon eggs hatch when something uses magic to do so. Since it’s usually a family member, the hatchling will recognize that magic and similar ones as ‘family’. Since Twilight’s magic hatched me, I recognize her as family. Her and Shining are my siblings, their parents are my parents.”
“Have you ever thought about finding your biological parents?” she wondered.
“I wouldn’t leave to be with them if I did,” he said. “But I do want to find them. Celestia’s team is still looking as well. They had their unhatched kid taken from them. And considering that a dragon egg can lay dormant for centuries before being hatched by a spell, I don’t even know how long they’ve been suffering. Even if I never think of them as family, I want to give them some kind of closure, you know?”
“I can’t imagine,” she sighed. “Ugh, you came out to help me, and here I am trying to comfort you.”
“Hey, I was the one who let you change the subject,” he said. “But if you want to talk now, I won’t complain.”
Diamond felt tricked somehow. She knew he wasn’t trying to trick her, especially because she technically tricked him. He was trying to help. She sighed.
“Mom made me take the test,” she said.
“Oh,” he muttered.
“She doesn’t even think the Elements are special,” she said. “She thinks they’re just magic weapons given to Twilight because ‘Celestia is a sentimental fool who doesn’t know who should really be in charge, so she gave a nerd under her hoof the power to be a mockery of a monarch’.”
“She’d rather have herself or somepony she can control using the Elements,” she continued. “So she made me go through the test. This time last year, I would have pranced in beside her, boasting about how I’m probably great enough to be Element of Magic, and that I should just be given the Princess title on the spot.”
“You weren’t that bad,” he rolled his eyes. “Okay, yeah, you were a bit of a brat, but I think you had enough awareness to realize that wasn’t the best option.”
“Not really,” she sighed. “But mom’s not what’s upsetting this time.”
“Then what is?” he asked.
She dragged her hooves through the snow, tracing small patterns. Mom would probably yell at her for getting dirty, but she didn’t care.
“My result,” she answered, giving a hollow chuckle. “My Element. I-I’m Laughter.”
“What’s wrong with that?” he asked.
“I’m Laughter,” she repeated, feeling tears start up. “I’m supposed to embody laugher and joy and all that. Okay, I don’t have to be ‘Pinkie Pie’ levels, but still. I spent about thirteen years making everypony miserable.
“Hey, that’s not your fault,” he said. “Your mom messed you up.”
“That doesn’t mean that what I did is okay!” she shouted. “It doesn’t excuse anything I did! And it doesn’t even matter what I’ve done since then! Any ‘laughter’ I caused was because of me making up for what I did before! After all I’ve done, I don’t deserve any Elements, much less one about making others happy! ”
She broke down. Tears streamed down her face as she sobbed, she couldn’t breathe. She barely felt it when Spike pulled her into a comforting hug, barely felt his claw gently running through her mane.
Diamond wasn’t sure how long it took to calm down. It took even longer for her to register her surroundings. Her face was pressed into Spike’s chest. It felt warm, too warm, and surprisingly soft for scales.
She felt the rumble in his chest. It took her ears a moment to realize he was talking, and another to fully hear what he was saying. It was just comfort words. Things like ‘It’s okay’, and ‘you’re not horrible’. They were fairly generic words, just the general things you would say to comfort someone. Despite that, they did help.
“I-I’m sorry,” Diamond said, her throat burning. “I’m sorry I’m not a good pony, that you all think I am.”
“Diamond, listen,” Spike said. “You’re wonderful. Yes, you weren’t the best before, but that’s not your fault! Your mom trained you to be like that. But even so, you always wanted the ponies that you cared for to smile. You tried to please your mom, not that it worked. You’re still worried about your dad being upset. And Silver told me how for your Cuteceañera, you bought her a dress just as pretty as your own.
“Secondly,” he went on, “The fact that you’re worried about this means you care about us. And lastly, you’re a lot better. You could have gotten away with just being generally nice, but you go out of your way to help ponies. You think you’re doing it out of guilt, but it’s still your choice. You could’ve ignored the guilt, but you chose to make others smile. You’re better than you think you are.”
“Thanks,” she sighed, taking a chance to glance up at him. “Has anypony ever told you you’re good at helping ponies stop panicking?”
“Try living with Twilight and Mom and not pick up that skill,” he laughed. “Are you feeling better?”
“A bit,” she admitted, wiping tears out of her eyes. “It still hurts. Everything I did. Even if I’m better now, I still should’ve somehow accidently given up any chance of an Element.”
He thought for a moment. She watched his breath hang in the cold air, a much more visible cloud considering his body temperature. He looked down at her with a smile as he thought of something.
“Did I ever tell you about what Twilight was like before Ponyville?” he asked.
“We’ve all heard about her being Princess Celestia’s student,” Diamond said, shaking her head. “And about her magical ability.”
“Yeah, it’s kind of hard to ignore,” he said. “But she had almost no friends back then.”
“Really?” she asked.
“Only family members,” he answered. “And Celestia and Cadence, but ‘teacher’ and ‘foalsitter’ are weird friendships, and she’s much better friends with them now. But other than that, there weren’t any ponies she called friends, she really found ‘friends’ a waste of time that could be spent studying magic. A few Unicorns at school considered her a friend and tried to invite her to things, but she pushed them away. In fact, when we first came to Ponyville, Twilight’s assignment from Celestia was ‘make some friends’.”
“What an assignment!” she laughed. “It sounds almost passive-aggressive!”
“It was a bit,” he laughed with her. “And she went from that, to wielding the Element of Magic within a day, and now she’s Princess of Friendship! And then there’s Sunset Shimmer.”
“Who?” she wondered.
“A friend of Twilight’s,” he replied. “She was the Princess’s student before her, until she thought Celestia wasn’t giving her what she deserved. She demanded Celestia make her a Princess, and when it didn’t happen she ran away. She then terrorized a school, bullying the others into treating her like their ruler.”
“Wow, how familiar,” she snarked.
“Yeah well,” he gave an awkward chuckle. “You didn’t steal the Element of Magic and turn into a literal demon before getting blasted with the Elements.”
“Glad for that,” she shuddered.
“My point is,” he said, “Sunset made up for what she did, and since then she’s been using the Element of Magic as well as Twilight has. So, obviously, you can’t give up your chance at using an Element, because they know that anyone can be a better pony if they want to. One day, you’ll get a chance to use the Element of Laughter, and you’ll be amazing at it.”
“Hopefully I don’t have to fight supervillains,” she said.
“Fair enough,” he agreed.
“Though it’s good to know I could,” she said, letting out a yawn.
“Getting tired?” he asked.
“A bit, yeah,” she said.
“Panicking like that can really take it out of you,” he said. “How about we go back to the castle and get something to eat?”
“What about everyone else?” she asked. “Aren’t they still looking for me?”
“I’ll find them once you’re inside,” he said. “I know you want to round them up, but it’s probably better if you don’t flop over into the snow.”
“Fair enough,” she laughed.
Then she got quiet again. Diamond frowned as she stared into the snow.
“What if mom’s still waiting for me to get back?” she asked. “I don’t want to face her right now. Or at all, really. But at least not tonight.”
“If she is,” he said, “then I can fly you in through a window.”
“Can you do that?” she asked.
“Now that I have these, I can,” he said, stretching a wing around her. “Okay, I’m not the best at flying yet, but I can manage up and forward well enough. Or do you think I can’t carry you?”
“Well…” she said, glancing away.
Before she could give a better answer, she felt herself being lifted up and realized he was carrying her in his arms. She wasn’t sure what expression she made, but it was funny enough for him to laugh.
“See, you’re making me laugh,” he said, using a wing tip to boop her nose. “You’ll make a great Laughter!
Diamond gave a snort of laughter before, stupidly, trying to push him away. She started to fall, but he held on, letting them both fall back instead. They landed with a thud, Spike swearing at the freezing snow now touching his back.
“Guess you’d make a good Laughter yourself!” she teased, rolling off him.
“Jokes aside,” he said, getting up, “we really should get you out of this cold. And I’m sure that if you really don’t want to go home yet, Twilight wouldn’t say no to you staying the night.”
“You sure?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “Plus, can you really say no knowing that I’ll get to cook something for you?”
“I’d love to,” she smiled, offering a hoof to help him up.
They started walking toward the castle. Diamond shivered for a moment, wishing she’d brought a scarf or something. She felt Spike’s wing around her, pulling her closer to him.
“You looked cold,” Spike explained when she raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, well, you are pretty warm,” she sighed.
“Dragons,” he shrugged. “Our natural fire magic lets us regulate our body temperature, unlike other reptiles. We’re comfortable in any kind of heat, but use it to heat ourselves when in cold situations. However, a Dragon will still get cold in more extreme temperatures.”
“You sounded like you were reading that from a book,” she said.
“I kinda was?” he said.
“So what you’re saying, is that you’re just as much of a nerd as Twilight,” she laughed.
“No, I’m just good at remembering things!” he defended.
“Well, if there was an Element of Remembrance,” she said.
“That sounds oddly morbid,” he replied.
“Yeah, forget that idea,” she agreed. “Still, thanks for helping me.”
“You’re welcome,” he smiled. “What was I supposed to do, not go help someone I care about?”
“Yeah, well, I care about you too,” she smiled back.
“Are you okay, Diamond?” he asked. “You’re looking a bit red. We should really get you inside.”
“Oh, uh, just the wind,” she chuckled nervously. “You know, you can’t keep all of me warm and still walk and all that. We should go.”
She leaned in closer as the duo hurried toward the castle in the distance.