//------------------------------// // The Diamond Shines // Story: He Is The One // by Loyal Defender //------------------------------// Chapter One – The Diamond Shines A bright flash of light. That was all Loyal could remember. He had been sleeping in his bed, waiting for the night to finally be over. It had been like this for several years now...he would not forget the moment his life changed for the worse. As many know, being alone is a terrible thing. But let me put it to you this way - he had no one to celebrate the holidays with, not even CHRISTMAS. Sure, presents would come...but no parents would be around to watch him open them. As much as he was sick of it, he was equally as determined for hope that would change. So, one night, all was quiet, as Loyal was sound asleep...when there was a soft voice..."You're the one..." Soon after that, there was a sudden bright flash, and the next thing Loyal knew, he was unconscious (meaning he went from sleep to unconscious). He didn't know why or how it happened, but Loyal knew he would eventually find out. After a while, Loyal regained consciousness, but his vision was blurry. Loyal blinked to enhance his vision. Once it was clear, he looked around, until he spotted a young pink filly wearing a tiara, staring at him. The expression on her face wasn't fear or worry. Instead...it was a look of curiosity. "Um....hi." Loyal said. "Hello, there. Umm... I'm sorry, but you just seemed to appear out of nowhere... Did something happen?" The young pink filly asked. "Honestly...I don't know what happened...all I recall is a flash of light...and a strange voice saying "You're the one." No idea what that means, though..." "Well that's odd. I wonder if maybe Princess Twilight might know anything... She's probably busy though." The little filly placed a hoof to her muzzle. "Umm, I guess we could go talk to her if you want..." "You might have to lead me...it's kind of obvious I don't know my way around." "Oh, of course! Come with me." The little filly turned around and began walking in the other direction. "By the way, my name is Diamond Tiara. What's yours?" "Loyal Defender. Just call me Loyal." "Well, okay, Loyal. Princess Twilight might be able to explain what's going on. At least I hope so. She lives in the big castle outside of town." Diamond tilted her head in the direction they were walking. "Can you see it over there?" "You mean the ginormous crystal -tree-like structure ahead that's possibly full of magic or energy that's yet to be discovered? Yup, I see it. " Diamond Tiara giggled. "Well, I guess it's full of magic in the sense that one of Equestria's most powerful ponies lives there. But really, it's just her home. There's a library in there because ours was destroyed a while back, but other than that, yes, it's just her home." "How big is it on the inside?" Loyal asked. "Well, it definitely feels like it's bigger on the inside, but I'm not actually sure." Diamond Tiara climbed up the steps as they approached the castle, and knocked on the door. "But if it is, that's saying something, because it's still really big out here!" Loyal and Diamond waited for a few moments, before a purple-coated Alicorn peeked out the door. "Hiya, Princess! So, um, Loyal here just kind of seemed to appear out of nowhere, and we're a little bit confused about why, or what's going on. We were hoping you would be able to help us?" The Alicorn motioned for Diamond and Loyal to enter. "Um......sure...come right in...though I'd never seen a creature like HIM before.." "Thank you, Princess! I'm sorry for dropping in unannounced, it's just that he seems really confused..." "No, that's all right...I wasn't really busy anyway..so, what seems to be the issue?" "Well... I'm not really sure. I was just out for a walk and he just kinda... seemed to appear out of nowhere. He said something about hearing a voice in his head?" "It said 'You're the one.' I don't know what that means...I can figure it must mean I'm destined for something...but I just don't know what." "Hmmm....I can't really figure out why that happened...but while you're here, I'm assuming you'd need a place to stay? Diamond, would your parents be alright with Loyal staying at your home? Diamond Tiara flinched. "Err, probably not. I don't know if you've ever met my mother, Princess, but she's... um... Not exactly... welcoming." "What do you mean, Diamond?" "Well, she's... um... Not exactly... friendly... with anyone who's not high in social status. She's... also not really the best mother in the world." "AW, how bad can she be? I've met worse." "She's... um... She doesn't really... raise me well. I was never the best pony in the world, because she raised me to be just like her. In my heart, I wanted so badly to be different, but I didn't know HOW, all because she didn't think I needed friends." "I"ll bet I can reason with her. I'm decent at conversation. i'll just ignore anything rude she says to me." "So you plan on talking but not listening? Got it!" Diamond Tiara giggled a little bit. "Seriously though, if she doesn't know you, she'll be anything but pleasant." "Well, shall we go to your house, to talk to her?" "Well, if you're sure you can get through to her, I don't see why not..." Diamond Tiara shrugged, then turned to Twilight. "Thank you, Twilight. We'll let you know if we learn anything." Diamond headed back out the door, and Loyal followed. "So, what about your dad? Is he nicer than your mom?" "Well, yeah. He tries very hard to get me to act a specific way, too, but at least he's trying to push me in the RIGHT direction... He could still do it a lot better, though..." "Huh. My stepdad used to try to push me in the right direction...though sometimes, he would try fighting against what I thought seemed fair. So I was ambivalent towards him." Eventually, after a while, Diamond and Loyal reached her home. "You live in a mansion?!" Loyal said. "Well... yeah. We're kind of one of the wealthiest families in Ponyville. I've lived here for as long as I can remember. No siblings... One friend... Just... Just me, mom, and dad." Diamond breathed a sigh. "I was lucky to have the one friend at the time." "Well,you have another." Diamond smiled. "I actually made plenty of other friends when I realized I was walking down a dangerous path and changed my ways. But more friends is always a good thing!" Diamond and Loyal arrived at the door, and Diamond knocked on it. One could only hope this would go well...the door opened, and a rather unpleasant figure stood there.