//------------------------------//
// Chapter 11 
// Story: The Stronger Tiara 
// by computerneek 
//------------------------------//

He was only barely in time.  The damaged door snapped in two as his wife passed, ripping the hinges out of the wall and sending the massive slabs of solid, wooden door tumbling after her, before the display cabinet at the far end of the hall finally manages to stop her.  He glances quickly in her direction, catching a glimpse between the falling door fragments; it looks like the blow wasn’t quite hard enough to overcome her earth pony magic to deal significant damage to her.  She does pride herself in the near-invulnerability she’s able to coax out of her magic.  The toughened, diamond-like ability after which Diamond had been named.
It’s specifically only near invulnerability, though- even with it, she can still get surface cuts, and various blows still hurt, they just don’t do any significant damage.  Which means he’s not surprised she’s bouncing limply off the display case to land face-first on the floor.
But she has that ability, and it works whether she’s stunned or not, so he turns the other way to follow his daughter into the living room.
Even then, as he watches his daughter stomp to and flop down on the couch, he stops at the door.  “Diamond?” he asks.
She doesn’t move.
“Can I come in?”
He can just make out one of her eyebrows raising as her eye opens partially, head turning slightly to look at him.  She sniffs, and returns to her prior position, eyebrow going back down, without saying anything.
He chooses to take that as a yes, and enters, walking slowly towards her.
He slows as he approaches; he lacks his wife’s self-protection ability, and wants to be sure she’s not going to kick him across the room before he gets in range for that.  Such would probably kill him outright.
“Diamond?” he asks again.
She doesn’t move.
He winces internally.  He’s never been that smart with anything other than money- and his next question, the only way he can think of to get her to respond and maybe open up, even he knows isn’t very sensitive.  Nor a very good idea.  “Are you okay?”
She lets out a snort, and he blinks; perhaps it was better than he thought.  She turns to look at him, tears still streaming down her face, but her eyes are open.  “Of course not,” she states.  Then she turns back to the couch, laying her head down and closing her eyes again.  “You heard what I told her, right?”
He blinks, and nods.  “Sounds like a…”  He hesitates, searching for the right word.  After a second, he decides he’d started the sentence wrong, and hangs his head.  “Long night.”
His daughter lets out a snort of laughter.  “One way to put it,” she says.  “It was a…  very long night.”  She lets out a sigh, turning slightly away from him.  “That…  was true.”
He steps up next to the couch, judging her calm enough not to kick him.  “Who was it?”
“Same guy that stole my crown,” she states calmly.  “But he’s dead now.  Shot through the heart.”
He shudders; that’s a quick way to end any pony’s days, not just a dark magic users’.  “You…  You said earlier, all three of you could have died…  that referring to whoever was helping you?”
She nods.
“May I ask, who was it?”
She shakes her head.  “I’m not allowed to say.”
He blinks.  “Agency.”
She nods.  “Something like that.”
“What about…” he begins, and sighs.  This is the hard part- the part he’s been planning to ask her about sometime, but hasn’t been brave enough yet.  “What about us?” he continues.  “What have…  we, been doing wrong?”
She looks at him.  “You say that like you know you’ve been doing something wrong.”
He nods.  “I…  I’ve always had a hard time believing you were as happy as you made out to be…”  He glances towards the door.  “Today just cemented that feeling.”
“All she cares about is how I act,” she states.  “She doesn’t care how I feel.”
He nods in the following silence.  “Yeah, I think I’ve started picking up on that too, these last few days.”  He glances towards her.  “Particularly yesterday.”
She winces, looking away.
He blinks; he hadn’t meant to say something that might hurt her.
“Then…  you,” she begins, and looks back at him.  “You’re not going to yell at me, are you?”
He blinks.  “Uh, no.  Why would I?”
She smiles weakly, though it looks more like a victorious smile than true happiness.  “Because you don’t,” she states, before looking back forwards, at the side of the couch.  “You don’t worry about me.  Instead, you go after anypony that hurts my image.”
“That’s…  That’s not-!” he begins, but breaks off as she looks at him again with those great, tearful eyes.  He hangs his head, averting his gaze.  “I…  I suppose that is what’s happened,” he mutters.  “I…  I’m sorry.  I’ve only…  Only ever wanted the best for you.  Went after anything that hurt you…”  He sighs, and looks back at her.  “But all I ever saw was your image.”  He hangs his head again.  “I’m sorry,” he mutters again.  “I’m not very good with ponies…  just bits.”
“Yeah,” she mutters.  “I’ve been wondering about that too, these last…  few…  days.”
He looks up; she’s not looking at him, though.  He follows her gaze.
Her mother is standing in the door to the room, positively fuming.
He looks his wife in the eyes.  “We need to talk.”





“Rich incoming,” Rainbow mutters to her friends, gathered in the main library of Twilight’s castle.  The Alicorn herself is in one of the upstairs labs, doing some experiment or another, nopony really understood any more than the general category of the experiment:  Magic.  The experiment title she’d assigned had sounded too much like she had started pulling random words out of the dictionary for anypony to understand, even Spike.
Applejack follows her gaze towards the front doors.  “Huh,” she mutters.  “He doesn’t look too happy.”
“Almost like somepony tried to hurt Diamond again,” Rarity observes.  “But worse.”
“Again?” Rainbow asks.
“Spike?” Rarity asks the drake.  “Could you do me a favor and go get Twilight, please?”
“Yeah, again,” Applejack states.  “Seems a lotta ponies are trying to do her in lately.”
“A lot?” Fluttershy asks.  “I thought it was only the one…  and whatever this is, I suppose.”
“Yes, darling,” Rarity nods to the pegasus.  “That was the first time anypony has ever tried to hurt her, so I do believe a ‘lot’ is the right term.”
“Relatively speaking, at least,” Applejack agrees.
“Wait,” Rainbow mutters.  “Somepony was stupid enough to try to hurt Diamond?”
Applejack looks at her.  “You mean you never heard about her tiara?”
“Her tiara?” Rainbow asks.  “Was there something wrong with it or something?”
“Well of course!” Pinkie declares.  “Why else would it have come up?”
Rainbow blinks.  “So what was wrong with it?”
“Found to carry a dark magic curse yesterday morning,” Filthy Rich states, walking up to them.  “And keep it down, I’d rather that not be common knowledge.”  He shifts his gaze across the five mares.  “...  Where’s the Princess?”
“Uh, whaddya need her for?” Rainbow asks.  “Did somepony try to do Diamond in again?”
His eyes narrow.  “My business is with the Princess and only the Princess.  I would like to know where she is, or when she’ll be available.”
Rainbow opens her mouth to speak.
“That would be right here, and right now,” Twilight states, trotting into the library from behind Filthy.
“Your highness,” he begins, turning and bowing.  All five mares behind him roll their eyes.
Twilight’s reaction is a little noisier.  Her trot breaks, wings flaring for balance, as she groans.  “Ugh, would ponies please stop bowing!”
He takes that as his cue to rise.  “Princess Twilight,” he begins.
“Just Twilight, please,” Twilight interrupts.
“Alright then, Twilight,” he continues.  “Though I require your assistance in your capacity as a Princess of Equestria.”
“Uh-oh,” Applejack mutters.
“Somepony got him maaad,” Pinkie whispers dramatically.
“Uh, Celestia’s just up in Canterlot…?” Twilight ventures.
He sighs gently, looking at the floor.  “By Equestrian law, though, you have the same level of authority as Celestia herself.”
“What-!  But-!  Is there some reason you can’t go to her?”
“It’s a long train ride, then a long line, to be seen by her.  And this is a matter of urgent importance, for the safety of my daughter.”
Blink.  “...  Alright.  What is it?”
“I need a divorce.”