//------------------------------// // Bullies // Story: Thirty Minute Ponies // by Arcainum //------------------------------// Prompt #84: The pony who holds Diamond Tiara’s heart Diamond Tiara sullenly kicked the front door of her house open and stomped into the hall, calling loudly. “Mom! Dad!” When there was no reply, she rolled her eyes and trotted further into the house, checking the parlours one by one. “Where are you?” Still nothing. “Ugh.” She gave up, tramping up the stairs angrily and storming into her room, slamming the door behind her. She threw herself onto her bed and stared at the pastel ceiling, muttering to herself. “Stupid blank-flank Crusaders… Not my fault their dumb column made ponies upset… Don’t see why I should get covered in ink…” Her muttering trailed away. Anger had sustained her this long, taking her from school to the river, where she had washed herself to keep her parents from seeing her dirtied, then back to her house. She had hoped to find some sympathy, perhaps a little light pampering, but… nothing. No doubt her parents were at some stupid business meeting. She rolled onto her front and sighed. She tried to block the memories, the laughing faces of the other children and the burning shame in her chest, but she was alone with nothing to distract her. She closed her eyes and whimpered quietly. “Why does no one like me?” “It’s because you’re so heartless, my little pony.” Diamond Tiara jumped, squeaking in fright as the smooth voice caught her by surprise. Her eyes snapped to the long mirror propped against one wall, and she bit her lip as she saw the familiar inky blackness swirling across its surface. She got up carefully from her bed and trotted to the mirror, making sure not to stand too close. “W-what do you want?” In the murky emptiness that was all the mirror now showed, the faint silhouette of a pony blurred into view. “The same thing I always want, Diamond. For three little ponies to be laughed out of town.” Diamond Tiara harrumphed, her haughty exterior not hiding the fear that clutched at her. “Well, that’s too bad. As usual, they pulled some stupid trick to make themselves look good, and I got ink all over me.” The shadow hissed quietly in frustration. “Yet again you, fail, little one. How many times has it been now? I cannot tell you how important it is that these fillies are dealt with. So much more than you know depends on it.” Diamond Tiara stuck out her tongue. “Well, tough. It didn’t work. You’ll just have to de-” “Don’t talk down to me.” The shadow was suddenly right in front of her, a solid blackness stretching from the mirror to almost touch her face. She could feel the air buzz with its impossible presence, and and she shuddered even as she cringed in fear. “I still have it, you know.” Diamond Tiara’s eyes widened in horror. “No, please, don’t do anything to it!” The shadow smiled as it retreated slowly back into the mirror, a brilliant white line of teeth scoring its featureless face. It lifted a forehoof and a gleaming speck of light shimmered into existence. “See? I’m holding it right now. I could do whatever I want with it.” Diamond backed away, shaking her head. “No, I’ll do whatever you say, just don’t-” The shadow set the speck of light on what passed for ground on the mirror’s edge and stepped on it, hard. Diamond Tiara screamed, clamping her hooves over her mouth as she sank to her knees. No one could hear, or the shadow would punish her more later. The pain in her chest was unbearable, a combination of searing agony and terrible wrongness, like something inside was sucking all that was good from her soul. The shadow lifted its hoof and picked the spark back up, tossing it lightly into the air to vanish into whatever strange dimension the shadow used to store it. Diamond Tiara gasped as the uncompromising sensation diminished, and she pulled herself to her hooves, tears pricking at her eyes. “What… what do you want me do?” The shadow’s monochrome grin flashed once more. “I think its time to get more… dangerous. Your childish games have accomplished nothing, and time is growing short.” Diamond Tiara nodded silently, clenching her teeth. How had it come to this? How had this… thing taken such a hold on her life? She looked up at the shadow as it began to fade, her room starting to retake its place in the mirror’s pane. “I’ll do whatever you want, just… please… Let me have it back. Have a heart, and let me have it back.” The shadow laughed, a cruel, ironic bark dwindling slowly away. “Have a heart? Why? I’ve already got yours.” Note: I was feeling a little bad about doing a continuation, and it felt like it was twisting the prompt a little far, so... I did two submissions! This one was one of those "I've only got an hour left uuuuh" ideas, when I think and think and think and then suddenly, when I only have 40 minutes left, I have an idea and blitz the whole thing out. I think did quite well on this one, actually. I think the feeling of danger is much more pronounced than in, say, "Fairy Tales." Also lol, it turned into another Triad thing. It's a fun universe to think about, and the best part about it is that I have no idea where it's going! I'm interested to see what happens when a story writes itself.