My Little Diam My Guilty Pleasure
Clad in the silver, custom-made Zealot Encounter Suit I'd designed for her, Diamond Tiara stared at Celestia and the Mane Six incredulously as I and Ieesha stood with her for emotional support. Then, a moment later, "You... y-you," - the pink Earth Pony started to laugh so hard she near-choked - "he-he-he... you expect me to drop everything and... and... - ha-ha-ha - just come back to Equestria with you?"
Somewhat perturbed by the pink pony's hapless laughter, Princess Celestia nodded as she stated, "Yes, we do my Little Pony. Your parents are waiting for y--"
Mistake.
Big mistake.
Almost immediately, Diamond Tiara ceased laughing, and 'shut down' somewhat, her expression becoming utterly void of emotion as she closed her mind to the outside world, preparing herself mentally for possible combat. "No," stated she, flatly.
"I... I'm sorry, what?" queried Celestia, dumbfounded.
"I said no," Diamond snarled. There came the softened whine of multiple servo-motors as the fully armored, armed, and shielded Earth Pony stalked toward those whom would take her from me. "What part of that word don't you understand, Lady? The 'N' or the 'O'?"
"But..." stuttered Celestia, "but your parents..."
"My parents" thundered Diamond, getting into the princesses face, "are David and Ieesha. David," - she gestured to me with an armor-clad hoof - "is my adoptive human Father, and Ieesha" - she gestured to the huge, golden dragoness standing beside me - "is my adoptive dragon Mother and I'd say they did a pretty good job. They are my parents, not some ponies I don't even know! How dare you come here after all this time and make to take me from them, from the Weyr, from the life I have here!"
"This world," Celestia began to reply gently but firmly, "is not meant for y--"
"Oh, bullshit!" Diamond snapped, cutting the Princess off as the others gasped in shock. The pink Earth Pony, whom was my adopted Daughter, and a Child of the Weyr, paid them no mind as she continued. "The people of my Dad's Home World - Aiur - already know all about me. The people of Dad's original Home World - Earth - know about me. I've been in more battles and saved more lives with my skills in Battlefield Medicine than these lazy layabouts" - she angrily gestured to the Mane Six - "could even dream of! So don't you dare presume to come here and tell me that 'I'm not meant for this world!'" A smug, almost vindictive grin suffused my daughter's face then. "Oh, and don't think about trying to take me back to Equestria by force. Take a look around at where you are, Little Ponies; you're aboard the construct called the Dragon Weyr, so named because of my Mother... the Kirathian Dragon whom resides within it..."
Said dragoness growled threatningly, folding a golden wing about us both. ~If you try to take my daughter from me, you won't leave here alive...~
"... and even if you could take down Mother, and take down my Father, you'd still have to contend with the Dragon Weyr: the sentient, self-aware, superfortress which happens to be our home. It's five times the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza..." - (Twilight blinked at this) - "... grander than the Palace of Canterlot" - (no one noticed that Rarity had left the group, and was marveling at the tapestry adorned walls of the Weyrhome) - "can travel faster than you can blink..." - (now Rainbow Dash was really interested) - "is stronger than you..." - (Applejack looked skeptically at Tiara) - "and" - Diamond Tiara stared vindictively at Celestia - "possesses more weapons inside and out than you could possibly imagine. Now you have to ask yourself one question, Princess: 'Do I want this great Golden Pyramid blocking out my Sun as I watch it burn my Principality unto dust and ashes?' Because this is what will happen if you attempt to erase my memories and forcibly return me to Equestria." That said, with a thought Diamond Tiara armed the twin-linked Photon Cannons mounted either side of her barrel...
Frantically, the Princess looked for aid but - to her horror - found none; all of her Little Ponies were gone! We knew where they were, though. Rarity was marveling at my Templar Robe upon its mannequin, gently feeling its silken material with her hoof; then she was screaming with glee as the Dragon Weyr thoughtfully replicated for her a whole swathe of different materials that were used on Aiur, along with some Khaydarin Crystal 'gems.' Applejack had been shifted into the Aeroponics Garden; there she sampled the delightful fruits and vegetables grown there even as she marveled at the armies of Probes therein tending to the place; no slacker farmhands to be seen. Small and humbled was Twilight Sparkle as she sat before the Franken-Vessel that was the Weyrmind and marveled at the mighty Ihan Crystal Forest that surrounded the ship-inside-a-ship; then she gasped as an external Neural Transceiver was gently attached to the base of her skull... before her eyes filled with tears as her mind joined to the Weyr... She was wanted, welcomed, and loved even as she and the Weyrmind exchanged entire blocks of thought in an instant. Even Rainbow Dash could not be found; she was within the Psiodeck, engaged as Daring Do in a thrilling adventure pulled right from her memories of the books and brought to life!
A shuddering sigh escaping her, Princess Celestia lowered her head. "I think," I intoned gently as Diamond Tiara deactivated her weapons and removed her helm, "that our new friends will be staying here with us for a couple of weeks; then you can come and retrieve them. You have our word that none of them will come to harm; the Weyr simply won't allow that to happen. Now go; get out of here..."
Eyes glistening with tears, the Solar Diarch nodded; then, wreathing herself in her solar magic, she disappeared and returned to Equestria, very downhearted. Once she was gone Diamond Tiara frantically doffed her armor, placed it back onto its special Ponnequin, and then - her eyes misting with tears - she ran and leaped into my arms, burying her head into my robe as she started to bawl like a traumatized filly. "Oh sweetie..." I murmured to her soothingly, gently combing a hand through her mane as she wept, "There, there, sweetheart; it’s alright..." Her expression one of deep concern, Ieesha settled down upon the Great Fleece Pile, unfurling a wing, and I gladly took her invitation, settling down beneath it. As my beloved dragonesses wing folded down over us, shrouding Diamond and I within warm, musty comfort, my poor daughter babbled through her tears, "I almost...! S-She almost..."
~But you didn't attack her, little one~ Ieesha immediately responded. At her words, I nodded, allowing my hands to roam freely through my daughter's mane and over her pink coat. "And she didn't get the chance to wield any of her magic against us; you successfully intimidated her - we all did. Even better, your bragging about the Weyr got the Element Bearers interested in it; that was all that was needed for the Dragon Weyr to reach out to them, and now they're on our side..." At my words - once she was able to settle and stop crying - Diamond Tiara snuffled and then, raising her head to look at me, she asked, "The Weyr didn't... compel them or anything, did it?" Negation filled our thoughts then as I immediately shook my head. "Nah," I replied, ruffling her mane, "it just tweaked what was already there a bit. The six were genuinely intrigued by this place; they wanted to look about when you started talking about it. Now they want to stay here for a bit, and we'll be glad to have them here!" Diamond Tiara giggled then as Ieesha moved to nuzzle her face and gently lick away her tears.
"But you know" I continued softly, "that's the funny thing about the Weyr: once you're aboard... you become part of it. You become Weyrfriend, or - in your case - Weyrchild. The Weyr... it doesn't let go of those inside it easily." At Tiara's questioning look, I elaborated. "Oh, the Element Bearers will be able to leave and return to Equestria - we certainly won't stop them; in fact we'll wish them well - but they'll always have a connection to this place - Twilight especially, since she's got a Neural Transceiver that will soon become internal. And once their time and duty on Equestria is done..."
"... the Weyr will bring them back; back home. They'll... return to us."
Ieesha and I both nodded.