//------------------------------// // Overdue Explanations // Story: Diamond Heart // by Wayofthepen //------------------------------// The pain was not in my chest, but in my stomach. Such force for a tiny pony. I looked around to find myself in some sort of room with dirt for walls, no windows, and two cots. One of which I was on, and on the other was...Lisp! I tried to move against the pain to an upright position. I noticed a sleeping pony in the corner, breathing slow but hastily at the same time. I sniffed the air for a moment, picking up a familiar scent from that certain pony. I couldn't put my paw on it, but I knew it from somewhere. "Excuse me." He looked up at me and then to lisp, but finally resting on me. "Can you tell me where I am?" "I found you laying on the ground not far from this pegasus. Mind telling me what it was about?" His voice didn't sound the least bit scared. If at all, a little respectful. I turned my glance to Lisp, then back to him. "I stopped him from causing harm to another pony. I ended up using his guitar as a weapon, and kept it. Now, if I may, who are you?" My voice sounded more demanding than calm, like if I were a prisoner instead of a guest. "Lance, Lance Quills. And not to discredit your own story, but I'd very much like to hear his own." I nearly stopped listening after he said Lance. That name...Where had I heard it before? Then it hit me. Nightmare Night. I gripped my head as the memory flooded my mind. Talking to the guard, the element of magic, and then the library. I couldn't remember past hearing a stomp at the doorway. I knew his scent was familiar. "We've met, if I recall correctly." I shot at him. He gave me a smirk, but I looked towards Lisp as he started moaning again. "Do you know what happened to him?" I asked after looking closely at his legs. He had a few somewhat visible bruises over his black coat. I slowly got to my paws painfully. The ceiling was luckily a few inches from my head. I walked a little closer to Lisp, holding back the urge to strike him down. "Sorry, can't say I know much about what happened." He was lying. I was always able to tell, but having enhanced senses made it easier. I turned to him as he got out of his chair and stepped into the light. Just as I remembered him at the fountain, but his entire being felt off. A bit happier. As soon as Lisp is gone, we will have a long chat... Lisp tried moving one of his forearms, letting out a yelp of pain and retracted it. What happened to him before I blacked out? "Maybe we should get him to the hospital. I'm in no condition to travel, though." I gripped my side, trying to fake the pain. I slowly made my way to the cot I woke up on and sat down. Lance moved between Lisp and I, but kept looking towards me. I looked between the two, then for some place they would leave from. I wanted to be sure I had an escape route if things went south. Lance let out a chuckle. “You don't know a dugout when you see one, do you son?” He put effort into his accent, not at all how I remembered it. I gave him a shrug. He shook his head and moved over to Lisp. "Come on there kid, you're gonna be alright." He yanked Lisp up with little to no effort. He made one last checkup on his little bunker, most likely thinking I would touch something. He then turned to me. "I'll be back shortly. Don't touch anything whilst I'm gone, you hear? It takes me a long time to make all of this and I don't want you mucking it up." He sounded a little joyful at this, but I just gave him a nod. He took Lisp and started to clear a way out. After getting Lisp topside with a thud and groan, he himself climbed through. As soon as I knew they were gone, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. I clicked it on, being careful not to break it. I had, amazingly, full battery. The background picture was me and Sofia at a US military base, with her holding an M4A1 and me holding an Barret M82. I saw that I had a voice mail and hastily opened it. “Hey, where are you? You’re all over the missing persons board. I’m starting to get worried, it’s been four months for gods sake! I know I am agnostic, but I am praying that you are safe. Take care.” Sofia...Always having her friends on her mind. Wait, how did I get this in the first place? I flipped back to the home page and went to my note app. There was one titled ‘Aiding’ posted today. I opened it and found yet another message from the annoyingly insane Discord. “Enjoying the world? Thought that you might want this...Thing. I sure had my fun with it. Tata! -Discord” Seriously? He went through my phone too? I let out a grunt as I fell backwards onto the cot. Might as well get some sleep. Going to need my energy to talk to ‘Lance’. - - - - - - - - - - - - - I woke to the sound of the roof moving and hooves dropping in. Lifting my head up slowly, I saw Twilight and Lance staring me in the face. Looks like my chat will have to be postponed. “Oh, hey. Didn’t expect to see you here.” I gave her a weak smile. I realized the phone was still in my hand, and tried to put it away without drawing attention to it. She gave me a worried smile. “Lance told me that he found you two unconscious. What happened?” I let my head back down. Why is it that out of all the mane six, I am good friends with the knowledge seeker? I scratched the back of my neck, searching for the right words to say. “That is a good question...” I don’t want to give away too much of what happened, or she might worry that a new beast is inside the forest. Then I got the story straight. “I was walking when I heard Lisp shout at me. Tried to plead with him, but you know him. Hot headed and thinks with his flank. This tile in my chest limits me, so I can’t fight back. I blacked out before I could really do anything.” I told them, hoping she would buy it. She trotted over to me, scanning me with her eyes. She stared at where the tile was lodged. “I can’t believe you would do something as crazy as sacrifice yourself to buy us time...” She still had her smile, but I saw tears forming. “Can I ask you a question? I want an honest answer.” I nodded to her, wondering what it could be. “Why did you help us?” And she did it again, leaving me with a frown. “If you knew where I came from, you’d understand. Life wasn’t easy, Twi.” I thought back to my dad in the flashback. Tears were now forming at my eyes, but I quickly shunned them. “I don’t take kindly to those who fight for evil or the wrong reasons.” A smile replaced my frown as I just stared at her. I quickly got out of the trance and sat upright, looking towards Lance. “Would you have anything to add? You’re being very quiet, old friend.” I said, smirking as I said the last two words. Your turn to be on the spotlight. Twilight looked surprised at my statement and looked between the both of us. "Old friend?" she said nervously. Lance turned to me. "Nothing to really say I guess. It seems like the two of you were having a good connection at that moment." Well played. He turned back to Twilight. "I've met him before. On what was dubiously called, 'Nightmare Night' I happen to be in town getting the months supplies for the house when I saw this guy right here," he tipped his head in my direction, "In the midst of a group of ponies with a Guard about to get up in his hackles." "So being the pony I am, I went up and gave the fellow a hand. It's quite the tale actually, you should have seen the look on that old Guards face," he let out a laugh. "He told me he was off on a mission to find the lost Elements Of Harmony and he needed a pony or two to help him. I right off agreed with him, as Nightmare Moon wasn't no friend of mine." He returned his gaze to me. My face had just gone from smug, confused, and finally rested on angry. What he said was true, at least so far it was. "So we set off then, looking all round Ponyville and the area around it for them. We found the first one atop the Nightmare Moon statue outside of Ponyville, that girl and her ego." He paused for a moment, catching his breath. Twilight was buying this so far, but I am not just some mutt, Lance. I gave him the indication that I was buying it too. "He went off then, sure that he knew where one of them was. I parted from him then, being told to meet him at your Library when I finished my own search. Now the only place I hadn't thought to look was by Cloudsdale, so going with my gut instinct I flew over to check out what all the fuss was about, supposedly some battle between Nightmare Moon and Princess Luna." Twilight gave him a nod, this being what she had heard. "Now what I didn't expect to see was, flying up to Cloudsdale, I spotted in a clearing not far under it, a small crater with two ponies inside. When I flew down, I couldn't right believe my eyes. It was the Princess and Rainbow Dash lying in the crater. Rushing to help, I pulled both of them out of the crater. Not wanting to waste any time, I brought the Princess back to my home where my dear Gemstone was. She took care of her whilst I headed back to the library with Rainbow Dash." I scanned him over, searching for any indication of false information. Man, he has the best poker face I have ever seen. "From there I flew the two of them up to Canterlot to see Celestia and fight of Nightmare Moon. Now, I'm not one to run from a fight, but I had my own worries down below and I couldn't be staying any longer. So baring my farewells, I left them in the courtyard, flying back down to my cottage to help Gemstone with Luna." He let out a sigh and caught his breath once more. "Oh thank you Lance, for all you've helped us with." Twilight said, breaking the silence and came and gave him a hug. He hugged her back and a tear fell from one of his eyes. I knew it. There was more to it than what I already knew. Pulling back, Twilight smiled, first at Lance, then at me. "It seems like you two are old friends after all." He nodded, "Sure as rain we are Twilight. Hay, we might not be here now if it weren't for old Zin over there." I thought more about his story, about dropping Rainbow and I off. Suddenly, my head was overtaken with pain. What I saw was no Lance, but the same pony that was in my head from before. I gripped my head, trying to keep the memory going. I got as far as charging the throne room, seeing a black alicorn before I had to let go. Twilight and Lance were looking straight at me. She was the one to speak, though. “Zin, are you alright?” Obviously worried about what caused me pain. “Y-Yeah...Just caught in the past...” I let out a heavy sigh. So close to figuring out what really happened. Lance knows more than he lets on, though. As soon as she is gone, it will be time to learn what really happened. We sat and stood in utter silence for a few more moments, before Lance broke it. "Twilight its starting to get dark out here. You should probably be headed back to Ponyville." She gave him a nod before making way to depart. "I can make it back on my own, thank you." She called to Lance as he made an exit. I couldn’t hear what she said to him, just because I had been lost in my own thoughts. I got to my paws and stood no farther than one foot away from him. "Oh you don't have to worry about us Twi, Zin and I will be just cozy in here. This place really does keep the heat well and I have a few candles with me for just that purpose." He waved goodbye and fell back in, turning towards me all in one fell swoop. I felt my Diamond Dog emotions take over, but I couldn’t fight them. "Alright Lance," I said hissing his name, "I buy most of your story, but I think you had a much larger role in the whole thing than just helping me." He let out a heavy sigh, and I realized that it wouldn’t be easy getting him to talk. "I can't say I did much really. Sure I helped you and the others with getting the Elements, but really what could a normal pegasus pony do against Nightmare Moon?" He said while adjusting himself in his chair. Yep, I was right. The emotions inside the body shut off any reason of self control, no matter how much I tried to. Within two leaps, I had him lifted into the air by his vest against the wall. "Now I don't want to hurt you, but if I have to I will. You will tell me right now the truth, all of it." He lowered his head, grinning deeply at me. "What are you grinning about?" I barked at him hastily. "You," he said coldly in his accent, "You think that a little force will change the mind of anypony. I can see why Lisp attacked you. You think you own the world and everypony will just be fine with it. Well let me tell you son, today you just messed with the wrong pony." When he looked up, I finally got control of my entire being, but it was too late. Fear ran over me as he smashed his knife’s hilt into my my lower jaw, forcing my head upward. Before I could react, he moved at lightning speeds while jamming the hilt into my gut, causing me to cough out blood as well as sending me back into my cot. "You listen here dog," he said while shaking me, so that I would not black out once more, "I've been mighty kind helping you out, going out of my way to bring you here after your fight with the pegasus. I could have left you there and nopony would have known, but I didn't. Now I'd like it if you started showing me a hint of respect." He slowly made his way back to his chair while I resisted the urge to cough my heart out. He’s too strong and fast to be a simple pegasus pony... "So what do you say? I am who I say I am, and what I told you was the truth. You can either accept that, or I can be on my way." He said, shielding his face with his hat. I now had full control over my emotions and body, and felt the need to say whats on my mind. I just let out a heavy sigh and wiped some blood off. “Look, I don’t have to explain my past to you right now,” I let out a smirk at him, “But one thing gets me is this...Do you know anypony by the name of Spade or Shadow?” If I can see how he reacts the slightest, it may just be his downfall. I am tired of not being certain about anything, but this...I know he knows something. "I don't reckon I've heard those names before," he said staring at in my eyes. "Why, are they some friends of yours?" I grinned at him. Sly old pegasus...If you are one, that is. "I don't know. I can't quite remember. I feel like I've heard their names before but I can't place them..." I half lied to him. I knew them, I knew their faces, but I couldn’t figure where I knew them from. He shrugged at me. "Nopony I know, that's for certain. I've been in this neck of the woods for a good deal of time now and those two names haven't crossed my ears." I just stared at him. If he has been out here this long, why haven’t I run across him until now? I have been living off in the woods for the last four months... "Well I reckon it's time you and I hit the proverbial hay." He laughed a bit. I tilted my head a little while I messed with my jaw. He is definitely not a normal pegasus. "You're right." I said to him as I laid back onto the cot. He shifted his position in his chair to one that was comfortable and started to drift off. I had no idea where in the woods I was, no idea who Shadow and Spade were, but one thing I know for certain. I am too tired to care.