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// Prologue 
// Story: Free from the Chains that Bind 
// by Sillyponyme 
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	This was it, her life had turned around for the best and this is what she got for it. It wasn’t fair, she stopped the bullying, the teasing and being cruel. It never was the life that she wanted. Her life was supposed to be simple but she was promised friendship, something she had never had the chance to have. How could she have friends, she was phony, a fraud, her cutie mark was deceiving. Other ponies her age knew it and she was ignored but one pony promised her that no more would have to know. It was a thought and a once in a life time opportunity, she couldn’t turn that down. It had been what she thought was the best time of her life, the greatest moment for her and her family. Surely such a kind act to an entire family was a great thing until she realized that it was forced on her by blackmail. It was then that she realized that she was in trouble.

Diamond Tiara was a master of blackmail and getting exactly what she wanted even if helping a pony meant hurting them as well. Diamond Tiara turned good ponies bad and ruined the lives of those that she was jealous of. She was hated, even by those she considered friends. Nopony in their right minds would want to be friends with her but Diamond didn’t give them options. It was always about her, it had been for years and not a single pony really knew about her actions. There was no way for them to, not with all forms of blackmail filling the air around those Diamond Tiara was close to like frozen butter. There was no escape for the ponies closest to Diamond Tiara. As long as her demands were met, those ponies were just fine physically, but mentally, the ponies were broken. Diamond had completely stripped most ponies close to her of their freedom, their dignity, and their hope except for one pony.

That pony was determined to escape the wrath of the pink menace. She wanted her freedom, her sanity back, she wanted revenge. That pony had been near broken and Diamond Tiara saw that. For years, Diamond had her under her hoof. It was like serving the devil, having no freedom to choose and being brought down to his level or her level in this case. The pain, anxiety, worry, guilt and more ate the pony alive for years. She had teased and done terrible things to others. She wanted to get out but she couldn’t, she wanted to tell the truth but she couldn’t. Had Princess Twilight ever found out, the poor pony who told would have been dead in seconds. To run off and leave wasn’t an option; at least not at first, her parents would be ruined, and the small family would have died off. Thanks to her new friends, she learned a few things. Diamond Tiara didn’t care about anypony but herself and if hurting others meant that she got her way, she would do just that. Diamond hadn’t expected something, three something’s to be exact, the CMC. Things would have been much worse had they not have intercepted the troubled pony.

Unfortunately, Diamond Tiara had ways of getting what she wanted no matter how difficult it would be. Now the one that had been blackmailed for so long was finally at her ropes end. She was held against a tree, a knife held to her neck, blood dripped from the pony’s neck. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. After all this time and she had finally made real friends only to have her throat slit. Tears flowed from her eyes; they soaked the grey coat that adorned her body. Her face was black, blue, and bloody. Her lip was puffed out and her hind legs were broken. She could only hope and pray that her new friends would come to her aid and save her but knew that it was just a false hope. She was told that Scootaloo betrayed her but even so, she didn’t blame her. That did let her know that they wouldn’t be coming for her. “Please, Diamond Tiara, it doesn’t have to be this way.” 

The pony begged and pleaded with her fake friend. She knew that it would do no good to communicate with the witch but she had to try. She wasn’t ready to die; she could still remember her parents and what they would say. “Don’t you ever let anypony hurt you; you can always stand up and be strong sweetie.” Well, that’s what she did and now she would die for it. Never did she think that standing up for herself would get her killed but perhaps that wasn’t it. Perhaps there was more to it. It was what Diamond Tiara had said to her so long ago. “I can give you friendship sweetheart, we both need it, and to live without it would be worse then death.” That wasn’t what Diamond had meant though, she had meant something more. She had meant that she would rather lose a friend then have one no longer be her friend, fake or not. Unfortunately, it was a realization that came too late. Had this realization happened all those years ago, she wouldn’t be in this mess right now. She had gotten into her fair share of messes but this was one she wasn’t going to be getting out of anytime soon or at all for that matter. Diamond Tiara always won and today would be no different and even as mares, she had been weak and now she couldn’t save herself.

“Oh, you will not betray me anymore, I’m sorry it had to be this way but you just couldn’t keep your mouth shut could you? You just had to leave me and get help and now you’ll pay for it SILVER SPOON!” Diamond yelled as she readied the knife to strike her old friend.