"Spike?" Diamond Tiara asked, a bit of concern edging her voice.
She stood in front of the young drake, shifting nervously from hoof to hoof. He hadn't stopped staring at her for almost two minutes, drawing confused looks from the small crowds that passed by. Diamond glanced behind to see Silver Spoon standing there calmly, waving her hoof gently with a big smile on her face. She returned the smile and turned back to Spike.
"What's wrong?" Diamond asked coyly, trying to regain her confidence. "Am I so beautiful you have no words left?" She threw her head back, her voluminous mane flowing like waves of silk, before offering a small, smug smile to him. She hoped that this might snap him out of his trance, but her mane managed to flip a little too high and covered her tiara. Her hoof immediately flew up and she let out a mortified squeal as she frantically dug through her hair.
As if woken from a trance, Spike blinked and looked over Diamond. She was busy trying to pull her mane off her tiara, but she looked way different than he remembered. Instead of her almost cotton candy pink coat, a gorgeous purple dress fit smoothly around her and twinkled slightly with what looked like hundreds of diamonds. He felt his stomach churn and reached out a claw, but moved towards her mane instead.
"Oh, Spike!" she yelped, jumping at his touch.
"You okay?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Diamond blushed, but looked away. "I was talking to you..."
"Sorry," he muttered, threading her smooth mane around the glittering headpiece. "There you go."
Diamond looked back at him, a small blush on her face. "Thank you."
Spike smiled. "You're welcome. So, where did you, ah, get that tiara?"
Her eyes shrunk for a second before she posed again, smiling at him. "Why? Do you like it?"
He chuckled. "Of course I do."
Elation filled Diamond's chest and she beamed. "It was a special order from Prance," she said, glee edging her voice. "Daddy had to talk to the manufacturer about getting it shipped here, but he--"
"Spike?" another voice asked.
Diamond's heart skipped a beat as the familiar pink and purple curls of Sweetie Belle emerged from the crowd. She had her eyes locked on him and Spike turned and smiled. "Hey, Sweetie! Nice to see you here!"
"Yeah, nice to see--" Sweetie began, but paused when she saw Diamond's sharp gaze. She returned with her own piercing stare and Spike glanced between them.
"Is everything okay?" he asked.
Diamond smiled. "Oh, everything is fine, Spike," she cooed as she pressed herself next to him, wrapping a hoof around his arm. She kept her eyes locked on Sweetie, watching as her face twitched. "Say, why don't we go someplace else? Like, a little more alone?"
Spike looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. "What are you..."
He trailed off as the sparkling diamonds on her tiara caught his attention again, eliciting another pang from his belly. They were perfectly cut and clear as glass, just the way he liked them when he ate. He ground his teeth together and his mind went blank again. Hunger dominated his thoughts, squelching out the conversation outside.
"What do you mean by that?" Sweetie asked, her voice laced with acid.
"Oh, you know, someplace where ponies like us aren't going to be bothered," Diamond replied, smirking.
Sweetie's hoof shook, but she stayed in place. "Don't you think you could try being nice for once?"
"But I am nice, Sweetie," Diamond said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Right, Spike?"
Silence filled the space between the three of them as Diamond held onto Spike's arm. She kept her smug smile for a few seconds before looking up at him. "Spike?"
His gaze was fixed right on her, awestruck and motionless. Part of her wanted to squeal with giddiness. This was it, the same look he had given her years ago, but she didn't allow herself to make a noise. Despite finally seeing him look at her like that again, something felt off. "Spike?"
Sweetie leaned in, looking at his blank expression with curiosity. "Does he do that normally?" she asked.
Diamond threw an acidic glare at Sweetie and puffed up her cheeks. "Be quiet, dork."
Spike's eyes followed the prismatic gems with extreme precision. A growl came from his stomach and both mares turned to him again.
"Oh! He's hungry!" Diamond said, smiling from ear to ear. She turned to see if there was a waiter somewhere nearby when something incredibly heavy dropped onto her back. A yelp of surprise escaped her and she fell to the tile below, crashing her chin against the floor. As she landed, she felt something sharp drag along her side and she screamed, rolling over to see a familiar purple claw digging into the side of her dress.
"Spike!" she screamed. "What are you--?"
Another scream escaped her as his claw closed on the fabric, scratching her before he pulled back and ripped off a huge chunk of her dress. The glittering ball was stuffed into his mouth and a sickening crunch rang out in the room, followed by the shrieks of the ponies around them, including Sweetie Belle. Diamond kicked frantically and swiped around at the tile, trying to pull herself away from Spike when his claws raked across her dress again, tearing another clawful of fabric.
"Spike, stop!" she shrieked, kicking uselessly underneath him.
His claw dove for her again and Diamond threw her hooves up as it came for her face. Instead of hitting her legs, though, she felt his claws slip through her mane and close on her tiara. With a tug, he tried to pull it off her, but the crown was wrapped in her mane. She screamed again as he tugged harder, grabbing her leg as leverage. Her mane strained with each tug, stinging her head more and more until Spike pulled as hard as he could. She screamed louder than ever as he kept pulling until her head snapped back and into the tile.
She squeezed her eyes together as tears flooded them. Her head spun and stung, but she forced herself to open her eyes again and saw Spike through her blurry vision. A triumphant grin graced his face as he looked over the tiara with a chunk of her mane in his hand before opening his mouth, still glittering with saliva and the remains of her dress.
"Spike, what are you--?" Diamond murmured before her eyes went wide. "Spike, NO!"
A sickening crunch filled her ears as he bit down on the tiara, breaking the diamonds cleanly.
"SPIKE!" she screamed as she reached up for the tiara. Her hoof wrapped around his arm, but he shoved her away and bit down again, breaking the silver like it was plastic. "STOP, SPIKE!"
"What is going on-- SPIKE!" a third voice roared.
He kept biting at the tiara when a magenta aura washed over his scaled and he was yanked back violently. He let out a surprised snarl as he fell backwards, but a purple pony jumped in front of her, spreading her wings wide. She wore a magnificent dress of maroon, but Diamond stared in horror at her while tears rolled down her cheeks.
"What is wrong with you?" she thundered, watching as he was lifted into the air. She spun and looked down at Diamond, terror twinkling in her purple eyes. "Diamond?" Princess Twilight asked.
Diamond stared back at her with a shell shocked face. Her dress was nearly torn to ribbons around her and part of her mane was missing. There was also something dark trickling down the side of her head.
"Diamond, are you okay?" Twilight asked, fear edging her voice.
Before either pony could talk, a laugh rang out across the silent room. Both ponies turned to see Sweetie Belle standing right where she was moments earlier, this time with a huge smile stretched across her face. Her laughing rang out again and again, filling Diamond's ears. "He ate her tiara!" she screeched gleefully.
Twilight turned back to Diamond, but a loud wail overrode Sweetie's laughter before she could say anything.
"Shut up! Shut up!" Diamond shouted at Sweetie, tears running in a steady stream down her cheeks. Hastily, she pushed herself up and nearly tripped on her shredded dress as she tried to run away. Stunned faces of all kinds stared at her while she pushed herself through the crowd, staggering at the pain in her head.
She had to get away. The sheer embarrassment of being attacked was mortifying, but nothing compared to Sweetie's echoing laughter and words still ringing in her ears. Spike's savage grin filled her mind and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force that image out. A sickening dread filled her thoughts. Did all he want was her tiara? Was that all he ever wanted? Years of being friends just so he could eat it? She couldn't answer any of those questions now, though. All she knew was she had to get away from here, and fast.
"SPIKE!" Twilight roared again, turning back to her assistant.
Spike struggled with his magical bonds, still trying to stuff the remaining bit of the tiara into his maw when a hoof struck him across the face. Snapping out of his hunger-fueled trance, he blinked and closed his mouth before gagging on something that clearly wasn't food. He spit and some piece of purple fabric hit the ground with a wet smack.
"Explain yourself!" Twilight shouted, drawing his attention.
He turned to her, a blank expression on his face. "What?" he asked.
Twilight stomped up to him, her eyes burning with an anger he'd never seen this up close. "Why did you attack her?" she demanded.
"A-Attack?" he asked, afraid to look away.
Twilight snorted, her face livid. "Why did you attack Diamond for her tiara?"
"W-What?" Spike replied meekly. "I-I wouldn't..."
Horror washed over him as he spun and looked at his claw. The crushed remains of a once magnificent silver and diamond tiara was tightly clenched between his claws and he shrieked.
"Diamond!" he shouted, spinning his head around. "Diamond!"
"You're coming with me," Twilight said, her tone finite. "Now."
With a burst of light, both Twilight and Spike disappeared with his voice still echoing in the hall, calling out for his friend. Sweetie, who had managed to stop laughing, turned to look at the murmuring onlookers when an angry set of purple scalloped glasses pushed their way into her face. Sweetie barely had time to react before a gray blur struck her across the face. She spun back to see Silver Spoon staring down at her with contempt.
"I hope you're proud of yourself," she hissed before darting off into the crowd after her friend.
Outside the gala hall, Diamond stumbled as the remains of her dress somehow found their way underneath her hooves. She slipped on the polished marble floors, smacking her chin into the ground again when a chorus of laughter rang out behind her. Picking herself up, she glanced back to see the smiling faces of the two ponies she wished to be as far away from as she could.
"Woo wee, what happened to ya?" Applebloom shouted, her smile stretching from ear to ear. "Finally pick a fight with the wrong pony?"
"Looks more like she dressed like what she is," Scootaloo chimed in, snickering. "A poor and ugly poser."
"'Bout time, too," Applebloom replied, hoofbumping her friend. "This is the best day ever!"
"Shut up!" Diamond shouted back, wiping the tears from her cheeks. Snorting, she spun away from them and ran to the staircase leading down to the main entrance. As she took her first step down, though, her hoof landed on a sliver of her tattered dress. It slid easily against the polished step and she slipped forward, watching as the next few steps rushed up to meet her. She managed to close her eyes, but a splitting pain erupted across her face as she collided with the steps. Her body flew over top of her head and pain wracked her mind as she tumbled down the cold stairs. Time seemed to blur as stair after stair hit some part of her body, sometimes on her flank or ribs and the her head, before it suddenly stopped.
Her body hurt and her head spun as she lay still, suddenly tired beyond what she thought was possible. She couldn't force herself to move even if she wanted to, but tears still rolled down her cheeks. The echoing laughter of the Cutie Mark Dorks still rang in her ears, pairing with the terrifying image of Spike biting into her tiara burned into her head. Somewhere, she could hear Silver Spoon calling for her, but she didn't care.
Spike didn't like her, he only wanted her tiara.
Unable to hold back any longer, she began to sob as ponies crowded around and over her, trying to talk to her. It wasn't until the familiar purple glasses of her only best friend were hovering over her did she hear them.
"Diamond!" Silver Spoon shouted, tears forming on the edges of her eyes. "Diamond, are you hurt?"
Words couldn't express how much pain she was in.