//------------------------------//
// I'm Only Sleeping 
// Story: Cubic Zirconia 
// by arcum42 
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The first thing that Diamond was aware of was pain. There was a throbbing coming from her neck, and her throat felt like she'd been eating gravel. She shifted her position slightly, and could feel a comfortable blanket lying beneath her. Moving may have been a mistake, though, as it caused her head to start pounding. She let out a low moan.

Sleep. She really needed sleep. She wanted nothing more than to escape into slumber for just a couple of hours. Burying her head in her hooves, she tried to make everything stop hurting just long enough for it all to fade away.

"You awake there, young filly?" a wavering voice called out.

No, she was asleep. No wakefulness here. Just let her sleep in her bed. Her bed?

"I'm sure you want to rest a while, but I need you awake so I can see how you're doin'. Seems like Apple Bloom did quite a number on you."

Apple Bloom? Oh, that's right, Apple Bloom had tried to kill her. Maybe she should have let her complete the job. Dying might be an improvement from the way her head felt. She moaned again. 

She probed at her throat gingerly with one hoof and winced. Oh, that hurt. 

Then Diamond felt another hoof pressing on her other foreleg. 

"Hearts beatin' faster than the stampin' at a hoedown, but I suppose that's no surprise."

She cracked open an eye to see a wrinkled and green old lady hovering over her. This was Apple Bum's grandmother, wasn't it? So now she was being cared for by a kooky old lady on the bed of the filly who'd throttled her. Great.

"Well there you are." The old lady turned Diamond to face her, and started applying a wet rag around Diamond's throat, which, admittedly, felt wonderful. "Just take it easy. I know Filthy never was much for doctors. Ducked out of a visit any chance he got. I don't know if you're the same way, but I need to know where you're hurt. I've taken care of generations of young'uns, so I ought to have some idea what I'm doin'."

Diamond supposed that being over a hundred, she'd have learned something about medicine. Ugh, her throat felt horrible. "Wargglh."

"Try that again, dear?"

She made an attempt to clear her throat, which only made things feel worse. "W-water."

It felt like she'd been chewing razor blades. Usually if she felt like this, she'd be under the covers of her bed for days with cough drops and tissues and Graywithers taking all her meals to her. She was going to have to deal with this herself, though, wasn't she? There was no way she could just stay here.

"Of course. I'll be right back." Granny Smith got up and slowly walked out of the room. Diamond opened her other eyes and stretched out a little, trying to get as comfortable as she could, to make the most of it. She wouldn't have a chance to be on a bed again anytime soon.

So Apple Bloom had tried to kill her. She didn't have much to live for right now, but that seemed a little extreme. And what was with that crack she'd made about Scootaloo's wings? Weren't they supposed to be friends?

Diamond's headache was still going full force, but at least her mind still seemed to be mostly working. Her main idea for how to make things up to Apple Bloom seemed a bit much now, but it was all she had.

Of course, she was all beat up now, but maybe she could make that an advantage.

Her thoughts were interrupted by approaching hoofsteps. Perhaps Apple Bloom's grandmother was back. Then a big red stallion was right in front of her, huffing.

"What did you do to my sister?" Sweat poured off his forehead, and there was anger in his eyes.

So much for that. Apple Bloom's brother was going to kill her.

"I- I didn't-" she started to protest, and then started coughing. Big Macintosh didn't seem to notice her condition. Maybe it ran in the family.


"I told you not to-"

"Big Macintosh!" Granny Smith's voice came shrilly from behind him. "You get away from that poor filly at once!"

He looked behind him, and for once, looked a bit sheepish. "But Apple Bloom-"

"Apple Bloom's already done enough to her. She doesn't need more hassles from you."

"She must have done something-" He adjusted his harness and wiped some of the sweat from his brow.

"The way I heard it, Apple Bloom attacked her while she was trying to apologize. If you want to lecture somepony, save it for your lil' sister."

"And you believe everything she says?"

"That pretty little filly there didn't tell me a thing. This is what her friends told me, and I don't think they'd lie about that. Now you get over to the living room. I heard that lil' unicorn friend of hers giving Apple Bloom quite a lecture out there."

Big Macintosh turned around and slowly left the room, head hanging down.

Granny Smith sighed, and approached the bed, putting a tray with a glass and a pitcher of water on the table next to the bed, scooting a heavy vase over to make room.

"Children. Nothing but headaches and heartbreak, mark my words." She lifted up Diamond's head and tucked a pillow under it, propping her head up at an angle. "Now don't try to hold on to this. I'm going to give you some water."

Granny Smith filled the glass with water from the pitcher, and brought it up to Diamond's lips. Gulping down the water, a bit of the roughness in her throat went away, though it still felt raw. Granny Smith put the glass back on the table. "Feelin' better?"

"A little," Diamond managed.

"Good! Now I'm gonna touch you lightly in a few places. Just nod if it hurts and I'll stop."

She started probing around Diamond's chest and throat, causing Diamond to wince and nod a few times before she was done.

"Looks like mostly a few bruises, though they're hard to see with your coat. One of your hooves is bunged up, too, but I don't think that was Apple Bloom's fault. Maybe you do take after Filthy. We'll get that squared away soon enough."

With all the other aches and pains, she'd almost forgotten about that hoof. It would be a relief to have some proper care for it, and she was sure somepony in the Apple family would know how to deal with hoof trouble.

It was pretty nice to have somepony fussing over her, really. 

"Why don't you tell me how you’re feelin'? Dizzy? Lightheaded? Can ya see proper, or seein' double?"

"I can see fine, and I'm not dizzy now. Head hurts, though, and my throat."

"Not surprising. She got you pretty good there. Do you remember what happened?"

"I went into her room, and Apple Bloom started yelling at me. When I tried to apologize, she said she couldn't hear me, and when I got closer, she grabbed me and put her forelegs around my throat," Diamond winced at the thought. "Then I think Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle pulled me away too hard, and I hit my head."

"You seem to remember clearly, at least. That's a good sign. Comin' over to apologize is good on you, too. Reminds me of your great-grandfather, Stinkin' Rich. He was a real stand-up stallion."

"You mean my grandfather?"

"You sayin' he wasn't great? If he did somethin' wrong, he'd fess right up to it, and take whatever the consequences were. His way of straight-talkin' and dealin' fair was why everypony went to him in the first place."

Just then, a whistling sound came into the room.

"Hold on there, young'un'. I'd best go get that. If anypony comes in while I'm gone, tell 'em to go see me in the kitchen."

Nopony'd better come in here and bug her. That'd be all she needed, Big Mac coming back or something. She was in no mood, and she wasn't sure how well she could fend somepony off, or even if she should.

She hadn't really heard that much about Stinkin' Rich from Daddy. She'd always tried to be more like him, but she wasn't sure she wanted to now, after everything, and if Stinkin' Rich was the one who made Rich Enterprises big anyways, maybe she should pay more attention to him.

Diamond hadn't really thought about it much before, but maybe Granny Smith being old actually meant she knew stuff. Now that she was thinking a bit better, Granny Smith shouldn't really be helping her, though, should she?

She heard a noise outside, but it was just Granny Smith coming back in with a tray with a few mugs with saucers over the openings, a large pot of hot water, and a box with a cross on it. She set it down on the table, and brought the box to the bed with her.

"Here, now let me just see to your hoof while the tea steeps, and you can have some right lovely tea after. Well, some right horrible tea then some right lovely tea, but you gotta take the bitter with the sweet, don'tcha?"

Granny Smith pulled out a rag and damped it down with hot water from the pot. She cleaned Diamond's hoof off, then started smearing some odd-smelling goop from a jar on it. 

Meanwhile, Diamond was about at her bursting point. 

"Why are you doing this?"

"You don't want to take chances with a hoof bruise like this, or it could get infected. I'll have it bandaged and covered properly in a moment."

"Not that!" Diamond Tiara said, waving her forelegs around. "Why are you being nice to me? Don't you know what I did?"

"Settle down or you'll hurt your voice more," Granny Smith said mildly, as she put a pad on Diamond's hoof and started bandaging it up. "You pushed the wagon my granddaughter was in when she broke her legs, didn'tcha?"

"Yes, I did!" Diamond said, frustration in her voice.

"Yer regrettin' it now, though, or you'd hardly be here to apologize, would you?"

At that, her sudden determination to make Granny Smith act like she was supposed to collapsed. She just nodded, and let her forelegs fall back to the bed.

"Look, dear, I'm sure you don't like to think of yourself this way, but you're just a child," Granny Smith said kindly, "and children do real stupid things sometimes. I certainly did in my time. Learnin' from those things is how you start to grow up and be an adult. Now, let me put this cover on and your hoof will be fine for a bit of walkin'."

Blinking, she wiped at her eyes irritably with one foreleg. Why did she have to be so nice? They were all supposed to hate her over here, weren't they? It was easier when they hated her, kind of. At least it was consistent.

In the meantime, Granny Smith seemed to have attached something to the bottom of her hoof and wrapped it in bandages.

"There! Just leave that on your hoof for a few days and you'll be fine. I'd tell you not to walk too much on it, but I know how young fillies are. It's cushioned, but try not to stamp down too hard. I'd best see to your throat before the water gets cold, though."

The elderly mare took the saucer off one of the cups.

"I know this tastes bad, but I'll need you to drink it all down."

She held it to Diamond's lips. Diamond gulped it down and immediately wished she hadn't. It tasted horrible. Granny Smith was still holding it to her mouth, so she didn't really have much choice but to finish it off.

Granny Smith took away the empty cup.

"Ugh. What is that stuff, mud?" Diamond noticed as she spoke that the back of her throat was actually feeling a little better.

"Tree bark, actually. Don't know the hows or whys, but that type of bark helps a lot with a sore throat. Now, lets get that taste out of your mouth and do something 'bout your head."

She gave Diamond two pills to swallow, then held the other cup of tea to Diamond's mouth. She took a small sip, wary after the last cup, but this one actually tasted like lemon and chamomile. It seemed pretty thick, but she swallowed the pills and finished it off anyways. 

"Exactly how much honey did you put in there? And what were those pills?" she said after Granny Smith lowered the cup, belatedly realizing taking unknown medicine might be a bad idea, especially from ponies that have reason to be upset with you.

"Just some aspirin, and it takes a good amount of honey to coat your throat. I'm sure it feels awful."

"I think I'm starting to feel a little better. Still don't feel much like moving." Then something occurred to her. "Wait, how long have I been here?"

Granny Smith chuckled. "Not too long. And don't worry, young'un, we've already sent word to Filthy 'bout what happened. Be irresponsible not to."

Well, that wasn't what she wanted to hear. She tensed up. Was the whole thing blown? Would they all find out how pathetic and useless she really was? 

She closed her eyes again. This was bad. Though some treacherous part of her thought it might not be all that bad if it meant staying here with Granny Smith longer. Who would've gone, though?

Lets see, Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle were in the other room, and Granny Smith was here…

"So Applejack went off to talk to Daddy?" she guessed. Granny Smith shook her head.

"Actually, that orange pegasus friend of Apple Bloom's said she could make it there faster. Probably back soon with the way she's always zoomin' 'round town on that thing."

"Scootaloo went to go tell Daddy?" she said carefully, hope raising up in her. Scootaloo knew her situation. Diamond was pretty sure she'd cover for her.

"Reckon that was her name. Knew it had somethin' to do with that scooter of hers. Seemed a mite upset for some reason."

After that wings crack, she probably was. That could've been part of why she wanted to get away, even.

"I'm sure you don't want to fritter away all your time talkin' with an old lady, though. Why don't you rest for a bit while she gets back, then we can see about you and Apple Bloom makin' peace? Been with you long enough to be pretty sure you'll be just fine, and I figure all her friends should be back for that."

Granny Smith gathered up the tray and box. "I'll just be outside, so don't you fret about ponies comin' in. I'd best have a little talk with Big Mac, too."

With that she left the room, not actually closing the door all the way, but enough to give Diamond some privacy. Diamond just lay there, looking at the ceiling. It felt really weird being here in Apple Bloom's room by herself, not to mention lying on her bed.

Of course, maybe that'd leave Apple Bloom thinking about how Diamond Tiara had been in her bed come nighttime. That was fun to think about. Smiling, she slipped a few loose hairs out of her mane under the pillow for Apple Bloom to find later.

So, time to strategize. She could play on how lousy she was feeling with Apple Bloom, not to mention take advantage of how little she really felt like she cared about anything right now. Shake her up a little, get an apology, get her over to the clubhouse so that she could be filled in, and make her proposal. 

Yes, that sounded good. But first, she was in a bed, and she certainly was going to take advantage of it. Diamond snuggled into the covers and the blanket, and was soon fast asleep.