//------------------------------//
// Diamonds in the Night 
// Story: Origins of a Queen 
// by Nightfire-613 
//------------------------------//


Princess Bella Diamante

I stood on the balcony of the Chrystal Palace, despite the cold winter wind, staring up at Luna's stars. Lovely, as always. It was late, but I didn't care. I loved watching the stars. Oh how they sparkled, like thousands of diamonds floating in the night sky. I felt at peace when I star-gazed.
The silence of the stars was broken by a soft cry. I turned to see movement in the cradle beside my bed, the movement of a foal. I stepped into my chamber and closed the balcony doors as gently as I could. My foal cried softly again, wondering where her mother was. I gently scooped her up into my arms and began rocking her slowly. She yawned sleepily, and I began to sing a soft lullaby to her.
Once she was asleep again, I kissed her head, and lay her back down. My beautiful foal, she took mostly after her father, with her violet eyes, and pink coat. Her father was red in color, and my coat was white, which had mixed to give her a lovely light pink. Her mane curled softly in strand of pink, violet and gold. She was the perfect child.
"Goodnight, Mi Amore Cadenza." I then laid down in my own bed, and went to sleep.
I've recently had trouble relaxing, what with stress of my upcoming wedding and coronation. I was crown princess only because I was not yet "old enough" to rule as the sovereign queen, my brother, however, was of ruling age, but he was far too self absorbed to be a good king.
"Bella," a familiar voice called in my dream.
I suddenly found myself face-to-face with my old friend, Princess Luna.
"Dream walking again, I see..."
Luna had a frighteningly serious face, "Bella, we need to talk."
We sat looking over the ethereal plane, watching decades pass but as mere minutes.
"Luna, I understand that these times are hard, what with Discord's imprisonment. Rebuilding Equestria will not be easy, are you sure our politics is what we should be focusing on?"
The night princess sighed, "Rebuilding is our top priority, this motion will show our subjects that."
"But to marry my brother, what will that prove?"
"It will unite our kingdoms. The Empire has the wealth and Equestria the horse-power to restore what that cur hath destroyed." She stamped her hoof in anger. After a deep breath, she continued, "I'm sorry, Discord was once Celestia's fiance, and my friend. That he turned traitor on us..."
"I know, it was shocking to us all."
"Bella... I am some two-thousand years old, Celestia is even older than myself, and ne'er before had we met anyone outside the royal families who could live even a fraction of our full lives. Even thy brother, Sombra, who is older than thee, ages more rapidly than thyself. Celestia became engaged to Discord because he, being an avatar like her or me, could live her full life. Avatars for the forces of nature, like myself, live some ten-thousand years, hosts for the fundamental forces, like thyself with the Chrystal Heart, live some five thousand years. You know how lonely those long centuries get."
I did, in fact, know how lonely the life of a host could be. It wasn't fair, I was the princess of love, but I could not find a love to last my life. I was hoping my wedding might make some of my remaining years bearable.
"He was a dear friend to us all, and poor Celestia..."
"His imprisonment tore her to pieces. If he ever escapes, so help me, Faust, I will make him pay for what he did to her."
"Luna, calm down."
"Yes, yes, I'm sorry. Anyway, with the Empire's great wealth, and Equestria's workforce, we would not only rebuild Equestria, but even expand the Empire further north. Both our kingdoms would thrive furiously with the new found assets."
"I understand, but Sombra? I know he's of royal birth, and therefor would live much longer than any noble in the Empire, but he's so...stoic. I can't even recall that last time he smiled. Would you truly be happy with him as your husband for who knows how long?"
Luna's gaze softened. "The Sombra you know must be vastly different then the stallion I chose to marry."
A soft cry, so far away from this plane of dreams, pierced my mind.
"She calls for you."
"I know, she probably needs to be fed again."
And with that, the Princess of the night left my dream, and I awoke to my crying foal.