A Jewel of a Problem

by Rainbow Sparkle


Revelations part Dos

-*-Cain/Diamond Tiara-*-

The rest of the walk was a silent one, Celestia no doubt thinking about what she needed to do in preparation for tomorrow and my own thoughts focusing primarily on my more current and immediate troubles.

The most obvious one was Strife of course. A part of myself, the darker side of me, for all that it mattered, was separate from me thanks to Discord. Who knew what kind of trouble he could cause in my head, or here in the physical world should he somehow get in control of Diamond's body.

Then there was Diamond Tiara herself. While I now had an inkling of an understanding as to why she acted like she did, I still suspected she was going to be her usual bratty self, and I doubted she would be all that happy with the idea of me keeping the wheel in my hands, rather than her hooves.

And, of course, the impending talk with Mister Filthy Rich. That was something else I was NOT looking forward to, even if Celestia was going to be doing the talking.

So, needless to say, my head was elsewhere when I was brought back to the world around me as Celestia said "Another few steps, and you're going to end up with a rather sore face."

I looked up, shaking my head, to find that I was only a foot away from a rather fancy carriage. "Huh? Where the heck did this come from?"

Celestia put a hoof to her face, trying to hold back her amusement. "I would assume it came from whomever owns it. If you had been paying attention, you would have noticed that we are here."

I looked around, recognizing the front yard of Diamond Tiara's home. "Oh. Sorry, my head was elsewhere."

Celestia managed to bring her humor under heel as she made for the front door, while I took a moment to inspect the carriage, figuring perhaps I could make a guess at who it belonged to.

While it had a regal air to it, its construction was rather simplified, almost humble even. Snow white paint with silver and gold along its thin trims. There was a seal on one side that looked like a coat of arms, and when I peered closer, saw that it WAS a coat of arms. The moon and sun melding into one another much like a ying-yang, with two Alicorn heads poking peering out from the sides. Wreathed around it was branches of olives, and a small banner underneath it all.

Royal Equestrian Diplomatic Corps. I read to myself, quickly becoming confused. Why in Equestria would a carriage belong to Equestria's diplomats be here at Rich Manor?

I know why!

"What in the nine hells?!" I yelped, jumping at the voice that resonated through my head.

Hey, be careful with my body ya hairless buffon!

Composing myself, I let out a sigh of relief when I realized the voice wasn’t Strife.

 "Diamond Tiara? You're awake already?"

No, I’m the bubblegum princess of Candy Island, here to fill your head with sugar. Of course its me!

I rolled my eyes, already turning to follow Celestia. “Nice to meet you Princess, do you realize your stuck inside a pint sized brat?”

I could almost see Diamond glaring daggers at me. Oh wow, that’s soooo funny. It’s so funny that I forgot to laugh.

“Your a riot, ya know that?” I replied, earning a rasberry from her spoiledness. Not in the mood to engage her in witty banter, I asked, "So, if you know whose carriage it is, mind filling me in? Frankly, I'm getting really tired of surprises."

Oh, you don’t like surprises? Well then, I’m definitely going to keep it a secret.

I gave a squawk of protest, but couldn’t do much else, as we had reached the door. Celestia’s side, who was wrapping up a conversation with Jeeves. "Yo Celestia, her royal brattiness has woken up."

*Yawn* Sorry, were you trying to insult me? Better luck next time.

"Oh, that’s excellent news. Strife isn't bothering you, is he Miss Tiara?"

I wanted to ask why she was asking Diamond, who was stuck in my head currently, when suddenly I felt a strange sort of detached feeling come over me.

"No, no he isn't, and thank you for asking your majesty." Diamond Tiara said, giving a small bow to Celestia. I could only gawk from where I was...which I suddenly realized was an empty room with a viewscreen.

"Why you little-" I began, but all I got was a 'shhh' from Diamond.

Celestia smiled in response, inclining her head. "Make sure to thank Cain letting you have some control again."

"Don't worry Princess, I’ll be sure to thank him properly for everything he’s done." Diamond replied, while I gesticulated and flipped off the room around me.

"I hope she sees right through that." I declared, stomping over to the middle of the room and conjuring a couch with a thought, throwing myself upon it unhappily as I became a passenger within DT's body.

Oh be patient will you? You’ve been running around with my body for three days, I think its my turn now. Diamond's voice echoed around me. "So Jeeves, is she really here?"

"Um..er...arr Yes, yes she is here. She said she wanted to surprise everyone by arriving early." The butler said, looking very confused by what Diamond and the Princess had been talking about.

"That's great! Move aside stuffed shirt!" Diamond declared, and the butler did so though he sent a glare her way as she bolted into the house, going full speed through the main hall and making her way to Rich's study.

I was gripping onto the couch as the room seemed to bounce around. "Hey! Slow down! You almost ran into one of the maid's for Pete's sake!"

If Diamond heard me, she made no sign of it as she finally reached the study. Through the new view I was given, I could see two ponies standing within. One was Filthy Rich himself, who was laughing at something the other Pony had said.

Said Pony was a Unicorn Mare with shimmering white hair that reminded one of a fresh field of snow, with a wisteria colored coat. Her cutie mark was a dove carrying an olive branch.

Diamond Tiara finally stopped, standing in the doorway, simply looking at the mare. She didn't breath, just became still as a statue. I suddenly wondered if something had happened to DT, and if I would need to retake the reins so that she was able to breath at the very least.

Its almost been three years... I heard the thought from DT as the room suddenly filled with an intense, powerful happiness. The next few seconds were a blur, as Diamond moved so fast that I was actually thrown out of my seat. All I heard was her shouting "Momma!!" and then the world spun.

"Ugh...hey Diamond? Can I get back in the driver seat, I don't wanna ride the tilt-o-whirl anymore..." I muttered as I got back up, to see the face of the mare who had borne Diamond Tiara staring directly at me. Well, actually Diamond Tiara, but you know what I mean.

"Hello my little Princess. Momma's missed you." The mare said as she spun Diamond around in her magic before bringing her into a tight embrace. Diamond Tiara squealed in delight before nuzzling into her mother's neck.

My heart warmed a bit at the sight and the feelings of happiness, but it also made me painfully aware of the fact that I myself hadn't seen my mother, or my sister, for three days. And no way of knowing if they even knew what had happened to me.

The spike of sadness was quickly replaced by one of anger, and I felt a familiar presence in the area, even though a look around showed that Strife was nowhere to be seen.

"Diamond, what's wrong? You're shaking..." Her mother asked, pulling Diamond Tiara far enough to look at her face.

"I-Its a long story...you'll know soon." Diamond responded cryptically, as I took in several deep breaths and reigned the anger in. That familiar presence quickly vanished.

Diamond Tiara was set back on the ground, her mother giving her a concerned look while Filthy Rich taking that moment to glance the other way. Jeeves chose that moment to enter the room.

"Mister Rich, Lady Silver Tongue, we have an important guest who needs to speak with both of you, immediately."

"Who is it Jeeves? I don't recall there being any important appointments today." Filthy Rich queried.

The melodious voice of Princess Celestia preceded her arrival. "My apologies for the unannounced visit, but I'm afraid waiting would have been a mistake."

Both Filthy Rich and Silver Tongue gasped and bowed to the Princess. Filthy Rich seemed to be bowing lower than Silver Tongue, and I idly wondered why that would be.

For a second, the world spun again. When the spinning stopped, I was gazing at the two with Diamond's eyes once more. Seemed Diamond was done driving for now.

"Princess Celestia, to what do we owe the pleasure?" Filthy Rich began, standing up a moment later.

"As much as I would like to say otherwise, I am afraid I am here because of your daughter." Celestia said as I started to move towards the Princess. Before I could even take a step however, I felt hooves wrap around me and I yelped as I was pressed against Silver Tongue.

"Forgive me your highness, but why in Equestria would you be here about my daughter?" Silver Tongue asked, holding me tightly even as I squirmed uncomfortably.

Filthy Rich let out a nervous cough, trying not to glance at Silver Tongue. "Is it about the article she wrote about her majesty in the school paper? Are there more apologies that needs to be said?"

"What! What article? What apology?" Silver Tongue exclaimed, and I felt myself shudder, feeling sorry for Filthy Rich. Oh dear, that's not going to end well.

"Oh...that was the incident I mentioned in my last letter. I had taken care of it with everypony involved...even her majesty. At least, I thought I had." He glanced at the Princess, his eyes shrunken somewhat as he doubtlessly came up with assumptions for what Celestia wanted.

Celestia shook her head, giving the two concerned parents a warm smile. "Oh no, it is not about that. Dear Diamond Tiara is not in trouble for that...but what I am about to share with you is going to confuse, and likely alarm you. I need you both to please be patient as I explain why I am here..."

"Celestia, before you start telling them everything, do you think you could tell Silver Tongue here to stop squeezing me like a stress ball?" I finally spoke up, not exactly comfortable being held so tightly by Diamond's mother. It just didn't feel right, especially with what she was about to learn.

As it would turn out, that was more then enough to get Silver Tongue to release me, and for me to earn stunned looks from both of DT's parents.

"Diamond...princess..." Filthy began.

"You've never called us by name before..." Silver Tongue finished.

"Yeah, well you might be DT’s parent’s, but you're not mine. Though it is nice to meet you." I replied, walking over to sit next to Celestia and looking up at her expectantly.

Filthy Rich and Silver Tongue both looked at each other, clearly not understanding. "What...what are you talking about?"

"Please Cain, as I promised, I will explain everything to them." Celestia assured me. I nodded, grateful that it wouldn't be me giving the news to Diamond's parents. I didn't think I'd be able to do it.

And so I sat, and watched, and waited. This was not going to be fun. Not fun at all

-*-

Well, I was half right. It most certainly wasn't a blast, but it was certainly entertaining. The faces Filthy Rich made throughout the talk as he ran the gamut of emotions from confused disbelief, to horror, and finally to anger.

Silver Tongue seemed far more capable of keeping her emotions reigned in. I had a feeling it had something to do with her cutie mark.

The confusion was obvious. I mean heck, you go up to someone and tell them that someone close to you is being possessed by an alien spirit. Even if it's someone you trust implicitly, you'd surely think at first that its got to be a cruel joke.

And the horror was an obvious one. Especially when you factored in Discord. Not to mention when one was worried about the welfare of one's own child.

And then, well, I don't know about Silver Tongue, but Filthy Rich was not happy. Like Silver Spoon, he was infuriated when he learned I had been pretending to play the part of 'redeemed' Diamond Tiara.

"Why didn't you try telling me this when you first came here?" Filthy had asked. Celestia had been ready to respond, but I had beaten her to the punch.

"I can count the reasons on my...oh right, no fingers, well, I would think the reasons would be obvious. I mean, honestly Fil-"

"Mister Rich." He had corrected. Apparently, only a few select ponies could use his full name. Not at all unreasonable.

"Mister Rich, anyways, would you have honestly believed me if I had told you when you woke me up 'Hi Mister Rich, I'm not actually your daughter, I'm a hairless intelligent monkey possessing your daughter. Will you help me phone home?' that you would have believed me?"

Filthy Rich's angry frown had thinned into a line as he looked uncertain. I went on and drilled my point home further by adding in "And that's not even assuming you didn't think it was some ploy to get out of Diamond Tiara's punishment."

That had been enough to shut him up on the topic.

Celestia, bless her soul, did not mention Strife to either of them. No doubt throwing his existence into the mix would push them over the edge.

"So...is Diamond Tiara alright?" Silver Tongue asked when Celestia finished explaining everything. "You said she's only now come out of her dormant state?"

"Yes Momma, I...I woke up when Celestia performed the Mind Delve." Diamond said, which allowed me to exactly experience what it's like for one to not have control over one's mouth.

"That is you saying that, right princess?"

"It was...she didn't take full control though, for which I thank her." I shook my head, groaning as I added "Gah, this is going to get confusing, there's got to be a way for you guys to know-"

As I was saying that, I was rubbing the top of my head, wracking my, well, Diamond's brain for an idea, when I realized that I was nudging the tiara sitting upon her head. Glancing up at it, I felt a manic smile spread across my face.

Cain? W-What are you thinking?

"Don't worry DT, I'm not gonna do anything to your tiara. I'm just taking it off." I replied, the smile still on my face. I couldn't help it, that darn little thing had been a low level annoyance since I'd first put it on. Now I had a perfectly valid reason to not wear it.

Carefully, almost giddy with excitement, I plucked the tiara of my head, took a moment to gaze at it, before promptly dropping it on the floor, a smug smile gracing my face.

"There. Much better." I said, happy to finally be rid of that thing.

For about ten seconds.

Suddenly, I slid forward as control of my hooves vanished, the two pink limbs reaching out for the piece of jewelry as if it was the most important thing ever. "Hey, what gives?"

"You aren't taking that thing off unless I say so mister!" Diamond shouted, briefly steeling control of her mouth yet again. This proved to be a distraction for her though, and allowed me to stop one of the hooves from reaching for it.

"Oh yeah? Well I'm tired of wearing it! Its just a silly little accessory!"

"It is NOT!" Diamond declared, and for a moment, as silly as it likely looked, Diamond and I fought for control over her body, causing said body to twist and turn and flail about before the three adults in the room.

Celestia simply shook her head as the scene unfolded. Filthy looked ready to intervene, but it was Silver Tongue who did so.

"Cain. Diamond Tiara. That is enough."

She didn’t yell, she did not raise her voice. She didn't sound angry, irritated, or even agitated. Her voice was calm, collected, and carried with it the very air of authority. It was no wonder that we both stopped, Diamond's front hooves nearly twisted together.

"Cain, from what Celestia said, you are supposed to be an adult. I would have expected better behavior from you, especially when dealing with a young one." She said, her disapproving gaze boring into me and making me feel tiny. I glanced away, feeling rather embarrassed.

Diamond took that moment to blow a raspberry at me, but her amusement was short lived, for Silver Tongue addressed her next. "And you Diamond Tiara, would it not have been better to explain to Mister Cain why the tiara is so important to you? Did you not consider that perhaps then he wouldn't be bothered by it so much?"

Diamond placed the tiara back upon our head, and mumbled "But Momma, this is my body, and my tiara! Shouldn't I be the one that gets to decide whether its on or not?"

Diamond withered as her mother stepped closer, stern eyes looking down upon her. I was already feeling pretty bad, but now I was feeling worse, picking up on DT's own guilt.

"If you were the only one in there, yes. But you are sharing your body and mind with another my little princess, and from what I understand Cain has been rather accommodating so far. So you need to show good manners, and give him some say in the matter."

Diamond Tiara was looking at the floor, but she was soon looking face to face with her mother, who nuzzled her as she said "I know why the tiara means so much to you dear, I was there when you got your cutie mark remember? But would it really be too much trouble to take it off, if only for a little bit?"

Diamond was silent for a good minute, mulling it over which let me reassert control of her body. Not that I was going to do anything at that moment anyways.

When DT was ready to speak, I let her do so. "No...I guess not."

"That's my princess. Now go ahead and put it back on, I'm sure Cain can stand to it on his head for a little while longer." Silver Tongue replied, a mischievous smile gracing her muzzle.
Diamond giddily returned the tiara to its rightful place, chortling as she did so. Which resulted in a rather weird sound as I grumbled and mumble to myself.

"If we are done with the histrionics," Celestia remarked, clearing her throat to return everypony's attention to her. "As I was getting ready to explain, I will need Diamond Tiara to come to Canterlot Palace tomorrow as early as possible. I do not know how much time Cain has, and we must work quickly to help both him and Diamond Tiara."

"Of course Princess. Do you wish us to come along as well?" Silver Tongue inquired.

Celestia seemed to think about this. "I do not see why both of you cannot come along. It might even be beneficial for you to be there, for Diamond Tiara's sake if nothing else."

"Darling, I hate to say this, but if either of us is going, it will have to be you. Tomorrow I'm supposed to take the train to Manehatten for the Equestrian Retailers Convention." Filthy interjected, not looking all that happy about it. "I've got a presentation to make, and I can't just pass it off to one of my aides."

I gave Filthy Rich a reassuring smile, even as Diamond spoke.

"It's okay Daddy. I get to see you most of the time, it wouldn't be so bad to spend some time with Momma."

"You do realize DT that we might be rather busy right?" I asked from my couch once more.
Shush, don't remind me. She replied tersely.

"Then tomorrow morning we'll head for the train station to catch the first train to Canterlot. I trust that during this time I will be off ambassadorial duty Princess?"

Celestia nodded. "Your last mission to Prance was to be the only one for some time Silver Tongue. You've more than done your part to help Equestria through your services."

"Thank you your majesty." Silver Tongue said, bowing, before looking up and meeting the Princesses gaze. "I suppose then there is not much else to discuss, we all have much to do before tomorrow."

"Indeed we do." Celestia replied, turning and making for the door, though she stopped beside me as she glanced down at me. "Do make sure to behave, both of you."

"Yes Princess Celestia." Diamond Tiara replied, moving to bow us before her, but I stopped that and sat back, crossing my hooves and smirking at Celestia.

"You've seen my memories. I offer no guarantees, though I shall do my best not to start anything."

Celestia rolled her eyes, shaking her head in amusement as she left, bidding all of us a good evening before disappearing. A short flash of light in the hallway signaled that she had teleported away.

With Celestia gone, that left the three...err, four of us all to our lonesome. Filthy had sent Jeeves off to do some errands, and none of the other servants seemed to be out and about. It was just Filthy Rich, Silver Tongue, and Diamond Tiara.

Oh, and me. Can't forget about me now can we.

"Well...now what?" I finally asked, after a full minute of awkward stares, and silence, had filled the room.

Silver Tongue and Filthy Rich seemed unsure...until a loud gurgling sound broke the new silence. I looked down at my stomach, and chuckled, though it sounded more like a giggle what with having DT's voice and all.

"Uh...would now be a good time to say I haven't eaten anything since this morning?"

-*-

Dinner was looking to thankfully be a tad more animated than things were after we had been left to ourselves in Filthy Rich's study. It helped that I was able to share my love of cooking with Silver Tongue, who had waltzed into the kitchen and told the staff to take the day off, as she was going to be making a special meal for her family herself.

The look of surprise on her face when I asked if I could help made me ask "Does Diamond Tiara not like cooking?"

"No, at least not that I'm aware of. Its just she usually leaves it up to me or the servants to do it. I suppose that one time she burnt the cupcakes she was trying to make me for Mothers Day likely has something to do with it..."

"Momma!" Diamond Tiara whined, while I chuckled quietly to myself.

"What? You did say after you saw the face I made that you never wanted to cook again."

I could feel the embarrassment DT was feeling as I started rolling on the floor in her mind. "Yes...but that doesn't mean you need to mention it to him...and would you stop laughing Cain!"

I snicker some more, speaking aloud this time. "Oh lighten up DT. I'm sure you were really adorable when you did that. I'm already picturing the pouty look you had on your face, how you probably stomped a hoof on the ground to make it clear you meant it..."

Silver Tongue was trying hard to hide a smile on her face, disguising it by taking a taste of the soup. "Mmm...as I recall she also got her mane all bent out of shape too..."

I could feel Diamond Tiara seething, which only made me laugh harder. Then she started smiling as she asked, in a bit of a singsong voice "Oh, I guess that means you've never messed up a meal before?"

Before I could reply, Silver Tongue said "Cain, would you be so kind as to grab the broccoli? Its over in the fridge over there."

I nodded, trotting over to the fridge and taking that moment to calm down so I could answer DT's question. I could sense her waiting impatiently for one, so I gave it to her.

"Actually DT, I've ruined a few meals before. In fact, the first time I did I wanted to throw the pot of mac'n'cheese at the nearest wall." Before she could say anything else, I continued.

"But when I told my mom I didn't ever want to cook again, she asked me how many meals I thought she'd messed up. Seeing as she was a good cook, I figured she'd never ruined any, but she set me straight."

I paused, to let that sink in for a moment, as I dropped the broccoli on a cutting board Silver Tongue had set out for me. "We all make mistakes DT, we just have to learn from them, and try again. No one is perfect."

Diamond was silent for a moment as she stewed over that, which left me able to devote my entire focus to breaking the broccoli down for the soup. I saw the knife that had been set before me, and I picked it up with my hoof. And then looked from said hoof, to said knife.

"Someone really needs to explain to me how you ponies are able to do this without fingers..."

Silver Tongue raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as I slowly started cutting and breaking it apart, reminding myself that while I had done this before, that had been when I had FINGERS.

"Hey Cain?" Diamond asked, making me yelp as I nearly dropped the knife in surprise.

"Yikes, don't do that when I'm focused, this ain't easy you know."

I waited a moment, expecting some sort of snark from the spoiled brat, but instead she said "Sorry..."

"Its okay...just try not to do that again." I muttered in response...then realized she had been wanting to ask something. "What is it?"

"Could...Could you let me have some time with Momma? I...I want to try helping her to cook dinner."

My first thought was to say no, simply because I wasn't all that keen on letting control of the body to her...but then I thought about what all had just been said, and realized I couldn't say no...at least, not without being a dick.

"Sure...shouldn't be too difficult to find some way to amuse myself while you're behind the driver seat." I murmured softly, withdrawing and allowing Diamond Tiara to take control, which she did quickly, eagerness to spend some time with her mother obvious.

Which meant I was back in mind-void land. Wonderful.

"Hmm...you look rather bored. I can fix that you know."

I rolled my eyes as I resummoned the couch and plopped myself down in ignoring Strife. I sent a glance at the floating tv screen that showed me that Diamond Tiara was busy handing Silver Tongue spices.

"Oh, isn't that cute. Little miss prissy pants spending quality time with mother. It's so sweet I think I might get diabetes."

I sighed, waving a hand and giving Diamond Tiara the privacy she needed right now. "Go away Strife, I don't want any entertainment that you may have in mind."

My darker side hummed to himself as he walked to the back of the couch before leaning back and sliding onto the cushions. His eyes twinkled mischieviously as he hung upside down.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that. I think I've found something you might be interested in."

I glared at him. "Should you even be capable of being here? I thought Celestia cast a spell to keep you away."

Strife laughed "Like Princess Sun-butt could keep me from doing what I please." As I continued to give him a disbelieving stare, he shrugged.
"Hey, Diamonds not here right now. And I've had my fill of tormenting her. Its not like I'd do anything if she showed up. Celestia's spell isn't some restraining order, its just a magic blocker."

"Why are you even here anyways? Didn't you say you were going to go mess around in our imagination?"

"I did. I got bored. Figured I'd bother you instead."

Ugh. This was why I didn't have conversations with Strife all that often.

"Well have fun with that, you'll be sitting there a while."

Strife frowned at me while I went back to ignoring him, conjuring some headphones from the air and slipping them in as I tried to recall what my mp3 player had on it back home.

As the first strands of Personal Jesus started playing, I felt something poking my knee. I opened my eyes a bit and looked over to Strife, whose index finger was ever so slightly prodding me.

"Really? You're sinking to poking my leg?"

Strife looked at me like I had asked him why the sky was blue. "What? You won't let me show you what I found, and I don't feel like messing with imaginary beings. So I figured I'd do something to keep me entertained."

I groaned, and closed my eyes, doing my level best to ignore him. He's not there, he's not bothering me, he's just trying to get a rise out of me.

Poke poke poke…

He's not there, he's not poking my arm now...he's not poking my nose...

Poke...Poke...Poke...

Okay that's it, he's losing that finger.
I opened my eyes, hands balled into fists and ready to deck my darker half. But he was nowhere to be seen. Huh...maybe I was just imagning all of tha-

Poke.

"Gods damnit to hell Strife, would you quit it?!"

Strife fell to the floor from where he had been floating upside down from, rolling and cackling with glee at the death glare I was sending him. "Oh calm down tightass, you poke dear mother and sister all the time."

I rolled my eyes, still glaring at him. "Yeah, but I do it out of love. You do it to annoy people."

"And everybody wins! Well, except right now. I'm the only one winning." Strife declared, chuckling to himself as I shook my head, irritation giving way to annoyance.

"Are you going to keep this up till I see what you found?"

Strife yawned, floating in the air lazily. "Maybe. Or, you know, I could just be bored and trying to amuse myself."

Groaning, I did an about face and marched over to couch, wondering if DT was done spending some time with her parents so I could be in control again. Then at least I wouldn't have to deal with my darker half...even if he was behaving himself at the moment.

For a given definition of behaving anyways.

Before I could sit back down and keep myself from dying of boredom, Strife appeared in a flash, sprawled over the couch and smiling up at me. "Sorry buddy, this spots taken."

If it had been anyone else, I would have probably asked them nicely if they could make some room, or if they'd go find another spot. If I wasn't already irritated at him, I probably would have just lengthed it, or made myself a couch.

Instead, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath...and flipped the couch over.

"Hey now! That was uncalled for!" Strife yelled after his initial yelp of surprise

Paying him no heed, I picked the couch up and set it back before plopping myself where I had been sitting down previously. Not a second more and I was joined by Strife, who laid himself down on the couch and used my head as a footstool.

I felt irritated, and I knew that if I just ignored it, in this case at least, it would just boil and grow until I couldn't keep it in anymore. Sighing, I glared at Strife for a full minute before I spoke.

"If I appease you by seeing whatever it was you wanted to show me, will you leave me alone?"

Strife hummed to himself as he thought about that, taking the opportunity to reposition his feet atop my head. "Well, I won't be using your head as a footstool. I can't guarantee you anything else beyond that."

I shrugged, not surprised by his response. "Fine, but if I don't like what I see, I'm beating you with a wet noodle."

"Duly noted. Now get over here already!"

I blinked, and noticed that Strife was no longer laying on the couch next to me. Instead he was about ten feet behind me, standing next to rather intricate pink hued door that had not been there a moment before.Engraved on its surface was a diamond studded tiara.

"Is this what I think it is?" I asked as I flipped myself over the couch and made my way over to stare at it. Strife had a twinkle in his eye that was leaving me very concerned about whatever he was planning.

"That would depend. If you think it is a doorway to a long repressed dream to be a pretty pony princess, sorry but that's door #7." Strife replied flatly, his serious looking visage twitching as he tried to keep his amusement at bay. "If however you suspect this to lead to Diamond Tiara's memories, you'd be absolutely right! We had some prize money lined up, but I used it to buy thirty 50ft sub sandwiches."

I put a hand to my head, pinching the bridge of my nose a bit as I muttered "Okay, I've changed my mind. I'm beating you to death with a whiffle bat." Strife just shrugged nonchalantly as I focused on something more interesting, and less annoying. Reaching forward, I opened the doorway, revealing majestic hallway bathed in the colors of DT's coat and mane.

"After you." I said as I gestured from Strife to the hallway. Strife cocked an eyebrow up at me, and I sighed, rolling my eyes as I said "Hey, for all I know you're up to something. I'm not going to be stupid enough to have my back to you."

Strife feigned shock, a hand dramatically moving to his chest. "You think I'm up to something? Moi? Well I never..." He turned his head away from me, playing up the offended look that was gracing his face. "What in the wide wide universe would make you think such a silly thing?"

He turned his head just enough to glance at my impassive face, and his pose dropped as he let out a morose sigh. "Oh relax, if I was up to something it wouldn't matter whether you were in front or behind me. Especially here." When I continued to stare at him, he shook his head before striding on through the portal, followed a moment later by me as I closed the door behind us.

Strife looked about the pink hued hall, making soft gagging sounds every so often as we passed several doors, before finally stopping before one. He stepped to the side, looking to me and waiting for me to do something.

When I didn't do anything, he gave me an annoyed look as he poked my chest. "Come on already, I'm certainly not doing everything here. I'm not your nanny."

Well, I supposed I should have expected that. "Fine. Here goes nothing..." I muttered to myself as I reached out, and opened the door, bright white light suddenly filling my vision, before I felt a rough shove from behind, and for a moment, everything spun.