She wasn't here, she didn't head here. Did she? No-she was certain. Diamond was definitely certain that she hadn't gone to the school house. It was too late for that; she distinctively knew that she left for the day. Yet...
Why was she here? She frowned at herself. Letting her emotions get the better of her! Such a disgrace to the Rich family. She squirmed in her seat she knew all too well. She didn’t exactly remember sitting. Then again-she didn’t remember anything. She fidgeted, trying to move her left back leg. It clanked as metal shackles danced, clinging to her without release. A metallic ball to her side gave her weight she didn't notice before.
She couldn’t be awake-she didn't have shackles before. If there was anything that made this seemingly unreal, it was definitely the shackles.She shook her head before eyeing it. It was off. Being in the schoolhouse was off-but being in the school house with these type shackles (or any shackles, for that matter!) was very off. Miss.Cheerilee made them read books as an extra assignment. Diamond remembered not being thrilled with the idea of reading a book for an assignment, but she went along with it anyway. She remembered a novel that was set during the Lunar revolt-the pony, Star Luster, was forced into shackles. The shackles weren’t described this way, she was sure. Shackles weren't supposed to look like this, cartoons told her that much. Cerulean shackles were definitely not common-it didn't aid when she learned how wet they were. Slippery like water-but they clung to her deeply without restraint. They seemed custom made, but to create custom made shackles? No sane pony would do so, not to her knowledge at least, despite her knowledge that mares and stallions did often use shackles. For what-she didn’t quite know, but still it was known. She observed, pondering the possibility of removing them.
"What-no key hole?" Diamond questioned. Surprisingly, she couldn't hear her own voice, despite lacking sounds in the room. She sighed softly at the revolution. Yes, no key hole! What shackle had no key hole? “Its not reality, stupid!” She couldn’t believe she had to remind herself that! Any moment now she would be awoken by Luna herself to remind her. That would surely dampen her when she woke-making the PRINCESS busy with her affairs of this nature? That was an even bigger disgrace than before! The Rich daughter, no doubt, rejected the notion entirely. No way would she look foalish in front of a princess. Still...
“Ick! Still wet!” It was when she touched it, she grew worried. It was slippery, like it was predicted, yet...it wouldn't leave. The wetness seemingly coming from no where. At the same time, the shackles wouldn’t budge. She peered around. Nothing would remove it here, not if that wasn’t working, she rationalized. She sighed, finding nothing particularly interesting to do. So, she did what she normally did during lectures:she laid her head down and closed her eyes.
“Inception,” She thought briefly. You couldn’t possibly sleep while sleeping. That was too weird. She coughed out before hearing some foreign ringing that played in her ears. Her ears flicked, trying to find the source before her cornflower blue eyes scanned the room.
“Luna?” She called out, yet her voice seemed soft. She tried calling out again, but the same reaction transpired. Her voice seemed simply lost, even to her. It didn’t matter, however. Luna wasn’t anywhere. There wasn’t even faint traces of her presence. Her breath got caught inside her chest, tightening it ever so slightly. She scrunched her nose.
“Giggle at the ghosties…” Diamond calmly thought, urging her chest to bob the correct way. The knots were still there. “Gaffaw at the grossly...crack up at the creepy…” The ringing grew louder, intensifying as she tried to unknot her chest.
“Child,” The voice called to her in the darkness. It was that of maybe a mare or filly, the voice simply straining and sort of raspy in nature. Maybe she was thirsty? Diamond never heard a pony that thirsty before. Not thirsty, thats for sure. There were grunts mixed into the ringing before they stopped. “You are just a foal.”
“Who are you?!” She cried out, jumping out her seat before stumbling about. The weight that was ignored as she sat seemingly came back ten fold to remind her of her position. The voice did not answer.
“Who are you?” Diamond asked again, making sure she called out at max volume that her body could offer. Nothing responded.
“You made so many errors...so many atrocities for such a small foal as yourself..” The voice responded despondently. “Can you see me, dear filly?” Diamond peered around once more before walking to the source’s location. The darkness interfered with this, though, since her eyes couldn’t make out the form that started to grow in the room, materializing out of no where.
“Your..standing there…!”Diamond responded, confidence illuminating from her tiny form. Or, at least, as much confidence she could muster at the time. She sighed to herself. Daddy said to make confident appearances to give the allusion. She forgot what the allusion was for, but she was certain this was probably the time to use it. The voice failed to respond again.
“You certainly can not see me,” It responded. Her tone never changing as she stepped forward. “You see but a figure, that much is certain.” Diamond glared at the figure’s shadowy residue it left behind. Sure-the figure in full was not to be seen, however, the form was different. It was suffocating darkness.
“Why ask, if you know the answer?” It flickered away, the form becoming absent once more. Diamond’s ears fell, her chest knotting worse than before. Where was Luna? Tears welled up in those cornflower blue eyes before her hooves desperately forced them to halt as she plopped down. It failed miserably. The tears flowed relentlessly as her heart pounded harder within her chest as the darkness seemed to fade quickly, faster than her eyes would ever be able to adjust to. Then, like that, it abruptly ended. Her front right leg falling to the ground, breaking the shield it gave for her eyes. She gave a soft whimper as she wiped her tears away before opening her eyes for the first time after this event. Her eyes had to adjust to the change in lighting, and when they had, they couldn’t see once more. She was still in the schoolhouse, all alone with another shackle. This time, it was red with a strong rusty aroma that almost made her gag. It was not this, however, that made her cry once more.
As she laid in front of the blackboard, there was writing that was etched into the surface. It was deeply cut, like claw marks were the ones responsible. The words leaving for questions that she had lacked answers to.
“Nasty words leave for bad marks. Angry words leave for a speech that is regretted. Actions propel dark messages. Find. Repay. Atone.”
Filthy Rich woke up that morning, never expecting what he had received. He trotted down the corridors of his mansion, his heart pounding faster than ever before. His blue eyes scanned everywhere they could in the measly time that they had on an object. The servants begged him to withdraw, such actions unbecoming of a rich stallion such as himself. He didn't stop. They wouldn't be able to convince him. Not ever since he saw her. He begged the princess herself to come with aid. Still-her response was still troubling. He sounded a bit obsessive, but he would stop. No.
He will never let his sleeping angel alone again.