//------------------------------// // Infidelity // Story: The Diamond Exchange // by angelbunny //------------------------------// Pinkie Pie rubbed her burning eyes before taking in her new virtual surroundings. She was curious to learn what painful experience the Queen of Mean had tucked away in her memory; too curious to bother explaining her supernatural ability to her or obtain her consent. It was always easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission – and Diamond Tiara certainly never asked anypony for permission to commit all of her numerous wrongdoings. So, in a sense, the little stinker had this coming. When her sight cleared up, she found herself standing in an enormous and extravagant bedroom. Sunlight penetrated the tall white curtains which were drawn over every window but one. The bed looked so fancy and expensive that she would have been afraid to jump up and down on it for fear of accidentally damaging it. The only other pony in the room was a tall, white-coated unicorn mare who was busy levitating personal belongings from a large walk-in closet and placing them neatly inside a large open suitcase which was on the bed. “Whoo, you sure are pretty,” said Pinkie. “I wonder who you are. Come to think of it, I wonder where and when we are, too.” Pinkie ran over to the window and recognized the neighboring buildings as those which were found in Ponyville’s high rent district. That, in addition to this vision coming from Diamond Tiara’s memory, made it a safe bet that this bedroom was somewhere within Filthy Rich’s mansion. Pinkie became melancholy at the sight of her hometown in broad daylight. She missed her home, her job, and her best friends. “You're home early,” noted the unicorn. Pinkie noted that the mare’s voice had the same affect of sophistication about it as Rarity’s. But who was this “Packing?” asked a stallion that came from behind her. Pinkie turned around and saw that Filthy Rich had entered the room and closed the door behind him. She gulped as Cheerilee’s murderer came closer and she cautiously stepped out of his path despite the fact that she was an intangible observer from the future. “Are you taking another trip somewhere?” “Quite,” replied the mare without giving Filthy Rich the courtesy of looking in his direction. “But this will be my last one. I’m leaving you, Richard. Expect a visit from my attorney later today. He’ll have divorce paperwork drawn up for you. Do us a favor and sign it. You should be happy to know that it says you’ll receive full custody of your daughter.” The left corner of Filthy Rich’s mouth curled into a half smile. “Tcheh... Is this some kind of joke, darling?” The mare rolled her eyes and sighed with aggravation. “No, ‘darling’, it isn’t. The real joke is this sham of a marriage in which I’ve stuck myself.” She levitated a peach from a glass bowl on top of the dresser, took a large bite, and returned the peach to the bowl. She continued to speak with her mouth full. “What was I thinking marrying a stallion twice my age? Well, the joke isn’t funny anymore so I’m leaving while I still have my best years ahead of me.” “I don’t understand. Was it something I did?” Fleur swallowed her mouthful of peach flesh and licked her lips. “It’s more like what you don’t do. Do you know who Fancy Pants is? Of course you don’t. You rarely socialize with anypony outside of this town. You just want to stay cooped up in this tiny mansion all evening. Fancy Pants is a ridiculously wealthy unicorn who resides in Canterlot. He’s a sophisticated socialite like me, he’s single like I will be again, he’s closer to my age, and, most importantly, he knows how to treat a mare of my caliber. They say he’s not the marrying kind but I’d rather be his satellite in Canterlot than spend one more minute tied down as your spouse here in Ponyville. Ponyville!” The town’s name erupted from her lungs with contempt as though speaking it was the verbal equivalent of losing her lunch. “We might as well live in Donkeyville or Muleville.” “And that’s all it takes for you to just walk away from me? A unicorn who’s younger and wealthier than I am and a home in the suburbs? Fleur, we have a life together. We have Diamond Tiara.” “You have Diamond Tiara, you mean.” Fleur levitated the peach again. “And you’re welcome to keep her.” “She’s our daughter, not just mine.” As Fleur took another bite of her peach, Pinkie Pie’s stomach rumbled, reminding the earth pony that she had neglected to eat a single morsel of the goodies which Diamond Tiara brought her prior to peering into the pink filly’s mind. Fleur returned the remainder of the peach to the bowl and Pinkie craned her neck out and opened her mouth to intercept it, only to have it pass through her body just as every other object in these visions did. “Hmmm,” pondered Fleur as she chewed. She shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. If she was my daughter in any way, she would have been born a proper unicorn.” Pinkie gasped. “Are you hoofing kidding me?!” she barked. “So that’s how it is,” said Filthy Rich sadly, seemingly resigning himself to the stark realization that he was hearing his wife’s unbound feelings, ugly as they were. “You’re rejecting her because of her tribe.” His voice was flat and lacking its usual exuberance. “My Celestia. And here I believed you when you told me that you were hesitant to hold her or nurse her due to an extended case of post-partum depression.” “Ah, yes,” said Fleur. “The doctor who diagnosed me doesn’t exist. And those ‘antidepressants’ I’ve been taking are nothing more than sugar pills. I could tell that the excuse was starting to wear thin but I milked that lie for all it was worth. It wasn’t all smoke and mirrors, though. I truly was excited about the arrival of our child – until I gave birth and found out that she was...” Her nose wrinkled. “...ugh... one of you ponies.” “‘One of you ponies’?” parroted Pinkie Pie. “What a tribist BITCH!” “I suppose her tribe would also explain the drop in intimacy after she was born,” posited Filthy Rich. “Well, naturally.” Fleur closed her eyes, grinned snobbily, and primped her mane as she took a moment to admire herself in her dresser’s mirror. “I couldn’t bear the thought of putting my fabulous figure through another nine months of Tartaros if there was even the slightest chance that I’d bring another earth pony into the world. There are plenty of earth pony and pegasus mares living in this dirt mound who would be better suited for that unrewarding job. A beautiful unicorn such as I shouldn’t be subjected to that kind of disappointment once in her life, let alone twice. Celestia, I could barely bring myself to levitate the little mudpony.” “Oh, no, you didn’t!” grumbled Pinkie Pie. She stepped up to Fleur and scowled at her menacingly. “You are so lucky this happened behind closed do-” “You keep those tribist slurs to yourself, Fleur Dis Lee,” demanded Filthy Rich. Pinkie shut her mouth so that she wouldn’t miss a word of the unfolding drama. “I won’t tolerate them being spoken in my home, especially when they’re directed at my own flesh and blood.” “You tell her, Filthy!” cheered Pinkie with brevity in mind. “Hm hm hm hm... ‘Mudpony’ isn’t even my favorite earth pony slur.” Fleur grinned as she walked to the wardrobe. She opened it and began transferring clothing from it to her suitcase as she did with the walk-in closet earlier. “Personally, I prefer ‘potato’.” Pinkie had never heard that slur before but that didn’t make it any less offensive. Ponyville was a proud melting pot of a town populated by different species of ungulates and other assorted sentient beings so it was rare to encounter bigotry beyond the occasional mule joke – which Pinkie genuinely felt were pretty funny for the most part. I really ought to work on that, she thought. I wouldn’t want to be considered a hypocrite. Then again, how often will I even run into anypony down here to begin with? Filthy Rich bit his lower lip to contain his growing displeasure. “If you hate earth ponies so much, you should have made it known to the one who asked you to be his wife before you agreed to it.” “I was eighteen, Richard. I was blinded by your money just as you were blinded by my body. We both got a piece of what the other was offering but now that I’ve more than had my share of wedded bliss, I know that having money isn’t everything.” Fleur’s pupils shrank and she brandished a delirious smile. “It’s spending money that’s everything! Expensive jewelry, fine clothes, fancy restaurants, mansions, yachts, operas, social gatherings, traveling around the globe! Fancy Pants spends money on me like it would burn a hole in his trust fund... whereas you are far too thrifty for being one of the wealthiest stallions in Equestria.” Fleur Dis Lee finished packing her belongings and she closed her suitcase. “I didn’t get to be one of the wealthiest stallions in Equestria by wasting money on nonstop extravagant purchases. And if I appear to be thrifty, it’s so Diamond Tiara can have a comfortable lifestyle and an inheritance that reflects how much I care about her. But if you want to abandon your husband and child so that you can go off gallivanting with some playcolt unicorn, then you go right ahead. Now that I know that our love was a lie, I can honestly say that I have no desire to stop you.” Filthy Rich walked to the door and held it open, keeping his eyes locked on his deceitful wife. Unbeknownst to him, toddler Diamond Tiara was standing in the doorway, eavesdropping on her parents but apparently oblivious to the details of the conversation. A baby bottle dangled from the corner of her mouth, the nipple held fast between her clenched teeth. Pinkie Pie cooed softly at how adorable the filly used to be. She had almost forgotten that this was a memory of Diamond Tiara’s. “I’ll sign that divorce paperwork the second your lawyer brings it through my door,” promised Filthy Rich. “The sooner I erase this mistake, the better. But remember: when your new meal ticket sees you for the two-faced, golddigging, tribist whore that you are, don’t even think about crawling back to me.” “I’d sooner go back to the Equestrian embassy in Mareseilles and translate for eighteen bits an hour again.” Fleur Dis Lee levitated her suitcase and carried it with her to the bedroom door. Before reaching it, she stopped walking. She placed her suitcase on the floor, setting it on its wheels. She smirked devilishly at Filthy Rich. Her horn lit up again and she telekinetically sent the suitcase hurtling toward Filthy Rich where its hard corner struck him where it would cause the most pain. He yelped once, then crumpled to the floor and groaned in agony, placing his forelegs between his hind legs. “Hey!” yelled Pinkie Pie. “That was a dirty move!” Diamond Tiara giggled, causing her bottle to fall to the floor. Believing her father’s collapse to be a game, she played along by groaning and allowing her legs to slide out from underneath her until she lay belly first on the carpet. Fleur Dis Lee levitated her suitcase and walked through the bedroom door past her prone husband and child on her way to the front door. The filly watched her mother leave the room and she scrambled to her hooves. “Wheah you goin’, Mama?” asked Diamond Tiara, trotting after the unicorn. “Wheah you goin’, Mama? Wheah you goin’, Mama? Mama? Wheah you goin’?” “I’m leaving,” stated an agitated Fleur Dis Lee. “And I’m never coming back.” Diamond Tiara whimpered with panic. “No, Mama!” she begged. “Don’ go! I wuv you! Don’ go, Mama! P’ease!” Fleur Dis Lee stopped walking and Diamond Tiara stopped trotting. Fleur set her suitcase down, spun around, and scowled at her daughter. “Shut up, you stupid little potato!” shouted Fleur, lowering her head until she was nearly nose to nose with the filly. “I’m not your mother anymore! I never wanted to be a mother to a mudpony! And you can keep your love because I certainly don’t love you! As a matter of fact, I hate you!” Diamond Tiara’s lower lip trembled with grief at her mother’s declaration and her little eyes glistened with budding tears. “I hate you, your father, your whole dirty tribe, this revolting excuse for a mansion, and this Celestia awful two bit town!” She gestured to her horn with her right forehoof. “You see this? This makes me special. You don’t have one. Therefore, you’re... not... special.” “That’s your baby you just yelled at, you piece of manure!” cried Pinkie as she repeatedly swung at Fleur Dis Lee wildly with her forelegs which passed harmlessly through the unicorn mare. “Oh, what I wouldn’t give to teach you a lesson! Filthy should’ve smashed your head in instead of Cheerilee’s!” Pinkie gasped and grimaced. “Oh, wow, I actually said that just now.” Diamond Tiara glared angrily at the unicorn mare. She drew in a deep breath and spat in her mother’s face. Fleur flinched and shut her eyes. She stood up straight, levitated a cloth napkin from the nearby coffee table and calmly dried her face. Her expression of disgust evolved into one of rage. “Oh, no,” whimpered Pinkie as she gnawed on her forehooves. “Ordinarily, I’m content with leaving food preparation to the kitchen staff,” explained Fleur. “But I suddenly feel the urge to try my hoof at making a batch of mashed potatoes.” A wicked sneer took hold of the mare’s features as she levitated her suitcase and placed it on its wheels in front of Diamond Tiara. The suitcase continued to glow with a levitation aura. Pinkie screamed. The mad unicorn mare meant to strike her foal with her luggage just as she struck her husband! Pinkie’s stomach flip-flopped at the thought of witnessing the abuse of an infant. Even if she closed her eyes to it, she would still hear the sickening collision of the suitcase and the subsequent crying of the injured filly. “Allow me to assist madame to the door,” said Randolph, the family butler. Fleur Dis Lee squeaked as the earth pony butler planted his head against her backside and pushed her as he quickly marched her toward the front door with alarming strength. Pinkie breathed a deep and grateful sigh of relief as she wiped her sweat-dampened forehead with her right foreleg. Fleur Dis Lee’s hind legs were off the ground and she was sliding across the carpet on her forehooves. Before she had a chance to protest this rough treatment, she saw that the space between herself and the front door was rapidly shrinking. Rather than risk being slammed into the door, she telekinetically opened it. Without missing a beat, Randolph swiftly turned around and bucked Fleur in the derriere, sending her through the doorway. She squealed as she sailed through the air and landed gracelessly on the front lawn. “Woo-hoooooo!” cheered Pinkie happily. “Way to go, Randy!” The unicorn mare growled as she picked herself up and dusted herself off. She turned around to look back at the front door. “How... dare you-AH!!” Fleur shrieked as she ducked her head, barely avoiding her suitcase which Randolph had also bucked all the way out to the front lawn. The door slammed shut. Filthy Rich hobbled to the living room. Several of his servants gathered in the living room and offered to help him walk but he reassured them that he was fine. “Thank you, Randolph,” said Filthy Rich, still in pain from the dastardly blow. “The former Mrs. Rich is no longer welcome in my home. I don’t suspect that she’ll return but just to be on the safe side, please have all the locks changed immediately.” “With pleasure, sir,” said Randolph. Filthy Rich approached his daughter and gingerly took a seat beside her. He picked her up in his forelegs and hugged her. “I’m sorry, Diamond Tiara,” he said consolingly, sniffling woefully with each pause. “Your mama wasn’t the mare I thought she was. That was my fault. I thought she loved us but she fooled me. She won’t be coming back. Your daddy still loves you very much... so don’t you listen to what she said. You are very special. You’re my very special princess and nopony’s ever going to hurt you again; I promise.” He softly rocked back and forth as he held her. The scowl didn’t leave Diamond Tiara’s face and she continued to stare at the front door through which her mother had passed for the last time. Pinkie grimaced at the face the little filly was making. Pinkie had been a sitter for her employers’ children Pumpkin Cake and Pound Cake dozens of times and had dealt with their anger when they didn’t get what they wanted. Later on, they’d forget about whatever had upset them and they’d play with her again as though nothing happened. An infant’s mind wasn’t designed to retain grudges. Unfortunately for Diamond Tiara, she was no ordinary infant. Fleur Dis Lee’s hateful words had clearly left their mark on the filly. “Oh, geez, let it out,” beseeched Pinkie. “That had to hurt. It’s okay to cry. See? You’re daddy’s crying.” Pinkie wiped a tear from the corner of her left eye. “Tartaros, even I’m crying. Just let it happen. Don’t hold it inside.” Diamond Tiara stubbornly refused to yield to her grief. She wheezed in the attempt to slow her breathing until her grief yielded to her. And yield it did. Pinkie sighed. “You’re focusing on your anger instead, aren’t you?” asked Pinkie softly. “Aw, you poor thing.” Pinkie thought about her own mother who she loved dearly and how, had she been abandoned the way Fleur Dis Lee had abandoned Diamond Tiara, she would have been a complete wreck. With such a vicious seed of cruelty and indifference planted in her little heart at such a tender age, it came as no surprise to Pinkie that hatred had sprouted forth during Diamond Tiara’s formative years and bore the bitter fruit that made up the Diamond Tiara of today. “Pummee down, Dada,” said Diamond Tiara. “Wannago ou’side... inna backyod.” Filthy Rich did as his daughter asked. Diamond Tiara walked to the back door. “Sure, baby girl,” he said. “You can go outside and play in the backyard.” He nodded to one of his housekeepers to keep an eye on the filly as a servant brought him an ice pack for his aching testes. Pinkie followed Diamond Tiara and the housekeeper outside into the backyard. The housekeeper took a seat on a nearby settee. Diamond Tiara approached a lone peach tree. She turned around and bucked the tree once. Then again. And again. She growled with anger each time her hind hooves came in contact with the trunk. “I’ll bet that’s where your mom got her peaches, huh?” asked Pinkie as she lay on her belly and watched as Diamond Tiara kicked away at the tree. This memory was not the gory spectacle that was Cheerilee’s death – but it was nevertheless traumatic to behold. The shadows of the dimly lit sewer returned to Pinkie Pie’s eyes along with a thunderous ache in her empty tummy. She sprinted to the sack that Diamond Tiara brought and reached inside. She found a slightly bruised pie and plunged her face into it, eating the pastry voraciously. Halfway through chewing, her taste buds informed her that it was a blueberry pie. She unscrewed the cap from a bottle of spring water, placed it against her lips and chugged it. When her palate was free of foodstuffs, she licked her face free of purple pie filling and took a moment to breathe. She looked at the fillies who were both staring at her. Silver Spoon looked concerned while Diamond Tiara glared at her continuously. Clearly, the foals deserved an explanation. Pinkie cleared her throat and spoke up. “I... I saw...” “I know what you saw,” stated Diamond Tiara tersely. “Silver Spoon explained your ability to me. I didn’t believe it... until I heard you talking about what you were seeing.” Diamond Tiara approached Pinkie Pie and narrowed her eyes. “You had Silver Spoon’s consent to look into her memories. You didn’t bother asking for consent to look into mine. You took something that wasn’t yours to take.” “This from the filly who swiped Miss Cheerilee’s medical record,” retorted Pinkie Pie. “So, what, am I supposed to forfeit any expectation of privacy over that one thing? What I did doesn’t justify what you did. I admit that taking that file was wrong but two wrongs don’t make a right.” “I’m just saying. And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I got carried away... but, dear Celestia, Diamond Tiara. You’ve lived in Ponyville all your life. Way before Twist’s accident happened, why didn’t you tell me that your mom abandoned you? I was your friend. I could have helped you turn that frown upside down. But instead, you stapled it into place and pretended that nothing was wrong. Why?” Diamond Tiara closed her eyes. She took in a deep breath, held it, and then released it through her mouth. “First of all, I don’t have one of those things you mentioned,” she stated. “I had an egg donor who acted as a temporary living incubator. That’s the only significance that the mare you saw holds for me. Secondly, I didn’t tell anypony else about it because it was nopony else’s business. I made my pain work for me and dealt with it all on my own. You’d be surprised how much hatred can motivate you. And third, I didn’t tell you specifically because you’re so cheerful that, no offense, you kind of make me sick. Somepony like you could never have understood what I was going through. Your foalhood must have been ridiculously happy.” Pinkie Pie touched her own chest with her right forehoof. “My foalhood? Ridiculously happy? Is that what you think? Hee hee ha ha ha ha! Sheesh. We really weren’t as close as I thought we were. Gosh, my early foalhood was manure. If I didn’t have a trio of sisters going through the same thing along with me, I might have run away from home. I still have nightmares that I’m a filly again and that I never made it off the rock farm. It wasn’t until I took steps to change it that my life improved.” “Well, you might not believe me but I’m taking my first steps to change my own life. A lot of crazy manure has happened to me lately and I’m still trying to process most of it but the bottom line is that I’m not the same filly that I was. And you’re lucky that’s the case... because if I was the same...” She pointed to an open sewer channel. “...I would have dunked your head in that sewer water and drowned you the minute I knew what your little vision trip was about.” “I would have stopped you, Di,” said Silver Spoon. Diamond Tiara didn’t turn around as she addressed Silver Spoon’s statement. “No offense, Silver, but I know what I’m capable of. I doubt you would have stopped me.” “And no offense to you, Diamond, but I know I would have stopped you.” Diamond Tiara raised an eyebrow and turned her head slowly to look at Silver Spoon. She frowned at her – but then grinned as she shrugged off the contradiction. She returned her attention to Pinkie Pie. “O-kay, it looks like Big Bad Silver here would have stopped me. That makes you even luckier. I don’t know why you felt you had to scare the manure out of us the way you did instead of just asking us for some food and water but, quite frankly, my care cup is empty. I really could have done without this fillynapping hoax.” Diamond Tiara smoothed her right forehoof across her forehead. “Celestia, I feel like I’m back to square one. Thanks a lot. Anyway, you have your ransom so here’s what’s gonna happen: Silver and I are gonna leave and we’re not gonna tell anypony that we saw you. You want to stay down here? That’s your own business. After what you stole from me, I don’t care if you stay down here for the rest of your life. Good bye.” Diamond Tiara turned around, blushed, and grinned. “But, uh, if you do come up in about fifteen years, don’t forget to vote for me when I run for mayor.” “Okwey,” said Pinkie Pie, her mouth full of a bite from a sourdough baguette. “Bwuh-bwye.” “I’ll leave more food and water for you next to this same stallionhole tomorrow after dark, okay, Pinkie?” said Silver Spoon. “Fank you, Filveh Fpoon.” Silver Spoon climbed the ladder first with Diamond Tiara a few feet below her. Diamond Tiara mistimed a step and one of the wheels of her harness got caught on a rung. She screamed as she began to tip backward and plummeted back toward the sewer floor. “DIAMOND!” shrieked Silver Spoon. Pinkie spat out the baguette and zipped over to the ladder where she arrived just in time to catch the filly in her forelegs. Silver Spoon descended the ladder as quickly and safely as she could. Diamond Tiara caught her breath. Apart from her right foreleg hurting from colliding with Pinkie’s head, she was basically unharmed. “Well, this is just swell,” muttered Diamond Tiara, averting her eyes. “Juuuust swell. I suppose I owe you a debt of thanks for saving my neck.” She looked up at Pinkie’s face. “Although I think I’d almost rather have fall... AAAAH!!” Diamond Tiara quickly wriggled out of Pinkie’s grasp and ran to Silver Spoon. “What’s the matter?” asked Silver Spoon, spotting the fear in her friend's face. “Are you all right?” “Her eyes!” said Diamond Tiara. She stood beside Silver Spoon and pointed at Pinkie Pie. “Look at her eyes!” Silver Spoon looked at Pinkie Pie and gasped. Pinkie’s eyes were wide open – and they were as black as the night sky. The whites of her eyes were gone. Pinkie sat motionless on the dingy cobblestone floor. “M-my eyes... s-so c-c-cold,” groaned Pinkie. “Cold?” asked Silver Spoon. “She told me that her eyes burned when she saw inside a pony’s mind. And they were lit up like a flashlight when she saw my memory.” “Just like when she saw mine. So why are they dark and cold now?” “I don’t know. It’s the first I’ve seen of this.” “Are you Diamond Tiara’s grandmother?” asked Pinkie. “She’s having another vision,” posited Diamond Tiara. “She wasn’t wearing her hood and my foreleg hit her head when she caught me.” “You have a grandmother?” said Silver Spoon. Diamond Tiara shook her head. “My dad said that she died years before I was born,” she noted. “And neither of us ever saw my grandmother on the other side of the family... so how could Pinkie see her? Isn’t she looking at a painful memory that I experienced?” “Oh, my Celestia!” barked Pinkie Pie. “You are Diamond Tiara! And that must make you Silver Spoon! This isn’t the past – it’s the future!” “Oh, gosh,” said Silver Spoon. “The future?” “More importantly, it’s our future.” Diamond Tiara rubbed her chin as her eyes were fixed upon Pinkie. “We’re both gonna live to see old age.” “Diamond Tiara, let’s leave. Now.” “Not yet. I want to hear what she sees.” “Well, I don’t! What if the painful memory she’s seeing is the day that I die, huh? I don’t want to live the rest of my life knowing exactly when that day is. Let’s go, Di. Please? I’m scared.” “Then go.” Diamond Tiara waved her hoof dismissively at Silver Spoon while keeping her eyes glued to Pinkie Pie. “I want to stick around and see how this plays out.” Silver Spoon stood on her hind legs and grabbed Diamond Tiara in a headlock. "Now." "Fine." Diamond Tiara walked with Silver Spoon toward the ladder, being pulled along as though she was some stubborn farm animal. "I can't picture you married," said Pinkie. Silver Spoon flinched and stopped walking. Married? She performed a U-turn with Diamond Tiara's neck in her grasp and they returned to where they stood earlier listening to Pinkie Pie. Silver Spoon released Diamond Tiara and stood on all fours once more. "I thought you didn't want to stick around," said Diamond Tiara with a smirk, knowing exactly what caught her friend's attention. "A little longer wouldn't hurt, I suppose," said Silver Spoon, blushing. “Wait!” cried Pinkie. “What did it say? Oh, come on, somepony pick it up and open it again... or at least turn it right side up.” Diamond Tiara looked at Silver Spoon. “What do you suppose that means?” she asked. “Your guess is as good as mine,” replied Silver Spoon. “Seventy-seven?” said Pinkie. Diamond Tiara shook her head in disgust. “You’d think she’d do a play-by-play for our benefit instead of spouting off those vague sentence fragments,” she grumbled. “I mean, it’s not like she doesn’t know we’re here.” Pinkie Pie’s breathing rate spiked and she appeared to be distraught. “No,” said Pinkie. “No! Why? You can’t! Have you gone crazy? Don’t help her! She’s insane!” Silver Spoon ground her teeth. The future didn’t sound very bright. Pinkie’s eyes slowly returned to their normal blue color. She blinked a few times and then stared off into space, obviously troubled by the events she saw. “Pinkie Pie,” said Silver Spoon. “What did you see?” “Am I a legendary pony in the future?” asked Diamond Tiara with a smile. Pinkie Pie winced as she focused on the two fillies. “I saw both of you,” she said softly. “You’re old mares.” She slowly held out a trembling right foreleg and pointed to Diamond Tiara. “You.” “Me? Me what? Come on, give me some details.” “You cried and threw a fit... and... you vowed to destroy Equestria.” Diamond Tiara’s jaw dropped. “Destroy Equestria? Why would I do something as stupid as that?” Pinkie kept her foreleg extended and moved it to her left where she pointed at Silver Spoon. “...and you,” hissed Pinkie. “You agreed to help her.” “Me?” asked Silver Spoon. “That can’t be right, Pinkie! I love Equestria! And so does Diamond Tiara. Don’t you, Di?” Silver Spoon waited for a reply but she didn’t get one. She turned to face Diamond Tiara. “Don’t you, Di?” “Uh, I think ‘love’ might be a strong word,” replied Diamond Tiara. Silver Spoon kicked Diamond Tiara in the flank in response to the comment. “I-I mean, yeah, I love Equestria! Who doesn’t? It’s my home. I’d like to rule it some day; why would I ever destroy it?” “I don’t know... but I know what I saw and heard. Something about some book you read makes you cry and you go on a crazy rant about killing hundreds of thousands of Equestrians. Then you throw away that tiara you have on now, put on your old one, and you asked Silver Spoon to help you... and she agreed.” “What book?” asked Silver Spoon. “What was in it?” “I don’t know. I couldn’t read it because it was dropped on the floor with the back cover side up... and I can’t pick up objects in my visions.” “What color was it?” Pinkie Pie turned around and walked a few paces away from the fillies. Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara looked at one another. “Pinkie?” “You two are gonna inherit a lot of money when you’re older,” said Pinkie. "Money is power... and with a lot of money comes a lot of power; maybe even enough to...” Pinkie averted her eyes and sighed. She scrunched her eyes shut. She reached up with her right foreleg, lowered her mask over her face, put on her hood, and hung her head. “Ever since I came down here, I’ve been asking myself why I’ve had so much bad luck... and now I have the answer. It was all so that I could see exactly what I just saw... so that I could do something about it. I know what needs to be done – even though I don’t want to do it.” Pinkie’s breathing was louder but muffled behind her mask. She lifted her head. She turned it ever so slowly toward the fillies. “I’m sorry... but if it’s between you two and Equestria... then Equestria wins.” Diamond Tiara raised an eyebrow. “Equestria wins what?” she asked. “You lost me.” Pinkie began to walk toward Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. “Assuming that I’m still alive by then, I’ll be too old to stop you two from going on your countrywide massacre. I can’t let that future come to pass. I have to stop you now while I’m able-bodied.” “W-What do you mean ‘s-stop us’?” asked Silver Spoon with a nervous grin, simultaneously wanting an answer and not wanting an answer. A sustained sob sounded out from behind Pinkie’s mask. It was followed by a sniffle. “You can’t grow old if you die while you’re young,” she quavered. “It’s the only way I can be sure. I’m so sorry, guys. I don’t want to kill you but if I don’t, countless others will suffer and die. You understand, don’t you?” Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara backed away from Pinkie Pie at the same speed at which she was walking toward them. “Pi...Pinkie Pie,” whimpered Silver Spoon. “I-I’m your friend.” “I know,” wailed Pinkie. “But so are the ponies in Ponyville. That’s where you’ll start. My family lives there. Do you understand? My... family.” “Wh-What if we promise not to destroy anything?” “I wish I could believe you... but a lot can happen in all that time. You might forget you made that promise or decide to change your mind. I have no guarantee that you’ll keep your word.” “Wait a minute, Pinkie,” said Diamond Tiara as she quickly wiped sweat from her brow. “Let’s be reasonable here. I’ve read a few science fiction books about time travel. The future might not necessarily be set in stone. What you saw might have only been one possible future, meaning that it isn’t guaranteed to happen. By warning Silver and me about this ahead of time, I’ll bet that you’ve already prevented that future from happening. If you... do something drastic to us in the present, you’ll have spilled innocent blood. Isn’t protecting innocents what you’re all about?” Pinkie stopped walking. “I want to believe that. But... what if it is set in stone?” Diamond Tiara grimaced. “Well, yeah, that is a different theory; one which I like a lot right now.” She gulped. “If the future is set in stone, then your attempt to kill us is destined to fail because your vision proves that we live long enough to fulfill the event that you saw... so you might as well not even bother.” Pinkie Pie shook her head. “I can’t take that chance. I’ll put that second theory to the test. Don’t move. I’ll bother.” Diamond Tiara’s mouth hung open, uncertain of how to counter that statement. “Y’know, admittedly, that theory miiiight have a slight hole or two in it. I may have left out something about a justifiable fight-or-flight survival instinct. Silver? Flight?” “Definitely flight.” The fillies turned tail and ran down a corridor. “Come back here!” shouted Pinkie Pie as she ran after them. Their hoofsteps echoed through the catacomblike tunnels of the sewer. Silver Spoon’s heart pounded so hard and fast that it hurt. She knew what it was like to literally run for her life back when she fled the Cutie Mark Crusaders’s clubhouse. This time, however, she was actively being chased – and if she failed to stay ahead of her pursuer, she was as good as dead. There were no ladders leading to the surface along this tunnel. And Silver Spoon’s terror heightened when she realized that, even if she had encountered a ladder up ahead, Pinkie Pie would be upon her and Diamond Tiara way before they’d have enough time to climb it. Though she didn’t want to, she would have to stand and fight an adult if there was to be any hope for survival. Pinkie caught up with Diamond Tiara, the slower of the two, and swatted her alunimum harness with a sway of her cloaked head. Diamond Tiara screamed as she took a tumble on the nasty ground and Pinkie instinctively hopped over the fallen foal to avoid tripping over her. She stopped and ran back to her fallen prey. Overhearing her beloved’s cry, Silver Spoon skidded to a halt and ran back, running at full speed toward Pinkie Pie who was standing over Diamond Tiara with her forehooves raised, poised to attack her friend. Operating on sheer adrenaline, Silver Spoon ran behind Pinkie Pie and bucked the mare in the plot. Pinkie yelped and curled up into a ball on the floor, holding her forelegs between her thighs. “OOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooh-hoo-hoo-hooooooo-right-on-the-party-pocket,” she lamented through clenched teeth. Pinkie looked up and saw that the fillies had fled. Off in the distance, she could hear the sound of hooves rapidly clacking against iron ladder rungs and, then, silence. She crawled to the ladder where she had caught Diamond Tiara. "If only I had just let her fall," she muttered. "But this isn't over, you two. If it takes me the rest of my life to do it, I'll see that you don't live long enough to do harm to the land I love." Pinkie sniffed. "Is that flan?" Pinkie burrowed into the food sack. "It IS flan! Om nom nom nom nom..."