Diamond Tiara stared into the deep chasms of Ghastly Gorge, her once strong and piercing blue eyes now dull and listless. A cold breeze passed through her mane as it hung loosely over part of her face, it free to move now that she wasn't wearing her trademark tiara. Her gaze shifted to the foreboding overcast sky, a empty sigh freeing itself from her muzzle as past events ran through her memories. Her father, Filthy Rich, had gone on a trip to the Crystal Empire to negotiate possible busyness opportunities with Princess Cadence and her husband Shinning Armer about a week ago. Diamond wanted to come along too, but her father forbade it, saying that she was still grounded for her latest moment of cruelty towards the CMC. She remembered the last thing she said to him before stomping up the stairs to her room.
I hate you daddy!
That sentence echoed in her mind like a sonic rainboom, each mental reverberation adding more guilt and regret to the poor damaged filly's heart. Then came the most painful memory, the memory of her looking at the paper the next day to find that her father was never coming back. Apparently, there was some kind of engine malfunction that caused the train he was on to derail itself and roll off a cliff. According to the paper, there were no survivors. Diamond Tiara felt something break insider her when she read that, but fate had an even crueler joke to play on her. That same day, she noticed that Silver Spoon hadn't come to class. Figuring that she probably called in sick or playing hooky, Diamond decided to stop by her place so she could get some kind of handle on her father's death. what she got instead was more heartbreak; Silver Spoon was on that train as well.
Why did I say that? she thought casting an empty glance back down to the bottom of the gorge in front of her. That thought brought the need for tears, but she ran out of those days ago.
Memories of sleepless nights and hallow days flashed into her mind. With glazed eyes, she watched her fellow students enjoying themselves at the playground. None of them said anything to her but she could tell what they were thinking. They thought she deserved it. That after all the abuse she put them through, karma had finally dealt the spoiled filly the fate she so justly earned. And she knew that they were right. She was a terrible, selfish, manipulative brat that always got her way and didn't care who she trampled over to get what she wanted. With every fiber of her being, she believed that the world would be a brighter, better place without her. It was at that point that she made her decision, but first she had to do something, one last act of selfishness that actually might do somepony some good for a change. She rose to her hooves and walked over to her usual victims; the CMC. Naturally, the three fillies were leery of her, not entirely sure what to expect from the damaged filly. For what was probably the most uncomfortable minute of their young lives, Diamond Tiara reached up and plucked her namesake off of her head and set in on the ground in front of Apple bloom.
"Here. Take it."
Not waiting for a response, Diamond Tiara turned, and walked away.
That memory made Diamond chuckle a little to herself.
Figures. Even when I do something good I'm still selfish.
With a depressed sigh, Diamond Tiara closed her eyes. In just a few seconds all the pain and loneliness of all she lost would be gone. In just a few seconds the disease known as Diamond Tiara would be removed from this world.
I'm sorry.
With that, she stepped off of the edge of the cliff. For half a second she felt the wind of the gorge rushing past her mane. Its howl sounding like a welcome lullaby. Suddenly, she heard a loud yelp fallowed by a sharp tug on her tail. At that same moment, she felt her decent stop. Confused, she opened her eyes and looked at her tail. Diamond gasped as she saw her tail clamped tightly in Applebloom's mouth while Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell kept an equally tight grip on their friend to prevent her from fallowing Diamond to her doom.
"A' right girls," Applebloom growled through Diamond's tail. "Pull us up!"
With loud grunts and a few feeble attempts at telekinesis, the three fillies succeeded in rescuing their former enemy. The CMC sat panting from the strain of preventing another catastrophe. Well, one that didn't involve trying to get their cutie marks at least. Diamond Tiara looked at them in shock.
"W-Why did you stop me?" she asked, shaking. "After everything I did to you, why did you stop me?!"
The CMC all looked at each other before giving Diamond the same look one might give to an alien.
"Diamond," Sweetie Bell squeaked. "You were going to kill yourself. What did you think we were going to do?"
Scootaloo nodded before adding, "Yeah! I mean, sure. We don't like you that much and you've been a jerk to us for as long as I can remember, but that doesn't mean we want you dead!"
"We were worried about ya Diamond," Applebloom said, resting a hoof on her shoulder.
And just like that, the armer around Diamond's heart cracked, bringing tears she thought she lost to her eyes as she cried. All of her pain turned into tears as the three fillies embraced her, letting their warmth surround her like a blanket. After a long while, Diamond managed to get some of her self-control back and the Crusaders let her out of their collective hug.
"Th-Thank you," Diamond stuttered, wiping stray tears out of her eyes.
"Any time," Applebloom smiled.