//------------------------------//
// Dioptase  
// Story: Ultimate Selfishness 
// by Arcanum -Phantasy 
//------------------------------//

Dioptase



A warm breeze ruffled Diamond Tiara's mane as she stared in aw at the view before her. She was sitting on a tall grassy hill overlooking a massive orchard, hundreds of times bigger than Sweet Apple Acres stretching far beyond the horizon. An equally gargantuan castle towered at its center, the late afternoon sun eclipsed by its highest tower. All of it was gorgeous, but what made it truly spectacular was that everything was colored differently. All of the trees were light yellow with red leaves that all but hid what was probably the ripest looking apples she'd ever seen. The sky was a deep shade of violet  patched with orange clouds of various shapes and sizes. The castle was wrapped in a pink, white, and purple spiral like it was molded from the worlds biggest candy cane. It was all so beautiful, Diamond felt tears of joy start to build at the corners of her eyes. Defiantly, she rubbed her tears away and ran towards the castle. She'd cried enough, now was the time to smile, to laugh, to finally feel alive.
As she ran, the trees filled her lungs with the scent of wild flowers and fresh fruit. Every so often, she'd see small critters darting in and out of site among the trees, but they barely registered in the orphaned filly's radar. All of her attention centered upon the tricolored castle towering before her. As she zeroed in on her target she could feel her excitement building by equal measure. She could feel it in her bones, the castle was a sanctuary. The very land she galloped through was a paradise that no shadow could set hoof in no matter how hard it tried. With a smile she hadn't used in what felt like years, she stopped in front of the castle's massive double-doors and standing on her hind legs, pushed them open.
Her eyes widened in astonishment at the sheer beauty of the castles interior.  The castle's main throne room was a dazzling structure of gems and precious metals. The room itself seemed to create its own light, which turned into a spectrum of colors as it passed through all of the various crystal structures.  At the farthest point across from her stood the throne, a seat made of the purist white diamond decorated with vines of gold and silver, her cutie mark branded into its head. The CMC stood by it, dressed in chain-mail dresses, the brightest smiles on their muzzles.
The sight was a lot to take in, but that gave Diamond just the excuse she needed to savor the moment. She could feel the light coursing through her, purging all the pain and grief from her. It was when this feeling was at its zenith, that she noticed her three friends motioning for her to take the throne. Slowly, she walked towards the throne, all the while, a vale of light draped itself across her back, gradually taking solid form. As it did, the warmth in both her heart and body continued to grow, burning away the last traces of her grief. By the time she made it to the throne, the light had finished its transformation, becoming a golden dress that shined with just as much brilliance as Celestia's sun. Feeling as light as air, a content Diamond Tiara took her seat, turning towards the Cutie Mark Crusaders, a soft smile on her muzzle. The three smiled back, bowed, and said, "Welcome home Diamond."
She laughed.
"Thanks. Its good to have one."



*** 



Diamond slowly opened her eyes, a warmth similar to what she felt just moments before from her dream wrapped around her. At first she thought it was from her plush sleeping bag, but when she raised her head she saw the truth. Curled up around her where the snoring  forms of the CMC. Sweetie Belle was tucked in next to her in a somewhat dignified poise, looking as if she was trying to get herself as close to her new friend as possible without disturbing the sleeping bag. Scootaloo, on the other hoof, was sprawled out on her back snoring like a lawn mower, her left hind leg twitching every so often. Apple Bloom was curled up like a cat to the left of Diamond's head, a peaceful smile gracing her muzzle. Diamond chucked to herself as she carefully slid herself out of her sleeping bag.
Never a dull moment, she thought, quietly looking for some blankets for the three fillies.
It was still pretty early, with the first rays of dawn barely turning the black sky dark violet providing almost no light to assist Diamond in her quest. After roughly five minutes of cursing her lack of a horn, she finally found the stares leading to the second floor. Carefully, she creeped up the stares, nearly giving herself a heart attack when she got to the top and tried to take a step onto a non-existant step. By this point, the sun had already risen to a point that Diamond had enough light to get a rough idea of her surroundings. Luckily, the home portion of Carousel Boutique was smaller and simpler than the business focused first floor. In front of her was a platform leading to three closed doors. Diamond could tell that one of them was Rarity's room, most likely the one decorated with three diamonds arranged in a triangle on the door. One of the remaining was probably a broom closet or bathroom while the other was a guest room that had been converted into Sweetie Belle's bedroom. Ignoring the diamond door, she walked up to one of the unmarked doors. As luck would have it, she was greeted not by brooms or a toilet, but a bedroom not too different from Apple Bloom's. Except for the rooms hight and violet-blue color scheme, it was an exact replica of her farm filly roommate. Diamond would've continued to gawk, but she had more important things to tend to. Quickly, she trotted over to Sweetie Belle's bed and yanked the blanket off with her teeth. After it draped over her like a circus tent, she decided it would be safer fold it before taking it down the stares. A few seconds later she had it the way she needed it and plopped it on her back with a satisfied sigh. As she walked towards the door, a faint flash caught her eye. Curious, she turned towards its source and saw a small dresser. Sitting on top of it was a small metallic looking band glinting in the dim light. As if drawn to it, Diamond walked towards the dresser. Once she was close enough to see it clearly, a bitter smile crossed her lips. Sitting on top of the dresser was a single diamond studded tiara, her tiara.  
In all honesty, she never asked the CMC what they did with it after her failed suicide attempt. Although, she supposed almost dying did tend to make one forget tiny details like that. A small part of her was happy that they didn't sell it or through it out, but the rest of her couldn't help but feel disgust. With the very memory of that accessory came the memories of all her regrets. 
"You know," said a familiar squeaky voice. "You can have it back if you want."
Diamond jumped and spun around.
Standing in the doorway was a very groggy Sweetie Belle.
"Do you normally sneak up on other ponies or am I just a special case?" Diamond gasped, hoof over her pounding heart.
"Only when they sneak into my room," she yawned. "And by the way, horns are not as great as you think they are."
"Oh......you heard all that?" Diamond blushed.
Sweetie Belle nodded.
"Sorry," she mumbled.
Sweetie Belle just yawned and looked at the tiara.
"It's alright."
For a moment, the two stood in awkward silence. Then, Sweetie broke it, by clearing her throat.
"Well?" Sweetie Belle asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well what?"
"Arn't you going to take it?"
Diamond glanced at the tiara and frowned.
"Not yet."
"Huh?" Sweetie Belle gasped, eyes wide.
"The filly that tiara belonged to died the second I chose to go to Ghastly Gorge. For me to feel that I have any right to put it on, I'm going to have to get over this whole thing first. Otherwise, how can I face Daddy and Silvy someday?"
As she said that, a sad smile crossed her face and for the marshmallow colored unicorn filly, it was as if she was looking at Diamond Tiara for the first time. At that moment, with the sun rise visible behind her, Diamond had been reborn.
"With a little bit of help of course," she added sheepishly, slightly breaking the moment of metamorphosis.
Sweetie chuckled and said, "Definitely."
And with that, the two made their way back down the stares, blanket in tow.