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// Chapter One-A Replacement Diamond 
// Story: In Plain Sight 
// by Diamond Sparkle 
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Diamond Tiara glared angrily at Silver Spoon with the sort of look that she normally reserved for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Silver, I know we are a secret couple and have been that way for a long while, but I am just not ready to tell everyone yet, and least of all my parents. And you are taking things a little too fast for my liking. I mean, you are a great kisser, but I am just not quite not ready for more then kissing and cuddling quite yet. That will change in time but...maybe we should see a little less of each other for a while." Silver looked at her marefriend in horror and her mouth dropped wide open. 

"Di, surely you can't really mean that? You know how much being with you means to me. What if....what if you plan to have a secret relationship with another pony behind my back? I mean, you are the best, richest, most attractive pony in all of Ponyville. Other ponies would love to be with you."

Diamond rolled her eyes. "	Silver, I look so attractive to you because you love me to a rather unhealthy degree. And of course I don't plan to cheat on you just because I want to have a few days apart from you. You can be so insecure at times. My love for you is solid enough to take a dragon's weight. I just want us to have a time out for a few days, that's all." And she turned her back on her marefriend and headed back to her mansion. When she entered, she dropped to her knees in shock. "Princess Luna! It is an honour to meet you, but why are you here? " She automatically curtseyed to the Alicorn of the Night. Then she saw the other pony with her, a purple-furred filly her own age.

The Princess replied "Diamond Tiara, you are in great danger as there are plans being made for you and Silver Spoon to be kidnapped and ransomed for a great many bits. We have a plan to catch the kidnappers in the act but it will mean that you have to be given a disguise and a new identity whilst a double from Canterlot Intelligence takes your place. We will need you to help train your double, who is putting herself in a lot of danger for your sake. It might be months or even years before you can go back to your old life." 

Diamond stared at the Princess in horror. "But...you can't do this to me! Daddy, don't let her do that to me. We are Rich by name and rich by nature. Surely you could just hire a bodyguard or two to guard me? And what about Silver Spoon? I don't want to be without her. I love her and she loves me."

Filthy Rich replied "We are dealing with the Black Hoof here, the Equestrian Mafia, which is prepared if need be to murder ponies. This way you will be safe and we have a fair chance of catching the entire gang when they make their move. I could just send you away to live in Manehatten with your uncle and aunt, but that is where the Black Hoof is strongest so I would be sending you right into their lair. And whilst there are other family members that might agree to help, they would not want you living with them for more then a few days. Silver Spoon will also be sent into hiding, but you cannot be told where she will be sent, nor will she know where you are." 

Diamond sighed and turned her attention to her double. "So you want to be me and do a good job of it, do you? Well, the first thing you need to know is that the lower orders are beneath you and always to have an air of nobility.  You don't have to be horrible to other ponies, but you only socialize with the upper crust." Over the next couple of hours Diamond took a strange kind of pleasure in drilling her double to walk and talk and act like her. "You have an eye for a cutie mark? That will need to be covered up with make-up or magic and replaced with my tiara. I bet you are really going to enjoy living a life of luxury in my place."

"Yes, apart from the fear of being kidnapped every time I leave your mansion. And of something going wrong that could end with my maiming or death. Whilst you will be safe whatever happens."

"So what happens to me now?" Diamond asked.

"You will be taken to Canterlot for your disguise to be applied."

Diamond Tiara gave a little squeal of joy. "O Canterlot! Despite being a noble pony, I have never been there yet or seen the outside of Canterlot Castle. The shops there must be so amazing as well with so many things to buy." The Princess cut her off.

" You will go to Canterlot in a closed litter tonight. You will not have access to your funds until you can return to your old life. Too much spending could give you away." She used her magic to lightly pull Diamond Tiara's tiara from her head. "You won't be wearing this for a while."

"But I feel naked without my tiara!"

"That's because you are naked without your tiara."

Diamond galloped into the hooves of her parents and they hugged and kissed their daughter. "I'm going to miss my princess," Filthy Rich told her. Diamond looked sadly at them and wondered when she would see them again.

"Can't I take any books...bedding...that sort of thing?"

"You can take nothing out, as you might try and take a picture of you and your parents and that could set tongues wagging. Besides, you will be sleeping in Canterlot on fine bedding. The sun is setting and it is time to go."

"Canterlot? I have never been there before. Such sights to see and so many things to buy in the shops."

"You will be going there in a closed litter and you will not have access to your fortune until you can regain your old life. First, two much spending might give you away.  Second, you badly need to be taught how to live without luxury and without being waited on by servants. In your new life you will live like the average pony does. You will not be dirt poor, but you will not be rich either. You must learn humility."

Diamond sighed and headed to the door, where a closed litter pulled by a couple of Royal Guards awaited. She looked back with love at her parents, and hatefully at her double, who would be served by her servants, live in luxury and sleep in her bed. Then she climbed inside, drew the curtains and the pegasui took off into the sky. After a few hours of boredom in which Diamond had grown tired, they arrived at their destination and Diamond was allowed out. She found herself in a large room with a vat. Princess Luna herself told her "You need to get into that vat and quickly submerge yourself.  The paint inside is safe to wear on your body and hair and can be washed off by a long enough bath in water, and will turn your body and  mane green. And then we can see about giving you and a new name and placing you somewhere until the would be kidnappers have been arrested and the danger is over."

Green? Yuck! I'll look so ugly. Other ponies will laugh at me."

"You will still be a pretty pony when we have finished with you. You have lost a great deal anyway; we do not want you to lose your looks as well."

Diamond screwed her nose up in disgust but rather then disobey the Princess, she climbed into the vat and did what she was told. The paint rapidly  dried when she got out and had the effect of giving her curly hair like Twist. She was expecting it to have become a smeared mess but it dried so quickly that it didn't have time. "I don't look as bad as I thought...but it's still upsetting for me to have to give up who I am. It's covered my cutie mark and I feel like a blank flank again. I don't have to be a...?"

"No. On the opposite leg to the leg with your real cutie mark on it, you will have a cutie mark tattooed upon your body that will look totally genuine."

Diamond Tiara stared at her in utter horror. "WHAT? No. I am a noble pony and I am so not being tattooed. Mother says tattooing is vulgar and looks bad as a pony ages. She says, not only is it painful to have done, but it itches like crazy as it heals and any scratching will ruin it. Why can't I just paint on a cutie mark with make-up?"

"Because it might smear or get washed off in the rain and then your cover will be blown. Zecora can give you some salve for the itch to keep it at a bearable level as long as you don't scratch. Once you start scratching you won't be able to stop and you will tear a wound in your flank and it will both scar and blow your cover. Your new name will be Apple Turnover and you will be placed with Applejack as part of her family."

"So you are putting me with a bunch of country hicks..."

The Princess's horn flashed and she slapped Diamond's cheek with her magic. "The Apple family is as old as the Bluebloods and Applejack is a noble in her own right for all the services to Equestria she has performed. She is just not snobbish and unpleasant about her high status, unlike your family. If there is one good thing about this situation, it is that you will have to spend some time with those who you consider to be the "lower orders" and share your life with them. When you were a young pony you were beastly to your fellow ponies just because their cutie marks were a little late in coming, and you are still clearly a very spoilt brat. Labouring for a few weeks or months will make you into a better noble pony when you return to your old life, once the kidnappers have been captured. It might also teach you to be nice to your fellow ponies. You will spend the night here, and then you will be taught the details of your new life and in turn will teach your double everything she needs to pass as you, before going to Sweet Apple Acres in a week or so." She paused.

"You will be paid for your work on the farm-you are not a slave or a convict-labourer. Some farmers are slave-driver types but not Applejack, I know her well. You will be kept safe and will learn some much needed humility at the same time. For now-bedtime. Tomorrow you will be tattooed and then your training to keep you safe will begin."