Diamond glanced towards the clock dangling over the entrance, a little worry starting to flow through her mind. Button was soooo late she was afraid he'd miss the whole event.
It had been a few days since the arrival of the Water Nation and, fortunately, the attack had left nothing more than a few broken bones. Noponies had been killed or seriously hurt, though quite a few had been hospitalized. Diamond couldn't help being thankful for small miracles. Lots of behind the scenes politics were happening, but she wasn't privy to that.
What she was privy to was the fun stuff. Well, 'technically' fun stuff. While not necessarily fun in application, a party was supposed to be fun. She was sure. The stadium had been redone into a massive ball room temporarily and just about every noble family from the city were here, as well as most of the council members and their families.
Acrylic and Silver were already here, of course. As was Octavia. The latter had told her Button would be here soon, as he was just getting ready.
That was over an hour ago. He was so incredibly late she wanted to smack him upside the head. If he was much later, Rarity would take her family and go. She took a deep breath.
Well, his loss then. She trotted over to Silver and Acrylic, who were talking over by the snack table.
“Assuming all goes as planned, our new project should be quite the new revenue stream for us,” Silver said casually. “It's not quite what we're known for, but with all of our testing on magic and its containment and storage, this new device was bound to be created.”
“Are you sure it's safe? All that... magic sounds dangerous.”
“Of course it's safe. Illusionary magic is one of the safest types of magic, you know. We're sticking to the visual spectrum for now, though. We're hopeful in the future we'll be able to store sound and even smell at the same time. We can already send it fair distances, but storing it long term is proving to be a bit more difficult.”
“How about touch?” Acrylic asked with a cocked eye.
“That'll be far more difficult. After all, that would be an application of physical force and far, far more dangerous. We're not sure we'll be willing to take the liability that it could raise. Perhaps someday in the future. Still, the revenue streams would likely be more like revenue rivers at this point. We estimate within five years, everypony in the five kingdoms will want one of the home models. They're amazing, only taking up about one large room. That isn't even mentioning the military applications.”
“What are you guys talking about?” Diamond asked as she stopped behind Silver.
“Ah! Diamond!” the mare said before turning around and smiling to her. “Just discussing Tomorrow Industries upcoming press release with Acrylic.”
“What's that thing you were talking about?” the alicorn asked, before putting on a small pouty face. “You haven't told me anything about it, why are you telling him?”
Silver chuckled. “Because Acrylic has been assisting me in a number of small projects, he'd have to know about them.”
Diamond's eyes widened and she glanced to the stallion, who looked off to the side, suddenly finding one of the guest's hats extremely fascinating. “Really? He never mentioned any of this to me.”
“I don't have to tell you everything,” Acrylic grumbled, his cheeks red. “I don't have to tell you anything.”
“Eesh, testy. So, are you two ready to meet the Water Lord?”
“I thought we were waiting for Button?” Silver asked.
“We were, but I'm not even sure he's coming any more. They're really nice, though. I'm sure you'll like them. Come on!” Diamond said before turning around and trotting to where the Water Lord and her children were standing, discussing something with Blaze.
The pegasus paused and waved to the approaching ponies. “Ah, Avatar. Is all well?”
“Of course. Water Lord, if you have a moment?”
The mare glanced over and smiled. “Of course. What can I do for you, child?”
“I'd like to introduce my friends. This is Silver Spoon, current CEO of Tomorrow Industries.”
The earth pony stepped forward and curtsied. “A pleasure.”
“This is Acrylic, son of Vinyl Scratch.”
The stallion stepped forward and bowed his head. “Delightful to meet you, Water Lord. My mother has often spoken well of you.”
Rarity smiled. “Truly? The son of Vinyl? I do believe we have met, though you were just a young foal at the time.”
His eyes widened. “You... knew me as a child? I don't suppose you knew my father?”
The Water Lord froze, the smile wavering slightly. “I'm afraid I do not. Your mother was always quite tight lipped of that whole affair, though I always had my suspicions. Still, you have obvious grown up to be quite the strapping young stallion. Now, allow me to introduce myself. I am Water Lord Rarity, and these are my youngest children, Princess Celestia and Prince Luna.”
The two younger unicorns bowed.
Rarity's eyes fell on Silver. “And the new CEO of Tomorrow Industries. I must say, I've always found your company quite impressive. Your creation of artificial horns and wings are positively fascinating. A... shame such technology did not exist when I first became the Water Lord.”
Silver nodded. “Indeed. However, the plight of the Fire Tribes have always been a great inspiration for my father, as non-bending earth ponies, my family has always understood the plight and trouble of those with... less obvious forms of magic.”
Rarity nodded. “Indeed. I must admit, I've often been impressed by the ingenuity of earth ponies. I would absolutely love to hear about what else your company has in the works.”
The mare chuckled and shook her head. “I'm afraid I cannot divulge that information, my father would be absolutely furious. But we will be having a reveal and small demonstration of our newest creation in a few weeks, if you'd like to attend?”
“I'm afraid I cannot, I truly must return home. But perhaps my children could attend. Celestia, Luna?”
The two bowed their heads. “Of course, mother,” Luna said quickly.
“If that is quite alright with you?” Rarity asked with that soft smile.
“My offer extends to them as well, of course. I must say I--” she paused and glanced to the right at the sound of galloping hooves fast approached.
Diamond blinked a few times and tried not to snicker as Button galloped towards them. He was in a great brown suit. Over that, he was wearing ceremonial earth garments, the greens and browns. She imagined he couldn't decide which to wear, so of course he wore both.
“Sorry I'm late, I got held up,” he said before he skidded to a stop, turning to the three ponies, a smile on his lips.
“Err... who are you?” Rarity asked.
“Oh, right,” Diamond said before motioning towards her friend. “This is Button Mash, another friend of mine. He's the son of Octavia.”
“Ah! Octavia's child, a pleasure to meet you. I'm afraid I didn't know your mother that well, but what I did know, I found quite pleasant. A pleasure to meet you. I am--”
“The great and beautiful Rarity,” Button said in the suavest voice he could, before reaching forward and taking her hoof, placing a kiss on it. “And these must be your ravishing daughters, Luna and Celestia.” He said before taking their respective hooves and mimicking the gesture he had for their mother, leaving them all a tad stunned.
Rarity blinked a few times, before shaking her head with a bit of red in her cheeks. “Mmmm. Quite the young charmer, I see. I never would have imagined Octavia to raise such a forward young thing.”
Diamond, meanwhile, just stared at him along with her other friends. Who was this pony and what had they done with the real Button? “Err, right. Well... um, yes. He's just... full of surprises.”
Button nodded and took a step back, before nudging Acrylic. “So, how do I look?”
That snapped the unicorn out of it. “Huh? Err, you look good. Why are you wearing two outfits?”
“I couldn't decide what to wear. Better to stick out than blend in, right?”
“... Well... you most definitely stick out.”
Rarity smiled. “Well then, I suppose it's best I leave you all to get acquainted. I still have some work to get done.”
Diamond blinked and then gasped. “O-oh, right. I completely forgot. Button, Acrylic, Silver. Celestia and Luna will be joining us on the trip, at their mother's request. I'm sorry, I should have asked sooner, I just--”
“That's more than fine,” Silver said with a wave of her hoof. “The more the merrier and all that. I'm sure we could use them on the trip. Actually... I did hear the most... interesting rumor about you two. That... ahhhh...”
“Yes, I am a fire bender, like our father,” Celestia said with a cocked eye.
“O-oh. I'd... heard it was... err...”
Luna chuckled, a hoof to his mouth. “Oh, no. I'm afraid while my dear sister shares the family colorations, I was the one gifted with water bending. Though I assure you, her fire bending is quite extraordinary. Perhaps she could even teach you a few things, Avatar. I hear you are quite talented at the art itself.”
Diamond cringed. “I... will admit I always preferred fire bending while I was training. Sadly, I don't have it anymore.”
“Really? Fire was your favorite? I would have assumed earth bending was,” Silver said with a cocked eye, before looking to Luna. “Err... if... you don't mind me asking. I'd also heard a few... other things. Namely... about your... grand mother... and you.”
Luna blinked, before sighing. “Yes, it is quite true. I do take after our grand mother in appearance. Depending on what rumors you've heard, they are not true. I do not have a heart of ice, I do not intend to overthrow my dear, elder sister and I only feast upon the hearts of foals when I am feeling particularly peckish.”
Celestia nodded. “And if you start calling either of us Nightmare Moon or Solar Flare, you will suffer. Luna may be patient with such things. I, on the other hoof, am not.” There was a light spark from her horn.
Silver shook her head. “Of course, I would never dream of such a thing.”
“You could eat my heart any day,” Button said quickly, drawing the gazes of everypony there. The only sound of Acrylic face hoofing.
“... Quite,” Luna said carefully. “Silver, was it? Do you mind if we call you that? To be honest, the need of constant titles can be... annoying. Feel free to call me Luna and her Firebutt.”
“Celestia!” the mare snapped, glowering.
“Of course. You may call me Silver.”
“And you can just call me Diamond, please,” the alicorn said. “I'd love it if we could all become friends.”
“That sounds positively delightful, Avatar,” Luna said with a smile. “And we look forward to attending this event of yours, Silver. Until then, however, we'd best meet with a few other ponies before we retire.”
Diamond nodded and the four waved at them as they went.
“Oh my gosh, they are so, so, sooooo hooooot!” Button said with a little sqwee. “Diamond, you are the best friend ever!”
“H-hey!” Acrylic objected.
“Especially Luna. I never really noticed water benders, but... wow.”
“HEY!” Acrylic snapped.
Diamond blinked a few times. “Err... Button, you know Luna is a--”
“Yeah, yeah, don't worry. It's fine.”
“Oh. Well, ummm... more power to yah,” she said, eying him. Odd, she didn't think he was into that.
Button hummed happily as he walked towards the snack table. 'Bah, I don't know what Diamond is so worried about. So what if Luna is royalty? She's totally cute and we'll be on a boat together for months. I've got to have some chance with her.' The smile slowly faded though. 'Unlike... some other pretty mare.'
------
Sweetie gave a soft sigh as she sipped her drink, glancing out over the city from the balcony. She tapped her hoof a few times and then glanced towards the clock. “Ten more minutes,” she muttered softly, before leaning forward.
After about six, she heard the balcony door open and the sounds of the party filtered out before it closed. “I'm so, so, so sorry!” Scootaloo said before she galloped forward, skidding along the ground for a few moments. “It's just been hectic as, well, you know.”
Sweetie nodded before the two moved closer, giving each other a hug. “Of course. Being a council mare isn't exactly easy, I'd imagine.”
“Ugh, tell me about it. I'm starting to understand why you were always so up tight, miss general,” the pegasus said, panting slightly from exertion. “Though, nopony has really tried to kill me, yet.”
“They better not,” Sweetie said with a nod. “Heavens forbid what you'd do to them. Heaven forbids what I or Flowerbloom would do to them.” She gave her drink another sip. “So, I take it you've been well?”
“As can be expected.”
“After everything that happened, I worried--”
“It's fine, it's all fine. Hornclipper... well, his wings won't come back. But the replacement ones are pretty cool. You could come by and see him sometime.”
Sweetie blinked, before looking to the side. “Yeah... I... should. I suppose. I doubt he'd much want to see me, though.”
Scootaloo sighed and moved over, putting a wing over her back. “Hey, come on. You're not like that any more. No need to get upset.”
“Mmmm hm.”
“You're not. That was Discord's influence. Besides, you gave the Fire Tribes a chance when you were there. I'm sure in the long run, you would have--”
“Oh, I know exactly what I would have done,” Sweetie said before swirling her drink. “I would have crushed the world.” She downed the drink before smiling. “But that was then, this is now. There's a new world, a new Avatar and no Discord. So that's in the past. How has your son been?”
“Ugh, uptight as always. Been trying to get him and Prism to be friends again, but I swear he's the most stubborn pony I ever met.”
“Mmmmm hm. I wonder if he gets that from his mother or his father...”
“I was never that stubborn! I was just dedicated. There's a difference.”
Sweetie snorted, before glancing up. “So... tell me the truth. This new Avatar, do you think she can... do you think she'll succeed?”
“Succeed with what?”
“Nothing... everything. Sometimes I don't even know...”
Scootaloo sighed, before nodding. “She's a brat. Like, total brat. But... I don't think she's bad. Though I swear sometimes I wanna stick her in a mud puddle and hold her there for a bit. But she's growing fast. Buck, as Avatars go, I think we could have done worse.”
“Good. Have you heard from Flowerbloom in a while?”
“Alllll the time. She was actually down here a few months back, brought her stallion friend. Raintail or Cloudbutt or something.”
Sweetie giggled into her hoof. “Oh dear, another one? I swear she's had more coltfriends than she's had students. How's Applejack doing?”
“Still in complete denial. You should have seen her when Flowerbloom and her coltfriend were making googly eyes at each other. Managed to look at anything but them. Don't know why, though. I mean, she is Big Mac's little sister and I'm sure you've heard the rumors about him.”
Sweetie snorted. “Oh heavens, yes. What was the newest joke? 'In three generations, one out of three earth benders will be directly descended from the Apple Family'?”
Scootaloo nodded. “I've heard some ponies say one out of two. Dear heavens, do you remember when he was singing? I think his voice might have almost gotten ME pregnant.”
The unicorn broke into a little fit of giggles. “Now, don't let Flowerbloom hear you say that. It is her brother, after all.”
“Of course. But dang. If I didn't have Hornclipper...” She then gave a little snort. “You know, maybe I should introduce him to Ironwing.”
Sweetie snickered. “Oh heavens I would pay good bits to see that.”
Scootaloo nodded before looking out over the city, letting their chuckles die down. Finally, her tone turned serious a moment later. “I uhhh... I heard some more rumors about Dazzling. She's not...”
“No. She made another escape attempt, but she didn't come close to it. She's not going anywhere.”
“That's... that's good.”
“Mmmm...”
“Aw, don't make that face. I was just curious.”
“I'm not... upset. I'm just... thinking. Things have changed a lot since we were foals. Do you remember?”
“Of course.”
“Did you ever think it would come to this? You in Harmony, Flowerbloom in the Earth Kingdom and me back home.”
“No, not really. I mean, we were separate a lot, but I always thought we'd be Water Nation. But... I think this is for the best.” Scootaloo reached out and put a hoof on her shoulder. “After all, even if we're not all together, at least we're all us, now.”
Sweetie nodded. “True. And there's nopony else I'd rather be.”
Scootaloo snickered. “I don't know. I might want to be Rainbow sometimes. But then, she is pretty awesome.”
The unicorn snickered before glancing back over the city for a few moments. “You know, we really must get back together again, soon. All three of us. We've all been so busy but... I think it's time. Do you think Flowerbloom would be interested?”
“Of course. If you want, I could send her a letter. It'd be nice to have the full gang together, rather than us just meeting one by one.”
Sweetie nodded, a smile playing on her lips. “Yes. Friends as good as us... well... we've gone far too long without having a big get together.” She glanced to her empty glass. “I think I'm going to go get some more punch, join me?”
“Always.”
The two turned and walked back into the party, the sound of lightly chatting ponies washing over them.
------
Silver took a long, slow breath as she stared at herself in the mirror. She could do this. She WOULD do this. Why in the world was she so scared? It was just a public announcement. She'd been through dozens of them before.
But her dad had always been there. They'd always been his announcements.
She shook her head and lightly slapped her cheeks. “No. Silver, no. You are the CEO now, this is your job. You do not get worried, you do not get anxious. You have this all under control.” She put her hooves against the mirror and leaned her head against it. “You are an extremely powerful and destructive spirit of chaos in a pony's body. You will NOT get worried over one tiny, insignificant public announcement. You've practiced this a hundred, thousand times. You've got this. You've. Got. This. You don't need daddy holding your hoof.” She then pulled back and smiled at her reflection.
She had this.
------
She did not have this. As she was driven through the city towards the city center, where the announcement would take place, she began to make out the crowds of gathered ponies. Thousands of them. All waiting for her announcement. Her heart started pounding faster and she felt sweat forming under her fur. None the less, she took a few slow, deep breaths and tried to calm herself. “You've got this, you've got this. You CAN do this.
“Miss, are you okay?” her driver asked.
“Fine, I'm fine. Just... a little anxious.” Last she heard, her daddy was still locked up, so he wouldn't interfere. She was really beginning to wish she hadn't moved her attack ahead of schedule to ambush the Water Lord. A nice spirit attack would be pretty swell right about now and at least if it went wrong then, no pony would know it was her fault.
She shook her head and patted her cheeks. “Focus, Silver, focus.”
Slowly the crowd parted for the vehicle, allowing it to slowly drive towards the stage. When it stopped, metal benders surrounded the vehicle and slowly pushed the crowd back. Once she had room, she pushed open the door and slowly stepped out, a forced smile on her lips. There was nothing she'd have liked more than rushing back into her vehicle and closing the door, locking the rest of the world out. But she'd be bucked if she'd do that. Slowly, she trotted towards the giant stage set up against one of the back walls. A few dozen feet in front of it a large tower had been constructed and behind it, a massive curtain and large cloth wall had been set up.
Everything was going well, amazingly well even. Not an ounce of disharmony or chaos anywhere. Yet she couldn't make her heart stop pounding. She walked up the steps to the stage, standing behind the curtain, and took a slow, deep breath.
“Are you ready for this?” Diamond asked, making her jump.
To Silver's shame, she felt relief as she looked to the mare. “Yeah. Just... a tiny bit of anxiety. That's all.” She glanced past the mare. Acrylic was by the edge of the counter, glancing out. Button was stuffing his face at the snack table, which oddly made her smile as she watched. “So, you all came.”
“Of course we came, that's what friends do for each other. You've got this, Silver. I'm sure whatever thing you've been working on, it'll be a massive success.”
“Y-yeah. A success.” Silver took a deep breath, forced a smile on her face, then walked out onto the stage. The crowd erupted with their cheers.
Of course, they loved her. After all, it was her company that was doing most of the repairs in the city and making sure supplies were being distributed correctly per the council's wishes. With proper application of good publicity, even her father's... misdeeds could be forgotten by most. She stepped up to the podium and smiled as confidentially as she could muster. She took a slow, deep breath before speaking into the microphone. “Hello ponies of Harmony!”
A cheer broke out from the crowd, enough to nearly knock her over.
“I'm happy so many of you were able to make it to this announcement. First, what I am sure you all should know and be excited about. The completion on the repairs of Harmony are almost complete. Within one month, you should all have homes and businesses returned to working order.” That cheer actually did knock her back a foot and made her ears ring. “However, that is not what I am here to announce.”
A hush slowly fell over the crowd.
“As anypony who has lived in this city can tell you, Tomorrow Industries has always worked to be the cutting edge in the technological field. We have worked tirelessly to make Harmony one of the most advanced cities in the world, including some of the fastest ships, trains and air ships. We have also worked tirelessly to bridge the gap between earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi.” She spread out one of her metallic wings to demonstrate. “Worked tirelessly to create artificial bending.” Her metal horn glimmered for a moment and a small ball of fire flew off, exploding into the air. “At Tomorrow Industries, we always look to the future, but never fail to learn from our past.” She pointed a hoof forward and the little tower across the plaza began to glimmer. “And, sadly, as most of you have seen, our past has been on our minds too much lately. The last few months have been filled with pain and suffering, with families torn apart. Thankfully, due to the efforts of the Avatar and her friends, peace has once again been restored and we can look towards a bright future.” Suddenly, a great light shot out from the tower, illuminating the wall behind her. “And it is in this bright future that I wish to tell all of you that, once again, Tomorrow Industries has managed to crack the magic code and reveal the secrets of unicorn magic in new ways.”
Suddenly, the wall behind her came alive, revealing a color image of her.
“Now, I'm sure you're not impressed. You've all surely seen such things before, thanks to unicorn magic. However, this is new.” She held up her hoof, the image behind her doing the same. “For you see, this is our newest model. We have worked long and tirelessly to create a portable system that allows the user to record and play events on these special screens. Without a single drop of unicorn magic.”
A gasp slowly rippled through the crowd.
“Yes, that's right. We have refined the process to extents never thought possible. Now all ponies will be able to record and distribute their own moving pictures, without depending on the magic or memory of unicorns. Not only that, this technology will soon allow sound illusions as well, allowing both sight and sound to be transferred and recorded.” A grin formed on her lips as she looked over the crowd. Now it was time to drop the ball. “And within one year, we estimate that we will be able to send these sights and sounds along the magical leylines that run throughout our world. Meaning a pony in the Water Nation would be able to send both sights and sounds to somepony in, say, the Earth Kingdom, and everywhere in between.” The eruption from the crowd made the stage rattle as she merely smiled at them. “This is the future, my dear citizens. A world where we're no longer held back by the weakness of modern communication. A world where we can see and hear each other, no matter where we may be. A world where we can view the history of the world, as it's being made before us. No longer just hear it, but actually see it as it happens!”
There cheer and stomping hooves made her ears rattle, but she kept the smile on her face. “Now, for any questions?”
It took a few moments for the ponies to calm down enough for any of them to be heard, but when done she pointed towards a pony who raised their hoof.
“Has there been any news about Dr. Alicity's release or imprisonment?”
She barely managed to avoid sighing. Here was a new breath taking advancement in magical manipulation technology, and all they wanted to know about was her father. “Any questions about our new advances?”she asked, before pointing to the next pony and skipping over that one. It was technically rude, but she'd dealt with enough reporters to know that, half the time the only way to get through to them. Sure, plenty of the articles put her in a bad light, but she was the best friend of the Avatar and the face of the company that was setting the city back in order. There was only so much damage they could do.
It took nearly an hour before she nodded and waved a hoof for silence. “Now, it's time to draw this to a close. I appreciate everypony who took the time and energy to come out and see us today. As always, food and drinks are supplied by Tomorrow Industries and free of charge. Do enjoy your evening and have fun.” She then gave them a wave and walked away amidst the cheers.
The moment the curtain closed behind her, she let out a sigh of relief.
“You were amazing out there,” Diamond said with a grin. “You had them in your hoof the whole time.”
“I hope not, they were so sweaty I don't think I could have held a piece of gum,” Silver said with a soft chuckle. “Thank you, though.”
“It's true,” Acrylic said as he walked up. “I had chills listening to that. This new technology is really going to change a lot.”
Silver nodded. “In more ways than one. The militarily applications are spectacular. If we can get it set up correctly, then there won't be a need for special unicorn units to send these visual messages across the world any more. Imagine what the countries could do with that extra hoof power. The lives they could save without having to waste their magic on such things, not to mention the time saved not trying to find one of those ponies.” A frown formed on her face. “You... haven't heard any news about my daddy, have you? He hasn't broken out or anything, right?”
“It doesn't seem like it,” Diamond said with a grin. “Unless he left a doppleganger in his place.” She blinked and then frowned. “Again. But... he wouldn't do that a second time, would he?”
Silver sighed and face hoofed. “If he did, I'm going to kill him.”
“I must say, that technology is quite impressive,” Luna said as he trotted behind the curtain.
“Hope you don't mind, the guards just let us through,” Celestia said with a nod. “Being a diplomat has its advantages.”
Silver nodded. “Oh, that's quite alright. Would you like some--” A brown blur wooshed by and Button was suddenly in front of the two unicorns, holding out a pair of cups.
“Would you two like some... punch?” he asked with a saucy grin.
Celestia rolled her eyes and walked by him, but Luna took it with a smile. “Thank you, punch sounds delightful.”
“We came here to ask about the plans for the voyage,” Celestia said as she came to a stop in front of Silver. “While it's not that we dislike this city, we are anxious to get this journey on its way.”
Silver chuckled, a hoof coming to her lips. “The preparations are almost set, we will be leaving in a week. Most of the seats have been chosen, but we're still waiting on a few more. As well as our guide.”
“No guide has been chosen?” Celestia asked, cocking an eye. “That sounds... troublesome.”
“We are going to one of the most dangerous places in the world,” Luna said as he walked forward, sipping his drink. “A place even our country refused to tread during the hundred year war. A proper guide could mean the difference between life and death.”
Silver nodded. “Exactly. We were hoping for Zecora, but as a council member she can't really leave. She's working with the other non-ponies to choose. The Badlands are said to be... strange, in a manner similar to the Everfree Forest. We can't take it too easy while in such a place.” She then glanced to Diamond. “Besides, considering some of the crew, we need to make sure there aren't any opportune moments for them to kill each other, right?”
“Huh?” Diamond asked.
“Have you seen the newest roster?”
The alicorn face hoofed with a groan. “They changed it again?”
“Yep. And you won't believe which two pegasi are coming with us.”
“W--” Diamond's eyes widened. “Not... Prism and... Ironwing?”
She gave a nod.
The alicorn moaned. Then grinned. “Think you can assign them a room together? That'd be hilarious.”
“I considered it, but the vessel will be small enough without that.”
Diamond sighed as well. “I guess. After all those fights of theirs. They woke me up at two in the morning the other day! And... who knows, maybe if we're lucky they'll kill each other.” She then stepped forward and gave her friend a hug. “So... I'd best head home. Start getting ready. One week, right? Anything else I need to know?”
“Just bring whatever you feel you'll need. It's going to be a long trip, so pack light but comfortable.”
“Of course!” Diamond said before racing off. She could hardly believe it.
It was almost time. Soon they'd have all the answers they were looking for.