Diamond Tiara and the Hand of Phoe

by Mudpony

A Pony from a Legend/A Pony with a Story.

"Can't we go out and bow one more time?" Diamond Tiara pleaded, giving the Princess of Friendship her best huge-eyed cute look, the one that always worked so well on her father. Rising on her rear legs, she raised her forelegs toward the curtain and the audience beyond. "Just listen to them out there, cheering for us."

"Us?" Twilight Sparkle asked, raising one eyebrow at her eager student. "I'm still not sure why you went out on stage with us. You weren't even in the recreation."

Diamond Tiara pulled back in shock. "That hurts, Twilight. Hurts deeply. I'm just as invested in this as you. Haven't I spent hours helping you get ready? Not to mention all the time spent learning your part as your understudy."

"Uh, Moondancer was my—-"

Diamond Tiara sighed and rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. Under-under-study. Self appointed, but you can never be too careful. The point is, we're a team. We belong together like Star Swirl and peanut butter sandwiches." She paused, stretching her neck toward the noise of the crowd. With a hoof, she gestured. "Just listen to them. They love us! They want us, we should go again."

"No," Twilight declared, putting her hoof down. "I've let you drag me out there two more times than I wanted already. I'm tired, and the only thing I want to do now is go home, get out of this dress, read a book for a bit, and get some sleep."

Diamond's face scrunched in disappointment for a second, before her eyes shot wide open. "Of course! Always leave them wanting more. I can't believe I nearly forgot that."

"No, that's not what I—-"

"You know, despite what some ponies say, you really aren't completely naive all of the the time."

Twilight gave a particularly tight area of her dress a quick tug. "Um, thanks?"

Diamond Tiara gave a suspicious look. "Or maybe you just let people think you are but really you aren't? That's it, isn't it? That's so diabolically devious!"

Twilight Sparkle stepped outside and gave her head a slight shake, but her disapproving gesture was offset by her slight smile. "I guess you'll never be sure, huh?" she said, giving her student a slight nudge. "Now, let's get you home, and while we walk, why don't you tell me what you've learned from your lessons today. Let's start with 'The Pony Who Cried Timberwolf'."

"Oh, that one was super obvious. Way too easy," Diamond Tiara uttered as she lifted her head with pride and practically pranced. "Never tell the same lie twice.

"Though, seriously, what were those adults thinking sending a little colt out to watch sheep all by himself. Timberwolves are dangerous! Of course he didn't want to gobbled, so no wonder he took the necessary steps to make sure he had adults nearby. And then they left him all by himself, and wouldn't you know it, he got gobbled right up, just showing how right he was. I hope the Princess threw the entire village into jail for that."

"But that's not the lesson!"

Ignoring Twilight, Diamond Tiara continued on, unimpeded. "And it was all so racist, too. I mean, sheep are... what's that word again? Senpient? Saypent? Anyway, whatever. They can, like, talk and everything, nearly as well as mules, and we let them be full citizens. Did the ponies think the sheep are so stupid that they couldn't watch out for themselves?"

Twilight frowned. "I suppose those are good points, but the lesson is still supposed to be that you shouldn't lie."

Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. "If you say so."

"I do," said Twilight Sparkle, applying all the authority and surety to her voice that she could. "And now let's talk about the second story. What did you think of the story 'The Frog and the Scorpion'?"

Diamond tilted her head, only straightening it once she'd gathered her thoughts. "I didn't like that one, not in the slightest. I mean, seriously, we're expected to believe the scorpion would sting the frog and drown himself?"

"But that's the whole point," Twilight protested.

"There's no way he'd be that stupid. I certainly wouldn't be. No," Diamond Tiara said, waving her hoof through the air as if to push the implausible idea away, "the answer is obvious. The story is wrong. The scorpion could obviously swim. It's the only thing that makes sense. After all, how else could the story even get out? Obviously the same scorpion told it after he swam to shore."

"It's just a fable, Diamond, not a true story," Twilight explained. "You're supposed to learn valuable lessons from them." She paused a second as an idea hit her. "And even if the scorpion could swim, the lesson is still there: don't trust something to act against its nature."

Diamond pursed her lips, before turning her head toward Twilight Sparkle. "Not that you shouldn't be sure you can swim before you sting?"

"No."

"So what you're saying is that we shouldn't trust Princess Luna?"

"What? No. That's completely different. Princess Luna was possessed, and that made her act against her better nature. She's all better now. She's no scorpion."

"Well, what about Discord then?"

"Discord?"

"He's your friend now, no? And he was, like, the worst ever."

"He swore he'd be good."

"Just like the scorpion." Diamond Tiara took a few more steps before stopping to ask a question. "How long before he stings us?"

Twilight stopped as well and pondered the question. No easy answer came to her, and so she shook her head and resumed walking, her young student at her side. It wasn't until they reached the gates of Rich Manor that Twilight spoke again.

"Redemption."

"Redemption?" Diamond Tiara asked.

"If we don't let ponies show they've changed, how can they? Treat somepony like a criminal, and that's what they'll always be. So we have to take a chance, for the good of society. It's an important tenet of our legal system.

"But—-" This time, Diamond Tiara was the one cut off.

"Yes, we shouldn't blindly trust. And to be honest, I don't trust Discord yet. I don't know if I'll ever fully trust him. But I am willing to give him a chance to earn my trust. Who knows, perhaps in time he'll be as welcome a sight in Ponyville as Princess Luna is. Once everypony gave her a chance, anyway.

"And as for the fables, they aren't rules so much as… guidelines. Some of them even contradict each other." Twilight giggled as a memory came to her. "I kept Princess Celestia up one night thanks to that. She'd had me read a book full of them, and as a result, I couldn't sleep until I'd figured out all the contradictions. I tried everything. Graphs, charts, and lists, nothing worked. So eventually I brought my work to the Princess after Spike threatened to burn all my notes if I woke him one more time. The sun rose fifteen minutes late that morning, I'd kept her up that long explaining things to me.

"Come to think of it, that was the last time she ever had me read any fables. Hmm. Why she did that makes much more sense now." Twilight Sparkle laughed, then gave her student a nudge through the gate. "Go on in and get some sleep. Tomorrow is another day of lessons. Since more fables are out, I'm thinking Powdered Wig's 'On Law and Justice' would be an excellent choice."

Diamond Tiara groaned. "That sounds... booooring. Can't you teach me how to use that Canterlot voice thing Luna does instead? That seems like it'd be way more useful."

An image of Diamond Tiara using the voice in Cheerilee's class popped into Twilight's mind, and she burst out laughing. Using her magic, she lifted Diamond's headpiece off, allowing her hoof to gently muss Diamond's mane. Settling the tiara back in its place, she said, "See you tomorrow, my student," turned, and headed toward her library home, wondering just what the filly would make of Powdered Wig's work.

Comments

[Mudpony]

It has been a bit since I've published anything, or written much for that matter. So I figured the best way to get something written was just to start writing, and for that, I decided another chapter of this story would do the trick. Was planning to have Twi tell a story about the Solar Sister's rise to power in Equestria, but didn't have enough time for that thanks to the 24-hour limit I've imposed on myself for each chapter. So instead, you get ponies talking about stories. Despite this new chapter, the story will still be hiatus, as I'm not sure when I'll write more for it. Couple of other things I want to work on first.

So anyway, new chapter. Enjoy.

[FinalFan]

"See tomorrow, my student,"

See you tomorrow?

[Mudpony]

6869700 Thanks. Fixed.

[saroeweft laevv]

More plz