Diamond Tiara and the Hand of Phoe

by Mudpony

A Giant Pony

Diamond Tiara walked down the street, admiring the architecture. It had changed so much over the years. Gone were cute little wooden houses, replaced by modern buildings of book and mortar. Some of them stood as high as five stories, and it was in one of those she could see a little filly rush eagerly to the window, a plastic tiara on her head, gazing in awe at the majesty of the princess. Had it only been that few years ago that she had been that small?

She gave the filly a wave and a smile, before turning her attention to the town square ahead of her. The statue of her was almost complete. All that remained was to coat its grey stone with alchemical compounds to give it its proper color and to place the diamonds within the tiara. The diamonds in question were the largest ones in the known world and had cost a small fortune. She had told her subjects that it really was not necessary that they be real, but they had insisted. Through bake sales, cart washes, and other activities, they had raised the bits necessary.

Already, there was talk of the statue being a marvel of the modern world, rivaling Princess Celestia's palace in Canterlot. And that was in its current unfinished state. Once complete, all were sure it would surpass anything Canterlot had to offer. Two new hotels were being built around the square, and a third was planned, all to take advantage of their view of the five-story tall, life-size statue of the princess.

She craned her neck from side to side, taking in the town. Dazzleopolis certainly had grown considerably from when it was the town of Ponyville. Maybe she should consider declaring that the town square was now the city square, or maybe she should name it after herself. Her subjects would like that. Though, come to think of it, Diamond Square didn't quite have the perfect ring to it. Maybe she should find some other worthy pony to name it after. It wouldn't be becoming to have everything named after herself, after all. She looked down at her entourage. Spotting the scribe, she motioned for him to take a note.

"Let it be known that henceforth the town square shall be known as… Cheerilee, no wait, as Twilight Court." That would be perfect, naming the court after her former mentor. Sure, it had only been for a short while and now Princess Twilight often came to her for advice, but she had learned things from the purple alicorn before outgrowing her tutelage. That fancy word being one of them, she recalled, her laughter ringing out, causing all the ponies with hearing distance to turn her way and smile.

Life was good, and she closed her eyes, content, taking a moment to savor the clean air and the sounds of her happy subjects.

She crashed hard into a building, sending books flying in every direction. She heard a scream and instinctively caught the falling object within her hooves. She peeked inside, seeing the filly who had waved at her earlier. Carefully, she placed the little one on the ground. Narrowing her eyes, she swore that whatever had put the filly's life at risk would pay.

She got to her feet and pawed the ground, snorting fiercely. Through the dust and paper, she could make out the blurry form of her attacker. She waited for the air to clear enough to make out who it was.

Would it be that green and purple dragon, once again escaped from the zoo, determined to possess everything? Were the griffons looking for another lesson in why ponies were superior? Or was it Apple Bloom, leader of the Terror Trio, reviled throughout the country, nay, the world? Whichever of them it was, she was looking forward to pummeling them. For the good of her ponies, of course.

The attacker's head came into view and Diamond Tiara gasped. Five stories tall, a mass of living grey stone, her statue took a step forward. Upon its head, the tiara seemed to melt, running down the statue's neck and face, forming rough shapes.

"Is it really you?" she asked, backing deeper into the building, sending more books tumbling to the ground. The statue took another step forward, its necklace and glasses becoming more defined with every passing second.

Diamond Tiara jumped into the air, her forelegs now wings, beating furiously to lift her into the air. The statue lunged forward, and Diamond screamed as she felt its teeth clamp down on one of her wings. She screamed again as she felt herself hurled through the air.

She collided with the ground, bounced back into the air, collided and bounced again, before rolling to a stop. She lifted her chest off the ground, her sore body complaining about every movement. Ahead of her, a building exploded as the statue strode through it. No longer did it bear her manestyle. Instead, a single braid dangled down one side.

Diamond got her rear legs underneath her and ran as best she could down to the road to her left. It wasn't familiar, a strange street that seemed to be one long block, but that didn't matter. She had to get away. In the distance, a single cross street beckoned. She lowered her head and prepared to run faster, only to skid to a halt. Impossibly, the statue stepped out into the street and turned her way.

Her hooves slipped on the pavement as she reversed direction, ducking into a side street that had not existed a moment before. The buildings on either side towered over her, seeming to lean in. Behind her, she could hear the thundering hoofbeats of the giant pony, getting closer with every thump. She skidded around a corner and through an open door. Quickly, she slammed the door shut and piled every bit of furniture within easy reach in front of it.

Satisfied with the size of her barricade, she looked around. "The old library?" she asked. "How'd I end up here?"

She ceased her wondering though, as the library shuddered, sending dust drifting down from the rafters. For a brief moment, the library was still, but then it shook again, worse than before, its sides warping, the wood creaking and snapping, before the ceiling gave way, peeled open like a giant can. The giant pony glared down at Diamond Tiara.

"Did you, like, really think you could lose me?" Silver Spoon asked, tossing the top of the library to the side. She licked her lips as she positioned her right foreleg.

Diamond Tiara screamed and flung herself to the side as a giant hoof slammed into where she had just been standing. Her friend wasted no time, positioning the limb of impending doom for another strike. Diamond Tiara looked around the room, her eyes settling on a possibility.

"This is so going to hurt," she managed to say before the hoof came hurtling down again and she flung herself down the stairwell. At the bottom, she staggered to her feet. "Sometimes, I hate being right all the time."

Her entire body felt sore, about as sore as if she'd just helped to reshelve a library twice in one day. Still, she was alive, and sore and alive definitely beat the alternative. The ceiling cracked under a hammering blow, reminding her that she was still quick likely to experience that alternative. She took stock of her environment. No exits other than the one she had come in by. Some tables, gadgets, potions, and book shelves.

Making herself as small as she could, she raced toward a bookshelf, as timber rained down around her and the statue's head looked into the room, instantly locking its gaze on her. She backed up into the corner, trying to become one with the wood to no avail. Silver Spoon smiled maliciously, shoving aside more of the ceiling as she reached a hoof slowly toward the nearest book, which now towered over the tiny Diamond.

Diamond Tiara looked up into the eyes of her friend. "Why?" she asked, her voice barely audible.

"We were totally supposed to be princesses together," the statue replied.

"I'm... I'm sorry?"

"Sorry doesn't cut it." Silver Spoon gave the top of the book a tap.

Diamond Tiara screamed.

---

The morning sun shone into a bedroom, revealing a small filly curled into a tight ball on a big bed. Her blankets lay on the ground at the foot of the bed, and her sheets were soaked with sweat. Throughout the night, dream after dream. Some had been nice, even one in which her subjects worshipped the very ground she walked in, but the majority… She shuddered. Executed, exiled, imprisoned, forgotten, and lost within a Nightmare Tiara, she had experienced it all. She'd tried to wake up, pleaded to do so even, but it had continued, unstopping, with only the rare good dreams offering solace, until at last the dawn had come,

She hugged her forelegs around herself more tightly, then lifted her head, softly asking a single question. "Was… was that necessary?"

< Yes. >

"Really?"

< Maybe. >

Diamond Tiara frowned, unsure if the voice was serious or not. One thing was sure though. She definitely needed to make things right with Silver Spoon. Whatever else might come, she was sure she could face it, as long as she had her BFF at her side.

Comments

[Mudpony]

Prompt: Draw a tiny pony/Draw a giant pony!

Gee, size change. So that means the likes of a magic effect, a dream sequence, or else taking it metaphorically. The latter I ruled out first, as I didn't really want DT making somepony, probably one or more of the CMC, feel tiny. To fit the prompt, it'd have to be more than she usually does, and she's a bit too busy to be bored enough to invest the time in that. Magic effect was a possibility. Was thinking maybe something with a magic potion DT finds and quaffs. But with her just messing up the library, well, didn't want to go the "Twi has her clean the basement route." So dream sequence it was. Not really what I'd have wanted at this point, but the Hand of Phoe weaves as it will.

Overall, would have preferred more cuteness, more funny, but instead get something a bit more action orientated. Good practice, I guess, and definitely shows I need more practice at that sort of writing. Useful to know, since I've got plans for an adventure story in the future.

On the bright side, I did manage to work in two giant ponies and one tiny one, so pretty good use of the prompt.