A surprised shout from behind let Diamond know she caught him off guard. He tried to grab her, but she evaded his hoof and dove into the circle of ponies who had aggregated around them as this scene unfolded. The ponies there tried to stop her, to block off her escape, and she—she may have bitten, just a little bit. She emerged from between two candy colored rumps, and now the crowd was the obstacle to the guard, not her.
Diamond ran for her life. Why was it so crowded here? Ponies everywhere! They just clustered around when she started yelling at—about Daddy. Guard looking at her. Ponies to dodge. It was a beautiful, sunny day, not too hot and not to cold, and all Diamond wanted to do now was crawl under a rock and hide and never ever come out again, because guard! And they were going to catch her!
“Surewing! I need backup!” his shout rang out, making the fur on Diamond’s back stand on end. That was a pegasus name, if she ever heard one. She didn’t need to look up to know that a beautifully groomed white pegasus guard was swooping into the air, to pick her off as easily as a hawk takes out a field mouse. So Diamond did what any field mouse would do, and dove for cover.
“Get outta there!” an irate store pony shouted at Diamond, not sure of whether to look down at her or the approaching guards, as Diamond slid her whole body underneath the mare’s mobile shop stall, which was selling... the most delicious zucchini Diamond had ever smelled. But she couldn’t think about that now. She saw her next opportunity, and squirmed out before the two guards could surround the shop stall, dashing across the street to enter a furniture store.
It was soon total chaos in there, as Diamond leapt from a couch to a bed, and the guards came charging in shouting, “Stop that filly!” then tore up the place trying to reach her. But Diamond was already leaving, running into the back room, where there were stacked upholstery all over the place, and a loading bay for delivering them to the store. They had to get that stuff in here somehow, and that was gonna be Diamond’s escape. Diamond ran out from there, and made a beeline for an alleyway between a cake shop and a residential building.
They could see her run down that alley, but it got her out of sight long enough to jump through some hapless pony’s clothesline, getting all tangled in a plain tan dress and a big purple hat, that Diamond took with her, running out of the mouth of the alley, then screeching to a halt to stand nonchalantly by a grilled carrot stand. She turned her hat down so they couldn’t see her face, as the guards thundered out of there and right past her, the pegasus taking to the ground for now, as both he and the earth pony looked around suspiciously trying to find the little pink filly.
As soon as they charged out, looking around intently, Diamond slipped in the one way they weren’t looking: the alley they just came out of. Ditching her dress and breaking out into a gallop, Diamond found herself smirking at how confused the guards would be when she just disappeared on them. How could she feel like that??? No time to think, have to try another alley, and then hide behind a barrel, then climb up a pipe to leap over a wall into someone’s backyard. Hurt hoof, but keep moving. Backyard was empty, thankfully, but a bad place to get caught in, so Diamond climbed a tree in it, swung down another clothesline to the porch, and went gallopping through the late afternoon crowd. She kept going, and going, and going in any direction she could, until she thought that she had lost the guards.
Couldn’t hurt to be too careful though, so she slyly concealed herself in some bushes, when nopony was looking. Diamond Tiara peered out from the foliage looking around, and after some time, no guards could be seen looking for her. She saw one he—just walked on by. She wanted to kill them. She wanted to hate them and never have to be hiding or hungry because of them whoever they were. Did Daddy really... he didn’t mean it, did he? What did she do to upset him?! Diamond wanted to scream. She couldn’t scream, she had to hide. She just wanted to scream at all the horrible things that kept happening to her but no, she had to hide here and be quiet because the guards and daddy nuns Canterlot pregnant Pierce.
Diamond’s hoof was hurting...
She looked at her hoof, her pretty pink foreleg that was sore and reddened. It was such a shame she had to ruin her hooves, by hurting them, and walking on them all over Equestria. It was such a terrible loss. Her hoof was hurt, and she didn’t know what to do. Her pretty little hoof. It didn’t deserve this... nopony deserved this. Diamond couldn’t care less about herself or anypony or anything anymore, but that little hoof... it was just such a shame, that she couldn’t bear it.
She didn’t even know why she was crying anymore. Diamond Tiara didn’t know why she was hiding in the bushes and crying, because she was just blanking on everything, because she didn’t want to think about it. So she just buried her muzzle under her hooves to try to muffle the sobs, those horrible sounds that she couldn’t stop making, and she didn’t know why. It hurt her hoof to do that, which just made her even more miserable.
At least it didn’t seem to matter. Any pony who heard Diamond in the bushes clearly knew her voice, and kept themselves far away from interfering. Diamond was well known in this town, and ponies knew that she was not to be trifled with. Diamond had worked very hard, to make sure they knew to stay well away from her. So she was lucky to be left totally alone.
Nopony cared about her, and that was just fine, because she could hide in the bushes all by herself, just like a mysterious deer. Diamond wished she could be a deer, because then she wouldn’t have to feel so bad about being alone like this. This was good. This was... giving her a chance to regain steam. It was just the stupid pony in her, that ached to be hugged, and daddy had shown Diamond that as long as she kept that part down, and didn’t listen to it, she’d never steer herself wrong. So she was happy that—
“Excuse me, filly?” a mare’s voice spoke, right behind Diamond. It made her jump startle in surprise. Of course the bushes had another side to them. This was just some stupid ornamental hedge, situated in-between walkways. Diamond hadn’t even noticed anypony walking up on the other side!
“Is that really you, Diamond Tiara?” the mare continued, in a rather befuddled tone.
Diamond turned and crouched, and stared up at the mare—Diamond didn’t know her. It was some pearly white mare, with a strikingly elegant mane in long curls of some sort of purplish blue. Diamond had seen the mare before... somewhere, but she couldn’t think where.
“None of your business!” Diamond shouted at the mare. “Like, leave me alone!”
“Well it’s just—” the mare seemed nonplussed, but unfazed by Diamond’s weak defense. “I don’t recall I’ve ever seen you crying before.”
“Why d’you think I’m hiding in the bushes?” Diamond griped. “I don’t like, owe you anything, so just stop bothering me.”
“What happened to you?” the mare asked completely disrespectfully, totally ignoring Diamond’s wishes. “You’ve been gone so long. Your father had given up sending out search parties!”
“He sent out search parties?” Diamond exclaimed in shock. “I never even saw them once! Why didn’t he check at the—the place for all the pregnant fillies!”
“Oh no dear, don’t tell me you’re pregnant?” the mare exclaimed in utter horror. “Is that why you ran away? Don’t you know the consequences of—”
“I didn’t run away!” Diamond screamed at her in pure, unfiltered rage. It rose in her so suddenly she just exploded. “Why is everypony saying I ran away?” she snapped, “I got foalnapped!! And daddy did too! They put me in a sack, and left me out in the middle of nowhere! And then I got like, foalnapped again, by royal guards who were like, not nice royal guards, and they sent me to a convent!! There were freaking nuns there! Run away?! I didn’t—”
“I didn’t—like—” Diamond said, finding it hard to breathe she was so angry. And then she just... completely lost her lunch. Next thing you know, she was just puking up the grass she ate this morning, all over the ground. Again. She tried not to cry in shame and humiliation, but she was just a complete wreck. “Just leave me alone,” she whinnied in desperate sobs.
“Diamond Tiara, I cannot simply just let you alone,” the mare told the filly hiding in the bushes. “Other ponies might think you’re a horrid little filly, but you need help! You are not well! Why don’t we just... take a moment to get you out of those bushes and cleaned up a bit.”
“Why?” Diamond uttered in fear and confusion.
“Why what?” the mare asked, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Why was this mare trying to take advantage of Diamond, now?
“What do you want?” Diamond accused her, “I don’t have anything! I can’t give you anything, so you can’t help me. That’s how it works. You can’t just like, help me for no reason!”
“What on earth are you talking about?” the mare shot back, “I don’t need a reason to help somepony!”
“Well, then... you’re pretty stupid,” Diamond told her frankly. She wasn’t supposed to tell other ponies the secret, but she didn’t care at this point. Anything to get this mare to leave her alone. “And you have a stupid hairstyle,” she lied, for good measure. That should do it.
“Oh!” the mare exclaimed offended, backing up, “Oh I—? I have a stupid hairstyle? So says the filly with that absolute disaster of a mane?”
“Sorry if I can’t keep it brushed when I’m hiding in bushes!” Diamond shouted back out, glaring at her defiantly. The mare stared back at her with fire in her eyes of deepest blue. Why wasn’t she leaving?
“That’s it,” the mare said flatly, turning on her hooves and trotting away. Thank goodness. It finally work—Diamond found herself hoisted up right out of those bushes by a mysterious force. She hung there in mid air, being pulled along behind the mare like a tether. Diamond looked at her rump, oh of course this mare had to be a unicorn. A powerful one too, judging by the ease that she just toted Diamond along in the air behind her.
“You’re coming with me,” the mare said in lightly, “We’re going to get you all cleaned up, and you can tell us all about what happened to make you disappear so suddenly.”
“Don’t I get a choice about this?!” Diamond declared, swinging uselessly, unable to break free of the sparkling blue magic enwreathing her hind legs.
“You can choose to walk beside me,” the mare said in a smugly carefree tone, “But one way or another, you’re coming with me.”
“And what if I just run away!” Diamond protested.
The mare stopped trotting then, and hovered Diamond around to look her upside down in the face.
“My dear little pony, I found you crying in the bushes,” the mare told her frankly, “After you had vanished for months, during this year’s particularly ill timed estrus. I would say you’ve become skinny as a twig, but I’m afraid it only accentuates that bulge in your abdomen. I don’t know why, or how you returned to Ponyville, after so long an absence, but...”
She got really close to Diamond’s nose then, and said quietly, as if she only had words for her, “I don’t think you have anywhere left to run.”
Setting the boggled Diamond gently to the ground, the mare turned away, hesitating before walking off, saying, “Now come along, and let’s get you all cleaned up, and see about getting you some food, hmm?”
Any protest Diamond had immediately died at that. She hadn’t had real food in days! And then it was just a hayburger! She followed along and—glanced over her shoulder to make sure that guard didn’t—couldn’t see her, and she wouldn’t get... could guards take her away from this mare? Who was she, anyway?
Diamond found herself shivering, and wanting to sidle up close to the mare, but that wasn’t what she was supposed to do to other ponies, so she stayed away. She was having trouble—her foot was really hurting now, and she was kind of unsteady. Everything below her withers hurt to walk on, and she wished that the mare would pick her up in that magic and carry her. But she didn’t, and Diamond pressed on. They went to the tent district, with all those peculiar shops and peculiar ponies managing them. Diamond was sure this was some artist or a gypsy pony she was following, who didn’t even have a house, because that meant she could scam ponies, then pack up and skip town. That’s the sort of ponies Diamond was informed who lived around here.
But no, this pony didn’t lead her to a tent. This mare led her to a... building of sorts. It was custom made, not a cottage to say the least, and quite beautiful for its eccentric appearance. Diamond wondered if this pony built it herself, or commissioned it or something. Did Diamond get lucky enough to just stumble upon a pony who was rich like her? Why hadn’t Diamond heard of her then?
The mare led her into the round building and Diamond stopped short when she realized. “Oh, this is a boutique!” she exclaimed in surprise. “I was here once, I think?”
“It’s been a while since your cuteciñera,” the mare told her, “And we were only casually acquainted for you to be sized. I’m not surprised you don’t remember me. For the most part, I know of you through the stories relayed to me by my sister, Sweetie Belle.”
With swiftly shrinking pupils, Diamond snapped her head around to stare at the mare, who had gently but firmly closed the front door of her boutique upon uttering those words. No, not... Sweetie Belle! “She is just lying to try to be mean to me,” Diamond said desperately. “I swear I didn’t do anything to her that she told you about.”
“Well, since you brought it up,” the mare said offhoovedly, “Sweetie Belle once told me you once convinced her that asparagus was poisonous, so that she would go without lunch for three weeks in order to give it to you to take care of.”
Tossing her mane and strutting towards the other room, the mare added, “And if I recall, there was this other wild tale about how somepony stuck a mouthful of gum in Sweetie Belle’s hair during her nap time, which she told me you were very proud to claim as your own accomplishment. Something you now deny. For a lie, it was an awfully sticky and difficult lie to clean out of her hair.”
“W-well you can’t do anything to me, because my daddy will—” Diamond couldn’t say it. She was backed up against the stubbornly closed door, eyes darting around trying to find a way out. She had to run—she had nowhere to run. Daddy didn’t want her back!!
Daddy had to want her back. Diamond just wasn’t seeing... something about this whole picture.
“Yes, your father will be hearing of this,” the mare told her disapprovingly, “You don’t think he wants to know that his treasured and wayward daughter has returned?”
“Uh... I guess?” Diamond said confusedly. “You weren’t there were you? Come on, you said you had like... like food or something.”
“I have to say you’re not nearly as picky as I imagined,” the mare said over her shoulder as she headed into—yes, a kitchen! She was going to a kitchen! “Isn’t there some special way you like to have everything prepared?” she asked wryly, levitating a knife in order to chop some vegetables up on the counter. And oh right, Diamond had forgotten about that! She wasn’t some poor nobody anymore. She was supposed to know all sorts of fancy things to eat.
“I would like you to prepare me e-eggs benedict and truffles with hollandaise sauce held to the side,” Diamond recited thoughtfully, “And a bowl of broccoli and apple salad, only the florets, and you need to separate the peels, and... and walnuts.”
“And if I don’t?” asked the mare, stopping in her tracks and looking back at Diamond uncomfortably. Diamond should have—she was supposed to yell at her, and say that her food wasn’t worth stepping on, but she just couldn’t. She was just too hungry!
“Then I would... still eat it,” Diamond admitted miserably. The mare looked at her silently, no doubt thinking what a loser she was, but thankfully went back to vegetable chopping instead of making Diamond feel worse by insulting her. Diamond was surprised even, when her bowl of chopped carrots had walnuts scattered on top of it.
She was so freaking glad to eat. Diamond didn’t leave even a little bit left over, even licking the carrot juice off the bottom like she wasn’t supposed to. She didn’t care she was soooo hungry. “Not so fast, Diamond!” the mare, whose name was Rarity apparantly, cautioned her. Diamond should have listened, and she paid for it dearly. It wasn’t 5 minutes before she went from feeling satisfied to feeling horrible.
“I need to like—” she gasped trying to swallow the rising bile in her throat, “Bathroom. Where’s your bathroom?!”
“It’s up the stairs, dear, are you—” was as much as Rarity managed to say before Diamond lost it. Just right there on the display floor. She hated throwing up. The way it smelled, the way she sounded, the way she couldn’t stop doing it for some reason! What in Equestria’s name was wrong with her?!
“Why can’t I eat?” she sobbed.
“Oh dear...” the mare said behind her, judging her. “Perhaps you should stick to smaller portions for now.”
“Perhaps,” Diamond shot back caustically, “You’re just too poor to have good food. You didn’t even peel the carrots! I bet that’s what made me sick, just like all that stupid grass!” She glared up at the mare, who looked more horrified than insulted. Diamond was thrown by that, but managed to break eye contact, grumbling, “Where’s your water? I need a glass of water to clean out my mouth.” As she turned around to look for the kitchen sink, she stepped in—augh! Attempting to escape from where her good hoof landed in the messy pile of vomit made Diamond put weight on her bad hoof. She was... she was crying again.
The white mare named Rarity levitated Diamond into the air again, saying, “You poor dear. Let’s get you cleaned off, and then maybe we can... have a look at that hoof.”
Diamond was so mad at her for being so nice, and making Diamond look like a horrible little filly in comparison, but she couldn’t even get words to come out at this point, her throat so constricted from the sheer frustrated upset in her. She gave up once Rarity had her at the sink, rinsing out her mouth, and then carried her into the tub. Rarity rubbed her own forehead wincing after that. Good, at least that mare had some limits! Diamond just sat there in Rarity’s bathtub, not sure whether to be humiliated or glad as the warm water filled up around her.
Rarity bathed Diamond, and got her to drink some ginger tea, which at least made her stomach start feeling less troubled, if not less empty. And she even called the doctor to come over and look at Diamond’s hoof. It wasn’t Diamond’s private physician, just the town doctor, but he seemed confident that it was just a sprain, and Diamond did have to admit that after the splint was painfully applied, her hoof did feel better now that she wasn’t at risk of putting weight on it in bad ways. Diamond couldn’t walk much though, only hobble about, so she was mostly confined to Rarity’s boutique most of the day.
But for the first time in a week, Diamond Tiara had a nice, soft bed to sleep in. And Rarity’s guest bed was way better than the crummy little cot they provided Diamond with back at the orphanage. Diamond sighed not quite with contentment as she let herself slip away to a troubled slumber. She awoke, and stared dully forward at the purple swirly wallpaper that adorned this mare’s walls. Diamond wished she could wake up a second time, to wake up from this nightmare she found herself stuck in. But no deal.
At least she managed to hold down some plain oatmeal. It tasted awful, but Rarity said it was her best chance at this point. Rarity actually told Diamond... a lot of things at that breakfast meal.
“I understand you have a foal on the way,” Rarity told Diamond seriously, as Diamond tried not to attack Rarity like a rampaging wolf and devour the oatmeal she was preparing, pot and all.
Diamond didn’t even blink at that, glaring over at the white mare and saying, “Yeah, so what? It’s no big secret anymore. Anypony can see, now that I’m showing.”
“You really shouldn’t have become pregnant at such an early age,” Rarity said unapprovingly. “It’s not... erm... you haven’t been educated in even the simplest of things.”
“It’s not like I can help if school’s so boring.”
“No, I mean regarding your pregnancy.”
“What about it?”
“You’ve never even heard of morning sickness, dear?”
“Wait, so all this time I’ve been getting sick, it’s because of the foal?”
The mare nodded, sipping at her tea. “It’s something many mares must face,” she said, “Your body is changing every day, becoming less of a mare and more of a mother. The changes are not going to be easy on you, and they are well known to cause nausea.”
“All I want is to not be sick,” Diamond groaned, trying not to imagine her body changing, even now. “Why wouldn’t it change me to eat more? I need to eat twice as much, since I’ve got a—um—foal... in there.”
“It does, dear, but the first few months can be troublesome,” Rarity explained. “You have quite a ways to go in your pregnancy, you realize.”
“It’s been five! When does it stop?” Diamond begged. “I’m so hungry I want to eat now and make this foal all big and—s-strong.”
Shaking her head, the older mare stated, “I dare say you’re simply just hungry, Diamond. You need food too, not just for your foal. Not everything will have to revolve around your foal, you know. Just... most things.”
Rarity was right. Of course she was right. She was always right, no matter how much Diamond tried to make her wrong. When she came back to her boutique with a bag full of spinach and a book on how to eat for your foal, Diamond felt like she was talking to some kind of pony saint, and Diamond hated it. Why was she always the bad one, and Rarity was so pristine and untouchable. What was her secret? Anything Diamond tried just failed, and she hated all the little nice things this strange mare was doing for her, whose pleasant smile never reached her eyes when looking at Diamond, all the little nice things done to remind Diamond Tiara that she was inferior.
At least it gave her time to rest and recuperate, and think. Diamond was pretty sure she had it all worked out. Daddy clearly hated her, without any provocation on her part, and as much as she didn’t want to, Diamond remembered way back when he just stood there letting her foalnappers knock her out and stuff her in the bag. There was only one possible explanation for all of this. and Diamond Tiara was determined to get to the bottom of it, splinted leg or not.
The trouble is... Rarity didn’t want her to. Rarity told Diamond, “I’m afraid the matter is... complicated. Your father does not wish to speak with you, and I’m afraid he’s well within his rights to do so.”
“What?” Diamond protested. “Why? He’s my daddy! He has to take care of me!”
Rarity sighed, saying, “Diamond, when you ran away—”
“I didn’t run away,” Diamond cut in.
“When you ran away,” Rarity said insistently, “You became an Estrosian Wanderer. Do you know what it means, when a filly becomes pregnant?”
“All I know is the ponies at the convent never wanted to talk about it,” Diamond said irritably. “They just said we will see as they come, whatever that means.”
“It’s... how are you feeling, Diamond?” Rarity said with an edge to her voice that Diamond didn’t like one bit.
“Fine?” Diamond said uncertainly. “I keep getting nauseous, but you said that’s normal.”
Rarity seemed conflicted, but managed in the end to say, “It’s... probably fine, then? I haven’t—I mean, there haven’t been in quite a time it’s just... I’m sure it’s only an exaggeration... but the law is clear.”
“Well, it’s a stupid law!” Diamond said in protest. “I’m just a filly. He’s supposed to take care of me! So I have a foal in my belly, so what? Why is being my daddy so much to ask of him? There’s no reason—”
“There is a reason it is too much to ask of him!”
“Well, what is it, then?”
“It... it’s...” Rarity looked at Diamond with a trembling lip, saying in a terribly tormented tone, “It’s complicated.”
Diamond would have needled her for more information, but at that moment Sweetie Belle walked into the boutique. Rarity and Diamond had been arguing over by the dress forms, where Rarity had formerly been working before being sidetracked by Diamond’s demands.
“Rarity! Cheery says,” Sweetie stated, and then shrieked the moment she set eyes on Diamond, scrambling back on her hooves. “Why is she here?!” Sweetie protested stridently.
Diamond sneered, saying acidly, “Oh, nice to see you too, crackh—” she glanced at Rarity.
“It’s a public store,” Diamond recovered smoothly, turning her nose up at the shocked filly, “Why shouldn’t I be in it?”
“You’re supposed to be gone!” Sweetie practically wailed at Diamond. “You were supposed to be gone forever! Why are you here?!”
“Sweetie, Diamond Tiara is...” Rarity said with an appeasing smile at Sweetie Belle, “...staying here for a while, until she has worked things out at home.”
“Okay,” Sweetie said, sitting back on her haunches and scrunching her hooves into the bountiful curls adorning her head, staring fixedly between the other two ponies saying, “Okay, this is just a dream. This isn’t real. You’re still safe, Sweetie Belle. You just have to wake up, and everything will be okay again.”
Rarity looked as flabbergasted about this as Diamond was, so Diamond took the initiative, knocking on the filly’s cranium with a hoof, saying, “Hello? What are you even talking about?”
“She’s a bully!” Sweetie Belle suddenly shouted accusingly, zipping over to her tall, whiter sister. “She never ever ever said anything good to anypony! She hurts ponies! She hurt me, you know that! Why are you helping her?”
“Well maybe I would, if—” Diamond uttered sarcastically at Sweetie Belle only to be interrupted by Rarity’s,
“Not now, Diamond. Let me speak.”
Diamond tried to protest but Rarity just hissed, “Zip it!” and Diamond Tiara didn’t want to talk anyway, so she wasn’t intimidated, because she never intended to talk. So there.
Instead, Rarity knelt down to the level of the filly with the soft pink and purple curls that begged to be associated with chewing gum, and said, “Sweetie Belle, Diamond Tiara has been having some troubles lately, and she needs help. Surely you didn’t think she disappeared for no reason! She needs help, and I’m helping her, and that’s that.”
“Well—maybe she should have stayed disappeared,” Sweetie Belle replied with a furious scrunch. She balked then, like you’re not supposed to do, and looked away from Rarity, so of course Rarity took advantage of her.
“Sweetie Belle...” Rarity said in such a sad voice, it was almost convincing. “Sometimes ponies are going to go away. Sometimes regretful things will happen to them, and we have to accept that, and move on. But are you really the kind of pony who would wish harm on another?”
Sweetie was blushing now, but instead of saying sorry, or begging forgiveness, she said, “I just don’t want her to hurt you.”
“Sweetie Belle, we’re talking about a filly, not a monster,” Rarity said with a little chuckle, “I can take care of myself. Diamond Tiara needs somepony to help her in this time. Even if she is a schoolyard... bully, maybe, she is still a filly, just like you. How much harm could one filly possibly do?”
Sweetie looked away and didn’t answer, and Rarity persisted, asking, “Am I right, Sweetie?”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Sweetie said reluctantly, looking at Rarity again. “If she really really needs help then it’ll... it’ll be okay.”
“I can’t promise it’ll be okay,” Rarity said nervously, “But I am absolutely certain she needs help.”
“Okay,” Sweetie said uncertainly, then glared at Diamond and said, “But I’m watching you! If you ever hurt my sister, then you’re going to have to answer to me!”
Diamond Tiara fought herself not to make a snappy reply to the furiously puffy cheeked unicorn, right here in front of her older sister.
“And I’m gonna tell the whole school that you came, so you won’t surprise anypony from behind,” Sweetie continued vehemently. “Things are a lot different since you went away. We all did estrus now, so you can’t fool me anymore about that, because I know a lot more about myself!”
Diamond tried not to break into a grin at the unicorn jabbing a hoof against her chest, but how do you resist an opportunity like that? The words just sort of slipped out as she said, “Yeah, I bet you know yourself inside and—”
“That being said,” Rarity said quickly, “I really need to finish the hems on my latest order of dresses, so you’ll have to do your catching up at a later time. If you’ll excuse me Sweetie Belle, I need some time to speak with Diamond Tiara. Alone.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing, Rarity,” Sweetie said with some concern. She left as easily as she came though, turning briefly in her steady trot out the door to face Diamond. Sweetie pointed a hoof at her eye, and then pointed it at Diamond Tiara. Then Sweetie Belle trotted off, leaving Diamond alone with a sort of furious Rarity.
“Inside and out? Really?” Rarity said, snapping Diamond’s attention to the older mare. “Do you even have any idea what Sweetie Belle has been through this season?”
Was Rarity stupid or something? Diamond gave a few dumbfounded blinks, before telling Rarity frankly, “...I’m pregnant.”
“T-that being said, it was still a very rude thing to say,” Rarity said, flustered and caught off guard. “Sweetie Belle is very sensitive about what she’s been through, and she doesn’t need anypony bullying her about it.”
“I’m not a bully,” Diamond said irritably. “It was just a joke! I don’t care if Sweetie Belle got fu—”
“She had an unfortunate incident with a friend of hers,” Rarity cut off, “And they’ve since made amends, and would rather not be reminded of it.”
Diamond stared at her in disbelief. “Really?” she said.
“Yes, really,” Rarity said in a haughty righteousness.
“Why wouldn’t she want to be reminded of it?” Diamond asked, in honest confusion.
Rarity just looked back silently, then said, “I need to get on with my work.” She totally didn’t and was just trying to weasel out of an answer, but Diamond didn’t know her very well at this point, so she figured it was true.
Diamond didn’t want to do it. It was far too early to use up the trust of this Rarity mare. Diamond had barely met her, and she was already sneaking out from under her nose. It had to be done though. What was Diamond even going to use Rarity’s trust for, if she couldn’t have her daddy? He had to take her back. She was his most valuable asset. He said so himself! He wouldn’t—he wouldn’t lie to her. That would mean something so horrid that Diamond didn’t even want to think about it. It didn’t make sense. Daddy had invested so much in her already, that it would be foolish for him not to take her back, and Diamond knew her daddy was no fool.
So she had to give up her warm guest bed, and her promise of food, and her shelter from the cold, to sneak out under cover of night. It wasn’t anything Diamond wasn’t already well practiced at. She’d been getting rusty from her time at the convent, but it was kind of like riding a bicycle. Not that Diamond could figure out why a pony would ever ride a bicycle. She escaped out a window so as not to ring the door bell, and crept away from the boutique, like an apple thief in the night.
These past few days had been... less than relaxing, unfortunately, with how she had to fight to get Rarity to realize that Diamond was always right. But she’d gotten enough sleep, and plenty of food to eat. She felt... well, she felt achy and nauseous, but that was par for the course these days, and beyond that she felt pretty good. The brace on her hoof was working well, as long as she didn’t run on it. Diamond was sure she could get something... fancier once she was in her daddy’s good graces again.
She never thought she’d be sneaking up to her own house. Diamond just didn’t want anypony to see this new low she was sinking to. Crawling back to daddy with her tail between her legs, not knowing what to say to him, but not knowing what else to do. She wasn’t sneak sneaking. She was just staying in the shadows, so that she could resolve this conflict with as little humiliation as possible. This was just between her and daddy. And the servants, of course.
Diamond pulled the servant call, waiting at the gate into her property. It was always locked, but she usually had a pony accompanying her who had the key. Now she was alone though, so she just had to call and wait.
It wasn’t long before a lantern emerged from the mansion, and the elderly pony carrying it in his mouth Diamond recognized as their old butler, Randolph. She whispered at him through the sadly narrow bars of the gate saying,
“Hey, it’s me! Diamond Tiara! Open up, I need to talk with daddy.”
He placed down the lantern and said, “Oh that’s right, here you come crawling around again,” in a tone of voice that suggested he didn’t appreciate what she was doing. “The master will not see you,” he said, “And you had best make yourself scarce. There is nothing any of us can do for you anymore. You dug your own hole, and now you can sit in it.”
“I have something very important to tell him!” Diamond protested. “He doesn’t really hate me. It’s very important!”
“Diamond, I’m sorry, but...” Randolph’s cold expression grew slightly sympathetic as he said, “You really do not want the master to see you. It’s best if you just leave him well enough alone.”
Diamond protested, “But... but I know he’s mad, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t—I can still do everything I used to do, even if I am pregnant!”
“He’s not mad with you. He’s done with you!”
At his sudden, angry outburst, the butler looked nervously behind him, as if he might have attracted unwanted attention, but nopony was there. “Have a good evening, miss,” he stated neutrally, then backed away from the gate, and waddled his way off to the big house. Diamond found herself left standing there alone in the dark.
She thought about sneaking in, but the last time she snuck into a mansion... she remembered Pierce with his smugly triumphant smile, and it filled her with a horror that Diamond could not even describe. It couldn’t be true—it couldn’t! But how could he say that to her? She didn’t want daddy to get even more mad with her. She needed him to listen with her, and waking him up would do nothing to help with that. Yeah, that’s it. That must be what Randolph meant. She just had to wait until morning, when daddy was awake to speak with him.
Thinking longingly after that warm bed she’d left, Diamond shivered in the cool night air. It was still summer, so it wasn’t so bad, but... Diamond really wished she hadn’t gone and used Rarity so quickly like that. She would have loved to spend more nights sleeping and warm, with an actual pillow to lay her head on. But it’s not like she hadn’t already learned all about sleeping outside this summer, even if it wasn’t any fun at all. She found somewhere along the wall out of the wind, behind some bushes so nothing could see her, and just settled down on her belly.
Diamond stared forward, trying to doze off in the darkness she was surrounded with. Thoughts of Pierce and Daddy, and the foal kept intruding on her, but she didn’t cry this time. She couldn’t cry when she was so close to getting her daddy back, and then fixing all her other problems... somehow.
The sun had already come over the horizon when she snorted awake, blinking in the bright morning light. Her belly was sore... was it bad to sleep on it? There were a few itchy twigs under her that left indentations in her skin after having slept on them, so that probably was what was bothering her. Diamond was hungry... again, but also feeling like she couldn’t eat, again, which was the most frustrating feeling in the world. What awoke her was a few ponies pulling daddy’s carriage out the front gate, and heading down the road.
Diamond scrambled to her hooves at that, looking after it in dismay. She wanted to catch Daddy right when he left, but it looks like he was taking the carriage today. He and Diamond often did, because it was easier than walking, and you were less likely to pick up a friend on the way. But it made it harder to talk with him this way. Diamond wracked her brain, trying to remember what he got up to on Thursdays... it was shopping day, wasn’t it? The servants did most of their shopping, but Daddy liked to check the market, to make sure they weren’t lying about the prices and sneaking a few coins from him. There were also ponies who worked for him, businesses that leased his land and property, that needed to be checked on or appeased now and then.
So he’d probably be going to his outlet store, and from there to the leased properties surrounding the north and south market squares. West market was cornered by the Apples. Daddy hadn’t been kidding when he said they were a significant threat to his success. He could make a lot more money selling food he said if they weren’t there, because if he could get rid of them then he could get ponies to forget what good food tastes like, and then he can switch to sellers who use cheaper ingredients and less fresh vegetables. Diamond liked eating good food though, but he promised that it was only for lower ponies, and she would always get to eat the best food.
Which is why she had to get daddy back, because she had only eaten terrible food until now, and she didn’t want him to make her forget what good food tasted like.
Diamond was limited to a slow canter by her splinted leg, so she didn’t even try to catch him at his store. Instead she snuck to the north market, hoping this was the one Daddy was going to today. There, she hid behind some pickle barrels, and waited, and the longer she waited the worse it got. Stupid Ponyville and its open air markets, with their mobile stands and mobile foods. It wasn’t long before the smell of smoked tomatoes, fried haycakes, and roasted nuts started driving her absolutely insane. She persevered though. There weren’t as many guards in Ponyville as there were in Dodge City, and certainly Canterlot, so it was foal’s play to avoid them pretty much. They were around though, keeping things safe and making sure everypony was treating each other nicely, or so Diamond used to think.
Then she saw him. The square jawed brown stallion, with a dark mane and tail and a conservative collar and bow tie, was trotting into the square without any idea of the danger he was in. She stood—she hesitated. Diamond felt a strange fear rise up in her, as she just didn’t want to run out there. She knew what she had to do, but what if there was something she hadn’t thought of yet? What if he got mad at her even more? She couldn’t go back. She’d already run away from miss Rarity, and uh... knocked over a bunch of her dresses, because she wanted Rarity to stop being so weirdly... nice to her. There was nothing more to do, but go back to her daddy, and resume her old life of good food, good stallions, and no friends.
“Daddy!” she shouted, bolting out of her hiding spot to get right up to him and get his attention. Before he could even acknowledge her presence, Diamond said, “I know what really happened! Whatever you think I did to you, it was a changeling! A changeling pretended to be you, and like lured me away so I could be foalnapped! Then they must have turned into me then, and done like, something to make you really, really mad. I didn’t run away; I was foalnapped by changelings! I think like they’re trying to steal your money!”
Filthy Rich gave Diamond the most bemused incredulous look, and then a laugh broke out of him. A harsh, short but hearty laugh. The sort of laugh he did when he found somepony that he had... used up. “Nice try, Diamond,” he said “But I won’t be convinced by some crazy tale about changelings
“I know the law,” he said, drawing himself up straight, “You got yourself pregnant, and you ran away, and there is no obligation for me to take you back. You’re your own filly, Diamond Tiara. I’ve had enough of tolerating your abuse and disrespect, when all I was doing is trying to teach you to make friends.”
“Wh—what are you saying?” Diamond stammered, shrinking back, “It wasn’t you, when you let me get foalnapped. I mean, it wasn’t really you. It was like, a changeling! Or something.”
“I don’t think you get it, Diamond Tiara,” he told her harshly. “You’ve pushed me too far. There is only so much of your abuse that I can take. I’ve had enough of your whining, and your cheating, and your stealing. You got yourself pregnant, now you deal with the consequences of it, by yourself, alone. I am done with you, Diamond Tiara.”
A metal clad hoof came down on Diamond Tiara’s withers.
“I don’t want you to run from the guard this time, Diamond Tiara,” Daddy told the shocked, stunned and terrified filly. “He’ll make sure you own up for your mistakes once and for all.”
Why was the guard getting her now? They’d been practically ignoring her, until she tried to talk to... Daddy. Diamond twisted around. Over her shoulder she saw he—he had a bridle!
Diamond ignored what Daddy told her, and ran for her life. She got about three paces before the pain flared in splinted leg, and the guard took her down, regardless of that.
“You set me up!!” she screamed at Daddy. Diamond had never been this angry before! Why was everything true, that she never, ever wanted to be true?! “You can’t do this to me! Why—why would you do this?! You let them foalnap me! You used me!”
Diamond Tiara’s face fell in horror.
“Resorting to lies now?” Daddy told her coldly, “I can’t believe I ever trusted you. After all I’ve done for you!”
“You can’t do this to me!” she begged desperately, fighting to escape. “I’m Diamond Tiara! I’m your most valuable asset! You said I was! You said!”
“I didn’t want to do this,” Daddy said in seething rage, “But you just keep fighting it. I don’t know why you even try. A horrible little filly like you couldn’t fool anyone into being your friend. You can’t even think of ponies as anything other than assets. You think you’re so deserving of all the gifts I’ve given you. You call yourself my most valuable asset, as if all I cared about was money. You call yourself my daughter.”
Diamond just glared at Daddy and tried to buck the guard who was restraining her, her pretty pink hooves narrowly missing crunching into his chest cavity. She couldn’t believe he was using her, but it made perfect sense. He used everypony, eventually. Diamond thought she was special, but it was just another trick, another pony trying to make her weak and friendly. She wished she were back at the convent getting beaten up because it would be better than Daddy using her. He was her last hope, and now her life was just over. She just wanted the guard to drag her back to that place where she could have stupid oatmeal and be around stupid fillies who were all also pregnant for some reason. She didn’t even care what Daddy said, because nothing could possibly be worse than this.
“You know,” he said, in a sarcastic, ugly drawl, “There was another name you used to have, if I recall.”
Diamond’s blood ran cold.
“Do you remember the first gift I gave you, Diamond?” Filthy asked her with a calm voice and seething angry eyes, “A new life, and a new name?”
“Don’t say it!” she shrieked, “You said nopony would ever ever call me that anymore!” She reared up, fighting with the guard, but there was nothing she could do as the guard shoved her down and jammed the bridle over her nose. The muzzle cinched around her face, and she couldn’t even speak around the painful bit jamming in her teeth. She tried to get to her hooves, looking up at her daddy so full of rage. Diamond reared back, trying to escape, but the bridle jerked her around. She wanted to scream at him, she wanted to escape. Everypony was surrounding them, staring in shock, and they would all hear it! She couldn’t let them know! She didn’t want him to say it!
“What’s wrong?” Daddy said in a mocking smugness, “Isn’t it the name your mother gave you, at birth? Isn’t it fitting? After all, all my efforts have been in vain, and raising you has been nothing other than a mistake.”
Diamond fought with the guard and his bridle, ignoring how her cheeks stung fighting with the bit, screaming at Daddy to shut up, but all she could make is a choked, muffled squeal. Why wasn’t the guard taking her away? Why was he making her stay here and listen to this? Daddy waited. He waited until she had calmed down and couldn’t move and just stood there staring at him in absolute terror. There was still time. He still hadn’t... he could still just leave her alone, and go on his way, and everything would be fine. He didn’t have to say it! He waited until her eyes met his, and gave a warm, fatherly smile that did not belong on his face, saying,
“Isn’t that right, little Mistake?”
Diamond’s life was over.
Little did you suspect that I was actually writing about an OC all along!