Chapters Royal Blue
Chapter 1
A Split Personality
Another day of school was over and done with, thankfully, and now Diamond Tiara could turn her attention to something that she felt actually mattered: gathering what she needed for her cute-ceañera party that was coming up this weekend. Her Dad had hopefully gotten most of the preparations out of the way. She wanted it to be as fantastic as she could possibly make it, something that would be the talk of every filly and colt in school for days, if not weeks. All she needed was pick up her dress and she’d be good to go until then.
“Did you see the looks on their faces? Priceless!” Diamond Tiara cackled after her and Silver Spoon’s most recent encounter with Apple Bloom and Twist. It was not the first time they’d gotten into a spat with each other; in fact, they fought many times before Diamond had earned her cutie mark. Today was no different for them--besides the fact that she had something else she could use to mess with the farm pony.
Though their families and Miss Cheerilee had tried time and again to get them to at least tolerate each other, hostilities were still fresh between them, and no pony at school, not wanting to find themselves in the middle of it, dared try and venture into why they hated each other so much.
“You really think they’ll take the invite?” asked Silver Spoon. It was a surprise to her Diamond invited them in the first place.
“I don’t know. They might for some reason or another.” In all honestly, Tiara did not expect either of them to attend. “But enough about them for a while. Let’s head over and up my dress for the party.”
“You told me last week that your father got Miss Rarity to make it, right?”
Diamond Tiara nodded. “It’s guaranteed to be amazing.” They trotted further into town, towards the Carousel Boutique where Diamond Tiara was supposed to pick up her dress. Expensive was literally another word for it. It was going to be dazzling, the eye-grabber of the party, if she could say so herself.
It was meant to be. As far as she and Silver was concerned, she had nothing to worry about.
They approached their destination, going through the front door of the Carousel Boutique. The foyer was prim and tidy as it’d always been. Rarity was there, picking up supplies she used on a latest project and placing them into a small box she kept on the table. She noticed Diamond and Silver Spoon and waved at them to come closer.
“Hello, girls. So glad you could finally come,” she greeted them. She glanced down at Diamond Tiara, the pink filly returning an eager look as she waited to receive her dress. “I’ve just received your father’s payment. Your dress should be ready to go.”
“That’s good to hear,” said Diamond. She watched as Rarity went to the back. After a few seconds, the unicorn reemerged with a large gift-wrapped present which contained the dress. She carefully set it on Diamond Tiara’s back. It was quite large, and she was surprised the young filly could lift it on her own.
“Will you be coming to my cute-ceañera, Miss Rarity?”
“So sorry, dear, but I’ll be spending the day with Fluttershy at the spa. But I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time. Just promise me that you’ll invite my sister, Sweetie Belle, would you? I’m afraid she hasn’t been very social towards other ponies lately.”
Diamond Tiara nodded in agreement. She knew of Sweetie Belle, having seen the unicorn around school on some occasions. She was another blank flank in her class, like Apple Bloom. “Sure thing,” Diamond said. “I’ll be sure to invite her.”
Rarity gave her a kind smile. She figured going to a cute-ceañera party would be a perfect opportunity for her younger sister to make some friends. “Thank you two so much. Now, run along. I need to close up shop so I can meet with Fluttershy at her house.”
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon left the Boutique, but not before being told where Sweetie Belle might have been. They promised Rarity to invite her, so they might as well. Besides, it was a chance to embarrass another blank flank. Why in Equestria would they pass up that perfect chance?
They passed a large tree, where they saw the resident weather pony, Rainbow Dash reading off a list for some reason or another.
“Your new outfit is, like, perfect for the party,” said Silver Spoon.
Diamond Tiara smiled. It was a nice dress from the picture that Rarity showed them a few days ago, if that wasn’t already obvious enough. “I know. It totally shows off my cutie mark.”
“I love being special.”
“Can you imagine how embarrassing it must be to be… not special?”
“I don’t even want to, like, think about it.”
Making their way through town, they arrived at the park. Sweetie Belle had to be here from what Rarity told them, but they didn’t see her. They searched for her but her not able to find a clue as to where she was. Maybe she had already left.
“Come on. I can do this.”
“Who’s that?” Silver Spoon asked. They looked around for the source of the voice, and whoever it was kept talking to themselves as they got closer. They must have been working on something very important to be out here alone. It had to be an artist, or maybe a sculptor. They made their way over to see a unicorn filly standing out in the open, away from everypony else.
“There’s Sweetie Belle,” said Diamond Tiara. “What’s she doing?”
Sweetie Belle put as much focus as she could into levitating the small soda can in front of her. She had spent the better part of this month learning—or at least trying to learn—this pretty basic technique, given some pointers by her sister on some occasions in order to help her overcome whatever difficulties she was facing. And hopefully all of that hard work would pay off. She wanted something that would impress her parents and sister—and perhaps get a cutie mark somewhere in the field, as well.
Either one would do for her.
The only problem she seemed to face, however, was that the can wouldn’t lift. She would feel a spark on her horn, like her magic was about to work for her, but before anything could happen, it would disappear.
Maybe she didn’t put enough focus into it. She refused to give up, though. She concentrated, aimed, and gave it another try…
She took note of a faint light green aura surrounding the can as it started to levitate. Sweetie Belle took a moment to view the extent of her training. The can was shaking--quite a lot, actually--but it was floating, nonetheless, just as the unicorn wanted. It was an admirable sight, seeing the gratifying results of over a month of hard work. It was that small admiration that caused her to lose focus, causing the can to drop to the ground.
“Dang it!” She groaned in frustration, stomping her hoof on the ground. She had gotten better this time around, whereas a few months ago after trying this, she would feel light-headed and almost lose consciousness. Even though she had progressed quite a bit since first starting out, she still felt it wasn’t her best effort.
“Maybe if I try again. This time, I need to stay focused.” She grabbed the can and placed it back on the wooden stool she'd brought out here with her. She aimed her horn and closed her eyes, imagining the can lifting from the stool. She thought back to the advice Rarity gave her: just staying calm, don’t get too anxious, and keep focus as she moved the object.
She breathed and exhaled, and gave it another attempt. Opening one eye, but staying focused, she saw the can slowly levitating. It wasn't shaking, probably because she hadn’t lifted it too much from the stool. She hadn’t placed in as much energy as before--
“BOO ! ”
The sudden scream startled Sweetie Belle; her magic caused the can to rupture and explode, spraying soda all over the hapless filly. She looked through her mane, which the soda had caused to stick onto her face, to see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon laughing at her.
“That's a nice look for you, blank-flank ,” Silver Spoon said, inciting a giggle from Diamond.
Sweetie growled under her breath, giving the two earth ponies an annoyed look. Aside from the other three fillies she knew of--Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Twist--she was the only one in class lacking a cutie mark, and everything she tried as of late ended in failure. “What do you want? And it wasn't very nice what you did to Apple Bloom today.”
“Oh, please,” Diamond scoffed, waving her hoof. “If anything, that was way too easy. Anyway, I'm here because I wanted to invite you to my cute-ceañera party this weekend.”
Sweetie Belle eyed the pink earth pony circling around her. Her cute-ceañera was the main thing that was talked about all over school, with fillies and colts alike saying how big and spectacular it was going to be. She invited every pony she came into contact with, including Snips and Snails, but all that did was leave Sweetie to question her invitation.
“Why?”
“Just so you can get a chance to see my fantabulous cutie mark in all of its glory--with the dress I’ll be wearing, of course.” Her statement had prompted Sweetie to roll her eyes. She had never met Diamond Tiara up close and personal before, but now she wished she hadn’t.
“Could you two just please go away? I'm trying to do something.” Sweetie Belle shooed them away before going back to the stool. The soda can had exploded, so she’d have to fetch another one. By this point, though, she just wanted to end the confrontation before it got any worse. She did not want something to happen that everyone would regret later.
“Oh, yeah? Like what?” Silver Spoon gave a coy smile as she trotted towards the unicorn.
“Magic.” Sweetie Belle piped up without facing her aggressors. “And I think I’m getting better at it.”
Diamond Tiara laughed. “Since when? I didn’t even think you were good at magic.”
Sweetie Belle shot back, her voice cracking as she turned to face Diamond and Silver. “I am, too!” She was trying to seem wasn’t fazed, even striking a pose, but in reality, she was beginning to get angry and frustrated. She wouldn't let them see it, though, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of knowing their words were affecting her.
“Not from what we've seen,” replied Silver Spoon. She heard a growl coming from the unicorn. There was no doubt now that they were getting to her. They noticed a small spark emitting from Sweetie Belle’s horn. Even though it was unexpected, they still snickered from the sight of it.
Sweetie Belle could feel a large amount of anger welling inside her, watching as Diamond and Silver continued to laugh. She felt a sudden jolt of energy race up to her horn, as a light green aura began to appear around it. It wasn’t often that she experienced this much power, especially since she had little magical prowess, but it felt good.
That is, until she saw that same aura surround Diamond Tiara.
The laughter ceased as soon as Diamond saw the position she was in. She tried to shake her legs free, but she felt her movements were slowly becoming more and more restricted; the magic that enveloped her was practically holding her in place. “What’s going on? Somepony do something!”
“I don’t know how to turn it off!” Sweetie Belle found that she now had little control over it, unable to do anything to help. She and Silver Spoon watched as the magic completely covered Diamond Tiara, the pink filly left immobilized from it. Before long, the magic discharged, sending a coud of green smoke out through the area.
Silver and Sweetie Belle closed their eyes as a gust of wind came their way, nearly knocking them off their hooves. They looked on to see a small column of smoke rising from where Diamond Tiara once stood. They couldn’t find any sign of her. Had she vanished? Did Sweetie’s magic render her invisible?
These questions raced through their minds as the smoke continued to clear. They noticed a silhouette. They couldn’t make out who it was; the smoke was still a bit dense to get a clear view. Silver Spoon noted that the pony standing there was small, still practically a foal. It had to be her; at least that is what she hoped for.
“Diamond?” she called out, hoping for a response. “Can you hear me?”
The smoke eventually disappeared, though standing in the open was another filly, one they hadn’t met yet looked eerily familiar. She looked exactly like Diamond Tiara, aside from her prim white coat, blue mane and tail, and her purple eyes, as well as the fact that she wasn’t wearing a tiara. She looked around her, taking in her surroundings, and seemed genuinely surprised to be standing there, almost like she hadn’t seen the outside in years.
“Diamond?” Silver Spoon took a step forward.
The pony looked at them, and almost immediately, her eyes lit up and a huge smile spread across her face. She ran up to Sweetie Belle, her fact just mere inches away from the unicorn. “Hi!” She seemed hyperactive, as evident from her cheerful and playful expression. “What’s your name?”
Sweetie Belle’s face was turning red. She reeled back nervously, trying to give herself some space. “My name’s Sweetie Belle. And yours?”
“I’m—!” The filly stopped just short of answering. She put a hoof to her chin as she tried in vain to come up with something. “Actually, come to think of it, I don’t know what my name is. I was hoping you two would know.”
That answered almost everything for them. Silver Spoon determined that her friend must have been suffering from amnesia after the magic discharge, but that still did not explain her literal change of colour--or personality. “Your name is Diamond Tiara, remember?”
The pony tilted her head at Silver Spoon, but generally seemed to accept the fact. “Okay, then. I guess I’m Diamond Tiara.”
“No she’s not.” Sweetie, Silver, and the pony looked to see the real Diamond Tiara stagger to her hooves. She coughed as she fanned what was left of the smoke away from her face; her pink coat and lavender mane were messy from the dirt that’d flown onto her. She still seemed a bit disoriented from what had happened, but she was able to determine who and what was in front of her. And what she saw--the white earth pony filly--was like something out of a hallucination.
The unnamed filly gasped upon seeing Diamond. A smile appeared on her face afterwards. “You look just like me! I love your mane!”
Diamond smiled at the compliment. “Well… No, wait--” She shook her head, getting herself back onto the subject at hand. Now was certainly not the time for flattery. She had to find out what went wrong before her party. “Who are you, and where did you come from?”
The pony shrugged, still keeping her cheerful expression. “I honestly have no idea. I was really hoping somepony else here would tell me. You can see how well that’s going.”
“All I know is that she appeared after you got hit by Sweaty Belle’s magic,” said Silver Spoon. Her words earned a scornful glare from the unicorn.
Diamond Tiara gave another good look at the filly. It was strange how she looked incredibly like her. If it was a pony trying to be her follower, then they were doing a really bad, and very creepy, job at it. She couldn’t afford to be bothered by her. “Are you sure you don’t know what your name is?”
Her question received a nod in return. Silver gave their guest a questioning glance. “Do you think we can find anypony who knows her?”
“If it gets her-”Diamond pointed at the pony now standing beside her, “-off my back; the quicker, the better.” Silver motioned the pony to follow, and with Diamond Tiara, they ventured back into town. Maybe somepony would have a clue as who she was.
“Wait!” Sweetie Belle called after them. “What about me?”
Silver Spoon turned to face the unicorn giving a response, “You… You just do whatever you want.” She departed, pulling the unnamed pony with her as the two of them quickly followed after Diamond.
Royal Blue
Chapter 2
Meeting the Double
“This place is wonderful! There are so many ponies here! Are they all your friends, Diamond Tiara? How many friends do you have? It’d be really nice to meet some of them. Ya know, maybe we should--”
She would not stop talking, and Diamond Tiara was getting sick of it. She and Silver tried to tune her out, but that came with little success. How long could one pony keep going before they ran out of things to say?
“Hey, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, do you think--?”
“Will you pay attention?” Diamond snapped, interrupting the filly. It was the first time she was quiet since they left the park. It gave Diamond a brief time to think. She dropped her cute-ceañera dress off at home, not wanting to have the risk of it getting messed up along the way. Now she could continue to the search with little interruptions.
So far they had asked Time Turner, Bon Bon, Lightning Bolt, and several other ponies who might have known her new “guest,” with no success. “There has to be at least one pony in this town who might recognise you. If you really do have amnesia, it’s best not to sit around and get distracted.”
They found themselves approaching Daisy’s kiosk, just as she was about to close shop. “Miss Daisy?” Silver Spoon grabbed her attention. “Do you, by any chance, recognise her?” She turned the mare’s attention towards the filly.
“Sorry, girls,” replied Daisy, shaking her head, “I have no idea. In fact, I’ve never even seen her around town before. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was your sister.” She pointed at Diamond Tiara. “You two look a lot alike.”
“Well she’s not my sister,” said Diamond. To her, having a sister would have to involve sharing all the attention, something she had no desire for.
“I honestly don’t know what to say, then.” Daisy flipped her flower shop’s sign to ‘CLOSED’. “Try asking Cloudkicker. She might have an answer.” With that, she left the three fillies to themselves.
They watched as she trotted away and disappeared into the crowd of ponies. Silver Spoon sat on her haunches, slightly exhausted from traveling so much over town. “We already asked Cloudkicker.”
“Anypony else we can look for?” asked Diamond.
Silver Spoon shook her head. “Not that I can think of. Maybe she’s not even from Ponyville. Maybe she’s from Manehattan, or Fillydelphia.”
Diamond glanced back at the filly who was waiting patiently for them to finish their conversation. It was a very likely possibility, though. “That’s just stupid. What parent would forget their own child?”
Silver Spoon looked back at pony. “Is there anything you remember before you met us? Like, anything?”
The filly shook her head. “Not really. It was ‘poof’, and then here I was with you girls. There’s no way I could’ve teleported, unless I was secretly some kind of magician.” She seemed certain that this idea was true, no matter how ridiculous it was.
Diamond gave her a deadpanned look. “I highly doubt that.”
Another sound of hooves trotting against the ground reached their ears. The fillies looked up to see Twilight Sparkle standing in front of them. She was carrying two saddle bags full of books. “Hello, girls,” she greeted them, asking how they were doing.
“We’re trying to figure out wherever she-” Silver Spoon pointed to the filly behind her, “-came from. No pony in town seems to know who she is, and we think she might have amnesia.”
“Can I have a look?” Twilight approached the filly and kneeled down, meeting her at eye-level. It was sort of strange that she looked exactly like Diamond Tiara aside from the colours, but then again, she figured that it could’ve been just a coincidence. “What’s your name, little pony?”
“I really don’t know,” the filly responded, shaking her head, though for some reason or another, it didn’t seem as normal as Twilight thought. She could not figure out why it seemed that way at first.
She began to notice a faint hint of magic resonating around her. It was almost unusual, not like anything she encountered lately. Before long, she had found an answer. “She’s a Double!”
Diamond Tiara gave her a quizzical look. “A what?”
“Doubles are ponies created through magical means. I remember doing an essay on them when I was younger.” Twilight levitated a scroll from her bag and held it in front of them. It revealed all relevant information on what she was talking about, way more than Diamond Tiara sought to know. “Basically, they’re alternate versions of a pony, harboring a personality complex almost completely opposite to--”
Diamond interrupted her. “Could you keep it simple, please?”
“She’s basically an alternate version of you.” Twilight put a hoof to her chin and looked over at the double. “But the answer I wanna know is how did she get here? I’m sure not just any unicorn knows how to create one.”
The filly being a Double had answered a hundred questions that were running across everypony’s heads. She wasn’t from out of town, but now the question of how she appeared had them stumped. Like Twilight said, not just any magic user could simply pull off a successful technique like this.
“Smoke!” They heard the filly say.
Twilight tilted her head. “…Smoke?”
The Double nodded. “Yes! Green smoke. I remember that I first ran into them after coming out a cloud of green smoke .”
“That was right after when Sweetie Belle hit you with that spell,” Silver said to Diamond.
“Sweetie Belle knows how to cast that type of magic at her age?” Twilight looked genuinely amazed at this. Perhaps the unicorn filly knew much more than she let on.
“She may have been just a tiny bit angry before she did it,” said Diamond. It was her ridiculing of Sweetie Belle that caused her full powers to emerge for that brief second.
“Well I guess that explains it,” said Twilight. “Emotions do tend to make untamed magic run wild, mostly out of fear or anger.”
Diamond Tiara looked back over at the pony, giving her a questioning look. “So I guess I’m stuck with you, then.”
Twilight chuckled. “Don’t worry. It isn’t so bad. It’s like having a twin sister if you look at it that way. I’m sure you’ll be fine.” She departed from the fillies, leaving them once again to themselves.
There was a brief silence between the three of them. The Double circled her hoof in the dirt and gave a smile when Diamond looked in her direction. “All right, then.” Diamond circled her, as if she was running an examination. “If you’re going to be hanging around with me and Silver Spoon, we at least need to know what your name is.”
“I don’t have one, remember?”
“We could give her one,” said Silver Spoon.
Diamond Tiara shifted through all the possible names in her mind, wanting to pick out a good one. If this filly was going to be her Double, then the last thing she was going to do was give her a boring, dull name. She needed a name that would stick; one that would be spectacular, dazzling, amazing--like hers. “Got it! From now on, your name will be Royal Blue.”
“I like it!” Royal Blue smiled. She said her name again, wanting to hear how it sounded herself. It was satisfying to know that she now had an identity to call her own.
“Now that we got your name out of the way, what should we do next?” Silver Spoon’s question was met with a low growl. She and Diamond Tiara looked at Royal Blue, who was gazing down at her stomach.
The Double gave a nervous laugh. “Could getting food be an option?”
Diamond shrugged. “What do you have in mind?” I figure she’s gonna ask for ice cream or cake, she thought to herself.
“Do you think maybe we could get some ice cream? Or some cake?” Royal Blue looked back and forth between Diamond and Silver. “I’m in the mood for any sort of food that screams ‘party’.”
Party? That word repeated itself in Diamond Tiara’s mind, repeating itself over and over until she remembered something important. “My cute-ceañera party!” She glanced at the town’s clock tower. “We’re almost late, and we don’t even have our dresses on!”
Silver Spoon realised how much time they’d lost dealing with Blue. “We need to head home! FAST!” She and Diamond galloped out of the area, quickly heading back towards their homes.
“Royal Blue,” Silver called back, “we’ll meet you at Sugarcube Corner.”
“Wait, girls!” Blue galloped after them, trying to catch up. “I don’t even know where--” by then it was too late. They had already gotten far out of earshot, “-Sugarcube Corner is.”
Royal Blue looked around her. A lot of ponies were heading home; they looked nice enough, and they had been living here longer than she has. Hopefully one would help her in her search. She approached a stallion and asked him where Sugarcube Corner was.
“Sorry, kid,” was his reply, before turning away. “I just moved here. I have no idea where anything is at the moment.”
Sighing, Blue continued on with her search, making her way through town on the lookout for Sugarcube Corner. None of the stores and houses she passed seemed like ideal places to hold parties, especially one as big as Diamond Tiara said she was hosting. “If I was Sugarcube Corner, where would I be?”
“How much time do we have left before your party starts?” Silver asked.
Diamond glanced down at her watch. “It started ten minutes ago, so we’re not too too late.” She breathed a sigh of relief. They arrived at Sugarcube Corner, finding themselves facing dozens of ponies inside, eating food, playing games; basically enjoying themselves. Diamond Tiara had invited a lot more than she expected.
“Silver! Diamond!” They looked behind to see Royal Blue galloping towards them. She looked out of breath when she finally stopped. “I finally caught up with you two.” She looked over at the interior of the confectionary, her eyes lighting up with glee at seeing the games, food, and various ponies inside. “So this is where your party’s being held.”
“Where were you at?” asked Diamond.
“I tried to tell you that I didn’t know where Sugarcube Corner was. But when I saw you girls, I decided to follow and let you lead me right to it. And it was all worth it.” Royal Blue rushed past them and galloped inside, almost completely vanishing into the large crowd.
Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara trotted inside, wanting to get on with the celebration. They were sure that Apple Bloom, or maybe Sweetie Belle, were here somewhere. They’d make themselves known one way or another. In the meantime, they stood watching as Blue tried to socialize with the guests. She looked like she was having fun, laughing with a couple of fillies from school.
“What do you think of her so far?” Silver asked.
“Annoying…” Diamond Tiara replied, watching as her Double scurried eagerly among the large crowd. “But there’s no way I can just get rid of her, especially since she is technically another me. We’ll have to teach her a few things along the way.”
So far the cute-ceañera was going well for Royal Blue. Every pony she met so far was friendly, especially the curly-maned filly she was trotting alongside. The filly said her name was Twist. She told Blue about how she had gotten her cutie mark after baking a fresh batch of candy canes, which she also promised to bring some in for her to try.
Oh, wow! My first friend! This is so exciting! Royal Blue thought to herself, barely able to contain her joy.
“So where’re you from?” asked Twist, “I’ve never seen you around Ponyville before.”
Royal Blue responded, “I’m from Diamond Tiara.”
Twist tilted her head in confusion, not entirely understanding her answer. “Are you two like sisters or something?”
“You could say that. I’m her Double.”
“A twin, then?”
Blue nodded. “Sure, that works.”
“Huh…” Twist mused over it. “I never realised Diamond Tiara had a sister. Here I thought she was an only child. So that must mean Filthy Rich is your dad.”
“If that’s how it works! Hey, why don’t we go find Diamond? I bet she’ll be really happy to see that I’ve made a friend here.”
Twist’s demeanor changed, uncertain about Royal Blue’s decision as the filly was about to head out on a search. From her multiple bad experiences with her, another encounter was the last thing she wanted. “I don’t think that’s such a—”
“F-Forget it. I didn’t want to see it, anyway.” They looked to see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon talking to another filly. This one was another earth pony, like her, but with a yellow coat and red mane and tail.
Her bow is pretty, Blue noted, but why is she wearing a tablecloth? “There she is! And who’s that with her? Is that one of Diamond’s friends? Aside from Silver Spoon, that is.”
Twist shook her head. “Not exactly.”
A sudden scratch came from the record player, catching the attention of every pony in the building. They saw that Apple Bloom’d tripped over the tablecloth that she had been wearing around her waist. Diamond and Silver approached her, both laughing.
“Nice try,” said Diamond Tiara, before both she and Silver Spoon added, “Blank-Flank!” Pretty soon, Blue noticed every other colt and filly in the room giggling amongst themselves as Applebloom stood to her hooves.
“What’s a blank-flank?” she asked herself aloud. Having been in this world for no more than a few hours, she was not familiar with the word, nor has she ever actually heard Diamond Tiara say it. She was not sure why, but it left a bad taste in her mouth.
“You got a problem with blank-flanks?” one voice said through the laughter. Everyone looked around, trying to find a source, until an orange pegasus filly--Scootaloo--emerged from underneath a nearby table, and alongside her was a unicorn filly.
Royal Blue recognised the unicorn as Sweetie Belle, the same pony she first met at the park when she was created. She watched as the three of them confronted both Silver and Diamond. “And she’s not stuck being stuck-up like you two,” Scootaloo snapped, pointing a hoof at them.
“Oh my…” That statement had caught Royal Blue off-guard. She cringed, her ears pulling back to her head. This was not how she expected Diamond Tiara’s cute-ceañera to end up. Looks like they’re not friends.
Even though the cute-ceañera was still going, Royal Blue could no longer find any real enjoyment out of it, ever since the huge argument that took place just a few minutes prior. She noticed Diamond Tiara on the staircase with Silver Spoon; both fillies were just watching the party go by. Blue couldn’t help but feel for them, Diamond Tiara in particular.
“Hey, Blue!” Twist called over. “Wanna come over and dance?”
It was a tempting offer, but she could not go through with it, not after seeing the state her twin was in. “Maybe later, Twist. I’d rather see how Diamond Tiara’s doing. She seemed really upset earlier.”
Royal Blue made her way through the sea of dancing ponies in the middle of Sugarcube Corner, making her way to the staircase. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon looked over at Blue as she approached. “Are you okay, Diamond?”
“What do you think?” Diamond spat, crossing her hooves and looking away. One could tell she was frustrating, even though she tried hard not to show it.
“It wasn’t that bad, was it?” Blue’s question was met with a glare from the pink filly. “Okay, maybe it was that bad. The party’s still going, though. And everypony’s having a blast!”
“This was supposed to be my perfect day,” said Diamond. “Everypony was supposed to be paying attention to me, and those blank-flanks ruined it.”
There’s that phrase again, Blue thought as Diamond Tiara looked on dejectedly at everypony dancing, at Apple Bloom and her new friends. “Whatever…” She descended the stairs, making her way towards the door in a huff. “I’m going home. I didn’t want to be here, anyway.”
Blue watched as Diamond left the party. She didn’t like seeing her twin this sad. There had to be something she could do to cheer her up, she thought. “I guess I’m heading out with her, then. I’ll see you around, Silver Spoon.” She followed her twin outside, but not before grabbing a chocolate chip cookie off one of the tables.
Royal Blue
Chapter 3
Bringing Her Home
Royal Blue followed an upset Diamond Tiara through Ponyville. Most of their time was spent in silence, neither one uttering a single word since leaving the cute-ceañera, though on occasions Blue would try and find something to say that would lighten her twin’s mood. This was done to no avail. Diamond Tiara was still depressed about what happened between both her and Apple Bloom, even though she wouldn’t try to show it.
She had too much pride for that.
Blue never realised how important a cute-ceañera was to a pony. Being a Double, she found that she did not have the luxury of finding out what she might excel at, which she had to admit, was something she saw as an absolute advantage for Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo--and any other “blank-flank” that lived in this town. Her cutie mark, which was a flower the last time she checked, came predetermined when she was first brought into Equestria. As far as she knew, there was no way around it. Not that she knew of.
I need to learn more about these cutie marks. Maybe that unicorn we ran into earlier can help me. Eventually she and Diamond reached a large mansion in one part of town. Blue gawked at it. It was pretty huge, and it must have taken so much to maintain it.
“You didn’t have to follow me home,” said Diamond, as she and Blue trotted past the gate, and started down the path towards the house.
The Double took another bite out of the cookie. “Where else was I suppose to go? It’s not like I know a lot of ponies around here. Well, aside from Twist. And Silver Spoon. And maybe-probably Sweetie Belle. And Archer. And Dinky. And--”
“I get it,” Diamond Tiara interrupted her. “You’re starting to make a lot of friends, and I’m very happy about that. But right now, I just wanna get inside, lie down, maybe play some video games, and forget everything that happened today. Okay?”
Blue thought for a moment and broke off half her treat, hanging the unbitten half to her twin. “Maybe a cookie will cheer you up.”
“Gee, thanks…” Diamond Tiara took it, keeping the deadpanned look on her face. Blue was content that she had done at least something nice for her, even if it was something small.
They made their way towards the stairs. Blue beamed a smile and blocked off Diamond’s path. “I’ve got an idea!” she said. “How about you and I race up to the door. That should cheer you up, right? I’ll even give you a headstart.”
Diamond sighed. “As much as I appreciate what you’re doing, I don’t. I just want to be alone. Alright?”
Blue acknowledged, letting her twin by. “Okay, then,” she responded, before her eyes lit up again. “But we can race later, right? It’d be so much fun!” They continued up the stairs, Blue following closely behind.
They approached the door, but Diamond stopped just short of opening. “Oh no…”
“What’s wrong?” asked Blue.
“How am I going to explain you?”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t think mom and dad are expecting me to bring another me home with me. I need a quick minute to think about this.” Diamond paced across her porch, searching for an excuse to give. She wasn’t sure they would believe that Sweetie Belle did it, not at the level of magic she was currently at. Perhaps she could use a magic artifact as an excuse—possibly as a contingency.
“What artifacts do I know of so far?” she asked herself, thinking back to what Miss Cheerilee taught them in school. It was a lesson that, regrettably, she’d fallen asleep in. “Eh, I’ll just make one up.”
“This place is huge!” She heard an energetic voice echo from behind her. To her dismay, she turned to see that Royal Blue had ventured into the mansion. Tiara’s mom was off work from the hospital at this time, and if Blue was wandering the house, there was a good chance she’d be spotted.
“Blue! Get back here!” Diamond Tiara galloped after her, stopping before she was able to get too far inside. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Checking this place out. It’s big!” Blue inhaled and yelled, “Echo!”
Diamond Tiara covered her mouth, shushing her. “Don’t do that! You can’t just wander off. What if mom or dad sees you? I need to keep you out of sight until I can come up with something.”
“Diamond, sweetie? Is that you?” Diamond cursed silently to herself as a familiar voice echoed from down the hall. It was her mom. The sound of hooves echoed across the hallway. Diamond shoved Blue behind the wall, just as her mom, Nurse Sweetheart, appeared. “You’re home early. How was your cute-ceañera?”
“Oh, you know. It was nice. I had a lot of fun with Silver Spoon and the others.” Diamond didn’t want to tell her about the small fight she had with Apple Bloom, especially when it caused her to leave her own party.
“You must be tired, then,” said Sweetheart, “I’ll talk to you later.”
Diamond nodded as her mom turned back to the living room. She then turned her attention back to Royal Blue, ushering her up the stairs. Diamond opened her door to her bedroom. It was large, and had a lot of stuff scattered across the ground such as toys and video games.
“Your room’s really messy,” said Blue.
Diamond rolled her eyes at the statement. As if her mom and dad telling her that wasn’t enough, now her own Double was beginning to say it. She personally didn’t think it was that messy herself. “You stay here,” Diamond ordered. “I’ll go get us something to drink.”
“What am I supposed to do in here?” Blue asked.
Diamond drew her attention to the various things around her. “You have toys and video games; pretty much anything that a filly could ask for. I even have some paper and pencils-” she pointed towards a table at the far end of the room, “-if you want to draw a picture or something. But just stay here and don't come out, okay? And stay quiet.”
Blue nodded, acknowledging her orders as Diamond Tiara left, closing the door behind her. She looked around, considering the amount of options she had to herself. She never played with toys, or video games, and she had no idea how to draw…
“Maybe I’ll take up drawing. Couldn't hurt to try, could it?” Making her way across the mess of toys, Royal Blue approached table and grabbed a pencil. She pondered what she could possibly draw, searching through her mind for anything interesting. “I got it!”
“Okay, Blue…” Diamond trotted through the doorway, balancing a plate with two cups on her back, “Here you go. A nice, cold glass of- what the heck is that?” She found herself standing face-to-face with Royal Blue holding an extremely crudely-drawn picture in her mouth. It was… something that could not be transferred into words, literally.
“Do you like it?” asked Blue. “I drew it myself!”
“A drawing. Right…” Diamond took another glance at it, rubbing the back of her neck as she tried in vain to decipher what it was. “It kinda looks like a scuba diving iguana with a… pretzel on its tail?”
“It’s supposed to be a dinosaur, silly. Can’t you see it?”
No, I can’t, Diamond thought. “But what about the pretzel?”
“Those are the spikes on its tail.”
“And the flippers?”
“Those are its feet,” said Blue, “Dinosaurs have feet, don’t they?”
Diamond Tiara was left speechless, but nevertheless pushed the thought out of her head as she trotted to her desk. It’s obvious her special talent isn’t drawing. “Okay, then… while I try to process everything you put on that piece of paper, how about we have some lemonade.”
Blue set down her masterpiece and followed Diamond to her desk. Her straw placed in the cup, she took a sip, savouring the taste as it invaded her mouth. “This is tasty. I like it. What was it again?”
“Haven’t you had lemonade before?” asked Diamond.
“No,” Blue responded.
“Oh, right…” Diamond laughed meekly, which had caused Royal Blue to laugh as well, though a bit more vocal than her twin. The two of them finished their drinks and were now lounging around the bedroom.
Blue’s picture was taped to the wall, a memento that she was a good artist, at least in her eyes, and she was currently looking around the room, at the toys and games scattered about. She thought about what else she could do to pass the time while she was here. She stepped on something and looked down to see one of Diamond’s video games under her hoof.
She examined it. The game’s cover showed a pony in some sort of armour standing in front of a burning planet, with what seemed like an orange blade strapped to her hoof. “Hey, Diamond…?”
“What…?” Diamond Tiara was lying on her bed, spending whatever time she had reading a comic book.
“What’s ‘Mass Effect’?”
Diamond hopped down from her bed and went over to Royal Blue. “It’s a game,” she said.
Blue glanced at it and back at her twin. There had to be more to it than it just being a regular video game. “Tell me about it.” She sat down, ready to listen to whatever the pink filly had to say.
Diamond put a hoof to her chin. It wouldn’t be as much fun to just tell Blue about it. If Blue was going to try and be normal filly, she had to experience everything firsthand. “How about I show you?”
Everything started out well for Blue. There was a bit of exploration during the first part of mission, nothing too complicated. That was, until she finally ran into her first batch of enemies. They mowed out her teammate, killing him during the brief cutscene, and although Blue had managed to get past them, there were still more ahead that were causing nothing but trouble for her.
“Hit the Geth!” Diamond sat beside her, eagerly directing her attention to the robot on screen that was trying to kill her.
Blue, on the other hand, was experiencing trouble as she anxiously tried to spot her enemy. Her shields were all but destroyed, she was down to her last health bar, and her teammate was down. One hit from a plasma rifle and she was done for. “Where is it?”
“It’s there, hiding behind the rock! Shoot it!”
“Which button do I press again?”
“Right trigger! Hurry!”
In a flash, Royal Blue’s character was dead on the ground. The Geth had managed to get a hit off her before she had a chance to fire back. It happened so quickly that Blue wasn’t able to process it right away, though she could feel a bit of frustration. That single Geth stood between her and victory.
“That was better than I thought you’d do on your first playthrough,” said Diamond. Honestly she believed that Blue would be taken out by the recon drones.
“Can I have another try? Please?” Blue asked. She looked at her twin with puppy dog eyes. Unable to resist, Diamond Tiara agreed, and Royal Blue proceeded to restart the mission.
A knock from the other side of her door caught her attention, drawing her away from the TV. “Diamond! Time for dinner!” her mom called.
Diamond glanced at Blue, who waved her off. “You can go,” said the Double. “Besides, I still want to try to beat this.”
“You sure?” asked Diamond. “You look a bit on edge.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine,” Blue assured her. Diamond, at first skeptical at her words, shrugged and went down for dinner. Royal Blue would be all right by the time she returned--she hoped.
Heading downstairs into the kitchen, Diamond sat with her mom at the table. A plate of hay fries, mashed apples, and fried vegetables was set in front of her. She made a mental note to bring some leftovers up to Royal Blue. She wondered how her Double was doing in Mass Effect. Maybe she had finally managed to get past the first part of the mission.
She heard the front door open and shut, and after a few moments, Filthy Rich trotted into the kitchen. He was exhausted, but relieved to finally be back home after a long day of work. “Hi, Daddy,” she greeted him.
“Hey, my little princess.” Filthy Rich tossed off the hat he was wearing and gave his daughter a kiss on the forehead.
“How was work?” asked Nurse Sweetheart.
“Oh, same old stuff,” replied Filthy Rich, taking his seat at the table. “There’s always something going on. I’m just glad it’s finally over. Now I get to spend the rest of my day with my two favourite fillies.”
“Oh, come on!” Their attention was drawn to a frustrated yell coming from upstairs. Diamond Tiara was beginning to grow nervous, knowing that Royal Blue was blowing her cover.
“What was that?” asked Filthy Rich. He was about to get up from his seat to inspect when Diamond intervened.
“I… think it was my TV,” she replied, hoping they would buy it. She wanted to keep them from finding out about Royal Blue as long as possible.
“Seems a bit loud,” said Sweetheart.
“You’re right. I’ll just go up turn it down.” As quick as her legs could take, Diamond hurried out of the kitchen and stormed upstairs. She opened her bedroom door to see Royal Blue, still sitting in front of the TV. She seemed like a nervous wreck, as if something had made her incredibly anxious. Her sky blue mane sticking out in some places. She was attached to her game, not taking her eyes away if even after Diamond trotted into the room.
Diamond sighed at seeing her Double like this. It was a bad idea letting her try video games, she thought to herself. “Okay, Blue. I think you’ve had enough. Time to set the controller down.”
“No!” Pausing the game, Blue turned towards Diamond Tiara. She was frantic, wanting to continue her playthrough a little longer. She was nearing the end of the first mission, only having a few more Geth to fight before it was over. “Just five more five minutes, then I’ll get off.” She held her right hoof in the air after saying this. “Filly’s promise.”
“Blue…” Diamond took an unrelenting step forward, giving her Double a cold stare as held out her hoof. “Give me the controller. Now.”
“Never!” Royal Blue snatched the remote and galloped away from Diamond Tiara, hopping onto her bed.
Diamond facehoofed. Seeing her own Double act like this was embarrassing, though she was lucky nopony could possibly see this. “Listen, Blue.” she tried approaching her, not wanting to provoke the filly into doing something she’d regret. “Just try to calm down a bit. Don’t do anything you’ll—”
She was interrupted with a pillow being thrown at her face. Diamond glared at Blue, who was still standing on her bed with the controller in her mouth. “You wanna do this the hard way? Fine! We’ll do this the hard way!”
Grabbing the pillow, Diamond charged at Blue. She threw it; Blue ducked her head, inadvertently dropping the controller, and allowing Diamond Tiara to make a quick grab for it.
“Hey! Give that back!” Royal Blue galloping after her, chasing Diamond around the room in an effort to get the controller back. “I’m not done with the game!”
“You are when I say you are!” Diamond replied, keeping well out of Blue’s range. She hoped her twin would tire herself out if she kept at it. Her initial thoughts were wrong, however, as she was tackled to the ground.
Filthy Rich flinched as he heard a loud thump from upstairs. “What in Equestria is she doing up there?” He and Sweetheart stood from their chairs and hurried up to investigate.
They knocked on the door as they approached their daughter’s room. There was no response, instead they heard ruckus coming from the other side. It sounded like she was fighting someone. “Alright, Diamond-” he opened her door and trotted in, “-what is going on in—?”
He and his wife stopped at the sight of Diamond Tiara wrestling with another pony who looked exactly like her. If it wasn’t for the sky blue mane, white coat, and purple eyes, they could sworn she was fighting a clone. Diamond looked up at her parents, no pony saying a word for what seemed like hours. A trickle of sweat dripped down her head as she stood. There wasn’t much she could say in terms to cover this up now that Blue’s cover was blown.
“Diamond?” Sweetheart broke the lingering silence. “Who’s this?”
Diamond Tiara stood, facing her parents with a nervous grin on her face. “Uh, Mom? Dad?” She hadn’t come up with an excuse yet, which only added to the awkwardness of the situation. “Did you know I had a twin?”
Royal Blue
Chapter 4:
Ponyville Adventure
Sweetheart and Filthy Rich listened attentively to their daughter’s story while Royal Blue ate the food that’d been set out for her. They had trouble wrapping their heads around what Diamond Tiara told them. It just didn’t seem all that believable when she explained it.
Filthy Rich turned his gaze to Blue. The Double had a pile of mashed potatoes in her mouth as she eagerly cleaned off her plate. “Let me see if I understand this correctly. She’s basically a… magic pony?”
“She’s not a unicorn, if that’s what you’re thinking,” said Diamond Tiara. “I don’t remember everything Miss Twilight told me, but she’s supposed to have a parallel personality or something.”
“I think we’ll have to ask Twilight about it in the morning,” said Sweetheart.
Filthy Rich nodded in agreement. He didn’t want to wake up in the morning to see something happening to Diamond as a side-effect to the spell; and being Princess Celestia’s personal protege, Twilight would probably know a lot more about it than they did.
Sweetheart glanced at the Double, who just finished eating her food. “What’s your name, dear?”
“Royal-” the filly burped, “-Royal Blue. Diamond Tiara gave me the name.”
“Well, Royal Blue, you’re more than welcomed to stay with us. We can make up the guest room, if you like.”
Blue smiled at the proposal. “Thank you. I’d like that. Diamond Tiara’s room was getting a bit messy, anyway.”
Sweetheart agreed with her. She lost count of all the times she told Diamond to clean her room. The filly in question rolled her eyes at it, though. They did not need to keep reminding her about it. She would get to it, eventually.
Just not today.
Or tomorrow.
Possibly next weekend if she wasn’t with Silver Spoon.
Filthy Rich glanced over at the clock. It was already 11:00pm . Time sure does fly, he thought. “It’s almost time for bed, you two. Blue-” he looked at the filly, “-we’ll get the guest room made up while you wait down here. On Monday, we can go and get your registered for Miss Cheerilee’s class.”
Royal Blue nodded as he and Sweetheart climbed upstairs, leaving her alone with Diamond. She twiddled her hooves at the silence that lingered between the two. There wasn’t really much for them to talk about, aside from what tomorrow might bring.
“So…” she spoke up, wanting to strike up a conversation. “I guess since we’re living together, that makes us sisters, right?”
“I guess,” said Diamond. “Well, step-sisters, technically.”
Blue squeed, pulling in her twin for a hug. “So what should we do now? Can we play hide-and-seek? Play video games again? Or maybe we can--”
Diamond Tiara yawned, pushing herself away. “Actually, Blue, dad’s right. It’s getting pretty late. I’m gonna head off to bed.” She hopped off her chair and headed upstairs for her room.
“O-Okay, ” Blue called after her. “Guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then!”
The night went by uneventfully. Filthy Rich had woken up at night to check on Diamond Tiara and Royal Blue to see if any side-effects had taken place during the hour. He was relieved to find that nothing had happened to them. When morning finally came around, he decided to head out, making his way through town to the library where Twilight resided in. He found it very convenient that she lived in town.
He knocked on the door once arriving, and after waiting a few minutes, it was answered by the unicorn she sought out. He found it very convenient that she resided in town. She had her saddlebags on; she was probably about to leave before he came by.
“Sorry to bother you,” said Rich, “but I need your help.”
“Sure thing.” Twilight stepped aside, inviting him in. “What do you need?”
“It’s about my daughter.”
“Is this about the Double?” Twilight asked.
“I want to know more about the spell, specifically if there are any side-effects from it.”
Twilight went over and grabbed a large book off one of the shelves. It was full of a number of spells passed down over the course of generations, a small few of which had already been mastered by the unicorn. She opened it and flipped through each page until she came across the spell in question. It was the same one that was on the scroll she showed to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon the day before.
She skimmed through the texts on the page, trying to find any indication of a side-effect in the spell. Her third read-through, however, failed to bring any results. “I’m sorry, Mister Filt-” she stopped herself when the stallion glared at her, “-I mean, Mister Rich, but I can’t find anything about side-effects.”
“Are you sure you can find anything?” Rich asked.
Twilight closed the book. “There’s really nothing here. I’m sorry. It’s possible that details could’ve been lost over time. I could do more research on it, if you like.”
Although it wouldn’t completely erase his concern, he would have to take it for now. He was confident, though; Twilight would pull through. “Thanks. That’d help.”
Diamond Tiara did say about showing Royal Blue the town this morning. Blue was excited for this, primarily about getting to spend an entire day with her twin. Ponyville was obviously much bigger than what she had seen so far, and Blue could only imagine what they might find.
“First thing’s first,” said Diamond, “we’re going by Silver Spoon’s house. And then we’ll get you more situated around here. After you nearly got lost trying to find your way to Sugarcube Corner yesterday, I figured it would be smart to make sure you know the basic layout of Ponyville.”
As Royal Blue continued to follow, listening anxiously to everything Diamond Tiara was telling her, a wonderful smell passed through her nose. She followed it, looking in the direction it was coming from, until she caught sight of a very delicious treat in the distance. A plate of cookies was set out in the open on a kiosk. A familiar smell told her that they were chocolate chip.
She felt her mouth beginning to water as she trotted closer to the cookies, the smell intensifying with each step she took.
“Then after that, we’ll take you over to--” Diamond Tiara stopped when she realised Royal Blue wasn’t following. Instead she noticed her Double standing in front of a baker’s kiosk and quickly made her way over, clearly frustrated with being ignored like this. “Blue, what’re you doing? This is important. You have to pay attention.”
“Can I have a cookie first? Pretty please~ ?” Blue put on her best innocent face, flashing her twin a smile in attempt to goad her into buying at least one of the baked goods. Diamond Tiara countered with a look on her own, wanting to get on with the makeshift tour. In the end, however, she caved.
Sighing, she looked up at the vendor. “How much?”
“Eh, how ‘bout two on the house, kid?” He passed two cookies towards Royal Blue and Diamond Tiara. The Double eagerly bit into her treat before finally following her mentor. As much as she was irritated at the trick that was pulled on her--one that she used on a regular basis, no less--Diamond Tiara had to admire her skill. Blue pulled it off brilliantly.
She felt a piece of paper crumple under her hoof and looked down to see that she had stepped on a poster. She picked it up; the front bared the picture of a horseshoe with a trio of stars lined up above it, and underneath was a picture of Rainbow Dash and Applejack.
Blue took a quick glance at it. “What is it?”
“Looks like some sort of contest.” Diamond Tiara read the information. “Iron Pony Competition; Come and see Applejack take on Rainbow Dash in a series of spectacular events. Location: Sweet Apple Acres.”
“A contest? That sounds like fun,” said Blue. “Can we go?”
“As if.” Diamond Tiara dropped the poster and continued on. “Seems like a dumb competition, anyway.”
“Oh, come on! It’ll be fun!” Blue tried to convince her twin. Watching the Iron Pony Competition could have been a great way for them to bond. “You won’t know if you don’t at least try.”
Diamond Tiara was still uninterested at the proposal. Blue galloped in front of her to block her path. “Okay. What’s it gonna take to get you to go?”
“Why’re you so bent on going?”
“Because it'd be fun. And I wanna watch it with you,” said Blue. “So can we go? Please? Pretty please? With a strawberry on top? Covered in fudge-”
“Alright!” Diamond Tiara would have to postpone their tour wait until later. She couldn’t find herself saying no, unless she wanted Blue to nag her about it the entire time. “Since you really want to go to this thing, we’ll go. But we’re stopping by Silver Spoon’s house, first.”
A pair of hooves wrapped around Diamond’s neck as Royal Blue pulled her into a hug. They continued on their way to Silver Spoon’s house; Royal Blue would not stop talking about the Iron Pony Competition, regardless of how much Diamond Tiara tried to ignore her.
They eventually arrived at Silver Spoon’s house. The three-story brick manor was almost as big as Diamond Tiara’s, although there seemed to be a bit more beauty put into the front yard than what they saw at home. They went passed the front, trotting down the stone path over towards the front door. Diamond knocked on it, and soon enough, it was opened up by the metallic gray filly in question.
“Hey, Di. I was just about to come over.” Silver Spoon stepped outside, closing the door behind her. “What brings you two around here?”
“We’re going over by Sweet Apple Acres,” Diamond Tiara told her.
She raised an eyebrow. “For what?”
“Some competition that’s being held over there. Blue really wants to go, and I promised I’d take her. So, are you coming?”
“Sure.” Silver Spoon nodded. “That sounds like fun.”
“Then what’re we waiting for?” Royal Blue grabbed the both of them, pulling them off the porch, and sprinted towards the gate, telling them to hurry up all the while. It didn’t take long for them to catch up to her; Blue was standing by the front gate. She had no idea where Sweet Apple Acres was.
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon guided her through town. She would not stop talking about the Iron Pony Competition, saying how fun it was that the three of them were going to watch it together. They noticed posters hanging across town, all of them mentioning the contest in Sweet Apple Acres. It must have been really well-known over town.
The trio finally arrived at the orchard; they could hear cheering from the front gates as they trotted down the dirt path and saw a large crowd of ponies off in the distance, gathered further into the farm. A large scoreboard had been set, and it was maintained by a yellow pegasus with a wavy pink mane.
“It looks like the entire town’s here,” said Silver Spoon. She didn’t expect one small competition to garner the attention of everyone in Ponyville. She even saw a few cheerleaders performing.
They made their way over, pushing to the front of the crowd to catch a better sight of the competition. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were trotting through a small pond of mud, each pony having a group of chicks on their backs, though it seemed like the ones on Applejack were getting irritated as mud splashed on their feathers.
They anxiously jumped ship, hopping onto Rainbow Dash’s back. She had her wings spread open, keeping the chicks clean as she made her way to the end of the mud pond. The crowd cheered as their winner was announced; Rainbow hovered off the ground, giving victory poses as the ponies called her name.
Royal Blue joined in, cheering Rainbow’s name along with every pony in the area. She looked over at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. “Wasn’t that awesome?”
“They were just galloping through the mud,” said Diamond Tiara.
“And we didn’t even get to see all of it,” Silver added.
“But it was awesome, right ? You have to admit it was kinda cool!” Blue let out a squee as she stared at them.
Diamond Tiara glanced at Silver Spoon. “Sure~ , Blue. Now can we go?”
“We can’t leave!” Blue replied with urgency present in her voice. “The contest isn’t even over yet. Come on, Tiara, you promised.”
“Alright, alright. Okay.” Diamond Tiara sighed again. “We’ll stay, but only for one more event.”
The trio followed the crowd to another section of the farm where another one of the events was being held. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were competing to see who could do the most push ups. Rainbow managed to get the upper hand, using her wings to gain leverage for the win.
Despite what Diamond Tiara said earlier, the three of them decided to stay and witness the other remaining events. There were not that many left in the Iron Pony Competition, and Diamond Tiara slowly found herself enjoying the show in contrast to her earlier thoughts. Rainbow Dash seemed to be gaining more ground as she slowly began catching up with Applejack. Before long, the two ponies were tied for the lead.
Diamond Tiara left a few bits on the merchant’s kiosk after purchasing snacks for her, Silver Spoon, and Royal Blue. They were waiting patiently for the next event to start. It looked like the last one before either mare would be crowned the Iron Pony.
“What do you girls think of the competition so far?” asked Silver Spoon.
“It’s amazing! I’m so glad we came,” said Royal Blue.
Diamond Tiara took a sip of her juice box and gave a shrug. “Eh… It’s alright. Nothing spectacular or anything.”
“Oh, come on, Di.” Royal Blue gave her a playful nudge on her shoulder. “You love it here. I know you do.”
Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes, trying to ignore her Double. Blue was right on it, though. Diamond never figured she would grow an interest in the Iron Pony Competition, despite what she said before coming to the farm. Silver Spoon tapped her shoulder and pointed over to her right. “Pest at two o’clock,” she whispered.
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo sat together on a log a little way a little ways off, enjoying the ongoing competition that was going on. Diamond Tiara gave a half-smile when she saw them. She still had the memory of when they upstaged her at her own cute-ceañera etched into her mind. “If you ask me, I think it’s time for a little payback.”
They started towards the three fillies, though not before Royal Blue hurried to block their path. Diamond Tiara moved to get past her with no avail.“Get out of the way.”
“No.” Blue blocked her for the seventh time, preventing her from continuing on with her mission. “Don’t go. Please.”
“What’s your problem?” asked Diamond.
“I don’t want to see you hurt again?”
Diamond Tiara raised an eyebrow. “What do you--?”
“Back at your cute-ceañera after they yelled at you, you looked so sad. And I’ll never be able to get that image out of my head. We came here to have fun, not pick a fight. So can we please do that?” She gave Diamond a pair of big eyes for the third time. “Please ? This is will is the last time I'll say please. I promise.”
Diamond Tiara opened her mouth, but closed it again. She looked at the Cutie Mark Crusaders and back at Royal Blue. She still seemed bent on keeping Tiara from going through with it. “Fine,” Diamond finally said. “You’re right. We’re not gonna start a scene.”
Blue flashed a cheerful smile. “Really? So… I’m right?”
“That’s what I said, wasn’t it?” Tiara placed her arm around Blue. “We’re not gonna mess with them this time. I promise. Tomorrow, maybe. But today, it’s just gonna be me, you, and Silver Spoon.”
“Yeah!”
They noticed the crowd moving towards another part of the farm, following after Rainbow Dash and Applejack. “The next competition’s about to start,” said Royal Blue. “Let’s go!” She grabbed Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, and pulled her along with the crowd.
With the last event over, the Iron Pony Competition came to an exciting close. In the end, Rainbow Dash had been crowned the champion over a disgruntled Applejack. The farmpony did not take her loss passively, though, accusing her pegasus rival of cheating the entire time. The standoff concluded with them challenging one another to a race, during the Running of the Leaves.
Royal Blue trotted alongside Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon as they departed from Sweet Apple Acres amongst the rapidly depleting crowd. Rainbow Dash flew overhead, leaving a rainbow trail behind as she zoomed across the blue sky.
“That was fun,” said Blue. “Can we see the Running of the Leaves next?”
“Maybe ,” replied Diamond Tiara, putting more emphasis on the word. “Only if we’re not busy. I already had to change a bunch of our plans just so we can see that competition like you wanted.”
“Oh… Sorry.” Blue laughed innocently.
Diamond Tiara put a hoof around her shoulder. “It’s not your fault,” she said. I’m glad you had fun, at least.”
“I sure did!” Blue wrapped her hooves around both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. “Thanks for taking me, you two. It was a blast seeing the competition when we could.”
“Don’t mention it,” said Silver Spoon.
“And,” Blue continued, “that purple dragon I saw there was kinda cute.”
Silver and Diamond Tiara gave questioning glances at each other as Royal Blue trotted past them. “Purple dragon?” Diamond inquired.
Royal Blue nodded and grinned sheepishly, looking back at the fillies behind her. “Yeah. I don’t know why, but for some reason, I kept getting this strange feeling in my gut whenever I saw him.” She took a moment to think on it, but shrugged it off in the end. She figured it was nothing serious as she cantered down the street, humming a tune to herself.
Diamond Tiara was left staring after her, almost unable to produce any words. “Is she really…?”
“Honestly, I don’t think she notices, herself,” Silver Spoon stated. “Come on. We better catch up to her before she gets too far. We don’t want her getting lost, do we?”
“You’re right,” Tiara said in agreement.
