Diamond Tiara of The Royal Guard

Ponyville was in danger.

Timberwolves had left The Everfree Forest and were now attacking multiple farms, including Sweet Apple Acres. Changelings had surrounded the town hall, holding the mayor and others civil service ponies hostage. Parasprites were in the market, eating all the food and multiplying like mad. A twenty foot tall pale gray-purple coated mare was eating Sugarcube Corner.

On a hill, looking down at the town, stood Captain Diamond Tiara. Her long, luxurious purple and white mane swayed in the breeze. Her golden armor gleamed in the sunlight, shining like a beacon. Her eyes narrowed as she watched the dangers that were threatening to destroy her home town. Scowling, she drew her sword.

"Alright soldiers," She called out as she turned to face the other ponies. "Ponyville is in danger, and Princess Twilight and her friends are away. That means -- " she drew her sword and raised it above her head "-- it's up to us to save the day."

A round of cheers came from the crowd.

"We will show them," she continued. "We will be swift, we will be brutal, we will be victorious. We will teach them what ponies can do, and they will learn the true meaning of the word fear. They will learn what The Diamond Cutters can do!"

Turning back around, Diamond Tiara looked at the devastation that was happening to her town. The scarred side of her mouth quirked up into a sneer. Drawing her sword, she pointed toward Ponyville.

"CHARGE!" she bellowed. With a roar, the armored ponies started to run forward.

At Sweet Apple Acres, Apple Bloom stood against the wall of the barn with Babs Seed lying unconscious across her back. Bloom glared at at the timberwolves from one eye, the other swollen shut. Her mane had become disheveled, the ribbon mostly untied and just barely holding on.

"C'mon ya walking piles of firewood!" she shouted. "I'll turn you into a pile of lumber and build a new barn out of you."

One of the timberwolves let out a roar. It took a step forward, jaws wide as it bared its fangs at the mare in front of it.

Apple Bloom glared at the creature, not blinking. Looking up at the sky, she let out a gasp, her eye going wide.

Diamond Tiara jumped high into the air, becoming a silhouette against the sun. Her sword gleamed as she drew it from the sheath. With a ferocious snarl, she came down, swinging her blade to slice right through the timberwolf's neck in a single stroke. Diamond Tiara turned her back to the creature, holding the position she landed in as it exploded behind her.

Apple Bloom let out a gasp, her eyes going wide as they filled with hearts. She ran to Diamond Tiara -- flowing red gown and mane swaying behind her -- and threw her front legs around the other mare's neck.

"Oh, Diamond Tiara," Bloom cried out, throwing a foreleg across her forehead. "I was so frightened. I was sure that I was about to be eaten."

She grabbed Tiara in a hug once more.

"I knew you would save me," Bloom continued. "Now, we can get married."

Diamond Tiara pulled Apple Bloom away. The sun reflected off the mirrored lenses of Tiara's glasses. She ran a hoof across Bloom's cheek before stroking through the long red mane.

"Wish that I could, my dear apple blossom," Tiara stated. She turned away, red cape flapping in the wind as the sunset behind her.

"Alas, Ponyville still needs me." She looked over her shoulder at Bloom. "What kind of heroic guard captain would I be if I were to leave all those poor innocent ponies defenseless?"

With that, she walked off into the sunset, heading toward Ponyville.

"Come back to me," Apple Bloom called out after her. Stopping, Diamond Tiara turned to look at Apple Bloom from under the brim of her beat up brown fedora.

"Don't worry, little lady." Tiara gave a smirk. "I would fight my way out of the deepest, darkest pits of Tartarus itself to get back to you."

With that, she turned and ran toward Ponyville.

Dozens of changelings hovered around the exterior of town hall. They flew at doors that refused to open, and windows that had been boarded up.

"Mayor," one of the changelings hissed. "Your town is ours. Surrender! Or we will be forced to bring the building down on top of you." It then waited for a reply.

The silence was interrupted by the sound of the air being sliced. Before the changelings could react, an arrow struck one in the shoulder. A wheeze of air escaped from the wound as the changeling deflated like a balloon before dropping to the ground.

The other changelings turned to look at the source of the arrow.

Standing on the roofs of one of the nearby buildings was Diamond Tiara. She stood there in a black and purple jumpsuit, bow in hoof and pointed toward the crowd. Her eyes narrowed as she watched the changelings through her purple tinted glass lenses.

"Diamond Tiara," the first changeling said, "we meet again." His eyes narrowed as he smirked. "How is the knee?"

"Little stiff," Diamond Tiara replied, "but not too bad." She quirked an eyebrow. "How's your balls?"

The changeling snarled out, his face turning bright red.

"Forget the mayor," he shouted. "Get her!"

The other changelings let out a hiss of confirmation and charged toward the building, aiming directly for the pony.

Diamond Tiara stood there, a grin spreading across her face. Turning the bow to hold it sideways, she pulled three arrows from her quiver, and fired them all simultaneously.

Each of the shots struck, hitting a different changeling. They let out squeals of pain as they were shot, grasping at the wound and plummeting to the ground below. Each one of them struck the earth with a thud, leaving a smoking crater behind.

"Now for you," Diamond Tiara called out as she turned to face the lead changeling once again. Pulling out another arrow, she took careful aim, and fired.

The changeling -- unblinking -- reached out with one hoof and snatched the arrow out of the air in front of him. He narrowed his eyes at Diamond Tiara, a slow chuckle forming in his throat.

The arrow exploded, sending the changeling flying.

Diamond Tiara laughed as she turned her back from the scene, leaping off the roof and heading toward Sugarcube Corner. She stopped, eyes going wide as she recognized the giant pony that was currently taking another bite out of the gingerbread style building.

"These are delicious," the giant sized Aura said around a mouthful food. "Too bad I can't ask you who made them."

*****

Diamond Tiara moved to sit as she woke up, blinking away the sleep as she looked around.

Aura sat on her bed, a box in her lap and a smile on her face. She pulled out a cookie that looked like it had a rainbow shimmer to it, and took a bite.

"You bitch!" Diamond Tiara shouted, jumping from her cot and over to Aura. "Those are my cookies."

Aura grinned.

"And what are you going to do about it?" she asked before shoving the rest of the cookie in her mouth.

Snarling, Diamond Tiara reared up on her hind legs and slammed one of her front hooves directly into Aura's nose. The impact sent the struck mare falling back over her bed, the empty box launching into the air before falling to the ground.

Diamond Tiara's eyes went wide, her jaw dropping.

"You... you ate... all of them?!"

Aura moved to get back up, blood running from her nose. She wiped some of it away with her front leg.

"Yeah," she said, "and they were delicious." She narrowed her eyes into a glare. "What are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to make sure you never eat a cookie again," Diamond Tiara growled before yelling: "because when I'm done with you, you're going to be eating through a bucking straw!"

Roaring, Diamond Tiara lunged at Aura. With a yelp, Aura bucked the side of the cot, knocking it into Diamond Tiara's chest to throw her off balance.

Once she regained her balance, Diamond Tiara jumped over the remains of the cot and lunged at Aura. The two rolled across the floor, yelling at each other. Punches were thrown at faces. Kicks were aimed for stomach and ribs. Their manes were too short to grab, so no pulling was done.

So instead, Diamond Tiara bit down on one of Aura's ears. Getting a squeal of surprise and pain, she bit harder and yanked, causing a shriek of pain. The warm, salty copper taste of blood touched her tongue.

Diamond Tiara grinned around the ear and pulled harder. She may not actually be able to tear it off at the base, but she was going to try her damnedest.

A foreleg wrapped around Diamond Tiara's neck and squeezed, pressing against her throat and threatening to cut off her air supply. The need to breathe made her open her mouth and gasp. As soon as she let go of Aura's ear, Diamond Tiara was thrown. Her back slammed against the concrete floor, causing a bolt of pain to explode through her spine.

"What in the name of Tartarus is going on here?"

Both Diamond Tiara and Aura looked up to see the glare of the drill sergeant. Slowly, the two formerly fighting mares looked around, realizing that all the other ponies in the barracks were awake and staring at them.

"It's her fault!" they both shouted, pointing an accusing hoof at the other.