Diamond Tiara of The Royal Guard

Diamond Tiara opened her eyes, blinking.

She was... floating?

Looking around, she took in what was around her. There was a lot, but nothing very helpful. In one direction (up? There was nothing that gave her a sense of direction), was what looked like the night sky. A swirling mass of black, mixed with dark blues and purples, sprinkled with tiny dots of bright white light. In another direction was something kind of odd. It looked like rainbow colored clouds. Not a singular cloud with all the colors of the rainbow, but numerous clouds, each of a different hue. There was no sun, no moon, and no ground, that she could see.

"Am... am I... dead?"

"No."

The sound of another voice made Diamond Tiara tense, turning to look for the source. The attempt sent her spinning like she was in the middle of a playground merry-go-round.

"Well, not yet anyways," the voice continued. It sounded familiar. "It's more like limbo."

A pink aura of magic wrapped around her, stopping the spinning.

"You're not dead, but you're on the brink. Right now, anything could happen to send you one way or the other."

Diamond Tiara was turned to face a specific direction before being released from the magical aura. Her eyes went wide and jaw dropped at the sight.

Standing (?) in front of her were four ponies: three mares and a filly. Strangely, they all looked similar to her.

The filly was her. She had seen that face in the mirror and in photos enough to recognize her when she was younger. Even had the tiara she used to wear. If the scowl and glare were any indication, she was not happy.

The next one looked... older. Not simply older than the filly of Diamond Tiara, but older than she was now. This version was dressed in a well tailored suit jacket, complete with a collared white shirt and red tie. Her mane was pulled back in a bun, a few short strands covering her forehead. The namesake accessory was still in place as well. She stared at Diamond Tiara over the rims of her eyeglasses.

The third was the most surprising she had seen. This version of herself was tall. Nearly as tall as Princess Luna, if not Celestia. The tiara had been replaced by a full, silver crown that was accessorized by a chest plate with a tiara etched into it and gleaming silver hoof covers. A horn protruded from her forehead. The long mane and tail swayed and shifted with ethereal energy, the pale lavender and white mixing with baby blues and pastel pinks. Wings laid folded against her side. Her nose was tilted up in the air as she looked down it at Diamond Tiara.

The final of the group was dressed in the armor of the royal guard. Her mane was hidden by a helmet, and one eye was covered by a patch. Numerous bald slash marks crisscrossed her face, neck, and legs. A captain's insignia marked her collar, and a sheathed sword rested against her side.

"You... you look like me," Diamond Tiara sputtered out.

"Really?" Filly Tiara said with a roll of her eyes. "When do I, like, become so stupid?"

"We are you," Business Tiara stated. "Parts of you, actually. Reflections of yourself and parts of your personality."

"Okay," Diamond Tiara said with a nod. "So I get that she --" she pointed at the filly "-- is supposed to be me when I was younger and I'm guessing that she --" she pointed at the scarred captain "-- is probably me as a guard."

"Correct," Scarred Tiara stated. "The scars are kind of new, but considering Aura and the manticore, it's understandable."

"But who are you two supposed to be?" Diamond Tiara asked, motioning at Business Tiara and Princess Tiara.

"I," Business Tiara said, "am how you picture yourself after taking over Barnyard Bargains for your father. A successful business mare who has made things bigger, better, and more profitable than ever..." her eyes narrowed. "... Even if it meant that some ponies had to pay for it." She grinned, looking more like a shark than a pony.

"And I," Princess Tiara said, her voice echoing with power, "am who you should become. Princess. Ruler, not only of Equestria, but of the entire world. The most powerful and influential pony to ever exist."

Diamond Tiara let out a snort and rolled her eyes. Now that she heard that, she kind of remembered thinking of herself like that. Shortly after Twilight Sparkle had managed to ascend to princess. When Diamond Tiara had learned about that, she had begun to fantasize about becoming a princess. Then she would take over as Princess of all of Equestria. After taming the dragons and making them serve her, she would go on to take over The Crystal Empire, the Griffon Kingdom, Saddle Arabia, and on and on, until all nations were under her rule.

"Fine," Diamond Tiara said. "So, what is this all about?"

"It's about you!" Filly Tiara snapped. "You need to stop this stupid idea of becoming a guard. It's already started to ruin our beautiful appearance with that hideous scar on our snout. And why the buck are you dating Apple Bloom? What could you possibly see in that no good, fat, formerly blank flank bi-"

The rest of the rant was cut off as Princess Tiara's magic encompassed the filly's muzzle, holding it shut.

"Our younger self," Princess Tiara stated, "did touch on the matter, albeit momentarily."

"If you survive this," Scarred Tiara added, "you have a choice ahead of you when you regain consciousness. Are you going to stay in the guard, continue to risk your life, and possibly keep getting hurt? Not doing so would also mean giving up on trying to help others so much and possibly making amends for what you did when you were her." She pointed at the filly.

"You should quit," Business Tiara said. "You have already been injured in training, and nearly killed in what was supposed to be your first mission. This is foolish and dangerous. Our dad is alrea-"

Everything went black. No stars, no clouds, no other ponies. Nothing. She was just floating in a void.

Something solid and cold pressed against the underside of her hooves. Looking down, Diamond Tiara saw what looked to be some sort of path, floating in the darkness. It was made of ice, or some sort of crystal, or something. A glowing red orb of light pulsed through it, passing underneath Diamond Tiara and continuing down the path.

Seeing no other choice, Diamond Tiara began to walk along it. She watched the path as she went, not really having much else to look at. As she did, an orange orb pulsed through. Afterwards came a yellow one. Then a green, followed by blue and finally a purple one before going to red again. Curious, Diamond Tiara tried counting off the seconds between each pulse, but the number always came out different. She was able to establish something of a base, since she never managed to reach a count of twenty.

With no reference for time or distance, she had no idea how long she walked along the path or how far. For all she knew, Diamond Tiara could have been walking in place hours. As a result, it was actually a relief when she saw something up ahead. She was so excited, her pace began to pick up. Running seemed like a bad idea considering the smoothness of the path and the nothingness around her, but it was difficult to resist at least picking up the pace a little more.

Reaching it, Diamond Tiara stopped to look at it.

It was... a door. An ordinary, everyday, plain looking door. Reaching up, she tapped at it. The sound of her hoof knocking on wood came back. After several more seconds with nothing happening, Diamond Tiara tried the knob. The door opened with ease, but she saw nothing.

Well, it seemed her choices were to either go in and find out what happened next, stand there for Celestia knows how long, or head back the way she came and see what -- if anything -- was on the other end of the path (if there was one).

With a deep breath, she stepped forward and passed through the doorway.

It was a classroom. There were desks for students, another for the teacher, even a chalkboard , which had Miss Cheerilee written on it in an easily legible cursive.

"Ponyville Elementary," Diamond Tiara whispered to herself as she walked further into the classroom. Making her way through, she headed up one of the aisles until she reached what had once been her desk (if she actually remembered where she sat). It was as she moved to sit in the seat that she noticed something odd. The desk was the correct size for her. Not for when she was a filly, but now. All the same, she sat in it, waiting like when she was a filly and class was about to start.

"This was it," the voice of Filly Tiara said from beside the desk. "I ruled here. The others feared and worshiped me. They wanted my approval. They wanted my time and attention. They lived in fear of my anger and rejection. I was pretty much a princess here, and none stood in my way. Not even Miss Cheerilee."

"Is that how you remember it?" Diamond Tiara asked, raising an eyebrow toward her younger self.

"Duh," Filly Tiara said with a roll of her eyes. "Like, how do you remember it?"

Diamond Tiara sighed and looked forward again.

Like phantoms, translucent colorful forms started to appear. The shifted and shimmered, taking on the shapes of her teacher and former classmates.

At the sound of the bell ringing, the students got up and started for the door. As they went, they started falling into their own little groups, talking excitedly with each other. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Snips and Snails, Twist and Archer, and so on, and so on.

"Lonely," Diamond Tiara stated. She waved a hoof at the leaving foals. "Look at them. They don't want to hang out with us. They don't want to bask in our wealth and power. They don't care what we have to say, so long as they aren't the target of whatever toxic venom we want to spew."

The room grew darker, the wood warping and rotting around them. The ghost-like ponies vanished. All except one: a dark grey filly with a lighter grey mane and tail, wearing a necklace and glasses.

"We had one friend," Diamond Tiara continued, "one real friend who wanted to hang out with us.

"So what did we do? Pretend we didn't care. Claim they weren't hanging out with us because we rejected them. They weren't cool enough or whatever."

"Speaking of 'what-ever,'" Filly Tiara replied, "I'm tired of listening to this." She let out a huff and rolled her eyes. "When did I become such a whiner?"

With that, the filly version of Diamond Tiara and the phantasmic Silver Spoon vanished. The classroom turned gray, then black and white. It continued to fade, becoming less like reality and more like a pencil drawing: nothing but dark lines. These too faded and disappeared until all that remained was Diamond Tiara and her desk.

That too soon vanished, being replaced by a blanket.

There was a knocking sound. Before Diamond Tiara could respond, a door opened.

"Hey sweetie," Diamond Tiara's mom said as she entered the room, grinning. "How is my little filly doing?"

Diamond Tiara's jaw dropped as her eyes went wide. What was her mother doing here? The last time she her mother was...

"That's wonderful," Tiara's mother said, moving closer. "Listen. Mommy is going to be going away on a long trip, m'kay? I've decided to go to Manehattan and become a fashion designer."

With a smile, she adjusted her hair.

"Now, I know you're going to miss me, but don't worry, m'kay? Once everything is up and running, I can come back to Ponyville and the fashionistas will all come to me. In the mean time, I'll write to you every week, and you will get to come and visit me in the summer. Doesn't that sound wonderful?"

"It would be," a voice that sounded like Diamond Tiara called out, "if it had ever happened."

Business Tiara walked around from the other side of the bed, stopping just inches from her (their?) mother and glaring at her.

"Well, mommy has to get going. Have a train for Manehattan to catch. Mommy loves you. Be good for daddy while I'm gone, m'kay?" Still smiling, she turned and headed back through the door, leaving it open behind her.

"And like that," Business Tiara said, "we never saw her again. Sure, she'll write for a while, but this was the last time we actually saw mom."

"I'm dying, aren't I?" Diamond Tiara asked.

"...what?" Business Tiara raised an eyebrow, turning to look at Diamond Tiara curiously.

"I'm dying," Diamond Tiara repeated. "They say that when you die, your life flashes before your eyes. That's what's happening, isn't it? I'm laying in the forest, dying, my life is flashing before my eyes, and you're some sort of spirit or something that is trying to help me in some weird way."

Business Tiara stared at Diamond Tiara for a long moment, studying her. She then started laughing.

"Of course," she said between laughs. "The one pony that would comfort you the most in your last minutes would be you. There's that old ego that helped get us through so much trouble."

"And into it," Diamond Tiara mumbled.

"But no," Business Tiara continued. "I'm not some disguised version of the reaper. I am seriously the part of you that thinks you should leave the guard and go work for you dad at Barnyard Bargains. Because we are a skilled and competent business pony that deserves to be the head of a business. We can, and will do great things with Barnyard Bargains. We can make it bigger, better, and more profitable than even dad can imagine."

She let out a sigh, ears dropping.

"Besides, we owe it to him. Raising us, loving us, trying to be a good father even while running his business..."

Before Diamond Tiara could respond, everything went white. Pain shot through out her entire body (for lack of a better term), causing her to scream out in pain. Everything except Business Tiara came back.

There was another agonizing flash of pain as everything turned burning white.

Everything went black.