I Fall Through

by Fluttercheer

Rating: teen
Tags: Diamond Tiara, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Granny Smith, Mystery, Filthy Rich, Spoiled Rich, Horror
Length: 11899

In the darkness of her nightly bedroom, Diamond Tiara hears a voice whispering to her. A persistent voice, telling her important things, but speaking in riddles. Diamond Tiara was needed, but she only had five nights to help.

Late at night, Diamond Tiara hears a voice. It talks to her, whispers into her ears, but she does not know what the voice wants from her.
The voice is familiar to her and yet at the same time alien. Scary, yet comforting.
And, most importantly, it is persistent. Clearly, the voice has to tell her very important things, but it speaks in riddles.
Behind that voice is a gruesome truth, but also an opportunity. An opportunity to change events and the lives of ponies.
Diamond Tiara has five nights to help. Five nights, no more.

The cover picture belongs to Arceus55.

Published 2016-10-31 23:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-10-31 23:00:01 UTC

Chapter 1

Night 1

Lying under her blanket, Diamond Tiara was about to fall asleep. She yawned, while her mind resumed the events of the day. If the term “events” was even accurate, she mused. Because, in fact, it was a rather uneventful day.

There was school. There was mother bickering and complaining and pulling her to pieces, unsatisfied with her grades lately. Which were good, better than they used to be even, but something her mother didn't know was satisfaction.

Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes, then she turned on her left side and nestled her head into the pillow, grabbing her blanket even tighter.
She was facing the window now. The moon shone outside, casting its silvery light through her window, but also casting scary shadows of the tree in front of it.

Diamond Tiara's mind began to wander. She imagined other places in Ponyville at this time of night, places where the moon was casting similar shadows from trees, houses, mailboxes and how those shadows looked. She wondered if there were any fillies still outside, trotting through the night, on the way home perhaps, and getting scared by those shadows. Diamond Tiara tried to imagine their frightened and terrified faces, how they screamed in fear and ran away, believing they were chased by demons or ghosts or maybe some otherworldly being from the Everfree Forest. Only to realize how silly they were once they had gotten back into their safe houses, wrapped up by their loved ones before eating dinner and then going to bed as well.

Of course. Diamond Tiara chuckled. Of course it were always just the shadows at night that scared little fillies. Shadows, maybe some creepy sounds caused by loose window shutters or creaking doors, scary animal noises..... But nothing more than that. There were no demons or ghosts. Sure thing, ponies liked to share tales about such creatures and entities on Nightmare Night, but in the end, this was just entertainment. Scary entertainment, but appropriate for the scariest night of the year. “Sometimes it's just fun to be scared!”, as Pinkie Pie would say.

Diamond Tiara giggled as she thought of the pink party mare. She held a hoof to her mouth as she felt the giggle growing louder, to not wake up her parents.

Her mind wandered to another thought, precisely, to the cute-ceañera of her three former enemies, and now friends, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, that happened a couple months ago. It was the biggest party she had ever seen in her life, bigger than her own cute-ceañera even! And, aside from her newfound friends, Pinkie Pie was really nice to her during the celebration as well. This probably wasn't a big deal, she figured, as Pinkie Pie was nice to everypony. It was hard to imagine that this pink mare could hold grudges against anypony. And yet, it still meant something to Diamond Tiara. Not as much as it meant to her that she gained the friendship of the three fillies she used to torment, something she secretly longed for in rare moments, but it was still a good feeling to get it demonstrated that she was not the heartless bully anymore now.

And her three new friends, to whose friendship she still wasn't used to, were indeed responsible for the only exciting things that had happened on this otherwise mundane day. They were chatting during lunch break at school and later they had invited her into their clubhouse. Such invitations happened often since they became friends, but she was not able to follow them as often as she would have liked to so far. Of course, mother was always against it, so she had to be clever and could only come to the clubhouse once her mother wasn't in town or if she could think of another excuse to explain why she came home late from school.

Diamond Tiara sighed into the pillow. She was at the verge of lamenting the bad fate she had with this “dragon” of a mother, as she called her in secret lately. But when she felt her tiredness slowly creeping up on her mind, she decided against this and instead, closed her eyes. There was no point in lamenting something she couldn't change, especially if it would mean to rob her off of her beauty sleep.

Diamond Tiara yawned again, then she focused her mind on the thick blanket of sleep that fell over her body. It felt heavy, but also comfortable. She smacked her lips in contentment and welcomed the sleep that would soon whisk her away into the realm of dreams.....

AAAAAAAAAAAAAH! HELP ME, I'M FALLING!

As opposed to the slow pace with which they had fallen shut moments earlier, Diamond Tiara's eyes shot open very quickly as the terrifying shriek pierced through her ears.

The filly sat up in bed, frantically looking around. “Who is there?” she asked in agitation, her eyes darting around to find the source of the scream. No one answered, of course. Her blanket grabbed tightly, Diamond Tiara looked across the room, trying to see through the darkness and scanning every spot.

As she saw that no one was here, she set her eyes on the window. She couldn't see anyone outside. The only thing that was different to the moment before was that the tree outside was now screeching over the window with one of its branches, creating an eerie sound. The moon shone still as brightly as before. It was a quiet night again and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

As her nerves calmed down, the obvious explanation entered Diamond Tiara's mind as it opened itself to rational thoughts again. Nonchalantly, she wiped some sweat off of her forehead, then sank back into her pillow. “Seems like there really are some fillies still outside at this time.....” she muttered to herself.

Diamond Tiara was actually not sure if the shriek sounded like it came from another filly, it had entered her tired ears so suddenly that it could have been anyone, really, but this explanation put her at ease more than the scary ones her mind came up with due to the fear she felt.

She shook her head. “It's silly!” she exclaimed strongly. “There aren't any ghosts here. Our mansion was never haunted, so why it would be now? Stop being ridiculous, Diamond Tiara!” The last sentence gave her a shudder. That she almost sounded like mother as she spoke it out scared her more than the scream from just now. Yet, she shrugged. This was probably better than not being able to fall asleep because of some silly fear of a ghost that didn't exist. At least for the time being.....

Feeling at ease again, Diamond Tiara closed her eyes once more, now lying on her back. Her hooves were grabbing the blanket in a tighter grip than she wanted to admit to herself now, but she concentrated on the sleep that was coming over her a second time.
She noticed her breaths becoming steadier and could feel that, just in a few seconds, she would finally be fast asleep, as she suddenly sensed something.

A cold feeling was washing over her chest, a fear that was different than the one the scream had put her in. Diamond Tiara shuddered. There was something else. To her left. Somepony stood there. Her eyes were still closed, but she could clearly feel its presence. The rich filly clattered with her teeth.

“I-Is anypony here?” she then gathered the courage to ask, but still not daring to open her eyes.

There was no answer. Not from her left, not from anywhere else.

Taking in a deep breath, Diamond Tiara opened her eyes and looked quickly to the left, all in quick movement. Nopony stood there. There were the window and the moonlight and the branch still screeching over the glass. There was her nightstand, with the small lantern on top. There was the rug on the floor, but, as Diamond Tiara could see in the moonlight that was spread out over it, nopony stood on it and neither was it in disarray. It was as smooth as ever. There was no doubt. Nopony was here.

Diamond turned her head to face the ceiling again and breathed a relieved sigh as she realized that it was just her agitated mind that played tricks on her. Content once again, she closed her eyes a third time in this night, hoping that she would now finally fall asleep and get rest.

Sinking!

A wave of panic collapsing on her, Diamond Tiara sat up again. This time, there was no mistaking it..... Somepony had whispered into her left ear! She couldn't feel the movement of lips, but somepony was clearly whispering to her and she felt a cold breath at her ear for a moment.

“Who is there?!” she asked again into the darkness, louder this time. And now, there was an answer, although not one like Diamond Tiara expected.

A faint, vibrating sound was in the air. It did not stay at one spot. In one moment it was to her left, then to her right, then above her head. She could hear it at the window, then in front of her wardrobe, at the door, then suddenly right in front of her face, then it was at the window again..... The sound constantly moved its position and mixed in with the vibrating, she could hear the ringing of bells, very faint as well. And, alternating with these two combined sounds, there was a whispering voice.

Careful!

Then it stopped speaking and the strange aura of sounds moved to another place in her room, where the voice whispered to her again.

The ground!

Diamond Tiara's ears had perked up by now. The eerie voice was making her whole body stiff and she felt unable to move. Despite her fear, her nervous mind noticed that the voice was never speaking in full sentences. The whispering sounded choppy and at points it seemed like it wanted to say more, but couldn't.

Diamond!

Diamond Tiara gulped. The fear overwhelmed her, but she also knew that she had to get to the bottom of this! With quivering lips, she asked “A-are you talking about me?”

Yes!

Now, Diamond Tiara bit on her lips. “W-What do you want from me?”

Diamond! Not trust.....

“What d-do you mean?”

Suddenly, there was silence. As quick as they had appeared in the air, as quick were the sounds gone now. The voice did not answer anymore.

Diamond Tiara kept sitting still, all her senses still in alarm mode. She waited for the voice to return. Minutes passed, but nothing came. Her mind began to feel sleepy again and her eyelids became heavy. Doubt started to settle in.

“Was this real?” Diamond Tiara asked herself aloud. The question became distorted by a yawn. She rubbed her eyes. The fear still lingered in her mind, but despite that, sleep was falling on her even heavier than before now. The scared filly tried to fight it, at unease with the thought that some more sudden whispers in her ear could awake her again, but all her efforts were for naught. Just a few seconds later, she had fallen into a deep slumber.....

The next thing that Diamond Tiara could remember were the bright rays of the sun shining through her window. She blinked away the blinding light until she was used to it, then went out of her bed and made herself ready for the day. Even though she was still not sure if all of the strange things really happened last night, or if all was just a dream, she had decided to tell her parents about them. Unfortunately, she was not met with belief.

Spoiled Rich was the first who spoke after Diamond Tiara had finished telling what happened last night.

“Ridiculous.” She rolled her eyes slightly.

Diamond Tiara shot her a subtle glare, but Spoiled Rich continued undeterred.

“Isn't it bad enough already that you associate with those uncivilized.....” Her words trailed off for a moment. “Those..... Those 'Cutie Mark Crusaders'.” She practically spat out the name of their club on the plate in front of her. “An obnoxious, impertinent brat whose name only means something because of her famous fashionista sister, a crippled pegasus that is good for nothing and a dirty filly that lives on an apple farm with her incestuous hillbilly family..... Do they even start to put nonsense like ghosts into your head now?” She huffed.

Diamond Tiara's face became red as she heard what her mother said about Apple Bloom, both because of the obvious insult aimed at her friend and the implications the word “incestuous” carried.

Filthy Rich reacted to the remark of his wife as well. As he heard her words about the youngest offspring of the Apple Family, he raised an eyebrow, yet left it at that and instead, he referred to what their daughter had just told them.

“Spoiled,” he slowly began “I don't think that our Diamond Tiara is inventing all of this. I'm sure she is telling us the truth and really had a nightmare like this.”

“Nightmare?” Diamond Tiara looked at him in disbelief. “But this really happened, daddy! I was not asleep!”

Spoiled Rich ignored her objection. “Maybe,” she dryly replied to her husband.

Only then she addressed her daughter. “Listen, Diamond, ghosts don't exist,” she explained to her, her voice suddenly being gentle now that she didn't talk about Diamond's new friends anymore.

The words did not have the intended effect on Diamond Tiara, though. Retelling the events of last night had brought the horror back into her mind and now she was sitting there, her body trembling and her teeth clattering same as last night. Even a few tears appeared in the corner of her eyes.

Her dad noticed and reached out to her to comfort his daughter, but before he could do anything, it was Spoiled Rich who was suddenly at Diamond Tiara's side and wrapped her up in a tight hug.

Diamond Tiara gasped from surprise. “Mother?” was all she could say, her voice still trembling. Looking over her shoulder, she could see that even her dad showed an unbelieving expression now. She repeated it again. “Mother?”

“Now, just be quiet and let me comfort you, my little, cute diamond”, Spoiled Rich replied to her daughter's irritated question. Her left eye twitched a little, but only for a moment, and on her face was the caring smile of a loving mother. Gently, she moved a hoof up and started to stroke Diamond Tiara's mane.

Through all the surprise about this gentle gesture, Diamond Tiara had completely forgotten her fear. The tears had disappeared from the corner of her eyes and even the trembling had stopped.

“Y-You can stop hugging me now, mother,” she said in bewilderment. “I feel better.”

Spoiled Rich released the hug and looked at her. “Are you really sure?” she asked. Her voice expressed concern.

“Y-Yeah,” Diamond Tiara answered. “I'm okay, mother.”

“I'm happy to hear this, my little diamond,” her mother replied. “Now listen to me. There is no reason to be afraid of ghosts. They only exist in our imagination and in bad dreams and nowhere else.” She gently moved her hoof over Diamond Tiara's left cheek. “Do you understand?”

Unsure, Diamond Tiara looked over to her dad, who gave her an encouraging nod. “I agree with your mother, Diamond. Whatever the voice wanted from you, I'm sure it was just a dream, nothing more.”

A smile appeared on Diamond Tiara's face, then she turned back to her mother. “Thanks, mother,” she said. “I guess you're right and it really was just a nightmare.....”

“Very good,” her mother commented on the realization she expected to see. She gave her daughter another squeezing hug. “Now get ready for your day, my little diamond. I will be bringing you to school today.”

Another expression of surprise appeared in Diamond Tiara's face as her mother released the hug, but she wasn't saying anything and went back up to her room to retrieve her saddlebags for school. Her mother had acted strange this morning, but for Diamond Tiara, this was actually not something new anymore. For a couple of weeks, Spoiled Rich had been unbelievably nice to her, despite the occasional complaints, and by now, Diamond Tiara didn't question it anymore, although it still made her wondering.

Diamond Tiara shrugged the peculiar behavior of her mother off and, arrived in her bedroom, began to pack the things she needed for school.

She didn't mention the ghost for the rest of the day.

Night 2

By the time she had to go to bed, Diamond Tiara was convinced that her encounter last night was really just the product of a nightmare. Whether it was because of the unusually nice behavior of her mother or the reassurance by her dad was something she couldn't figure out, but Diamond also didn't care about it. All she looked forward to now was a night of peaceful sleep, unlike the last one.

Having just finished dinner and wished her parents a good night, the rich filly entered her room and slipped under the blanket immediately. It was only now that she noticed how tired she was. Her head felt a little like mush, her body hurt and she could barely keep her eyes open. Diamond Tiara placed the back of her head on the pillow, pulled the blanket up close and, after taking a last, observing look through her dim room to see if everything was alright, fell asleep in a matter of seconds.

Diamond Tiara's sleep was dreamless, yet after a while, it was disturbed by a strong, vibrating sound. Half-awake, she chalked it up to her exhausted state first, but the vibrating grew louder and louder, until she realized that it was not just her mind.

Sleepily, she sat up, not fully grasping the situation yet. She rubbed her eyes. “Mother? Daddy? Who's here?” she asked into the darkness. A whisper came from the depths of her dark room.

You.....

“Me?” Diamond Tiara asked confused, still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and still not recognizing the voice. “What do you mean?” She yawned. “I know that I'm here.”

You must ….. careful.

All of a sudden, Diamond Tiara was widely awake when the memory of the last night flooded back into her mind all at once. A deep gasp of fear escaped her throat and she followed the invisible source of the vibrating and bell-like sounds with her eyes. The voice didn't waste much time before it talked to her again.

Danger..... Not ….. think ….. is.

Like last night, the voice's sentences were chopped and Diamond Tiara couldn't make heads nor tails of what it was saying. And neither did she care to figure it out.

Diamond Tiara was soaked with sweat. Her whole body shivered and she couldn't bring herself to anything. She was completely frozen at the spot and could not even gather the courage to speak to the voice like last night. Her parents had assured her that all was just a nightmare, but nothing of this felt like a nightmare. In horror, Diamond Tiara had to admit to herself that she was widely awake and that this eerie voice was really present, right there in her bedroom. She wished the voice would go away, but it was just continuing to speak to her.

Go! ….. must save ….. You ….. ….. her! Do ….. ….. she ….. kill …..

As frozen Diamond Tiara was so far, as suddenly she jumped out of her bed now. In agitation and terror, she continued to say the same sentence over and over again, while she galloped out of her room and through the mansion.

“It wants to kill me!” “It wants to kill me!”

Her from panic controlled hooves moved her straight to the front door. Diamond Tiara pushed it open and made her way to the outside. She didn't notice the cold breeze that was waving over her coat now and just kept galloping. Diamond Tiara could see creepy shadows in the corner of her eyes that swooshed past her. To her agitated mind, it looked like some of them were trying to reach out for her. Somewhere in the distance, an owl was howling and the shriek of an animal Diamond Tiara never heard shrieking before rang into her ears. All of which just increased her panic and so she increased her pace as well. Diamond Tiara had no idea where she was running towards. “I want to get away from there, away from there!” she uttered to herself, while her breath became more rattling with every step she did.

Finally, the frightened filly was forced to stop. Her legs began to give in, she tripped over a rock and landed face forward on the ground. She just kept lying there, gasping for breath. The scary sounds around her continued to taunt her; the howling of the wind, the owls, sounds of strange animals that seemed like it were sounds from the creatures of nightmares..... Yet, this was no nightmare, as Diamond Tiara undoubtedly knew now. Even the voice from her room sounded through her head still and in her panicked state, she could not tell if it was really just in her head or if it followed her. The constant sounds were torture for Diamond Tiara and her frightened heart, but all she could do was lying there, and to gasp and hope for it that nothing would come to get her.....

As her breath had somewhat returned, Diamond Tiara got up on shaking hooves. She turned around, into the direction she had come from. The night was as bright as the last one, thanks to the moon above her, but there was also a lot of fog. She could see the patches move over the buildings and the street lamps in the distance and, her heart in her mouth, saw in horror how the fog was taking on different shapes and forms.

She did not know what to do now. In all her panic, she did not look where she was galloping to and with all the fog, it was impossible for her to tell in which part of Ponyville she was now. The owls around her continued their creepy concert and somewhere in the distance, Diamond Tiara couldn't tell how far away, a dog was barking. As the barking was answered with howling so frightening that only the timberwolves were able to produce it, Diamond Tiara sat herself into motion again. Once more, she was galloping aimlessly through the small town, until suddenly, the moon revealed a big building in front of her. Taking her chance, Diamond Tiara dashed for it and started to bang with her hooves against the wooden door.

“Please, open up!” she pleaded. Her hooves were hitting against the door with thunderous strength. If she would have been able to process logical thoughts in this moment, she would have been able to figure that, whoever pony lived here, would not suspect that these loud sounds at the door were produced by an elementary school filly. “Please, let me in!” Diamond Tiara repeated her plea. “Please, whoever lives in this house, let me inside!” Her voice almost collapsed from panic. With every second that passed, she banged against the door stronger and stronger, until she could almost hear the wooden planks it was made out of crack because of the impact.

Finally, she felt the door giving in and it was pulled open. The entrance was illuminated and a pony with orange coat stood in front of her.

“Who in tarnation is causin' all that ruckus so late at night?” an angry and annoyed voice yelled into Diamond Tiara's direction.

She lifted her head and looked into the face of her saviour. “Applejack!” she cried out and grabbed the mare at her shoulders. “Please, I know it's late and I'm sorry, but you must let me in! I galloped here as fast as I could, but I think it's still after me! Please, don't let it get me, Applejack!” Diamond Tiara panted heavily and the distress was written all over her face, easy to read for even the most oblivious person.

“Diamond Tiara?” Applejack asked unbelievingly, noticing the tears that were streaming all over Tiara's face. “What in all tartarus happened to ya?”

Diamond Tiara was visibly out of breath, but she did not waste time by trying to get back her breath now. “There is no time, Applejack, please let me in!” She began to shake the older pony “I know I wasn't always the nicest to your sister, but please don't let me stand here, it will get me if you don't and then–“

Applejack cut the distraught filly off. “Now, now, Sugarcube, ah didn't say ah would just let ya stand here! It doesn't make a lick o' sense t' me why ya'll so frightened, but ya'll welcome here!”

Before Diamond Tiara could finish her relieved sigh, Applejack had stretched out a hoof and pulled her inside of the lit-up farmhouse. As the door was free again, the farm mare did a step outside and let her eyes wander over the acres to her left, a grim and attentive expression on her face. Her eyes rested for a few seconds on the entrance of the Everfree Forest, then she checked the other direction with the path to Ponyville. As she found everything quiet, her expression eased. She closed the door very quickly, though, and locked it twice. Having turned around, she saw Diamond Tiara lying in front of her, all four hooves stretched out, panting and gasping for air.

Concerned, Applejack picked up the young filly and carried her into the kitchen, where she sat her down on one of the stools at the table. She joined her side, not without checking if the back door was locked too. Diamond Tiara, now being able to breathe again, looked into Applejack's eyes, still terror in her own.

“Now, Sugarcube, tell me what happened. Why are ya so distraught that y'all ran around in the dark of the night and knock other ponies out of their bed?”

Diamond Tiara gulped and began to retell what happened, in the same way as she had done in front of her parents this morning. Unlike her parents, though, Applejack nodded, an understanding and, at the same time, knowing expression on her face.

Before she could answer on what Diamond Tiara had just told her, she heard sounds coming from the stairs and the rest of her family stood in the farmhouse's kitchen, Apple Bloom at the front. The little filly with the bow yawned, but looked in bewilderment at the table as she noticed who sat there; frazzled, distraught and face wet from crying.

“Diamond?” she asked, disbelief in her voice. “What are ya doing here so late at night?”

Granny Smith confirmed this question with a nod and Big McIntosh with a sleepy “Eeyup”. Both of them looked as tired as their youngest family member.

Applejack answered the curious question for Diamond Tiara, a serious expression on her face. “Diamond Tiara has fled from her home. It looks like one of them is in her bedroom.”

Apple Bloom, Granny Smith and Big McIntosh gasped in fear and shock as they heard this answer. There was only one thing the Apple Family referred to as “them” or “they”, usually to not scare other ponies who didn't have their horrifying knowledge, so all of them instantly knew what Applejack was talking about.

Wordlessly, the other three members of the Apple Family took seat on the table as well, their faces adorned with worry.

For Diamond Tiara, though, all that secrecy talk did have the exact opposite effect than the one they had intended. Frantically, she looked from Applejack, to Granny Smith, to Big Mac and, lastly, to her friend Apple Bloom. “What do you mean with 'one of them'? What are you talking about?” Her voice almost broke again from panic and fear.

Noticing that, Apple Bloom got up from her seat again, carried her stool over to Diamond Tiara and sat down at her side, where she placed a hoof around her shoulders. None of the Apples could find the right words to explain what they meant, especially not with Diamond Tiara's worn face in front of them, a face that looked like she had suddenly become fifty years older. Finally, Granny Smith cleared her throat. Gentle, she placed a hoof on Diamond Tiara's and began to explain.

“It's the Susurra demon, dear,” she said, as calm as she could, yet her voice began to shake as she took the name into her mouth. Having not heard Diamond Tiara's story, she addressed the filly with a few questions. “You hear a scary voice in your room at night?” “It tells you that you are in danger?” “And it even threatens to kill you?”

The questions sounded more like statements, yet Diamond Tiara was answering all of them with a short nod.

“That's what a Susurra does,” Granny Smith continued then. “It visits young fillies at night and scares the hay out of them! Keeps whispering gruesome things and warnings without meaning into their ears until they snap like a twig!”

Diamond Tiara's pupils shrunk as she heard those words.

“Ya far from bein' the only filly this happened to,” Granny explained. “It happened to my mother when she was young, to my own daughter, to Applejack and to myself as well. Even Apple Bloom here was visited by it a few years ago!”

A round of nods followed as confirmation. Diamond Tiara gulped and broke out in sweat again.

“Usually, this demon only visits every filly only once in their lives and there's something we can do against it!” Having said that, Granny slipped from her stool sluggishly and made her way back to the stairs.

“Do against it?” Diamond Tiara repeated her words, hope rising in her heart. “W-What do you mean?”

Granny Smith was not answering, though, and disappeared at the end of the flight of stairs. Apple Bloom put her hoof tighter around Diamond Tiara's neck and gave her a smile. “Don't worry, Granny always knows what to do. She was helpin' me too when the demon harrassed me!” To underline her comforting words, the filly bent forward and gently nuzzled Diamond Tiara's cheek. “It's going to be fine, ya'll see!”

Diamond Tiara answered the gentle gesture with a shy, but thankful, smile on her own.

After a few minutes filled with sounds of rummaging around from above, mixed in with a few curses, Granny Smith returned to the kitchen, her mane slightly frazzled now. In her hoof was dangling a simple leatherband. A big, sharp, brown claw hang on it. Granny Smith put it around Diamond Tiara's neck, then she took seat again.

Diamond Tiara was holding the claw in her hoof, eyeing it with curiosity. Her eyes were already showing the question she was about to ask, so Granny Smith just started explaining without waiting for Diamond Tiara to voice it.

“It's a timberwolf claw,” she answered the unspoken question of the pink filly.

“A timberwolf claw?” Diamond Tiara repeated the explanation as a question.

“Mhm,” Granny Smith nodded. “ The Susurra avoid the Everfree Forest. Nopony knows why, but since I found it out, the claws of timberwolves are useful relics to keep them away from your coat!”

More questions arose in Diamond Tiara's mind and she was about to ask them, as everything began whirling around her and she felt herself slipping down from the stool as the exhaustion from her panic and her mad dash through Ponyville began to take its toll on her. Before she could hit the ground, stabilizing hooves wrapped themselves around her waist, and Apple Bloom flashed yet another smile at her.

For the first time since Granny Smith had begun to speak, it was Applejack who took the word again. “Y'all can stay here tonight, Diamond Tiara. We're goin' to call over ya parents tomorrow morning, so they can come and pick ya up! Until then, ya'll can sleep with Apple Bloom in her room.”

The offer surprised Diamond Tiara and she shot an incredulous look at Apple Bloom, who kept smiling and nodded affirmatively.
Supporting her friend, Apple Bloom left the table with Diamond Tiara and aimed for the stairs.

“Okay, y'all,” Applejack spoke again “Action's over fer tonight! Let's all head back t' sleep now!” She yawned and headed for the stairs as well, to get back to her bedroom. Behind her, the rest of her family followed. Upstairs, she turned to Apple Bloom, who was still supporting Diamond Tiara, again. “Y'all take good care of Diamond Tiara during the night, okay? If anything happens, just come knockin' on mah door!”

Apple Bloom nodded as a sign that she understood. Applejack ruffled through her mane, presented Diamond Tiara with an encouraging wink and disappeared in her bedroom after that.

Being alone on the corridor now, Apple Bloom finally headed with Diamond Tiara into her own bedroom. She closed the door behind her so that both of them could go to sleep.....

The next morning was surprisingly uneventful, considering what had transpired in the night before. Diamond Tiara felt refreshed when awakening. She stayed a little longer on the farm as she was invited by the Apples for breakfast and once she was finished, Spoiled Rich came to pick her up and bring her home. She scowled a little when she heard about the events of the night and what Diamond Tiara had gotten from Granny Smith, but other than that, she was very friendly. Diamond Tiara figured that, as soon as they would be far away enough from the farm, her mother would start to complain and to insult the Apple Family for the bit of knowledge they had revealed to her and she also reckoned with it that her mother would take the timberwolf claw and throw it away, leaving her at the mercy of the sinister Susurra demon again, but none of these things happened. Diamond Tiara's mother even allowed her to skip school today, for the trouble she had last night. Diamond Tiara did not understand what had gotten into her mother, but considering the circumstances, she was also more than alright with it.

Later that day, after having caught up on sleep for the rest of the morning and a good portion of the afternoon, Diamond Tiara was helping her dad in the bedroom of his and his wife, sorting out some mess in the walk-in-closet. Usually, this was something the servants would take care of, in the rest of the house, but Filthy Rich insisted on it to keep his own bedroom tidy by himself, much to his wife's dismay. This included the closet. It was an easy task to do, much easier than Diamond Tiara expected it to be, but also a boring one. The closet was filled with the stuff a pony would expect there and sorting it was a very dull work to do. The only intriguing things in it were a box full with magazines, that her dad hid away quickly before Diamond Tiara could take a closer look at them, yet alone start asking questions, and a spade together with some other digging tools.

“A servant probably put them there by accident. I bring them back into the shed later,” her dad said as they were finished.

It was almost time for dinner as Diamond Tiara and her dad had cleaned up the closet and after they had eaten together with Spoiled Rich, Diamond Tiara wished her parents a good night and went to her bedroom.

The corridor on the second floor was dark. Diamond Tiara tried to find the light switch, but after a few, fruitless attempts, she gave it up. Sighing, she carefully put one hoof in front of the other, while trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness around her. The carpet under her hooves tickled her and her hackles were raised as she tried to find her way.

As she had almost reached her room, Diamond Tiara stopped mid-movement. A cold shiver went through her body and she crouched a little by instinct. She had trouble breathing as the air felt suddenly heavy around her. The door to her bedroom was to her left and just a few meters down the corridor, she noticed the door of her parents' bedroom gaping open widely, a yellow light shining out of it. Knowing that her parents were still downstairs in the dining hall, the frightened filly gulped. She jumped up as she heard the loud bang of a door getting slammed shut from the room with the eerie light. Her heart pounding in her chest, she zipped into her bedroom, slammed it shut not any less loud and did a leap into her bed. In a frantic movement of her hoof, she grabbed the timberwolf claw and hung it around her neck, then she lied down and pulled the blanket over her head until she was sure that no part of her body was sticking out from underneath it.

Teeth clattering, Diamond Tiara began to wait in fearful expectation. In this night, she knew what awaited her, yet she was hoping it wouldn't come.....

Night 3

Unfortunately, as Diamond Tiara stirred awake a few hours later, she had to face the fact that the timberwolf claw was useless. The voice had returned. Everything was exactly like in the first night; the presence to her left, the cold whisper in her ear..... Only the scream did not happen anymore.

The ground is sinking away, I'm about to fall through!

The voice moved away and the vibrating and the bells sounded through the room again.

Glued to the headboard of her bed, blanket clutched tightly in panic, her teeth clattering and her body erupting in strong shivers, she followed the invisible source of the sounds across her bedroom. That the timberwolf claw had failed to protect her was descending upon Diamond Tiara's mind now. It felt like somepony was spilling a bucket of ice-cold water on her. She pondered fleeing again. Out of the house, getting far away from it, like last night. The Apples sure would take her in again. Or maybe she could knock on the house of Silver Spoon and her parents. Anything would be better than staying here, that was for sure. But while pondering the possibility, a gruesome realization intruded Diamond Tiara's mind.

Taking all her courage together, she addressed the voice with a question, tears leaking from her eyes and her voice stuttering. “W-What if I r-run away a-again? W-Will you r-return n-next night?”

Yes. As often.....

There was a short pause in the sentence while the supernatural presence was floating nearer to her bed, still emanating vibrating sounds.

…..as I need to.

The answer let Diamond Tiara sob in fear. She choked, her tears streaming freely now. “W-Why?” she asked the voice. “W-Why d-does this s-stupid c-claw not w-work?! G-Granny Smith s-said y-you would g-go away if I-I wear it!” The sounds moved closer a little more, causing Diamond Tiara to flinch. She felt the wood of the headboard pressing against her spine.

No demon.

The answer felt to Diamond Tiara like she was losing the ground under her shaking body. For a very short moment, fear turned into anger. “You were following me all the time?! Why can't you just let me sleep in peace, you weird–“ She stopped herself, biting on her tongue. The fear returned and she followed the sounds with her eyes again in agitation.

Not a threat. Not me.

Unlike Diamond Tiara expected it, she reckoned that the mysterious being would get angry at her now, the voice spoke softer now, calming in a way that surprised her. She felt a cold touch on her cheek and flinched some more. It was not a bad feeling, though. The touch gave her chills, but at the same time, it felt like someone who really cared for her was trying to comfort her.

Sssssssh. No fear. No tears. Not here to hurt you.

The feeling vanished and the voice flew to a distant corner of the room again. Diamond Tiara felt her breath slowing down. She still shivered a little, but for the first time since her first encounter with the voice, she felt calm and composed, almost like protected even. And strangely, the voice sounded familiar now. Was she just getting used to it or..... Diamond Tiara shoved the thought away. “What then?” she asked. “What do you want from me if you are not here to scare me?”

Only here to warn.

“Warn? From what do you want to warn me?”

Her.

“Her, who?” Diamond Tiara's face showed great confusion over the short answer.

Tomorrow. Pay attention.

Suddenly, there was silence. The sounds were gone.

Diamond Tiara was getting herself into a more convenient sitting position again. “Hey, are you still here?” she asked into the room. But all she was met with was more silence. Only quiet remaints of the voice were still ringing through the room, repeating the last of its words.

Tomorrow. Pay attention.

The gears in her head turning at a rapid speed, Diamond Tiara lied down again and pulled the blanket over her once more, although not as close as the last time. “What does she mean?” the filly whispered to herself in the darkness of the room. While she kept thinking about the mysterious occurrence, she was slowly wrapped up by sleep again.....

“Diamond! Hey, Diamond, do ya even hear me?”

Hearing the voice of her friend, Diamond Tiara was snapped out of her trance. She stopped observing the playground and looked into Apple Bloom's face. The farm filly looked at her with a mix of worry and confusion.

“Are ya back with us now?” she asked.

Still seeming absent, Diamond Tiara nodded slowly.

“Great!” Apple Bloom replied. “So, how was it last night? Did it work?” She looked eagerly at her.

“Last night?” Diamond Tiara looked at her puzzled.

“Yeah, ya know! The demon!” Apple Bloom nudged her. “Geez, what happened last night? Y'all act like ya not in this world anymore!”

At her side, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle nodded, eyes closed and serious expressions adorning their faces.

Diamond Tiara sighed. “I'm sorry. It was a very weird night.”

Like on command, all three Crusaders stepped closer to her, their eyes shrunk. “What?!” Apple Bloom burst out. “The timberwolf claw did not help? But it always helped against Susurra demons! Mah family is using it for centuries!” She looked at Diamond Tiara incredulously and bewildered.

“I don't think it's the Susurra demon,” Diamond Tiara said then. Still not knowing herself what to think of this whole situation, she began to retell the events of the last night, as suddenly, a high-pitched scream pierced through her ears.

All four fillies turned around at the spot, following the source of it. In some distance, just between the entrance of the schoolhouse and the playground, Pipsqueak and Noi stood at each other's side. The ground was shaking under them and they looked around frightened, not knowing what to do. New screams left both of their throats as the ground under their hooves sank and they were both falling through it. A thud followed.

Ignoring her friends now, Diamond Tiara sat herself into motion and approached the hole that had opened itself in the ground and was now gaping close to the school's playground. Other foals did the same and grouped themselves around the hole, some of them curious what caused the collapse, others worried for their friends.

A young filly with a light-blue coat and a tiny, orange bow in her darker, blue mane wrestled herself to the front, a happy, eager grin on her face. “What's down there?” she asked excited, the excitement making her voice higher than usual. “Did you find any bones?” But the cheerful expression in her face cracked, then vanished, and was replaced with shock and sorrow, as her sight fell at the bottom of the hole. She faltered, all the energy she had suddenly gone.

Diamond Tiara followed Petunia's shocked eyes as she had arrived at the edge of the hole and froze.

Noi was sitting down there, rubbing a hoof, some tears in the corners of her eyes, but was otherwise fine. Pipsqueak, though..... His body was lying motionless at her side. He was lying on his back,eyes closed, and blood was seeping out of from under his head, forming an ever growing pool at the bottom of the hole.

A lump in her throat, Diamond Tiara averted her gaze again. At the other side of the hole, Petunia's face was soaked with tears now. In this moment, Diamond Tiara realized that she was crying herself.

Before she could say anything, she felt shoved aside with a strong force. A brown mare made her way to the hole, looking down it in distress.

“Pipsqueak! My Pipsqueak!” she exclaimed in sobs, her voice sounding hysterical.

Diamond Tiara eyed the mare. She was now holding both of her hooves in front of her face and cried into it without restraint. Diamond Tiara raised an eyebrow. “Why.....” she began, but stopped before she could continue. The situation was not an appropriate one for expressing the thought that went through her head now, so she decided to keep it to herself, even though it was nagging at her. But there was one thing Diamond Tiara felt while watching the weeping mare. Something was off. She just couldn't tell what.

Before she was able find an answer on this question, Cheerilee appeared and, when she saw what happened, sent them all home, before she went away with Pipsqueak's mother and organized help to lift Noi and Pipsqueak out of the hole.

As Diamond Tiara arrived at home, her mother almost bumped into her. She had entered the house right behind her. Diamond Tiara turned around and, from one moment to another, she shuddered.

Her mother was smiling and she was wearing a satisfied expression like Diamond Tiara never saw it before in her face.

Suddenly, she felt cold.

Night 4

In this night, Diamond Tiara noticed that the voice sounded different. Its tone sounded more urgent, the vibrating was much stronger and the bells had grown to an almost deafening volume. And as if all of this wasn't loud enough already anymore, an unsetting wailing was sounding through Diamond Tiara's bedroom suddenly.

Diamond Tiara pressed her hooves against her ears. “Please, stop! I'm sorry I didn't notice! It wasn't my fault!” The wailing continued, grew in volume even. Not being able to endure the wailing any longer, Diamond Tiara cried louder. “Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! I couldn't know she would do this! How was I supposed to know it? You didn't tell me anything!” The voice kept wailing, but now, mixed in with the sounds of pain and heartache, words appeared, words that sounded menacing this time.

THE GROUND IS SINKING! THE GROUND IS SINKING!

Before she knew what happened, Diamond Tiara's bed began to shake. She started to scream. “I know! I know!” she cried out in fear and panic. She slammed her hooves into the mattress and tears shot out of her eyes. “But I couldn't do anything! I know you came back all the way to warn me, to ask me for help, but I couldn't save you, you didn't tell me enough! And it's too late now, PLEASE STOP!” Diamond Tiara was screaming the last two words.

And the voice listened. Her bed stopped shaking and the voice returned to its path across the room. The sounds remained as loud as they were before, though. And so did the volume of the voice itself.

IT IS HER! IT IS HER!

Reflexively, Diamond Tiara was covering her ears again.

STOP HER! STOP HER!

“HOW?” Diamond Tiara screamed at the voice, but she did not receive an answer. Once more, the voice was suddenly gone, leaving Diamond Tiara alone with her thoughts.

On the next morning, Diamond Tiara was met with a surprise.

“Diamond, my little honey pie, how about we go on a hiking trip tomorrow?” her mother asked her right when she entered the dining hall for breakfast, her voice dripping with sweetness.

“A hiking trip?” she asked her sceptically. Before Diamond could point out that her mother hated hiking, she answered her sceptical question.

“Yes, of course! You don't have school tomorrow and why shouldn't a–“ She hesitated for just a short moment. “–a mommy and her daughter not spend some quality time with each other on the weekend?”

Diamond Tiara was about to say no, but before she could speak out the rejection, a thought hit her.

“Okay, I would like to do this, mother!” Her mother looked at her, grinning satisfiedly, then all of them ate their breakfast and, as she was finished, Diamond Tiara went to school, where, that's something she knew, the hardest part of this day would wait for her.....

“I'm sorry,” she said, her head hanging low, as she stood in front of her three friends, the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The three fillies looked at her, their expressions showing that they had no idea what was going on. “Pipsqueak was..... He..... It was my fault that he died.”

The expressions of the trio of fillies in front of her turned into worries for a moment, but then quickly into hilarity. They broke out in laughter. Considering what happened the day before, Diamond Tiara knew it wasn't appropriate and she angrily stomped with a hoof on the ground. “How can you laugh about this? Pipsqueak died yesterday, there's nothing funny about it!”

Drying their tears of laughter, the three fillies shot her guilty glances now, while trying to calm themselves. “I'm sorry!” all three said at the same time.

“But it's silly,” Apple Bloom said then. “It couldn't have been ya fault, it was just an accident, Diamond!”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo nodded in affirmation. “Besides,” – She pointed behind Diamond Tiara – “Pipsqueak is doing just fine! It was a close call and he lost a lot of blood, but the doctors already patched him up. Just look!”

Incredulously, Diamond Tiara followed Scootaloo's hoof and turned around to the entrance of the schoolhouse. Pipsqueak was about to enter it, his usual saddlebags on his back and a thick, white bandage wrapped around his head. Petunia was at his side, looking at him with slight worry in her eyes, which he answered with an uplifting smile, then they disappeared in the building.

“At first everypony really thought he's dead, but it turned out that his skull wasn't broken, he got away with just a big laceration on the back of his head and already feels good enough to attend school again! I really wonder how it's possible that you didn't know until now.”

Diamond Tiara did not hear Scootaloo anymore. She just stood there, standing and staring at the schoolhouse, mouth gaping open.

Nothing made sense anymore.

Night 5

You must stop her.

Like in the four nights before, Diamond Tiara sat in her bed and listened to the ghostly voice. And she was more confused than in the other nights. She located the current position of the presence in her room and addressed it once again with questions. “What is she going to do? Will she try to kill Pipsqueak again?” But the voice did not give her a clear answer, like in the rest of the nights.

Not too late. But soon. Last chance to stop her.

“Yes, but from what? I'm not even sure if she really tried to kill Pipsqueak..... Maybe it was just an accident. But if she's not trying to kill him, then what should I stop her from?” She bombarded the voice with questions. For a moment, no answer came. Only the bells and the vibrations sounded restlessly through her bedroom. Diamond Tiara thought she could hear a sobbing from the voice, just for a second, then it finally answered, though it was an answer that did not help Diamond Tiara at all.

The ground is sinking away, I'm about to fall through!

In the next second, the vibrating sound and the ringing of the bells Diamond Tiara had grown used to over the last nights vanished. Though unlike in the other nights, they didn't just stop, they slowly faded away, becoming quieter by the second. Diamond Tiara heard a wistful sigh, then it was silent around her and the sounds were gone completely. The voice had left again.

All of a sudden, Diamond Tiara felt sad. A certain feeling was suddenly in her chest, a feeling like she just said goodbye to a close friend she would never see again. Even tears formed in her eyes, against her control. “A-Are you still here?” she asked into the silent room.

As no answer came, a wave of grief washed over Diamond Tiara, which confused her. She tried to fight the feeling inside her, tried to think of happy things, but it did not go away. She rubbed the tears out of her eyes, time and time again, but they were always replaced with new ones. Eventually, she gave up and curled in under her blanket, her increasing sobs carrying her slowly into sleep.....

At the next morning, Diamond Tiara's eyes were reddened. A look into the mirror confirmed her suspicion, as she saw that her eyes were completely wet and swollen. Apparently, she had cried in her sleep for the whole night. And there was still this lingering feeling of having to say goodbye to a loved one in her chest.

Depressed, she was already climbing back into her bed, as the voice of her mother interrupted her plans and reminded her on what day it was and, at the same time, what her mysterious task was, the task that the voice assigned to her, but that it had barely explained.
You must stop her. That's all Diamond Tiara knew. She didn't know when, she didn't know how, she didn't know from what. Yet there was a feeling of urgency, she could feel that it was important to do as the voice had told her, so she decided to stay close to her mother and to observe her every step after leaving the mansion.

Diamond Tiara smoothed her bedsheets and her blanket, then she made her way into the bathroom to prepare herself for the trip.

As she and her mother left the mansion in their hiking gear, it was two hours later. They said goodbye to Filthy Rich, then trotted through Ponyville into the direction of Whitetail Woods.

Diamond Tiara did not say anything. The trip was still a mystery to her, mother had always hated hiking and she was not even the fittest. But at least she couldn't do anything bad to another pony while they were alone in the woods. This, at least, was a relief.

As they passed over the town square, Diamond Tiara was surprised by colorful tents that were littered all over it, with a particularly big, red one in the middle. Her eyes grew as the realization kicked in that there was something she had forgotten over the trouble of the last few days.

“Right!”, she thought. “The carnival is in town today!”

Forgetting everything else for a moment, her face lit up and she quickened her pace to catch up with her mother, as suddenly, an orange blur interrupted her path and zipped past her. She was almost thrown off her hooves by it. “Hey, can't you look where you're riding?” she asked the daredevil startled.

Scootaloo turned around as she heard the voice. “Sorry!” she shouted back at her, then looked at the path in front of her again. Slowly, the vibrating sound of her buzzing wings faded in the distance.

Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes, then she collected herself and approached her mother again. “Hey, can we stay at the carnival for a while?” she asked as she was at her side. “I forgot it is today and we can still go hiking later.”

Her mother turned around to her. “Oh no,” she answered in a clearly annoyed tone. “You know how much I hate those ridiculous countryside festivities, Diamond Tiara. Now let's move on and get away from here.” She quickened her own pace, forcing Diamond Tiara to trot faster as well.

“Yeah,” she answered defiantly. “But you hate hiking too and we're doing it anyway.”

A trace of fear appeared on her mother's face, but it was just for a split-second. “Nonsense!” she replied. “You know I always loved to go on hikes.” She increased her pace even more and left Diamond Tiara behind her.

It was an awfully stupid answer. If the obvious lie didn't make this clear, then it was the nervous reaction of her mother.

Diamond Tiara stopped in her tracks, just watching the hurrying figure of her mother weaseling herself through fillies with balloons and ponies costumed as clowns, a disgusted expression on her face. Her brain worked hard to find an answer to all the questions that went through it at the same time, yet it couldn't find a single one. She shook her head and followed her mother again.

Another two hours later, they were deep in the Whitetail Woods. It had been a long trip already, a trip filled with constant remarks by her mother about how beautiful a certain patch of flowers was or how impressive a giant oak in front of them looked. It wasn't anything like her. Diamond Tiara had asked her why she's suddenly enjoying hiking so much, giving it another attempt to clear this mystery, but all that her mother said was if she can't spend some time with her “precious little diamond” on a mother-daughter hiking trip through the woods, followed by a hug and a kiss on the forehead.

The answer seemed evasive to Diamond Tiara, yet after a while, she didn't question the peculiar behavior of her mother anymore. And, even though this was something Diamond Tiara had a hard time admitting, she sort of enjoyed this “peculiar behavior”. It felt wrong and contrived, but it was such a refreshing change, much better than all the complaining and demeaning treatment.

“Maybe mother has really changed for the better,” she thought. “And why not? If I was able to turn over a new leaf, then why couldn't she too?”

Even the thought that her mother could be a killer felt silly to her now. Pipsqueak was still alive, after all, and if someone would have tried to kill him and buried the hole at the schoolhouse, surely there would have been indications for it that the ground didn't naturally collapse. But the local police didn't find any. “And how should mother even know that Pipsqueak would fall into the hole? It could have happened to anypony,” she spoke to herself. The more she thought about it, the more she became convinced that it was an accident after all.

In the end, Granny Smith was probably right, Diamond Tiara figured. It was the Susurra demon messing with her and the timberwolf claw was probably too old and didn't work anymore. She decided to ask Granny Smith about that as soon as she was back in Ponyville, as she suddenly heard her mother calling for her.

Diamond Tiara looked up and noticed surprised that her mother was already way ahead of her. She was standing on a clearing and waved her over. “Come, Diamond Tiara! We're on our hooves for too long, it's time to take a break!” She smiled at her gently and welcoming.

“Why not?” Diamond Tiara thought. “If there's a chance to get her to become a better pony, I guess I should take it!”

Diamond Tiara raised a hoof and answered the wave. “I'm coming!” she shouted over to her mother, a bright smile on her face, then she began to dash towards her.

As she was only two hoofsteps away from the clearing, Diamond Tiara stopped in fear, as she noticed that the ground underneath her was suddenly shaking. All of a sudden, the soil sunk a bit deeper. Realizing what happened, but too frightened to move, she looked over to her mother in shock.

“Mother!” she shouted.

Her look was answered with confusion. “What is wrong, darling?”

“The ground is sinking away! I'm about to fall through!”

Fear flashing up on the face of Spoiled Rich, she ran towards her daughter, a hoof already stretched out to pull her away, but it was too late. The ground under Diamond Tiara gave in and she fell, a startled gasp leaving her mouth. In the last moment, she managed it to grab the edge of the hole that was just created and to prevent herself from falling. She looked up, fear in her eyes.

“Mommy!” she shouted. “Help me, I fall!”

“You didn't yet?” the answer from her mother came.

“No, I'm fine. But I'm going to fall soon! Please, pull me up!”

Diamond Tiara did a careful look behind her. With just that one look, she could determine that she wouldn't survive this fall. The hole wasn't terribly deep, but the ground of it was littered with rocks. They were arranged in a strange, perfect pattern, but this was an observation that only flashed by at the edges of Diamond Tiara's mind. She shivered and looked back up.

“Mommy!” she shouted again.

Finally, the face of her mother appeared in front of the hole, looking down at her. “Pull me up, quick!” Diamond Tiara said again, her voice trembling in fear.

But her mother remained motionless. A dark shadow seemed to adorn her face now and she looked at her daughter with a disapproving frown.

“Why?” she asked. Her voice sounded cold and sneering. “Now it's almost over and you're still giving me headache. I dug this hole for you all night and now you're hanging there instead of just falling in. Why, just why are you such a problematic foal?” Her voice was full of disdain and unrestrained disgust.

In just one second, a flood of realization splashed down on Diamond Tiara. The voice and its warnings, the spade in the closet of her mother's bedroom, the hole at the schoolhouse, all of it flashed in front of Diamond Tiara's inner eye in quick succession. Tears appeared in the corners of Diamond Tiara's eyes. There was nopony here to help her. And so deep into the woods, nopony would come by, especially not during the carnival.

The wind was still carrying the sound of the bells from the carnival over to her and as the sound entered her ears, she felt reminded on the buzzing of Scootaloo's wings she had heard hours earlier. It was ringing inside her head.

Diamond Tiara started to cry and sob as pictures of her and Scootaloo at the carnival flashed up in her mind; happy pictures of them laughing at clowns and their silly antics, of trying to win prizes at one of the dozens of tents and of eating more cotton candy and carrot dogs than it was good for them. Pictures of cheerful moments that would never come to be now and that thought scared Diamond Tiara.

“Why are you doing this, mother?” she addressed the mare above her.

Spoiled Rich's expression became even colder. “Ever since you associated with those blank flanks you are a complete disappointment to me, Diamond Tiara. You humiliated me in front of your whole class and your teacher. You don't listen to things I'm saying anymore and with every passing day, I could see that you became more and more like those filthy, common ponies.” She did a step closer to the hole. “I always had such high hopes for you. I wanted to make you a perfect member of nobility, raising you to a mare that always succeeds and gets what she wants, but those three fillies ruined all of this in just a single day.” A slight sob was audible in her voice, but she suppressed it quickly. “And now you are like them, a common pony with no special abilities that will never come far in life..... You are not the same, promising filly I pressed out of my womb those ten years ago anymore. I am ashamed of you, Diamond Tiara.”

Having said these last words, Spoiled Rich did another, last step closer to her daughter and kneeled down, aiming for Diamond Tiara's hoof with her own. “It is better to end this now, then me and Filthy can try it again with another foal, a foal that won't become such a disappointment.”

Seeing what her mother was about to do, Diamond Tiara tried to lift herself up and get her other hoof at the edge of the hole to pull her out of it, but her efforts were in vain. Every time she tried, she felt too weak to pull herself up. An expression of horror appeared on her face as she realized why her mother only wanted to take a break just now.

As her mother's hoof touched hers, Diamond Tiara did a last desperate attempt to save her life, her only chance was that maybe somepony else was still in these woods and would hear her cry for help. But it was too late. With force, her mother grabbed her hoof, lifted it up and let Diamond Tiara glide into the hole.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH! HELP ME, I'M FALLING!” Diamond Tiara screamed loudly as the fear of dying switched out her rationality and let her forget that crying for help was now useless. She felt the fall and saw the grinning face of her mother becoming smaller in the distance, but she did not feel it as she hit the rocks under her and could not hear how her skull was crushed. Everything just became black around her.

There was no pain. Diamond Tiara looked around, frantically searching for something familiar or something that could tell her what would happen now, but there was nothing. All that was around her was an endless void of blackness. Distraught, she began to wander around in the dark. She called the names of the ones she knew; her daddy, her friends, she was even calling the name of her murderer in her desperation. There were no answers and so she kept wandering. She had no feeling for time anymore and the more she wandered around, the more everything became a blur to her. While she was still able to form coherent thoughts at the beginning, this ability soon vanished and the restless filly felt her mind slipping away.

As she stopped and decided to lie down, having finally realized that she wouldn't get out of the darkness around her, her eyes were blinded by a bright light. It was only weak at first, but the longer the light shone on her, the more she felt pulled into it. Diamond Tiara resisted for a while, but her strength left her eventually, and so she allowed the light to pull her into its center.

“FIVE NIGHTS!” she heard a loud, deep voice sounding into her ears, then everything became black around her again.

Night 1

Diamond Tiara observed her surroundings. It was a different kind of blackness this time. After a while, she realized that she was now in a bedroom. A bedroom she didn't know, yet felt strangely familiar to her. She tried to remember, but her foggy mind didn't deliver any results.

Diamond Tiara looked down on herself. What she saw there was something she expected to frighten her, but instead, she calmly accepted it that her body was gone. All she could see was the dark room around her and under her, the room she felt should know, but didn't. She realized that she was a ghost now, murdered by her own mother and not finding peace.

The restless soul tried to speak, but only silence occured. Something was wrong with her voice, but she didn't know what it was. And she felt strangely emotionless about it. To her, it felt like this was just how things were supposed to be now and yet at the same time, how they never should have been.

The only familiar thing in this room she was in now was in front of her. There, in a bed, was lying a pink filly, peacefully asleep. It only took Diamond Tiara one second to remember this moment again. It was her. The filly in the bed was herself, in the past, just a few days before the crime happened. She was now dead, yet there she was, directly in front of her and alive. Suddenly, Diamond Tiara heard her last words again.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAH! HELP ME, I'M FALLING!

They were ringing through her mind, yet her past self seemed to hear the scream too, as her eyes shot open suddenly and she was looking around in panic. “Who is there?” she heard herself asking.

It was now that Diamond Tiara knew what she had to do. She was given another chance. All she needed to do was to prevent her past self from dying by the hooves of her mother. She needed to let her know and she would.

“Maybe I can change the past and my present too,” she thought to herself.

Feeling determination to change her fate, she floated closer to her past self's bed and took position to its right. For a moment, she just waited, watching the Diamond Tiara of the past, who was now lying on her pillow again, her eyes closed. Her teeth were clattering loudly. “I-Is anypony here?” she asked all of a sudden.

Diamond Tiara tried to answer, but it failed. Once again she couldn't produce any words. Sorrow began to come over her. How should she prevent herself from getting killed by mother if she wasn't even able to talk?

Her past self opened the eyes and looked into her direction.

“Can she see me?” Diamond Tiara wondered and felt hope rising. But it sunk again immediately as her counterpart from the past faced the ceiling again and closed her eyes after a few moments. No, speaking was the only way and yet she couldn't. But she knew she had to try. She was rewarded with a chance, for becoming a better filly, that's something she could clearly feel now, and she wouldn't waste that chance. She couldn't.

Diamond Tiara concentrated and was trying to focus her energy so that she would manage it to speak. If only her voice won't fail her..... She bent forward to the ear of the filly that was her and felt joy flooding through her as she finally managed it to produce a word.

Sinking!

Author's Note

Good Night.