I gave a relaxed sigh as I slowly trotted down the long snow covered dirt path. Looking around, I gave a fawned smile at the hundreds of statues that were scattered around the garden. The place had gone a completely different remodeling since I was last here, and I had to ask for a map to get around the large labyrinth of carved ponies from centuries ago.
I gave an involuntary shiver at the freezing wind that gently blew against my coat, causing me to wrap my blue and white scarf tighter around my neck. I always hated the cold, it always felt like it would freeze my entire body in place, only to thaw during winter wrap up. I couldn't help but to let out a short chuckle at the mental image of me being completely frozen in ice, and being mistaken as an ice sculpture.
After a few minutes of walking, I spotted a snow covered wooden bench a few feet away. With a sigh of relief, I walked over to it, gently parted the snow, and took a seat. Looking around, I noticed Discords old pedestal still sitting where it had stood for over the past millennia.
'Wonder how he's doing,' I thought. Giving a smile at the memory of how my friends and I had accedently released him due to a really stupid argument. Sighing, I turned to face a set of statues that caught my eye, and I began to marvel at the pieces of art.
"Um, excuse me, but is this seat taken?" asked a fillies voice from my left. Turning, I was about to answer her, but froze in shock at the sight of her. Standing next to me, was an alabaster unicorn, with light blue eyes and a dark purple curly mane and tail.
"Uh, I- I..." I tried to answer her, but all I could manage was a stuttering mess. The filly began to give me a bit of a confused look.
"Um, are you alright?" she asked in that all familiar voice. I took in a deep calming breath, trying to calm my churning stomach and rapidly beating heart. After a few moments, I looked back up at the filly, and offered a warm smile.
"Uh, sure," I said, patting a hoof on the bench beside me. The filly returned the smile, but looked a litttle concerned.
"Are you sure?" she asked looking around. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. It's just you looked like someone I knew," I said. The filly nodded and took a seat beside me.
"If you don't mind me asking, what's your name?" the filly asked, looking at a statue of a pony guard. I bit my lip for a moment, and thought on my answer.
"Uh, Silver Belle, but just call me Belle." The filly nodded before speaking.
"I'm Rarity," she said, causing me to flatten my ears at the mention of that name.
"R- really?" I asked with a small squeak. She turned to face me with a smirk, and I heard the sound of barely controlled laughter.
"No," she said with a chuckle. "It's actually Rare Diamond, Rarity's just a nickname."
"I can see why," I muttered. Diamond gave a nod, and took a sip from a white mug that I hadn't noticed her holding in her light red aura.
"So where are you from? I assume you are with one of the torguides, correct?" Diamond asked. I gave a sigh as she took another sip of her drink, and looked up at the castle above us.
"Actually, I'm from here. I just live in the castle." At the sound of my reply Diamond choked on her drink, and gave a shocked look towards me.
"What!" she shreaked, causing me to cover my ears and tightly close my eyes. Opening them, I saw Diamond inches from me with an excited look in her eyes.
"What's it like? do you always see the princesses? do yo..." I cut off her on-slot of questions by placing a hoof over her mouth.
"First, no, I don't always see the princesses, they're usually too busy. As for what it's like?" I sighed, and removed my hoof from her mouth. "It's, really boring to be honest."
Diamond gave me a shocked look at my answer.
"Boring? you call living in the house of the royal sisters boring?"
"Uh, yeah? I mean its nice and all, but there's literally nothing to do," I said, hopping off the bench and began to pace back and forth." I'm always either stuck in my room or wandering the halls for hours on end."
Diamond gave a confused look as she watched me.
"Wait, you're not allowed to leave the castle?" I paused at her question, realizing that I had screwed up. I groaned and rubbed my temple, already feeling a headache beginning to form in the back of my head.
"I'am, its just... not often," I said with a sigh.
"Why not, doesn't your mother trust you to come back to the castle when you're supposed to?"
"Yeah, its just been a little difficult between us recently."
"Oh," was all Diamond could say. After a few minutes had passed, I began to hear a stallions voice calling out Diamond's name. The pony in question seemed to hear it as well, and leaped off the bench.
"Oh, that's my father. I'm sorry I have to leave so early," she said, giving me a warm smile. I gave a shrug in response. Diamond gave me a quick hug, and galloped away while calling over her shoulder. "It was nice meeting you Belle."
Sighing, I looked up at the statue I had been staring at earlier. The carved marble showed a unicorn mare with a curly mane and tail, on her flank was a trio of diamonds. I felt tears rolling down my face, and quickly wiped them away with a foreleg.
"I'm so, so sorry Rarity," I whispered. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you about going into that fucking cave. I just wish I could be with you." I gave a quivering sigh as I-spoke once again. "Happy 1231st birthday."
With that, I turned away from the seven statues, and exited the garden.
"Celestia was right, ponies can come back given enough time."
Author's Note
Hope you guys enjoy this rewritten version. Please leave me a comment.