Diamond Lost in the crowd
A bad Dream can help you out
Diamond Tiara had realized how much of a jerk her mother was a few years ago. Diamond herself was once the same and it kind of skewed her view of her mother and her actions at the time. Of course she loved her Mom but after a change of heart thanks to the Cutie mark Crusaders Diamond Diamond started looking through the world through a new point of view. Her mother, on the other hand, did not agree with Diamonds more friendly attitude towards the ponies around her. She usually went on about how they were above the average pony just because of a few extra bags of bits. At first Diamond tried to argue with her mother, trying to show her mother the lessons she was learning from the other fillies and colts at school. Each day had become a friendship lesson for her, learning lessons that most of her peers had grilled into them by their parents at a young age . But her mother would not listen or budge on her points of view. Diamond eventually stopped trying, just assuming that old dogs can’t learn new tricks. That realization came to her around the time she was about 13 or 14, and now as a 16 year old that opinion had been cemented in her mind.
Nowadays she saw eye to eye with her mother on most subjects. Especially when it came to music, art, and general interest in anything that her mother considered common. Not that her mother didn’t like music, in fact she had a love of listening to opera, classical, and some occasional top of the chart pop songs. She would call all these genres “proper for a grown mare” and push anything outside of her own tastes away as inferior trash.
Thankfully Diamond had a close friend who didn’t share her mother's view points about music. Her friend Silverspoon came from an above average household that operated a high end tea shop in ponyville. SIlverspoon didn’t really have a complex taste in music, in fact it seemed she listened to everything under the sun and moon. Diamond soon became extremely grateful for her friend's taste in music. A few weeks after Diamond's change of heart she decided to visit Silverspoons house for the first time in years. Before hoof she tended to avoid Silverspoons more average home on account of it being to “normal” or “common” but at the time she wanted experiment on what she had lost in life due to her own stubbornness. Turns out silverspoons smaller home was a lot more cozy, welcoming, and a lot more active than hers. Diamond, upon entering, was greeted with an unfamiliar and revolutionary sight to her young eyes. Silverspoons mother, HerbalBrew, singing a old rock song at the top of her lungs while banging two wooden spoons on any surface she could find.The greyish blue earth pony swung her improvised drumsticks widely banging her dark silver hair around letting it get messy and tangled.
Silverspoon quickly turned five shades of pink from embarrassment and went to stop her mother. Diamond then quickly stopped her friend while giving her full attention to the show in front of her. Diamonds ears perked up, her eyes widening, mind taking in and saving the image so that she would not forget. The lyrics were what caught her attention, the wild beat of the pots and pans, the fast and free beat enhanced the performance and made Diamond yearn for the actual song. Herbal went on with the song for a few more minutes unaware of her audience but eventually caught sight of the two fillies and stopped her improvised show. The mare was quite embarrassed at first but dawned a confused look as she heard the applause coming from her daughter's long time friend. That day was the start of a beautiful friendship with HerbalBrew, and the start of her love of all forms of Rock and Roll.
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Luna had been retired a whole year now and had enjoyed the time away from the throne... at least for a bit. About 8 months, two days, and 28 seconds to be exact. After that she was just, well, bored with the easy life. The activities offered by the retirement home were nice, and helped the boredom but there were only so many times she could conquer the paintball course before she got tired of it. This boredom was slowly killing her in her own opinion. Thankfully, This situation was slightly remedied with a letter to Twilight Sparkle.
Luna had decided to pick up her job to watch over the dreams of Ponies once again. Sadly that was only a temporary solution. Three months of dreamwalking had helped but it just wasn’t enough. She still had too much free time between waking up in the afternoon and starting her dream walking once the moon was raised. She would often walk around the retirement center, listening in on the conversations of the elderly ponies talk about their pasts and their families, occasionally taking note of their complaints about the newer trends of Equestria.
That was until the day she happened upon a family visiting one of the other residents of the retirement site. The family itself was normal looking, two parents and three siblings, each sporting coats of various yellows with manes of either green or blue. Usually this was not a noteworthy sight but there was one thing that caught Luna’s eye. A piece of new technology, a gem powered music player. She had heard a bit of these new devices from residents, but most ponies here thought they were just a trend of fad. Apparently each gem contained a pre-recorded song and when you put the gem in the small silver music box it would play the song or songs into a pair of headphones that would connect to the box. This box was held by the oldest of the three siblings. Luna started to wonder what the current musical trends were.
Upon seeing their ex-princess the family quickly gave deep bows. Luna gave a small smirk, glad that ponies still showed such respect to her. “Arise. There is no need to bow to me.” Luna since stepping away from the throne had started working on her linguistics, though she may occasionally slip up, her way of speaking was closer to the modern way of speaking. “Do you all need help finding your way around?”
The mother was quick to respond as her family straightened themselves up. “On no princess... uh, ex-princess?”
“Luna should be fine.”
“Of course prin- I mean Luna.” The mare gave another small bow before continuing. “We just got directions from a nurse. We were just trying to convince our oldest here that she doesn't need to carry her music player around with her everywhere she goes. We barely got the headphones off her between the train platform and this spot.” The mother gave a quick half glare, half glance to her blushing daughter who had decided her hooves were more interesting then the conversation in front of her.
Luna glanced at the box again with curiosity, as an idea arose in her head. “I could, if you would not mind, hold onto it for you. Until your visit is done of course.” The family looked at each other with a bit of confusion, wondering what Luna would want with the box. However, the owner of the box, the eldest daughter, held the box to her bright yellow coat, letting her green and yellow striped hair fall over her face and chest, as if Luna was threatening her music box. “Out of curiosity of course. I’ve never owned a music box of that sort and I would like to see how it works. Plus with my surroundings being filled with the elderly I have not had the chance to taste more modern music. Here-” she stated as she sat in front of the daughter.” give me a quick tutorial on how to use it so i do not break it”
The young mare looked at her box again and sighed as she started a basic explanation on how to use the box. Basically one had to push the top of the gem implanted in the middle to start or pause the song that was currently playing, and if one wanted to skip a song they only needed to tap the gem twice, or four times to re-listen to a song. After a demonstration the pony handed Luna the silver box.
“J-Just so you know” the young mare started, “the music I listen to isn’t exactly the, well, most popular kind of music right now, so you might not like it... I mean I like it. It speaks to me, but... I’m just warning you...”
Luna nodded. “I have heard music change many times in my long life, don’t worry too much about that. If I don't like anything I find I will just stop listening and guard you're, uh, box-thingy until you get back.”
“Well... ok. If you say so.” She nodded and got up, being ushered away by her family, leaving Luna to partake in the modern music.
Luna watched the family trot further into the retirement village. After a few minutes she slipped the headphones on and pressed play.
Now it was always true that out of the two pony sisters, Luna was the art lover. She dabbled in painting, her voice was better than most, and her love of theater was a constant since the birth of theater in pony society. But the music pumping from the gem was something she hadn’t experienced before. At first it was rather harsh to listen to, but after a few seconds to adjust she had to admit, what she was listening to was something she wanted to experience. The raw energy and emotion put into the lyrics, the rapid pace of the drums and mixing sounds of the guitar and bass, the growl of the singers voice. Luna had a mixture of concern for the singer's vocal cords, and awe of his control to make his voice act in such a harsh manner. The next song to pop up was just as interesting for her. It reminded her of the ballads of old, a slower pace taking hold of her ears. A light and soft pace for the drums, long drawn out notes for the string instruments, and the singer now sang crystal clear with perfect control, the roughness gone from his voice. Luna realized she would soon be hooked to the music coming from the silverbox and she needed more.
She found herself swaying to the music, enraptured by each song, absorbing each note played, and each word song. Eventually she was pulled from her own wandering mind by a hoof taping her foreleg. She could barely stop herself from jumping at the unexpected touch. Quickly she paused the music and found the owner of the music box standing beside her with a happy grin. “I see you have good taste in music prin- ahem, Luna” The younger pony was grinning ear from ear as she looked up to the much older mare. “We’ve been standing here for a lil bit waiting for you to notice us, but i figured if you're anything like me then it would be a while before you tuned back into reality”
Luna quickly realized that she had lost track of time as she listened to the music. Glancing upward at the sun she guessed she had been lost in her own head for an hour or two. “That was a fast visit. Are you sure you and your family don’t want more time with your family member?” Luna tried to hide the reluctance over handing over the box out of her voice, but it looked like the younger pony was not buying it.
“Turns out we came at a bad time, Grandma SunSeed has a bit of a cold and wanted to sleep. We are just going to come back next week.... If you want, I could bring another gem next week for you to listen to. I mean... if you're not to busy with anything?” the young mare looked quite hopeful as she asked her question.
Luna thought for a bit about the opportunity. I would be quite nice to befriend some of the newer generation, and the music she would bring would be a large bonus. “I shall accept on one condition.”
“Y-Yes?”
“I want your name, as well as the name of this musical group” Luna gave a comforting smile down at what would hopefully be her new friend. “Also you must visit your grandmother anytime you come see me.”
The young mare nodded her head enthusiastically.“Of course,that sounds great! My name is Sunbeat Melody, and the band you were rocking to is called Unity is Discord.” Sunbeat looked over the moon as she accepted Luna's proposal. Luna was sure this would definitely give her much entertainment for days to come.
(two months later)
Luna had found her cure for boredom in the form of Sunbeat Melody and the music she brought kept her attention when Sunbeat was not around. Her sister found the whole situation nice, seeing Luna opening up to others, though the music that Luna was now addicted to was not of Celestia's taste. But that was fine, Luna preferred to listen to music alone.
It was about 8 in the afternoon when Luna finally put down her now well used music box for the night, ready to jump into the dreams of her ex-subjects. Laying on her bed she closed her eyes and sighed, lighting her horn and letting her consciousness leave her body. Dream walking was a bit like an out of body experience. Her consciousness floated away from her body and into the sky, the material plane melting away as the alicorn flew higher. Everything seemed to shine like a diamond filled light blue void, with the little bubbles rising from bellow. Each holding the dreams of a singular pony. Sometimes she would even find bubbles that led to the dreams of other creatures, such as dragons or yaks, but those were more rare then common. She floated through the maze of bubbles looking for trouble among the dreamscape. Seemed it was a quiet night filled with good dreams.
Then she heard something a bit strange. At first it was a few simple musical notes, slowly evolving into the sound of one of the bands that she had recently taken a liking to. Now this would not be too unusual, ponies dreamed about their interests quite often, what was off though was that she could HEAR the bubble even though she was not inside it. This was not a good sign. When a bubble started to make noise it meant that the dream would soon turn chaotic. Luna quickly guided down to the bubble in question and slid her way into the dream.
She was greeted with the sight of a young pinkish mare with a purple and white striped mane being dragged away from what appeared to be a concert by a stuck up looking mare, binding the young one with a chain made of pearls.
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In the last few years Diamond Tiara had bonded with both Silverspoon and Herbal Brew over the banner of rock and roll. Though as the years continued she found that rock had many sub-genres to explore ranging from Classical Rock that evolved from blues and jazz to Death Metal which is the more extreme side of Hard rock and Metal. The best part of this bonding over such a diverse subject was being able to participate in the disagreements in music taste. Herbal tended to enjoy older rock and grunge bands, including more famous bands that made the genre what it is today. One of her favorite bands, 3 Race dynamics, was known as a mane band, sporting long exaggerated hairstyles that seemed to either puff up almost unnaturally or flow like water over their shoulders, somehow not getting in the way of whatever musical instrument they were playing at the time. Diamond didn’t mind bands like this but had to be in a specific mood to listen to them. Diamond on the other hand liked new forms of the genre, which drifted closer to a more punkish style of music. The singers usually had high pitch voices compared to some of their counterparts and the music tended to have a faster pace. Though was what herbal and Silverspoon referred to her favorite bands as “really edgy”. Diamond usually tended to concede that these bands did tend to target edgy teens and young adults as a demographic so that could be an explanation. Her favorite band, Unity is Discord, UID for short, tended to fit into the edgy stereotype and was pretty well known. Not top of the charts but well known.
Today's argument however was about the possibility of SIlverspoon accompanying Diamond to a UID concert. Usually this would not be a problem but today... “I’m sorry Diamond but we have to go to Canterlot on business and I need Silverspoon to watch the shop while we are gone. Can’t you find anyone else to go with you?” Herbal questioned as she packed a suitcase full of her belongings, also packing one for her husband who was currently tending the ship, making sure that SIlverspoon had everything she needed to watch the high end tea store.
“I’ve asked everyone I know and no one can come! Either their busy, sick, or have something better to do...” Diamond sighed as she spoke.
“And you're mother?”
“She told me she would not be caught dead at a “common” and “degenerate filled” place like that.” Another sigh escaped Diamond's lips. “She doesn’t get what i like and she doesn’t want to understand. She never has. The worst part is if I don’t have someone to come with I can't go at all!”
Herbal gave the pony a sympathetic look, wanting to help the young mare, but Herbal had a store to worry about. “Maybe next time then? I’m sure tickets for such a popular band can be refunded. If you're lucky you can resell them for twice as much.” She gave a small smile, trying to comfort the younger pony.
“Yea... probably” Diamond physically deflated before she turned to leave. “I’ll go to the box office tomorrow and try to give them back I guess.” With that she left the older mare to her business and sulked all the way back to her home.
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Diamond stood in front of the box office, ready to turn in the tickets when she heard a familiar sound off in the distance. She turned and perked up her ears trying to figure out where it was coming from. After a quick look around she spotted her target, and a quick turn of her ears confirmed her suspicions. There was a concert going on in Sugarcube corner, and not just any concert! She rushed forward in a gallop.
She knew those sounds, the vocals, the beat of the drums and the strum of the guitar. She burst through the doors of Sugarcube corner and found... An open field? She looked around and saw the Ponyville festival grounds, with merchants selling food and drink at the edge of the area, and far in front of her was a large stage where a band was performing, and she knew this band. It was UIT, and she was not going to miss this!
She moved to make a mad dash towards the stage, but as she pushed her hooves into the ground and tried to lean forward she found that she was not moving an inch. In Fact she felt like something was holding her still. Panicking she glanced down at her body, where strings of pears were wrapping around her legs, barrel, and neck like expensive pure white chains.
“DIAMOND TIARA!” she heard her mother yell from behind her. “You DARE to come to such a common festival filled with scum? Not on my watch! Now come home to become a proper lady.” Diamond pushed forward against the expensive chains, never looking back, refusing to face her mother. What she wanted was right in front of her, and diamonds didn’t crack on what they want. For a moment she thought she could overpower her mother, at least until she started to be dragged backwards. No matter how she struggled she couldn’t gain ground.
“My, that is quite a harsh way to view ones mother” Another voice rang through the nightmare within Diamonds head. With that voice the dream surrounding the two ponies seemed to melt away, leaving her to face the tall dark colored alicorn.
“P-Princess Luna?” Diamond's eyes widened at her former ruler.
“Just Luna, if you prefer. Though I must say I enjoy your taste in music.” The Lunar pony smirked as she settled down to talk to the young one of her nightmare. And maybe if they had time, about the band they had in common.
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“And that's the situation...” Diamond Tiara had heard of the Lunar pony visiting the dreams of nightmare filled ponies. Diamond honestly wondered how Luna found her specific dream out of the millions of other dreams that were being dreamt in Equestria but that would be a question for later. The last hour or so, or at least it felt like an hour or so, she had been explaining her dream from start to finish until Luna raised a hoof and asked her what she thought her dream meant. After a moment of pondering her dream Diamond had decided to explain her current situation outside the dream realm. Starting with her troubles with her mother and ending with the need to return the concert tickets, she was sure that the nightmare had been caused by her disappointment with having to return the tickets.
“I see, and that is unfortunate, but not exactly what i was asking.” Luna said with a smirk. Diamond looked up at the alicorn, confused on what she meant. “You see if your nightmare was specifically about not being able to go to this concert then the box office would have been the start of the horror. Or maybe there would have been some kind of creature blocking the path to Sugarcube corner where you could hear the music playing? What I am specifically asking is where was the point where your dream turned from happy and excited to a place of fear and panic? That being said do you remember the first thing I said when entering your dream.”
Diamond nodded slowly, and thought back to the beginnings of this conversation. “You said my viewpoint of my mother was harsh... right?” Luna nodded. “So my nightmare started when,” Diamond pondered for a bit before reaching a conclusion. “When i started dreaming about what was holding me back. The one holding the chains of pearls... my mother?” Luna nodded once again but did not say anything, letting the smaller pony speak. “I mean, I guess that makes sense. She is kinda the reason I can’t go. Well, I mean, father agrees that I should go with somepony but maybe he wouldn’t be so cautious if Mother wasn’t constantly putting down the things I like. She says that anything that has to do with more “common musical events'' are chaotic and filled with “unruly and dangerous” ponies. How would she even know? Not like she has ever been to one.” Diamond pouted and laid her head on her crossed hooves. “It seems like anything I like that does not interest her is filthy and unclean. Sometimes i wonder... if she thinks the same about me?” She let a sad chuckle escape her lips, not knowing what to say to her ex-ruler. “I didn’t really turn out to be the stuck up trophy daughter she wanted me to be.”
Luna cleared her throat, gaining the attention of the younger one in front of her. “I understand that you're upset at this but have you viewed this from your mother's point of view, even if it may be a bit of a close minded opinion? Think about it like this, if you will. Her daughter is interested in attending something that she does not understand, that may be a negative influence on you. She may just be over protective on the matter. Though I can’t honestly say if she is disappointed in you or not. She may just not be able to understand your mindset on such matters.”
“I can understand that but, well, I’ve tried to show her, even bond with her over my interests. Every Time I've tried she has stuck her nose in the air and refused to listen.” Luna frowned at this as Diamond let out another sigh. “I’ve even tried to spend time with her doing things she likes, thinking maybe we can make it a “let’s do something you like, then something I like” kind of thing. But she always finds a way out of the something I like part.”
“Some ponies...” Luna started cautiously “have a hard time changing their points of view, no matter how-” Luna took a moment to try and think of a better word then pompous. She knew the types of ponies that Diamonds mother sounded like. The nobles in Canterlot were quite similar, and Luna shuttered at the memory of interacting with them. “Stiff those viewpoints may be. I’ve dealt with many similar minded ponies while I sat on the throne. It is one of the reasons why I had trouble adapting when I came back from the moon. Many of the courts would have rather that I brought back the traditions of old then learn about and adapt to the new. They stated that the classical was much more proper than today's trends. What they failed to realize was their classical arts came a few hundred years before I was banished to the moon. In my childhood we got our music in the form of traveling bards, and the works of art made were made by whoever had the time to spend on said art. That being said, I took those classical art and music suggestions as modern art and music for a few months after my return. When i found out form my guards that the things I was studying were already outdated I tried to broaden my horizons, but the ponies of my court insisted that today's trends would, if i remember correctly, ‘Corrupt me once again’” Luna giggled at the thought. It would take a lot more than a few songs or pieces of art to corrupt anypony, let alone one who has experienced it and now knows what to avoid.
“Did-” Diamond started, curiosity seeping through as she formed her question. “Did you ever convince a few of them at least? To open up their minds I mean. You said earlier that you liked my taste in music, so that means that one of them must of come around?” She raised her head, looking hopefully at Luna. Maybe she could still convince her mother?
“Sadly, no, I could not.” Diamonds ears folded back and her head hung a little lower as Luna said this. “My current musical tastes came from a friend of mine that I met at my place of residence.”
“Figures. Well, Thank you for talking to me at least. It seems like there is no way around giving the tickets back or convincing my mother to give my interests a try... but hey It’s only one concert right? And maybe I’ll get lucky and one day she will hear me singing a song that she likes?” The young pony chuckled sadly. “I can catch them next time they are touring.”
“Oh I don’t think that will be an issue” Luna began smirking once again. Giving the Diamond a knowing smile.
“W-what do you mean? It’s not like I can find sompony to come with me before tomorrow night. Everypony is busy and like I said I can’t get my Mother to even consider-” Luna stopped the young mare from speaking further.
“There is one pony here that you have not asked. One that happens to be very interested in continuing her research into modern music and by association, concerts. Plus if your mother sees someone more royal, coming with you to said concert then we may just pluck to flowers with one hoof? ” Luna watched Diamonds face light up. She couldn’t deny feeling just as giddy as the young one but refused to show more than a warm smile to the pony.
“Y-you mean?” She stuttered as she watched Luna nod, before jumping up and hugging the alicorn. “Thank you, Thank you so much!” Diamond was close to tears of joy and Luna was extremely happy that she decided to retake her dream walking gig. Though this means that she would have to send a letter to Twilight to inform her that she would need the night off the following night for this concert. Though considering that Luna was doing a job she didn’t actually need to do she doubted Twilight would have a problem with the night off.
Luna folded her wing over her. “Now there are only two things I need before I can fully agree to this.” Diamond looked up curiously at the pony she was hugging. “I need your name and an address. I need to know where I shall be showing up, do I not?”
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Spoiled Rich had met a lot of important ponies in her lifetime, but never did she think she would be standing face to face with one of the alicorn sisters, especially in her own home. Even as an ex-princess Luna was still considered pure blooded Royalty. She looked up at the mare with her jaw quite close to the floor. “You want to accompany my daughter to- to such a, um, show.” She just couldn’t understand what was happening. Wouldn’t a Pony of royal status scoff at and look down on such lower class entertainment? “I mean of course! I’m sure she would be delighted to have you accompany her! Isn’t that right Diamond Tiara?” She gave off a bit of an uncomfortable laugh as Luna nodded and leaned down to talk to Diamond. Spoiled didn’t know what she was looking at and didn’t really know how to handle the site of Luna in front of her. She wore no royal garments, her hair was tied back in an ever-flowing ponytail, and she had on a loosely fitting black hoodie. The fact it was loosely fitting probably meant that she ordered it to be such considering that anything made to fit a fully grown alicorn had to be custom made.
Luna enjoyed the site of a flustered stuck up pony, but she would never admit it. Well, not publicly at least. After a quick glance at the confused mare she turned her attention back to Diamond Tiara. “Ready to go? I believe we have a bit of a walk to the Ponyville fair grounds do we not?” She could see that Diamond was practically bouncing in place from excitement, but did her best not to let it show too much.
“I’m ready whenever you are!” Diamond stated quickly before lowering her voice again. “Oh and, um, thanks again for this again Luna” There was a small gasp from Spoiled caused by the casual use of Luna's name, but both ponies ignored her as Luna gave Diamond a quick nod. The two ponies then left out the front door as Spoiled rich tried to piece together what just happened. Maybe she would have to look into these newer forms of music to see not only her daughter, but apparently the royals themselves were so interested in it?
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Once they were clear of the house Luna glanced to her side where Diamond was trotting beside her. Luna was glad she was doing this. While on the throne she was usually either asleep, working in the dream realm, or ruling over the night court. This gave her little time to experience the aspects of everyday life. Even at the retirement village she seemed to be waited on by the staff, and if Sunbeat wasn’t there she was swamped by invitations from the elderly ponies there to spend time with them. She would have to remember to thank Sunbeat for giving her more to do then tea parties and shuffleboard. Even paintball had gotten more interesting considering when Sunbeat would accompany Luna onto the battlefield Luna would have to both defend, teach, and work with Sunbeat. This though brought up a intresting idea to the alicorn. Would Diamond Tiara enjoy paintball? Maybe She could convince her to start visiting much like Sunbeat has been.
That could be decided after seeing how the night went. Though now that Luna thought about it she had another one to thank considering that she was about to attend a concert for free.“Say miss Tiara-”
“Diamond, if you want. I mean I AM calling you Luna...” Diamond gave a rather shy smile.
Luna couldn’t help but smile, “Diamond then. I just wanted to thank you as well...” Diamond looked a bit puzzled but allowed the alicorn to continue. “I don’t really have a reason to leave the retirement home, and it was getting rather boring. To the point I picked up parts of my old job of watching over the dream realm.” Luna let out a small snort before continuing. “Maybe I am just not built for retirement life.” Luna thought about this before shaking her head and getting back to the point. “What I am trying to say is, thank you for inviting me. I know you did not have that much of a choice in the matter if you wanted to attend, but I feel it should still be said.”
Diamond stared at the pony towering next to her and took in the situation she was in and was amazed by it. “You know, as a filly I thought you would have been a lot more, well, stuffy.” She blushed as Luna looked at her with a questioning gaze. “I don’t mean anything bad by it, I was just always told that royalty were the fanciest of fancy you know.” She blurted out, panicking a bit at the thought that she might have just insulted Luna to her face. “Not that you don’t look it! Even now you look really regal and- and, um... are you laughing” Luna was indeed giggling at diamonds outburst.
“Oh it is nothing.” Luna took a moment to clear her throat. “I do understand why you would think that though. Considering who my sister is and how the current nobility acts. Granted when I first returned from the moon I was quite stuck in my old ways of how I thought royalty should act. It took me a good while to kick old habits and once I started kicking out my conceptions of royalty I had a bit of an epiphany. You see when I realized that the concept of royalty and nobility was as ever changing as the world around it, even if that change was a little slow. Once upon a time royalty would be at the front of every army, leading in person, but now we lead from ivory towers. I can see it in my sister especially. She acts quite different from when we're younger, and MUCH more level headed. Oh the stories I could tell about how big her ego was back in the day.” Luna allowed a smirk to grace her face for a moment. “I decided then and there that if there was no true concept of nobility then I would define it myself and live by that definition.”
“And what is your definition to nobility?” Diamond asked, letting herself get lost in Luna's pondering.
“I suppose I base it on three things. Protect what you love, act in a way that you can be proud of, and I mean you, not somepony else. And finally stand for those that can not stand alone.” Luna enjoyed having Diamond hang on her every word. She wondered if this is what it felt like for her sister when Celestia took on students. “In other words I Believe Nobility should be based in ones actions rather than their appearances. Now if only I could of been able to change the hearts of the nobles before I throne.” Luna sighed with a sad smiles.
“I have been meaning to ask.... Why exactly did you and princess Celestia leave the throne? It’s not like the two of you get old?” To be honest this was a often asked question for most of the nation. Why retire and give up their crowns instead of just take a few months of vacation, or even a few years. Personally Luna was on the fence about the whole thing and it was more Celestia convincing her that it was time to step down, that their times had come. “I’m sure your ideals would have caught on, eventually I mean.”
“Hm” Luna wasn’t sure how to answer this at first, wanting to give a more honest hour then the usual ‘because it was time’ kind of answer. This led to the two walking in silence for a moment or two. “Well... I suppose it is because of my sister. Granted I don’t mean that she forced me to step down, but she needed a break, and some time with me.” Luna leaned her head to the side, feeling her neck crack in a few places, giving a happy sigh before continuing. “As for the nobles I tried. A few surprisingly already shared my views on the world, but they were far outnumbered. Maybe you are right, given enough time I may of been able to help this but...” Why had she let her sister talk her into leaving the crown? Luna thought this to herself as they walked through the growing crowds as they approached the festival grounds. Yes Luna knew she was having a hard time keeping up with the work of being a princess after the thousand year break. This was not helped that for every hundred years after she was banished the paperwork involved tripled. “I suppose I do not know. I trusted my sister's judgement on what I should do when she announced her retirement. The noble class seemed quite pleased as well, considering I was not quite popular with them. To harsh on them during Night court they said.” Luna looked up at the setting sun as they walked then turned her head to the rising moon.
“You know, I know it doesn’t mean much but I think that you would make a good ruler... uh, I mean you probably were already but like, I don’t know It’s just a shame that you stepped down I guess. It’s nice to have somepony there to push against the grain, you know?” Diamond wasn’t sure if she was in the position to try and comfort the alicorn but considering what Luna was doing for her she could at least try. Besides she wasn’t lying, Diamond has met a decent amount of Bigwigs thanks to her father. A few of them were even on the lower end of the Canterlot elite. She had always noticed that most of them seemed to act more like her mother then the everyday pony. There were times she had wondered if that kind of attitude is what made them successful, or maybe it was just that they were born into wealth and got spoiled as a foal. Considering her past she tended to think it was the later of the choices. She herself had almost fallen into that trap of life.
“It would be quite entertaining to see the faces of the more prissy nobles if they saw me back in court.” Luna laughed, imagining the confused faces that were sure to appear. “Maybe going back to the throne would be a nice idea.” Luna personally wanted to continue this conversation but quickly realized that they had finally reached the line for the entrance for the concert. “Wait... is that?” Luna could not help but notice a familiar yellow mare 15 or so ponies ahead of them.
“Oh! I see Queen Flutterpit is here. Rare, she usually goes to see much heavier bands then this.” Diamond leaned to the left to see past the crowd as Luna looked at the mare confused to why she was here.
“Q-Queen? Flutterpit? Is that not the element of kindness? I thought her name was Fluttershy?” Luna was swinging her head from looking at Fluttershy to Diamond, craving answers.
Diamond giggled at Luna’s confusion. “It’s her nickname when she goes to shows like this. She’s pretty famous with the music scene, to the point where if most bands see her in the pit they will call her out and invite her to sing. She acts kind of like a pit medic honestly, but whenever somepony gets a lil to rile up, she can usually stare them down. I once saw her stare down three stallions twice my size who were just flat out brawling mid mosh pit. Though she only resorts to that for extreme cases.” As the two of them peered at the shy mare ahead of them approaching the gate they could see the pony checking tickets lean over and whisper something into her ear. With a quick nod and a sigh Fluttershy walked past the pony and disappeared into the crowd. “Still this band shouldn’t have a pit that bad, maybe she just wants a more relaxing night?”
Luna blinked a few times, trying to process this information. “That, is information I did not expect and I am not sure what to do with it.”
Diamond smiled sympathetically, “No one does. Remind me after the show and I will tell you about the time Twilight followed her into the crowd to make sure she was safe.” She smiled at the memory. “Incidentally that was my first show. Pretty entertaining night honestly.”
After a few moments they finally reached the ticket Pony who looked up at Luna a bit slack jawed as he was handed the tickets. It then occurred to Luna to take note of her surroundings, and noticed the stares of her fellow ponies. Some looked shocked, some confused, others amused, apparently the thought that she would appear at your everyday concert was something that had mixed reactions with the everyday citizen. Luna wondered if that was her reaction to seeing Flutter shy in line, but shrugged the thought off and looked at the ticket pony. “Is everything in order my good sir?” She asked with a smirk, amused by looks she was getting and wondering if she would make tomorrow's papers, considering she saw a few ponies with cameras.
The stallion quickly pulled himself together with a quick gulp. “Yes, you're majesty.” He blurted out and handed the two of them their ticket stubs and some neon necklaces to show that they had paid for their tickets and not snuck into the show. “Enjoy the show!” He gave a sloppy salute as they passed. Diamond couldn’t help but want to laugh at the sight but she held in her giggles long enough for them to get into the show.
Diamond looked at the crowd in front of her, condensing itself near the front of the stage as some ponies set up the band's equipment and prepped the stage for the show. “Hey Luna, I said thank you right? For coming with me?”
“Why yes, yes you did. In your dream I believe.” Luna prodded the small pony forward, encouraging her to take the lead.
Diamond thought of her situation for a moment. Hanging with one of the most Important ponies in Equestria, bonding with said pony, and sharing her favorite band with the royal. Normally she thought she would feel nervous at this but for some reason, looking back at Luna she felt calm. Like as if she were hanging out with an old friend. She then took a few steps closer to the stage, then a few more as she picked up her pace. Soon She and Luna were lost in the crowd as the band took the stage. Other than the occasionally dumbfounded look at Luna most ponies in the crowd didn't pay attention to the two. “I love this feeling.” As she spoke the crowd quieted and waited as the band started to check and tune their instruments.
Luna barely caught the sentence and leaned down to make sure she could hear the young mare properly. “What feeling?”
Diamond smiled as the first notes of the concert started and raised her voice before the crowd around her got too loud to hear. She glanced at the ponies around her, cheering, singing, and dancing. Each one of them shining in their own way. “I feel like I’m a Diamond lost in a crowd of other gems!”
Author's Note
I took sometime on this. Much more then I usually do so I hope y'all like it!