Diamond's Evil Journey 2: Outbreak

Leon, Diamond, and Starshot made their way through Ponyville in search for the rest of their team. They glanced around at the infected corpses that were scattered around. They weren't running into any living infected so they took that as a good sign. After a few minutes they saw a group of guards ahead that seemed to be resting. There were only six of them and a few of them were nursing wounds.

The guards didn't notice Diamond's approach until she reached them. She cleared her throat loudly causing the resting guards to stand at attention and salute “T-tiara! I didn't see you there.” the stallion said.

She rolled her eyes “Calm down, I'm not gonna punish you for resting. Just give me your mission report.” she ordered.

The guard nodded and cleared his throat “Right. There seems to be no more infected in the area, this was a small force indeed. Just in case, we have still directed the remaining citizens to the castle.” he glanced back at the rest of his team “We are not without wounds though. We lost four guards to these monsters.” he said.

Diamond nodded as she took in the information “It wasn't perfect but it looks like this mission was a success.” she said.

Starshot smiled wide and held a hoof up to Leon “I love a good completed mission! Up high!” she exclaimed.

Leon ignored the gesture as he rubbed his chin with a frown “Something about this doesn't seem right.” he said.

Diamond frowned in thought “I know what you mean. Cozy Glow should have known that we could've easily taken a force this small. I know that her main goal at the moment is probably Canterlot but couldn't she have spared more? I don't even get why she attacked Ponyville in the first place. Maybe to take out twilight and her friends.” she said.

Leon shook his head to get the thoughts out of his head “Either way, we should contact Captain Glaive. We need to know how the evacuation is going.” he said.

Diamond nodded and pressed her earpiece “Captain? How is the evacuation?” she asked.

She expected to hear evidence of the battle that was most likely still going on but all she heard was a slightly winded Captain Glaive “It's going well. But I think something's going on.” he said.

Diamond raised an eyebrow “What do you mean? Did you take out all of the infected?” she asked.

“No, they retreated. I'm not sure why they did through. They still had overwhelming numbers on us but they all stopped attacking simultaneously and left.” he said.

“Did you see where they were going?” diamond asked.

“In the direction of Ponyville. I'll send over reinforcements once the evacuation is complete.” he said.

Leon quickly joined in the conversation “Don't. Something about all of this seems fishy. I feel like Cozy Glow has something planned in Canterlot. We'll call for help if we need it.” he said.

The line was quiet for a few moments “Diamond? Do you agree?” he asked.

“Leon's gut usually isn't wrong. Just focus on the citizen's safety for now.” she answered.

“Very well.” he said before he cut off the line.

Starshot hummed in thought before taking to the air and flying straight up. She stopped to hover and stared out in the direction of Canterlot. She saw a horde of infected making their way towards Ponyville. The pegasi were flying low to the ground and she noticed a small pink filly leading the army.

She dove back to the ground and the others looked to her “Maybe we should've been so quick to turn down help. They're here. All of them. Including the filly leading them.” she said.

Leon hardened his expression “Let's meet them half way. Maybe we can talk Cozy out of this. But if a fight does happen, it would be better to do it away from the town.” he said. He was about to start walking before he noticed that none of the guards were following him, they were just staring at him. He then remembered that they had no obligation to follow his orders.

Diamond walked up to his side “Are you sure about this?” she asked. He only gave a nod. She smiled back at him before turning to the other guards “Come on, we're going to meet with Cozy Glow. Stay behind us and don't attack until directed by me or Leon.” she said.

The guards saluted and all shouted “Yes ma'am!” with that, they took off.

They were now outside of Ponyville and were walking across a grassy field. Ahead they could see the humongous horde getting closer and closer. Diamond kept her eyes locked onto Cozy Glow as they walked. She then noticed that a infected unicorn's horn was aglow with magic. Above it was a magical red bubble with an unconscious Silver Spoon inside it. Diamond felt anger bubbling up in her at that sight but tried to keep it down.

After a few minutes, they stopped in front of Cozy and her army. Luckily they all did too. Cozy smiled in amusement at the small group “You all are either incredibly brave or overwhelmingly dim. Which is it?” she questioned.

Leon stepped up “I thought we could take a moment to talk.” he said.

Cozy tilted her head and put a hoof to her chin in thought “Intriguing...I accept.” she said. She flew close to Leon, leaving her army in place “What should we talk about? The weather perhaps?” she said with a snicker.

Leon was far from amused “How about your reasons behind all this and your plans?” he suggested.

Cozy laughed “Alright then, let's see. Why would I do this?” she asked herself sarcastically “So that everypony recognizes me for what I truly am, the rightful ruler.” she said.

Diamond narrowed her eyes at her “Ruler? So your goal is to overthrow the princesses?” she questioned.

Cozy nodded “That's part of it, but I don't want to give everything away.” she said.

Leon shook his head “If you dream of ruling one day, this is not the way to do it. The forces you're involved with aren't toys. They could easily lead to the end of the world. You can't rule if there's nothing left to rule.” he said.

Cozy immediately lost all amusement and glared at Leon “That's your problem right there Leon.” she said as she harshly poked his chest “You see me as a poor little filly, playing with things she couldn't possibly hope to understand. Trust me, I know exactly what and who I'm dealing with.” she said.

Diamond growled slightly “What about Wesker?” she questioned.

Cozy rolled her eyes “I know everything I need to know about Wesker, believe it or not. I've been to the human world and done my research.” she said.

Diamond seemed shocked at that “You've been there? How? Citizens aren't allowed through the portal.” she said.

Cozy gave a entertained scoff “Those guards are an embarrassment. I could easily sneak past them. If I was ever discovered, I just had to give them the cute kid routine and they would let me off with a warning.” she said. One of the guards behind Diamond blushed and averted his eyes.

Leon wanted to give her one last chance “I'm going to ask you only once. Give this up. If you continue, I see this going one of two ways. One, we kill you. Two, you kill us and Wesker betrays you and he kills you. If you give up here, the best you'll get is life in prison. None of your options are good but I recommend you take that one.” he said.

Cozy only grinned “I'm not as naive as you think. I know that you all don't stand a chance against my army, and I'm not worried about Wesker in the slightest.” she said. The guards all got into fighting stances as they sensed that she was done talking. She started flying back to her army “Luckily for you, I still have use of you. I won't kill you yet, but I will leave something to stall you for the moment. Do me a favor and try to live.” she said.

Diamond stepped towards her “You're not going anywhere until I get Silver Spoon back!” she shouted.

Cozy glanced back at her with an eyebrow raised “Sorry but I'll have to hold on to her for the moment. You can have her back once I figure out the root of her immunity. Although I'm not sure how much will be left.” she said before she ordered her army to turn around and walk.

Diamond took her rifle out and aimed at Cozy's back and fired. A infected pegasus dove in front of the bullet and sacrificed itself. Cozy didn't bother turn around but just waved a hoof behind her “Nice try.” she said as they all continued to retreat as if nothing had happened.

The guards all relaxed in slight relief that they wouldn't have to face that horde. Diamond kept her heated glare on the army as they left “What could she be planning?” she asked to no one in particular.

Leon scanned the horizon carefully “I'm more worried about what's supposed to stall us. She's taking them all with her.” he said.

Diamond opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a distant roar. They all snapped their gazes to the sky to see a colossal dragon flying towards them from far away. The dragon's scales were red with orange tips. Along it's back were two rows of spikes as well as a spike at the tip of it's snout.

She took a step back in shock but recovered quickly “She sent a dragon to stall us? I'll take that as a compliment.” she said.

Leon sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose “I didn't expect to be facing down a dragon tonight.” he took his rifle out in preparation “Looks like it will take it a few minutes to reach us. We need a game plan.” he said.

Diamond racked her brain for some strategy for defeating a dragon “I doubt bullets would be able to pierce it's scales. Plus the fact that it can fly gives it an advantage over me and you.” she said.

A guard walked up beside her to interrupt her thought process “You'll need more time to think. Allow us to distract it for you ma'am.” he said with a brave expression.

Diamond tilted her head “Yeally? You'd voluntarily distract a dragon?” she asked. The other five guards walked up as well and they all nodded. Diamond smiled warmly before her expression turned more serious “Fine. Just remember that you aren't trying to kill it, only keep it busy. Keep your distance and retreat if it starts going south.” she instructed. She then turned to Starshot “you go with them. I'm putting you in charge of them.” she said.

Starshot smiled in excitement “I won't let you down boss!” she said with a salute. She then gestured for the guards to follow her before taking off.

Once the guards took to the air and followed, Leon and Diamond started brainstorming. Leon took note of the little he learned about dragons “Scales too hard to pierce. Will be difficult to beat from the ground. Either we'll have to get up there, or we bring it down to us. The question is which one would be easier.” he said.

“Bringing it down would be best, but we'd have to do something to damage it's wings.” she said.

Suddenly they heard a voice behind them “Anything we can do to help?” they recognized the voice to be Rainbow Dash. They turned to see her standing with Pinkie Pie and Applejack.

Diamond gave a confused smile “What are you girls doing here?” she asked.

Rainbow smirked “Twilight saw that dragon in the distance and wanted to do something to help. We told her that she had to stay to keep everypony else safe, so we came instead.” she explained.

Applejack frowned with a hint of unease “Ah ain't that confident in mah ability ta take a dragon down but ah'm sure we can figure somethin' out together.” she said.

Pinkie raised her hoof “Ooh I have something that could help, wait right here!” she said. Before anyone could say anything, Pinkie dashed off in the blink of an eye. After about five seconds, Pinkie returned while wearing a peculiar outfit. She wore a old-looking black coat with a hood over her head. She also had a purple bandanna covering the lower half of her face and a large backpack “I got something that might interest you!” she announced.

Rainbow and Applejack only watched on with confusion while Leon and Diamond seemed speechless. Leon recovered and pointed at her new clothes “Why are you dressed like the merchant?” he questioned.

“Last sunday during bridge, Merchy offered to teach me his trade. I accepted under the condition that I could teach him how to bake. Little did I know, he could already bake a killer pineapple upside down cake. Apparently it's a family recipe, so-” she was stopped by Diamond.

“Is there a point to this story, 'cause I have guards distracting a dragon right now.” she said.

Pinkie rubbed the back of her neck “Sorry.” she said before clearing her throat “Anyway, I have something for sale that might help.” she said. She reached into her coat and pulled out an Equestrian grenade launcher.

Diamond's eyes widened “Where the hay did you get that?” she asked.

Pinkie giggled “Merchy taught me to always be as vague as possible, so it's a secret.” she said.

Leon sighed “We should just count our blessings rather than questioning things that will never make sense. How much for it?” he asked.

Pinkie tapped her chin as she hummed in thought “Twenty bits.” she eventually said.

Diamond nodded and dug into her saddlebags for her bits. She counted out the correct amount and gave them to Pinkie. She accepted them and handed the weapon over “Pleasure doing business with you.” she said.

As Diamond looked the weapon over, Applejack stepped up to speak “Alright then, but do we have some kind of plan for taking this thing down?” she asked.

Diamond slowly found a smile of her face as a plan started to formulate “I think I have something that will work.” she said.

After the explanation, Rainbow nodded with a smile “Sounds awesome! Let's do it.” she said.

Applejack didn't share her enthusiasm “Ah don't know, seems risky.” she said.

Leon glanced her way “I can't think of a way of fighting a dragon that wouldn't be risky. This is our best chance, let's go for it.” he said.

Diamond nodded and pressed her earpiece to contact Starshot “We're ready. Tell them to retreat. Take a rest for a moment, I'll tell you if we need you.” she said.

In the distance they could see the bat ponies disperse from the dragon in different directions. The dragon ignored the fleeing ponies and continued it's fight towards Diamond and Leon. Diamond glanced between Leon and Rainbow “Alright, let's put this plan into action.” she said.

Leon nodded and took his knife out before tossing it to Rainbow. She caught it as Diamond climbed onto her back. She then shot into the air and towards the dragon. It was about to open it's maw as they closed in on it but was distracted by a bullet bouncing off it's face scales.

Back on the ground Leon had his rifle aimed up at the dragon as he took another shot. It turned down at Leon and opened it's mouth and revealed a giant eyeball surrounded by fleshy tendrils coming from it's throat. From behind the eyeball came a torrent of flames that came down towards Leon. He quickly dashed and rolled out of the way.

With the dragon distracted, Rainbow was able to easily fly past it's head and to it's left wing. She arrived at where the wing was attached and Diamond hopped off of her. She caught onto the wing and held on with one hoof while she had her knife in the other. Once Rainbow was sure that Diamond wouldn't fall off, she flew off to the other end of the same wing.

Diamond stuck her knife between the dragon's scales and into it's flesh. She started to saw which caused the dragon to roar in pain. Rainbow started to do the same from her end of the wing. They knew that they would only need to cut enough to make the wing unusable. The dragon shook it's body in an attempt to rid it of the intruders but they were able to hold on.

Once diamond had cut through about five inches of the wing, it stopped flapping and hung limply to the side. The sudden change caught diamond off guard causing her to lose her grip and fall. Luckily she was quickly caught by rainbow. The dragon wasn't so lucky as it fell towards the ground while desperately flapping the wing it still had control over.

Rainbow smiled in satisfaction as she watched it “Take that!” she taunted.

Diamond chuckled “Don't celebrate yet, let's join the others down there.” she said. Rainbow nodded and flew down to the ground. Diamond hopped off of her and turned to Applejack “You're turn. Get up there.” she said.

Applejack nodded and took her lasso in her teeth before running towards the side of the downed dragon. It turned to face her and lifted a claw in an attempt to bring it down on her. Before it could follow through, an explosion blew on the side of it's face. It did little to no damage to it's scales but the force was enough to jerk it's head to the side.

It turned to see Diamond pointing the grenade launcher at it. It snarled before quickly blowing flames her way. A rainbow trail swooped Diamond up and out of the fire's path. Rainbow smirked down at Diamond in her fore hooves “Now we're even for earlier.” she said.

Diamond gave an amused roll of her eyes “I was just about to dodge that and you know it.” she said. They shared a quick chuckle before Diamond climbed onto Rainbow's back “Now keep steady so I can keep this thing busy.” she said.

“Easy.” Rainbow said before flying circles around the dragon's head. It missed a swipe with it's claws before taking another grenade for it's efforts. The blew fire into the air wildly in an attempt to stop the but Rainbow was able to narrowly avoid it. Diamond took a moment to steady herself so she wouldn't fall before countering the dragon with another grenade.

The dragon threw a claw at them which was dodged but they didn't see the second one coming. The claw glanced Rainbow's side, causing her and diamond to fall. They landed in a heap and started to pick themselves up. The dragon loomed over them and took a breath in to ready it's fire breath. Luckily a flash grenade flew up near it's face from Leon “Cover your eyes!” he warned.

Everyone in the area were able to shield their eyes as the flash blinded the dragon. As it wailed from it's stinging eyes, Leon ran up to Diamond and Rainbow “Are you two alright?” he questioned quickly.

Diamond nodded with a smile. Rainbow glanced at the cut that ran up her side before shrugging “This is nothing.” she said.

They turned back to the dragon to see that it had recovered. It scowled at them but was unable to do anything as a cannon was heard going off. A mixture of cake batter and confetti covered the majority of it's face from Pinkie's party cannon. A lasso them flew from behind the dragon's head and caught the spike on the tip of it's snout. They saw Applejack on it's head, futilely pulling on the rope.

Diamond saw the struggling earth pony and immediately turned to her friends “Leon! Rainbow! Pinkie! Help her!” she ordered.

Rainbow flew up and grabbed a hold of the rope. Leon jumped onto the snout of the struggling dragon before running up to join them. Pinkie simply hopped up to them before helping. After a few seconds of them pulling with all of their strength, the dragon's maw was opened against it's will.

Diamond quickly took the grenade launcher and fired the three grenades that were left into it's giant eye. The grenade launcher clicked to show that it was empty so Diamond dropped it The eyeball was blown to bits and the dragon shook the others off with a jerk of it's body. It pointed it's head to the sky and let out a dying wail before falling limply to the ground.

Everyone was glad to be able to take a breather. Applejack took her stetson off and wiped sweat from her brow. She then chuckled as she returned the hat to it's place “Wait till ah tell big mac that ah lassoed me a dragon. He'll never believe it.” she said.

Rainbow waved a hoof in the air dismissively “Congrats, you put a rope over a dragon's nose.” she said sarcastically before pointing to herself “How about the mare who risked her life to cut into it's wing?” she boasted.

Diamond crossed her fore hooves “You act like you were the only one up there. Plus, were you the one who came up with that plan in the first place?” she challenged.

Before they could argue anymore, Starshot came out of nowhere and hugged Diamond “You did it! I knew you would!” she exclaimed while nuzzling the filly.

Diamond struggled out of her hold “I appreciate it but can you stop doing that.” she said.

Leon walked up to them “I think that's enough celebration. We still have a problem named Cozy Glow to deal with. She was off to Canterlot right?” he asked.

Diamond frowned at the reminder “You're right. I'll check in with Captain Glaive. Cozy might be close by now.” she said. She then pressed her earpiece “Captain, heads up. You have a-” she was interrupted by Glaive shouting.

“Tiara! I need you in Canterlot ASAP! The army returned!” he shouted.

Diamond gasped “Try to hold them off, we'll get there soon.” she said.

“They aren't attacking us. As soon as they arrived, the princesses' barrier disappeared and they charged the castle. I tried contacting Princess Luna but she isn't responding.” he said.

Everyone that was wearing an earpiece froze in shock. The others only stared in confusion. Pinkie tilted her head “What did he say? Was it good news?” she asked.

Diamond blinked twice before recovering “We need to get to Canterlot. Now!” she said.

Leon hummed in thought “How are we getting there?” he asked.

Diamond growled “The trains obviously aren't running and going by hoof would take too long.” she said.

Rainbow got their attention “If it's that important, I'm sure Twilight would be able to magic you there.” she offered.

Diamond nodded “That's actually a good idea. Come on everypony! We have to hurry!” she commanded before they all took off.

They all ran through Twilight's castle, passing all of the citizens that were resting after the whole ordeal. They eventually reached Twilight who was with the rest of her friends. Filthy Rich was there as well as he stepped up to speak to his daughter. Before he could, Diamond sent a glare his way that shut him up. He hung his head and took a few steps back.

Twilight smiled gently at their return “You all are back. Did you defeat that dragon?” she asked.

Diamond stood in front of her guards with a serious expression “The area should be safe now but still be cautious. More importantly, we need to be teleported to Canterlot. I got a report that Canterlot castle is unprotected and Luna is unresponsive.” she summarized.

Everyone within earshot widened their eyes in shock. Twilight recovered nodding in understanding “Please gather together. I'll send you right away.” she said.

Diamond, Leon, Starshot, and the rest of the guards appear in front of Canterlot castle's gates. Before they could enter, Captain Glaive and Time Step landed next to them “Tiara!” Glaive called as he landed.

“Captain! How are the princesses?” Diamond asked.

His frown deepened “Not sure. I sent my guards to sweep for any stragglers. Me and Step only just arrived.” he said.

Leon turned to the surprisingly quiet castle “I heard that the castle was attacked by Cozy's army. How can it be so quiet?” he wondered.

The captain only stepped forward to take leadership “We need to reach the throne room. Be on guard everypony, we don't know how many are in there.” he said before leading them into the castle. To their surprise, they didn't see any living infected. They passed by the Canterlot citizens that were shell shocked but relatively unharmed. This seemed to confuse them even more as they closed in on the throne room.

Once they entered, they saw the bodies of royal guards littering the floor. In the middle of them were the limp forms of Celestia and Luna. Glaive eyes shot open at the sight but turned to Starshot “Check Princess Celestia's vitals.” he ordered.

She and a few guards ran off to the princess while Diamond and Leon joined the captain in running to Luna.

Glaive searched her for wounds and found nothing that should have been fatal. Diamond put a hoof to her neck and silently prayed. She calmed slightly when she felt a pulse “She's alive.” she said.

She then hear Starshot's voice “Same here. She has a pretty bad head wound though.” she said.

Diamond's ears perked up when she heard Luna stirring. Eventually Luna was able to pick her head up from the floor and open her eyes. Diamond immediately wrapped her fore legs around her neck in a tight hug “I'm so glad you're alive.” she said. She then abruptly separated and cleared her throat with a blush “W-what the hay happened here Luna?” she asked.

Luna's expression softened at the sight of diamond before she winced from pain “We were attacked. From what, I am not sure. It struck while our backs were turned. It came so fast and hard that I couldn't even see it.” she explained.

Captain Glaive frowned as he took in the information “That doesn't make any sense. The castle should have been protected from all outside threats. Could something have gotten in before the barrier went up?” he wondered.

Leon shook his head “I don't think so. It's more likely that it came from inside.” he said.

Glaive raised an eyebrow at him “What do you mean?” he asked.

“The portal. The attacker had to have come from my world, and I know who it was.” he said.

Diamond caught on and nodded “You're right, it had to be Wesker. That bastard.” she growled.

“If I had to guess, that's also where Cozy Glow and her army went. I don't know why they would cross into my world, but it's the only explanation that makes sense.” he said.

Captain Glaive turned his gaze away from them “I guess that's it then. It's up to them now.” he muttered.

Diamond narrowed her eyes at him “What's that suppose to mean? We're going after them, right?” she questioned.

Glaive gave them a halfhearted glance back “Leon should go support his people, but it's out of our hooves now. We can't freely hop between worlds, even for something like this.” he said.

Diamond stomped a hoof to get his attention “Fine! I'll go then. Even if I have to do it alone.” she said.

Glaive glared dangerously at her “As you know, being a guard doesn't give you immunity from the law. If you go though that portal, you'll be considered a criminal.” he warned.

Diamond turned away from him “Then lock me up, as long as it's after I do what I need to. This is all my fault anyway, so maybe it's what I deserve.” she said.

“Your fault?” he questioned.

“Cozy couldn't have gotten the sample if I didn't bring it to Equestria. This wouldn't have happened if I didn't take on that mission in Spain three years ago. Not to mention that Cozy got this far because I failed to stop her. I can't let the humans pay for my mistakes.” she said.

Leon knelt down to her “Blaming yourself won't help anything. What you did in Spain was just you doing good in a horrible situation, and you came out better for it. And as for failing to stop Cozy, I'm right there with you. And I'll be right there with you when we finish this.” he said.

Diamond smiled up at him and he gave her head a pat. Starshot then walked up next to them with a huge smile “Did you think I'd let you do this without me? I don't think so. Maybe when we get back, we can be cellmates! That sounds exciting!” she said.

Diamond giggled “It does. Thanks.” she said.

Time Step bit his bottom lip nervously as he glanced back and forth between Diamond and Captain Glaive. After a few seconds, he sighed and walked over to Diamond “P-please allow me to join you ma'am. I won't l-let my fear stop me from doing the right thing anymore.” he said,

Starshot slung a fore leg around his neck “Yay, Time Step's in! Maybe we could all share a cell. No, we probably couldn't since you're a male. Well we'll see you when we get out. When would we get out? What crime would this be? Treason? How many years does sompony get for treason?” she wondered.

Time Step gulped “T-treason? On second thought-” he was interrupted by Starshot

“Nope, you're already in. No backing out now.” she gasped as a thought came to her “We should have a team name! Hmm... the jailbirds!” she said.

Their attention all turned to Luna as she slowly got to her hooves. Glaive saw her wobbly stance and stepped in to support her. Luna only held up a hoof to show that she was fine on her own. She then turned to Diamond's team “You will have no need for such a name. I give you all permission to cross to the human world for as long as is needed.” she said with a smile.

Before they could celebrate, Glaive spoke up “Even with the princess' permission, you still have the humans to think about. They might not be happy about your sudden appearance.” he said.

Leon just turned to his team “I'll talk to President Graham, and take full responsibility for all of you.” he said.

Starshot cupped her own cheeks “Aww, you're as sweet as you are handsome.” she gushed. She then pulled the three of them into a hug “Group hug!” she exclaimed.

After the hug, Diamond turned to the captain “Now that we're allowed to go, are you coming?” she asked.

He seemed to be slightly conflicted but eventually turned away with a downcast expression “I cannot simply abandon my subordinates, I'm sorry. I wish you luck.” he said before turning to Luna “I shall gather medical supplies for you and your sister.” he said before walking off quickly.

Leon nodded “I guess it's just up to us then. We should head out.” he said.

They were about to do just that before Luna stopped them “Hold on a moment, may I speak to Diamond Tiara privately before you leave?” she requested.

Diamond seemed surprised by the request but nodded and turned to her team “Wait for me by the portal. I'll catch up.” she said. They nodded in understanding before taking off. Diamond turned to the weakened princess approaching her “What is it?” she asked.

“I have something for you.” she said before leaning down and touching her horn to Diamond's forehead. She was surrounded by her magical aura and felt a strange energy fill her. She felt he muscles strengthen while her body felt lighter. She even started feeling more aware of her surroundings.

Once it was over, Diamond looked her body over to see if anything changed. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary and stared back at Luna with a questioning expression “What is this?” she asked.

“I shared my power with you. I'd like to support you, even if I cannot join you.” she said.

Diamond looked down at herself in shock “But why me? Why wouldn't you give this to Starshot? Or even Leon?” she asked.

Luna pulled her into a gentle hug “I believe in you. I know that you won't waste it.” she said. Diamond hugged back tightly as tears threatened to fall. She held them back and separated from the princess shortly. Luna smiled down at her “This power will only last a few days, hopefully that will suffice.” she leaned down to whisper “Please come back safely.” she said.

Diamond nodded “You can count on it. I'll make sure that you were right to put your faith in me.” she said before she took off running. Luna waited for her to disappear behind a door before she collapsed and started to pant and sweat.