Diamond Tiara kicked a rock out of her way. It launched off the side of the crystalline bridge and plummeted to the chasm beneath. The day it began was the worst day of her life. She had lost everything, her parents, her friends, and her home. Applebloom had been her only friend throughout her school life. It was a very close relationship that they had, so close in fact that Applebloom's sister, AJ, had threatened Diamond. If she ever touched Applebloom again...

Diamond Tiara noticed her vision blurring as tears formed in her eyes. Applebloom had given Diamond the bow she wore on her head as a parting gift, then she was gone. Weeks later, she was announced as one of the first on the day's dead list. Timberwolves attacked the apple farm, and only Big Macintosh made it out alive, though he was very beaten up.

Diamond wiped her eyes and pushed her hair back out of her face. When was the last time she had a wash? There was never much water to spare for that kind of stuff. It was just for drinking, and even then there wasn't much to go around. All the wells were dry and full of dirt.

The air smelled putrid, to the point where you'd wonder where the decaying body was. Diamond figured it was in the chasm. How many ponies had gone on this very bridge just to jump off into the abyss below them.

"Hello?"

Diamond jumped at the sound and pressed herself up against the railing on the bridge, staring at the pony who had spoken. She was orange coated with a dark pink shade to her mane and tail. She had no mark on her flank, and her small wings were limp and lifeless at her sides. She calmed down rather quickly and stepped forward towards the young orange pony. "Who are you?"

The newcomer replied, "Scootaloo. I'm... Scootaloo. Do you have any place to stay?"

Diamond eyed Scootaloo over carefully, making sure she had nothing on her that would be means for concern. Finding nothing, she answered, "Yeah I do. Follow me."

Together the two made their way through the town, keeping out of the streets, and taking back alleys. Diamond slid open the door for Scootaloo to crawl through, and they both crept inside. The door clicked shut.

With a strike of a match, Diamond had lit a candle. She guided Scootaloo to the place where she rested and set the candle down next to her. "This is it. Not too much her. Just this hole I call home."

Scootaloo sat down slowly, her legs shaking. "This is wonderful, thank you."

Diamond Tiara opened a box to the foot of her mat that she used as a bed, and pulled a jar from inside. Within the jar were various pieces of food. Some were vegetables and flowers, others were chunks of meat. She offered it to Scootaloo, who reached inside and pulled out a withering old carrot.

"We've had to resort to killing some animals for food recently," Diamond stated sadly. "The rabbits haven't come by in months because we'd taken so many of them away. But it's impossible to grow food in this crystal soil..."

Scootaloo closed her eyes and bit down on the vegetable. "I haven't had anything besides meat for... I don't even remember how long."

Diamond Tiara closed the jar and set it aside. "I'm so sorry to hear that."

Scootaloo shook her head and faced Diamond. She smiled. "Thank you so much. You don't even know me but... You let me in. And now you're feeding me. I can't thank you enough."

The pink pony couldn't help but smile back at Scootaloo. "Then don't thank me. Just enjoy it."

Scootaloo took another bite of her carrot and stared off at nothing for a while.

The night time was quiet. Nothing seemed to move at all. Scootaloo's steady breathing was like that of complete relaxation.

Diamond sighed and drifted off to sleep, hoping that she had made the right choice in inviting the stranger into her home.