“She should be here any minute now,” my mother informs me after she checks her text messages in her smart glasses which are linked to her cellphone. When her vision focuses from the message to me, she tells me in a slightly scolding tone, “Now you behave with your sister. I don't want to hear about any fights between you.”

I shake my head to indicate to her that I won't get into a fight with her, and I mean it. I'm quite weary of fights lately.

“She is more than just a friend to the family, now,” my mother reminds me. “Diamond Tiara is now your sister.” My mother shrugs slightly. “Not legally yet . . . but still . . . she lives in our house now, which means she's now part of our family.

“Remember, Cozy, I specifically asked you if you were okay with it, and you said yes, so . . . now it's too late to back off from that decision. She's our friend and family now. I want you two to get along.”

I nod in acceptance to my mother. I already determined long ago that if it came between a choice of my revenge against Tiara or maintaining my mother's love, I'd choose my mother's love in a heartbeat.

Well, it finally has come to that point. My mother assures me that I'm not at risk of losing her love no matter what, but I could disappoint her, and that potential punishment serves as enough of a deterrent.

Besides, I pretty much knew my plans against Diamond were a bust when too many of my former minions turned on me. My confession at the school was my last-ditch effort to hurt her, but I knew that strategy would have a severe price.

In fact, that price is so high it feels insane to me that I actually went through with it up until I seemingly allowed Sombra to control my body. Supposedly, that's the point I went into a severe seizure instead.

I reach my left hand out in an attempt to grasp either one of my mother's hands. At first her hands are too far until she reaches back with both hands. Once I have a grip, I squeeze her hands reassuringly while also nodding yes to my mother, and I mean it this time. My war against Diamond is now over.

But just because I am ending my war with Diamond does not mean that there isn’t some clean up damage left. Emotional scars that deep might need a great deal of time to heal.

“Thank you, Honey!” My mother beams at me proudly with happy tears in her eyes. “I know that isn't easy for you after all you've been through with her, but remember this; many people have forgiven you for your past transgressions. Even the law will go easy on you once we make a few arrangements. In exchange for all this leniency, I want you to forgive your new sister, Cozy.”

This time I'm not so quick to agree because I don't want to lie to her. Since my response begs something more than a yes or no answer, I pick up the paper notepad in front of me on my movable hospital table as well as the pen beside it. I jot a note in elegant cursive handwriting that would impress Rarity, then show her my message.

:: I'm not going to lie to you. That request is going to take some time, but I promise I will try, Mom. For you, I'm willing to do anything. I owe you so much, and YES, I know you feel like I don't owe you anything, but that is not how I feel. I don't know if I will ever feel like I've settled my debt with you.

“Just be with me,” my mother responds after she read my message. “Continue to be my very special daughter. That will be reward enough for me.”

There is a knock on my door. My new sister, Diamond, gently pushes her way into my room. I quickly discern that she has a very nervous reaction to seeing me. She's even shuffling her feet.

“I'm glad you're awake,” Diamond tells me happily but also nervously. “You really had us worried there.”

“I'll leave you two to catch up,” my mother declares as she rises from her seat. “And don't worry,” she tells me, “I'll go ahead and purchase you a new cellphone as soon as I leave. You said you want the same model or better, right?”

I nod to my mother.

“Okay.” My mother nods back. “I'll go ahead and do that. In the meantime, you got that notepad and pen which you can use to communicate with anyone who visits, unless you get your voice back. If you run out of ink or paper, the nurses assure me they'll bring you another.”

I nod at her reassuringly then give her a dismissive gesture, bidding her to leave.

Before she does that, she bends over to kiss my forehead. Almost reflexively, I lean forward into that kiss in a subconscious effort to intensify the pressure.

“You'll be better soon,” my mother promises. “I'll do everything in my power to ensure it. My pony self even assures me that she's looking into purchasing a potion from a woman named Zecora which might help with your aphasia.”

Zecora? Hmm. Consulting my memories from Sombra, his mind draws a blank on that name.

I think I vaguely recall Sunset mentioning that name once upon a time, but I forget why it came up. That memory is so vague I almost feel like I dreamed it.

Eh. Oh well. If my mother's counterpart trusts this woman, it might be worth a shot. At this point, I'm willing to try anything.

Of course, there is no guarantee that the potion will survive the journey across the dimensions. Objects do indeed seem to be affected when they make the trip.

I have a feeling my mother is thinking that too, but she didn’t mention it to me for fear of me losing what little hope I’ve gained. Regardless, I am genuinely touched by the effort and the sentiment.

My mother starts to make her way out, but she pauses next to Diamond for a moment as she places a reassuring hand on Diamond's shoulder as she says, “Give it time. She's not fully healed yet, but she's a lot better off than she was yesterday. She also assures me she has no suicidal intentions anymore, and I believe her.”

“Well,” Diamond shrugs, “I guess we have that experience in common, now.”

Indeed. The irony of that has not escaped me, either.

“Don't worry. I'll give you both plenty of reasons to enjoy living,” our mother promises us, then heads out the door. “You two get along, now,” our mother instructs before shutting the door.

Diamond looks at me nervously, but it's clearly a struggle for her to meet my eyes. For a while she just stands there as we stare at each other, then she asks, “Um . . . mind if I sit down next to you?”

I nod as I gesture to the seat beside me. It's a free country, after all.

“Thank you.” Diamond moves to sit down beside me. From there, she takes a deep intake of breath, holds it for about four seconds, then unleashes it. Shortly thereafter, she says, “I spoke with my father about what you said to me at school the last time we spoke to each other. Now I just want to say that, for the record, I really don't recall meeting you at all when we were children but, if you say we have, then I guess we have.

“At first, my father had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned to him about him firing your father, but he looked into it since I assured him that this is important to me. Right off the bat, however, he assured me that my personal opinion would have no sway over his own opinion of an employee. He promised me that, even if I did beg him to fire your father, he would have ignored me back then. At most he might listen to why I felt that way, but he'd make no action against said employee just on my say-so.

“So he looked up the date and location in question and found a total of four employees fired that year, but only one matched the description you gave us in-so-far as him working with the company twenty years prior. Your father's name was Artis Zimmermon, wasn't he?”

I simply nod.

“Uh . . . yeah.” Diamond leans back in her seat. “That man really did know his stuff on a technical level, which makes sense. Anyone who's been with the company for that long would know how to work it, but my father read the notes on Artis and discovered that he fired your father on the grounds that he was harassing some of his co-workers. As in, the kind of harassment that could get the company sued.”

I look away from Diamond as dreadful realization sinks into me. This means that my father was fired for his own faults. The fact that Diamond threatened it two days prior was just a coincidence, and ultimately a fruitless one.

So, in other words, I've held a grudge against Diamond all these years over an act that she's actually innocent of. That figures.

“I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but I thought you should know,” Diamond tells me in a morose tone.

I cast a long sigh, then look at her with a dim nod of appreciation.

“So . . . if I didn't commit the act that you were so mad at me for . . . do you forgive me?” Diamond asks with desperate hope.

At first, I am meeting her gaze, then I look down, then turn my head forward, gazing at nothing. I sigh again, then pick up the notepad to write something on it. When I finish, I show it to her.

:: On a rational level, I do, but on an emotional level I need a lot of time. Despising you has been a core aspect of my personality for years. I don't know who or what I am without it. I'll need time to adjust to these new standards.

Reading that puts Diamond in a pained mood severe enough to put her to tears. She looks from the notepad to me as she says, “If your objective was to hurt me at the school through that confession, then consider your mission accomplished. Not even my real mother . . .

“Um, excuse me. Let me rephrase that.

“Not even my birth mother hurt me as badly as you did on that day because you are someone I love and care about very deeply. I look up to you . . . so much! You didn't just help to save my life, you helped me to thrive! You helped me to truly live and I'm so grateful to you for that! I feel like I owe you a debt that I can never repay.”

I widen my eyes slightly when Diamond declares that, then look back at my own notes that I wrote just a few minutes ago, specifically the line, “I owe you so much, and YES, I know you feel like I don't owe you anything, but that is not how I feel. I don't know if I will ever feel like I've settled my debt with you.”

I set the notepad back on my table as I give a stunned blink over it.

My God! It really is so eerie how many parallels my life has next to Diamond's.

“Cozy, I don't think I can live with myself knowing that you hate me!” Diamond wails. “That pain is unbearable! I'll make it up to you! I swear! I'll do anything you ask of me! Just please . . . please don't be mad at me! You mean too much to me for me to endure that.”

I sigh again as I give her a tired look. I quickly realize how hollow all of my former rage was against Diamond, especially if it turns out that it's all based on a lie. If our situation was reversed, I don't want to have to feel like owing someone else for a crime I didn't do! That's not fair.

“Just tell me one thing, if you please,” Diamond begs me. “Was any of it true? By that, I mean how you felt about me? Was there even one moment where you were actually happy to be with me?”

I look at her with soft fondness, then nod yes. After that, I realize a mere nod doesn't suffice, so I write a note down then pass it to her.

:: Far more of it is true than I would have expected. I strategized to get close to you both to try to find out your weaknesses and create more weaknesses. Little did I realize that my plan would backfire by working too well.

“Oh wow!” Diamond blinks at my notes with an impressed expression. She sniffs a bit while wiping away tears, then says, “You have really good handwriting, Cozy.” She smirks at me. “But I guess that's what I should have expected from 'Little Miss Perfect'.”

I smirk back at her, then write another note, showing it to her after that.

:: I'm not perfect, but I have strived to be. Perhaps I have done so a lot more than I should. That's something else I'll need to re-think about my life.

Diamond sniffs again, then looks at me hopefully as she asks, “And what about us? Can we ever get along again?”

I nod. After that, I jot down another note before showing it to her.

:: There is a very decent chance of that because I am highly motivated to do so. In fact, I feel like I owe you now. If you truly are innocent of the crime I held a grudge against you for after all of these years, then I owe you a severe apology. How about, from now on, we start over?

Diamond lightly shrugs to this, then says, “I can live with that, but I thought there were good things about our relationship before. I don't want those things to start over too! Instead, I want to build on them.”

I nod again, then jot another note. When I'm done, I show it to her.

:: I concur, so let's agree to resume our relationship on more amicable terms. I'll forgive you for past transgressions, real or imagined, if you'll forgive me for mine.

Diamond beams at me very enthusiastically as she declares brightly, “DEAL!” After all, this is exactly what she wanted.

I flash her a genuine smile as I give her a thumbs up.

“Thank you, Cozy!” Diamond tells me so gratefully that she's misty-eyed. “You don't know how much this means to me! I really, truly wish to be your friend! You're such an amazing person. I'd die inside if you thought of me as an enemy when all I want is the exact opposite.” She offers a hand to me as she proposes, “So how about it? Best friend sisters forever?”

Best friends? That's a little extreme of a jump, but I decide to humor her for the moment. I take her hand and shake it enthusiastically with a great big nod. That feels a little disingenuous to me but at least I can say that's a noteworthy goal of mine so, in my mind, I shake her hand in agreement to make an effort towards that goal.

While shaking my hand, Diamond's smile shifts from grateful to coy. She says, “Speaking of looking up to you, I have a personal request.”

Letting go of her hand, I use that same hand to gesture to her to proceed with her request.

“I don't have it with me now, but I was thinking that, after this visit is concluded between us, I'd go back to our home and come back with a chess set, but,” she holds up a hand to me, “I don't want another match against you specifically. I know now that would not be fair, but I feel like I could make a worthy student.” Her look shifts to pleading. “I want to get good at the game someday so that I can eventually be a worthy challenger for you. Also, there is the fact that I enjoy the game too, so how about it? Will you teach me to become as good of a player as you? Or, at least, better than I am now?”

I think about it, but not for long. Soon I write down a note then show it to her.

:: You got it! Bring me a chess set and I'll teach you what I know, but be warned, I know a LOT, and it will take a lot for you to come close to challenging me. Normally I'd charge a lot for this service, too, but you're part of the family now, and like I said, I do owe you. So, let’s just say that I’ll give you a special family discount.

Diamond flashes me a grateful smile before standing up and leaning towards me in order to hug me, but the mobile table is in the way. Luckily, it is mobile, so I simply slide it out of the way then lean forward in order to hug her back.

As I do so, I feel an enormous weight lift off my chest. A weight that's been there for so long that I no longer noticed it was there until it was lifted.

Diamond Tiara, my greatest nemesis . . . has not only turned into one of my dearest friends, but also my very own sister. My life certainly has not gone as I planned. Instead, it's going far better than planned. I've had to learn a lot of painful lessons recently, but I can foresee a much better outcome in my future.

My previous Tower lies in shambles. I'll have to rebuild it, and this time I will start with a much more stable foundation.

And I won't rebuild it alone, either.

Once again, there is another image that wouldn't upload, so check it out >here< if you want to see it.