Day 1
The morning sun had arisen once again, waking Diamond from her slumber. She looked out the window of the train, but the only thing she could see was a crowd of ponies waiting for the train doors to open.
Quickly she grabbed her belongings and scurried to the doors. When the doors had finally opened, she felt a little intimidated by all the ponies. There seemed to be more ponies in this train station alone than in all of Ponyville. Keeping her cool she moved ahead, passing the overwhelming crowd until she reached the exit.
Once she stepped foot outside of the train station she stopped, took a breath of fresh air, and marveled at the beauty of Manehattan. Since the sun was just rising, it cast a magnificent glow across the entire city. The city was gorgeous. It seemed as though it was something out of a dream. It was truly more amazing than she had imagined it would be.
Back in Ponyville, Filthy Rich had just woken up and was now getting ready for one of his usual business trips. He hadn’t yet noticed his daughter’s disappearance. He just assumed she was still fast asleep in her bed. He was gathering up all of his paperwork, taking a sip of coffee every couple of seconds. The mansion seemed surprisingly quiet, aside from the maids who were tidying up the household.
At last he finished sorting the paperwork and put the remaining documents away. Slowly he closed the briefcase; it was then that he noticed a small note taped to the side. Curious, he removed the note and read it to himself.
He was utterly shocked from what he read so much so that he could barely even finish reading the note. It seemed like some kind of joke. It felt too ridiculous to believe. But the very idea that his precious diamond had run away was too horrifying to disregard. Without hesitation he hurried to Diamond’s room, and to his dismay he found that she was nowhere in sight.
He gathered up all of his staff and had them search every square inch of the household, remaining in denial that the letter might actually be true.
They searched high and low, but even after half an hour they still could not find her. Filthy Rich was starting to become desperate, he couldn’t fathom the idea that something bad could have happen to her. He needed to know that she was safe, but the note didn’t mention where she was going, most likely because she didn’t want him to find her.
Each passing second became more anxious than the last. He just didn’t understand why she would just leave. He always thought that she was happy. What would cause her to just run away all of a sudden?
Diamond’s eyes were glowing brighter than the sun as she marched down the sidewalk of the busy city streets. She could barely keep her eyes in front of her. They were too busy gazing in every direction. The building, the birds, the ponies, it was a perfect wonderland of greatness. She was so glad no one she knew was here to see her acting this way, oohing and awing in such an uncharacteristic manner.
She moved past pony after pony, not caring who was in her way. In the mix of her travels, she came to a halt. Something had caught her attention, something she just had to see. Racing to the front window of a nearby building, she saw a manikin of pony looking out at her. The manikin was dressed up in a beautiful ruby red gown. It was more gorgeous than anything she saw in Ponyville. Even Rarity would have been envious of it.
Softly she placed both of her front hooves on the glass window. She felt hypnotized by its beauty. Breaking away from its spell, she gazed down at the bag she was carrying. She took a second to rekindle her thoughts, giving her a chance to walk away from the building. She knew she only had so many bits on her, and it would be best to use them sparingly.
Again she advanced down the crowded sidewalk, trying her best to keep herself from getting distracted. She pressed onward, at least up until she had reached the end of the sidewalk. Wondering where the sidewalk had gone to, she only then noticed that it continued on the other side of the street.
Not noticing or even so much as caring about the crosswalk, she just blissfully moved forward. It wasn’t until she was halfway across the street when she a loud rumbling sound advancing in her direction.
She looked to her right only to see a horse-drawn carriage blazing right for her. In a feat of panic, she jolted back the way she came. Even after escaping the first carriage, she found herself mere inches from being run over by another carriage on the other side of the street.
She remained in the middle of the street frozen in terror as the traffic increased. Too frightened to move, the only thing she thought to do was curl up into a ball and pray for the chaos to stop.
Unbeknownst to her, the traffic pony had now switched the traffic signs, which finally brought her nightmare to an end. Seeing that the noise had died down, she lifted one of her hooves off her eyes to see that she was now safe. With no carriages in sight, she got up off the street and immediately dashed towards the sidewalk.
Once she was safely on the sidewalk, she quickly took a moment to catch her breath. She could feel her heart beating rapidly against her chest. After a couple of minutes she was at last able to relax. She took another look back at the street, and in a graceful manner she proceeded forward, pretending as though nothing had happened.
Just a few blocks away, the doors to the Hoof Care Center flung open. Practically being thrown out of the building was a blue Unicorn, who bore the image of a wand surrounded by the glow of sparkling magic on her flank.
As soon as the pony was just a couple of feet away from the building, the doors slammed shut. With anger in her voice the Unicorn shouted as loudly as she could, hoping she was loud enough for the ponies inside to hear her.
“Trixie is too good for this job anyway! Trixie is not going to waste her time on some meaningless, dead end job like this! Trixie doesn’t need anything from anypony!” “Trixie...” She halted a moment to catch her breath, “Trixie needs a drink.” With nothing more to say Trixie proudly turned her back towards the building, flipped her mane back, and in an elegant fashion trotted away.
Too distracted by her anger, Trixie did not notice a large gathering of Pegasi flying right above the city. Strapped to the back of each Pegasus was a saddlebag, each of which seemed to be overflowing with fliers.
One by one the Pegasi separated from the group and swooped down into the city. A lone Pegasus hastily came to a stop right beside a utility pole. He took out a poster and stapled it to the pole, after which he quickly flew off.
Each Pegasus proceeded as such, placing hundreds of posters all across Manehattan. With the natural speed of the Pegasi, the group had covered most of the city with posters in less than twenty minutes. After the Pegasi had finished with this area they swiftly regrouped and flew off to another location.
Only mere seconds after the group had departed, a certain pink filly roamed by. She cheerfully skipped across the sidewalk, without so much as even glancing at the posters they had left.
Diamond continued to skip happily, only coming to a halt when she had reached the end of the sidewalk once again. Remembering what had happened the last time she had tried to cross the street, she quickly gazed around for a safe way to cross. Her eyes caught sight of a crowd of ponies, all of which were waiting at the crosswalk. Figuring this was the only safe way across, she walked over towards the gathering crowd.
On the opposing side of the street, waiting impatiently among the crowd was Trixie. She wasn’t all that fond of crowds, except when they were fans seeking her autograph, but lately that seemed to be quite a rarity.
As soon as the traffic pony allowed them to walk, the two sides moved forward, as though they were armies charging at each other. Diamond felt lost among the crowd. Being a filly in a crowd of adult ponies made it almost impossible to see where she was going.
She watched her steps carefully, afraid that somepony may step on her. Distracted by the ponies around her, she failed to notice the ones coming from ahead. Without any warning she collided into a certain blue Unicorn. Although it was Diamond’s fault, she found herself to be the one yelling.
“Watch where you’re going, you blind old mule!”
“You are the clumsy one who bumped into Trixie. Also, Trixie is no mule! She is a beautiful mare.”
“Puh-lease, beauty left you centuries ago.”
“Hey, Trixie is not one to take insults from arrogant little foals.”
“You’re right. I should really learn to respect my elders.” Without saying another word, Diamond flipped her mane back and proudly walked pass her, feeling she had won their little argument. Just to humiliate Trixie further, Diamond had her tail brush across Trixie’s face as she walked by.
Furious, but not wanting to make a bigger scene out of this mess, Trixie walked away. They both then left in opposite directions, each trying to act more boastful than the other. It was in no time the two disappeared among the surrounding crowds.
Diamond was overjoyed to be back on the sidewalk once again, away from the mindless crowds and carriages. But even so, she still had no idea where she was going. She began to realize that every corner of this city looked almost identical. It was just an endless stream of buildings.
Now that Trixie had finally reached her destination, she was returning home, levitating a strawberry slushy as she proceeded. She took a big slurp from her slushy. The icy goodness of the red slush felt like heaven as it flowed down her throat. She paced by building after building, humming a tune she couldn’t get out of her head.
Just as she was passing by another building, in the corner of her eye she saw a bulletin board with a poster that seemed to catch her attention. She immediately stopped dead in her tracks, dropping her slushy to the ground. She sped back to the bulletin board, nearly tripping over herself. Written on the top of the poster recited the words, ‘MISSING FOAL’. Trixie glanced at the picture before skimming down the text written below it.
“Lalala...missing filly, lalala...safe return, lalala...will be rewarded,” Trixie zoned out for a moment, taking a step back, “One hundred thousand bits!” She was speechless. She couldn’t take her eyes off the poster.
She looked back up at the picture which now seemed to tease her. In the deepest corners of her subconscious all she could think of was that pink filly that she had seen earlier. That pink filly with the purple and white mane and a cutie mark that bore the exact image of the very tiara she wore.
She could see her so clearly. It was her; it had to be her. Although Trixie’s mind was all over the place, she found her hooves already running back the way she came. When she was finally able to think, she came to an instant stop at the curve, looking in every which direction for the hundred thousand bit filly.
With the day flying by and the sun starting to set, the once bright city was becoming dim. Diamond hadn’t taken into consideration as to where she was planning on staying during her trip, making her more frantic than ever to find shelter.
She had no idea where she was going or even how to get back. Every street looked the same, no matter which direction she went. It was a maze with no end.
As she ran down yet another identical looking street, she found herself being tripped by a pony she hadn’t noticed. She fell to the ground first face, her forward momentum only adding to her pain. However, before she could get up, she was surrounded by three teenage stallions.
The one pony was a Unicorn with a purple coat and a grayish silver mane. The other two were both Pegasi. The one Pegasus had a white coat and a light green mane, while the other had an red coat and a orange mane.
“Oh, hello little filly,” said the red Pegasus. “You know it’s quite unsafe to be wandering the streets all by your lonesome.”
“I can take care of myself just fine,” she retorted, as she got off the ground.
“I wouldn’t be so sure of yourself if I were you,” added the purple Unicorn.
“Well you’re not me. Now if you excuse me, I will be on my way.” She tried to run forward, only for the red Pegasus to bite down on her tail and drag her back into the circle.
“What’s your rush little filly? We were just starting to have some fun,” said the white Pegasus.
“Leave me alone.”
“Oh, we’ll leave you alone, but first let’s see what’s in that little bag of yours,” responded the purple Unicorn as he quickly snatched the bag away from her.
“Give that back!”
“Or what? Are you going to use your incredible Earth Pony powers?” Ignoring her demand, the stallion opened the bag and was pleasantly surprised to find a nice sum of bits. “Well, looky here. That’s quite a lot of money for a little filly.”
“It’s my money. Give it back.”
“You know I’m starting to get really annoyed by this little brat.”
“Brat?” Shouted Diamond.
“So what do we do with her?” asked the white Pegasus.
“Hmm, let’s see. Oh I got an idea.”
The ponies walked over towards an open dumpster by the side of the nearby building, and the Unicorn used his magic to levitate Diamond over it. Unable to escape she closed her eyes, bracing herself to fall into the garbage below. The only noise that could be heard was a soft thump as Diamond hit the bottom of the dumpster.
“Enjoy your new home,” said the red Pegasus, as he kicked the front of the dumpster, causing the lid to slam shut. The three ponies then seized Diamond’s bag, laughing as they quickly scurried away.
For a few minutes Diamond remained still, lying on a couple of garbage bags. The dumpster unsurprisingly was cold, damp, and with the lid shut it was completely pitch black.
Diamond felt her eyes begin to water up, but she tried to hold back her tears. She sat up, wiping the tears from her eyes.
She got back up on her hooves, and tried to push the lid open. At first she found it almost impossible to lift the lid, but once she put all of her strength into it, she was finally able to free herself.
Swiftly she jumped out of the dumpster, just as the lid had slammed shut again. Her jump from the dumpster caused her to fall a few feet to the ground, but she didn’t seem to care. She just got right back up and slowly roamed down the street once more.
With word spreading about the missing filly, crowds of ponies had gathered around the many posters all across Equestria. While some ponies were saddened by the news, others were more focused on the reward.
It wasn’t long, however, before the ponies began to depart from the area. Soon the entire crowd had left, aside from two ponies who continued to study the picture.
The one pony was a female Earth Pony with a beige coat and a brownish red mane. She had a cutie mark of an envelope with a stamp on the top right corner. The envelope wasn’t white, but instead a grayish black.
The pony standing beside her was a male Unicorn with a white coat and a dark blue mane. He had a cutie mark that bore the image of a small, gray magnifying loupe that was similar to the one attached to the right side of his glasses.
“Isn’t she just adorable?” said the mare.
“Quite,” replied the stallion. “It’s so unfortunate.”
“Her parents must be so worried about her to make such a generous offer.”
“That reward could make for a nice sum of bits, indeed.”
“Definitely, but I had another thing in mind.”
“Oh, what might that be?”
“A hundred thousand bits is nice, but it’s only so much. I think this filly could be worth much more.”
“What are you suggesting, Shady?”
“I’m thinking we can make two maybe three hundred thousand on this filly. Heck, if we push our luck maybe even five hundred thousand. The only problem is finding her.”
“I don’t think it will be too difficult.”
“Do you have any suggestions as to where we should start looking?”
“Oh, I may have a hunch as to where she might be.”
“Well then, maybe we should pay her a little visit.”
“I was thinking the same thing.”
With the sun finally setting, Diamond was now completely lost in the cold dark city. The very city she thought was beautiful by day brought her nothing but nightmares now. With every sound she heard, she felt as though somepony was watching her. It made her want to run faster, but she couldn’t help but look back every couple of seconds.
She had no money, no food, and nowhere to stay. Manehattan wasn’t what she had hoped it would be.
With nowhere else to go, she wandered down a back alley. The alley was cluttered with torn-up newspapers, broken bottles, and cardboard boxes. It felt so lifeless here. It almost brought Diamond to tears seeing this place, this dreadful place she never wanted to be in.
Diamond continued forward, stepping around the broken glass. She kept moving until she reached an empty cardboard box beside one of the brick walls. She let out a soft sigh and gradually crawled inside it, after which she collapsed to the ground.
She always heard stories about poor ponies living in cardboard boxes and probably would have laughed at them in the past. She just never thought she would be this low in her entire life.
She grabbed a nearby newspaper and tried to use it as a blanket, hoping to keep warm as best she could. How she missed her nice warm bed back in Ponyville.
“So, this is my first day in the big city,” spoke Diamond quietly to herself.
Gradually she shut her eyes, trying to escape this nightmare in her dreams, but her head was crowded with the same question that kept repeating over and over: Why did I come here? But no matter how many times she asked herself that question, she always came up with the same result.
She lay there for what felt like an eternity. Even trying to sleep seemed too troublesome. But as the minutes ticked away, Diamond finally began to drift away into the only place she felt happy.