After a minute or so of being encased in her furry cocoon, Diamond Tiara's sobs gradually abated. She looked around at the four sympathetic faces around her, and mumbled "Thank you".
Applejack gave the filly a nod. "Anytime, sugarcube. Never forget, we're all here for you if you ever need us, and I know I speak for Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie on that score as well. Now, in regards to what I said a minute ago, do ya think you'll be okay with getting your things from upstairs? Or do you want my help? Take your time." The farm pony smiled back at Diamond patiently.
"No. I think I'll be fine..." Tiara was able to squeeze out, as she overcame the last of her tears.
"Well, off with you then. Don't worry. We'll all still be here when you get back..." Applejack spoke with the same friendly tone.
"Okay. I'll go now..." Diamond slowly trudged up the stairs, her head still pounding at the rate at which everything was moving. Not to mention, her complete meltdown in front of the quartet of mares, who were all still watching her concernedly as she ascended the steps.
And yet, none of them had seemed the least bit embarrassed at her display, and they'd barely thought twice about comforting her during her lowest ebb. The filly had always been taught that to show such emotion in public was unseemly, and to accept compassion from 'lower classes', a sign of weakness they could exploit.
Yet, these were four of the heroines of Equestria, Who had helped save the world from the likes of Discord, Queen Chrysalis, Tirek, so nopony could call them unimportant, or 'weaklings'.
Despite all that though, They hadn't hesitated to cuddle the sadness out of her when she feared her dam was about to break. There seemed to be no ulterior motive either, behind their words of empathy and solace.
Nothing about it added up.
Unless...
What she had been lectured about, drilled into her brain on countless occasions since the day she was born...
Was wrong.
'Arrgh!! My head...' Diamond winced at the overanalysing going on in her brain. She'd already been through so much that night, any more mental gymnastics might cause her skull to implode. Besides which, it was already long past her bedtime, and she still had to gather up some personal possessions, make the long walk to the farm...
Upon reaching her room, she grabbed a velvet travelling bag from under her bed and stumbled around like a zombie, opening drawers, taking random stuff out and just throwing it in her case.
She was so not ready for this right now.
MEANWHILE, DOWNSTAIRS...
While Rarity was wandering around the hall admiring the decor, and Rainbow Dash pondered why anypony would want to waste their bits on such pretentious trinkets, Applejack and Twilight were going over the arrangements for Diamond Tiara's arrival.
"... And she can share a room with Apple Bloom, help her out with her chores..." The farm pony seemed quite enthusiastic about having the magenta filly as a guest.
Twilight scratched the bottom of her chin. "Are you sure about this? I mean, it'll be enough of a culture shock moving from this" (The princess gestured at her ornate surroundings) " To where you live, no offense. And now, you're going to bunk her with somepony she bullied until fairly recently, and make her do jobs that she's probably never done in her life? I don't know..."
Applejack put a reassuring hoof over the alicorn's neck. "Don't worry Twi. we'll soon get her settled in. The Apples aren't known as the most welcoming family in all of Ponyville for nothing. And we won't give her any of the heavy stuff to do, just pick a few apples up and whatnot. Don't you worry about my Apple Bloom neither, she can handle herself, and now she knows all about Diamond's personal circumstances, I'm sure she'll be just as patient as I plan to be."
Twilight's fears were slightly allayed by Applejack's confident words. "What will Granny Smith and Big Mac think about this, though?" She added.
The farm pony grinned at this question. "They'll be over the moon. Granny loves children, having another young 'un around the place will make her day. And I'm sure Mac would enjoy having somepony else to talk to..." Applejack laughed at her little joke, and catching onto the pun a few seconds later, Twilight followed suit in chuckling.
Their revelry, along with Rarity and Dash's examination of the property, was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a door closing.
It was Randolph, who had just emerged from the lounge, and was now staring at the four guests with a quizzical frown.
Glancing at each other nervously, it was Rarity who popped the question. "Errmm, so, how are Mr and Mrs Rich doing, darling?"
Randolph stared down at the ground, and replied in his rarely heard, crackly voice "Mistress Spoiled is still unconscious, but she is stirring. With a bit of rest, she'll be fine tomorrow morning. Master Filthy Rich has calmed down, and is aware of the situation. He would also like to see his daughter before she leaves. Now, if you'll excuse me, madam, I have to get a cloth to clean up a honeysuckle tea stain with."
At this point, the butler brushed past those present in a rather brusque way. The quartet of mares looked at each other in surprise.
"What's eating him?!" Remarked Rainbow Dash, with a raised eyebrow. "You know, apart from waiting on the biggest snobs in Ponyville for the best years of your life..."
"Now, dear, don't be too hard on him..." Rarity was quick to speak up for the servant. " He's just seen one of his employers faint, another one in floods of tears, and is about to witness the filly he perhaps thought of as a granddaughter being removed from the mansion she's lived all her life. I would say his conduct, despite being a bit unprofessional, was at least understandable."
"...Oh" said Dash, her head slightly bowed "When you put it like that..."
Just when everypony was pondering the mood of the veteran butler, another voice could be heard in the echoey chamber.
"... I said I'm ready. Did you hear me?"
It was Diamond Tiara, clutching a rather large holdall with her teeth, and looking pensively at those who were about to take her away from all that she'd ever known. Having had time to think things over upstairs, she wasn't exactly ecstatic at the prospect, but, as a tough filly, she was determined to make the best of things, and there would certainly be no more impromptu crying sessions from that point on.
...Right?
Applejack approached her new house-guest with a bemused look "WHOA there, missy!!" The orange mare exclaimed. "That's rather a lot of stuff, isn't it? I told you to pack light. How are you going to transport everything in there to the farmhouse, by yourself? There's no horse-drawn carriage waiting for you outside, you know."
Tiara was shocked. "Y-you don't mean y-you expect me to..." The filly stammered, her face turning an attractive shade of scarlet.
Applejack rolled her eyes with a soft smile. Of course, the filly expected everything to be done for her without question. It was a common theme running throughout her upbringing, after all. Oh well, hopefully it was a habit the Apples could ween her off of during her tenure at the farm. It would do the child the world of good to learn some independent skills for a change.
"Tell you what, sugarcube" the orange mare told a perplexed Tiara "I'll help you this once. But in the future, don't try to pack more than you can carry, because I won't always be around to do your heavy lifting for you. Even your servants have days off, you know. Do you agree?"
Still getting used to this state of affairs, Tiara nodded her confirmation. She was going to have to learn, and fast.
As Applejack went to clasp the filly's bag (Which was so heavy, even the fit farm pony struggled a little with it's weight) Twilight suddenly remembered Randolph's words.
"Oh, by the way, Diamond..." the princess told the youngster "Your father would like to say goodbye to you before you leave. Do you want to see him?"
Tiara thought about her answer for a few seconds. "Yes. Yes I would. Very much."
Twilight smiled at the filly. "Of course you would. Take as long as you need, me and my friends will be right out here, waiting for you."
The other three mares present also gave Diamond reassuring grins, as she made her way to the lounge, for possibly the last time for quite a while.
Wondering what she was going to find inside, she pushed open the double doors...
And saw her father tending to her dazed mother, who was propped up on their luxurious couch with silk cushions, and a glass of water by her side.
She'd never seen either of her parents in this state before. Filthy Rich, the usually hard-nosed businessman, was sitting there, his eyes bloodshot and his face a picture of sorrow.
Spoiled Rich was even worse off. The prim and proper mare who took great pride in her appearance was dead to the world, her mouth agape, mane ruffled and a most unflattering expression set on her stony features.
Unsure of what else to do, Diamond meekly entered the room, and held onto one of Filthy's vacant hooves, while the two of them just sat there for a few minutes, staring at the motionless form of her mother.
Finally, Randolph arrived back with his flannel to clean up the spilled tea, and it was as if this action was enough to spur Filthy to life, as he at last said something.
"Diamond Tiara..." His voice sounded uncharacteristically hoarse "My precious Diamond. I have to apologise to you..."
'Oh no...' thought the filly. 'He sounds so sad...' And, contrary to what she promised herself a little earlier, she felt her eyes fill up with moisture once again.
"I've done you so wrong" the wealthy stallion continued, too ashamed to even turn around to look at his daughter. "I was so focused on work. So obsessed with striking deals and earning money. I didn't realise... How bad..."
Desperate to hold it together, Tiara frantically wiped her eyes and tried to console her broken father. "D-daddy? What are you saying? It's not your fault. I'm the one who should have been better. Please, don't cry..."
Her words didn't seem to have much effect. "No, sweetheart. I should have been here. But, I wasn't, and now, thanks to my blind stupidity... My precious Diamond... Is being taken away..."
That did it. There was no tough words, no pretensions of keeping a stiff upper lip left. Father and daughter just collapsed into one other, their tear ducts given free reign to unleash their contents, mostly on the comatose person in the middle of it all who was more responsible than anypony else in that room for their current predicament.
And yet, even as she was getting soaked by her family's misery, she slept peacefully on.
Yeah...if Spoiled Rich is unconscious like that it's not normal. She needs medical treatment.
6642094 Check out my username... There's no such thing as unnecessary snark.
And thanks for giving my story a try anyway. We're all allowed different opinions...
Yup poor Diamond Tiara is in for a rough few days here. I wonder why Silver Spoons family was not seen as a safe place for Diamond Tiara? Great to see the fact that her father is seeing his mistakes in what has happened here.
6642658 Yup, I thought that too... My reason is that Applejack pushed forward her idea first, while Diamond's brains were still scrambled from the trauma of current events... So, she said yes without really thinking about it. Oops.
Don't worry... Silver will have her moment in the sun... This is going to be quite the thorough fic, let me assure you. Thanks for reading up till now :)
6642094
6628126
You were suggesting here that Filthy Rich should gather round his lawyers to blackmail Twilight's friends by digging up events from the past that they can lay out as neglect so that their little sisters will get taken away from them, all with the goal that Diamond Tiara has to return into a abuse situation.
This is supportive of child abuse.
6642720 Well put.
And as to his l'il take on that his idea of what Filthy said to Twi; well, to my mind, threatening a Princess of Equestria, for whatever reason, would probably considered treason.
And doing the same to three mares who, along with said Princess, are three of Equestria's most revered heroes?
Yeah, not the smartest thing to do.
6642720
That tells me you have no idea why I posted that.
I did so because it would've been interesting to see Twilight have some serious conflict and consequences from her actions. It would've made the story more interesting to me. Did I say having Filthy do so would be morally in the right? No. No, I didn't. And it wouldn't be. But it would be more interesting to watch.
6649174 On one hand I agree with you and understand where you're coming from, but I also agree with @Fluttercheer and how @deadpansnarker writes this. Filthy Rich is a man of variables, plan of actions and knows when to fold even though he's probably the most shrewd businessman around. Not to mention he knows the history of his own family's history with Ponyville and the history of several other RICH ponies in Equestria with the mane six.
He may be aware of the behind the scenes goings on, whereas Spoiled is stuck in her own fantasy world pretending to run things under the guise of being president of the school board. I'd venture to guess he knows Fancy Pants and Fleure-de-lise have deep dealings and friendships with Rarity whom also has deep roots with famous ponies in Manehattan, Canterlot and Crystal Empire business, Rainbow's high top friendships and relationship with the Wonderbolts, his own dealings with the Apple family and how they managed to get Ponyville started with the Rich's help and Twilight's own deep roots with THREE other princesses of Equestria, Yak-yakistan and upcoming relations with Griffonstone. And why would he want to try to get messed up with six members of the elements when with the exception of maybe Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and the Cakes have even deeper connections to nearly every member of the Royal family, and nations of Equestria.
You'd have to be a very blind business pony, like Spoiled, to not know it's a lost battle business wise and relationship wise with several ponies who likely have a hand in dealings with the rest of the rich ponies in Equestria.
I sincerely wonder how Applejack would react to the mountain of stuff that Sweetie Belle brings along with her.
While AJ has a point maybe about Diamond Tiara 'getting her hooves dirty' Twilight is FAR TOO RIGHT about culture shock, Diamond Tiara can get alienated BADLY.
Rarity SPEAKS HER LANGUAGE, and knows the rules that Diamond Tiara's been taught to play by.
6642658
I have to agree. And it would feel a whole lot more bloody familiar.
I wonder what Spoiled's back-story is? What makes her the mare she is? You see, it would be entirely excusable for Filthy to hold her solely responsible for this dark turn of events and exact punishment on her (divorce without a penny of alimony, for example). However, I'm not sure that things are that simple.
Another well done chapter, well done!
Ooooh man, this is going to be a tough situation for DT, she was raised to have everything just about, posh living situation, cleanliness, butler. AJ don't have none of that, its like being raised in a paradise, only to be thrown out into a wasteland probably over-exaggerating, but still.
6715925 So Diamond is the Lone Wanderer from Fallout 3?
6649174
That's not interesting at all, Derp. That's how it always gets written. In almost every story I've read where a Princess FINALLY utilizes the fact they -are- the law and are effectively living, terrestrial goddesses, there's always some petty whiplash or fight from selfish mortals with too much political clout, and said Royal Crown is basically treated like how Twilight is treated in the show - dirt. Like they don't matter. Like their alicornhood means nothing. Like their crowns are fake.
It's ungodly frustrating that when you bring the BIG stick into play, it gets tossed aside like matchsticks or treated as if it's a much smaller stick than it really should be.
So having a defense that's actually able to fluster or even stop Twilight would be utterly cliche and boring.
6738421
I realize I'm responding to a month-old comment, but I only just started reading this story, and this comment struck a chord. I wholeheartedly agree with this, and it makes me feel better about a chapter I posted in my own story, where Twilight takes temporary custody of a filly. The situation is TOTALLY different from this story, but the premise of wielding royal authority is the same. She even uses the line in my story "on my authority as a Princess of Equestria".
Twilight HAS royal authority, so damn straight she should use it! Princess Celestia and Luna are already the embodiment of the TV Trope Royals Who Actually Do Something, so why shouldn't Twilight be the same? Hell, Cadance rules an entire empire, for crying out loud.
Applejack is scaring me. Diamond's taking a huge step towards noblesse oblige, but Applejack is pushing to demonize the wealthy.
Everything in that statement screams "find somepony else!"
6711148
6642658
I know I'm replying to a months old comment, but I'm feel like I should state what no one else has so far. Typically, in a situation like this, a child is held is CPS until they are handed over to relatives, people that that they are familiar with. And, while Twilight's reaction is a bit justified, it also feels a little kneejerk. She does this on the VERY afternoon that Spoiled's behavior is exposed and hands Tiara off to a foster family, a family that Tiara has years of bad blood with, while Applejack, the one who volunteered to take her in, is bragging about getting a new farm hand that she doesn't have to pay.
6929477 I've changed that to make it less... Extreme. Hope the new paragraph is less intense. I certainly didn't want to imply that Applejack was just taking on DT for cheap labour, Celestia forbid...
"And yet, even as she was getting soaked by her family's misery, she slept peacefully on."
The first time I read this chapter, that sentence merely struck me as "that's how out she is." After rereading it, though, I see a hidden meaning. You were trying to say that Spoiled's family member's sadness didn't ... Uh ... I think you get what I'm trying to say, I'm just doing a bad job of wording it. ^^'
If fluttershy caught wind of this, it would be the grand galloping gala all over again except with flutterhulk and a little bit of stare-master mixed in.
Good story. I just have some disturbing thoughts about it as of the end of this chapter. I will continue reading so maybe they will be resolved later in a couple chapters or something.
I get that it is a different culture, and Twilight is royalty, and royalty could possibly be judge and jury for cases in Equestria. But this transaction is going scarily smooth with little planning involved. They are taking a foal away from her parents the night they find out there might be a problem at home and get a paper with all the signatures needed based on one instance of being a bad parent and the testimony of 3 foals. I honestly feel like Filthy Rich was not given a proper shake since in his own words he was basically the bread winner and focused on work, meaning he trusted his wife to handle raising Diamond. This does not seem like a neglecting parent as much a parent that is absent and trusting another family member to raise his foal. A lot like a certain father of Sweetie Belle. And if being shocked silent that your wife just openly degraded/insulted Royalty means you have an inactive stance then I guess I count as an inactive person because I could only have stared in shock if my wife did something like that, maybe a slow facepalm while my mind was processing as well.
Then there is the fact that no plan was in place for the actual removal of the foal or where the foal would go. Seriously Twilight goes through the process of getting paperwork to remove a foal from her parents with every important pony involved signing off on it and there is no place for her to go?! That's the first thing anyone asks when a child is moved from a disfunctional family. "Well, where are they going to go?" And Applejack. Honestly I know she means well but sending a rich kid off to a farm where they have to suddenly do chores day in and day out seems far more like a punishment than actually saving her. It's basically like sending her to a punishment school. The hardest way to hit the rich is to take away all their money, or in Filthy's case suddenly have a business partner 'owning' his child. Seriously as a business associate she is way too close to the rich family to warrant taking away their foal, especially since she is not a blood relative. This whole event just reeks of incompetence and self righteousness and most of it is coming from Twilight and Applejack. It also disturbs me how she seems to think farm life will fix everything. It's an acquired taste and not everyone is suited for it. This is what I am basically seeing from Applejack, "Hey I just took you away from your parents and your home so your going to live with me now and do farm work and chores with only the bare essentials I let you pack in ten minutes. Doesn't that sound fun. "
They mean well but this was way to simple and a plan this badly crafted and executed needs to be rectified. Hopefully somepony picks up the ball later because it was dropped so hard it even has a crater.
7154464 Actually, the eyewitness account of Spoiled's mistreatment of her daughter is just the tip of the iceberg. Diamond's removal from Rich Mansion is based on YEARS of evidence from those who have interacted with Diamond and her mother. Now the authorities know the reason behind why the filly is the way she is, they've started an investigation which resulted in the list of signatures you referred to. Spoiled's non-stop abuse of her daughter verbally and emotionally from the day she was born was pretty much an open secret among those who know her, but it took the events of the episode Crusaders Of The Lost Mark to really bring the issue to the fore. Now that somepony has pushed the first domino, watch the rest come tumbling down.
And Applejack is not going to start thinking of Diamond as 'free labour', as you'll see in future chapters. Sweet Apple Acres is a far cry from the salubrious surroundings of Rich Mansion, too. But maybe that's exactly what Diamond needs... A carefree environment where she's free to run around and be herself, instead of constantly having to live up to constrictive 'standards' set by her demanding mother and illustrious background. True, the process might have taken longer in real life, and there might have been more of an efficient contingency plan. But as you say, this is Equestria where things are done in a more roundabout way, and besides, sometimes you have to suspend a bit of credibility to enjoy the story. I could highlight dozens of episodes of the show that have problems in this regard, but I won't bore you with them. Everyone has an opinion, after all.
Later on, things could become even more clear it was the right decision. I won't spoil it for you, but judge for yourself. Thank you for your descriptive comment, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story.
EDIT: Oops, double post.
Oh, that's not a problem darling! Surely Sweetie Belle would be delighted to help!
derpicdn.net/img/view/2012/12/8/176282__safe_rarity_applejack_animated_sweetie+belle_glasses_hub+logo_sleepless+in+ponyville_spoiler-colon-s03e06_camping+outfit.gif
big mac talking eh?
6929477
There a difference between appreciating the hard work that others do and looking down on them for it. Maybe a small taste of hard work will make her appreciate the work others have to do. Even Celestia appreciates the work others put in their lives.