> Facing My Past > by PrincessDiscord > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue: 11 Years Ago > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Filthy Rich stood in front of Discord in an alternate reality. "Look, Discord, can you help? I am on the streets with my wife, who is sick and my baby daughter. We are homeless on the streets of Canterlot. Please, Discord, I will do anything for my family." The mighty stone statue of Discord shook the dream world. "Anything, you say?" Discord spoke. "Anything?" "Yes, anything! Please Discord, anything!" "Here is my only daughter. I will take your daughter. Filthy Rich, this is a test of skill. My daughter, Screwball, will disguise herself as Diamond Tiara. Diamond, you see, will be stored in a tracker ball, where I will know where Screwball is, and she will see everything Screwball sees, and will be able to control Screwball's actions. All for fame and fortune." Filthy Rich thought about this trade. His own daughter, would he ever see her again. Discord read Filthy Rich's mind. "On her 11th birthday, Screwball will begin to become Screwball again. You have 5 days to get your Diamond Tiara. If you don't, she will teleport back to me and you will never see Diamond Tiara again. Got it?' Discord asked "Got it." Filthy Rich replied, walking out of the Dream World with a copy of his real daughter. When Filthy Rich returned, his wife has built a mansion in Ponyville where they had once built a shack. Filthy Rich's wife, Sweetheart, had also gotten a job. "Hey Filthy Rich! We're filthy rich!" the new Nurse Sweetheart called from the balcony. Filthy Rich walked inside the mansion, and it was the most beautiful place he had ever seen. It had quartz and marble flooring, elegant paintings, golden wallpaper, a grand piano, anything you could imagine was in this house. Discord had worked his magic and Filthy Rich was in for some 11 years of his life. > 1. The 11th Birthday > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diamond Tiara woke up from a restless night, and in the morning gave an extremely large shout. "It's my 11th birthday!" Diamond Tiara raced down the stairs to her father's room, only to find that he was not there, and neither was her mother. Diamond Tiara raced back to her room and began to sing Happy Birthday to Me. She rummaged through her closet, and found the perfect dress. Rarity had made it for her using the special purple fabric that appeared to move when the light hit it. It has small diamond on the front, in the shape of a tiara, just like her cutie mark and name. Rarity has also made a matching sequin jacket which lit up the room with a hot pink tint. The room began to look like the world's shiniest disco ball. Diamond Tiara began to dance in the lights of her coat. You have to have a little fun on your birthday, right? But today was not just her birthday, but her birthday party. She decided to head downstairs after dressing up, to find a huge extravaganza. "Happy birthday!!" Nurse Sweetheart and Filthy Rich called to her in unison. Diamond Tiara looked at the decorations. She saw hot pink balloons filled with silver sequins. Around the staircase she saw glittering silver streamers that matched her mane. On the table was a cake that had pictures of Diamond on all 5 tiers of the cake, and the words Happy Birthday, Diamond Tiara! surrounded by buttercream roses. Her parents told her it was red velvet flavored with buttercream roses, designed and baked by Mr. and Mrs. Cake. Diamond Tiara dashed into the next room to find a mountain of presents, all rapped in shiny pink and white glitter rapping paper. She tour open the first box to find four tickets to the Pony Tones' concert. Another box held a golden diamond amulet with a matching golden tiara. A third box held a gift card to Sugar Cube Corner, her favorite bakery. many of the boxes had gift cards and the newest gadgets in Pony Ville, like a cutie mark digital drawing pad and a digital memory game. Another thing Diamond Tiara got was a design your own stuffed animal. In the kit, you cold make a stuffed pony that looked like you. You just picked out a pack for your coat color, so Diamond Tiara's parents picked a light pink. For her mane, there was a white with purple tints, which looked like Diamond Tiara's mane. The set came with a special material that was used for the cutie mark, and Diamond Tiara would draw her cutie mark there. When she finished her presents, her friends began to arrive. Silver Spoon was first, like she always was. Next came Twist and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who she had been forced to invite. Next came Dinky Hooves, Pipsqueak, Featherweight, Snip ad Snails, and Rumble. The party began with a piñata that was filled with jewelry, candy, and race cars. Next was pin the tail on the horse, and the fillies tried to pin the tail on a reproduction of the infamous Smarty Pants. Twist won that game. Some of the other games were bobbing for apples, which Apple Bloom clearly won, a craft of sticker pictures where you designed a cutie mark, and a game of baseball. That was when everything went wrong. It was Diamond Tiara's turn to bat. She stepped up to the plate, and reared herself. She took off her skirt to reveal a pair of black leggings. She picked up the solid oak bat, and Rumble was at the pitching stand. The ball began fly through the air to Diamond Tiara, and she swung at the fastball. As the ball hit the bat, a home run, Diamond Tiara collapsed. As her father came to pick her up she looked, well, a little, you know, different. Her eyes were different, they were spiraled. And her hair began to get frizzy. Her cutie mark changed from a tiara to a baseball and a screw, and the fillies stepped back. Rumble dropped his glove as the pony began to levitate. "We have to let her know,' Filthy Rich said to Nurse Sweetheart. > 2. Facing it Small > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today was the worst day of Filthy Rich's life. He had completely forget about his trade 11 years ago. Now here he was, looking like a fool in front of his "daughter's" friends. He had no idea what to do, until he fainted, right on home plate. He dropped into a dream world, and his other visions faded away... "Hello, Filthy Rich. I see things have been going, well, chaotically," The voice of Discord began to laugh. "You should get going on this, journey. I should give you an address, of course. But then you would need something taken away. "Anything for baby Diamond. Please, Discord, please!" Filthy Rich replied. He was shown an image, a familiar cave. Tis cave was not far from Fluttershy's cottage, which was a relief. "Now for the curse!" Discord cackled, as Filthy Rich noticed that he was getting smaller by the second. Suddenly, he saw Screwball, getting even smaller, just like him. "The curse is done. Goodbye, Rich!" Discord's voice faded away, and Filthy Rich suddenly sat up, appearing in Ponyville again. Filthy Rich noticed that this wasn't any old dream. It was reality, for home plate was gigantic. The ponies, his wife, the Cutie Mark Crusader, were are like boulders, like the infamous Tom, the diamond rock. The only thing in sight that was his size, was a Screwball Diamond Tiara mash up. Most of the younger ponies left, and only one stayed. Nurse Sweetheart. "Honey, are you okay?" her soothing voice said. "What happened? Something you don't want to tell me?" A grave thought encountered Filthy, as he had never told his wife bout the trade. He began to speak, but Sweetheart couldn't hear him. She lifted Filthy Rich up to her ear, and he told the nurse about the whole story. The trade, the dream, and the party. Sweetheart rushed inside, and returned with a small saddle bag from one of Diamond's dolls. it was filled with small grass sandwiches, a mini first aid kit, and blanket, and a clock, for measuring the days. Now, Filthy Rich had to set off on this journey. He started outside his front door, and looked at Ponyville. "This will be a lot harder than I thought," he said, in his tiny, squeaky voice. > 3. Twilight Time > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Screwball was having lots of fun. She was free now, she could make chaos wherever she went. A baseball tree here, a Discord statue there. It was a blast, and a quite chaotic one. Filthy Rich was not having fun. She had the hardest journey ahead, being cursed didn't help. A giant hoof here, a giant apple there. It was misery, and chaotic misery it was. Screwball thought she could help. She started singing songs by the PonyTones, and began to lead the way. She hopped on to a purple pony's leg, and gestured for Filthy Rich to join her. He hopped on, and the hoof left the ground. Screwball began to climb up the giant leg, but Filthy Rich just looked at his magical mansion and cried. He had given up so much, and that being his only daughter. He shouldn't have made this trade in the first place, so this was a proper consequence. he followed Screwball, until the endless climb up the leg. Screwball began to make silly noises, but no pony else could hear them. Screwball and Filthy Rich looked at the big pink mark on the pony's giant flank, and knew it was Twilight Sparkle. He ran across the pony's giant back, until he caught up with the runaway Screwball. She soon reached the pony's neck, and began to climb Twilight's neck. Filthy Rich stopped to catch his breath, and realized that they were almost at the Golden Oak library. He spotted Screwball dangling off of Twilight's snout, and saw a giant Spike with a feather. Spike began to tickle Twilight. She closed her eyes, and a small chuckle worked it's way up her throat. She burst out laughing, telling Spike to stop, and he soon stopped. When she was done, Filthy Rich looked at Twilight, and something was missing, on the end of the 1st day. Screwball. "Spike!" Twilight Sparkle began, "You have to stop tickling me!" Filthy Rich thought he saw something move in Twilight's mane, and sighed a sigh of relief. Screwball was rising from the mane of Twilight, and continued her chaos. As she began her circling, Twilight noticed her, and swatted her like a parasprite. She looked at the tiny mare, an asked a question. "What happened," Twilight said, sounding annoyed. Screwball looked at her and tried to explain her problem, but Twilight had trouble hearing her. She scribbled on a piece of paper, and wrote a long note answering all of Twilight's questions. Twilight, I really need your help. I need to get to Daddy Discord in 4 days, and I need a magic spell. This here is my friend Filthy Rich. I keep getting lost, so I need your help. Do you have any spells or gadgets that can help me with my quest home? It isn't easy being small. Love, Screwball. Twilight looked over the note, and began to pack to small bags. She explained to the duo that she would give them special earpieces, which would help them find each other in case they got lost. She gave each pony a special decoder that would look at a pony's hoof, and give them the name of the pony. The last device was a map, that would help them get to their destination. Filthy Rich looked at Screwball, and he glanced at Twilight. Screwball was asleep, and they would be staying with Twilight tonight. > 4. Derp Power > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next morning, Screwball and Filthy Rich left Twilight's Tree. It was very busy, and many ponies were boarding the train. Then Filthy Rich remembered. Today was the grand opening of a new shop in Manehattan. It was going to sell the most exquisite fashions, and all of them made by Rarity. She was sending them to Coco Pommel, because her close friend was going to be the manager. And it's not easy for Earth pony to dodge giant, colorful hooves. But Screwball left Filthy Rich in the dust, and flew to her best friend. Derpy Hooves. Derpy was doing her mail run, when Screwball landed on her head. "Hey! What was that for?" Derpy asked. She raised her hoof and took off her hat. Screwball danced on top of the hat, and suddenly, her work outfit changed into a Halloween costume. "Screwball!" Derpy shouted. Most of the ponies in the town center glanced, annoyed by Derpy. Filthy Rich was still running around town. He dodged lots of ponies, some of which he recognized. There was the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Mayor Mare, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, and even Spike. He hitched rides on ponies like Applejack, but then he saw a flash of light. Screwball wrote a small not of instruction to her Best Friend. Dear Derpy I need your help. I need to get to Filthy Rich. Could you use your Derp Power to make all the other ponies disappear? Love, Screwball Derpy began to flash, and soon there was a blinding flash of light. All the ponies looked down to notice that they were invisible, allowing Filthy Rich to run strait to Derpy. "Derpy,I appreciate all your help." Filthy Rich said. Derpy looked at him while also glaring at that lemon pie muffin over there. So Delicious. Must. Have. "Muffin!!!" Derpy cried, with Filthy Rich and Screwball hanging on her tail. She bolted through the city, and soon became airborne. When Derpy made a rough landing, Filthy Rich was knocked out. He rolled off, his lifeless body falling through the clouds. Screwball caught him, and landed on a roof, which froze over, sprouting popcorn trees. Oops.