//------------------------------// // Spoiled Sans Suri // Story: Trickery Through Time // by Silvermyr //------------------------------// The ponies inside the police box looked at the door, all of them exhausted. ”Well, if we are not home now, we are dead,” Flim said dryly. ”Anypony feel like opening?” ”Hello? Are you in there? Did everything work out?” Ditzy had never been so happy to hear Doctor Whooves’s voice before. She pushed herself up on her legs and more or less rammed the police box door open. She spilled out and landed on a highly surprised Doctor. Before he had even opened his mouth, Ditzy pulled him into a hug. ”Thank Celestia,” Filthy mumbled and made his way out. ”I really thought we were done for, there at the end.” ”Me too,” Suri confirmed. ”Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to sleep for two days straight, m’kay, and Celestia save anypony who dares to say otherwise.” ”Trixie, maybe you could keep the idol out of sight?” Flim slurred as he collapsed on his sleeping bag. ”Just in case?” Trixie did not answer, but followed through with his suggestion by putting the idol into her sleeping bag, before she collapsed, asleep. ”Right.” Flam nodded after having kissed the ground. ”Let’s all get some rest. I will stay up to explain what happened to the good doctor.” Doctor Whooves picked up on that and made his way over to Flam after having wriggled out of Ditzy’s heartfelt embrace. He threw a confounded look to Flim’s slashed up face, and the orange mare who he had never seen, before meeting up with Flam by the cave entrance. The unicorn looked with a thoughtful expression up to Griffonstone. ”Did it work then?” Doctor Whooves asked before he even got up to Flam. ”Could my machine truly make time come forward? What did you see? How was it? Did the space-time continuum look intact when you left, or was reality collapsing in on itself?” ”Was it supposed to?” Flam asked. ”It did not look like it.” ”Well, it was about fifty/ fifty…” Doctor Whooves replied. ”You know, these are cutting edge theories we are dealing with; there are bound to be some… teething problems with a few things.” Flam was to tired to berate the doctor about the fact that he apparently had been uncertain whether they would even arrive safely. ”Everything seemed to work out.” He said shortly. ”Now shut it, for I’m going to give you a history lesson…” Doctor Whooves obediently shut his mouth, despite having innumerable questions himself. He reminded himself that there would be time to discuss them later, when the first time travelers in history were not so tired. By the time Flam finished his report Doctor Whooves had a multitude of things to mull over to himself. He was now one of the few who knew what had really happened when Griffonstone fell from glory, and that alone made him giddy. His time travel theories har yielded real, indisputable results. His dream had come true. He excused himself and went to the time machine. It would have to be dismantled for the trip back to Ponyville. Flam yawned and slumped back to the cave wall, exhausted. He thought about going over to his and his brother’s tent, but thought better of it. That was nearly ten ponylengths away, after all. ”Hey, doofus!” Somepony said bitingly beside him. Flam looked over and saw a red-eyed Gneiss Pick stand by him with a rock in his hoof. ”My friend died because of your stunt!” He weighted the rock in his hoof. ”Do you know how much I want to kill you right now? He was my only friend, and now you have taken me… to wherever the hay this is! You have killed my friend and kidnapped me!” ”If you wanted to kill me you would not stand there rambling about it,” Flam pointed out and flung the rock away with his magic. ”So what do you really want? Be quick please, I’m tired.” Through the sorrow, Gneiss looked a little disappointed by the lack of response from Flam at this fateful meeting, but he gathered his bearings quickly. ”But you did also save me from a life in the mines. While I would have gotten out eventually, it might have taken me years, even longer to free Arimaspi. And… we are safe now, right? You have… taken us someplace safe right?” ”Forward in time,” Flam said, not caring about the strangeness of the statement. ”There is no slavery here. You are safe.” Gneiss nodded. ”I’m not gonna thank you, you bastard. But I’m not gonna kill you this time either.” He glared and looked longingly after another rock. ”But if we ever meet again…! You had better watch out, got it?” ”Right,” Flam said, not bothering to sound convinced. ”The Crystal Empire is the biggest mining city in Equestria, and the inhabitants are not strangers to feeling lost in time.” ”I don’t need your help! Just go and…!” Gneiss looked like he tried to find a word foul enough. ”Then starve if you like, I won’t miss you,” Flam said darkly. He regretted his outburst immediately; this was a foal he was talking to. ”Look, you go wherever you like. Just thought you should know one place where you might get start building up your life.” Gneiss only scoffed in response. He turned away and started making his way down the mountain. Flam looked after him. ”I’ll ask Ditzy to fly down and buy him a train ticket. Hopefully he won’t know that somepony paid for him…” With that, Flam put his boater hat over his face, closed his eyes and sighed. ”So we came to a city of marble, and we leave a city of bricks…” He tried to forget that feeling he had felt when the griffon dove at him. That desire to hurt. Flam shivered in the sunlight. ***** ”Eh, I fold,” Filthy said with a sigh and threw his hoof of cards on the table. He had two pairs in sixes and jacks, and felt fairly sure he would not be able to do much with that. Five players were still in the game, three ponies they had met on the train together with Flam and Trixie, none of which were playing entirely fair. ”I don’t get how they do it,” Suri said with a glare to the players. ”Those guys must be the luckiest ponies in Equestria.” ”Maybe they are just better at it than you?” Marmalade suggested. She had looked over Flam’s shoulder for a while, evidently trying to figure out the rules. ”Luck can’t be why you lost all you had after five games, right?” Suri glared at Marmalade, who recoiled a little. Suri scolded herself. Marmalade had been very submissive since she escaped Griffinstone, more or less always following in their tracks like a lost dog. In fact, this was probably the first time Suri had herd Marmalade say something without being asked. And had Suri just glared her down. She resisted the urge to facehoof. Suri smoothed out her expression before turning to a sullen Flim, who was sitting with glass of cider in front of him, sighing. Ditzy patted him on the back. ”And what happened to you?” Suri asked. She lowered her voice. ”For a con artist you are useless at poker.” ”I know,” Flim answered with a hollow voice. ”I’m too impulsive, I know that, but no matter how I try I don’t seem to ever learn.” The whistle put a stop to further discussion. Everypony’s ears collectively peaked up at the sound. ”Arrival at Ponyville in five minutes!” called the conductor. ”Ponyville five minutes! Can everypony please make sure they have their belongings ready?” ”That’s us,” Flam said stilly. ”So I guess this will be the last round we have together.” ”Then let’s make it count, shall we?” Trixie said gleefully and pushed her pile of bits further onto the table. ”All in. Show Trixie what you got.” ”You are on,” one of the other passengers said and matched her bet. Flam folded and cursed his misfortune. One other passenger shrugged and went all in too, while the last one folded. The three remaining players made their last changes. ”Ah, darn it,” one of them said. ”I have a straight, seven thought jacks.” ”Full house, fives full of queens” the other passenger said and looked hopefully to Trixie. ”Well, Trixie is sorry to say that she has the winning hoof with four of a kind, in Princesses, no less!” Flam did not feel like saying that he had discarded Celestia when he folded. Trixie collected her prize and bid her opponents farewell before removing herself from the table rather quickly. Suri went up to one of the train windows and carefully peeked out at the Ponyville station. She drew a breath of relief. No Spoiled Rich in sight. ”Okay then,” Flam said mirthfully once the seven ponies were gathered on the station. ”Topsy should lie in waiting for us, so we will soon have the idol here. My brother and I will visit Twilight right away to give her the good news.” ”Why the rush?” Filthy asked casually. ”Can’t we wait until tomorrow? I’m tired.” ”We can,” Flam admitted, ”but I don’t want to wait another second. After all grief we have gone through, I want to settle this business once and for all.” ”Fair enough, Trixie assumes, but rest assured she will be going to her wagon now. Tell her tomorrow how it went, okay?” Trixie yawned. ”The Great and Powerful Trixie thinks she can hear her bed calling out to her.” To emphasize her point, Trixie flicked an ear to the side as if trying to catch a distant sound. ”And I want to see my little Muffin,” Ditzy said happily. ”She must have been lonely.” ”Same here,” Filthy said. ”I want to check on my little diamond, and also find out if my wife have tried to pull any hocus-pocus while I was gone.” His tone suggested that the actual question was how long it would take him to straighten the problem out, not whether there was a problem or not. ”Also, I will hire a room at the inn for you, Marmalade. What about you, Suri?” Suri shrugged. ”I guess I might as well settle in for the night too. I’ll take a small walk with Filthy and Marmalade to the inn and then come to your wagon, Trixie, m’kay.” ”Suit yourself,” Trixie said and went to leave, passing Suri. ”If you decide to stay with Mr. Rich for the night, Trixie will certainly understand,” she whispered in a highly suggestive voice, causing Suri to blush. ”RRRRAK!” Prankster rasped and took off, not wanting to sleep just yet apparently. ”Well then, see you all tomorrow,” Flim said with a jolly wave as he and his brother made their way towards the edge of Everfree to pick up the idol. Ditzy fluttered off and Trixie went down a back alley quite fast, leaving only Suri and Filthy, as Marmalade hardly counted for company. ”So, shall we?” Filthy asked with an encouraging look. ”Can’t wait to get home. Sleep in my own bed instead of the ground.” ”Me too,” Suri said. ”In my bed, that is. Not yours,” she added quickly when she realized just what she had implied. ”I certainly hope so,” Filthy said lightly. Suri winced at his words. She knew it was just an off-hoof comment that did not mean anything, but it still hurt. She had been debating with herself for a while now about that sudden feeling she got in the mine, and decided that it was probably nothing after all. It was just another errant thought spawned from her panicked mindset at the time. It really meant nothing. So why did his comment hurt so much more than it should have? Normally she would just have shrugged it off and retorted with a snide comment that she was out of his league, but now she felt legitimately saddened. And dirty. She had not had a bath for days. Her mane was a mess and her coat was matted with marble dust and sweat. Of course Filthy could not find her attractive in a state like this; she did not find herself attractive like this. … Why was she having this debate anyway? ”Suri?” Filthy asked with a surprised glance at her downcast expression. ”Ah, I’m sorry. I did not mean it like that.” ”Nono,” Suri hurried to say. ”I… just thought of something else.” ”Alright then,” Filthy shrugged. ”What did you think about?” At once, Suri’s mind was blank. She opened her mouth to answer but could not seem to form any coherent words. Instead she became more and more aware of how stupid she must look, which only made her mind even blanker. ”Never mind then,” Filthy said quizzically. ”Here we are, at least.” Suri had momentarily forgotten that Marmalade was even here. ”Okay, Marmalade. I’m afraid I only have thirty-eight rooms in my mansion, and sadly none of them have decent enough furniture for a mare like you, so you will have to stay her for tonight. I’ll see if I can get a room in order tomorrow, and then we will have to think about what you can do now.” ”Do now?” Marmalade mumbled shyly. ”What do you mean?” ”Well, we brought you here, so we, or at least I, won’t just leave you drifting in an alien world. I’ll try to put you up with a job so that you can settle down and live a normal life without murderous griffons.” Marmalade stared at Filthy with a dazed expression. ”Hello?” Filthy knocked Marmalade lightly at the temple. ”You still there? Shall we get you a room already?” ”Thanks,” Marmalade mumbled. ”T-thank you, from the bottom of my heart…” It was not lost on Suri that Marmalade blushed. And for whatever reason, she felt a sting of… she quickly deduced that it was not jealousy. She was just being protective of Filthy, one of her friends. That was all. Filthy and Marmalade went into Berry Punch’s combined bar and inn. Suri contemplated whether to follow, but decided against it. She really had no reason to. ”Hey, I’ll go back to Trixie’s now, m’kay?” ”Be seeing you!” Filthy said with a wave. Suri nodded and turned down an alleyway. That should save her some time, and she did not want to keep Trixie waiting. She looked about and picked her ears up attentively. It was Ponyville, and her impressions of the town were the best she had ever had of any place, but she did not like strolling around in the dark when there were no ponies around. Simple self preserving instincts, it did not mean anything. She went around a corner and stopped in surprise. Somepony was laying by the wall in a pile of boxes. Beside him stood a few bottles. Suri thought about turning back, but that hardly seemed respectful. She went by the homeless pony without looking at him. ”Hey, you,” he said with a slight slur to his voice. ”Uh, are you like… Suri Polomare?” Suri froze in the middle of her step. How did this pony know her name? She had never talked with any homeless ponies before. Actually, when she thought of it, she had never seen any homeless in Ponyville at all. The homeless pony got up on his hooves. There was something strange with his movements, but Suri could not quite put her hoof on what. ”You are Suri then,” he said. His voice was clear. Suri backed away a few paces from the unknown pony and instinctively put her ears down. The atmosphere felt threatening all of a sudden. The homeless pony went out in front of her. Suddenly, Suri realized what was strange about the way he moved; he was precise and balanced. No drunk could move like that. He was sober as a judge. Suri heard hoof steps behind her and looked over her shoulder, at another pony. Her heart beginning to hammer rapidly in her chest. ”What do you want?” she asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking. ”Just don’t hold it against us, kay? It’s nothing personal. Just business.” Suri felt something strike her hard in the base of her neck. She tried to scream out in pain, but the pony in front of her darted forward and placed a hoof over her mouth. ”Hey, Brickbuster, get over here and do your magic.” The two ponies struggled, but the assailant got help from a third pony, a pegasus, and together they were stronger than her. Suri hyperventilated as the two pushed her up on her hind legs, exposing her belly to the last pony. He was a burly looking one, drab yellow coat with a cutie mark of a broken brick. Suri saw that he wore horseshoes. Iron horseshoes. She squirmed in her attackers’ grip as tears began to pool in her eyes. Brickbuster came closer slowly, as if to really draw out on her terror. She struggled harder with every step he took, egged on by ever increasing panic. Then, in one fluid motion, Brickbuster turned around and kicked her in the stomach. Suri gagged and felt like her organs had been squashed. She wanted to vomit, it felt like the blow had knocked her last meal out of her belly and up in the throat. It hurt a lot, but not nearly as much as the fear. She was alone in a dark alleyway, she was caught and had no way to defend herself. They could beat her, or worse, for hours if they felt like it. Nopony was going to come here until morning, and she could not scream; if nothing else the strike had knocked the wind from her lungs. She cried openly and tried to look at Brickbuster. Maybe her pitiful look could make him stop? Please let him stop! She tried to bend over to protect her injury, but the two ponies would not let her; they held her steady as Brickbuster readied another kick. Suri shook her head feverishly, tears sprinkling everywhere. She saw Brickbuster turning again and closed her eyes. A muffled groan escaped her lips and her hind legs went out under her. The two others still kept her standing. ”You’ve pissed off the wrong pony, Polomare,” the not-homeless pony said. Suri did not even have enough air left in her lungs to groan anymore, she just peeped in pain as the next hit struck her, over the ribs this time. ”So now you pay the consequences.” Finally the two ponies let her go. Suri’s first thought was to scream for help, but she could not even drown out a mouse squeak in her present condition. Instead she tried to get her legs under control and craw alway. She did not get very far before a kick struck her upper side, sending sprawling on the ground again. The not-homeless pony sat down by her head. ”Boss wanted you hurt real bad. We’re not done with you yet, little mare.” He smiled wickedly. ”Please stop,” Suri whispered and put a hoof on her assailant’s, a wordless plea for mercy. ”It hurts… please stop. Please… what have I done?” ”Dunno, I don’t ask questions,” the assailant said. ”But the boss wanted me to give you a message. ’That will teach you to keep your filthy body away.’ Brickbuster, you know the drill, make sure the message gets through.” Suri shook her head again and pulled the assailant closer in a shivering grip. She could hardly see anything through her tear filled vision, but she knew that Brickbuster was stalking closer. ”N-no… please no!” she pleaded. ”I’ll give you anything, just-” Then she felt like her hindquarters were split in two. She could not even scream. She felt strangely sleepy, as if she began to shut down just to escape the torture, but her body was not so kind; she remained conscious. ”Nice hit there. Now hand me that scissors so that we can wrap this up already. Boss wanted proof, you see, so we’ll take your mane and tail now.” ”N-not… p-please…” She closed her eyes and prayed. There was nothing else to do; she did not even want to think about moving now. Every moment she expected to feel the metal snipping away her luxurious tail. Her lovely, silken tail and mane. She never felt anything. But she heard a lot. For example a very familiar bird cry, and an unfamiliar scream in pain and surprise. She opened her eyes again, terrified of what she would see. Right above her, the ringleader beat furiously with a pair of scissors after a familiar black parrot. Then there were hoof steps running towards her. Suri only managed to pick this up because the small tremors in the ground felt like spikes being hammered into her pelvis bone. ”Don’t stop, Prankster! Claw out his eyes for all I care!” she heard, what was probably Filthy Rich, only his voice was so distorted by anger that he sounded more like Topsy. Suri looked towards the voice of her saviors. Her eyes were blurry with tears, but she saw Marmalade and Filthy barrage into the highly surprised team of ambushers. Marmalade sent a nasty buck at Brickbuster’s chin, lifting the earth pony from the ground and throwing him a few ponylengths away. With a squeak she heard the pegasus take to the sky, while the last one begged after having been pushed against the wall by Filthy Rich. Prankster sat on his head. ”B-but boss… we only did what you told us to! G-get that blasted bird off me!” ”It is not a very clever idea to anger me any further than this,” Filthy said softly. ”Do you know who I am, little rat? I could have you bound up, tortured, killed and then hidden in less than a day. Nopony would ever come to look for you, understand? I could… remove you, with just a clop of my hooves. That is what I want to do right now. So if you know what is good for you, start licking my hooves and I might just let you get away with a few broken bones and two eyes less.” The parrot rasped in compliance and pulled out a few strands of the attacker’s mane with his beak. ”M-Mr. Filthy, sir, I-” Filthy slapped the stallion violently. ”Mr. Rich.” ”Mr. Rich, w-we just…” the attacker tripped on his words, ”your wife… us contracted she… she wanted us beat to her down…” ”It isn’t smart to lie to me,” Filthy hissed. ”Prankster…” ”He’s not lying,” Suri said with a small voice. She felt somepony cradle her head, presumably Marmalade. It felt nice. ” I think… truth…” ”Suri?” Filthy asked carefully, his eyes filled with doubt. ”Suri, can you hear me? I’m sorry for asking this now, but I must know. Do you think my wife ordered this? Do you really?” She heard in his voice that Filthy wanted her to deny, to say that it was not so. Alas, Suri could only nod. Literally; she could not muster the power to shake her head. Filthy was silent. ”Marmalade, could you knock him out cold and ask Berry Punch to take him to the mayor?” ”N-no! Wai-!” the not-homeless pony began before Marmalade smacked him soundly in the neck. ”Okay then,” Filthy said. ”Maybe you can take Suri up to your room? I don’t want to move her over to my mansion. I… have something I need to take care of, but I will come by you and take her to the hospital.” ***** Flam knocked on the door to Twilight’s castle. His brother stood a little bit behind with an attaché case gripped in his magic; inside on a silk cushion was the idol. Flam felt wonderfully excited. This was it, this was what all had lead up to. Blood, sweat, near-death experiences and the cultural collapse of griffonkind led up to this moment. Now, all they had to do was play their cards right and take the game. But that was what he did. He was a skilled enough con artist to sell flight lessons to Spitfire. Selling the Idol of Boreas to Twilight should be foals play. If she decided to open the door, that is. ”Her service leaves a lot to be desired,” Flim pointed out. ”I don’t want to wait here for hours if I…” he trailed off. ”what bureaucratic responsibilities would fall under ’the Princess of Friendship’s’ office anyway?” ”Therapy sessions for recently divorced?” Flam suggested. ”Maybe… I’ve got nothing.” ”Who is there?” A groggy Spike called from a balcony overhead. ”And do you know what time it is?” ”Flim is here, and it is between midnight and one A.M,” Flim called back. ”I have an urgent message for the Princess, so kindly open the door!” ”Here to pilfer another one of my comics? How about no?” ”That was our wrongly delivered comic, which you just had to fiddle with!” Flim shouted up to Spike ”Don’t blame that one on us! Will you open or not?” ”Not,” Spike shouted. ”Now get lost and let people sleep.” ”It was a rhetorical question,” Flam interjected calmly. ”Since Sparkle is a government official she is forced by law to listen to our concerns. Open or I will get Mayor Mare to open for me, throw you in jail and then see Twilight.” ”Never heard of that law,” Spike called, but he did sound a little uncertain. ”Oh no? Then I will get Mayor Mare to read it to you and make sure you never forget it,” Flam said venomously and turned around. He and his brother got ten something ponylengths before they heart the golden door swung open. A grumpy Spike stood by it as the brothers entered smugly. His eyes fell on the attaché case. ”What’s that?” ”Nothing much,” Flim said while studying the roof. ”A little trinket we found… thought Twilight may be interested in it…” ”Let me see,” Spike demanded. The case snapped open, revealing the Idol of Boreas. Spike’s eyes grew with adoration. As a dragon, gold had a special place in his heart, and that was a red diamond the size of his eye inset in it. He drooled a little at the thought of sinking his teeth in that gemstone. The dream died when the attaché case snapped shut. He jerked back a little, as if he had just woken up from a hypnotic trance. ”Right… I guess Twilight might wanna see that. Wait by the library and I will tell her. Don’t touch anything.” Spike disappeared further into the castle, leaving two puzzled FlimFlam brothers by the door. They came to a nonverbal agreement to stay put. It was hardly good manners to wander around in a place where they might get lost. ”I have never heard of that law either by the way,” Flim said suddenly. ”Me neither,” Flam replied. They waited for a few minutes before an all to familiar alicorn came into view. Twilight had a suspicious look in her eyes. Suspicious and wary. ”Your highness, it is most kind of you to receive us at this late hour,” Flam bowed down. ”However, I would not have come here was I not convinced we would both get what we wanted.” ”As Princess, the least I can do is listen to my subjects,” Twilight said stiffly. ”But don’t hope for too much. What do you want?” ”Straight to the point, huh? Fine by me,” Flam said and took the attaché case from his brother. ”We recently stumbled across a little something, and naturally we thought about you,” Flam explained as he set down the suitcase. ”As a pony who is so adept at making friends, we thought you should be the one to have it,” Flim said as the first clasp opened. ”For the best of Equestria, it needs to be in competent hooves.” ”If used right, I imagine this will bring prosperity to both ponykind and griffonkind,” Flam agreed as the second clasp opened. ”All that is needed is the best diplomat Equestria has, and this little thing.” ”You are the diplomat, so all that stands between us and a new golden age is but a token of your good will,” Flim said with a dismissive shoo of his hoof. ”And I imagine you, as everyone, wishes to prove yourself to your mentor?” Flam asked an all the more wary Twilight. ”Would it not it be something to tell Celestia and Luna? That you alone have secured an alliance with the griffons, something not even they have managed?” ”All you would need is…” Flim said conspiratorially and gripped the lid in his magic. ”The Idol of Boreas.” Twilight was positive she had misheard as the lid opened, but when she saw the red glimmer, all doubt vanished in a wave of beautiful red. It was as if the brothers had brought the sunrise indoors. The diamond seemed awash in every color of the sun, casting a fiery radiance on her purple crystal walls. There was no doubt. They had the Idol of Boreas, griffon pride made manifest. She reached out a hoof, just to really convince herself. Flim and Flam did not stop her. Her hoof brushed over the golden surface. It was not cool as it ought to be, but comfortably warm, as if it had laid in the sun before being brought to her. ”So, Princess, are you interested or are you interested?” Flim asked with a suave grin. Twilight tore her eyes away from the idol. ”Let’s pretend that I am,” she shrugged, refusing to let the squee of delight tint her voice. She wanted to pick it up and just look at it, just relish in the fact that she had, here, in her own home, one of history’s most, mythical, most sought after artifacts. Aside from Flim and Flam and whoever they had worked with, she must be the first living pony to lay her eyes on it. Had Celestia ever seen it? Twilight was not entirely sure, and that alone made her giddy. Twilight let none of these feelings show. ”What do you want in exchange?” ”You know that,” Flam said. ”We want you to cover our tracks.” ”Do you really think it is clever to extort a Princess?” Twilight asked. ”If I were to say to Celestia that you have tried to bribe me, what do you think would happen?” ”I know what would happen,” Flam replied quickly. ”You would effectively have doomed us both.” ”How so?” Twilight asked with a bemused expression. ”Well, my brother, me and anypony associated with us would more or less be ostracized from Equestria, a fate as bad as banishment,” Flam explained in a voice that did not sound very inspired. ”But with enough money we could probably start over someplace else. Or why not change identities?” Flim continued. ”And we will have the Idol. So once we tell our side of the story you will be remembered as the Princess of Friendship who made sure the griffons would not befriend the ponies. Remember the Princesses have always put the good of Equestria before themselves. I seem to recall that Celestia banished her own sister without a moment’s hesitation when she became a threat to her subjects. But you would not even surrender some of your precious honesty for the better of your subjects?” ”Who do you think history will condemn?” Flam asked rhetorically. ”The gallant thieves who recovered the idol in a legendary adventure, or the Princess who refused to let go of her own selfish wishes for the better of all? Do you think Celestia or Luna would even hesitate?” ”We could continue, but I think the point has been made,” Flim said. ”What will it be?” ”Yes, Twilight,” the alicorn thought to herself. ”What will it be? Your morals or your duty?” She did not want to think about it. To think that she even considered cooperating with ponies like Flim and Flam sent a pang of shame through her heart. She was a Princess; she was supposed to be a stalwart beacon to her ponies, an example to follow and a point of inspiration. Ponies would look at her and aspire to be as righteous as her, that was as much part of being a Princess as the crown on her head or the wings on her back. But how could she be all that, how could she say she represented the best of ponykind if she would sell herself like this? It was about integrity, to stay true to herself. But the brothers had made a valid point. The Idol of Boreas! She had, though via many hoops, gotten Yakyakistan to sign a declaration of friendship with Equestria, but it was Celestia who had invited the dignitaries and set it all up. All Twilight did was to complete her work, and she was uncomfortably close to fail even that. What a surprise it would be, to tell her beloved mentor that she, singlehoofedly, had done the same once again with their neighbors in the East. To for once be able to do something Celestia could not, to for once be a Princess in the true sense of the word and repay Celestia for her trust in Twilight. Her heart did not want to. Her brain really did. Her morals or her duty? Keep one, give up the other. ***** Filthy Rich came up to his home, and was met by a smiling Diamond Tiara. She had a small paper in her mouth. ”Hey, father. Welcome home,” she said with a smile that would not have been out of place for the door guard at the Grand Galloping Gala. Filthy replied with a curt nod. Diamond looked a little bit hurt from the complete lack of interest from her father, but quickly hid her disappointed look. ”I got back my geography test today,” she paused for dramatic effect. She had more or less locked her father into her room and refused to let him out until he had helped her memorize the entire west coast of Equestria. She had really put effort into this test. ”I got an A minus! Like, only Rumble was better than me!” ”How good,” Filthy said coarsely without slowing his steps. Diamond had to trot rather quickly to keep up with him. She folded her ears back in part anger and part sadness. She really thought father had cared for this, but he just seemed annoyed with her. There was something else too. Her father seemed angry. She, who had known him for all her life, recognized the signs. Tightly pressed lips, stomp in his steps, aggressive swishing of his tail, fur on end. Filthy Rich was angry. Diamond’s breath caught in her throat. As with any filly, an angry parent was the most terrifying thing in existence. She tucked her tail close to her hindquarters and slowed her steps. She had a feeling that she could wait with going through the test until tomorrow when her father had calmed down. She tried to catch his look, but it was like he was walking on the other side of a wall. He did not see her, he only kept glaring daggers in front of him. She tried to nuzzle him slightly, as that always brought a smile to Filthy’ face, but now he nearly trampled her. It was like she had turned invisible to him. Diamond shied away with a whimper. She had never seen her father like this. ”Good night?” she tried, just to get a smile, or anything at all except for the stiff, barely constrained anger, out of her father. ”Not very!” Filthy replied loudly with a tone as cold as any Windigo’s. Diamond felt tears starting to well up. Filthy had not heightened his voice to her since she was in preschool. He opened the door to his and mother’s bedroom and slammed it shut. Diamond startled at the loud sound; her father had closed it with all his strength. Diamond was left standing in the corridor, shaking with uncertainty and still with the geography test in her mouth. Then she heard her mother scream, and the door to the bedroom flew open. Her mother followed shortly, stumbling out and into the wall. She turned around with a gaze that could kill. Diamond whimpered in terror when she saw her father march out. ”I. Have. Had. ENOUGH!” He bellowed the last word, grabbed Spoiled and heaved her down the corridor towards Diamond Tiara, who jumped out of the way with tears streaming down her cheeks. She had never even imagined that her father could be like this. He frothed in anger and glared like a pony possessed. Diamond literally would not have been surprised if he would start beating mother. ”GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!” He screamed at the top of his lungs and began to advance on Diamond’s mother again. Spoiled however, took the hint and backed down the stairs without taking the eyes of her furious husband. Randolph poked his head out of a door. ”Sir, can I help you with something?” He asked sleepily before he saw Filthy thunder down the stairs. Diamond went up to him and sniffled in his leg. ”W-what’s gotten into f-father?” She asked meekly. ”H-he…” Damond’s voice broke into a cry. ”I will find out,” Randolph said as calming as he could manage. ”You can wait in my room, little miss. I will be back soon.” Diamond shook her head and kept close to Randolph’s leg as she followed the butler to the grand staircase. Bellow it was the main door. Filthy stood on top of the stairs, and pointed with a vile grimace at the door. Spoiled stood just in front of it. ”If you think you can just throw me out of my own home, then you are sorely mistaken, you inept fool,” Spoiled called haughtily. ”This was never your home!” Filthy panted slightly, then continued in a choked, menacing hiss. ”It is mine, and I never want to see you again. Much I can put up with, but you have gone above and beyond every line this time! GET OUT!” The contrast between his bellowing and the choked hiss was like a thunderclap in an otherwise still sky. Randolph stepped forward, as collected as ever. Diamond felt her respect for the butler increase by a landslide; she had never considered him very brave. Whenever she asked him to do anything, no matter how humiliating, he always complied. To see him walk out to Filthy right now felt alien, like something out of a movie. ”Sir, I believe that is quite enough,” Randolph said silently. ”This is hardly dignified behavior, and you are obviously to enraged to think clearly. Please, let us talk this over tomorrow like gentelponies.” ”Ah, Randolph, just the pony I wanted to see,” Filthy said with a queer, familial tone that sent shivers through Diamond’s spine. ”I would very much like it if you went down to Town Hall and fetched me the necessary forms for a divorce. Tell the mayor I will gladly pay for the matter to be taken care of swiftly.” ”I regret to inform you, sir, that this task is beyond my duties,” Randolph said calmly. ”At least until you have thought this through.” Filthy turned away from his wife and looked at Randolph with a horrible, amused sort of look. ”Well, Randolph, that sort of mentality is precisely why I am the richest stallion in town while your life boils down to serving me tea.” Randolph got something shocked and hurt in his furrowed face. Filthy sneered evilly. ”Now, how about you do your job before I have to revoke it?” ”Stop,” Diamond sobbed. ”Please, father, please just stop?” Tears flowed freely from her eyes, cutting through what little makeup she was allowed to wear and leaving streaks on her cheeks. Her eyes were red from crying and her whole body quivered in fear for her father. Her heart began to hammer at triple pace when her father shifted his baleful stare from a stunned Randolph to her. She drew a shaky breath. ”P-please?” Filthy looked like he had seen a ghost. All color drained from his face and his twisted sneer ran of him like watercolor under a faucet. He closed his eyes and drew a breath. When he opened them again Diamond thought she could see his frost blue irises a little clearer. Without a word he went to his bedroom and locked it. ***** Twilight breathed deeply and let her hoof extend forward when she let the air out. As always, Cadence’s breathing technique helped her think a little clearer. ”I… I am not some trinket you can buy. Take your idol and all your schemes and… just leave me be.” Twilight turned around without waiting for the inevitable protests and marched back into her castle with as much regality she could muster in her steps.