//------------------------------//
// Bonus Chapter: The New Rich Family, Filthy's Important Meeting! 
// Story: My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: The Broken Diamond 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

While the Cutie Mark Crusaders were basking in the glory of their new cutie marks (and reaffirming their commitment to helping others with their cutie mark problems), Diamond Tiara found herself dreading the walk back home. Even with her newfound confidence, the filly wasn't sure how she was going to explain to her father why she'd put in such a request for the playground equipment. Considering her mom hadn't bothered to show up for the cute-ceañera celebration, the pink coated filly had a gut feeling that Spoiled Rich had tried to work what charm she had to try and persuade Filthy Rich to her way of thinking.

"How do I go about telling Dad Mom was the one who responsible for me being such a bad pony? And more importantly, will he actually believe me?" Diamond thought to herself, as she reached the front gate of her family mansion, just as the sun was beginning to set in the west.

At first there seemed to be no sign of either Filthy or Spoiled, which Tiara regarded as a good sign. Maybe if she could just get a good night's rest to sleep on the issue, everything would blow over and she could be the happy filly she wanted so badly to be now.

Alas, fate had other plans in mind for the pink coated filly. As soon as she had set hoof in the mansion proper, her father was there to greet her with those blue eyes of his staring directly into her soul. "There somethin' ya mind tellin' me about, my little Diamond?" Filthy Rich asked, looking directly into his little princess' eyes to make sure she knew how serious this was.

Diamond tried hard not to gulp. "W-what do you want to know about, Father?" She nervously replied. Was this it? Was her happy ending over before it had even begun?

"It's my understandin' that your mom came to me just yesterday, with a request written by you, askin' me to donate new playground equipment to the school and take it out of her account." Filthy explained briefly, bluntly, and to the point.

"So?" Tiara reluctantly asked.

"So, just what the hay's goin' on?! Why are ya bossin' your own mother around like that?!" Filthy demanded quite firmly. "And what's all this about new playground equipment?! Do you have any idea how expensive all that stuff was, not that I minded donatin' it for a good cause."

"You mean, Mother hasn't told you yet?" Diamond asked, as she suddenly didn't feel so afraid anymore. Her fright had been replaced by a new emotion, confusion.

"Told me what, Diamond?" Filthy replied with the most perplexed look on his face. "I'm gettin' the feelin' somethin''s been goin' on 'round here, and ya ain't been tellin' me what it is! Whatever it is, share it with me if ya wouldn't mind. I'm sure it's nothin' to be ashamed of."

Sensing that this might be perhaps her only moment to present her case, Diamond took a deep breath and then rambled off as loudly as she could! "For years Mother's been telling me what to do, what to say, who to socialize with, and how to behave, all under the guise of me being 'aware' of my 'social standing' as she put it, effectively turning me into a bully because I didn't know better, and then she supported my campaign to be re-elected student pony president, only to deny the funds to Pipsqueak when he beat me in the election so we couldn't set up that statue of me that she'd gotten to celebrate my victory, and when she saw me hanging out with the same Cutie Mark Crusaders I once picked on and belittled, she lashed out at me and called my new friends 'confused, insignificant lowlifes', so I finally had enough and told her, and sent her to you with the note, and now my friends have their cutie marks and they've inspired me to be a better pony." Only after she'd said all that did Tiara allow herself to breath.

Surprisingly, Filthy seemed to understand what his pride and joy was trying to tell him. "So, let me get this straight," He said seriously. "Spoiled's been bossin' ya around and tryin' to control your life, and she's the reason why you've been actin' like such a brat?"

"I wish it wasn't true, but it is. I'm ashamed that I ever listened to her advice," Diamond said with tears in her eyes. "She doesn't care about me at all, she just wants to use me to further her own social standing! I want an actual mother, a pony who cares about me for who I am!" Then the filly promptly buried her face into her father's chest and sobbed loudly, she didn't care who saw her at this point. For years all she'd wanted to do was cry, but she'd held back, convinced that it was only appropriate to do so when you wanted to manipulate somepony into supporting you. But this time the tears were real, this wasn't about manipulation.

Filthy didn't say anything at first. He just allowed his daughter to sob repeatedly until she eventually calmed down, all the while he lightly stroked her mane with a hoof. He could tell that this wasn't a case of crocodile tears, they were as genuine as could be. "How could I have let this happen?!" The stallion thought to himself. "How could Spoiled do such a thing behind my back like this?! Well, I'm not gonna let her get away with it any longer!" Once he was certain his daughter had stopped crying, Filthy bent down to her level and said to her in the sweetest tone possible. "Thank you very much for tellin' me this, sweetie. It couldn't have been easy, but it was a very brave thing to do."

"Does this mean you believe me? Just like that?" Tiara asked, hopefully. This whole situation was playing out better than she could've anticipated.

Filthy nodded. "And don't you worry 'bout your mother. First thing tomorrow, I'm callin' for a family meetin' to discuss some things I apparently wasn't clear enough on before," He paused, before he added. "Spoiled's not home right now, she's currently down at the spa pamperin' herself. So, how would you like to sleep with Daddy tonight, my little princess?"

Diamond happily bounced up and down in reply! "Oh absolutely!" She exclaimed loudly, before a thought struck her. "But what about Mother?"

Filthy chuckled. "I reckon she can sleep on the couch tonight, and I'll make sure Randolph's awake to tell her that. Maybe it'll give her a chance to think about what she's done and why it's wrong. And if not, well hopefully she'll listen to reason."





Filthy was as good as his word. The very next day, once he'd woken up and taken care of his morning rituals (as did his daughter and Celestia knows she was NOT a morning pony, but then neither was Spoiled), he called a family meeting to order in his private study on the first floor.

Spoiled immediately knew something was up, it wasn't often that she'd be called into her husband's study. And usually it wasn't for a good reason. But a part of her held out hope that he was still in the dark about the exact reasons for her embarrassingly trotting up to him with that note two days ago.

But Filthy would entertain no such delusions. He immediately cleared his throat and looked Spoiled square in the eyes as he declared. "It has come to my attention that a certain somepony has been actin' in a manner contrary to how I've said rich ponies are to act. I ain't namin' names, but it stops here and now!" To emphasize his point, he stomped his hoof down on the floor, startling Spoiled quite visibly. "As head of the Rich family and household, I, Filthy Regal Rich, do hereby decree that from today onwards there's to be a change in the way rich ponies are to treat 'low life' ponies. And before anyone asks, yes, this also extends to nonponies."

"What?! But Filthy, darling-" Spoiled pleaded, only to be immediately interrupted.

"-Ahahah, no buts, hun," Filthy said firmly, he would tolerate no dissent. "You brought this on yourself I'm afraid. Now then, effective immediately, rich ponies are to treat the 'low lifes' with respect and dignity. No longer are they to look down on those who are not as wealthy as they are. There will be no more repetition of names determined to be malicious and hurtful to others. And all rich ponies shall not discriminate on the useage of money, but no longer may they use it for such selfish purposes as purchasin' a statue, or denyin' other ponies access to funds for a good cause."

"This is an outrage! You can't possibly be serious, dear!" Spoiled burst out! There was no way in Tartarus she was about to be reduced to mingling with the common folk when she knew herself to be better than them.

Filthy just made a tsking motion with one of his hooves, before he replied. "A pity you had to go and open your big mouth, Spoiled, because now I'm afraid I'll have to punish you. After all, what good are rules if ya don't bother to enforce 'em? Now then, you're already in hot water as it is with the school board for your little outrage the other day, and quite a few ponies are demandin' that you step down. So that's exactly what you're gonna do. You're gonna go march down to the school house and announce your resignation to the board, effective immediately," He paused for but a second before he then added. "And I think you need to gain some respect for the common folk. So you're gonna apply for a job at the Ponyville Spa-"

"A wise choice, Filthy," Spoiled smiled in delight. "At least now I'll have an excuse to get away from our headstrong, ungrateful daughter."

Filthy shook his head. "Ya didn't let me finish, Spoiled. You are gonna get a job at the spa, but you won't be gettin' any kind of pamperin' while you're there. The spa's in need of massage therapists, and they're willin' to offer some on the job trainin'. Maybe spendin' some time with the common folk instead of pamperin' yourself all day and chattin' with nobles, will teach you some humility."

"What?! But... but..." Spoiled stammered.

"Well it's either that, or I file for divorce," Filthy warned. "And I'll make sure you don't see one bit from anythin', and you certainly won't be gettin' custody of our little princess. From what she'd told me, you've been a terrible influence on her. So, what's it gonna be? Resignin' from the school board and workin' at the spa all day, or gettin' a divorce and goin' back to being Spoiled Milk without a bit to your name?"

For a few moments Spoiled was silent. She just stood there with that blank look on her face. At last, just when Filthy and Diamond thought Spoiled might have broken, she growled and seemed to mutter some sort of curse under her breath (Filthy could only hope his little Diamond wouldn't think to repeat such a dirty word). "Fine...." She said with a long, drawn out sigh of frustration. "I'll play along with your new 'rules', dear. But I won't like 'em, not at all."

Filthy only chuckled. "Never said you had to, dear. Now you'd better get goin', I believe the school board will be hearin' 'bout your resignation in 'bout an hour or so."

Spoiled reluctantly turned and trotted out of the study, grumbling and gritting her teeth, while Filthy and Diamond just shared a passionate embrace.

One thing was for sure, Diamond's home life was going to be a lot better now than it had been just days ago.