Sweet Home looked through the files and sighed to herself. Work for her was plentiful; and when you're a member of Equestria's Foal Protective Services, that is not a good thing. There was a misconception to beings that lived outside of Equestria's borders that it was a perfect place to live, full of perfect ponies who could do no wrong. This, unfortunately, could be no further from the truth, a truth of which Sweet Home knew first hoof. Too many times did she get cases of an abusive parent or parents who would recklessly endanger their foals. It was her job to deal with these foals and relocate them to places where they would be, at the very least, have a safe life.
This wouldn't be as bad by itself if it weren't for the fact that Sweet Home were also tasked with dealing with the foals in which the agency rescued. Foals were brought to her in all sorts of states, ranging for broken bones to scarring to even severe mental trauma as a result of the abuse. It wasn’t that she didn’t have it in her to even deal with foals like this; if that was the case then she wouldn’t even have pursued a career in this field in the first place. It was just that foals in these sorts of conditions were always grim reminders of the lowest points of Equestrian society.
Outside, there was another foal that came from yet another one of the broken homes of which seemed to plague the office. She sighed and stood up, ready to talk to the broken foal, not sure of the state that she was currently in yet..
Diamond Tiara was her name, as Home soon found out from reading the documents she was given on the case. She came from a rich father that had been widowed shortly after she was born. Her father, Filthy Rich, unfortunately soon fell victim to the evils of alcohol. As was the case with many of the foals that she handled, Diamond Tiara had apparently been abused, both physically and verbally; the file also mentioned that there was a case of possible neglect abuse as well. It wasn’t until two days prior that a pony, presumably under the employment of the aforementioned father, reported seeing one of these abuse episodes.
Now, they had the foal in question outside of her office, awaiting to hear her fate: that was, what was to happen to her now that she has been confiscated from her father. Home looked through the files and documentation for a list of relatives or other contacts in which she could be left with. Most of her relatives were either deceased or lived too far away to be considered to be a first choice of relocation.
Like most foals, she preferred to try and keep them in the immediate area. It served them better while they readjusted both physically and mentally to their surroundings. She blinked and was about to start considering sending her to Trottingham when she saw a particular group of local ponies come up.
Taking in a deep breath, Sweet Home put on the most comforting and foal-friendly face she could. She opened the door and went out into the lobby of her office. She tried to keep it warm and comfortable considering that this is where the foals brought to her attention would normally be staying. There were humorous posters of kittens and puppies adorning the walls as well as a bowl of candy in the center of the coffee table; though it seemed that Diamond Tiara hadn’t even notice it as she just sat on the couch and looked downwards.
Seeing the foal hunched over on the couch made Sweet Home get the familiar tinge of sadness that she got with all foals who came to her. Steeling herself, she took a breath and smiled warmly, walking up to Diamond Tiara and looking down at her calmly.
“Are you Diamond Tiara?” Sweet Home asked.
Diamond Tiara looked upwards meekly and only softly nodded her head.
“Would you please follow me?” Sweet Home continued, smiling.
The filly nodded, adjusting her tiara before standing up on shaky hooves. She followed the older mare into the small yet still cozy office, taking a seat in a large, fluffy chair.
“Are you thirsty? Hungry?” Sweet Home asked, pulling out a small jar of little sugar candies and pulling a glass of water over.
The pink filly only shook her head again in response. “No, I want my daddy.”
“No, you can’t have your daddy right now,” Sweet Home said, leaning towards her and giving another inviting smile, “Do you want the chair raised up a bit?”
“No, I want my daddy!” The filly repeated, straightening her back a bit.
“Are you sure that you’re not thirsty? I have plenty of wa-”
“I WANT MY DADDY!” Diamond Tiara stood up and slammed her front hooves down on the table. The glass of water vibrated for a split second. “Where is he? Why haven’t you told me anything? Who are you? What’s even going on here? Why can’t I see daddy?”
Taken aback, it took the mare a solid five seconds to recollect herself before she finally coughed awkwardly and gave a weak smile, “Are you sure you don’t want some candy?”
Diamond Tiara narrowed her eyes in a deadly manor, giving the filly equivalent of a death stare.
“Oh well, it was worth a shot,” Sweet Home sighed and pushed the files aside, keeping Diamond Tiara’s in front of her. She had to play this carefully. “Did your daddy ever get upset when you were around him?”
Diamond Tiara blinked and spat defiantly, “Yeah, but he had a ton of stuff he had to do!”
Sweet Home gave an inquisitive look. “Did your daddy ever get… violent when you were at home?”
Taken aback, the filly shrank back into the chair, “No....” she mumbled.
The mare hid her pity for the filly and asked again. “You don’t need to lie here. You can trust me.”
Knowing Sweet Home already knew what the correct answer was, Diamond Tiara gave in. “Sometimes.” She whispered so low it was almost inaudible.
“Did he ever start to yell and get hurtful when you were ever around?” Sweet Home pressed, pulling out a sheet of paper.
“W-well that was only when he was working really late…” She defended, trying to straighten up.
Sweet Home pulled out another sheet of paper, “Well, did your daddy ever talk about your mommy when you were around?”
Diamond Tiara shivered hard and squeaked. “I-I was forbidden to talk about her when he was around.”
“You seem like a smart filly to me,” A photo of a large stash of alcoholic bottles was laid in front of her. “I think you can figure the rest out.”
It took her all of three seconds, “Are you saying that my daddy, the richest pony in Equestria, the best daddy there ever was, was an alcoholic?!”
Sadly, Sweet Home gave a small nod, “Yes, we discovered that your father has been drinking extensively since your mother passed. We had reason to believe that your father was abusing you, yet we never had any proof. That is, until two days ago.”
The pink filly stood up to object and defend her father, yet Sweet Home continued, “Your daddy was seen hurting you, and one of your servants saw this and reported it to us. We found signs of abuse, Diamond Tiara. You may not get to see your daddy for a long time.”
For a second, Diamond Tiara looked destroyed. Her trademark smirk fell into a quivering frown, while her eyes began to moisten around the edges. She trembled in the chair and her tiara fell to the floor.
“I’m sorry, but he isn’t fit to raise you anymore.” Sweet Home scooted the chair closer, looking at the poor filly, despite knowing that all she was doing was causing her pain.
“But daddy does love me! He can raise me! I know he can! He’s done it for years and years! Ever since I was a little newborn!” She stood up, shaking while tears fell from her eyes, “Daddy loves me!”
“He does love you, he loves you very much.” Sweet Home held back a small tear, “Which is why we are going to have to send you away while we help him.” Sweet Home was sugarcoating this as much as she could. In truth, her father was going to be sent to court and most likely jail.
Diamond stood up, “That’s not fair! You can’t just take my daddy away from me!”
Giving a sigh, Sweet Home looked down slightly, “We have to, for your safety as well as his.”
Diamond slowly let the situation sink in. She took several minutes to finally begin to compose a small bit of the dignity that she still possessed. She reached down and gripped the tiara, placing it back on her head with a tiny breath. Then she looked up and asked calmly. “So where am I going to live?”
“Well I’ve been looking around through your files of known relatives and it doesn’t seem like you have any that live particularly close to you. Is that correct?”
Diamond Tiara looked down and thought rapidly, then she shook her head.
“We like to try and place you in the area, as close to home as possible. We’d rather you live here than in the middle of, say, Manehatten.”
“But I have a ton of relatives all over!” Diamond Tiara pressed, smiling, “Actually I’m sure that you could send me to live with my aunt!”
“You mean your Auntie, Coin Dispenser? The one that lives on the other side of the country?” Sweet Home gave a small smile.
“W-well I visit her once a year!” Diamond Tiara argued.
“We have found an alternative so that you can stay here with your friends.” The mare pulled out a small, old sheet of crinkled paper. “It says here that in the event that something were to happen to a descendant of your family, that you have a very close godparent that you could move in with.”
Diamond Tiara looked at the style of the paper: old, stained and written in very fancy hoof writing. The paper had a distinct vibe to it. She blinked, “No!”
“The Apple Family technically has full legal rights to take you in as their adopted foal. Apparently the claim your ancestors staked in their business really helped them out when they were first starting.” Sweet Home read the page before laying it casually on the table in front of her.
Diamond’s mind was moving at a million miles a minute. Live with that blank flank and her disgusting family? There was no way that she was going to ever-
“Or, if you choose not to live with the Apples, we could send you to one of our regional facilities where you could be adopted.” Sweet Home suggested with a coy smirk.
The fillies eyes widened and she asked, “W-would I get to choose who adopted me at least?”
“We’d weigh the strengths and weaknesses of each family wanting to adopt you,” Sweet Home shrugged, “You’d end up with whoever we deemed most fit to take care of you.”
There was no way this was happening! Diamond Tiara looked around frantically before she finally saw Sweet Home’s expression: sympathy.
Diamond Tiara opened her mouth to protest, but it came out as, “A-are you sure that I can’t just live with my auntie?”
Sweet Home gave a tiny chuckle, “Nope, it’s either the Apples or an adoption center.”
Sighing defeatedly, Diamond Tiara fell back in the chair and looked down at the floor. She started to think of what to do and finally she gave up.
“Fine,” She spat. “I’ll go live with the Apples.”