//------------------------------// // Part 27: Lifestyle Of The Riches And The Shameless // Story: A Mother's 'Love' // by deadpansnarker //------------------------------// She'd finally done it. Finally received the recognition for which she was long overdue. Queen Spoiled had conquered Equestria. Done what Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon and Tirek had failed miserably at. Those fraudulent posers. There she sat, in Celestia's ornate throne on the balcony of her new home the palace, gazing out into the throngs of her loyal slav... subjects. The white alicorn herself was chained to Spoiled's side, wearing a most unflattering outfit. They were all there, gazing in wonder at her from below. The upper classes. The middle classes. Even the spit lower classes. Desperate to serve, throwing themselves down in front of their one true ruler. As they should be. Queen Spoiled glanced down her pointed nose at the worshiping hoards. They would find her to be a generous, benevolent monarch, a paragon of absolute virtue... As long as everypony did things exactly her way. If they didn't, well, her wrath would be swift and merciless, as anypony would expect a supreme being's to be. Right now though, it was best to focus on the matters at hand. Namely, her effortless enslavement over ponykind. First of all, she had to plan the execution of that heretic, the so-called princess, Twilight Sparkle. The lavender menace had been a thorn in her side for a good, long while, but at last Queen Spoiled could prove that that just because you're a little bigger than other unicorns, and have a set of stick-on wings, it doesn't make you anything special. As if an anti-social librarian deserved such an honour, anyway. Then, it was time to decide how to dispose of those ongoing nuisances who were always involved in treason against the crown, namely the Apple family. She was planning on burying them alive in their own orchard, a fitting death indeed for a pack of menial earth ponies. She would be lenient towards the youngest Apple, though. A lifetime of back-breaking slavery would do for her. It was a magnanimous gesture on her part, but that's the kind of mare she was. Those two interfering friends of hers could join her, too. Finally do something worthwhile with their wretched existences other than obsessing over cutie marks. Phew, it was hard work being in charge. Time for some refreshment. Ring ring ring went her handheld bell. "I'm coming, your grace." A cracked, broken voice could be heard approaching Queen Spoiled. That was Filthy the butler, a faithful retainer if ever there was one, although sadly born with a tiny, wee spine. He more than made up for his physical impairment though, for his sheer talent as a walking doormat. You could almost see the words 'Please Wipe Your Feet' tattooed across his forehead. "Where's that honeysuckle tea I ordered two minutes ago?!" Queen Spoiled screamed at her cringing servant. "How am I supposed to run this pathetic world, on a dry mouth?!" "P-please f-forgive m-me, y-your E-excellence." Filthy stammered, terrified in the presence of such awesomeness. T-there w-was n-no h-honey i-in t-the r-royal k-kitchen, s-so I-I h-had t-to g-go o-outside t-to t-the h-hives a-and g-get i-it m-myself. I-I g-got q-quite b-badly s-stung i-in t-the p-process, a-and a-as I-I'm a-allergic t-to b-bee s-stings, I-I n-nearly d-died..." "I'm not interested in any of your lame excuses!" yelled Queen Spoiled, as Filthy tried to make himself as small as possible. "Just give it to me!" She snatched the drink off the silver platter it was served on. She was just about to take a sip, when she eyed the vessel her beverage was being served in. A look of absolute disgust crossed her lips, and to her trembling butler next to her, she had this to say. "And what exactly do you call this?!" "I-It's h-honeysuckle t-tea, y-your m-majesty, j-just l-like y-you r-requested." Filthy's teeth were chattering like piano keys. "Not the drink, you fool, I mean this!" She pointed to the mug it was served in, before throwing the boiling contents all over her servant's grovelling form. "I asked for fine china, not bone china, you imbecile!" she chastised Filthy, even as he convulsed in agony on the floor. "And stop acting like a foal over a little burn!" She put her hoof to her head and sighed."You really can't get the staff these days, can you?" "I really don't want to be dealing with this right now..." Queen Spoiled groaned. "Time for me to call my future successor. Oh, Diamond, my darling!" Her voice took on a more vibrant air, as her daughter appeared from inside the castle. "Would you be a dear, and give this useless old butler a kick for me?" Queen Spoiled communicated her wishes in a sing-song voice. "He needs to be taught a lesson, and Mommy is busy dealing with more important issues at the moment. There's a good girl!" Without saying a word, Tiara moved over to the servant, who was by now hunched up, his hooves tucked in forming a fetal position, as he rocked from side to side. Queen Spoiled watched on in approval. All of the hours she spent training her daughter, All the effort she put into her development, all worth it. The future of Equestria looked in safe hooves, her child was a real chip off the old... Wait a second. Is she helping him up? Putting a hoof around his neck? Asking if he's alright, and apologising on my behalf?! What manner of rebellion is this? "Just what do you think you're doing?" Queen Spoiled raged at her disobedient child. "I gave you a direct order, you ungrateful little..." "Well, I'm through following your 'orders'." Diamond spat back, instantly shutting her mother up. "I'm my own filly, I make my own decisions, and I think what you've been doing to all these ponies is wrong! The way you treat others, the way you treated me, is totally unacceptable, and everypony is sick of suffering under your tyranny! That's why I'm going to free Princess Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and the Apples, and I've already informed everypony down there that we're starting a mutiny! Guess what, not a single one spoke in your defense! If that doesn't tell you all you need to know about yourself, I don't know what will!" "Y-you..." Spoiled was so incandescent with anger, she couldn't quite think of the words to say. "You're no daughter of mine!" Upon hearing this, Tiara unexpectedly grinned about a mile. "You know what, mother? That's the greatest compliment anypony has ever given me! It'll give me something nice to remember you by, at least..." Queen Spoiled's haughty demeanor suddenly disappeared in a flash of realisation. "R-remember me by?!" Tiara continued smiling, in a slightly sadistic way. "Yes, that's right! Out with the old, in with the new, that's what you'd always say, right? I wonder where I can find somepony to do the honours. Oh, I know! Filthy, would you volunteer, please?!" Diamond pointed at her mother, before making a hoof movement off the edge of the balcony. Well in Ponyville they say, Filthy's spine grew three sizes that day. As soon as he realised what Tiara was getting at, it was like all of his misery and self-loathing just evaporated into thin air. "It would be my pleasure, Miss!" He bellowed as he stood at his full height for the first time in years. He marched right over to Queen Spoiled and without warning, picked her up to dangle her off the end of the veranda. "Stop! You can't do this to me! I'm your mother!" Queen Spoiled desperately tried to plead with Tiara. "Funny, that's not the impression I got from you only a minute ago..." Diamond mused. Realising that lecturing her errant child wasn't going to work, Queen Spoiled decided to try a different tact. " Please, Diamond my darling. I know I've been a terrible parent to you, but I can change! Please, just give me one more chance, and I can be the mother you've always wanted me to be!" It was a blatant lie, but at this point she was willing to try anything to save her own skin. Tiara wasn't buying it, though. "You've had ten years to 'be a better parent'. It's a bit late to start now, isn't it? Besides, I don't believe you for one second. As soon as you're put back down again, you'll return to your old ways. There's only one way to end the main cause of all evil and disharmony in Equestria, and that's to cut it off at it's source. And, that begins and ends with you, I'm afraid. Do you have any final words, mother? Realising nopony was buying her performance, Queen Spoiled reverted to type. "Buck you all!" Was all she could muster, seemingly resigned to her fate. "Now, that's the real Queen Spoiled talking!" Diamond laughed. "We might even have to engrave that on your tombstone! Now, Filthy you can let her go. It's a shame you know, that only Princesses have wings, and Queens don't. Then, you might have been able to escape. Say hello to everypony in Tartarus for me when you get there!" And with that, Queen Spoiled's glorious but sadly short-lived tenure was over, as she was abruptly deposed. Thrown off the edge of the palace like she was a piece of trash into the gathered masses, by her old servant of all people. You could hardly envisage a more ignominious way to go out than that. .................................................................................................................................................................................... Fortunately, this was the part where she woke up in bed. And of course, like after all good nightmares, it was with a good scream. "Aaaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh!!" She yelled, springing up from under the covers like a jackass in the box. "The peasants are revolting!" She screeched, still under the impression she was in her imaginary world of revolution. This false perception was quickly shattered, as she looked around the sparsely furnished room she found herself in. This was neither her luxurious mansion, nor her comfortable office. Then, where... "They certainly are!" Spoke a poshly accented female voice from nearby, responding to her earlier comment. "But we're not here to talk about them..." Spoiled spun her head to the direction of the sound, and saw in front of her a pair of unicorns. One was a grey stallion, and the one who'd just spoken was a yellow mare. Their cutie marks were hidden by the designer outfits they had on, but straightaway Spoiled could tell that they were her kind of ponies. She stayed silent for a minute, hoping that they could shed some light on what had happened to her. "Hello, my name is Upper Crust, and this is my husband Jet Set." The yellow mare continued." We're visitors here in Ponyville, attending a garden party for charity a few days ago. You might remember me from then, we had quite the animated discussion while we waited for our cantaloupes." Upon hearing this, Spoiled squinted a little, trying to picture Upper Crust in her memory. She could kind of recall the mare, but her mind was still a little hazy. She found it hard to even remember how she ended up in this strange room, under the covers of this cheap bed, let alone focus on any previous encounters with other ponies. Luckily for her, Upper Crust was about to fill in a few more details. "If you're wondering where this is and why you're here, that's simple, darling. You took a nasty tumble at the school where you work, and you're currently at Ponyville hospital, in a recovery room. At Canterlot, you could have got yourself a private, five star wing, but I guess you can't have everything, can you dear?" At this remark, the yellow mare let out an arrogant little chuckle, while Jet Set smirked in the background, content to let his wife do the talking. After all, this was her show. Some of the circumstances behind Spoiled's accident were starting to come back to her, but the direct reason for her fainting spell still eluded her thoughts. Nevertheless, she was still annoyed at Upper Crust's boastful attitude, and maybe even a touch jealous. "Is that what you came here for? Not to see if I'm well, but to brag about what you can get, that I can't? I'll have you know I've been nagging my husband to move down to Canterlot for years, and by my estimation I should have worn him down in a few months. Next time you see me, I'll be living the high life just like you, mark my words!" If Spoiled expected Upper Crust to be impressed by that, she was in for a shock, as another spiteful little giggle left the yellow mare's pursed lips. "Really, dear? It's going to take you that long? In our relationship, all I have to do is clap my hooves together, and dear old Jet Set here sees to my needs in seconds. Not years. Months. Days. Minutes. Seconds. Isn't that right, darling? We all know who wears the saddle in this relationship..." The very henpecked Jet Set spoke for the first time, but barely. "That's right, sweetheart." He replied, through gritted teeth. Spoiled couldn't believe her ears. Why were all the best stallions always taken?! She would have loved to be married to somepony like that, who'd treat her with the respect she felt she was entitled to. She'd show that snooty mare up yet. She'd go home, wander straight into Filthy's study and demand to be relocated immediately. It might be hard work at such short notice, but if this arrogant pony could horsewhip her husband into abject submission, it could be done. "Anyway, much as I could talk all day about how good my life is..." Upper Crust continued. "The main reason we're not heading back to our home in Canterlot, on the first train out of this quaint little provincial town is because we have some news about your daughter we just had to share. Do you remember, when we discussed her? At the garden party? You told me how scared you were for her future? Well, it appears your fears were well-founded. You'll never guess who we saw her with this morning! Three ruffians! Who publicly humiliated me and my beloved! Your child saw us getting set upon by these undesirables, and didn't say a word in our defense! She sided with them in fact, instead of with her own people. You need to take action now, darling, before she becomes a lost cause!" Normally, Spoiled didn't like anypony telling her how to raise her daughter. It was a job she took a great deal of pride in, not to mention interest. But in this situation, she agreed completely with the yellow mare in front of her. Of course, it helped that she regarded Upper Crust as a similar social class. "Yes, I know. And, I could even hazard a guess about the identities of the three commoners you're referring to. Unfortunately, there's not a lot I can do about it at the moment. You see, Diamond is no longer living under my roof. She was taken from me last night, just when I was about to send her off to St Whinneans. They would have set her straight, mark my words! But it's not over yet. I have my husband's lawyers working overtime to build up a case against that fake Princess, that'll blow the case against me out of the water! And then, as soon as my daughter is returned to me, I'll pack her bags myself and send her on her way! After that, I can concentrate on rev..." Spoiled stopped herself mid-sentence and stared at the interested faces of her two visitors. It's true, they were fabulously wealthy, affluent ponies who seemed sympathetic to her cause... But she wasn't sure if she trusted them enough to reveal all of her plan, yet. So, she just lied back in her bed and sighed. "Anyway, don't worry about those 'ruffians' you mentioned. They'll get their just desserts, too, as soon as I figure out what they are. They played their part in the removal of my daughter, too. Of course, it helps that I'm in charge of their school. I'm sure I can organise something behind the scenes..." She stared at the plain, white wall in contemplation. "Well, that's where we come in!" Upper Crust reentered the discussion. "Those horrible little upstarts slighted us, almost as much as they did you, and we want to help you in your quest for justice! If there's anything you need at all, just ask. We'll be more than happy to assist you." Spoiled gave the yellow mare a thankful smile. She wasn't sure exactly what this pair of respectable ponies could do, but it was nice to have somepony else to confide with in this town full of ignorant buffoons. Jet Set, who had listened to most of this without taking part in the actual conversation, was inquisitive about something. "I heard you just say your daughter was 'taken away' last night. If you pardon my impertinence, where exactly is she living now?" "What? I-I don't..." Spoiled struggled to answer that one, her mind registering as blank as the flanks of the youngsters she was forced to look upon every day. All of a sudden though, a flashback came to her. It was just before she fell unconscious that morning. She remembered that annoying teacher coming in, mentioning something about a 'restraining order', and then... "Oh my Celestia!!" Spoiled jumped out of bed so quickly, you'd think there were fire ants under the sheets. "My daughter. My own flesh and blood. Is staying...With them!!" Her face was a picture of panic, and she was so fidgety it was like she was attempting some kind of new weird dance craze. But hey, at least she didn't faint this time. Upper Crust and Jet Set looked at each other with confusion. "And who exactly is this 'them' of whom you speak?" The grey stallion was the one to ask that. "The Apples! The Apples! Always, the Apples!" Spoiled blurted out, sounding like a market trader trying to sell their wares. She was beginning to look so deranged in her distress, it would not have been much of a surprise to see her foaming at the mouth. Jet Set gulped upon hearing this, and turned to his wife. Even though he hadn't been told the specifics of the 'big announcement' Upper Crust was all set to make, he had made a cultured guess by now. "Perhaps, this might be an inconvenient time to tell her..." "...That your daughter is currently a patient at this hospital, and Apple Shroom is visiting her!" Upper Crust finished off the sentence with aplomb, an absolute expression of malicious glee written all over her face. "What?! With Apple Bloom? Here? Now?" Spoiled practically bumped into the door, she was so eager to get out of there. "What's wrong with my Diamond? Has she caught some poor ponies disease already?! Has it done anything to her looks? Would they still let her into boarding school? Oh my precious, don't worry! Mama's coming for you! Even if you did have me thrown me off a balcony!" And with that, she left the room in a flurry, the sound of other ponies and objects being knocked over echoing down the corridor. Upper Crust seemed markedly unphased by this pandemonium. "So, her name was Apple Bloom, huh? At least I was close. Not that I'm terribly surprised I forgot, though. I can barely see the point in remembering the names of the riff-raff..." Jet Set was a little more perturbed by recent events. "Are you sure you've done the right thing, dear?" He warned his wife. "It sounds like she's destroying half of the clinic out there, in her hysterical stampede." Upper Crust smiled at her husband's concern, and gave him a little kiss on the cheek. "You work too hard, darling. You need to learn when to sit back, and relax. Now, let's leave this room, and go out and enjoy the fun. And of course, show her the room where her daughter is currently residing. I can't wait for that little reunion..."