Spoiled continued to greet the princess in her usual courteous manner. "So, my dear, how are you? You've just returned from Canterlot, have you not? What was it like, seeing the old homestead, before Celestia relocated you to this podunk town? Do all of your friends still miss you there? Or, as I suspect, did you spend so much time as a shut-in they barely noticed you were gone? Do tell all, I'm absolutely fascinated."
Deciding to skip the details of her recent troubles with Moondancer, Twilight got straight to the point. "Hello again, Mrs Rich. I returned early from my trip because I received an urgent message from Applejack that Diamond Tiara was in a bit of trouble, less than a day after her removal from your mansion. The fact that she's currently in the hospital, and you're here as well strikes me as slightly too much of a coincidence. I was going to find out the details from my friends, but perhaps you want to tell me your side of the story first..."
"Not one for small talk, eh? Well, if you want to be rude, I guess I can just go straight to the part where I show you up as the irresponsible, incapable liability you are. You can go now, boys..." She motioned to the guards around her, as if she expected them to obey her command.
Rolling her eyes at Spoiled's arrogance, Twilight silently nodded her own confirmation that they were dismissed, and you could almost see the relief written all over their faces as they scampered off, perhaps hoping for something less taxing as their next assignment, like a changeling invasion.
"Those were some nice stallions, if a little rough around the edges..." Spoiled mused "Did you notice the youngest one at the front there, giving me funny looks? Of course, I had to let the poor darling down gently, after all I am a happily married mare. He looked a little surprised when I told him there was no chance of us being together, but I could tell he was disappointed..."
"Listen..." Twilight could barely hold in her impatience. "Do you want to go somewhere private, and talk for a few moments? If you have any complaints about me, then I'd like to hear about them now, rather than through a third party. That way I can defend myself in pony, and hopefully put any fears you have to rest..."
"I very much doubt that." Spoiled snorted "but seeing as how it looks as though I'm in your custody, I might as well relate my many grievances about you, face to face, right here. Perhaps, it isn't too late for you to change. What you need dear, is some good advice from an experienced public servant like myself. All that I ask is once I've confronted you with your numerous mistakes, you take some time to consider your hasty actions. When you realise you've made a gross error of judgement, I hope you'll release me back into the loving hooves of my beloved husband, and reunite me with my shining Diamond. It takes a strong pony to admit when they're wrong, but I'm confident that could be you..."
"It's a little presumptuous to assume that I need to listen to you..." Twilight interjected. "I already have a perfectly capable mentor in Celestia, who has helped me with everything I need to know since I became a Princess. I won't deny it hasn't always been easy, but I think now I've got to grips with my new role, I'm doing a reasonably efficient job. One thing I am sure of though, is insulting me on a regular basis, and breaking the injunction less than a day after it was put in place is not likely to get me to give consideration to your plea. Now, if you have something to say, please make it brief. I want to meet up with my friends as soon as possible. I've kept them waiting for long enough..."
"Okay, my dear." Spoiled said in a huff, tossing her mane to one side. " If we're going to be uncivilised about it, I suppose I can bring my main criticisms to the table now, before we get the lawyers involved. I do want to discuss each allegation in turn, but if your precious friends are more important to you than the career of a hardworking mother whose life you're in the process of destroying, then that's your prerogative. I just hope you can sleep easy at night under your silken sheets, that's all. Now, are you ready, or do you want to start taking notes?"
"I'll be fine. Shall we get started?" Twilight wasn't usually in the habit of growling. Besides, it was most undiplomatic in her new role. Listening to the irritating blabbermouth she was trying to converse with now though, such reactions were beyond her control.
"There's no need for that kind of noise dear, we're not animals..." Spoiled remarked, with deadly seriousness. "Now, my first concern about your mishandling of this situation stems from your unannounced arrival on my doorstep, the evening last after our elevenses. Me and my chosen mate were just unwinding after a hectic day, where we sadly had to disclipline our pride and joy of ten years for some rather coarse language she used towards me, her mother, in public. She also attended a party against my express wishes, and returned home late, missing her elocution lessons in the process. I'd just sent her upstairs to think about her unacceptable attitude to those who'd loved and nurtured her, and was involved in a productive discussion with the love of my life about the amount of leniency he was granting her, when there was a knock on the door in the dead of night. I think we both know who that was, don't we?"
"I was responding to a complaint about serious foal abuse. I couldn't exactly let it wait until the morning, could I?" Twilight reminded her, hoping against hope she'd understand.
Spoiled didn't, and continued on heedlessly. "Not only did you scare me beyond all belief at your unrequested intrusion upon my private domicile at a time when even the serfs are safely tucked up in bed, you also nearly gave our cherished old family retainer Randolph a heart attack! He's been with our bloodline for over fifty years, serving us faithfully through master after master. To end his distinguished reign at the hooves of an impatient 'princess' who had the gall to encroach upon our sanctuary that late in the evening, under the flimsiest of premises and based on the testimony of jealous children simply wouldn't do. You're lucky he's still breathing, or that would be yet another allegation you'd be fighting in court. Good servants aren't cheap, you know. Only you wouldn't, because you don't pay yours, right? Lucky you!"
Noticing how her alleged affection for her butler seemed to be contradicted in the same speech, Twilight nevertheless wanted to focus on something else. "Those children as you refer to them, if you mean Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, are three of the most down-to-earth, trustworthy fillies you could ever hope to meet. If they say they saw your daughter being verbally abused by you in town, I am obliged to take them seriously. After all, what reason would they have to lie? And you most definitely did harangue them, and many others outside the school. Not only did they hear you, but also their teacher Miss Cheerilee witnessed your outrageous behaviour. Are you going to tell me she's part of your 'conspiracy', too?"
"Well, I certainly agree they're down-to-earth..." Spoiled let out an obnoxious giggle. "Especially that little pegasus from what I've seen..."
Twilight's jaw dropped in amazement. "That's a terrible thing to say!" She gasped. "How could the head of the school board be so..."
"Oh, don't you mind me, dear." She waved an uninterested hoof in the face of the princess. "Just having a little joke, that's all. We are still allowed to tell jokes, in your brave, new Ponyville, right? Besides, I give hundreds of bits to disabled charities every year, so I think I'm exempt from certain social graces. It's not just all about the good publicity, honestly! Now, where were we...?"
"We were talking about the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and how they saw you bullying your daughter, and insulting the rest of the class." Twilight said, scowling. Which isn't what she really wanted to say, but alas, protocol stopped her from truly speaking her mind.
"Oh, yes, those fibbing nuisances who don't understand proper disclipline. Funny name, for a club isn't it, it was even listed in their file. I could think of a better term to describe them, but seeing as they're mere foals, I'll hold my tongue for now. Besides, I suppose it's not their fault they're all so out of control. One sees her parents so infrequently, she may as well be an orphan. The unicorn's main custodian is apparently her sister, but she's too busy sewing outfits to be a proper guardian. As for the farm brat, well let's just say I don't think child labour, dirty fields and incoherent accents are conducive to a well-adjusted filly. What I'm getting at dear, is you may well have singled me out for my bad foal-rearing practices, when I fear the youngsters who were truly in need were right under your nose all this time. A case of blatant favoritism from their own personal 'princess' perhaps, or yet another example of Ponyville prejudice against those with a modicum of class or wealth. Either way, you can hardly wonder why any stallion or mare above the breadline bothers to live here..." Spoiled continued to feel hard-done by.
"W-what..." Twilight was almost speechless in her incredulity. Was Spoiled being completely sincere in her opinions? Did she hear the words coming out of her mouth, and attach any credence to them? The princess found it impossible to believe anypony could be this blithely naive about how ridiculous they sounded.
Taking advantage of the alicorn's stunned silence, Spoiled started her tirade anew. " So anyway, as much as I feel sorry for these poor children and their unstructured, wayward fillyhoods, I cannot allow their self-contained envy towards my precious Diamond go unanswered. I've seen them around school, watching her confidence and poise with poorly disguised malice. They've always intended from the beginning to make her one of 'them', to strip her of all the tenacity and assurance that makes her special. Well, guess what? They finally succeeded. I've had two run-ins with my daughter since that fateful moment they brainwashed her, and she barely feels like she's mine any longer. What was a ruthlessly efficient spirit dedicated to helping her family climb up the social hierarchy is now a modest, self-effacing little weakling who seems obsessed with 'helping others' and 'spreading her talent around.' That's not how I raised her! Those freaks of nature have turned her head, and it'll be a very long, very painful road to return her to the filly she once was."
Even though Twilight was beginning to wonder if perhaps a psychiatrist rather than a princess would be a better fit for this discussion, she did have to pull up Spoiled on one comment. "Freaks of nature?" She repeated, with one eyebrow raised.
"Exactly, dear!" Spoiled remarked, as if she took the alicorn's reply as confirmation she agreed. " Fancy getting your cutie marks, all at the same time! Now, that's weird, no offense. Sounds like a type of black magic to me! Such ponies should be securely locked up for study, not allowed to corrupt innocent children or act as protectors of our lands, again, just my opinion, dear. Yet, here we are, with you somehow sprouting wings like a pair of weeds, then expecting us to follow your command, despite the 'Sparkle' family having no clear link with any aristocracy ever, and believe me, I've checked. The same principle applies to those three insignificant runts, having a town celebration that everypony was expected to attend, regardless of them destroying half of it during their cutie mark 'experiments', and their flagrant untruths about the treatment administered to my Diamond being believed above that of a pillar of the community. These are crazy days we live in, when such miscarriages happen on such a regular basis..."
"Crazy, indeed..." Twilight knew herself what she was referring to there, but she kept it under wraps. "So, what I'm supposed to take from your words is: You don't have one iota of respect for me and my authority, you regard the three fillies who made the allegations against you as invertebrate liars and troublemakers,and you think your daughter was much better off, before she decided to change her ways. Would you say I was close in my summation, Mrs Rich?"
"Well, dear!" Spoiled remarked in mock surprise. "That's quite an accurate distillation of affairs! A little simplistic, but we mustn't expect miracles, I suppose. Maybe you're not quite as dim as I thought! There maybe hope for you yet! There's only one more thing I wish to draw to your attention. You mentioned Miss Cheerilee earlier? I don't want to embarrass your sources, dear, but you could have picked a much more reliable one than that simpleton. Shall I tell you a secret about her? She's on the verge of losing her job. She turns up late most days, has an insatiable addiction to coffee, lets her pupils wander off regularly, and never disciplines those who deserve punishment. You should have seen her this morning, bursting into my office without any forewarning whatsoever! And the words she used! Disgraceful! In fact, you could say, she's the main reason I'm cooped up in this little clinic, instead of still being hard at work! I bet she's been up to other mischief while I've been detained, too. I intend to get to the bottom of everything as soon as I return from my enforced sabbatical, and, as looks likely, take the first steps towards securing her unemployment."
Twilight was not sure she could take much more of this. Apparently, this mare had nothing nice to say about anypony. "Is that it..." She asked. "Or have you got somepony else to complain about, like maybe Celestia stepped on your hoof this morning?"
Surprisingly enough, Spoiled found this hilarious. "Oh, my dear..." she chuckled. "Do you see what I mean about jokes? Nothing better to lighten the mood than a well-aimed piece of whimsy. I have my own gripes about her flawed leadership, which will come to light at a later date, when I see fit. One of them is the unprecedented, shocking partisanship shown to an average unicorn to elevate her above the common herd. I think you know who I mean. But I'm getting ahead of myself here. The pony you should really be concerned about right now is your good friend Applejack, who I fear may not be the qualified foster parent you've pictured her as. I dare say, you've shown the same 'brilliant' judgement in her, as Celestia has in... Somepony else."
Despite not taking anything Spoiled said remotely seriously at this point, Twilight was still sufficiently interested to raise an eyebrow at this statement. "How so?" She questioned.
"Didn't you wonder how my Diamond ended up in the hospital in the first place?" Remarked Spoiled, her voice tinged with dramatic distress. " It most certainly wasn't anything to do with me. She's never had to visit the emergency room on my watch, and yet, lo and behold! Within one day of your farmer taking over, she ends up in critical condition! With a nasty infected hoof injury, too! Not only that, I also found out she was playing truant from school! Why else do you think I breached the terms of my injunction as soon as I heard my precious was recovering in the same clinic as me? I was so desperate to see how she was doing, I got up from my sickbed to visit her. I even took two of my good friends with me, to cheer her up and show off her special cutie mark, as well! But, what do I get when I turn up there, ready to make amends, bringing her very special tiara as a peace offering?"
"What happened then, if I dare ask?" Said Twilight, wondering where this was going.
"I got involved in an awful argument with her new 'friend', the worst filly of all those wretched 'Crusaders'... Apple Bloom." She said the child's name as if gargling on razors. "Not only did she accuse me of being a terrible parent, not loving my husband and having a bad cutie mark, she was also very rude to my guests! Do you want to know the most heinous thing she did, though? She took my daughter's precious crown, that I purchased especially for her cute cenera, and smashed it against the wall! Then, she made my little girl, who was in no fit state to argue due to her trauma, to wear one of her raggedy old bows! I'll tell you exactly what's going on here... She's trying to create another sister, all for herself. Well, she can't have my Diamond! I created her! She grew up inside me! She's mine, not that bunch of ignorant rubes'! I suppose, 'princess', it's proven one thing. It's shown me you can hate a child more than any other adult pony. And yes, I include you in that, dear. Despite all the injustices you've perpetrated against me. Isn't that something?"
"Wait just a second, Is that a threat?" Twilight, already freaked out enough as it was, didn't want to have to consider arranging special protection for Applejack's sister as a precautionary measure.
"Oh no, 'princess'. I wouldn't get my hooves dirty for anypony." Spoiled laughed haughtily. "Although, I know you'd just love to add to the list of charges against me. Who could blame me if it was, though? In fact I've just realised, that little farm brat has been the main instigator behind the ruination of my life up until now. After all, she leads the accursed group which has seen to it that every plan to improve Ponyville put forward by my progeny has fallen flat. It was mainly her idea to convert my offspring into a mindless goody-goody from the strong-willed leader I was raising. And she was the one who encouraged all of her little friends to drag my respectable name through the mire, thus leaving me in the state you see now. Talk about big trouble coming in small packages, eh? That heart cutie mark that appeared on her flank must be the most ironic symbol ever, seeing as she's done nothing but break mine..."
Spoiled finished her remonstrating with a pronounced frown, images of a yellow coat and red mane dancing around in her head, alternating with a skull and crossbones.
Thinking that she'd heard enough endless blathering for one day, Twilight decided to take her leave and find her friends. "I shall investigate your accusations about Applejack's conduct concerning your daughter myself, as well as find out from Apple Bloom the true nature of what occurred in your daughter's room. For now though, I ask you to wait here, until I need to talk to you again..."
"Oh, don't be silly, dear..." Spoiled scoffed as she took a few steps towards Twilight. "I'm coming with you. I know there's still a restraining order against me, but surely in this special circumstance you can make an exception..."
"No, I can't." Twilight flatly told the mare. "You've already invalidated it once, and now I'm back, it's up to me to make sure it's properly enforced. Don't move another step. I will not allow you to see or talk to Diamond Tiara."
At not getting her own way, Spoiled's facade of friendliness disintegrated, and a hard edge appeared in her eyes. "Really, dear. How are you going to stop me? You sent all your guards away, and from what I can see, the path ahead is clear. Now, move aside please."
Twilight's brow furrowed at Spoiled's dismissal of her authority, and the alicorn decided to utilise the one other thing she possessed at her disposal.
Her horn glowed purple, and so in turn did Spoiled's frame. The mare's face wore a look of astonishment as she commented. "Wait a second, nopony has ever used magic against me before! Now, put me down dear, and we won't have any further trouble about this."
Expecting the princess to instantly acquiesce to her demands, Spoiled instead found herself floating through the air back towards the holding room. "I can't even move my feet!" She exclaimed, while struggling without success. "Stop doing that this instant! Don't you know who I am?!"
"Not really, but I'm getting quite a good idea." Twilight said, as she guided Spoiled through the open door. "As for this being your debut experience with magic, well, there's a first time for everything! You might not like me, but I'm the one in charge of your case, and I think you should respect that, or it certainly won't be the last occasion I have to use my horn! Now, I'll see you in a little while, just as soon as I've cleared a few things up..."
Twilight then further used her magic to turn the handle in such a way as to make it inoperable, and, ignoring the frantic howls and yowls of Spoiled from the other side as she banged on the door, the alicorn began to walk away...
Right into the path of Loving Care, Sweetheart and Redheart, all of whom had witnessed the heated argument first hoof.
"See, I told you it was the princess ..." shrieked Loving Care.
"I shouldn't really be saying this, but thank you for putting that snob in her place..." gushed Sweetheart.
The calmest of them all, Redheart told Twilight. "Don't worry about Spoiled while you're gone, princess. We'll make sure she doesn't get out. In the meantime, I suppose you'll be wanting a rendezvous with your friends. If you'll just give me a minute to clean away these coffee-stained papers, I'll write you some directions..."
While Twilight waited to be seen to, Sweetheart continued to look at her in admiration, Redheart tried to find enough space to scrawl on and Loving Care attempted to remain as inconspicuous as possible due to her little drink mishap, a small unnoticed figure in the corner slowly walked away from the scene.
She had a bloody nose. Grey fur. Bad eyesight without glasses. But it didn't matter.
She'd heard enough.