Transparent Living

by PinoyPony

Chapter 47: Decision

Filthy Rich had remained silent for the rest of the trip. Every scene was like staring out of the train window; blurred and rushed. Filthy was pondered as the words that Princess Twilight spoke left him in a nasty rut of denial. He was aware of what was happening, but things were going so quickly that he hardly had time to process them.

The only times when he was pulled out of his deep thoughts was the time when Princess Twilight asked to check on how he was doing.

A taxi ride followed after the train ride. It was a quick commute thanks to Princess Twilight sending a request to clear a path. Filthy didn’t even mind the slush that splattered on his hooves as the wheels tore through the mucky roads of the city. All he cared about was seeing his daughter.

Once again, he was yanked out of his thoughts as a noise from the environment noted to him again where he was. The elevator dinged again as the doors slid open.

“I’m going to go ahead and tell Dr. Fuse we’ve arrived,” Princess Twilight said. “Wait here.”

Quietly, he entered the room. Taking a deep breath, he brushed his messy thoughts aside and made note his surroundings. Several ponies were sitting in the plush chairs of the room. A deep quiet hung in the room, the only things that could be heard was the heater delivering warm air into the room and the whispers amongst the ponies.

As he took a seat, he noticed the sad faces of everypony in the room. This couldn’t be for Diamond, could it? No… it was probably for another pony in the hospital who was passing.

He looked at the doors as they swung open, a nurse guiding a foal with a bunch of scars out. He had a black stripe that ran over his eyes like a bandit. He joined a group of foals sitting to his right.

The foals started to trade whispers amongst themselves. Filthy gave it no attention until he heard the faint mention of ‘Dazzle’ in their conversation. Wait… they couldn’t be talking about Diamond, could they? He dismissed the thought. He probably heard them wrong.

“What did she say to you?” A colt with a crimson and gray mane and white coat asked.

Filthy took a quick glance at the colt with bandit eyes. The colt had tears falling from his eyes.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” The colt with bandit eyes said.

Another colt with a yellow mane and a purple coat continued. “C’mon, Underdog. With corrosion outbreaks, two Cutie Marks earned, and a Science Fair Won, nothing seems impossible with Dazzle.”

That moment, Filthy perked up and turned to them. “Did you say ‘Dazzle’?”

The foals turned to him, startled and unsure.

“Yeah,” the colt with a purple coat said. “Why?”

“Diamond Dazzle Tiara?” Filthy Rich asked.

“Wait… who are you?” The other colt with a white coat said.

“I’m her father,” Filthy said. He held out a hoof. “My name is Filthy Rich.”

“Napoleon.” The white coat accepted his hoof. “We are Dazzle’s friends. Underdog, Bling, and Vertigo, and me.” He waved to each of the them in order.

“So… tell me what happened.” Filthy Rich motioned to Underdog before putting his hoof on his knee.

Underdog’s eyes widened. He averted his gaze and scratched his foreleg as his face slowly turned a bright red.

Filthy smiled. He knew that look and walk too well. He leaned towards his ear and whispered, “She kissed you, didn’t she?”

Underdog nodded quickly, took a deep breath, and stepped back.

“You’re not going to tell us?” Napoleon asked.

“It’s his secret to tell,” Filthy waved off. “Not mine.”

“Aww man.” Bling whined.

“I got a better idea though,” Filthy said. “Tell me, how do you know my daughter.”

---

With each passing story of ups and downs, Filthy felt a mixture of emotions. He was comforted to know that his daughter’s last couple months have been the most fun and happy times of her life. Yet, he felt a void, since the future of her life was hanging in uncertainty.

“So, extra sorry, Mister Rich.” Underdog said. “It seems that I’ve been the roughest on Dazzle.”

“I’m just glad you became friends with her. You may not know it, but she has an affinity for bullies and misfits alike. I never would’ve thought she bring all four of you together.” Filthy said.

“Mr. Rich?” A voice asked.

He looked up to see a nurse holding open a door. Princess Twilight was beside her.

Princess Twilight was facing away as she called out “Mrs. Rich? Randolph?”

“I got to go see my daughter now,” Filthy said, rising to his hooves. “Thank you all for telling me your stories.”

As all three of them joined the nurse, Twilight said, “Doctor Fuse requested you to his office to give you an overview of what is about to happen. Then, we’ll clear you for going into the room.”

“I understand.” Filthy’s heart was leaping up and down in his barrel. He knew the verdict was about to be revealed.

He entered a cold office and took a seat. He saw pictures on the wall, diagrams and models of pony skeletal systems.

Dr. Fuse turned around from writing down some notes on the whiteboard and cleared his throat. “Mr. Rich. Mrs. Rich. Randolph.” He nodded at each one of them. “Thank you for coming into my office.”

From the solemnness in the Doctor’s voice, Filthy could tell that the news was not good. He took the front seat.

Princess Twilight took another chair propped in the back. Then, the door closed behind them.

“So, I assume you’ve gone over the basics.” Dr. Fuse asked Princess Twilight.

“Yes. Each one with the specific amount of information you’ve willingly released to them,” Princess Twilight answered “But not the new hypothesis formed from this morning.”

“Thank you.” Dr. Fuse bowed. “So… everyone, with what the Princess briefed to you this morning is key to understanding this next part. But, first, are you familiar with Dopamine?”

The room was silent for a while until Filthy finally answered, “Yes. A chemical inside the body that is related to happiness or pleasure.”

“And Cortisol?” Dr. Fuse asked.

“Also a chemical inside the body that does the opposite, stress.” Filthy answered again, this time more quickly.

“So, here’s a little conjecture. You must promise not to release this information to the public until I’m sure it’s correct.” Dr. Fuse said.

This time, Randolph answered for them. “We understand. Proceed.”

“What I hope to prove, is that the effects of these two are the catalysts for the innerworkings of Corrosion inside the horn.” Dr. Fuse began, “But first, let’s relate to the fight or flight scenarios. From easy anatomy, we see that the body responds to stress using chemicals inside the brain. In a Unicorn, do you notice how augmented their magic is during times of pleasure or times of stress?”

“Yes.” Filthy said. Basics. When was he about to get on?

“My postulate is that Corrosion is attracted to these chemicals when released. However, when the pony calms down back to level-headedness, the Corrosion starts forming dendrites, like the roots of a plant searching for the water table. Then, when the state of happiness/stress is reinstated, the Corrosion is flooded, and starts to drown in the chemicals. In response, it uses up all the energy it can and causes a short-circuit.”

“That would make sense,” Spoiled cut in. “What does this have to do with Diamond?”

“Patience, Mrs. Rich,” Yttrium said. “Unfortunately, we have no way to prove it. A horn is a powerful appendage, and experimenting on it can cause―”

“Devastating effects.” Filthy folded his forelegs.

Dr. Fuse cleared his throat. “I’ll get straight to the point. As you’ve heard already, your daughter presents an interesting case. She might be the key to the cure. But, there is a choice to be made. Save her life or the lives of all those waiting for a cure.”

“Yes. What did she choose?” Spoiled asked.

“I reluctantly inform you that we are about to administer a sedative in three hours.” Dr. Fuse said. “If you want to visit her, now would be the time.”

Silence penetrated the room once more.

Yttrium sighed deeply. “Princess, if you would, escort Mrs. Rich and Randolph over to Dazzle’s room? I need to talk with Mr. Rich in private.”

Princess Twilight nodded as she opened the door. The three of them shuffled out, leaving Filthy in the room with Yttrium. Twilight propped open the door, nodded to Yttrium, and tailed behind the group.

Mr. Rich turned back to face the doctor.

“I apologize. First impressions can really stink. Sorry for the dryness of my lecture.” Doctor Fuse said.

Filthy tried his best not to balk. The fact that Yttrium Fuse acting a little more casual caught him off guard.

“You wondering why I’ve kept you behind?” Yttrium asked.

Filthy nodded slowly.

“Mr. Rich, your daughter has made a couple last requests. One of those is that you would be the last one in the room before we sedate her.” Yttrium said.

Mr. Rich stayed silent. Another thought to process.

“Just in case you were wondering, it’s not a long wait. It’ll be Mrs. Rich, Randolph, then Coco Pommel followed by you. Everypony else in the waiting room has already said their goodbyes.”

“Me? More important than Coco?” Filthy asked in disbelief. “I think Coco should have the last say.”

“I’ve already talked to Coco about it,” Yttrium said, his eyes darting to a picture frame for a brief moment. “She is okay with it. It seems that there is more to this than meets the eye.”

Filthy slumped in his chair as the weight of all his thoughts increased. So many questions. He sprung upright, looked Yttrium in the eye and asked, “What about her other requests?”

“If you must know, she also opted for organ donation. Specifically, she wants to give her heart to a colt in need on this floor. Uncannily, her blood type is a match,” Yttrium said, “But that’s besides the point. The fact in the matter is, she wants you.”

“You know, I can’t believe I’m doing this, but since you are still a legal guardian of Diamond, I’m required to inform you on her past medical history.” Yttrium swung open his filing cabinet and extracted a folder.

Filthy completely forgot about the fact that he didn’t finish his termination of guardianship for Diamond. Spoiled had nagged him on occasion to get the paperwork done, but somehow, he found a way to ignore it. It seemed, inadvertently, he preserved his guardianship.

Yttrium opened the folder. A solemn expression filled his face as he looked at the first paper. “Most recent is going to be hard to digest. Notice anything about the diagram around Dazzle’s forelegs?”