Transparent Living

by PinoyPony

Chapter 48: Stories

“You okay, sweetie?” Coco whispered.

“Yeah. Thank you.” Dazzle said. Her airy and weak voice was carried through the air like a breeze as it reached Mr. Rich’s ears. With the sterile ambience of the hospital, the whole scene seemed so surreal. If he peeked around that corner, would he truly see his daughter whom was absent from his life? It was hard to believe that so much time had passed.

Filthy peeked around the corner. Instantly, he stepped away, reverently observing the scene. Even through the mess of medical machines and supplies, his eyes caught onto the tender sight.

Dazzle hugged Coco, then snuggled back into the hospital blankets. She hugged a familiar plush tightly and lovingly, then nestled back into the blankets.

A doctor stepped around Filthy, nodding in acknowledgement before he entered the room.

The Doctor quietly shuffled to Coco’s side and whispered something. She nodded at the doctor, then turned to look at Mr. Rich. With a solemn smile, she waved.

“Your father is here,” Coco said. “I’ll be leaving. Goodbye, Dazzle.”

“Goodbye mom!” Dazzle reached out and hugged Coco one last time.

“Goodbye, Dazzle…” Coco sniffled as she walked away.

Filthy stopped Coco at the doorway. “You can spend a little more time with her, I didn’t mean to intrude.”

“It’s okay.” Coco said. “This was actually Dazzle’s request.”

Her request? Mr. Rich wondered why she allowed him to be the last words said to her. “Why would Diamond do such a thing? You should have the honor to be last one she speaks to. You took care of her, after all.”

“I’m afraid that’s an understatement.” Coco sighed.

Filthy balked. If she wanted to reprimand him, then it was understandable… she was probably angry that―

“I didn’t take care of her. Dazzle took care of me.” Coco said. Carefully, she wrapped her hooves around him and hugged him.

Filthy stood there, bewildered… hugging another mare that was barely Princess Twilight’s age. He had only hugged so many ponies, due to the formal nature of his occupation. Still though, with his heart and mind contending, he knew that he must set his barriers aside. Being distant was not an option.

“I appreciate your consideration, but I think that she has requested to talk to you last for a reason.” Coco said as she pulled away from the hug. “All I can say is thank you and thank Randolph for sending me this little blessing.”

Without another word, Coco strolled down the hall. She must’ve been very strong at heart, knowing that her words weren’t going to be the last ones that Diamond Dazzle Tiara was going to hear.

Filthy took another deep breath before entering the room. He was here for a reason. His daughter still wanted him. Still though… he could shake the feeling that he deserved none of this. Especially with how he treated her.

Immediately, he was greeted by a small figure. He was mentally preparing for the thousands of tubes running in and out of her, but what merely stood by was a blood bag and a couple bags full of various medicines. The two he managed to read was the blood bag and a random medicinal one. AB positive, and Morphine, respectively.

He took a seat next to her bedside.

“Dad?” Dazzle asked.

“Yes, it’s me, sweetie. How’s it going, kiddo?” Filthy asked, his throat already becoming croaky.

Dazzle leaned in and hugged him.

He accepted and hugged her back. No matter what, he wasn’t going to let anything become between him and his daughter anymore. No more distance. This was his last chance to make things right.

“I didn’t know you took that plush with you.” Filthy began, finally. He’d been against her getting it, since it was an expensive thing to get, but funnily enough, she begged him to get it.

“Yeah! Coco got it for me last night!” Dazzle said, holding it up, although slightly askew.

Filthy balked. Blind. An effect of the Corrosion, as Princess Twilight mentioned on the train ride over.

“Are you in pain?” Filthy asked, afraid of what the answer may be.

“Not anymore.” Dazzle said, shifting around in the hospital bed softly. “I feel like I’m napping on a cloud like a pegasus.”

“Good to hear.” Filthy said. He decided the next point was in order. “I heard about your adventures from your friends.”

“Oh! You’ve met Bling, Vertigo, Napoleon, and Underdog?” She asked. “Wait… did Underdog tell?”

Filthy chuckled. “You’ve always been mischievous.

“Oh,” Dazzle said, her expression like a foal whose hoof was caught in the cookie jar.

“Don’t worry, he told nopony else but me. Your secret is safe. But I come also to ask about another thing.” Filthy said. He lifted up her forelegs from underneath the blankets and examined them. He held back the tears as he saw the marred patchwork of red lines turning to scars.

Dazzle’s smile turned to a frown. “So, the doctors told you everything?” Even if she couldn’t see, she could still tell what he was alluding to.

“Yes.” Filthy Rich answered, his tone growing lower. He made a note to himself to keep his voice down as it became more audible in the solemn atmosphere of the hospital. “Why do you hate yourself honey? You did nothing wrong.”

“No, I did something horribly wrong,” she sniffled. “I have bullied others for such a long time, that I can’t possibly heal all the lives of those I shattered.”

“Diamond, you are a genuinely kind filly. Just a minute ago, the Doctor told me what good things you did for this hospital…” Filthy Rich reassured. “The reason why you couldn’t reach such potential back at home is because I was neglecting you to the mercy of your mother― that is all. It wasn’t your fault”

“No dad, those were my conscious decisions… they were my choice,” Dazzle said.

“It’s both our faults.” Filthy settled for the middle ground. “We cannot erase the past, but we can do all in our power to make sure we are a better pony the next day and the day after that.”

Before she could protest, Filthy continued, “Let’s focus on the positive. A lot of the stories they told seemed unbelievable, but the more I think about it, the more I know of your capabilities.”

“How so?” Dazzle asked. “I wouldn’t believe them if I didn’t witness it with my own eyes.”

“Yes, but your blind right now. How do you know it’s me?” Filthy asked.

“Your voice,” Dazzle said.

“I’m any voice in the crowd,” Filthy said with a smile.

“But it’s you, you’re my dad.” Dazzle said. Filthy saw her raise an eyebrow.

“Even so, Diamond Dazzle Tiara, listen to the words of a pony you trust,” he said. “Ever since you were a filly, full of light and laughter, I knew that you were destined to make others happy and be a leader. But, then, your mother died. I was distraught.”

“You mean that―” Dazzle gasped at the sudden realization, “―Spoiled is not my mom?”

“She is still your mom. Your Step-mom.” Filthy said. “You were still so young that I couldn’t explain that your biological mother died. Ironically, you took her name when you came to Mane-hattan. ‘Dazzle’ was her first name. That is why it’s your middle name.”

“Really?” Dazzle asked.

“Really.” Filthy said, chuckling. “I don’t know why it took so long for me to tell you, but you are just like your mother. Generous. Kind. A gifted leader. Enchanting, almost. Knows how to bring the best out of everypony.” Filthy said. “It’s funny that you took her name with you. When you helped out at your school, I saw a glimpse of her. You saw the talents of others and helped them discover their strengths. You helped others through their insecurities.”

Tears came to his eyes. “Unfortunately, Spoiled was outraged. She decided to seal the battle that has been going on between me and her for over a decade. You or her. I tried to convince her that you’d leave once you reach eighteen, that a filly couldn’t live on her own, but helping the school was the leverage she needed to throw you out. Hurriedly, I asked Randolph for guidance, and he suggested Coco Pommel as a candidate. Safely away from Ponyville, and kept as a secret only known between me and Randolph.

"The hardest thing I had to do last year was to let you go to someplace I couldn't reach you. Away from me." He said. "But now, It feels like I'm doing it all over again. This time, a place I cannot follow nor visit.”

Dazzle cast a weary look at her father.

"Don't act like I don't know, Diamond. I was given a word about your decision." Mr. Rich smiled at her endearingly.

"You know?" Dazzle asked.

"I know everything." Filthy said. "But, I just wanted to ask you one more thing before you go through with it."

"Oh?"

"I just want to hold you, like when you were young, these ten or so minutes… before the doctors administer the sedatives… and―" he gulped, as the words hitched in his throat "―pull the Plug."

"Sure." Dazzle held out her hooves, accepting his gesture.

For a moment, he saw a little filly, lifting up her hooves, waiting to be picked up. Gently, he picked up his daughter, being careful to weave through the IVs.

In his arms, he cuddled his blind daughter. Her eyes dark and cloudy, blankly staring off into space.

The Magenta and White bundle that he held in his arms over a decade ago was now again in his arms in a different time. One last time.

"Mind if I tell you a story, my little diamond?" He asked.

"That would be wonderful," she weakly replied.

“So, one day, A mid-summer’s afternoon while I’m having an important meeting at home, in Ponyville, I feel a little tingling on my left forehoof…”

“Now, you were young enough that you barely knew a few words, and could barely understand me.” His eyes turned “I shouted at you to stop trying to wrap “Garbage” around my hoof, but you still persisted”

“After a long eternity, you finished wrapping a watch around my wrist. I threw the broken thing out a long time ago, but somehow you kept it. After I managed an insincere “thank you”, you finished the touches.” Tears welled up in his eyes “You couldn’t tell time yet, so instead, you bent the hour and minute spindle of the clock into a heart.” He choked up “You said something that still persists in my mind until today… Do you know what you said?”

“No, what did I say?”

He paused for a bit, summoning up the strength to say those last words “You said– ‘There you go daddy, now you’ll always know that it’s always time I love you” He smiled once more with the filly in his hooves.

“I love you with all my heart, Diamond Tiara, stop trying to hurt yourself and forgive yourself… it hurts me to see you this way…” He embraced her tighter. “I ask you to forgive me as a father for not protecting you…”

“All is forgiven, I love… you… too… dad” She said, stumbling on the words.

He held back tears as he took in the story and looked at the plush she was hugging close: You are her hero, but you’ve squandered it.

For a moment in the quiet, with the snow falling from Cloudsdale in late May, he felt a familiar warmness. A feeling that he hadn’t felt in a long time.

“Mind if I also tell you a story, dad?” Dazzle asked. “It will be long one though.”

“I have all the time in the world for you.” Filthy Rich said.

“Once upon a time, there was a princess named Dazzle, and her father, Prince Rich, they were having a picnic beneath a tree atop a grassy hill…”

---

It wasn’t long before the Doctors came in with a syringe. Shuffling around the room carefully they prepared her foreleg. Filthy wanted to cry out for five more minutes, but they reached up to her IV and injected it.

With tears in his eyes, he looked at his daughter. As she told more of the story, her voice became weaker and slower. Filthy listened, but her story abruptly stopped. She told him that after she saved the town, and sent Demon away, she felt a pain in her head and woke up.

“But, wait, Diamond…” Filthy begged. “How does it end?”

“That is for you to decide.” Dazzle said, yawning. “I feel sleepy. Goodnight.”

With that, Dazzle closed her electric blue eyes and settled in for the long nap.

Filthy set his daughter down on the hospital bed.

With tears in his eyes, he wiped them away. “Goodnight, my little Diamond Dazzle Tiara.”