Chapter 4: A Final Decision
Filthy Rich held onto Starlight for quite some time, ably assisted by a comforting Twilight and Applejack (who'd suddenly joined the fray) either side of him. The unicorn herself didn't say a word as she automatically began patting the sobbing stallion on the back, her face remaining as inscrutable and thoughtful as usual.
As for the other mares present, Rainbow Dash was clamouring to get out, as big emotional moments weren't really her kinda thing. Rarity wanted to go and open up her boutique for the latter part of the afternoon, but didn't want to be rude. Fluttershy had managed to crawl out from underneath the settee, and wondered if her pets were going to be alright. Pinkie Pie felt in desperate need of cheering everypony up, but even somepony as occasionally dense as her could see this was an inappropriate time for her usual brand of wacky slapstick.
...Then, we come to Spoiled. The uppity mare couldn't seem to decide whether to make a strategic bolt for it to avoid any possible repercussions, or continue to try and talk to Filthy in order to dig herself out of the deep hole she now found herself in. In the event, she couldn't pick either option, and so just stood in the middle of the room, resembling a statuesque Discord before his accidental release by a bunch of quarreling elementary students.
Finally there was Spike, who had his own problems... most of them revolving around his favourite princess, or 'best friend' as he preferred to call her. Twilight had quite a packed itinerary for the rest of the day after the spa session, and as her 'No 1 assistant' it was up to him to make sure that she wasn't tardy in her many duties. Sadly, because of her extended stay down at Rich Mansion, some of these events would have to be cancelled altogether, like baking Breezie Cakes for the orphans, or collecting the forms for the town-wide Census from Mayor Mare's office. Protecting a fresh delivery of emeralds and rubies from down below underground, though... that was something he was sure that she wouldn't want to miss out on, and it was instantly upgraded to being next on the agenda. As impartial and unbiased as ever, our Spike.
Diamond Tiara was still mercifully out of the room, Feather Duster having been given strict instructions to steer the pink filly well clear of the vicinity until the older ponies had finished their strenuous debate. Who knows how much the impact of discovering that most of her life was built on a lie would affect her, that her real parents weren't the wealthiest couple in Ponyville at all but instead an unimportant stallion from a nondescript village and a former wannabe dictator who'd almost destroyed the world out of pure spite. Quite a stepdown from her current status, from most pony's perspective. Alas, now that the secret was out there was no way of shoving it back into the bottle, so the participants were all just going to have to deal with the messy aftermath together, come what may.
The situation being on a knife-edge as it was, it was hardly surprising nopony wanted to raise their voice to punctuate the tense atmosphere. Eventually though, what with being the de-facto leader of the little band of unexpected visitors who'd sown such seeds of disruption in the formerly quiet mansion, Twilight felt obligated to speak up. After all, as much as she enjoyed her old career as a book lender, it wasn't really appropriate to cultivate an atmosphere similar to that of a library when so much needed to be discussed. So, she dared open her mouth, and ask the first question that came into her head to a still sniveling Filthy Rich.
"How did you know she was telling the truth so quickly, if you don't mind telling me?" This query was in reference to her student Starlight, and the unicorn afforded her a quick glance of irritation as if her trustworthiness was once more in doubt. That wasn't Twilight's intention at all, though: She was just genuinely surprised at the speed in which the tycoon had dismissed his wife of many years and had accepted the word of a total stranger right off the bat.
Filthy wiped his bloodshot eyes slightly and attempted to reply in his usual gruff manner, but his crackly voice couldn't hide the tremor caused by the startling revelations he'd heard that day. "J-Just small things, really. N-Nothing really added up at the time... the speed of her pregnancy, no visible bump for months beforehoof, the fact that nopony even saw her give birth, her fake 'surprise' afterwards at being a mother, her apparent disconnect with our daughter which has continued over the years... I could go on. I-It was all a lie, a ruse to keep me in her good graces while she spent all of my hard-earned money. H-How could anypony b-be so..."
There was no point in expecting any genuine remorse from Spoiled obviously, who continued to huff like a sullen teenager with her back turned to the large group. Upon hearing Filthy's 'childish' tirade though, she couldn't help but feel a wave of paranoia begin to overtake her. Since when have I been relegated to 'her'?! He didn't even call me by my first name, the cheek of it! Damn that interfering mare... isn't it enough that I gave her little brat a home out of the goodness of my heart? How dare she bust in now, insult me to my face and break up the perfect little life I've built here. I'm going to have to think fast, or everything I've ever worked for could be in jeopardy...
In the meantime, Twilight was ready to speak once more. "If you don't mind me saying so Mr Rich, those aren't really 'small' things. I hasten to ask this at such a delicate time, but you're an intelligent businesspony... how did you not see that things weren't right when Spoiled came to you with the sudden news? You don't have to answer if you don't want to, this is purely for my own curiosity."
"I suppose I was blinded at having a foal, an heir, something that would love me for who I was rather than my income..." Now that the barriers of trust had been well and truly shattered between him and his wife, Filthy saw no point in holding back his true feelings any longer. " I wanted, nay needed so much for it to be true, that every time a little doubt came into my head, I simply dismissed it as the anxiety of being a new father. Y-You can convince yourself of anything if you try hard enough, a-and your life is so starved of love and affection it's a struggle sometimes to get up in the morning. I-I have to wear a beaming smile all day at work for the customers, it's amazing none of them over the years have called me out on how fake it m-must b-be..."
Every single pony (and dragon) present winced a little upon hearing the precarious state of the Rich's marriage, and the only conclusion that could be drawn was the thin glue holding it together was a certain absent pink filly. Now that her heritage was under serious examination, their uneasy union was arguably under threat of becoming unstuck more than ever before, and all in front of a live audience too. Pinkie Pie began to seriously miss the popcorn that Applejack had confiscated from her earlier, as she hadn't been this entertained by a show since Hinny Of The Hills back in Manehattan.
Also paralleling that experience, the grumpy Spoiled in front of a thoughtful Rarity began to resemble a Miss Suri Polomare, and not just in colouring, either. Coco Pommel had told the fashionista about how the thieving designer had sulked after she'd quit, and after comparing Spoiled's affable demeanor together with her nasty personality once the facade had cracked, it made the similarities between the pair impossible to ignore. Imagine, in the same way Diamond Tiara might be Starlight's secret daughter, the two of them might be long-lost sisters... she speculated, a sudden shiver running down her spine. Gosh, Equestria might just collapse under all the self-entitledness and malevolence. Please let it not be so...
Attempting to avoid a potential domestic, Twilight once again tried to move the conversation onto more familiar terrain. "I-I see. Well, sorry to be the bearer of such bad news. But facts are facts, and now you seem to have accepted that your daughter, even though I'm sure you've done a wonderful job of raising her, was obtained using less-than-legal means, we have to decide where to proceed from here. I'm not sure we're going to able to sort everything out in one day, but for now if we can just talk like normal, rational ponies I'm positive we can make some progres..."
"Speaking of 'how she was raised', the first thing I'd like to know is what I've missed of her life up until now." Starlight had been quiet for a while, but finally found her voice again in her eagerness to discover a little about her filly's past. "If it's okay, could you please fill me in on all the precious moments, and other stuff such as her likes and dislikes, what she wants to be when she grows up..."
This question was directed at Filthy Rich, but before he could so much as move his jaw an unwanted interruption arrived in the form of his wife, who attempted to bring back their old system of 'doing things' by speaking for both of them. "Oh, I can tell you all about that myself, dear. You'd be so proud of the job I did with your discarded offspring that after I regale you with the intimate details, you'll be on your knees begging me for forgiveness for treating me so harshly upon your arrival here! I'll have you know that my child is going to grow up to be a true leader, a mistress of all she surveys, a idolised inspiration to every single pony who flocks to bow under her command! Of course, there have been a few bumps in the road along the way, mostly perpetuated by three of her lesser classmates who've tried to stymie her ambition at every turn, and impose their own worthless brand of 'friendship' onto her undeveloped psyche. But we persevere together as a family, and even though we're going through a bit of a rough patch at the moment due to their meddling, I'm sure we'll overcome it together, and we'll have her back on the fast train to success in no time at all!"
Even though all those present were shocked at Spoiled's unrequested reintroduction to the conversation, and Filthy seemed on the verge of blowing his top once more, Starlight seemed unusually unphased. "Tell me more, please. This should be absolutely fascinating." was her simple, deadpan reply, and she began to observe Spoiled's speech and mannerisms like a hawk.
A bit taken aback at Starlight's hitherto unseen interest in her 'unique' parenting, Spoiled began to think maybe she'd misjudged this bothersome upstart. "Gladly..." she grinned feverishly, before attempting to express just what made her the best caretaker of a future toast of society.
..................................................................................................................
As Spoiled finished her convoluted account of how she'd been such a 'perfect' mother to little Diamond Tiara since her sort-of adoption over the last decade, the reaction was not quite what she anticipated. Thinking she was going to greeted by unabashed praise of how her brilliant uncompromising discipline had resulted in the inception of a tough, self-confident filly who would rule over all, she was instead being given unwholesome looks which alternated between total exasperation and true horror. Even Filthy hadn't known the true extent of what his wife had gotten up to during his numerous work-related absences, his tearful, angry mood before replaced by one of utter shame.
Everypony now was fully engaged in the ongoing discussion, even those who'd previously wanted to go home before out of sheer boredom. This was shown by each listener speaking in turn, all having something to say about Spoiled's parenting methods and the misery Diamond Tiara had wrought on Ponyville as a result of following her depraved teachings.
"You encouraged her to spend her entire cute cenera mocking other ponies without special symbols?! No wonder I had to give her a lecture on the true meaning of cutie marks, and she spent the rest of the day on the stairs looking miserable afterwards!" Twilight shook her head at what she'd heard the pink filly was being taught at home.
"...And now we know why all those little ponies turned up on our doorstep at Twilight Time, forcing me to make all of those nachos that we just threw away in the end! I had tired claws for weeks afterwards, and it was all your fault!" Spike had felt previously he could befriend anypony, but one such as Spoiled began to make him doubt the veracity of that claim.
"What about my poor little Sweetie Belle? Being made to feel like a pariah after that awful newspaper full of untrue stories was published. You... you..." Having heard that Mrs Rich had not only condoned Diamond's errant behaviour but was complicit in it, it was all the usually unfailingly polite Rarity could do to keep a civil tongue in her head.
"Don't forget Scootaloo, who felt as worthless as dirt the day of the big try-outs because of this thing's teaching about 'disabled' ponies being a drain on the system. Why, I oughta..." While Rarity was trying to stop herself from merely saying harsh words, Rainbow Dash was chewing at the bit to pop Spoiled right on her curved schnoz.
"What you did wasn't very nice..." "I almost wish I hadn't organised her cenera party for you now. Almost, because everypony else had so much fun." Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were also complaining, although perhaps to a lesser extent than the individual accounts their friends were describing.
"So that's why Babs turned on her cousin so quickly... Diamond was misusing her talent to coax her into being a bully, too." The final words went to Applejack, and hearing about Spoiled's antics was an eye-opening experience for the farm mare, but not in a good way. " Not to mention how rude she was about Granny Smith, and how much she tried to embarrass Apple Bloom in class! Why did you let this happen, Filthy? You run your business like a tight ship, how could you let things get so bad at home?"
The tycoon was struggling to answer that question for himself, his face having already descended into a kaleidoscope of emotions nopony could read. Regardless, it rendered him unable to speak, so his wife took the initiative to rush in and 'defend' him. Lucky guy.
"How dare you speak to my betrothed like that!!" Spoiled huffed arrogantly, not wanting to pass up the opportunity to get back into his good graces. "You're just jealous that the entire revenue of the worthless Apple clan can be measured in smelly untamed animals and moldy old apples, whereas we have a fabulous house, glamourous outfits and enough money to fill our outdoor swimming pool ten times over! It's such a pity that serfs like you could never appreciate the value of being upper-class, and instead choose to marinate in your own jealousy. Oh well, at least after explaining everything I hope you all understand now why removing my Diamond from her clearly inadequate care at birth was the best thing that could have happened to that fortunate foal. She has all she could possibly need, I'm raising her in my perfect image and she stands to inherit one of the most successful companies in the world now. She couldn't have wished for anything better, than falling into our loving hooves after her less-than-ideal start in life, I'm sure you agree, dear."
Spoiled was now talking to Starlight, who'd been sitting stock-still for quite a while now, in direct contrast to before when she'd lost her rag at the slightest provocation. As it was, she'd simply listened unblinkingly to Spoiled's lengthy testimony with keen interest, and hadn't even bat an eyelid at her friends less-than-pleased responses to it. Now that she was being addressed directly though, she slowly ascended from her chair and trotted over to the giant ornate clock, her back turned to everypony else the way Spoiled's had been during her brief strop earlier.
"W-Well, dear? Have you nothing to say for yourself?" Despite her exterior bravado, Spoiled was beginning to get a little jittery at the perpetual silence, and the other ponies present were also starting to feel tense at what the pensive unicorn's next few words would be.
Eventually, a few moments later which felt like an eternity, Starlight turned to face her captive audience to utter six simple words that were about to have a profound affect on everypony there's lives from now on:
"I want my daughter back. Now."
Immediately thinking this was a bad joke, Spoiled Rich ignored the slumped form of her husband in front of her to address the only pony there who could get things done. "S-She's kidding right? T-There's no way she could possibly ask for that... a-after so long..." this was accompanied by a nervous chuckle.
Not really wanting to even acknowledge the questioner but having little option but to respond, Twilight replied in a tone which only be described as that of the utmost seriousness.
"Actually, Mrs Rich, she can."
Phew, hope you like this as it took me all weekend to write. All resemblance between this and any other stories I might be writing are purely coincidences, as you'll soon find out. 
Now that I have a bit more free time, hopefully normal service will be resumed with my other stories, too. Well, see you again soon! 
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Your portrayal of Spoiled Rich is as fantastic as always! Great job!
Great chapter I am so pleased that you have updated it has been too long. I hope you can update again soon.
I'm feeling a little sorry for both Diamond and Filthy here. Starlight wants to take DT away from the only home she has ever known and in the process Filthy will be losing his daughter.
And now things are going to get interesting.
Just when you think Spoiled had reached the bottom, she brings out the shovel and starts digging again. :P
I do hope that Starlight at least has the presence of mind to offer Filthy Rich the chance to visit Diamond Tiara freely, given their father-daughter relationship. He might not have been an amazing dad, but he certainly tried his best.
I love stories that show Spoiled getting buried in an avalanche of her own bullshit.
Looking forward to next chapter!
8196137 i feel like i seen you before but i can't quite remeber but then again binge reading a few hundred chapters will do that to you i suppose
8196133 Yeah, same here...
8196135 Well, that's drama for you.
8196137 Let's hope so.
8196143 The centre of the Earth is a mere formality for her.
8196145 Sounds like a good arrangement... will it happen, though?
8196150 Coming soon! (I hope)
8196156
Dun dun DUUUUUN!
Errr.. actually what Starlight can do is to request it. Not sure about how adoption laws work in Equestria, but Starlight gave away the rights over her daughter on her own free will, and Spoiled, in her own twisted way, did provide a home and care for Diamond. Even if the authorities (besides Twilight) deem the Rich house an abusive enviroment and choose to remove Tiara from it, that won´t mean Glimmer will get her custody in the spot.
8196288 That's what I said... there are no certainties in this, she can 'demand' it, but it doesn't mean to say she'll automatically going to get custody of DT. She just has the ability to ask, that's all. The drama caused by this predicament will form the centre point of the chapters to come...
8196288
Exactly. For all we know, a mother who gives up her foal can demand her daughter back at any time. And it's the princesses that dictate the rules. Twilight, as princess, can probably order the removal of Diamond from the Rich household and give custody to Starlight. The Riches only course of action is to request judgment from a 'higher ranking princess'.
8196316 ...That's another good way of looking at it. Thanks for posting..
Love it,want to see more
8196323 Wouldn't there be a 'Foal Protection Services' program, meant to look out for, and after, foals from abusive families/the streets?
I know that 'Child Protection Services' is a thing here on Earth, so it'd be odd for Princess Celestia, a ruler who truly wants the absolute best for as many of her citizens/'little ponies' as possible, to not implement something like this.
Sure, having a Princess give testimony surrounding how Family X is unsuitable for a foal, and how Family Y is better, would be a great boon for Party Y, but I'm pretty certain there would still be forms to fill out, home inspections needed, and assurances that Family Y would actually take care of the foal through an examination of the couple's individual and combined histories; I doubt the word of a Princess (who is very much just an individual, not an omniscient god or Orwellian dictator) would be able to just ignore the official procedures.
It IS possible to trick a princess, after all.
And if the Foal Protection Services were to look at Starlight's history, housing situation and income...well, it wouldn't exactly be stellar.
Let's see...she ran a cult, which included brainwashing visitors into being permanent residents. She went and meddled with time itself, causing multiple different alternate worlds, each filled with death and misery, to be created. She's still not exactly the most stable of ponies (I haven't actually watched any further than the time-travel two-parter; only heard bits and pieces. So I know she's definitely improved, but still not quite there yet). Though she did help defeat Chrysalis, saving the Mane Six (I believe - again, haven't watched it) and reforming the changelings as a whole - is that worth anything?
Housing situation...she lives at Princess Twilight's Friendship Castle. Okay, not her own housing. That's ought to be a red flag. What's the Castle like? Big, confusing, and can be lonely at times, due to its sheer size and number of rooms (heck, Twilight herself avoided the place until her five pony friends livened it up a little). Yep, definite red flag - don't want foals to feel lonely and neglected and lost in their own abode.
Income. To my knowledge, Starlight doesn't exactly have a job, past 'Princess Twilight's student'. Sure, she'd have access to some of Twilight's royal money, but it's not a salary.
If the Foal Protection Services existed, then they would likely deny Starlight possession of her biological daughter, due to the mare's history with mental health issues and violent streak, and her lack of independent housing and income; issues not even Princess Twilight could just skip past.
Sure, Spoiled Rich couldn't keep Diamond Tiara (and, since he's married to her, Filthy also couldn't keep her), so Diamond would be removed regardless; she'd just likely be placed in FPS's care until suitable parents were found, even if it meant removing the filly from everything, and everypony, she'd known.
I apologise if this got a bit long, but...I do like to point out the logic others hadn't seen.
8196368 Well, you certainly put a lot of thought into that. It was very interesting to read. As far as the canon of the show is concerned though, such responsibilities would probably fall to the princesses, and that's the angle I might be exploring it from. Thank you for taking the time for being so comprehensive with your post though.
When Celestia hears what Spoiled has been filling Diamond's head with all these years...
Celestia: Never has a pony been more properly named, for she is truly Spoiled to the core. To Tartarus with her!
Wow, I have no love for Spoiled in the canon, but your version of her is like the most grotesque caricature I've ever seen of any character. I feel like I can safely say that the canon Spoiled seemed a lot more mild and sane than the one in this story. Though I can forgive everything for Starlight being a badass like at the end there. Everyone should be afraid of making her angry!
8196429 She hadn't got that much in depth characterisation in the show itself, so I like to think I'm just elaborating a bit on what she might be like in private. Isn't that what fan fiction is for like anyway, using our imagination a bit...
Go die in a hole, Spoiled
8196435 True, true. I guess it doesn't contradict the canon at any point, just my own assumptions. And it's not like it's a negative point anyway, just an observation. She does teeter on the edge of being unrealistically idiotic here, but I can always catch her at the last second and see how from her warped point of view everything she says makes sense in the situation.
It was this moment, Spoiled knew...she f**ked up!
8196464 With pretty much every appearance she's made in the show she's demonstrated a hugely inflated view of her own importance, so I was just expanding on that in a way I suppose. Thank you for commenting.
"I want my daughter back. Now."
You tell them Starlight!!!
Still I think Filthy should still have time to spend with Diamond even if she goes back with Starlight. Because he was lied to by his "trustworthy" wife.
8196487 And thank you for writing!
Wow. That was brutal. Talk about a total monster. Spoiled is completely and utterly evil here. And yet, people are commenting that Starlight shouldn't get her back?! WHY?! Spoiled is a total monster here!
8196530 I think most of the comments regarding that are about the potential intricacies of the Equestria legal system, rather than saying Spoiled is a good mother. How it all pans out will be revealed, hopefully soon...
8196534 Yeah...that is true. Welp, I'm ready for the next chapter!
to be rude
That everypony was in desperate need of cheering up
Redundancy, there.
step down, previous, ponies'
herself in my good graces
relegated, it
how ironic that his wife be the exact opposite.
Riches', was that
marinate
batted
Ooh, this oughta be good....
8196580 Most of those are minor errors, I'll clean up the ones that I think directly effect the fluency of the story. That 'redundant' part though, was put in for humour because I dunno... it sounded funny. Plus, in talking, not everything has to be correct, because ponies, like people sometimes use incorrect grammar in their speech.
Thanks for the thorough proofreading job though... you should charge for that level of service...
Well Spoiled's days of parenting Diamond Tiara are just about done, there's no faction save any lawyer she hires will come to her aid and the evidence will be overwhelmingly against her, not to mention I'm sure Filthy could at least match her in the financial resources department.
It will still be one heck of a mess though between Filthy, Starlight, Diamond, and the state...
You just dug your own grave, Spoiled. I'd ask if you really believe that sack of lies you told everyone, but I already know the answer is "Yes".
Let Rainbow Dash do it, Spoiled deserves it and no jury would convict her.
8196619 i agree let rainbow do it
Is it somewhat weird that this chapter almost makes me want to start shipping Filthy Rich and Starlight?
8196597 Which future chapters will hopefully unravel...
8196613 Yep, she's definitely a tad on the deluded side.
8196619 Worth the gamble, do you think?
8196635 I thought girls abhorred violence.
8196639 Scrutinises chapter really closely A bit yeah, but I can see what you mean. Sorta.
8196135 i agree to a point i do feel sorry for filthy and diamond. however i also feel sorry for starlight having found out how her daughter was raised,
awesome new chapter looking forward to more
8196645 Definitely worth the gamble, and Spoiled would deserve it, you do not cause Scootaloo to be sad and get away with it
!
And also the other things of course.
8196645 most do however i believe that if somepony is as evil Spoiled they should be physically hurt so they don't do it again
8196588 Yeah. I really should.
Spoild rich is a cunt. You really have a way with words.
8196682 You might think so, but I couldn't possibly put that in the story... gotta keep it 'T'.
8196685 you are awesom!!
8196682 That's putting it mildly. She's a... well let's just says it starts with a B and rhymes with Rich.
8196655 ...And more will come..
8196686 Aw, thanks.
8196700 That's jokes kinda old now, so I won't be using it in this story... still highly accurate, though.
8196705 Let's just hope she gets what she deserves by the end of this all. I feel sorry for poor Filthy Rich, all that dellusion and denial he went through, just because he was desperate for an heir.
8196707 Well, there's only one way to find out which doesn't involve a mystical crystal ball of some kind...
Don't turn that dial now.
I had another thought not long ago. If Starlight does succeed in taking DT away from her current family she is probably going to end up hating Starlight's guts and try to run back to where she considers home.