Spoiled Milk Returns

by deadpansnarker

Chapter 5: The Search For Spoiled Part II

Filthy Rich and Diamond Tiara continued their relentless pursuit throughout the streets of Ponyville, their elusive quarry however showed no signs of revealing herself.

The only possible clue as to the direction she'd taken were the multitude of confused ponies lurking at the periphery of the road, stunned faces which showed their owners had more than likely experienced the newly revealed alternate persona of the region's biggest snob firsthoof. Well, at least the local psychiatrist would probably see an uptick in business that week, even if nopony else especially benefitted from her major breakdown.

Using these gawking equines's confused expressions like a star map at regular intervals, the father and daughter tag team were able to just about keep pace with Spoiled, until they reached the town square. It was here that the stamina expended by galloping full pelt for a couple of miles began to take it's toll on the weary duo, and ready to collapse as they were, Diamond and Filthy decided to take it easy for a few seconds on one of the wooden benches located around the picturesque area.

"W-Wow, who knew mother had such reserves of endurance?" Diamond gasped with relief, using her willing father's lap like a makeshift pillow. "Apart from that incident with Olay Oil, all I've ever seen her do is sit in her office all day doing nothing, recline in the tub doing nothing, lie in bed doing nothing... do you sense a pattern emerging here? Yet here she is, charging around like a minotaur in a china shop, without even pausing for breath once! I had no idea that she, of all ponies, would have such untapped potential as a long distance runner!"

"Now that you mention it..." Filthy mused for a moment, while absent-mindedly stroking his daughter's mane. "...She did used to work exhaustingly all day shifts at that dairy farm back in Fillydelphia. She hadn't really much of a choice, considering how dirt poor her parents were and their, shall we say, poor physical condition after the tragic accident. In fact, it was probably her hard work and sacrifice which enabled the Milk's to stay financially solvent, and avoid being kicked out of their shack in the first place. It's also those qualities which attracted me to your mother when we first met, all those years ago..."

Diamond blinked with confusion for a few seconds, before an inevitable barrage of questions fell from her mouth to assail Filthy's already ringing ears. "What?! Why have I only just found this out? Are you sure we're talking about the same pony here? How did you two get together in the first place? Why have I never met my grandparents on her side? Accident? What accident? What's Phillydelphia lik..."

Filthy chuckled good-naturedly at his inquisitive daughter's curious nature, and gently massaged her neck as he began setting himself upright. "I promise you my little filly, I'll tell you the whole riveting tale just as soon as all this is over. After all, wasn't it you who said back at the mansion that we should find your mother first, before waxing lyrical about the past?"

"Erm, sure..." Diamond replied, blushing slightly at being contradicted by her own words. "But I never said anything about 'waxing'. Don't tell me she had another job back then, cleaning floors or something? Gosh, she really must have been working herself to the bone. Who'd have thought it?"

Filthy did his best to avoid guffawing at his daughter's little miscommunication there, and was about to tell her exactly what the phrase meant, when the sound of a nearby vehicle screeching to a halt could be heard, and a panicked voice cut through the tender moment.

"Oh, thank Celestia I finally found you!" Scootaloo gasped with relief, as she removed the helmet which had helped start this awful mess in the first place. "Something big is going down at the spa, and Dash told me to go and fetch Mr Filthy at light speed. Which of course is my default, so no worries there. Anyway, I've tracked you down now, so please follow me... if you can keep up, that is. You can tag along too if you want as well, Diamond. Fancy being my co-pilot on this baby? If you've changed your mind on what a 'deathtrap' it is, of course."

Startled by the sudden appearance of her orange winged friend and hearing her surprise news, it was all Diamond could do to focus on the multiple crashes experienced by the reckless little pegasus, and the substantial outlay of bandages and plasters afterwards to convince the pink filly to stand her ground. Literally, and figuratively.

"N-No thank you Scoots, I'm quite happy sticking to a more reliable surface, where I'm not likely to go flying off at a hundred miles an hour into the nearest wall when the brakes inevitably fail, no offence." Diamond informed her friend in crystal clear terms that traveling by two wheels was most definitely not a viable option. "But thank you for coming all this way to fetch us. Judging by the fact you were trying to track us down specifically, I assume it's got something to do with my mother. Would I be correct in saying that?"

"I'd say!" Scootaloo tittered slightly, as she put her safety gear back on. "I mean, I know I shouldn't laugh, because a lot of ponies are having their days ruined by her, but... well, you'll just have to see what I mean when you get there. I hope you've still got some energy left in those sweaty bodies, 'cos I'm about to suck every last bit of it out of them. Remember: I don't slow down for anypony! Come on, hop to it and let's go, go, go!!"

As Scootaloo charged off into the distance and Filthy and Diamond scrambled up as one to join her, one of the things Scootaloo had mentioned caused Filthy to pause for thought briefly, apart from the fact that yet another of his daughter's friends had got his name 'wrong'.

"She... mentioned it was the spa that Spoiled was causing trouble at, right? So... why would Rainbow Dash be the one who sent your friend to come and find us?"

"Well, it may have escaped your attention, but Scoots and Dash are pretty close." Diamond answered plainly, as if she expected everypony in town should know that by now. "In fact, I think they even won that annual Sisterhooves Social contest recently that I can never ever enter, because you and mom are too lazy to look under any gooseberry bushes or talk to any storks to find me a..."

"Y-Yes, yes I know all that already. In fact, it may have escaped your attention, but Barnyard Bargains are the ones who sponsor the trophy for the main competition every year." Filthy didn't exactly like the direction this conversation was going in, and so abruptly changed it with the skill of a Las Pegasus card shark. "My question was more about what a pony like Rainbow Dash would be doing at an expensive spa in the first place. I don't mean to stereotype, but she doesn't exactly strike me as the kind of mare who'd..."

"Let me stop you right there." Diamond rolled her eyes at her father's somewhat old-fashioned way of thinking, but then had a small confession of her own to make. "I suppose I can't really blame you for believing that, I might've said the same not so long ago until I commissioned Featherweight to take secret snaps all over town during my stint as editor of the Foal Free Press, and got an action pic of Dash being given a hooficure delivered right onto my desk. That ended up being one of our best-selling editions, a great source of pride for me at the time. Of course, I don't feel quite so happy about it now."

"Hey, cheer up my dear!" Filthy smiled encouragingly at his daughter's regretful look, lifting up her chin slightly so he could gaze directly into her eyes. "You're so much nicer to others these days, and don't think I haven't noticed it. Why, only a few minutes ago, I saw the way you tried to comfort Sweetie Belle and Rarity outside the boutique. If that'd been the old Diamond, I'm sure she would've just walked on by laughing without a care in the world. I think you should be extremely proud at the fantastic progress you've made in the last few months, because as sure as my prices are the lowest around, I certainly am. I can only hope that when we get your mother back and functioning properly again, she'll finally see sense and start agreeing with me."

"D-Daddy..." Diamond sniffled, suddenly feeling her eyes moisten with tears a bit.

"Hey don't go all soppy with me in public, it's not like you at all!" Filthy jokingly glanced around at anypony who might be watching his daughter's rare display of genuine emotion. "You don't want an embarrassing photo of your own to be floating around the media, do you? I can just see the headline now: 'TOUGHEST FILLY AROUND CRIES IN THE MIDDLE OF TOWN. INVESTIGATORS ARE ON THE WAY, TO MAKE SURE SHE'S NOT A ROGUE CHANGELING'..."

"Oh, stop being so silly Daddy!" Diamond gave her father a friendly little poke in the side, before he 'retaliated' by lifting up her squirming form and depositing it gently onto his back.

"You've really done it now, Missy!! Now, I'm going to have to carry you all the way there myself, no arguments! Hold onto the reins tightly, as I suspect it's going to be a bumpy ride indeed. Tally ho, let's go!"

And as the best (and most affordable) taxi service around made his way non-stop to the spa, with a perpetually giggling pink filly as it's only passenger, they didn't realise they'd been watched all this time by a mysterious figure lurking in the bushes, where she'd dropped her frisbee earlier.

This unintentional spy had heard everything which had transpired between the duo, humorous anecdotes, bonding moments and all. She carefully adjusted her glasses, swished back her whitened ponytail and ran over everything she'd witnessed in her brain.

"Hmm, well I'd heard rumours, but I didn't think it was that extreme. I better go along too, to help and support my best friend anyway I can. And if I can't do that, it should be an interesting spectacle, at the very least."

Author's Note:

Snowed in as I am, with nothing better to do, here's the next part. Now I'm off to get a hot chocolate (with gooey marshmallows) as I hang my stocking by a crackling fire. Hey, it's tradition. Ciao!!

Comments

[UniqueSKD]

Vastata Lac? Fabulam pro nomine fatum; sed quis scit. Hoc lets dare fanfic a offa, quod non...

[Speedy Silverstreak]

Oh right......

Silver Spoon stopped being DTs friend for a couple episodes. So is she trying to regain her friendship again?

[deadpansnarker]

8602009
No, they're still friends. She just hasn't talked to DT for a while, and isn't up to speed with recent developments. This is set quite a while after COTLM, you know.

[Speedy Silverstreak]

8602016
So......

Is it Silver Spoon?

[Blast]

8601975
OK, can we try that one again?

[UniqueSKD]

8602026
Spoiled Milk? It is, how you say, a strange title for a story. Was the character known by another name before?

[deadpansnarker]

8602037
See this episode, and all should become clear to you

[deadpansnarker]

8602023
The 'reveal' will be in the next chapter.

[edwinflores428]

After reading this chapter i like to think that Filthy Rich's fatherly skills have been cranked up a lot. He's playing with Diamond, enjoying her company compared to what we see in the show. In a sense...Spoiled Rich reverting to Spoiled Milk needed to happen to repair and strengthen family bonds that were breaking

[KingJoltik]

So Silver's joining the story, huh? Sounds good to me...though I hope they get to Spoiled next chapter. I want to see the disaster she's making right now!

[LucidDreamer]

HERE COMES A NEW CHALLENGER!!!

[SuperPinkBrony12]

That secret spy is either Silver Spoon, or Sweetie Belle.

[Blast]

Father and daughter are finally letting it all out.

Seriously, if somepony is calling you Mr. Filthy, you better believe it's dead serious.

[howard035]

Great father-daughter bonding, and it's nice to see Spoony.

[deadpansnarker]

8602465
That's a VERY good way of looking at the situation. Thumbs up.

8602533
Ooh, we will. This story, unlike a few of my others, isn't going to have too many subplots.

8602581
ROUND 1... FIGHT!

8602586
Mebbe.

8602618
Yup, **** is definitely going down, somewhere.

8603277
You'll see even more of her soon. Rejoice!

[Blast]

Another Crusader down, one to go.

[Lakeguy]

Aww, Filthy Rich letting Diamond ride on his back is so cute!

[AyanamiRei]

Whelp this promises to be interesting!

[Captain_Stallion]

Filty should be careful, he may just get back Spoiled back...

[Chrome Masquerade]

"Well, it may have escaped your attention, but Scoots and Dash are pretty close." Diamond answered plainly, as if she expected everypony in town should know that by now. "In fact, I think they even won that annual Sisterhooves Social contest recently that I can never ever enter, because you and mom are too lazy to look under any gooseberry bushes or talk to any storks to find me a..."

I'm pretty sure that's not how it works.

"Let me stop you right there." Diamond rolled her eyes at her father's somewhat old-fashioned way of thinking, but then had a small confession of her own to make. "I suppose I can't really blame you for believing that, I might've said the same not so long ago until I commissioned Featherweight to take secret snaps all over town during my stint as editor of the Foal Free Press, and got an action pic of Dash being given a hooficure delivered right onto my desk. That ended up being one of our best-selling editions, a great source of pride for me at the time. Of course, I don't feel quite so happy about it now."

Well, that's different.