Secret Search

by computerneek

Chapter 21: Diamond Tiara (Rewritten)

“So, of course, we found out. Turns out the bullies in question were Diamond Tiara and Silverspoon- both fillies possessed by extremely rich parents. We did a little research before we went to their parents- from listening to the two to reviewing law enforcement records. As it turns out…”

---

“Please, Diamond Tiara. You know you have to go home.”

The voice drifts lazily around the corner he’s hiding behind. Locks is behind a different corner; neither has sufficient space for both ponies. He’s not entirely sure why Locks had been so certain the bullies would pass these corners; she hadn’t specified anything about them, save that.

A second voice drifts back. “I know- but can’t we just do another sleepover?”

The first again, this time sounding sad. “I wish. But you know what… she said.” The tone she filly used for the word raises red flags in his mind.

“I know what she said!” Diamond Tiara, he assumes, sounds almost panicked- more red flags. “Please! I just…” A pause. “I don’t know how much longer this can go on.”

He’s just about ready to emerge, and ask about what’s bothering the two, when the first speaks up again.

“Me neither… I don’t think the Crusaders are around at this hour, either.”

Gasp. “What about when they do get their cutie marks? How-!?”

He’s virtually certain, at this point, that these two are the bullies in question- or, at least, related to them. And the tone continues to throw up red flags.

“Calm down, we’ll find something, and we’ll do it together.”

He tilts his head slightly. Unless he misses his guess, this ‘Diamond Tiara’ sounds like the bully, while the other one is either an accomplice or a sympathizer, trying to help Diamond get over whatever the problem is.

“Hey, um…”

He jumps slightly- that hadn’t been either filly, but Golden Locks. He tip-hooves closer, peering around the corner, while both fillies let out momentary shrieks.

Golden Locks continues on. “I couldn’t help but overhear… I have to wonder, though, what happens if we eliminate the… Well, whatever the irritant is?”

The pink filly with white-and-purple striped mane recoils visibly from Golden Locks’ words. “B-but…” she sputters.

The dark silver filly with brighter silver mane rests a hoof on the other filly’s withers, while simultaneously stepping slightly in front of her, as if to protect. “Wha- No. We’ve already tried that, it didn’t work.”

Golden Locks only issues a sad smile. “You might be surprised what I can do,” she states.

Diamond Tiara only squeaks, drawing further back. Silver Spoon holds her close. “We’ve been told that before,” she says. “Only, her mo-!”

Diamond Tiara lets out a yelp, reaching for Silver Spoon’s mouth.

The silver filly dodges the frantic motion. “Sorry,” she mutters, before turning back to Golden Locks. “Only… certain factors can do more against that.”

Golden Locks bows her head, withdrawing. “I’m sorry to hear that,” she states. “Have a good night.” She trots back over to and down the passage Keen Sight is hiding in, and he follows.

He waits until they’ve got some distance from the two fillies before he speaks up. “Well,” he mutters. “There’s no doubt something’s going on. Sounds like her mother is doing something she doesn’t like.”

---

“Did you find out what it was?”

He nods. “Yes, we did. Emotional foal abuse, on the part of her mother. It’d been reported multiple times before, but never acted upon- everypony was too afraid of what that mother might do to them if they did something.

“So, we went to her house. I spotted Diamond in the other room while we were talking to her- and while Locks returned to her strange emotionlessness whenever we weren’t near either her or Diamond, she demonstrated a cunning instinct for justice- and three questions in, she actually got Spoiled Rich to admit to it.

“Of course, Spoiled ordered us never to act on it, threatening to crush us with her money if we tried. Locks, however, was having none of that.” He pulls out a recorder, placing it on his desk, and presses play.

---

“And if you even try to take her away, I’ll ruin both of you,” Spoiled Rich states. Diamond Tiara, next to her, is visibly forcing herself to stay calm, but still looks dejected. “I’ve got more than enough bits to disprove anything.”

“You have just admitted to emotional foal abuse, as defined under the Foal Protection Act of Six Thirteen. Amended in Eighteen Twelve to allow any Officer of the Crown to physically remove a foal from an abusive environment even before conviction, if deemed appropriate by the Officer in question.”

All heads turn to Golden Locks.

“Oh puh-lease, you know that’ll never fly in court, right? The Home Privacy Act is all the backing I need.”

“Home Privacy Act of Eleven Twenty-One. Amended in Eleven Thirty-Seven to allow Officers of the Crown to enter private homes without permission, with warrant. Amended in Eleven Sixty-Three to allow Officers of the Crown to enter private homes without permission and without warrant, given reasonable suspicion of domestic crime. Eight hundred eighty-seven precedents in Solar Court and six in Night Court, all in alignment; the Home Privacy Act cannot be used as a defense in a Foal Abuse case, regardless of presence or absence of a warrant or reasonable suspicion at the time of entry.

“Law Enforcement Act of Five Eighteen, never amended, one hundred thirty thousand six hundred ninety-three aligned precedents in Solar Court and four hundred twelve in Night Court. In the event of Obstruction of Justice, such as your threat and any carrying out thereof, any Officer of the Crown is fully entitled to use any force necessary- up to and including lethal force and the assistance of others- in the pursuit of law enforcement.

“Law Enforcement Protection Act of Year Twelve, never amended, one million two hundred thirty-seven thousand four hundred eighty-two aligned precedents in Solar Court and thirty-one thousand two hundred ninety-six in Night Court. Any retaliation against any Officer of the Crown, such as any execution of your threat, is a crime in itself, carrying a fine of not less than five thousand bits and prison time of not less than two years, compounded with the maximum sentence for the offence the retaliation was related to, being automatically assumed guilty.

“You may reconsider your threat now.”

“Uh…”

---

He pauses the recording. “She did reconsider her threat and, though stunned, she cooperated for the rest of the investigation, including pleading guilty later at the Guard Station… where Locks was promptly offered a position. Locks didn’t accept it right away, but neither did she refuse it; more on that in a minute.

“So, we returned to the Rich Mansion, where Diamond was waiting on the couch, apparently worried about us. Once I explained what had happened at the Guard Station, she rushed and hugged me, begging me to take her away.”

“That sounds… ominous,” Luna eventually states.

He nods. “I thought that too- and told her that I couldn’t do that just yet, but I would look into it.

“So we went to the Ponyville Bank, where Filthy Rich - her father- is the General Manager. Only a skeleton staff was on duty; most were at Pinkie Pie’s birthday party. We asked one of the tellers if we could speak directly with Rich; after consulting with him, she confirmed the affirmative and brought us back to his office. Once behind that closed door, I informed him that his wife had just been convicted of foal abuse. I was about to mention that suspicion had been placed on him as well, but he started talking first.

“He denied being part of the abuse, though he admitted to knowing it was happening- and doing nothing to either prevent it or limit the extent. He actually pleaded us to take his daughter away, to take her to somepony that could treat her as she deserves, should she desire. He said he couldn’t even look at her straight anymore- because she’s a constant reminder of how he’s a failure as a father.”

Princess Luna doesn’t move, nor speak.

Several seconds of silence pass before he continues. “As such… while her mother awaits sentencing in Day Court, Diamond has been removed from her parent’s care- and her father has been granted visitation rights.” He sighs. “After he showed me how much he actually cares about her, that was the least I could do.”

“What happened with Diamond, then?”

“Well… you know the rules. We asked her who she wanted as her new foster parents.

“Silverspoon’s parents are eligible to serve as such, but declined, so we went to her second choice.

“Except, she didn’t have a second choice, unless a shrug is a name. So we went to Princess Twilight. Or, we would have, had she not been busy in Pinkie’s party.

“As things turned out, we ended up participating in the party- it was a good one, you should have been there- until it was over, then consulting with the Princess. Unfortunately, even she didn’t know what to do- and, just like the other five Bearers, denied eligibility on the basis of prejudice created by their relationship with the Crusaders.

“Pinkie snatched over a green unicorn mare, with blue-and-white striped mane, and presented her as Lyra Heartstrings. A little bit of talking later and, while Diamond seemed apprehensive at first, Lyra was confirmed to both be eligible for and consent to foster parent status. The tipping point for Diamond was when it was mentioned that Locks is Lyra’s housemate- she was instantly happy with the arrangement. As I left, I did hear her asking Lyra- sounded like simple curiosity- how she was going to learn to cook.”

“Oh? Did you hear her response?”

“I caught part of it. She said she wasn’t sure, but she had an idea. I last saw them galloping- together- for Lyra’s home.”

---

“Huh-? Diamond?”

“Huh?”

“Where… oh. Why’d you go in there?”

“Wouldn’t it be in the kitchen…?”

“That’s the unicorn kitchen.”

“Oh. Wait- you have multiple?”

“Yep. This way.”

“What- A secret door?”

“Yep!”

“Cool!”

“Uh… So, how’s this… kitchen… kept separate from the basement?”

“This house doesn’t have a basement. Officially.”

“Oh. I suppose that would make it easier.”

“Anyways, I’ve actually got two options we could use. This here is an earth pony kitchen- and, as you can probably guess, that means I can’t use the appliances in it. A little further downstairs, though…”

“Further downstairs? Isn’t this the bottom of… why are you dancing?”

“Bottom of that staircase, sure. And the pattern’s a lot simpler than my dance makes it look; I can teach it to you sometime if you like.”

“Another secret door? That’s, like, awesome!”

“Glad you like it. C’mon- the other option’s down here. I’m sure you’ll want to see it before you decide.”

“Another option…? What is it- a hybrid, unicorn-earth-pony kitch- Aaah! What the hay!?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Th- There’s two of you!?”

“Uh… Not exactly, but kinda. Thaumic projections… all controlled by the same mind. That- aside from the secret doors, and Locks’ strangeness- should be about all the uniqueness around this house that you’ll have to get used to.”

“So… you just, like, casually live in multiple places at once?”

“Eh, kinda. These projections are significantly lacking in thaumic capacity, compared to my real self- and for that matter, they don’t eat… or sleep.”

“... Oh.”

“Anyways, option number two is this. This kitchen is unique all across Equestria, running on something called ‘electricity’ rather than magic of any kind. As such, any tribe can use it to its fullest… Though to be honest, I’ve yet to figure out how to convert any recipes. The only things I’ve been able to not burn in here are the ones specifically designed for it.”

“Uh…”

“And if you don’t want to, you don’t have to settle for just one.”

“Um… Did Locks just walk into the floor?”

“Huh? Oh, no- she went downstairs, to where she… Uh, lives. I’ll explain later- and I can show you around down there once you get settled in. That’s where everything dangerous is, after all.”

“Dangerous? Who do you think I am- a Cutie Mark Crusader?”

“Hahahaha! Nah, you’ve already got one of those. But it’s still part of the house, and there’s no real reason to keep you out of it, even if it’ll probably be best- to reduce the shock, that is- to wait until after you’ve settled in to try.”

“... Okay. Um, does Locks do that… projection thing?”

“No, I’m the only one. Well… the Princesses have the spell as well, so they might be doing it nowadays, but that should be it- and I’m fairly certain I’m the only pony in Equestria willing to try multiple at once.”

“Multiple at once?”

“Yep. My limit’s three, right now.”

“Right now?”

“Yep. Just last week, it was two.”

---

"Oh- and Locks did end up accepting that Guard position."

Author's Note:

Rewritten 3/23/19. I didn't like how it went last time- and this time, Diamond's issue isn't passed off as a secondary concern. Foal abuse is a serious offense! ... Though admittedly, foal/child abuse cases probably don't normally get solved in an afternoon like that.

The other major difference is that Locks doesn't change. (Before, she changed at the very end of last chapter, as the Bolo personality came on... That doesn't happen any more, but may in the future)

Yes, I know, that is not the official story for Diamond's bullying issue. However, I thought this fit her behavior- and my experience- better. Far better than "just because she was taught to". I mean seriously, Cheerilee would have disabused her of THAT notion posthaste! Especially since, in my experience, people pick up more from school- particularly their early years- than they do from home.

Comments

[flutterboot]

This whole chapter.

Yes. The whole entire chapter.

Gud.

[computerneek]

9154381
God to hear!

[LostArchivist]

That was fun!
The poor director is outmatched.
Lesson: Don't try to outwit an AI. :D

[computerneek]

9155764
Or as my brother called it, "She's telling him a lot, but picking & choosing what she tells him."
So yes, definitely.

[tsaukpaetra]

Hmmm, so is the conspiracy still being addressed or is it assumed that one rush was it?