Filthy Rich never liked being called Filthy. But truth be told, it ain't easy being Rich either.
Filthy Rich is the owner of Rich's Barnyard Bargains. A leading retailer of Ponyville and the countryside beyond, how does this small town company beat it's competition and stay number one?
"And by capturin' the wholesale market, purchasin' in bulk, and slashin' our prices, we undermined every other gift market in town. And that's how Rich's Barnyard Bargains became the cornerstone of retail in Ponyville."
Filthy Rich kept a calm demeanor as he finished his presentation. He hadn't missed the fact that most of the class seemed to be absent during the presentation, so to speak - he didn't mind, though. He was there for his princess' Family Appreciation Day assignment, nothing else. He wasn't surprised the fillies and colts - bar the curly red haired one - weren't interested to hear about his business, especially the financial charts.
"Well, thank you Mr. Filthy--" Cheerilee began, but quickly saw her mistake in the glare Filthy shot at her. "I- I mean, Mr. Rich... What a wonderful day of sharing. And thank you for being part of Family Appreciation Day!"
Filthy nodded at the schoolmare, satisfied, and turned to leave. Of course, he had not told the foals everything about running a company. It was a thing for adults, after all. He dug out his antique pocket watch and checked the time - 13.40.
"Mhm, I'm almost late," he muttered as he continued on his way and returned the watch to his pocket. He was a busy stallion, and he had barely scratched the time for this visit to the school. Atleast his princess seemed happy, and that's all that mattered. Filthy calmly observed his surroundings as he walked through the town. He answered the occasional greetings with a warm smile, most of which came from his collaborators - the farmers that provided him with the goods to sell.
"Well howdy there, Mr. Filthy! Still meanin' to buy the first batch of Zap Apple Jam this year?" Came a cheery, southern voice from his side. He rolled his eyes at the name before forcing a smile on his face, and turned to address one of his most important providers, the Apple family.
"Ah, of course, Applejack. Just like every year. And I prefer Rich."
"Who wouldn't?" The orange mare said, chuckling at her joke. "I'm just teasin', Mr. Rich. I still can't believe it's our jam that got you folk all rich and dandy these days! Makes me wish I had the eye for sellin' as well as you do. Coulda kept the profit to ourselves!"
"And I wish I could produce the jam myself so I didn't have to buy it from you first, even further increasin' my profits!" Filthy Rich jabbed back with a smile. "Then again, only an Apple can grow apples as magnificent as yours, so it'd be a lost cause."
"Aww shucks, thanks for the kind words, Mr. Rich! Here, have a free sample of the Sweet Apple Acres' best!" Applejack grinned as she chucked a shining apple at Filthy. He caught it with relative ease and gazed at it before giving Applejack an appreciative nod.
"I will, and I don't doubt it's the one of the best apples in all of Equestria. But, it'll have to wait. I have an important business meeting to catch, and I'm already startin' to be late," Filthy Rich explained as he turned in the right direction. "I'll come for the jam in a few days."
"Aw, don't let me keep ya! Have fun if ya can!" Applejack hollered, waving at the stallion's back quickly disappearing into the crowd. She imagined what it would be like in one of those fancy business meetings - her time in Manehattan gave her some insight in dealing with finances and such. Seems boring, she thought as she turned to regard a customer.
Truth is, Filthy didn't like the meetings, but for completely different reasons than Applejack thought. They were not boring, per say, but he still despised them. Unfortunately, they were necessary.
"Nut Cracker," he greeted the buff earth pony standing guard at the entrance of the house the meeting was to be had in. Nut Cracker was a stallion with almost Big Macintosh' physique, and plain, brown-yellow colors. His cutie mark was, unsurprisingly, a simple nut cracker. His defining characteristics were instead the beanie he wore at all times, his rugged features, and his rough personality - though it fit his job, Filthy mused. A job he didn't have until recently, actually. Filthy had found him in a simple store selling various nuts. Filthy had offered him a job where his physical properties would come to better use, and Nut Cracker didn't wait long to accept. Unfortunately, the shop went out of business shortly after.
"Mr. Rich. The others are already inside," the stallion grunted. He turned to open the door for Filthy, who nodded in appreciation as he trotted inside. As the door closed behind him, Filthy continued through the building until he came to the stairs.
Then, he took the stairs to the basement.
Business meetings were something he wished he could avoid. But, as it was, they were necessary to keep his company afloat.
Filthy opened a door at the bottom of the dark, moist basement. Inside, he saw the usual - a few of his other henchmen-... No, henchmen was such a harsh word. Colleagues. He saw a few of his other colleagues, and of course the competitor he was expecting to arrive to the meeting.
Filthy Rich took a seat at the other side of the table and faced his competitor. He placed the apple given by Applejack on the table and nudged it, letting it roll towards the middle of the table. He then adjusted his suit jacket and necktie before nodding to one of his colleagues closest to the pony at the opposite side of the table.
When the potato bag was removed from the head of the gagged, wide-eyed and green earth pony, he mumbled in horror through his gag. His eyes frantically darted around before focusing on the apple on the middle of the table. Slowly, his shaking gaze lifted to meet Filthy Rich's smile.
A massive, metallic monster approached it's little, green, and helpless prey. The monster's four, horrifying and relentless teeth closed in on their target, no intelligence behind it's actions - just purpose. The prey had nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide. The white plain around it offered no shelter from such a monstrosity, and it made peace with itself.
Diamond Tiara poked the pea with her fork absentmindedly. His father gave her a hopeful look from the other side of the long table.
"How was school today? Did you learn anything new?"
Diamond Tiara stopped her fork, then sighed. "It was lame. And no, not really. Nothing important, anyway." She promptly skewered her last pea on the plate and brought the fork to her mouth, eating it slowly.
Filthy Rich fell silent once more. It was always like this. Every day, he tried his best to make time for her princess and have dinner together. Still, the occasion was rare. And it was always like this. No, it wasn't always like this, Filthy thought. There was once a simpler time.
"I'm home!" Filthy yelled, closing the door behind him. He grinned as his little princess, Diamond Tiara, galloped through the hall of the mansion towards him. He silently praised her - she was barely a filly yet, but already growing so fast.
"Daddy! Daddy! Look! Look!" Diamond cried once she reached his father, frantically pointing at the tiara on her head. Unlike the tiara she had as a foal, which had no gems and was smaller, this new filly-sized tiara was fit for royalty - it gleamed in the lights of the hallway, and the diamonds on it reflected light so brightly Filthy almost had to shield his eyes from it. He was hardly phased by the sum of money that was probably used to buy said tiara - her little princess deserved only the best.
"Celestia above! A new tiara? I guess it was startin' to get too small for you. You look like a real princess, now!" Filthy chuckled. Diamond Tiara, naturally, blushed and jumped in joy under the shower of praise and attention. The tiara, slightly too big, slid to her muzzle as she stopped. With a huff, she pushed it back up as his father snickered.
"Don't worry, honey. You'll grow into it. Now, is dinner ready? I'm positively starvin'."
Filthy Rich followed Diamond as she merrily trotted her way through the mansion towards the dining room. He nodded in answer to Randolph's - the butler - greeting, who was in the middle of dusting a bookcase in the living room. He turned back to Diamond who was just beyond the dining room door, smiling widely.
Filthy entered, and instantly all his stress disappeared. His worries melted like the heart in his chest, and he found himself blissfully smiling. All of this, of course, was caused by a single thing in the vast room.
His beautiful wife, Golden Glimmer, smiling back at him from the table.
"I'm going out," Diamond said. The statement shattered Filthy's daydreaming, and he blinked at his daughter already getting up from the table. "Gonna go hang out with Silver Spoon. Later."
Filthy took a moment to gather his bearings, then quickly called after her. "Be back by nine!", he said. He didn't even know if she had heard.
He didn't know if she cared.
With a deep sigh, Filthy got up from the table. He nodded at Randolph, who slowly made his way to clean up the table. Filthy shuffled his way out of the dining room, his gaze on the floor. He hardly even registered his muffled steps against the red carpet that covered the entire hallway. Slowly but deliberately he made his way into his office, where he slouched in his chair.
His gaze slowly rose to look at the picture on his desk. His beautiful and perfect wife. Smiling. He remembered the feeling of the silky, golden wisps of her mane. He remembered her smooth and well-kempt, almost cream-colored fur. He remembered those bright, yellow eyes that shone like the sun itself and the seductive whisper of his name. Unsurprisingly, her cutie mark had been a golden heart, and a heart of gold she had.
And she was gone.
It had been a cold morning. Golden Glimmer was on her way to town to pick up groceries. She might have had servants, but she still preferred to make the food for her family. She was a stay-at-home mother, after all - and why would she not have been? Her husband was bringing home more money than they could use, and everything was perfect. It was only sensible to keep herself busy with hobbies, and in this case, cooking.
She shivered a little in the cool, brisk air. It was autumn, and the cold was closing in slowly but surely. The Running of the Leaves had been a success once again, and the summer was wrapping up nicely. She loved the summer, but like each year, it was time to let go and face the winter.
She made her way to the market, devoid of most of the townsfolk. It was early, but Golden had always been an early bird. She merrily greeted the stall-owners, going about her business with mirth on her face. The Rich family had always been welcomed in the town, only succeeded by the Apples themselves. Of course, it was expected - the farm would not exist without the Apples, the Rich would not be rich without the farm, and Ponyville would not exist without the Rich.
Once done with her shopping, Golden made her way back towards the Rich mansion. She had had a nice little chat with the young Applejack, the promising young farmpony of the Apple family. She excitedly told her about her little sister, Applebloom - Golden was not surprised, the Apples valued family over everything - and how she was already being taught the basics of farming. Golden had listened intently - after all, Diamond Tiara was about the same age. Maybe they'd become friends in school, she mused.
She had made it halfway back to the mansion and was crossing the bridge over the river when it happened.
She slipped.
Normally, it wouldn't have been a problem. She was an earth pony, after all - she could handle a little bruise. She could, in the worst case, even handle a broken bone given time.
What she couldn't handle was her saddlebags full of groceries, the force of the autumn stream, and the hypothermia.
Before she knew it, she was submerged in the murky waters. Had it not been so cold, she could have shaken the saddlebags off in time. Unfortunately, it was like fate itself worked against her, and they pushed her under before she could. And even as she felt them slide off her body, it was already too late. The stream forced the vegetables and fruits leaking from the saddlebags against the rocks at the bottom of the river, crushing them, and everything else the powerful currents could get a hold of.
She was no exception, and she didn't surface.
Rich wiped his eyes with the back of his hoof. He was glad he had this time left from the dinner for himself. He was the head of an important company and couldn't show weakness. It would be bad for business. He got up and slowly trotted behind the chair to the grand windows overlooking the mansion's garden and the gates beyond.
What he saw wasn't the afternoon sun, nor was it the cheerful weather of spring. He didn't see the blue of the sky or the magnificence of Golden's former garden, still looked after by the Rich family servants and gardeners.
What he saw in the mirror was the reflection of a broken stallion. He saw his own weary eyes that by all means should have belonged to an older, poorer pony. He saw a slowly graying mane and a face that had not worn a genuine smile in a long time.
He saw a father that had failed raising his only child as he should have, instead letting her be a spoiled brat that he knew didn't behave in school, but who he still loved unconditionally and wouldn't do a thing against. He knew it wasn't his fault, really. Diamond Tiara and Filthy shared a common reason for how they were. The reason was simple.
What he saw in his reflection was a stallion that stood alone.
