Hard to find the shine.
Diamond slid her saddlebags off her perfect pink flanks and let them slump quietly to the floor near the door as she entered her estate. It wasn't quite the generous size of Celestia's castle, but it was a cozy twenty-six rooms that she called home. The filly perked an ear for any sounds of family and frowned when she received nothing but silence in response. No frenzied steps of rushed servants, no toppling cries of agony from maids falling over themselves to keep the place spotless. Thursday afternoon, and the house was deserted, which meant there would be no parties of any sort tonight. With a grim sigh, the pony girl trudged herself into the kitchen, feeling a certain tap at her insides demanding sustenance.
She glanced at the refrigerator and gave her trademark sneer at the hastily scribbled note pinned to the door.
"Diamond, dinners in the oven. Don't eat anything or you'll spoil your appetite. -Mom." With a casual roll of her eyes and a propelling groan from her empty belly, the girl slashed the note from the fridge door with a vicious tear of her hooves and crumpled it up into a tight paper ball. She tossed it over her shoulder, not caring where it landed and pulled the door open. The fridge was practically bare. Whoever had been in charge of going grocery shopping this week had obviously botched it and Diamond gave a quiet snarl of disapproval. Old tofu in the drawer. Moldy cheese...brown lettuce...Damn it...
She shut the fridge with an impatient cry from her belly, and found herself quietly peddling towards the snack cabinet. To her good fortune, she discovered an unopened box of Girl Scout cookies- Peanut Butter fudge- her favorite! She popped one of the delicious disc of decadent delight into her mouth and shuddered at the taste that rippled into her body. It was like magic.
Quietly, holding the box in one hoof, she trekked out of the kitchen and into the family room, where she sat down on the plump couch and gazed silently at the large, 72 inch television that gazed silently back at her. The remote was sitting on the coffee table. She moved to pluck it from it's resting spot, stroking her hoof tenderly over the buttons. She lifted an arm, and pointed it towards the monitor, but after a few seconds, let it drop and slumped back against the couch. Her tummy growled.
Gently, she fished another cookie out of the box and stuffed it into her mouth, munching thoughtfully while glancing around the room. Such a massive house and not a sound. She sighed. Rich ponies didn't have problems, and as far as she was concerned, she was the richest there was. Still, maybe she could slip over to see what Silver Spoon was doing this evening. Or maybe she could stroll into town and buy something expensive to show off. Maybe a new dress or something. Or maybe she could-
The door opened on the other side of the house and before she knew it, Diamond had bolted over the side of the couch and tore herself into the main hall, where her mother was slowly walking in. She flashed Diamond a shallow, liquid smile and wandered past with a wave of her hoof.
"Mom?" Diamond called out, while her mother staggered into the kitchen, placing her purse down onto the counter. She was a plus sized woman, drawn to fancy things and shiny baubles that she adorned her body with. Expensive fabrics and costume dresses, designer gloves and chic sleek boots that clip-clopped when she walked. The mare turned and peered at her daughter quietly before shaking her head with a dismissive smile. Diamond smiled meekly in return and tentatively meandered into the kitchen with her mother.
"So, so how was your day?" She asked quietly. Her mother rolled her eyes as if the question had been asked a million times that day and she gave a sigh.
"Fine, I guess. Work at the office was slow, so I left early. Mister Cindertail is having a party down the street tonight so I think I'm going to go to that, or whatever. I'm going to have to buy a new dress, though, so I just stopped by for a minute. What happened to my note?" She asked, glaring at the fridge, and the few sticky strands of tape left. She turned towards Diamond with a frown, and gave a low groan.
"You didn't eat did you? I told you not to eat. I smell chocolate on your breath. Is it that you can't read, or that you can't follow simple rules? I asked you to do one lousy thing and you messed that up. Actually, I didn't ask you to do anything and some how you still screwed it up. Whats the matter with you, Diamond." She snorted while Diamond took a step back, her ears lowering gently.
"I...I'm sorry. I was just hungry, that's all, an-" she began, but the larger pony held up a gloved hoof and shook her head.
"I don't wanna hear it Diamond. I don't wanna hear it. Sometimes I wonder if you'll ever stop being such a screw up. God, it's killing me. You know how lucky you are that I put up with you? Nopony else would stand this kind of crap." She mumbled while Diamond stared, feeling something inside of her seizing up. Freezing up. Clutching at her heart and refusing to let go.
"...You're already drunk...aren't you?" The girl choked out in a strangled voice of tears. The motherly pony glared a miserable glare towards the filly and waved a hoof.
"Huh. I only had a few. Don't you point your nose down at me young lady. Don't you dare, you little ingrate. I don't have the time to deal with you right now. I have a party to go to, tonight, so you just march your little behind up into your room, get your homework done, and don't make a peep." The pony snarled. Swallowing down her verbal response, Diamond gave her head the briefest of nods and turned sharply on her hooves, determined not to let any tears trickle from her eyes. She wasn't going to. She wasn't, damn it! Instead, she gave a wicked snort and lashed her tail violently at the air behind her. And she stomped. She stomped as hard as she could, shutting out the calling cries of her mother, complaining about little girls and their tantrums, and stomped all the way to her room, where she slammed the door shut as tightly as she could and locked it.
She screamed. A hoarse, blood curdling scream that sputtered bits of spittle from her lips and a wheeze past her throat. It burned her lungs to scream that hard, but she didn't care. It felt good. She picked up the closest thing she could find- her clock sitting on the table, and hurled it against the wall. It shattered, cracking with the sound of a dying alarm before it's red blinking life vanished forever. Her anger was gone now. No longer a hot, bubbling rage but a dull boil of tired anger that pooled in her stomach. Without a word she quietly twisted her form onto her bed and slid her arms around her numerous pillows, hugging one particularly close.
With the door locked, her anger spent, and the sound of her mother staggering out of the house for another of her parties, she could finally let the tears come. And so they did. The room was full of expensive gifts, designer toys and the finest of luxury items, and snacks and candies. And yet, even though Diamond had the entire world, everyday ticked past and without the thing that she wanted most.