“Congratulations, it’s a girl!”
Filthy Rich and his wife Screwball fell silent as they watched their new bundle of joy wrapped in a blanket and delivered to them. “She’s prefect,” Filthy Rich whispered as he reached her hooves out to hold his new daughter, smiling down at her as she slept peacefully with a hoof in her mouth.
“Let me see,” Screwball called out. Filthy Rich carefully hoofed the baby to his wife, whose heart melted as she examined the filly that was now hers. The daughter she and her husband had been trying to get for the past two years. The little addition to make her perfect family complete.
This was the happiest day of their lives.
“What will we call her?” Filthy Rich asked as he took his place beside his wife. “The name I had planned doesn’t really work well for a pegasus.”
“… Well, she’s our little bundle of joy,” Screwball said. “Why don’t we call her ‘Joy’?”
“Joy Rich?” Filthy Rich suggested, earning a harsh look from his wife. “Heheh… Guess just Joy is fine, too,” he conceded with a nervous laugh. It would seem that the Rich name would have to end with him.
A year passed, and the happy family continued their peaceful life in Ponyville raising their young one. Of course, there were a few complications with raising a pegasus filly, such as random spurts of flying, and lots of energy to cause mischief with. But overall, the two loved their lives together and wouldn’t trade it for anything.
… Unfortunately, fate had other plans in mind for the two. It was about seven months after Joy’s birth that Filthy Rich noticed it. His wife had been acting odd. She would stumble over her words, she would black out and forget things that ponies had only just told her, and she would always be looking over her shoulder, as if afraid that somepony was watching her.
In addition, lately Filthy Rich had noticed rashes appearing on his wife’s skin, and her behaviour was becoming more eccentric each and every day. She was talking about a group of ponies out to sabotage their lives, and had started to wear a propeller hat that she insisted was for her protection.
Joy’s first birthday was coming up, and Filthy Rich’s concern had finally hit its peak when Screwball redirected money from the filly’s college fund to hire additional security and even an x-ray scanner for all presents brought in to the filly. Unbeknownst to his wife, Filthy Rich had asked an old friend to examine her. This old friend was a doctor from Canterlot, whose medical expertise outshone that of Ponyville’s doctors. He was hoping for a simple diagnosis. Hormones, temporary illness, something a miracle drug could fix up… What he heard instead was…
“Mercury poisoning?” Filthy Rich asked with great concern. “What does that mean?”
“Well,” Night Light began, putting a hoof to his chin, “High exposure to inorganic mercury can result in poisoning which displays the symptoms I’m seeing in your wife. From what you’ve told me, your wife has worked around mercury before, but it seems that she was not aware of the dangers beforehoof…”
“W-What can we do? I don’t care how much treatment costs, I’ll cover all expenses!”
There was a heavy silence in the air as Night Light turned his gaze towards the ground for a few moments. “Unfortunately,” he said, “There’s no way for us to treat it. We don’t… have the technology to…”
“… S-So what are you saying?” Filthy Rich asked, his blood freezing as he anticipated the doctor’s next answer.
“I’m sorry, Rich,” Night Light said, watching as his friend fell onto his haunches and buried his hooves into his face. “Your wife… is going to get worse and worse. And it’s not just your wife I’m worried about. Your daughter… and all the ponies around Screwball, too, might be at risk.”
“And?” Filthy Rich asked, a hint of anger in his tone.
“… There’s simply too much risk in allowing Screwball to wander about as she is,” Night Light said. “That’s why I think it would be in everypony’s best interest if we… placed her somewhere where she cannot cause any harm if she acts out…”
“You want to lock my wife away?” Filthy Rich asked as he rose to his hooves. “You want to lock her in some room like a criminal, denying her the right to be with her own family?!”
“Rich, please-”
“She hasn’t done anything wrong!” Filthy Rich shouted, reaching his hooves out and grabbing Night Light’s shoulders. “She’s been a loving mother to Joy and a brilliant wife to me! She’s been there for me every time my job has caused me problems, and she’s never once left my side!”
“Rich, I’m just concerned for you and your daughter’s safety!” Night Light shouted. “Even if she hasn’t acted out yet, in her condition it’s only a matter of time until-”
“D-Darling!” a white mare shouted as she charged into the room, and small white colt by her side, both with panicked looks on their faces.
“Velvet, Shining! What’s wrong?!” Night Light asked.
“I-It’s Screwball!” Velvet shouted, pointing a hoof down the hall. “She attacked a few ponies and took Joy away!”
“She what?!” Filthy Rich shouted. “Where did she go?!”
“Towards the Whitetail Woods! We tried to stop her, but-” Velvet wasn’t able to finish as Filthy Rich had already charged past her, Night Light following closely behind. “Wait! There’s a pony who needs help! Screwball stabbed him with a knife!”
Night Light stopped and turned towards his wife. “O-Okay! Show me where he is!” He turned back to Filthy Rich, who was running down the stairs ahead of him at full gallop. “I’ll have to catch up to you later,” he said quietly as he turned back to Velvet. “Show me the way!”
Filthy Rich and the two security ponies following him pursued Screwball for over two hours, pushing their way through thick foliage and calling out her name to no avail. All hope seemed to be lost, until a rustling in the bushes alerted the three of them. From out of the bushes emerged Screwball. There was no baby with her, though, only bloody hooves.
“H-Honey!” Filthy Rich shouted as he charged towards his wife, though he was outran by the two stallion beside him who had pinned the mare down before he could reach her. “RELEASE HER!”
“Can’t do that!” one of the stallion said. “She assaulted our staff, and stabbed a civilian!”
“Where’s the kid?” the other stallion asked.
Screwball looked up to Filthy Rich with a scared look on her face. “D-Darling, what’s happening?” she asked. “Why aren’t you helping me?”
“… Where’s Joy?” Filthy Rich asked, slowly closing the gap between himself and his wife and crouching down to her level. “Where’s our daughter?”
A smile spread across Screwball’s muzzle. “She’s safe,” she said, earning a sigh of relief from Filthy Rich. “I knew we were being watched. We can’t trust anypony, except for each other. The whole world is out to separate us, but I won’t let that happen. I’ll protect us all, no matter what.”
“Where is she?” Filthy Rich asked again. “Where did you hide her? It’s okay. You can tell me.”
“… I don’t know,” she said, earning a confused look from her husband. “If I knew, they might make me tell them or read my mind. So I tied her to a helpful little doggy I found and scared him so he’d run away. Nature is our best friend, after all.”
“You…” Filthy Rich’s words were caught in his throat. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Our daughter is out there… alone and unprotected… and you don’t even know where?” Screwball simply nodded, a smile still on her face. “… W-What have you DONE?!”
“Let’s get her back to Ponyville quickly,” one of the stallions said as he forced Screwball to her hooves. “We’ll arrange a search party right away. If your daughter’s alive, we’ll find her. As for this one…”
“No way!” Filthy Rich shouted. “I’m not leaving this place without my little girl!”
“Mr. Rich, it’s too dangerous to search all alone!”
“I don’t care! I’m not losing her! I’ll tear this entire forest down if I have to, but I’m not going to lose my one and only dau-” Filthy Rich stopped as a hoof made contact with his stomach. As the pain spread throughout his system, all that the stallion could do was look up at the pony dressed in a black suit as his vision began to fade out.
“We’re taking you back,” the stallion said, “And then we’ll look for your daughter.”
“No…” Filthy Rich closed his eyes and fell into the stallion’s forelegs. “Joy… I-I have to find…”
“Joy… Joy, please forgive me…” Filthy Rich jumped up with a start. He was breathing heavily as he looked around, working out where he was. When his eyes finally adjusted to the dark, he found himself in his own bedroom. “… Right. Another bad dream.”
“Dear?” Filthy Rich turned to his side to find his wife, Nurse Sweetheart, sitting up beside him with a concerned look on her face. “Are you okay?”
Filthy Rich smiled and nodded. “Of course. I was just having a bad dream, that’s all.” He leaned forward and gently nuzzled his wife’s cheek. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”
Sweetheart shook her head as she smiled from the affectionate gesture. “I was already awake. Diamond Tiara decided to sneak a midnight snack and as a result it made her sick. I guess I don’t need to lecture her about karma now.” Filthy Rich laughed. “Was it a dream about her again?”
The stallion’s laughter stopped. He nodded his head slowly. “… Two months of searching found nothing, and two years later all hope was lost. And then earlier today, on her twenty-fifth birthday… she’s declared legally dead.” A tear fell from Filthy Rich’s eye as he turned his head away.
Nurse Sweetheart wrapped her foreleg around her husband and held him close, saying nothing as she allowed the stallion to sob and let it all out.
“I’m sorry,” Filthy Rich said as he started to calm down. “Thank you.”
“There’s no need to apologise,” Nurse Sweetheart said. “Or to thank me, either.”
“These past years twenty years have only been tolerable thanks to you.”
“They’ve all been the greatest years of my life,” Nurse Sweetheart said. “There’s not any other pony I’d sooner spend my life with.”
The door to their bedroom creaked open, directing the couples’ attention to the pink filly staggering at the entrance with a little green hanging from her mouth. She tried to speak, but all that came out was a low, groggy noise.
“Oh dear. Have you been sick again?” Nurse Sweetheart asked as she climbed out of her bed. Diamond Tiara simply nodded as her mother approached her. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up. Is it all over your bed?” Another nod from the filly. “I guess it can’t be helped. You’ll have to sleep with us tonight.”
“Do you need any help?” Filthy Rich asked, preparing to climb out of bed too.
“No need. I think I can handle this,” Nurse Sweetheart said as she ushered her daughter out of their room. “You just try to get back to sleep, okay?”
Filthy Rich hesitated for a second before nodding. After he watched his wife and his daughter leaving the room, his attention turned to the clock to his side. “Ten more hours…” Filthy Rich turned to the small table beside his bed and reached for the book that was on top of it. It was a simple book designed to help first-time parents through raising their child together.
Opening the book, he stared at the picture inside. Himself, dressed in his finest business suit, his wife Screwball, dressed in a beautiful dress, and their little Joy, wearing a tiny dress made by Screwball’s mother.
“In ten hours, I get to tell her that our daughter is… dead…” Filthy Rich closed the book and placed it back onto the table. “I wonder… if she’ll even understand what I’m saying?”
Filthy Rich turned to the door as he heard hoofsteps approaching him, but found nothing there. Instead, he felt the bed shake and turned to his side to find a small pink filly curled up under the covers beside him. With a smile, Filthy Rich reached down and held his daughter.
Moments later his wife returned and joined her husband and daughter. With Diamond Tiara in-between, the happy couple drifted off to sleep together.
Princess Celestia stirred about in her bed, attempting to find just the right spot in order to be comfortable. She heard the door to her chambers creak and turned around to find a familiar pink mare at her door, pillow held in her magic and a nervous look on her face. “Oh, Cadance… Is there something wrong?”
Cadance looked down at the floor and scuffed her forehooves against the marble tiles below her. “W-Well, Shining Armor is out working late tonight,” she began, “And I just awoke after having a very bad dream, so I was wondering if…”
Celestia smiled. She didn’t need Cadance to say anymore to understand what she was after. “You know you are always welcome to confide in me any time, my dear niece.”
A smile crossed Cadance’s face. She approached her aunt, who moved over to make room for Cadance in the large bed, and climbed in and under the covers. She nestled against Celestia’s chest and closed her eyes, feeling at peace within the bigger alicorn’s hold.
“Sweet dreams, my little pony,” Celestia said as she closed her eyes.
“Thanks…” A few moments of silence passed. “Princess?”
“Hm?”
“… Why did… Why do you think my parents abandoned me?”
Celestia opened her eyes. She had a feeling that this was coming. Each and every year, on young Cadance’s birthday, she was always depressed, but this year in particular she seemed to be even worse, and Celestia was certain that she was finally going to ask the dreaded question.
“I don’t know,” Celestia answered. “I can’t imagine what would ever possess a pony to throw away their own young like that.” Cadance shuffled about, so Celestia reached her forelegs forward to hold her niece gently and comfort her. “But what I do know is that you have grown into a wonderful mare, and what I can assure you is that your family here will always love you.”
Cadance buried her face into Celestia’s chest as a choked sob escaped her lips and tears streamed down her face. Celestia simply stroked the younger mare’s mane and waited silently for her to calm down.
“… Thank you,” Cadance whispered after her tears had stopped. Not long after, the mare fell asleep, comforted by her aunt’s gentle embrace and her words.
“Sweet dreams,” Celestia repeated as she closed her eyes once more.
Author's Note
I thought this up during a Skype chat and decided to quickly type up this little oneshot. More focussed on the concept really than the dramatic build-up... If anypony wants to take the idea and make an expanded, better version of this fic, by all means go ahead :D