Shopping For The Right Accessory
Diamond Tiara Buys a Little Sister
Shopping For The Right Accessory
Diamond Tiara fumed silently as she looked through the glass window into the shopping area at the Ponyville Hospital Maternity Ward. Scootaloo had been so proud when Rainbow Dash had ‘adopted’ her as an older sister, and the first thing the little brat did was to brag to all the students at school about how cool her new big sister was and how she was going to teach the runt to fly. Sweetie Belle had an older sister, Apple Bloom had an older sister and brother, and now even that flightless chicken had scored the coolest older sister ever. It just wasn’t fair!
She would show them. She would show them all.
The selection of little sisters available in the shopping area was rather limited, and even had some — ick! — colts scattered through it, but after some consideration and a little closer examination of the merchandise gained by slipping into the room behind the nurse, the choice was obvious. Daddy had been oblivious to the quiet hints she had dropped at dinner last night, which meant she was going to have to use a ‘Fate Accomply’ as he would put it. The practice of buying something and then calling Daddy to pay for it worked wonders for jewelry and other presents; certainly it would work just as well for a little sister.
At first she had considered getting an older sister, but that would be seen as copying Scootaloo, and that would not do at all. No, the solution to her problem was quite clear. A cute little baby sister for everypony to ooh and ahh over was just the ticket, and the cute little foal in the end crib matched all her criteria. Her new little sister had a soft golden coat that complemented her own colors quite well, and a natural silvery manestyle that was a near match to the natural curl in her own mane, although still different enough to be unique. Unlike some of the other selections on display, this little foal had no wings or freaky magic horns to show up her big sister, and she had the cutest little smile that showed when she was sucking on her hoof. Something inside her felt just right about this one, and since Diamond Tiara’s special talent was in accessorizing, that made her the perfect accessory.
The lack of a price tag did not deter her because only the least expensive stores actually were gauche enough to mark their merchandise, so she waited politely by her purchase for a salespony to come by. It took a while, but eventually a tired doe-eyed mare wearing a loose blouse came into the room and approached her. That pale green industrial blouse just did not go with her blue eyes and her short businesspony manecut, and clashed something fierce against her dark-magenta coat with a cutie mark of some sort of intermeshed grid. Then again, employees never did have anything to say about their uniforms or cutie marks, so Diamond ignored the fashion disaster while keeping her mind on her goal.
“Excuse me. May I help you?” The mare only spared a glance for Diamond Tiara before moving to inspect the little foal as if to make sure the store’s merchandise had not been damaged. It was behavior that was intolerable in a salespony, but she let it slide and went straight to the point.
“How much is she?”
“Pardon?” That certainly got the salespony’s attention. She turned around and stared at Diamond Tiara, looking her up and down.
“My new little sister here. I’m buying her. You tell me how much she is, and I’ll have Daddy write the check.”
The salespony blinked a few times before responding. “Really? Do you think that’s how this works? Didn’t your mother tell you where little foals come from?”
Diamond Tiara scoffed. “I don’t need a mommy. I have the best daddy in the world. He buys me anything I want. And I want a baby sister, this one right here. So how much?”
The mare seemed to suck on her bottom lip for a minute while thinking. “Getting a baby sister is something that you don’t just decide on right off the cuff. It takes time.”
“So? I thought about it all the while I was walking here, and that’s plenty of time.”
“Just a moment.” The salespony walked away for a minute to discuss things in very low tones with the nurse, and after they both cast a great number of glances at Diamond Tiara and her new baby sister, she came back.
“How about we talk about this while I feed her, Miss…”
“Diamond Tiara.”
“Very well, Diamond Tiara. My name is Rose Trellis, and I’ll be happy to talk with you this afternoon. I’ve been feeling somewhat alone here in the hospital. All of my friends and co-workers, well, my co-workers at least—” Rose paused to wrinkle up her nose in distaste “—are still in Manehattan at the company.”
The crib was on large, spongy wheels, and Rose let Diamond Tiara push it down the hallway to her room. It was surprising to find out that Rose was the little filly’s mother, but Diamond Tiara figured that it only made sense to cut out the middlepony in the transaction. The nurse and Miss Trellis arranged themselves around a soft paper cushion spread out across the carpet while unwrapping the little filly, who was making plaintive bleating noises and sniffing the air like a puppy.
“Hungry, isn’t she,” said the nurse with a chuckle. “Let me help get her hooked up for a few minutes. Once she gets a good mouthful, she’ll know just what to do. They always do.”
“Anyway,” said Rose, shifting her weight so the nurse could have better access to whatever she was doing under Rose’s back legs. It looked uncomfortable, and the little foal nickered impatiently while waiting her turn. “Ouch. As I was saying, I’m not even going to consider your offer until you have a full understanding of what it really means to be an older sister. There’s a lot of responsibility involved with adoption.”
“Yeah, I know all that,” scoffed Diamond Tiara while craning her neck to get a better view of the activity. “I’ve got a hamster and a dog. Well, she’s my dog, even though she sits around daddy’s chair all the time. But I suppose, if this will hurry things along.” Diamond Tiara bent down to watch the foal nuzzle until she got a good grip and began nursing. “So that’s what those are for.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. Anyway, when we take her home, we’re going to need to buy a couple bottles of that stuff too. What is it, anyway?”
“Milk.”
“Milk?” Diamond Tiara recoiled and could not help but run her tongue around the inside of her own mouth. “That’s where milk comes from?”
Rose Trellis chuckled at her outburst and shifted positions so the little foal could get a better grip on its first lunch. “Well, for the first few feedings, it’s called colostrum. It’s very good for a newborn. My first foal didn’t get any, and since I’m in the hospital until tomorrow for observation, I thought it couldn’t hurt.”
“You have another foal here?” Diamond Tiara looked around the room for a second crib and considered the possibility of a Two-for-One sale.
“Oh, heavens no. I gave her up for adoption years ago. I was young and foolish, and didn’t have any time for little ones then.”
Diamond Tiara scoffed, “My daddy always has time for me. He takes me shopping, and we go to shows, and the week before every Hearth’s Warming we spend together in Manehattan, walking around and looking at the lights.”
“It must be nice.” Rose sighed and changed positions again, listening to the rhythmic sounds of a happy feeding foal. “I used to love walking around and looking at the lights, but Hearth’s Warming is the busiest time of the year for our company with everypony buying brushes and combs for their very special somepony. Sixteen hour days and overtime out the tail is going to start the minute I get back to Manehattan. Probably why the company New Year party was so nuts last year.” The little filly paused in her messy feeding to head-butt Rose in the gut, which made her wince as the nurse guided the hungry little filly to the second milk spigot. Once the little filly was situated, the nurse excused herself and slipped out of the room, leaving Rose and Diamond Tiara to continue their negotiations.
“So is that party where you met her daddy?”
The faintest of winces crossed Rose’s face, making her constant small smile fade with hints of bitter regret at the corner of her eyes. “Probably. You know what they say, when a mare and a stallion love each other very much… or get totally plastered with hundreds of other businessponies for two days during the all-company meeting.”
“What?”
“Nevermind.” As the foal nursed, the mare shifted positions, staring at the far wall with a bitter expression as if the wall were a mirror into all of the bad decisions of her past. “My personal life seems to be one long failure at planning. I really didn’t expect to be giving birth in Ponyville of all places, but the train conductor didn’t think I would make it back to Manehattan with how close together my contractions had become. Hay, I didn’t really expect to get pregnant either time. There hasn’t been a good stallion in my life since I was a lot younger and foolish.”
She giggled as the little foal snorted a milk bubble, shaking her head in a flurry of silvery mane to get rid of the tickle on its nose before nuzzling back up into Rose’s belly and hunting for the source of her meal again. Diamond Tiara considered for a moment before asking, “So your first foal went to live with her daddy, right?”
Rose shifted uncomfortably while looking out the window. “No. I never told him. I must have written fifty letters, but I tore them all up and threw them away. He was a hard-driving businesscolt with no time for a family, and I was just a young filly, recently fired from my last job and scared out of my mind. I loved him so much, but I just couldn’t…”
She swallowed while the foal nursed, looking out the window in thought before finally returning to her story with a subdued sniff. “I just slipped away one night and never went back. When she was born, I gave her up for adoption before I even saw her. Changed my name, dyed my mane, and went to work selling currycombs and manebrushes.” Rose traced a gentle hoof through the little foal’s silvery mane before setting her hoof back on the ground for stability.
“So, does this one have a daddy?”
From the irritated twitch and momentary frown that her comment triggered, the topic seemed to be painful to Rose. Fortunately, her little sister took that moment to distract her mother with a head-butt in the belly again, and by the time the mare had the little foal settled, her face had resumed its normal distant smile.
“Well, it’s difficult to have one without a daddy.” Rose shook her head at Diamond Tiara’s blank look and sighed. “No. Nopony stepped forward in the last eleven months, and whoever it is probably doesn’t even know. There was a lot of booze at the party.
“Anyway, I’ve been dreading this decision for months. I really didn’t know what to do with this one, and that’s why I contacted the adoption agency here. I’ve worked my way up the company, just made Regional Manager last month, and I didn’t have much time for anypony else before my promotion. With supervising a dozen more salesponies and two new product lines rolling out, I’m going to be even more busy than ever. So I really want her to go into a good family. I just don’t have time for a family of my own right now.”
“Daddy says family is always more important than business.” Diamond Tiara lifted her chin and ran a hoof through her own mane with a flourish. “He skipped the opening of one of the stores just to hold my hoof when I got my braces, and he always shows up for our school talent show.”
The foal slowed her nursing to a damp nuzzle, allowing Rose to pick her up and pat her gently on the back. “If you get a new little sister, he’s going to have twice as many fillies to pay attention to, and little foals take a lot of time. Aren’t you afraid of being pushed to one side?”
“Well…” Diamond Tiara regarded the golden foal tucked over the mare’s shoulder and tried to imagine her father in the same position. “I really didn’t think of that. He is only one daddy.”
“And if you’re going to be a big sister, you’re going to have to do big sister stuff, like helping bottle-feed her, and watching her when you’d normally be out playing, and changing diapers…” A deep rumbling noise seemed to fill the room and a distinctive odor followed. “Right on cue.”
“Ewww.”
“If you’re going to be a big sister, you’ll be changing a lot of these. Let’s see how you do on your first one.”
The two of them unpacked the hospital-provided essentials for the distasteful task, spreading wipes, tissues, diapers, pads, more wipes, and pieces of tape all over the floor. In the end it took both of them to hold the gleeful little filly down and get her dirty rump properly cleaned and diapered, but when they were all done in the middle of the messy floor, the little filly was curled up and making the cutest little snoring noises. They took turns washing at the hospital sink and using the foaming soap, with Diamond Tiara remaining diligently scrubbing even after the mother left to curl up up on the floor next to her sleeping foal.
“Now that wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“Yes it was. My hooves still smell like poo. Does it ever wash off?”
Rose nuzzled the sleeping foal with a giggle. “I don’t know. This is the first diaper I’ve changed too. Strange…”
“What?”
“Oh, I was just thinking about my first little filly. I haven’t thought about her in years, but now all the questions are coming back. What is she doing now, what kind of family adopted her, what name they gave her. All the things I’ve missed.”
“You miss changing diapers?” Diamond Tiara gave one last soapy scrub before pulling out the last of the paper towels. “Gross.”
“No, all the other things your father did with you. Holding her hoof while she got braces. Going to her talent shows. I don’t even know what her cutie mark is, or if she has one yet.”
“Well, I would hope so!” Diamond Tiara lowered her voice as the foal twitched in her sleep. “I mean anypony who’s anypony has a cutie mark.”
“Really?” Rose tucked the diaper back a bit and made a show of looking at the foal’s rump. “Don’t see one here. Oh, well. You wouldn’t want a blank-flanked little sister now, would you?”
“Not her! I mean big ponies like me. I’ve had my cutie mark for a whole year now.”
“That long? I’m impressed.” Rose tucked the pink blanket around the foal and sighed. “I can remember back before I got my cutie mark, with all the bigger ponies picking on me for being a blank-flank. It was a terrible, terrible time for me. You didn’t have any bullies pick on you before you got your cutie mark, did you?”
“N-no.” Diamond Tiara looked out the window, missing the sly smirk that briefly appeared on the older mare. “You don’t think anypony will pick on her before she gets her cutie mark, do you?”
“I don’t know, it depends on who she has around to protect her.” Rose seemed to consider the matter with great concern. “I really wouldn’t want my daughter to wind up in a town where she wouldn’t be happy. This isn’t like selling a manebrush or a currycomb. I carried her for almost a year in my tummy, and I want to make sure she’s going to have a loving home with parents, or in your case a daddy and a sister who will love her very much and take care of her. If I’m not sure she’s going to get the best big sister in the world, the deal’s off.”
Diamond Tiara frowned, tapping one hoof absentmindedly against the floor while regarding her sleeping baby sister. “This is a lot more complex than buying jewelry.”
“You can always put jewelry in a box and ignore it. A foal takes attention around the clock. Your daddy must have been one busy stallion when you were young.” Rose paused, and then continued. “So… What happened to your mother?”
“I’m not sure. Daddy doesn’t like to talk about it much.” Diamond Tiara twisted one hoof against the stubby hospital carpet, drawing temporary lines in the short fibres. “He’s been on some dates, but he always comes home depressed afterwards and reads out of his poetry books.”
“Like Lord Alfred Whinnysone? ‘Tis better to have loved and lost—”
“Than never to have loved at all. Yeah, mushy stuff like that.” She lowered her voice, concentrating on making patterns in the carpet. “Sometimes I feel like I’m the one who drives away any new mommies.”
Rose reached out with one foreleg and scooped up the sleeping foal, then moved close to Diamond Tiara and very carefully snuggled in close. “Here. Hold your hooves like this. You want to support her neck, and not to pinch. There you go. How do you feel now?”
The foal nestled in her forelegs smelled like powder and lotion, and just the least bit like poo, but it was a nice sensation that made her chest tighten in a way she had never felt before. The older mare kept one leg behind her for back support, and when the little foal’s blue eyes opened briefly to look up at her, Diamond Tiara could have sworn the tiny smile at the edge of her mouth was meant just for her, a sign that she recognized her big sister and wanted to stay with her forever.
“I feel… I don’t know how to describe it. It’s all warm and tingly, like — Eww!” She held the foal away from her and regarded the large warm blotch that had soaked through the diaper and dampened her soft pink coat.
It took less time to change the damp diaper than previously, and once all the wiping and powdering and fastening was over, Rose convinced her to return to the same position, secure in the knowledge that the flood was stemmed for a short while. This time when Diamond Tiara nestled between the foal and the older mare, a number of warm giggles fought desperately for release from the both of them. It was a nice feeling, but Diamond Tiara felt it fade when the nurse poked her nose in the room and announced the end of visiting hours. The older mare lifted the sleeping foal up and tucked her into the crib while Diamond Tiara watched, waiting until she was done before asking her question.
“So, when can we pick her up tomorrow, and how much does Daddy need to write the check out for?”
The older mare held the edge of the baby blanket in her teeth, gently tucking it around Diamond Tiara’s new baby sister a second time as if the first was only a test. She seemed to take an inordinate amount of time getting the foal situated, and Diamond Tiara’s heart beat faster at the prospect that she might even be able to take her little sister home tonight, and have Daddy bring the check by the hospital in the morning.
“No,” said Rose Trellis, tucking a tiny strand of silver mane back under the foal’s blanket. “I can’t. I don’t want to make the same mistake again. This daughter I’m going to raise myself, even if she keeps me from trotting up the corporate ladder as quickly as I wanted. If your father can take time out of his schedule for his little filly, then I can too.” The older mare turned from her foal, seeming as if she was going to burst into tears at any moment.
“Does this mean you’re going back on our deal?”
“No, we never had a deal. It means I’m backing out of our negotiations.” Rose sat down with a thump next to Diamond Tiara and ran a hoof through her mane. “You did too good a job. You convinced me that if your daddy can have a career and still love you as much as he does, then I should be willing to do just as much for my own offspring. However… Your father sounds like a nice stallion, and there’s lots of mares in the world. Maybe someday he’ll bring one home and you’ll have a mother and some younger siblings.”
“I don’t want any other siblings. I want this one. It’s unfair!” she wailed, crossing her forelegs and slumping up against Rose’s side with a damp sniffle. “Why can’t I get what I want?”
Rose reached around the crying filly with one hoof and offered her a tissue for her tears. “Honey, we don’t always get what we want. I wanted a stable stallion and a family, and I got an expensive condo in Manehattan with a leaky window and a view of the river. You’ve got a great father who loves you very much, and who will be there for you as you grow up into a mare who won’t make the same foolish mistakes I did.”
“But I want a sister now! She’s perfect for me! Those three blank-flanked nitwits are going to brag about their big sisters forever and I don’t have anypony to…” Diamond Tiara trailed off as she became aware of a frowning upside-down face looking at her from above.
“Diamond Tiara, are you wanting a little sister for your benefit or for hers?”
“Mine, of course. She’s going to be my little sister, after all.” Diamond Tiara snuffled once and wiped a tissue over her face, even if she didn’t need it. She almost jumped at the touch of a gentle hoofbrush down her mane as Rose brushed back a few tangled hairs while shaking her head slowly.
“Diamond, try to think about this the other way around. If you were very young, and not the big pony you are now, and your father had to give you to another family to raise, would you be a little bit afraid that your new big sister wouldn’t care about you?”
“Daddy would never give me up like that! He loves me.” She sniffed some more as Rose continued to run the brush through her mane in a manner so much more gentle than even the maid. The long, slow strokes felt reassuring against her neck, with the slow beating of Rose’s heart from where she had her head laid against the older mare’s chest. “He always loves me.”
The strokes against her neck grew slower and slightly damper. “Sometimes you love something so much, you have to let it go so that it can grow on its own. My first little filly has a life somewhere much better than I ever could have given her. If I could turn back time, I would…” The slow strokes of the manebrush stopped. “I don’t know.”
They sat there for a while, sharing a box of tissues until the nurse returned a second time to escort Diamond Tiara off the maternity floor. She made sure her face was clean and all of the poo smell was washed off her hooves before leaving the hospital and heading for home.
She may not have gotten her baby sister today, but Miss Trellis said she was not going to be released from the hospital until tomorrow, which gave her one more day to negotiate her purchase.
If At First You Don't Succeed
Diamond Tiara Buys a Little Sister
If At First You Don’t Succeed
The door to the hospital room swung open just a crack and Nurse Redheart called softly into the room. “Miss Trellis, you have a visitor. Are you decent?”
“Almost done. This little filly is an awfully greedy — Oh, hello Diamond Tiara. Did you come over to say goodbye? Come on in.” Rose shifted positions on the nursing pad while Diamond Tiara shuffled into the room before standing listlessly at the foot end of the bed, watching mother and daughter at breakfast. The foal who had such a difficult time standing up yesterday was suckling away without support while the mother finished the last scraps of buttered toast off her own plate. A small set of overnight bags spread out in a mismatched array next to the hospital luggage trolley and a few business casual outfits scattered across the bed showed that Rose’s stay in Ponyville was about over, and she was about to take Diamond Tiara’s little sister away forever.
“Daddy said no.” Diamond Tiara snuffled and leaned up against the bed while watching Rose and her baby sister with narrowed eyes. She had practiced this bit of theatre with Silver Spoon several times, and her performance had to be just perfect. The tears began to pour out as Diamond Tiara leaned up against the bed, listening to the sounds of the older mare tucking her little sister into the crib and hurrying over. Rose fussed with her briefly, then stood up and made a quick trip to the sink, bringing back a wet washcloth to begin firmly washing her face.
“For starters,” said Rose, rubbing far too vigorously around her eyes, “if you’re going to try to use crocodile tears to gain sympathy, use something other than an onion. The smell is a dead giveaway. I’d try something in diluted lemon or lime juice, or—”
“I’m not faking!” snapped Diamond Tiara, pulling away from the mare and snuffling. “Daddy beat me and locked me in my room. He was so angry at me that I’m afraid to go home. But if I had a new baby sister, he’d forget all about it. Please?”
Diamond Tiara tried her best puppy-dog eyes on Rose, but the older mare just sat there and looked back at her with a pitiless blue-eyed gaze that had been honed on the thick hides of dozens of traveling salesponies. It only took a few moments before Diamond Tiara blinked and looked away.
“Well, he yelled at me some. He never ever paddles me. Ever. And I had to give up dessert.” Diamond Tiara turned back at Rose with real tears in her eyes. “He was really mad. Does that count?”
Rose brought the damp filly under one foreleg and held her while patting her on the back much like she had done with the little golden foal. “There, there. You don’t like making your father angry, do you?”
“No.” Diamond Tiara leaned into her shoulder, appreciating the compassionate hoof patting her on the back for a while. Despite all of her plans for how this little sister negotiation session was supposed to happen, the truth just bubbled up to the top and spilled out. “I think he was even crying after I went to my room. I’ve never made him cry before.”
“That’s because he cares about you very much,” she replied almost instantly. “Do you make him happy too?”
“Yes. He calls me his little princess, and that I make him feel like a king.” Diamond Tiara stifled the additional tears that wanted to flow out and added, “So my little sister would be a princess too. That’s why you need to sell her to us.”
“You are one single-minded—” Rose broke off with a laugh that quickly turned serious at Diamond Tiara’s glare. “Your father said no. That means no.”
“No, that means he isn’t going to pay for her. I will.” Diamond Tiara dug into her school saddlebag and produced a small bag of bits, which she dropped on the floor with a clank.
“One hundred and fifty two bits, cash. And a coupon good for a double-scoop of ice cream over at Lickety Split’s Ice Cream Shop. It’s all I could dig up on short notice, but if you give me your address in Manehattan, I’ll send you half of my allowance for the next year. Deal?”
“No!” Rose stood up and began to stuff clothes into her bag with excessive force. “The product you were looking to purchase is not for sale, at any price. You’re just going to have to come up with some other way to impress your ‘blank-flank’ friends.”
“I don’t care about those blank-flanked pests any more. She’s my sister! She’s perfect for me, and I’m perfect for her. Why can’t you see that?”
“What I see is a spoiled brat who has never been told ‘No.’ You’ll just have to get a little sister some other way.”
“I need this little sister,” whined Diamond Tiara while holding back a sniff. “If you want one, why can’t you just go back to the orphanage where you dropped off your first foal and pick her back up?”
It became very still in the hospital room as Rose stopped packing her bag and looked out the window. She stood there while the silence grew almost unbearable, finally placing her last blouse into the overnight bag and zipping it shut, the sound of the zipper making goosebumps crawl up Diamond Tiara’s neck. Still not speaking, Rose turned, ever so slowly, and placed the bag on the luggage trolley. Next to it sat the already-packed bright and cheery baby bag, marked in big pink letters, ‘Ponyville Birthing Center — Courtesy of Barnyard Bargains’ along both sides, indicating she had finished packing and was ready to leave. She then turned to the crib and picked up the sleeping foal, giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead before talking in a voice just barely above a whisper.
“I went back to the orphanage about a month afterwards. I don’t know why. Maybe just to check. They told me she was adopted the day after she was dropped off. According to their privacy rules, they couldn’t give me the name of the family, but they said the adoption agency was quite pleased with the pairing. I never checked any further. I thought it was a closed book in my life, until now.”
“You’re doing just what you accused me of,” snapped Diamond Tiara. “You want my sister just for yourself, not because of what’s best for her. She needs a big sister and a daddy.”
“She needs her mother,” said Rose softly. “I can’t give her a daddy, but I can give her the best mother I can be. And that means telling her ‘No’ when she can’t have something.”
“You sound just like daddy!”
“I should hope so. I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me to become a good parent like your father. And it starts right now. No.”
“She peed on me! We bonded!”
“No!”
Diamond Tiara sat down with a thud on the somewhat milky-smelling nursing rug. “But she’s perfect. I know it. I couldn’t sleep last night thinking about her. It’s gotta be because of my special talent. It knows we’re perfect together, and if I can’t convince you, I’ll lose her forever.”
“You are one determined faker. Scoot off the rug, please.” Rose rolled up the musty paper nursing rug and stuffed it into the trash, pointedly ignoring Diamond Tiara’s sniffles and discrete coughs. With a final tug to the sheets on the hospital bed, she turned and began tucking the foal into the carrier on her back. Tiny little blue eyes blinked in the light, seeking out Diamond Tiara with a gassy infant smile that formed right before the cutest little burp.
“Don’t take her away.” Diamond Tiara put on her best daddy-melting pout, complete with extended bottom lip and watery eyes as Rose pushed the luggage trolley out into the hallway. “Please?”
“Sorry, kid. You never should have lied to me.” The little blue eyes of the foal watching Diamond Tiara over her mother’s rump vanished as the door closed. The click of the latch sounded like the slamming of a safe door, and the faint squeaking of the luggage trolley faded down the hall into silence. The hospital room felt cold and dark without them, the faint smell of poo and the crumpled paper debris poking out of the trash can the only sign they had ever been there. She bumped the lumpy bag of bits with one hoof, listening to the faint clink of money while being unable to move from her spot.
“I would have been the best big sister ever. Daddy would have been so proud of me. Of us.”
The faint noise of the hospital room door opening made Diamond Tiara turn away to look out the window. She was not going to let the nurse see tears in her eyes. But the soft voice that broke the silence was not the nurse.
“Hey. Diamond Tiara. I’m sorry for calling you a liar.”
She turned back to the open door to see the older mare in the doorway with the happy foal on her back. They were both looking into the room with different expressions; the foal looked ready to play once released from her carrier, while Rose seemed lost in thought, as if she were miles and years away in her mind.
“Wasn’t lying,” Diamond Tiara managed to mumble before looking back down at the dull hospital carpet.
Rose hesitated before coming back into the room, sitting down beside Diamond Tiara and putting a supporting hoof around her back. “Look. I’ve got an hour or so before the train shows up. I was going to drop by the adoption agency and break the news to Miss Caresalot before going by the train station, but I suppose there’s some free time in my schedule. We could go get ice cream.”
“I’m not hungry.”
The warm foreleg that covered her shoulder shifted away momentarily before returning in a soft hug. “You said your special talent was accessorizing. Well, I’ve got a problem that might just be right up your alley, so to speak.”
“Not interested.” Despite her tone, Diamond Tiara could feel her heart beat faster and the crushing despair that had wrapped around her chest eased slightly.
“I haven’t given her a name yet.” Rose slipped the little foal out of the carrier and put her on the floor, where she stood with wobbly knees while looking at her big sister. There was such a look of innocent curiosity on that cute face that the heavy weight of misery that Diamond Tiara was trying to keep draped over herself just floated away, and was replaced with a small smile.
“I hadn’t really seriously considered keeping her until yesterday when you talked me into it. I was afraid that if I gave her a name and then gave her up for adoption like my first foal, every time I’d hear that name…” Rose drew the back of one hoof across her eyes and scooted a little closer to Diamond Tiara. “A decision like that would have haunted me for the rest of my life. Even if you don’t really appreciate it, talking me into keeping her was very kind of you, and it was wrong for me to just walk out like that in return. I’m sorry.”
Diamond Tiara slumped with a scowl, but could not keep the expression on her face as her little sister wobbled up and tried to put a wet nose into her face. “Stop it. Bleah. Baby kisses. You smell like sour milk.” Holding her sister at hoofs-length, she looked up at Rose and managed a small smile of her own. “That’s okay. I was lying a little. But just a little.”
Rose reached out and pulled the foal over so she could be pinned between the two of them before smiling back. “Apology accepted. Now, what do you think about Goldie for a name?”
“No!” Diamond Tiara ran a hoof through the foal’s soft golden coat and her pale silver mane. “It just doesn’t feel right.” Casting a calculated look at the older mare, she added, “If I name her, does that mean she’s at least partially my little sister, even if she doesn’t come home with me?”
“Maybe. But no fair naming her Rental Unit or Timeshare.”
The tickling from the foal trying to lick her hoof made her giggle as they played a brief game of keep away. “Tuesdays has a nice ring to it.”
“No.” Rose’s tone softened as she added, “You’re stubborn, but I’m more stubborn than you’ll ever be.” She dug a blanket out of the baby bag and settled the golden foal on it before pulling out a small manebrush. “Now. Sensible names. I really like Goldie.”
“It’s just not quite right,” said Diamond Tiara after settling back down and giving the concept some serious thought. “It could be a nickname, but her real name needs to be something that fits her. And me. Since I’m going to be her big sister.” She watched as the older mare gently brushed the foal’s mane back in short strokes, making her little sister bleat in pleasure. “Her mane’s so straight that those little streaks of blue stay perfectly even all the way down.”
“Like a ruler,” mused Rose. “Even though they’re royal blue, I don’t think calling her Ruler is very—”
“Golden Rule,” declared Diamond Tiara. “It fits her perfectly.”
Rose brushed for a while, thinking. “Yes. Yes, it does. It’s a kind, compassionate name for her to grow into, and we can still call her Goldie for short.”
“And it fits well with my name too,” said Diamond Tiara. “Are you sure you don’t want to sell Goldie? I know daddy isn’t going to pay for her, but a hundred and fifty bits is nothing to sneeze at. I’ll even…” She swallowed a lump in her throat and reached up to her head, gently removing her tiara and placing it on the floor where her little sister promptly spotted it and began trying to move towards it despite her mother’s restraining hoof.
“No,” said Rose, although with considerable more restraint than before. “Adding a piece of jewelry to the price won’t—”
“It’s not just a piece of jewelry,” said Diamond Tiara with a sharp frown. “It’s how I got my cutie mark. Daddy took me to this big expensive jewelry store in Manehattan for our Winter Wrap-Up Weekend we always spend there, because like Ponyville is always so muddy and damp that time of year.
“So I was looking at this tray of jewelry, and they all looked just awful and gaudy like some sort of clown designed them, and the staff was getting impatient, and Mister Cartiara was so huffy that he called me ‘Little Miss Filigree,’ can you imagine that? Anyway, they wanted to close the store, but Daddy was very patient, and finally when they were putting the rejects back in the vault, I spotted this one way in the back. It wasn’t the most expensive one, or the fanciest one, or even the one with the biggest gems on it, but it was just perfect for me.” She nodded fiercely. “And I got him to give us 10% off the price because of my cutie mark. Daddy said it was the perfect gift for his perfect filly.”
Diamond Tiara ignored the sharp intake of breath from Rose and looked out the window instead. It was a beautiful sunny day that just begged for her to to go for a walk in the park with her little sister and Daddy. They could sit on a blanket and play, just the three of them, if only Rose would let Golden Rule stay. Her father could see just how perfect a little sister Goldie was, and maybe help her talk Rose into the sale despite her initial reluctance. Then again, if she was this determined about keeping Goldie, maybe there was another way to get a little sister after all.
“Daddy likes giving expensive gifts,” she started, turning to look at Rose with a practiced smile. “He says the only important thing about money is how you spend it, not how much you have. Every time he goes out on a date, he always takes me to the jewelry store in Ponyville to pick out a nice present, because he’s got horrible taste in jewelry. If you stay in town today, I bet Daddy would like to meet you. I’ll even make sure to have him pick out a nice piece of jewelry for your date. And you two can—”
Diamond Tiara stopped abruptly as the older mare held a hoof over her mouth and frowned. “No. Absolutely not. I screwed up my life once by falling in love with a businesspony. I still haven’t gotten him out of my head yet, and it’s been years. The last thing I need is to drop in on some stranger with somepony else’s foal.” The frown faded away as she touched a lump in her jacket pocket. “Besides, the company’s ‘Proper Corporate Attire’ dress code keeps me from wearing jewelry any more.”
“Yeah, Daddy doesn’t wear it either.” Diamond Tiara sat back down with a thud and looked back out the window. “The only jewelry he even has is some old set of cufflinks, and a pair of rings in a box full of torn-up letters.”
“Rings?” echoed Rose with a rising note of interest that made Diamond Tiara fight to suppress a victorious grin.
“Yeah, he doesn’t wear them, though. They just sit in the top drawer of his dresser gathering dust. They’re even already engraved with something sappy about letting go of something you love and having it come back. Isn’t that dumb? I mean if you were to be his special somepony, you’d want something sensible engraved on them, right?”
While looking out of the hospital room window, Diamond Tiara could see the mare’s thoughtful face reflected in the glass. Despite her earlier protest at the suggestion of a date with Daddy, she finally looked like she was considering the option, even slowing her gentle brushstrokes down Goldie’s soft mane. There was a nice symmetry between the two of them that would go well with Daddy and herself, even if the older mare was a stubborn pony who would not listen to reason. The other mares that Daddy had dated never seemed just right for him, and some of them were just so wrong she had taken action to make sure they would not return, but this one could be made to fit with him, with some helpful suggestions. First, she was going to have to let that mane grow out before anything could be done to it at all, and the tiny flecks of color at the roots indicated a much more appropriate tint was lurking under the mane dye. Also, that business suit just had to go, no matter how well she was pulling off the look. After all, if Rose was going to be her mommy…
Diamond Tiara stopped at the thought, reconsidering Rose’s words from yesterday about being given up for adoption. There was an irritating persistence to the idea that had grated on her nerves and kept her awake all night thinking about both her little sister and herself. It was like looking into a mirror and not wanting to believe what you saw there.
Daddy had told her that the best business decisions always left both sides of any deal happy with what they got out of it, and even if she did manage to convince Rose to sell Goldie to them, she would be going back to Manehattan all alone. Even if Goldie would have gotten the best daddy in the world and the best big sister ever in the deal, she would lose her mother.
And so would Diamond Tiara.
Rose and Goldie were not just accessories for Diamond Tiara to show off, but they deserved to be part of an ensemble, an entire mix of different elements that all fit together and went with any outfit.
A family.
The reflection of Rose Trellis in the window had gone very quiet, with one hoof held over a pocket on her business jacket as if she were trying to keep something from jumping out. She swallowed once, then ever so slowly removed a small golden heart-shaped broach on a thin golden chain, fumbling it in her hooves for a moment. It glittered in the sunlight that slanted into the hospital room, showing curvy lines of engraving as Rose tried to hold it still in shaking hooves, turning it over and over while looking out the window over the top of Diamond Tiara. The fine quality of the broach was obvious even in the reflection, but it certainly was not impressive enough to warrant the subdued sniff of repressed tears, or the rather sudden way she tried to stuff it back into her pocket as she turned away.
“No. It’s just a coincidence. Look, honey. Something’s come up, and I need to head down to the train station right now.”
Diamond Tiara turned around and held onto her sister as Rose stuffed things back into the baby carrier. “But what about Daddy? I thought you said you could stay for a while and meet him?”
The older mare tried to stuff the tiny blanket back into her saddlebag, leaving a wad of trailing edges sticking out that foiled her attempt to close the hasp with her mouth. Jamming the blanket down farther with a muffled curse, she left the saddlebag open as she turned back to her foal. “I-I can’t. I’m s-sorry. I’m sorry for everything. I have to go.”
“I’ll pay for it.” Diamond Tiara held onto her little sister in an all-encompassing hug as Rose reached out to pick her up, but the older mare trembled in hesitation before actually touching either of them. “I’ll pay for you and Daddy’s date. I’ll even pay for the present. Just stay. Please?”
“N-no. No. I need to get going right now, Diamond. It’s for the best. For all of us.” Her trembling grew so intense that Rose could not pick Goldie up to put her in the foal carrier, and after a few failed attempts, she sat down on the carpet instead and tried to regain her composure. The little foal seemed to sense her mother’s stress, and started to make a tiny squeaking noise that Diamond Tiara suspected came right before the tears.
She tried patting her little sister on the back while Rose sat in place and trembled on the carpet, seeming to cringe away from any attempt of reassurance. Mane brushing seemed to calm Goldie down, so Diamond Tiara picked up the brush Rose had dropped and resumed brushing her little sister’s mane with long, slow strokes.
“Don’t cry, Goldie. You’ll see me again really soon, I promise. Daddy and I will come visit you tomorrow in Manehattan and bring you toys and—”
“I-I don’t t-think that’s a v-very good idea,” stammered Rose, looking away so she would not meet Diamond Tiara’s shocked eyes. The older mare breathed in short pants for a while, paying rather intense attention to a small patch of carpet, before asking an unexpected question.
“Y-you’re Richie’s daughter, aren’t you? Filthy Rich?”
“Yes, I am. You’ve heard of Daddy? He’s the richest pony in Ponyville. Well, other than Silver Spoon’s daddy. He owns the bank.” Diamond Tiara paused before quickly adding, ”But he’s married.”
Rose took a deep breath and turned to face Diamond Tiara and her sister. There were tears beginning to track down her face and her soft blue eyes seemed to want to look everywhere except at Diamond Tiara. “S-several years ago, just before you were b-born, I hurt Richie very badly. I found out something that I thought would make him angry, and I r-ran away instead of going to him with it. Even though it’s been years now, I’ve never been able to get the courage to face him. I was so afraid…”
“You don’t have to be afraid. Daddy doesn’t ever really get mad for very long, even when I’ve done something really bad. Not that I ever do, that is.” Diamond Tiara tried to pat Rose on the hoof in a compassionate gesture, only to have the older mare yank back as if she were burned.
“N-no, you don’t understand. I took something from him that I thought could never be returned. I thought I stole something so precious that I could never be forgiven. And today I found out that the only thing I stole from him… was me.” One shaky hoof reached out to touch the side of Diamond Tiara’s cheek, pushing back a strand of her violet streaked mane. There were small flecks of those same colors in the roots of the older mare’s manecut, as well as hints of the same natural curl that was reflected in all three ponies in the room. “I can’t face your father, Diamond Tiara. Not then and not now. I don’t deserve him. That’s why Goldie and I need to go back to Manehattan. Now. And you can never see either of us again.”
“Why not?” Diamond Tiara looked up at Rose with a distressed whine, which Goldie tried to imitate before sneezing at the attempt.
“Because…” Rose squirmed around where she was sitting, looking as if she wanted nothing more than to grab Goldie and run away as fast as she could run. When she finally spoke, her voice was a bare whisper. “I’m not strong enough. I’m afraid I would leave again. I’d hurt you both. Again.”
The silence stretched a long time before another faint voice filtered into the hospital room from the corridor outside.
“Diamond Tiara! Are you in here?” Filthy Rich’s powerful voice easily carried through the hospital ward and Diamond Tiara felt a warm glow fill her chest at the familiar sound.
It made sense now, how her special talent had pulled her to the hospital to find Goldie and Rose, and how they seemed to be just perfect as a mother and little sister. It was because they were her mother and little sister. After a quick check under Goldie to make sure the warmth was not more pee, she rearranged her little sister on her lap for the best first impression before replying.
“Yes, Daddy. Over here. We’re in Rose’s room.”
Rose Trellis had stopped, frozen in place with her breath coming in short shallow pants. Her eyes were huge and white like some sort of trapped animal desperately seeking another exit out of the small hospital room, and Diamond Tiara could feel her soft coat trembling against herself and Goldie. Her mother was terrified, but so was Diamond Tiara just a tiny bit. Daddy had been hers for as long as she could remember, and sharing him was going to be difficult, but the return on her investment was substantial, with both a new little sister and a mother added to the equation. There were going to be a lot of changes in her life as they all got used to each other, but Daddy would come through, as he always did. He was the best father ever, and together they were going to be the best family ever.
She wrapped one foreleg around her sister and the other around her mother, holding both tightly in a grip she had no intention of releasing anytime soon.
“Mommy. You don’t have to be afraid any more. We’re all here for you.”
The door swung open as Filthy Rich stepped through with his mouth open to speak, although no words came out as he locked eyes with Rose. Her father had always been the picture of composure no matter what disasters were happening at home or at work, but now he had stopped stock cold with his jaw hanging open and every fraction of his attention riveted on the older mare, who looked back with her own mixture of panic and fascination. They stood there for a long while with no more noise than the quiet cooing noises of the foal before Filthy Rich finally took a breath, stepping forward with a single word that was as much a question as it was a desperate plea.
“Filigree?”
They were married in a quiet starlit ceremony presided over by the mayor, in the beautiful back garden of the Rich estate. The attendees were limited to a few witnesses, their close friends, and three blank-flanked little ponies who took on the role of flower fillies with great enthusiasm.
Both bride and groom wore matching blue suits in business casual, the best mare standing proudly by their side with a golden locket around her neck. Although her little sister constantly tried to reach for the sparkly new toy, Diamond Tiara was very patient with her like any good big sister would be with a young foal.
On the inside of the heart-shaped locket was a faded picture of her father and her new mother, tucked in next to a wrinkled receipt from Cartiara’s Jewelry that had written on the back, “The perfect gift to my perfect filly.” On the outside of the locket, inscribed in a loopy ornate script, was the same phrase that had been inscribed for years on her parents’ wedding rings.
If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it will always be yours.
