You and Filthy Rich have been dating for a few months. You've never really been into older guys, but something about him is just irresistible to you. His gruff voice, that hint of an accent coloring all his words with a bucolic flair, even the little deposits of flab scattered across his body from too many fast food lunches and not enough exercise are things you equally treasure.
After dinner, when Diamond Tiara is in bed, you like to curl up together on the couch. You gently squeeze his love handles, eliciting a sound that can only be described as a 'squee' from his painted lips. There was a makeup kit in one of the overstock bins at Barnyard Bargains, and you are determined to use it to the fullest. He sighs, melting into your embrace as you massage his back with your fingers. Moments like this are golden.
He's told you his secrets.
He told you about his ex wife, the genetic illness that stole her mind and may lurk within his daughter like a ticking time bomb.
His business is going under, and he's been taking payments from his life insurance to help pay the bills.
He's so tired. The only reason he hasn't already ended it all is for the sake of Diamond Tiara. She doesn't realize how much he loves her, but that doesn't matter. Just knowing she's there is enough, and he's determined to be the best father he can be.
To be honest, you haven't been doing too well yourself.
Thrust into a strange new world with only the clothes on your back, you were treated at first as a curiosity, attracting the attention of the brightest minds of the era who wanted to unravel the secrets of the world that could've led to the creation of such a strange beast.
Of course, once it was determined that there was nothing left to learn from you, and your knowledge of your homeworld was far from vast, you were cast out of their scientific circles and into the strange purgatory of Royal Custody Prior To Evaluation, or as you like to call it, Locking You Up And Hoping You Kick It So We Don't Have To Deal With This Shit.
You didn't, of course, and only barely passed the test for legal personhood. Your citizenship is tied up in old specisist legislation originally meant to prevent griffon immigration after the Second Rune War and may not be fully processed for some time.
Because of this, you can't hold permanent employment, and only had a home thanks to a generous landlord with a decaying boarding house on the edge of town.
You usually covered up your threadbare suit with a ratty old duster you bought off some minotaur merchant one day. It doesn't fit perfectly, but it keeps you warm when the winter wind blows through the cracks in the wall and spring rain drips through the roof.
The other tenants came and went; lost souls and bottomfeeders drifting through life like so much flotsam. The drug dealers and alcoholics and whores were so out of place in this beautiful world they inhabited. Why couldn't they see it? Earth ponies grew food far surpassing anything back home; Teams of weather pegasi played games of cloud checkers on a massive scale; The distant city of Canterlot gleamed in eternal testament to unicorn ingenuity and resilience. Yet they still fought and fucked and destroyed everything they could lay their dirty little hooves on.
It made you sick. You started to wonder how anypony could be this dense...
Anypony. You couldn't believe you had thought that. AnyPONY? You weren't ready to deal with it. You sat there on the edge of the dam, staring down at the river below. The drop wasn't that long, but the water was shallow and you took a class on swan diving.
You fucking coward, you thought, walking away.
Filthy... You met him, out of work and behind on rent, when you answered a classified ad looking for a stock boy. The two of you had a rocky start, but after a few comedic misunderstandings, you found yourselves sharing a candlelit dinner in the back of the Golden Corral. Next thing you knew, you were out of your crappy apartment and sharing a bed with the most wonderful stallion in Equestria. It was like a fairy tale, a dream come true.
Whenever he's alone with you, you make him feel like he's young again. Whenever you're alone with him, he makes you feel like you're home again. He chuckles a little, and you press your lips against the wrinkled flesh at the corner of his eye. Moments like this are golden.
God damn Bobby Frost.
"Daddy? I had a bad dream." It's Diamond Tiara. She's got a terrible case of bedhead and has her crown at a funny tilt, but your chuckle dies in your throat when you see her swollen, puffy eyes. She's been crying.
Her childhood ended the day her mother tried to remove her cutie mark with a kitchen knife. "It wasn't a filly," she later explained to the doctors, "But a carrot cake that I had slightly overcooked; I was simply removing a burnt area". She lives in a blissful hallucination, often strapped down and sedated due to numerous violent outbursts. Last time Filthy saw her was at a mandatory sanity hearing. She'd recently burned a fellow patient's ear off; Celestia only knows where she got the lighter fluid.
He told stories about her, even though it was painful. He was a moderately wealthy young stallion with no particular ambitions, and she was the most gorgeous model ever to grace the cover of Ponygirl.
Suddenly, he had a goal.
He spent weeks working up the courage to approach her, and when he did... It turned out she'd seen him at an event and was doing the same thing.
She'd only just begun to show signs of illness when Diamond was conceived. Mood swings, weird cravings, all normal pregnancy stuff. Occasionally there might be a strange request; He still wasn't sure what to make of her demand for Donkey Kong's Konkey Dong. But after giving birth, it continued to escalate until...
Diamond... She used to be so happy, Filthy assures you. The only thing that makes her smile anymore is the misery of others. Deep down, however, he can still see the sweet little filly she once was. Maybe, with time and love, she'll become that filly again.
"C'mere, sweetie," Filthy requests, patting the cushion beside him.
"O-okay..." She slowly trots over and places a hoof on the sofa, looking hesitantly up at you. With a small smile, you grasp her hoof and help her up.
Her father wraps a foreleg around her and draws her in close. "Do you want to tell me what it was about?" He asks softly.
She sniffles before speaking. "W-well... We were visiting mommy in the hospital..."
Oh no. She's had this nightmare before. Princess Luna doesn't have the time nor the energy to make sure everypony has sweet dreams each night, but her sister is always quick to emphasize how 'nopony must fear falling asleep anymore'. Out-of-touch fucking royals.
"We were happy, 'cause she was all better..."
Filthy's eyes darken. He knows what happens next.
"She gave me a great big hug..."
His grip on his little filly tightens, along with his throat as he swallows a sob.
"... And r-r-ripped off m-my c-c-c-cutie m-mark!" She bursts into tears, crying into her father's shoulder. He wraps his arms around her, telling her it's okay, it was just a dream, mommy... The mean mare won't ever be coming back. He presses his lips against her mane, leaving a red smear that looks almost bloody. Eventually she calms down and falls asleep again, completely drained.
With Diamond propped in between you two, Filthy looks up and smiles.
"She likes you, you know."
"Yeah. I like her too."
And with that, he nuzzles his daughter, and you nuzzle her as well. You're determined to be the best father you can be.
Diamond mumbles something about a flying buffalo, and Filthy laughs softly.
God, you love his laugh.
You lean over to him, utterly enamored by it. "Will you marry me, you filthy fucking horse?" You ask as you move towards his lips.
"Dear sweet Celestia, Anon," he grumbles, his gravelly voice sending a knot through your insides, "Do you even have to ask?"
That lipstick tastes like cherries. How 'bout that.
You've come to accept the end of your life on Earth.
Perhaps now, with these two ponies by your side, you can be reborn in Equestria.
You don't know how much time you'll have together-- Who does? But you do know what you have :A family. The world may be cruel, the sheer injustice of life may wear you down until you feel you have nothing left to live for, but in this moment you know, truly, that you are not alone.
And as the synchronized breathing of your daughter and husband-to-be lull you to sleep, you can't help but wonder what the next chapter of your life will hold.
But for now, thoughts fade, and you know that these moments are golden.
Author's Note
I was in a weird mood tonight.
By the way, did you know Filthy Rich doesn't have a character tag?
