Rich Hearts
Written by ZekeOfTheFreaks
Diamond Tiara was enjoying a sunny day at the park with her friend, Silver Spoon. It had been two weeks since she was visited by a stallion named Source Code on her birthday. She had invited the Cutie Mark Crusaders to join them, but Apple Bloom had to help out her family back at the farm, Sweetie Belle was stuck assisting Rarity with her recent orders, and Scootaloo had already made plans with Rainbow Dash that day.
"It sure is a shame that the other three couldn't join us today," Silver Spoon said.
"I know," Diamond Tiara responded. "And we just became friends with them, too."
"I hope you're not still mad that I couldn't make it your birthday, Diamond Tiara. I wanted to go, but I was so sick."
"It's not your fault, Silver Spoon. You wanted to make sure I didn't get sick like you, so I understand." The two fillies smiled at each other. A few minutes later, they noticed a stallion walking by, with his head held low and an upset face. Diamond Tiara recognized him immediately by his blue vest and black cowboy hat. "Hey, that's Source Code."
"Source Code?" Silver Spoon asked. "You mean that's the stallion who visited you on your birthday?"
"Yes, that's him. I wonder what's wrong with him?" She thought to herself about how his pleasant demeanor helped her have the best birthday she could hope for, and stated, "I'll go over to him, to see what's up." She trotted to the stallion, and Silver Spoon followed.
"Excuse me, Mr. Source Code, sir?" Diamond Tiara said. The stallion looked at the tiara-topped filly and her friend, and said,
"Well, if it isn't you, Diamond Tiara. How have you been doing lately?"
"I've been doing great. I tried being nice to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, like you suggested, and it worked out just great. We're great friends now, right SIlver Spoon?"
"Oh, totally." The gray filly replied.
"Anyway, I wanted to thank you again for visiting me, and for the great gift. I'll never forget what you did for me."
"Oh, it was my pleasure." Source Code commented. "I'm glad to know that you're both friends with those three fillies now. I just wish my days had been going more smoothly." He lowered his head again, and kept walking. Both fillies followed him as he walked along.
"Well, what's the matter, Source?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"It's... nothing really."
"If something's up, you can tell us. We'd be glad to help you out." Silver Spoon said.
"I appreciate it, but it's really nothing." At this point, Source Code wasn't fooling either of them. The two fillies decided to walk in front of him, and cut him off in his tracks.
"Look, Source Code," Diamond Tiara said with a sharp tone. "If something's bothering you, which it clearly is, we want to know why."
"That's right. Besides, Diamond Tiara would do anything for you after what you did for her. At the very least, give us the chance to help you." Source Code sighed, and started appearing frustrated.
"Fine. You really want to know what's wrong? I've been under a lot of stress lately. I just finished a project for work only recently, my best friend recently had to move away to Manehattan, and to make matters worse, I accidentally offended another friend of mine by telling him a mean joke, and now he wants nothing to do with me. All this tension has just been messing up my mind in ways I can't even explain." Both fillies started feeling sorry for him, almost regretting cutting him off the way they did. He noticed their empathy, and felt bad for snapping at them. "Oh, I'm sorry, Diamond Tiara and... Silver Spoon, right?" The gray filly nodded. "Look, can I just have some time alone, please? I need to clear my head."
"Sure, Source Code." Diamond Tiara responded. "I should probably get home soon, anyway. If you ever want to talk to me, you can always come back to my mansion."
"Thanks, DT." He patted her on the head, and went back to walking. As soon as he was out of their sight, Silver Spoon commented,
"Are you sure Source Code is as nice as you said he is? He seemed like a bit of a jerk to me."
"He wasn't that harsh last time. He must really be feeling upset." Both fillies went back to playing for a few minutes, before Filthy Rich came to the park to escort Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon back home.
A day had passed, and Diamond Tiara was at home, with Silver Spoon keeping her company. Filthy Rich was out on his business ventures, as usual, and the two fillies were feeling bored. They heard the doorbell ring at around midday. Diamond Tiara went to answer the door, and when she opened it, she saw Source Code standing in front of her, looking somewhat more cheerful.
"Source Code! You came after all."
"Yeah. I thought about how I snapped at you and your friend, and wanted to apologize in case I came off as rude."
"It's alright, we forgive you."
"Anyway, where's the white hat I got for you?"
"Oh yeah, I'll go get it." Diamond Tiara rushed to her room, while Silver Spoon came to the door to properly meet him.
"You must be Silver Spoon," he said. "I know we met back in the park, but I should properly introduce myself. My name is Source Code. I live in Las Pegasus, but I like to visit Ponyville whenever I can. Anyway, I wanted to say that I'm sorry for snaping at you yesterday."
"Oh, it's alright. You were feeling upset, so you deserved a chance to vent," Silver Spoon replied. Source Code smiled at the gray filly. Diamond Tiara came back, wearing the white hat he gave her as a gift. "Oh my gosh! DT, you look so pretty in that hat. How come you haven't shown it to me before?"
"Well, it's a little different for me, so I wasn't sure if you'd like it."
"Are you kidding? It's perfect. It matches your mane's highlights perfectly." Diamond Tiara blushed, and Source Code smiled at the two fillies.
"So, what have you two been up to lately?" he asked them.
"Actually, it's been pretty boring here," DT replied.
"Is that so? Why don't we head to the back lot, and do something there? I remember you showing me how beautiful it is back there." Both fillies realized that they hadn't thought of that, and agreed to it. The three ponies then started walking to the estate's back lot, and as Source Code remembered, it was filled with well-tended greenery and luxurious decor.
Source Code started walking around, looking for ideas to entertain them, and noticed a hedge maze in the east side of the lot.
"Girls, I have an idea. I'll be right back, just stay here." Source Code trotted back into the mansion, and after about five minutes, he came back with eight pieces of paper and a white mask. He then led the two fillies to the hedge maze, where he explained his idea. "So, I have an idea for a game. It's called Slendermane. One of us puts on this white mask, and places these eight pieces of paper, or 'pages', anywhere throughout the maze. The other two of us try to locate all eight pages, and make it to the exit, without being captured by the masked pony, known as Slender." The two fillies' eyes beamed with excitement, as Source Code continued. "After hiding the pages, Slender hides somewhere in the maze, and the other two enter. Slender can move anywhere throughout the maze, but they cannot leave it. If Slender sees another pony, they try to capture them--a simple tap on the head will do. A captured player exits through the maze entrance. If Slender captures both ponies, they win, but either of the other two makes it to the end with all eight pages, they both win."
"That sounds really fun! I want to play!" Silver Spoon shouted.
"Can we collect the pages first?"
"Sure thing, girls." Source Code put the mask on, and went into the maze. About two minutes later, he announced that he was ready. The two fillies entered the maze, and within two minutes, Silver Spoon had found 4 of them, and Diamond Tiara 3 of them. They were about to come to the exit, where they saw the last page, until Source Code came from the side, and captured both of them. The fillies were disappointed that they lost, but they laughed it off. They played two more games, each having one of the fillies being Slender. Diamond Tiara won both games. She said to Source Code,
"That was so fun. It's nice to have great friends like you over, Source."
"Yeah," Source Code said with a chuckle. "Great friends... like me." His head lowered, his ears drooped, and he looked depressed.
"What's wrong, Source?" Silver Spoon asked him in concern.
"It's just... I'm thinking about my friends. Remember how I told you that a friend of mine moved away, and another doesn't want to see me again?" They both nodded. "Well, I know I can't do anything about the former, but I feel really bad about that latter." The two fillies whispered in each other's ears, and Diamond Tiara responded,
"Tell me, Source Code, what's the name of the pony who doesn't want to see you again?"
"His name? It's Regal Shadows." Diamond Tiara's eyes widened a bit.
"That's one of my dad's clients."
"Really?"
"Yeah." Diamond Tiara thought to herself about the situation, and continued, "Look, I know where Regal lives, and if it would make you feel better, I could come with you and let you apologize to him."
"That's nice of you to offer, but like I said, he wants nothing to do with me anymore."
"Look at it this way," Silver Spoon commented. "If you tell him you're sorry, there's no guarantee he'll forgive you, but at least he'll know you care." The gray filly was right, and Source Code knew it.
"Yeah. Besides, after what you did for me, I owe you this chance." The stallion still wasn't sure of himself. He remembered how Regal had never been the most forgiving pony, but he thought that if Diamond Tiara wants to pay him back for what he did for her, it would only be right to grant her this request.
"Alright. Thank you, girls, for doing this for me." All three smiled, and made their way into the mansion and towards the front door.
"I'll leave a note for my dad, in case he comes back while we're out." Diamond Tiara trotted to her father's office, and wrote out a note saying that she and her friends would be out for a while. She rejoined the other two, and they all started walking to Regal's house.
The three ponies traveled across Ponyville, and came across a lone, small house at the edge of town. Inside was a bluish-gray unicorn stallion.
"That's him. Regal Shadows." Source Code said.
"Alright," Diamond Tiara responded. "I'll knock on the door." Source Code and Silver Spoon stood back while Diamond Tiara knocked on the door, and the unicorn came to answer. The door opened, and the stallion inside noticed the pink filly at the doorstep.
"Hey, you're Filthy Rich's daughter. Diamond Tiara, right?"
"Yes, that's me. But I'm not the pony who wants to talk to you. My friend, Source Code here, has something to say." Regal was tempted to close the door on them, but didn't want to be rude to Filthy Rich's own daughter. Source Code came up to him, and Regal asked in exasperation,
"What do you want?"
"I came to apologize, Regal. I know what I said to you was uncalled for, disrespectful, and humiliating. I was only trying to make a joke, but I went too far. I realize my mistake, and I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me, but if you don't, I'll understand." Regal's serious face appeared to soften up a bit. He made an effort to smile, and replied,
"Thanks." Regal closed the door. Source Code took that as forgiveness, and smiled.
"Girls, thank you. Both of you were here for me, and I'm grateful for it. I know it's not much, but I want you both to have something of mine." Source Code reached into his vest pocket, and pulled out two golden lockets. "That friend I told you about that moved to Manehattan gave these to me as a parting gift. He told me to give them to somepony who deserves them. I want you two to have them." He held them out, and both fillies grabbed one of them. They tried to open them, but had no luck. "Just twist the small dial on the side, and they should open." They each did so, and when it opened, there were slides for two pictures in each of them, with Source Code's picture on top. "I know it isn't much, but it's all I can offer you two in return for your help." The two fillies started crying tears of joy.
"Thank you, Source Code!" both of them said in delight.
"It's my pleasure. Say, we should get you two back home." They nodded in agreement, and all three trotted back to the mansion.
The three ponies were back at the estate, and the fillies each found pictures of each other, which they placed in their lockets. They loved their gifts from Source Code, and he was glad to see them feeling so happy.
"I should thank you two again. My conscious is clear, and I can finally get back to my life. With that, I should head home. I have a train to catch, anyway."
"Oh, leaving so soon?" Diamond Tiara asked, as she and Silver Spoon followed the stallion out the front door.
"I'm afraid I have to. I'll be sure to come back soon, though." He patted both fillies on the head. "Goodbye, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon." Source Code trotted off, and was eventually out of the fillies' sights.
"So, I guess Source Code is a nice guy, after all," Silver Spoon said.
"He... really is." Diamond Tiara replied. The two fillies each gave one more look at their lockets, and shed a tear of joy onto the picture of the stallion's face.
