Prolgue:
Once Upon A Summertime
Written by Weird Alicorn
“Ugh, I know it’s around here somewhere!” exclaimed Diamond Tiara.
The filly was busy scrounging through her father’s study while her ever present sidekick, Silver Spoon, waited next to the door. Silver watched as her friend tore past piles of paperwork that hadn’t been touched in ages as was evident by the clouds of dust that billowed out whenever she lifted them up and out of the way of her search. The sliver of sunlight that peaked through the thick drapes of the lone window within the office illuminated the little dust motes as they drifted carelessly by old mahogany shelves and ancient filing cabinets.
A faded portrait of the late Stinkin’ Rich hung on the wall opposite the window, his face stern and partially obscured by the brim of a large straw hat. The stallion had grown hard in his older years, his eyes gaining a few more lines and his mane turning to gray along the sides, but he never discarded that which he had from the beginning. He’d grown from a simple zap apple jam vendor into a business mogul worth twice his weight in bits and yet still kept the hat. Beneath the austere pony--on the frame of the painting--a plaque held the words of the family etched permanently into the metal. They read, “Our Debt is Paid.”
Silver Spoon had no idea what the debt was or to whom it was paid, but after peering at the inscription for a time, she decided that it was irrelevant either way. Many families of hers and Diamond’s social class had their own mottos whose true meaning had been long lost to history. At that moment she recalled her own family’s words, “Fortune is a Friend.” Considering the wealth of her companion, Silver did have to agree with that sentiment.
“Maybe we should check somewhere else. All these papers look way older than either of us…” remarked Silver Spoon, sidestepping a stack of yellowing documents that was displaced by her frustrated friend. Silver didn’t like being in the old office; the dust stuck to her glasses and made it hard to breathe. Every breath she took came with the scent of old parchment and forgotten roses that had drooped over in their vase on the large desk in the center of the room. The muted red of the roses made her think of something dying and she felt way too young to be reminded of her own mortality.
“Daddy said he’d written it a long time ago. Long before I was ever born,” explained Diamond, clearly annoyed at her friend interrupting her search. “This room has all the old deeds and stuff for our family. It has to be here!”
“Okay, okay,” sighed Silver, ducking out of the way of a flying paperweight. “I’ll help you out then. It’ll be faster that way. And then we can get out of here.”
Diamond Tiara didn’t respond so Silver made her way over to one of the tall bookshelves lining the wall behind the desk. All of the old books reminded her of the Golden Oaks Library, but at least Twilight Sparkle kept all of those books dust and cobweb free. Scanning the shelves, Silver noticed one book in particular. It’s red jacket was completely clean as if it had been recently removed.
Upon closer inspection she saw that its spine bore no title nor author. She tried to reach up to pull it out, but found that it was an inch too high for her. Silver looked to her friend for assistance, though thought better of it when she heard Diamond’s exclamations and curses as she dug through yet another pile of documents. The pampered filly would definitely be glad they waited until her mother had gone out so as not to be reprimanded on tearing the house apart, or in this instance, her language.
The gray earth filly was about to go grab the large office chair behind the desk when she had to leap out of the way of yet another thrown paperweight. This one collided with the bookshelf and knocked lose several of the novels, including the mysterious red one. Silver walked over to the pile of fallen books and brushed aside the dust collectors until she spotted the crimson cover. When she went to pick it up however, it proved a far greater effort than she first expected. The book was thick, but parchment shouldn’t weigh that much. She flipped it over on the floor only to see that the front cover held a relief of a golden rose.
“Wow,” voiced Silver, despite herself. The rose was small, delicate and beautifully carved.
“What? Did you find it?” asked Diamond, she had already tossed away a paper folder she’d been leafing through and was skipping her way over to her friend in excitement.
“I’m not really sure what I found,” admitted Silver. She stepped aside to give Diamond a better view of the cover and of the pretty rose. She watched as the pink filly examined the cover for a moment only to flip it open with an anticlimactic swish of her hoof. “Okay, then. Wasn’t expecting that,” was all that Diamond Tiara could say when the two of them peered into the book's contents.
The cover was clearly only for show as the inside was completely hollowed out leaving just enough room for a velvet white box to rest snugly within. The box had an even smaller version of the golden rose and would have been just as beautiful, if not more, except that there were brown smudges defacing the white field surrounding it.
Diamond nudged at the box with the tip of her hoof saying, “Is that dirt or is it--”
“Girls!”
The two fillies nearly jumped right out of their coats. They both turned to see Diamond Tiara’s father, the master of the house, Filthy Rich, standing in the doorway, with quite an apprehensive expression playing across his face. He was dressed in his usual white-collar half suit, a red tie hanging down his chest with a large dollar sign sewn into the fabric. His mane was slicked back though a few stray strands stuck up here and there giving him a slightly disheveled appearance at the moment. Silver Spoon could see that the stallion in front of them now was not the regular Filthy Rich.
“Girls, what are you doing in here?” he asked, looking from Diamond to Silver and then back again.
It took a moment for his daughter to respond. Clearly, she too was not used to seeing her father in such a state. Filthy Rich was a stallion of composed countenance save for the rare times when somepony made the mistake of referring to him by his first name. He kept a calm smile at all times, especially around Diamond, even when she’d done something she wasn’t supposed to. But now, there was no smile and a slight mania seemed to be contained in his eyes. Every so often they flicked towards the open book between the two girls. The now nervous Diamond Tiara glanced around for a moment as if to find an escape route, but upon finding that her father was blocking the doorway she finally spoke.
“I- we- Daddy! It’s all Scootaloo’s fault!” cried Diamond, tears already beginning to gather in their ducts.
Silver Spoon had to admire her friend’s ability to pull out the teary eyes whenever they were needed. In any case, it seemed to have soften her father’s expression and he swept her into a hug.
“What’s this about, sweet filly?” he asked, petting Diamond’s mane.
“S-scootaloo said th-that… that I’d grow up to be p-poor ‘cause nop-pony would want to give their m-money to m-m-me…” sniffed Diamond. She looked up at her father, fighting back her tears and continued, “B-but you said that y-you’d put me in your inher-inheritance… right, Daddy?”
“Of course, my Diamond,” said Mr. Rich with a consoling smile. “Is that why you were in here? Were you looking for my will, darling?”
Diamond simply nodded in response.
“Oh, sweet thing, you don’t have to worry about something like that,” he said. “The time for wills and inheritances is far off. But I assure you that you are my family and I will always make sure that you’re provided for.”
“Then… I am in your will?” asked Diamond, her tears starting to come less frequently.
Mr. Rich smiled at his daughter and pressed a hoof to her snout.
“Would you like to see it? It’s in my new office upstairs. You and Silver Spoon can go up and I’ll be up there to show you in a minute, okay?”
“Thank you, Daddy!” Diamond exclaimed, hugging her father full force before rushing to the door. “C’mon, Silver! We’ll show that half-baked pegasus what’s what!” she called, while running down the hallway to the stairs that led up to the second story.
Silver Spoon looked to the stallion who had seemed to have forgotten her and was now picking up the red book and placing it on the old desk. As she trotted to the door, she glanced back and saw him opening the lid of the white box. From her low angle she couldn’t quite make out what was inside, but she knew it must be shiny since the sunlight still leaking in from the draped window reflected off it into Mr. Rich’s face.
Perhaps even more peculiar than the shiny object was the soft music that began to play once the lid was lifted. Silver realized it must be a music box, but didn’t recognize the melody. Mr. Rich though, seemed to know the tune by heart and Silver could barely make out the soft lyrics as he sang along with the box.
*Music*
It was slow and melancholy. The atmosphere of the old office was the perfect setting for such a song. Silver didn’t wait around to hear the ending, though. She heard Diamond calling for her from upstairs and decided it’d be better not to keep her friend waiting. She closed the office door quietly behind her as she left; the image of Filthy Rich silhouetted against the window, lips barely sounding out the music forever burned into her memory.
