It was nice and sunny. This was the ideal day for Diamond Tiara. Well it would have been better if she did not have to spend it cooped up in a carriage heading towards Canterlot with her father, Filthy Rich. Why she would like nothing more than to be sitting on the porch of the family manor reading a book from their library. It seems, however, that her father had other plans for her today.
Her father Filthy Rich, has aged well into his twilight years. His mane and tail have started showing signs of silver streaks that only he seems to be able to pull off. Even though he is getting older each day, he keeps getting more jovial and expressive with his friends and family. He has basically handed his whole business to his daughter except for a few dealings that he personally sees to, but in time he will pass on those to her as well. Teaching Tiara was hard at first, but she seemed to catch on rather quickly for a filly of her age. 'She was always great at learning' Filthy thought to himself while looking at his daughter admiring how much she looked like her mother. A tired sigh escaped his lips as he adjusted his gaze out of the side window of the carriage
She heard thes sigh and turned her head towards her father "Something on your mind, Dad?" Diamond asked
"Nothing important, princess" Filthy Rich responded rather quickly. It seemed he wanted to change the subject rather quickly. "Just thinking and enjoying the view." He averted his gaze from the field that was basking in the noon sunlight. He grabbed a zap apple from his personal basket of apples that he bought from the apples. He made a mental note to restock his supply for the next trip.
"Is there anything that I need to worry about?" Diamond asked her father looking quizzically.
He guffawed looking at her "It's just a business trip, Princess. You have nothing to worry about. You can unwind once we get to the Canterlot. Everything will be all apples" He chuckled at his little joke. Diamond rolled her eyes and resumed looking back outside. He eyed his daughter and a smile crept onto his lips once again. He started "You know, If you want we can stop by that store you like. It is along the way towards the hotel" he suggested.
She look back at him searching his face for any mischievous antics, but found none. It wasn't like him to just give her something. She always had to work for everything, that was their family motto, but she would be lying if she said she didn't want to look at the new up and coming fashion designs in Canterlot. It just felt fishy to Diamond somehow. She decided to try and do some digging. It would give her practice anyways for her future in business.
"So... what is the catch? Dad." Diamond Tiara deadpanned 'straight to the point, I guess' she thought.
Filthy stared back at his daughter smirking he took another bite "You know, I knew you would ask that question, glad to know you still remember one of the family mottoes" He was proud his daughter caught onto these little things that aid in everyday business ventures.
"yea yea, dad" Diamond Tiara said. She was glad that she was able to figure it out so fast, and by the look of it to her he was pretty satisfied with her understanding of the business world. "Anyways, What do you want from me in exchange for the clothes?" she asked getting straight to the point.
"A trip" he stated blatantly. The smirk on his face left as he continued "Diamond, my daughter, it is time for you to fully take over the family business. As you already know, I am beginning to enter into my twilight years. I feel that I have done all I can for you, to ensure your future is stable. Hence, why I brought you with me on this little business venture." Filthy Rich took a second to look at his daughter to make sure she was following along.
She nodded "O.K. I understand. You want me to do this business trip. Where am I going?" Diamond Tiara asked her father. To say Diamond Tiara was ecstatic was an understatement. She wanted to make her dad proud by showing him she could handle all of the things he could and then some. She already had plans to make bigger profits once she had full control over the business. She just needed to do this last "trial" as she put it.
Filthy Rich chuckled "heh.. heh.. Don't get too cocky, princess." he looked at her raised eyebrow and quickly explained. "Where you are going won't be in Equestria. It will be in Griffonia, The coastal city of Feathereach to be exact. We have trade dealings that need to be renewed with them. I decided that if you can handle this, you can handle the whole operation. Once, you have made it back, and I have received a letter that things went smoothly, then I will hand the whole business over to you." Again Filthy Rich took a moment to study his daughters face. 'She really has a good poker face' he thought.
Diamond Tiara played out the scenario in her head. On one hand she would be able to visit a foreign land and learn a new culture, even if it was for just a few days. On the other hand she didn't want to be gone that long. She still had things to do with the business. "What about..."
"The store and warehouse I will handle and take care of while you are gone" Filthy cut her off already answering her question. "I will not force you to go on the trip if you do not want too." he stated. "I just want you to be able to handle other species, and the way they do business. I wanted you to start with the griffons because they are the reason our business has flourished." he smiled and leaned over to his daughter to whisper "all our family motto's they are actually griffon mottos." He laughed. She deadpanned, but soon started to chuckle with her father.
"Are you... sure you aren't... aging backwards?" Diamond Tiara asked her father in between breaths. Her chuckling started to die down with her father's.
"I know I have been acting childish lately, but it is another thing I want you to learn. Not everything has to be about work. You need time to unwind and laugh for no reason." She agreed by nodding along "Anyways back to the topic. Think about it. We will be in Canterlot in a few hours. I want you to take that time to see if YOU..." he started pointing a hoof out at her "... want to do this. I do not want you to consider what I want. You need to decide if you want this. OK?" He asked confirming that he made his point clear.
Again Diamond Tiara nodded. Her mind was made up already, but she agreed with her father. She did want to think about this. "Ok father. I will give you my answer once we reach the city." She resumed looking back out to the field. She saw Canterlot in the background approaching slowly. It was still a few hours away just like her father said. She sighed and began going through more scenarios in her head for the pros and cons about this business venture.
Author's Note
Bugga bugga
A Chance Meeting: Part one
"Dad, how does this look?" Diamond asked her father while walking out of a dressing room towards a full body mirror. She was wearing a white and gold dress that hugged her barrel and withers snugly. The trims of the dress ended in alternating colors of white and gold that hung right above the ground so as not to drag. The right side of the dress was split to show the cutie mark of the one wearing it.
"You look fantastic, princess." Filthy Rich informed his daughter. He knew exactly what she was doing. He knew Diamond Tiara wouldn't just use this chance to get a new dress that she wanted. She was using this opportunity to get a dress that would appeal to the customs and cultures of the griffon kingdom. He started "Nothing says business in Griffonia more than white and gold"
That put ease into the young mare. She honestly did not know what colors griffons preferred, so she went with her instincts and chose the two colors that represented wealth. 'Maybe I should get some purple eyeliner to make this dress pop out' Diamond thought to herself. "Dad?" Diamond asked.
"Yes, Princess?" He answered while browsing through the party stallion ties. He wanted to get another funny tie. It was sort of a hobby for him.
Knowing she had his attention she continued. "I know I agreed to this, and I will not take that back. However, I need to know. What kind of trade deals require us to stop in Canterlot first?" She looked at her father expactantly wanting to get a legitimate answer. She looked at him to signal she was serious with this question.
He looked up at her and noticed her expression. He sighed. "I am so happy that you are so perceptive. It does a father proud..." He looked at her and chuckled. "You need an escort." He paused taking and started to explain after seeing his daughters visible confusion. " You are going to Griffonia. They may be wealthy business people, but they are sneaky and sometimes they go to extreme measures trying to take what they do not own."
He looked at her as she nodded to him that she understood now. "So basically, I am going to be needing a guard..." She confirmed with her father. He nodded. "Ok, that makes sense, but why didn't we just ask for an escort from Princess Twilight?" she asked her dad confusion once again greeting her. She started towards the dressing room intent on taking of the dress and preparing for the purchase.
"Well, you see. We could of went to Princess Twilight, but all the guards there are cadets. Protecting Twilight is basically like an internship for the big league right now. Maybe later down the line, she will set up her own defense regiment and elect a shield major of her own, but until then I want to request one that has the experience necessary to travel outside of Equestria." Filthy replied. He thought for a moment. Maybe he should make some time to talk to princess twilight to set up a barracks for training of guards ponies. It would benefit the town immensely and bring in profit for the business. Plus it would quiet things down in Ponyville. The town needs more quiet times and less monster raids.
"So we are going to be requesting a guard from princess Celestia's regiment?" She asked while behind the curtain. The dress was easier to get off than to put on. She just had to make sure it didn't wrinkle.
"Nope, We are going to be requesting a Guard from Princess Luna's Regiment." Filthy Rich stated matter of factly
"Why would we request guards from princess Luna's regiment?" Diamond Tiara asked clearly confused.
"I am surprised you do not keep up with the military..." Filthy mused "...Then again, you never needed a reason to know." Filthy completed his statement mumbling the last part mostly to himself.
Diamond opened the door and gave her father her signature deadpan expression. Clearly she wanted him to elaborate further "Care to elaborate, other than muse over my lack of knowledge" She stated with a hint of irritation in her voice, she didn't want to be irritated, but Diamond was the type of mare that didn't like being left out of the loop. She could assure to Celestia that she will be reviewing this subject while on her free time.
Filthy smirked again "Sorry for being inconsiderate, princess. The reason why we should always request a lunar guard would be because of the unicorns." Filthy took a moment to pause and see if she was following along. She still seemed confused over this subject. He sighed and smiled at his daughter. "Princess, this is a long subject that I do not wish to discuss right now. How about we go to dinner and discuss this? We are holding up the line after all." He said while smiling and tilting his head forward to somepony behind Diamond.
She looked behind her and saw that the cashier was waiting patiently with a big smile on his face. Diamond tiara cantered over to the register to pay for her dress.
Filthy walked outside of the store He looked around the area to find a restaurant for dinner. He soon spotted one towards the end of strip mall.'Doesn't look that busy to me' he thought to himself. 'I wonder if they sell apples?' he was hoping they would sell apples. 'Probably won't be as good as the apples from sweet apple acres though.' he continued to think more about those apples with their nice crisp flesh and juicy insides. He could feel his mouth watering from the thought of eating one.
*Bump* Filthy was brought out of his thoughts by something bumping into his foreleg. He looked down at the young fuschia unicorn filly that seemed to be dazed by the impact. He chuckled to himself, "Well well, I didn't know I was that boring that foals couldn't see me."
The filly looked up at him, she still adorned the dazed expression, but it slowly started to fade. "Hi, mister!" she beamed her pearly whites at him. "Sorry, I ran into you. Daddy said he would get me some ice cream before his next mission and I just got so excited IstartedrunningasfastasIcouldeventhoughheisaslowwalkerand MPPHHH!?!?!?!?" She was silenced by a yellow magical aura that gently encased her lips.
"Sorry about her, Mr. Rich" A light gray lanky lunar guard pony said to the amused earth pony. "She just gets so excitable. I don't know where she gets it from." The guard started explaining. A tired yet amused sigh escaped his lips. He let the aura dissipitate getting a false glare from his daughter.
Filthy raised a brow "Do I know you? Your voice sounds semi familiar..." he asked the guard. "but I don't remember befriending a member of the lunar guard" He started recollecting his past interactions with lunar member in his memories, but nothing came into his mind.
"Well, I can't speak for the other Lunar Guardsponies, but we know eachother, Mr. Rich, Don'tcha remember me?" The guard tried to reassure him. Then something clicked in his head "duh, of course ya don't recognize me with this helmet on..." He took the helmet off, and his fur started to change color from a light gray to a buttercup colored coat with a sea green cropped mane and tail. "... there we go, that should be abit easier for ya."
"I like that trick daddy, Can I put on your helmet, PLEASE. I promise I won't drop it. Please please please please please ple-mmmpphh?" The same yellow aura gently grabbed her lips again.
Filthy chuckled as he saw the scene unfold in front of him. This reminded him of his early years raising Diamond. 'It's always the fillies that seem to be the ones filled with never ending energy.' he thought to himself
"Sure thing, Escargot" Snails chuckled along with filthy and gently placed the helmet on her head. Her coat color started to change to that of her dad's previous color.
"Keep guard and make sure nopony eavesdrops while I talk to our spy, then we can go and get some food, sound good slugger?" Snails said to his daughter with a hint of a smile on his face
"Ok daddy, no spies will make it past my super eyes" Escargot said giving a salute to her dad. She started pacing around them in circles giggling every so often.
Snails turned his attention towards Filthy rich again. If this is gonna be like anyother interaction with a ponyville resident he might as well state the obvious question. "Anyways, What's on your mind Mr.Rich? I know you have a question for me. Every other Ponyville resident has one when they find out what my job is."
Filthy Rich was pulled from his thoughts and looked at snails. "I am going to be honest Snails, I never took you as one to join the guard." Filthy looked at his daughter to make sure she was indeed there and not a hallucination. "Let alone have a foal of all things. My burning question is how did all of this happen?" Filthy Rich asked with disbelief that this was the same snails from before.
Snails stifled a laugh "Yea, I hafta agree with ya on that one. If you told me 10 years ago that I was going to be in the lunar guard, AND that I was gonna be a father taking his foal for ice cream every other week I woulda just been confused by why you were even talking to me." he chuckled and looked at the earth pony. "Wanna go get something to eat with me and my daughter?" he invited the earth stallion. "There is this place just down the street that servers candied everything basically, and I would love to get my foal some of that tasty tasty ice cream that she 'desperately needed' as her mother put it.
Filthy chuckled along with him " Sure thing Snails. Do you mind if we wait on my daughter first. She is finishing up an order in the store. She should be out in a few more minutes."
Snails nodded. "We don't mind waiting on her, Do we slugger?" Snails asked to his daughter that just started intently listening after the word ice cream came into play.
She shook her head and beamed her pearly whites once more "The fun shall be doubled, that's what mommy always says" The light gray filly said while resuming her pacing incorporating jumps every now and then around the two stallions that continued to idly chat about their lives thus far.
Author's Note
For reference Snails is 24
Diamond is 22
Escargot is 5
Also please point out anytypos and inconsistencies.
