A Diamond Tiara Christmas Carol
It was the day before Christmas, and in the restless town of Ponyville,
Fillies and colts father gathered outside their school, atop a small hill.
One-by-one, the excited foals would step forth to decorate their school’s beloved tree,
Until a thoughtful gift gone wrong set the tree ablaze, and all eyes turned to the Crusaders three.
“A-Ah’m sorry, Miss Cheerilee,” Apple Bloom said, head hung low.
“We didn’t think the fire’d get that out of control,” Scootaloo said, head equally as low as her friends.
“Sorry,” Sweetie Belle added.
Cheerilee simply smiled and approached the three fillies. “Now, now. Accidents happen, especially when you gather this many excited little ponies in one place.”
“… So you’re not mad at us?” Apple Bloom asked.
Cheerilee shook her head. “It’s Christmas, Apple Bloom. The holiday of laughter and joy, and also for forgiveness.” Cheerilee turned around to examine the damage done to the tree. “Besides, I managed to put the fire out before any of the decorations were burned. Let’s not ruin this wonderful night by placing blame on others.”
The Crusaders smiled, but it wouldn’t last long. “You let them off way too easy!” Diamond Tiara shouted, approaching the three fillies with an angry look on her face. “They should know their place! What if their stupid ruined my expensive one?!”
“Diamond Tiara,” Cheerilee said in a pleading tone.
“Price ain’t everythin’!” Apple Bloom shouted. “It’s ‘bout what comes from the heart!”
“Yeah, that’s right!” Scootaloo said.
“Oh, please,” Diamond scoffed. “Of course you three would say that. Your families are poor! You’re of the lower class! I bet you don’t even get any good presents at Christmas time anyway.”
“Presents ain’t everythin’,” Apple Bloom said. “There’s heart, too! There’s spendin’ time with yer family, an’ sharin’ love and joy with others.”
“Family?” Diamond Tiara asked with a laugh. “What, those poor, dirty farmers who are of no importance whatsoever?” Diamond asked, waving her hoof dismissively. “Please. If [I had to spend a day with a family like that, I’d rather take a bad in a puddle of mud.”
“That might actually be an improvement,” Sweetie Belle muttered, much to her fiends’ surprise and Diamond’s annoyance. “Er, I mean… you shouldn’t talk bad about somepony’s family like that!”
“Why are you upset? Your family is actually half-okay,” Diamond told the filly. “Well, your sister is, at least. So dignified, so mature… Of course, you have about as much chance of being at her level as Scootaloo does learning how to fly.”
“Don’t even start!” Scootaloo shouted, baring her teeth and growling.
“I can too like Rarity!” Sweetie Belle protested. “I can be every bit as charming and graceful as her!”
“Yeah, okay,” Diamond said in a sarcastic tone. “Whatever keeps you two awake at night. Anyway, it’s getting late. Seeing as you two already ruined this night with you little stunt, I think I’m going to head home now.”
“Diamond Tiara, wait!” Cheerilee shouted. “We still haven’t gathered around to sing Christmas carols! It’s tradition!”
“It’s stupid,” Diamond said. “So boring, and so annoying having to hold hooves with these commoners.” Diamond Tiara shivered at the mere thought, before continuing on her way down the hill, ignoring her teacher as she called after her.
“How stupid,” Diamond Tiara muttered as she walked through the quiet town, watching her cold breath as she walked due to a lack of having anything better to do. She was so preoccupied not watching where she was going that she didn’t see the colt in her path before it was too late.
Picking herself up off of the ground, she turned an angry glare towards Pipsqueak, who was also trying to regain his balance. “Owww… My apologies, Miss Tiara. I was just in such a hurry, and-”
“Be more careful!” Diamond Tiara shouted and she pushed the stumbling colt back down onto his haunches.
“H-Hey!”
“Quiet! You should just thank your stars you didn’t damage my beautiful coat!” Diamond Tiara shouted. With a huff, she turned around and continued walking. “Honestly, some ponies just need to know their place!”
“Excuse me,” a mare asked as she stepped in front of Diamond Tiara, a basket hanging around her neck with money inside. “I’m collecting money for the poor ponies in Equestria that have nowhere to go. I don’t suppose you could spare a few bits, could you? It would be greatly appreciated.”
Diamond Tiara narrowed her eyes at the mare. “And why should I give any of my allowance to a bunch of ponies I know nothing about?”
The mare was taken aback by the response. “W-Well, it would be a nice gesture, and-”
“If they really don’t want to be poor so badly, they should do something about it themselves, not scrounge money from real, important ponies.”
“S-Sorry to have wasted your time,” the mare said, a hint of malice in her voice, before she moved on past Diamond Tiara.
With a sigh, Diamond Tiara resumed her walk home. “I can’t wait to finally be home where it’s warm and open my presents tomorrow morning. Without all these annoying ponies talking to me about ‘togetherness’ and ‘sharing’.” Diamond practically gagged at those words, but she held solace in knowing that it wouldn’t be long until Christmas Morning.
Diamond Tiara stirred in her bed. She was comfortably drifting off to sleep initially, but now there was a cold wind passing over her back and it was hard for her to find any rest. “Stupid… window… Who left you open?” Diamond would have got up to close the window herself, but she had already tucked herself into bed and couldn’t find the strength to roll herself out.
“Diiiiiiiamooooooond.” Diamond’s ears twitched. “Diiiiiiiiiiamoooooooooooooooond.”
“W-Who’s there?!” Diamond shouted as she sat up, looking around her room for the intruder. “The safe’s in my daddy’s room! Go bother him!”
“Noooooooooo. I am here for yoooooooooou.”
“What? Why? Are you some kind of foalfiddler?!”
“Foal- What?! No! Celestia, no!” The female voice cleared its throat before continuing. “Iiiiiiiii am the spirit of the niiiiiiiiight!”
“Why are you talking like that?”
“Dramatic effect, now stop interrupting me!” The voice cleared its throat again. “Iiiiiiiiii am here to-”
“Look, whatever you’re here for, can you hurry it up?! I have to get up early tomorrow to open my presents.”
The voice sighed, and suddenly a light flashed before Diamond Tiara. When the light faded Diamond Tiara was shocked to see Princess Luna standing at the foot of her bed.
“P-Princess Luna?!”
“That is correct, child. It is I, Princess of the Night, here to-”
Luna was interrupted by the filly suddenly crawling towards her. “Are you here to give me an early Christmas present? Oh boy, I knew I was special! Just wait ‘til I tell Apple Bloom about this! She’ll be so jealous!”
“Actually, I’m just here to give you a warning,” Luna said, pushing the filly away from her with her magic. “Tonight, you shall be visited by three ghosts. The Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of-”
“Christmas Future?” Diamond Tiara guessed.
“… Actually, ‘Christmas Yet To Come’, but your version sounds better.”
“But ghosts aren’t real,” Diamond said. “Miss Cheerilee said so. So did daddy.”
“Naïve child! I assure you, ghosts are very real, and are nothing to scoff at!”
“But if they’re ghosts, that means they can’t hurt me, right?” Diamond asked. “Won’t they just go through me?”
“They can still bring you harm, by possessing your body,” Luna warned, sending a chill down Diamond’s spine. “But fear not. These ghosts only seek to give you a warning.”
“A warning?” Diamond Tiara asked. Luna nodded. “… So you came here to give me a warning that I’m about to be warned of something.” Luna nodded again, this time a little more slowly. “… You’re just trying to skip out on your duties, aren’t you?”
“There’s just so much paperwork!” Luna shouted. “And unlike the old days I can’t simply hire a servant to sign it all for me! And the meetings are so boring. Frankly it makes my prison in the moon seem like a vacation.”
“So when do they get here?” Diamond asked.
“Hm?”
“The ghosts?”
“Oh!” Luna looked around the room. “Well, I guess in a few minutes. So I suppose I had better be going now.”
“Wait!” Diamond shouted, reaching a hoof out. “Before you go, I have a very, very important question!”
“Yes, my child?” Luna asked.
“Who designed your tiara? It is gorgeous.”
Luna chuckled and extended her wings, but rather than taking off, her own glowed and her body vanished in a flash of light.
“… Heeeeeeey! You didn’t answer my question!” Diamond Tiara shouted, falling back into her bed with a huff. “How rude!”
“How long are those stupid ghosts going to keep me waiting?! It’s way past my bedtime!” Diamond Tiara shouted as she stared up at her ceiling.
Suddenly, a face appeared before Diamond Tiara. A blue face, with wide, curios eyes staring down at her. “… Hi.”
Diamond’s own eyes widened and she screamed as she bolted up, startling the mare that was floating before her. “AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!”
“Whoa! Calm down there! I’m the-”
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!”
“Diamond, please!”
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!”
“…” The mare remained silent for a full minute as Diamond Tiara continued to scream, looking around the room and taking in the many toys and pieces of jewellery that the filly owned in order to pass the time. Finally, the filly calmed down. “You done?”
“Y-Yeah,” Diamond said, shaking as she backed herself as far away from the mare as she could. “A-Are you the Ghost of Christmas Past?”
“I am the Ghost of- … Okay, how?”
“P-Princess Luna told me,” Diamond explained.
The ghost facehooved. “That blabbermouth! Just because I gave one pony a heart attack!”
“Wait a minute… You’re Minuette!” Diamond Tiara recognised this ‘ghost’ as the town’s dentist. “You’re not a ghost at all! You looked at my teeth last week!”
“Yes, and your bad brushing killed me,” Minuette said.
Diamond’s face paled and she shook more. “I-It did?”
“No!” Minuette exclaimed, holding her stomach as she laughed heartily. “Oh, boy, that was fun! Nah, I’m just a part-time ghost, that’s all.”
“… What?” Diamond asked in a flat tone.
“Welllllll… think of me as being somepony who died before their time and so are granted longer life, at the cost of serving the afterlife from time-to-time.”
“… What?”
Minuette sighed. “You ever watch Yu Yu Hakusho?” Diamond Tiara gasped and nodded her head enthusiastically. “Then think of me as a spirit detective!”
“Ooooh!”
Minuette rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, anyway… I’ve heard that somepony hasn’t been a good little filly this year.”
“Oh, tell me about it,” Diamond scoffed. “That Scootaloo is such a brute, and she has a foul little mouth to boot.”
“Uh, no… I was talking about somepony else. Somepony who has been rather selfish and bratty.”
“Hey, what can I say? That Apple Bloom just doesn’t know her place.”
“… I’m talking about you!”
“… Oh.” A few seconds passed. “I’m not selfish and bratty!”
“Really?” Minuette asked. “You really believe that?”
“I know that!” Diamond Tiara shouted.
“Welp, that’s why I’m here!” Minuette declared with a smile. “I’m here to show you the error of your ways, and hopefully you’ll turn over a new leaf!”
“And how are you going to do that?”
“Come with me,” Minuette said, walking towards Diamond Tiara’s bedroom door. “I’ll show you why I’m the Ghost of Christmas Past.”
“… Alright, but if you start offering me candy I’m running to my daddy.” Diamond Tiara climbed out of her bed and followed after Minuette. They walked down the hallway of Diamond’s house and down the stairs, towards the living room.
“We’re here,” Minuette said. “Behold: your past!”
Diamond Tiara raised an eyebrow, but had no time to question it as she suddenly heard the sounds of giggling to her right. As she turned, she was shocked to see her mother and father gathered around an even younger Diamond Tiara, who was opening presents with a smile on her face.
“Yay, presents!” Diamond Tiara shouted, excitedly tearing into the first one she got her hooves onto. “Yaaaaay, a new dollhouse!”
“Now Diamond, please try to show a little control,” Diamond’s mother, Nurse Sweetheart, said as she collected the discarded wrapping paper.
“Wait, this isn’t the one I asked for!” Diamond Tiara shouted.
“I’m sorry, sweetie,” Filthy Rich said, “But that one was out of stock. But this one is just as good, right?”
“This one doesn’t have the princess’ chariot, though!” the young Diamond Tiara shouted with a huff, folding her forelegs and pouting.
“There? Do you see?” Minuette asked, drawing a puzzled look from Diamond Tiara.
“I don’t get it. What exactly am I supposed to be seeing? That I was loud and obnoxious when I was five years old?”
Minuette sighed. “Give me a break. You’re only a kid. Not exactly much potential for a dark and selfish past. Usually I work with grown stallions like Prince Blueblood.”
“So can I go now?” Diamond Tiara asked. “Seeing myself opening presents just makes me want to open my presents even sooner… What?”
“I guess I’ve done all I can do here,” Minuette admitted as she began to fade away. “But stick around! Ghost number two will be right up!”
“Yay,” Diamond Tiara said in a sarcastic tone as she watched Minuette fade out before her eyes. “… Besides, that doll house ended up being better than the princess chariot one.”
Ten minutes passed with Diamond Tiara waiting ‘patiently’ downstairs, tapping her hoof to the floor and staring into the roaring fireplace as her frustration grew by the second. “Where is that stupid ghost? I’m going to go to bed if they don’t show up soon!”
“Um, excuse me…” Diamond Tiara looked up and around the room. “Over here.” Diamond’s attention turned to the doorway, where a yellow mare with a pink mane was peeking into the room from around the corner. “D-Diamond Tiara?”
“Wait a minute… Miss Fluttershy?!” Diamond shouted, startling the pegasus as she charged towards her. “You’re the next ghost?!”
“Y-Yes. That’s right.”
“B-But you’re not dead! I saw you last night on my way home from school!”
Fluttershy shuffled her hooves across the floor. “Um… Y-You remember the story about how I got my cutie mark, don’t you?” Diamond Tiara nodded. “Well… the truth is… butterflies aren’t usually that helpful…”
“… Dark.”
“Oh, but it isn’t so bad,” Fluttershy said. “Thanks to being a ghost, I can talk to animals.”
“You mean it isn’t because you’re so kind-hearted and pure?” Diamond Tiara asked, receiving a giggle from Fluttershy.
“Oh, so cute,” Fluttershy commented as she giggled. “… A-Anyway, I heard from Minuette that you may have been just a liiiiitle bit selfish and not so kind this year?”
“That’s so not true,” Diamond Tiara said.
“Oh? So you didn’t tell Scootaloo that she was a talentless blank flank who would never fly, or tell Sweetie Belle that she would never be like her sister, or take more candy from Twist than was offered to you?”
“Name one ti- … Okay, so maybe I was a little selfish,” Diamond Tiara said, “But really, they’re just commoners with no real prestige or title. Why should it matter if I put them in their proper places?”
“You think Apple Bloom’s proper place is in the mud?”
“… She has a bathtub, right? She’ll be fine.”
Fluttershy sighed. “Diamond Tiara, would you mind very much if I used my ghostly powers to show you a few visions?”
Diamond Tiara sighed. “Do I have a choice?”
“Why of course you do,” Fluttershy said. “… Oh, wait. I’m supposed to be haunting you. Um… no. You do not have a choice.”
“Then let’s just get this over with.”
“Right. Um, this might feel weird, but I’ll be here with you, so please try to be brave and-”
“Today!” Diamond Tiara shouted, startling Fluttershy.
“R-Right. One ghostly image coming right up.” Fluttershy closed her eyes and focussed, using all of her ghostly powers to change the shape of the room to something even smaller. Diamond Tiara looked around. “Here we are.”
“Where?” Diamond asked, noticing the cheap wooden table, the single couch in the room, the small Christmas tree, and the family of pegasi decorating it. “Wait, Scootaloo?”
“Yes. This is Scootaloo’s house.” Fluttershy looked over towards the filly hanging candy canes onto the tree. “As you can see, she has a warm, loving family, just like you do. She celebrates Christmas and she looks forward to it every year, and she loves to spend time decorating her tree with her family. Really, you and her are not so different from each other.”
“But I’m richer,” Diamond Tiara pointed out. “And my daddy holds a position of power, and my mommy hold ponies’ lives in her hooves.”
“That’s-” Fluttershy stopped to absorb the last thing the filly had said. She shook it off. “That’s beside the point. Whether you’re rich or poor, noble or common, we are all ponies who live together in the same town, and so we should all embrace in the warmth and the joy of Christmas together.”
“Okay… but what does that have to do with me?” Diamond Tiara asked. “I mean, so I called her a few names at school. All you’ve shown me is that she doesn’t care and that she’s happy anyway.”
“This was just for starters,” Fluttershy said. “The next image will be a little worse…” Fluttershy closed her eyes and focussed again. The image distorted and changed shape to another, even smaller room, this one with a bed, a dresser, a small wardrobe, and a white unicorn filly sitting by herself in the dark, playing with dolls. “You recognise her?”
“Sweetie Belle?” Diamond Tiara asked. “Why’s she alone in the dark like this?”
“Because she’s lonely,” Fluttershy told her. “Sweetie Belle’s parents work very hard to provide for her, but as a result they’re not around very often, and unfortunately this year they have to work on Christmas Eve. As for her sister Rarity, she’s so busy making the final preparations for the town’s Christmas play that she can’t spend any time with her.”
“So why doesn’t she just play with her friends?” Diamond asked.
“She doesn’t want to be a bother to any of them,” Fluttershy explained. “She doesn’t want to intrude on any happy families during Christmas, so she suffers in silence all by herself in her room.”
Diamond Tiara stared at the filly in silence. She noticed that Sweetie Belle was using the completely wrong brush for the doll she was grooming. “Hey, use the smaller one! You’ll ruin her mane!”
“She can’t see or hear you,” Fluttershy explained. “This is merely an image of current events.”
“Why are you showing me this? What, do you want me to just go over to her house and give her a hug?”
Fluttershy shook her head. “You don’t have to do anything. But a little consideration for those less fortunate is the very least you could do.” Fluttershy closed her eyes.
“Stupid Diamond Tiara,” a voice echoed throughout the room. “I’ll show her! I’ll make these dolls so pretty she’ll be all like: ‘Gosh, Sweetie Belle, I guess I was wrong about you! You really do have talent like your sister!’.”
“What’s that?” Diamond asked.
“They’re her thoughts,” Fluttershy said.
“Okay, that’s just OP.”
“But do you see what I’m saying?” Fluttershy asked. “Your mean words are not the primary source of her pain, but they did serve to open further the hole in her heart.”
“What?”
“Oh. I’ve, um, been asked to speak a little more symbolically… A-Anyway, what I’m trying to say is, the holidays are a time for love and friendship, but what you did today was the exact opposite of that, and as a result this poor filly, who was already alone during such a time, is now hurting even more.”
Diamond Tiara turned her head with a huff. “She’ll get over it! It was only a few words!”
“But words can hurt,” Fluttershy said.
“Not according to Miss Cheerilee,” Diamond Tiara argued. “She even gave that stupid poem on how words don’t hurt you.”
“Yet, here is a filly who is taking your words very harshly. And there’s another, too.” Fluttershy closed her eyes and focussed again. This time, the room changed shape into one that Diamond Tiara actually recognised: the living room of Sweet Apple Acres.
“Ugh. It’s her,” Diamond Tiara said as she glared at Apple Bloom, who was sitting on a couch with her family, singing carols with a smile on her face.
“What do you see?”
“A stupid blank flank who always causes trouble and her dumb family,” Diamond Tiara said.
“What about around them?”
“Huh? Um… Christmas decorations, a small tree, a hearth… Wait.”
“Yes?”
“Where are the presents?”
“So you noticed,” Fluttershy said. “The Apple family this year, and for the past few years now, do not celebrate Christmas in quite the same manner as everypony else. They do not wake up early to exchange presents with each other.”
“What?! That’s crazy! That’s the whole point of Christmas!”
“Unfortunately, they just don’t have the money for such a thing. Not with only two ponies working the farm fulltime.” Fluttershy gestured to the happy family singing carols together. “Instead, they spend Christmas as a family, doing fun things and going out to eat a nice dinner together. They embrace the true spirit of the holiday, without any of the gift-giving.
“Now, do you remember what you said to Apple Bloom?”
“… Ah.”
Fluttershy nodded. “I think now you can probably understand just how much your words must have hurt her, even if you had not intended them to. Not only your jab at her family’s lack of wealth in comparison to your own, but also you harsh words directed towards her family itself. For a filly whose joy from this holiday revolves around her family, your words carried extra salt for her wounds than they would for a filly more fortunate than her. Sweetie Belle probably took some damage from those words, too.”
“… Okay, okay, so I said a few mean things,” Diamond Tiara said, rolling her eyes. “But big deal! They’re alive, they’re getting by, what does it matter what I say when it doesn’t even change anything?”
“… I believe that my job is finished now,” Fluttershy said. “The next ghost will see you now. Oh, um, sorry, but I’m going to have to have you black out for just a brief second.”
“Wait, what?”
When Diamond Tiara opened her eyes, all that she could see was the town square of Ponyville, and all that she could feel was the throbbing in her head. “Owww… I knew Miss Fluttershy was crazy…” Diamond Tiara rose to her hooves and looked around. “Alright, final ghost, come on out!”
A cold wind brushed against Diamond Tiara’s back, causing her fur to stand up as she shivered on the spot. Behind her, Diamond Tiara could hear hoofsteps and chains. Slowly, the filly turned around, her face pale as she came face-to-face with a tall, dark, cloaked figure of a pony with no head beneath its hood. “AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!”
“Gotcha!” The pony removed its hood and revealed itself as a brown earth pony stallion with a brown mane and a green tie. “It’s just me, Time Turner!”
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!”
“… Well, that’s one way to make an introduction. You are Miss Diamond Tiara, correct?”
“Y-Yes,” Diamond responded. “Y-You’re the Ghost of Christmas Future?”
“That’s correct!” Time Turner responded.
“… Does your wife know?”
Time Turner put a hoof to his chin. “Y’know, I’m not sure! I’ve never told her, but I think that she suspects. She’s always inviting me to sit on clouds with her, but that could just be forgetting that earth ponies can’t walk on clouds or-” Time Turner stopped and turned his attention back to the filly. “In any case, I am here to show you the consequences if you do not change your ways!”
“So you’re not a time traveller?”
Time Turner sighed. “Why does everypony think that? Time travel isn’t even possible! I’ve explained this, so many times!” Clearing his throat, Time Turner lifted his left foreleg and pointed it to his left. “Right, well, let’s get started, shall we?”
“Where are we going to go?” Diamond Tiara asked. “Wait, if you’re the Ghost of Christmas Future… that means we’re seeing my future!”
“Right you are!” Time Turner said. “Now, if you’ll just direct your attention to where I’m pointing, I’ll show you a quick snippet of what your future is if you don’t change your ways. Let’s say, ten years from now?”
Diamond Tiara turned her attention to the empty space to her right. Time Turner closed her eyes, and an image began to form. The image was blurry at first, but it soon began to take shape, becoming more clear by the second, until finally Diamond Tiara could see what appeared to be a headstone covered in moss… with her name vaguely visible on it.
“AH!” Diamond Tiara screamed.
“Oops! Overshot it by a couple hundred years!” Time Turner said as the image began to fade away. A new image began to form in its place. “Ah, here we go! This looks about right! Behold your future!”
“This is unacceptable!” a voice cried out. Diamond Tiara squinted her eyes, though that proved unnecessary as soon enough the abstract image was clear. Before her eyes, Diamond Tiara could see a pink mare sitting on a big, pink, fluffy bed, wearing a sparkling red dress. Beside her was a grey mare in blue-framed glasses wearing a blue shimmering dress.
“Is that me and Silver Spoon?” Diamond Tiara asked.
“Indeed. This is the night after your high school prom,” Time Turner said. “Now, pay attention. This is extremely important.”
Diamond Tiara watched, but she couldn’t imagine any dire consequences could have possibly existed ten years down the line as a result of a little fun she had as a filly. This was just some scare tactic, she was sure of it, and she wasn’t going to fall for it. Whatever she was about to see, she wasn’t going to let it scare her, no matter-
“How could this happen?!” the older Diamond Tiara shouted. “How could I not become Prom Queen?!” The filly Diamond Tiara’s eyes widened. “And on top of that, Apple Bloom won!”
“NOOOOOOOO!” Diamond Tiara averted her eyes from the scene. “THAT’S ENOUGH! MAKE IT STOP, MAKE IT STOP!”
“Even if I do, it is still an image of what is to come,” Time Turner told the filly.
“I-I CAN CHANGE!” Diamond Tiara looked up at the stallion. “I get it! I’ll stop rubbing my fortune in other ponies’ faces and I’ll stop making fun of others for their poorness! I’ll be nicer! Just please, MAKE IT STOP! I can change, I can change!”
“I can change… I can change…” Diamond Tiara gasped and shot up in her bed. “I-It was all a dream!”
“No, it wasn’t.”
Diamond Tiara shrieked at the voice of Time Turner in her mind. “N-No way! It was real!” Diamond looked to her right and found Pipsqueak outside her window, walking around outside with a ball on his back. She quickly reached over and opened the window. “Hey!” she called out, getting the colt’s attention. “What day is it?!”
“Why it’s Christmas, Miss Tiara!” Pipsqueak answered in a cheerful tone.
“Oh, thank Celestia!” Diamond Tiara cried. “There’s still time! … Now get off my lawn!”
“Just gettin’ me ball, Miss Tiara,” Pipsqueak said, before a pillow was thrown at him. “… And now I’ll be on my way!” Pipsqueak turned tail and ran as quickly as he could.
“… What?” Diamond asked, feeling the ghosts’ glares on her. “He was British! He doesn’t count!”
Apple Bloom yawned as she walked down the long dirt road through the orchard, smiling as she took in the wonderful snowy scenery of Christmas morning. It was somewhat of a tradition for Apple Bloom to take a walk down the orchard pathway on Christmas morning before spending time with her family.
Everything was looking just right. The animals were still sleeping, the trees were covered in snow, Diamond Tiara was digging up trees and planting new ones… “Wait, what?!”
“Oh, good morning Apple Bloom!” Diamond Tiara called out as she waved to the filly. “And Merry Christmas!”
“What the hay are ya doin’ out here?!” Apple Bloom shouted as she ran towards the filly. “Why’re ya diggin’ up our orchard?!”
“I’m planting new, better trees for you!” Diamond told her with a smile. “Think of it as a Christmas present, from me to you… frieeeeeeend…”
“… Ah’m jus’ gonna ignore how forced that sounded,” Apple Bloom said as she looked towards the cart of tree sapling, gasping as she noticed the symbol on the side. “Wait, these are orange trees?!”
“Yup!” Diamond Tiara said as she turned towards one of her stallion workers taking a break. “DID I SAY IT WAS BREAK TIME?!” The stallion yelped and immediately got back to work.
“B-But we’re an apple farm!” Apple Bloom shouted.
“Oh yes, but let’s face it, Appleoosa holds all power over the apple market,” Diamond Tiara said. “Now, if you want to make it big, you’ve got to change your sales pitch. And oranges are still anypony’s game in the world of trade!”
“But-”
“And with all this space, and a location so close to Canterlot, you have an advantage over other farmers! Trust me, blank flank, you guys are gonna be rich! I’m talking big bucks, hot tub in your yard, private family airship-” Diamond Tiara gasped.” That reminds me! I’ve got to get this airship over to Scootaloo before she leaves for Cloudsdale!”
Apple Bloom looked at the gigantic airship behind Diamond Tiara that the filly was pointing to. “How’d ah miss that?”
“I need to get this to her so she can fly in the sky whenever she wants to!” Diamond Tiara explained. “Celestia knows it’s the only way she’ll be able to,” she added with a mutter as she signalled up to the stallion on the airship to follow her into town.
“Wait!” Apple Bloom called out as Diamond Tiara walked off towards the town. The filly paid her no heed though and continued on her way. Apple Bloom turned towards where the stallions were still digging up trees and replanting new one. With a sigh, Apple Bloom turned around and began to walk back towards her house. “Ah forget it. It’s Christmas mornin’. Ah’ll deal with this later.”
Author's Note
Epilogue:
Merry Christmas everypony, and a Happy New Year! 
