THE LIFESTYLES OF THE RICH AND SHAMELESS

PART TWO

Applebloom looked about herself while she walked throughout a shopping mall.

“Ah'll get Babs the perfect gift”, she thought to herself, looking at the multiple stores. Meanwhile, Showtime carried on his back a big pile of items she had already purchased, having a pained expression on his face as he continued following her.

“P-Perhaps we should take a break?”, he groaned while the farm filly was looking through the window at a selection of jewelry. The stallion was already regretting his decision to try to hook this filly, but he had no choice but to follow her all over the town.

“In a little while. Ah'm not done shoppin'”, she replied and walked into the jewelry store.

“T-Teenagers...”, Showtime groaned before his legs gave way and he got buried in the cascade of Applebloom's items, much to the amusement of her bodyguard who followed the filly into the store.

The three left the shopping mall an hour later, much to relief of the stallion as he finally unloaded all of Applebloom's stuff into the trunk of the carriage and jumped into it.

“So, did you have fun today?”, he asked, hoping this was the end of the farm filly's shopping spree.

“Are ya kiddin' me? Ah'm not even close to bein done!", Applebloom replied enthusiastically. "Ah had no idea that Ah was this plum stinkin' rich! Next stop is the nearest most expensive restaurant in town! Ah'll get mahself something to fill mah belly and buy Babs somethin' as well. Ah was hopin' she was home, but Ah guess she went out for a while. No biggy, Ah'll just take her with me next time.”

“I'm glad you're enjoying yourself so much. Keep in mind you won't get days like this all the time, but I'm sure we can pin in, let's say, once a week for you to have fun and enjoy yourself", Showtime replied with a smile. "Now then, about those demands of yours...”

“They weren't really demands, more like requests ya know? Ah mean, if mah singin' career gets me and Babs all this...”, Applebloom trailed off, motioning towards the pile of stuff in the trunk of the carriage, “...then Ah'm sure she won't mind me comin' home late. But Ah still want her to be attendin' mah performances if ya can manage it”, she finished, much to Showtime's delight.

“Of course! I'll make sure she has a reserved seat at every single one”, the stallion replied with a wide smile.

“Ha ha! It worked! She's hooked! Oh Showtime, you haven't lost your touch”, he thought to himself deviously while the carriage took a left turn.

“Applejack! Get your consarned flank down here for dinner!”, Granny Smith called upstairs to her grand-daughter, who was once again hunting the room from top to bottom for any clues.

“Just a minute, Granny!”, Applejack called back, still looking around the room. Eventually, her eyes fell upon the pillow of her little sister's bed. “It couldn't be that obvious, could it?”, she mused to herself, walking over to the pillow and lifting it.

Sure enough, a single letter lay under the pillow. The farm pony quickly read it and gasped in shock.

“Granny! Ah know where Applebloom, Babs and Silver Spoon went!”, she exclaimed, rushing downstairs and showing the letter to the elder mare.

“Well, what the hay you waitin' around here for? Take it to the police station!”, Granny Smith responded.

However, the farm pony seemed not be listening, as she ran back upstairs and came back a few minutes later with a saddlebag on her back.

“The police are too darn absorbed in helpin' that varmint Filthy Rich, and Ah doubt they would bother to send ponies to Fillydephia”, she replied and walked to their vault, turning the dial several times and taking a large back of bits out. “Ah'm gonna be gone for a bit, Granny, but Ah'll be back with Applebloom before ya know it!”, she announced and ran through the door without another word.

As the farm pony ran down the path, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo happened to see her running past.

“You don't think...?”, Scootaloo asked with a raised eyebrow. She looked at Sweetie Belle, who nodded.

“Yeah, I think she figured out that Applebloom, Babs, and Silver Spoon ran off to Fillydephia”, she agreed.

The two fillies then ran after the farm pony, the latter unaware of their presence until she arrived at the train station an hour later. She looked at the two.

“What the hay are ya doin' here for?”, she asked in confusion.

“We know you're going after Applebloom and Babs”, Scootaloo replied, much to the farm pony's shock.

“And how the hay would ya know-- unless...”, Applejack started before it dawned on her. Her shocked expression quickly turned into an angered one. “Ya both knew everything all along?!”

“Yeah, we sorta knew where they were. But we had a good reason!”, Sweetie Belle exclaimed, doing her best to avert her gaze from the farm pony, who looked as if she was ready to bend the two over and tan their hides in the middle of the station.

“Yeah! See--”, Scootaloo started.

“Ah already put it together, thank ya very much", Applejack cut her off. "It's more than obvious the three ran off to Fillydephia because Babs' parents were going to keep 'em apart and Diamond Tiara happened to be there as well, so they took Silver Spoon along with so as to reunite her with her cousin”, she concluded confidently.

“Well, you're half right”, Scootaloo remarked. Applejack looked at her in confusion.

“Beg yer pardon?”, she asked.

“Well, it was to reunite Silver Spoon with Diamond Tiara, but they were only supposed to be gone for the weekend at most”, Sweetie Belle replied, allowing herself to look the farm pony in the eyes now.

“Yeah”, Scootaloo confirmed. “We were supposed to go with them, but they left before we got here. So we're both super worried about them, and plus, I don't think Babs told Applebloom about her parents.”

“Or maybe she did and they changed their plans to stay there forever", Applejack suggested. "Ya ever think that might be why they left ya here?”

As soon as Applejack asked this question, her attention was yanked to the train, since it gave a mighty toot signaling it was ready to leave in five minutes.

“Consarn it all, Ah ain't got time to be talkin' with ya two. Ah'll deal with ya when Ah come back with Applebloom and Babs.”

She turned around to run to the ticket booth... only to be halted in her tracks by the two fillies, who have clung onto her tail.

“Don't ya be tryin' to stop me!”, Applejack exclaimed, giving her tail a swift yank. However, the fillies seemed to have a firm grip on it.

“You're not going without us! They may be your family, but they're our best friends too!”, Scootaloo said, both she and Sweetie Belle sporting determined expressions on their faces.

“Yeah! Plus, they're our fellow Crusaders, and a Cutie Mark Crusader never abandons a fellow Crusader in need!”, Sweetie Belle chimed in.

“Ah can't take ya with me! Yer parents would have mah head on a plate if I took ya along without sayin' anythin'. Ah admire yer concern for Babs and Applebloom, but Ah just can't”, Applejack argued, attempting to fling the two fillies off her tail, but they held on just the same.

“Then we're not letting go! That way you either have to take us with you, or miss the train!”, Scootaloo declared defiantly, to which Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement.

Applejack gave another glance at the train, which happened to give its three-minutes-left warning toot at this very moment. She then looked back at the two determined fillies.

“Fine! But ya sneaked with me and Ah had no idea 'till we got there, we clear?”, she finally said with a smirk, much to the delight of both fillies.

“Deal!”, Scootaloo exclaimed enthusiastically.

“Sure! I'll be happy to take any punishment my sister can dish out if it means finding Applebloom and Babs”, Sweetie Belle chimed in.

“Ah gotta be out of mah cotton pickin' mind, takin' these two along...”, Applejack remarked under her breath, paying for three tickets and quickly jumping on the train, followed by the two fillies. The train took off from the station a mere minute later.

“Why, Applebloom?!”, Babs asked, looking at her lover with tears in her eyes.

“Ah'm plum stickin' rich now and can have anypony Ah want. Why would Ah need to settle with you, when Ah can date ponies like this one!”, Applebloom responded enthusiastically, motioning to a handsome and very good looking colt.

“But I love you!”, Babs exclaimed tearfully, walking up to Applebloom and attempting to place a hoof on her cheek. However, the farm filly turned away and put her hooves around the colt.

“Ah don't need ya anymore. Besides, if the word got out that we are cousins, mah singin' career would be over and Ah can't have that! See ya around, Babs”, Applebloom finished and walked away from the city filly, soon fading from existence.

“Applebloom, wait!”, Babs shouted. She rushed forward to stop her, but was stopped dead in her tracks by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

“Teh, look at you! I told you that your relationship wouldn't last!”, Silver Spoon said snootily.

“But ours did, didn't it, Silver Spoon?”, Diamond Tiara added, turning her lover's face to hers.

“It sure did. I'm so glad I didn't try to push you into doing some silly singing career. It might have ruined everything”, Silver Spoon remarked and locked lips with her lover. Soon, the two faded from existence too, leaving the city filly alone.

“Applebloom... don't leave me alone”, she said aloud, looking at the ground with tears streaming from her eyes.

Don't leave me alone...

These words seemed to echo over and over, until...

“Hey, wake up! Ah got somethin' for ya!”, Applebloom's voice rang out, causing Babs to snap her eyes open to see her lover in front of her.

“Applebloom? What time is it?”, she asked sleepily, glancing up at the clock. She had apparently fallen asleep while waiting for the farm filly to get back.

“Pretty late. Ah know Ah said I would be home at a decent time today, but Ah lost track of time”, Applebloom replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head with her hoof for a moment before picking up a bag off the floor and setting it on the city filly's lap.

“What's this?”, Babs asked curiously. She opened the bag and scanned its contents, which turned out to be food. It was still warm, but not enough not to require heating it up again. “Food? I thought you were doing your singing thing?”

“It started out that way and then Showtime surprised me by letting me spend some of the money Ah've earned. Ah mean, look at all this stuff Ah got!”, Applebloom said excitedly and motioned to the other side of the room, which had a pile of shopping bags filled with clothes, toys, and fashion accessories.

“So you came home late because you were out all day having fun without me?”, Babs asked, seeming upset now.

“Ah wanted to take you with me, but you weren't home when Ah came by to pick ya up”, Applebloom replied defensively. “Where were ya, anyways?”

“Doing what we came here to do in the first place, or did you forget?”, Babs replied with slight hostility in her voice.

It took the farm pony a few moments, but eventually, it dawned on her.

“Oh horsefeathers! Ah plum forgot about that!”, she exclaimed, looking slightly guilty afterwards.

“Yeah, we did manage to find out the neighborhood Diamond Tiara is staying in, but the house she was sending letters from was vacant. So now we just have to figure out which house she's in”, Babs explained, setting the food down and walking over to the window to look outside at the city below. She sighed heavily.

“Is somethin' the matter?”, Applebloom asked with concern, walking over to her lover and stopping next to her.

“It's this singing career of yours. I know I was the one who told ya to go for it, but I barely ever see you now. Maybe you should just quit while you're ahead. I could take living back in the apartment complex and working at Dancing Hooves' club if it meant seeing you every day and night”, Babs confessed, looking at the farm filly with a saddened expression.

Upon hearing this, Applebloom leaned in close to Babs and placed her head on the city filly's shoulder, rubbing against it affectionately.

“Ah know it's rough, but Showtime told me that it will get better, and Ah won't have to be gone as much once we get everything movin'. Plus, Ah've been thinkin' 'bout what ya said a week ago. About stayin' here and makin' a new life with just the two of us”, Applebloom said softly, much to the shock of Babs. The city filly looked at her lover, the latter lifting her head off of her shoulder.

“Really?”, Babs asked incredulously.

“Yeah. We wouldn't have to worry about your parents keepin' us away from each other, and with mah new career providin' bits for us, we could live here happily. Ah know Ah wasn't for the idea at first, but with all that's happened, Ah think we could do it”, Applebloom remarked softly.

“What about Applejack, Granny Smith and Big Macintosh?”, the city filly asked curiously. She wasn't against the idea, but this sudden statement worried her. Was she staying here because Babs suggested it, or was it her singing career?

“We can write to 'em when we feel like it, plus Ah don't think they would object to mah singin' career since Ah'm so famous. They probably already heard of mah success anyways”, Applebloom replied with a smile.

It was at this point that the city filly gave a long-winded yawn.

“It's late, I think we should be heading off to sleep, cuz”, she suggested sleepily.

“Yeah, Ah reckon sleep is a good idea”, Applebloom agreed and followed her cousin to the bedroom.

Author's Note

I wanted to add more content to this chapter but I've made you all wait long enough! So here ya go! Proofread by Zutheskunk!