Sobbing.
Applebloom’s ears twitched upon hearing it, the maddened cries of agony echoing through the darkness. She sat up in her bed, her heartbeat picking up speed as fresh adrenaline shot through her veins. Another wail broke the momentary silence, but, this time, Applebloom was able to find the source of the sound. A small figure was hunched in the corner of her bedroom, trembling violently. The air caught in the yellow filly’s throat as she struggled to make out any details of the pony that had somehow made their way into her room. She tried to scream for help but only a tiny squeak escaped her mouth. The other pony heard her, however, and stilled. Applebloom could tell the pony was just a filly, but it didn’t comfort her much. Her terrorized weeping had convinced the yellow earth pony that the other filly must be insane. She watched in horror as the little pony stood and slowly walked towards her.
“Who are you?” the youngest Apple whimpered, hugging her blanket to her chest. To her relief, the pony stopped walking and simply looked at her. The faint light of the moon and stars made the pony’s silhouette more defined, and Applebloom used the opportunity to see if there were any familiar features.
The filly had wavy mane and appeared to be about Applebloom’s height. Something about her shadow looked familiar. Even so, it was like looking at the outline of an apple without seeing the colour or any details and trying to guess what type it was. It was beyond frustrating, having the answer be so close, and yet so far. Especially if the answer could save her a lot of grief.
Applebloom had nearly forgotten she was looking at a real pony and not a test question when the filly took another step towards her. Suddenly, the filly whimpered in pain and crumpled to the floor. The Apple watched in curious disbelief as the other pony cradled her hoof. Carefully, the auburn-maned filly peaked over the side of her bed to see if she could figure out what had happened to the other pony. The world seemed to stop when she saw the source of the filly’s injury; a sharp object glinting in the moonlight. “W-what…?” the earth pony stuttered. She suddenly felt the need to do something, anything, to save herself from this pony who appeared to be a psychopath. She couldn’t think fast enough to come up with anything sensible, so she pounced, tackling the filly. She punched the stranger twice before scampering across the floor, hoof outstretched towards the door. “Ah… ah’ll tell mah big sister if’n you try to hurt me-
“It’s not what you think!” a ragged voice cried out. That voice… It wasn’t like the last time she’d heard it, but she recognized it anyway. Applebloom’s jaw dropped as she realized who stood beside her. For a few moments, a tense silence hung between the two.
“Diamond Tiara?” the cowpony finally said.
“I… I didn’t know where to go,” the filly turned away, rubbing her injured hoof. “Please, please, don’t tell Applejack…” She had never heard Diamond sound so desperate, and she certainly never imagined she would beg her like that.
Reluctantly, Applebloom switched on the lightswitch, and, as expected, sight she saw was not a pretty one. Diamond’s mane was tousled and there were bags under her eyes. The tiara that she typically wore was shattered on the floor, one of the pieces being the shiny object Applebloom had mistaken for a weapon in the dark. A scrape ran down Diamond’s hoof from when she had stepped on the sharp end. Regardless of the strange situation the yellow earth pony was in, she felt a wave of relief upon finally realising the pony in her room was not there to murder her.
But that did raise questions: why was she here, and why was she in such a state? Applebloom sighed, sitting on the floor across from her nemesis. “Ah won’t, s’long as ya have a good explanation for all- she gestured around her room, then extended her hooves towards Diamond- well, this.”
The pink filly teared up again, swallowing hard as she tried to form the words. “I…" she bit her lip, wiping a stray tear from her cheek. Hesitantly, she lifted her gaze, making eye contact with Applebloom. The yellow filly almost shuddered upon seeing the distress in those crystal eyes morph into cold emptiness. "Filthy Rich is dead," Diamond said mechanically.
Applebloom swallowed hard. It felt like a brick was laid on her chest, forcing the air out of her lungs. Meanwhile, Diamond kept staring, awaiting her reply. "Are... you sure yer Daddy..." she began.
The pink earth pony laughed. It was a chilling sound that sent chills down Applebloom's back. Then, she looked at the floor and more tears began to leak from her eyes. "The nurse told me herself," she mumbled after she pulled herself together.
"Don't... take this the wrong way, Diamond," Applebloom began cautiously, knowing the filly's current emotional fragility, "but, why did ya come see me? There's gotta be somepony in yer family who could help ya. And what 'bout Silver Spoon?"
Diamond Tiara released a long sigh. "No, remember, S-silver moved away yesterday a-afternoon," she hiccuped as her emotions consumed her.
"No family?" Applebloom asked again out of surprise.
"No family," Diamond Tiara replied meekly.
"Golly..." the yellow filly rested her hoof on her former-enemy's arm. "Look'a here, Ah need to tell Applejack, she can help you, or least she'll find somepony who can." She braced herself for an argument, surprising herself upon realising that she wanted to help somepony she had hated for so long. Or, at least, she thought she had hated her. Decidedly, Applebloom pushed away the confusing thoughts and turned her attention to Diamond.
"Okay," the filly said, to Applebloom's surprise, flattening her ears defeatedly.
Not sure what to say, the "hostess" simply took the other filly's hoof and led her out of the room and across the hall. Applebloom knocked against the rough wooden surface of Applejack's door. There was a muffled groan from the other side of the wall followed by hoof steps. Then, the door swung open, revealing a disheveled-looking Applejack. The mare's irritated green eyes fell on Applebloom first, but she quickly noticed Diamond's presence. "Uh, Diamond Tiara?" the Element of Honesty said softly, clearly noting the pink filly's distress.
"Er, Applejack," Applebloom spoke up. "Can we, uh, talk alone?"
"Sure?" the oldest of the three ponies replied, her gaze never leaving Diamond. She moved slightly right so Applebloom could fit through the doorway before gently shutting the door behind them. Diamond listened worriedly from the other side of the door as the light was switched on and the two began to talk.
Applebloom told her exactly what she knew, then stood back, awaiting her sister's reaction.
"Filly Rich... died?" Applejack repeated in surprise, holding her hoof to her muzzle.
"Yeah," the little sister verified, her voice melancholy.
"How... Could that be? Ah was just doin' business with the stallion yesterday," the orange mare thought aloud.
"Ah reckon there was some sorta accident, she didn't tell me, though," Applebloom explained.
"Oh, poor Big Mac, Imma hafta tell him after he gets back from deliverin' them pies..." the older cowpony mumbled, her eyes softening.
"'Sis, we gotta focus on Diamond fer now," Applebloom reminded her sister.
"Yer right. So, ya said she don't have any other family or friends... Well, first off, I reckon we'll hafta watch over her fer a while, since Mr. Rich was such a good family friend n' all," the blonde pony explained.
Under normal circumstances, Applebloom would have complained about that. But this was different; she could sense a change in Diamond and knew she needed help. She still felt rather conflicted, though, somewhat worried that Diamond would make fun of her as she started to feel better. She wouldn't have an escape from the teasing. "Ahh, she won't be livin' here forever, right?"
Applejack shook her head. "Nawh, I'll talk to the orphanage and see if'n they can't help us find her a family. In the meantime, I s'pose the two of y'all are gonna be roommates."
"Oh," the younger pony said. "Ah... guess that'd be... okay."
But the mare could sense the tension in her sister's voice. "Sugarcube, I wanna thank ya for bein' so willin' to help Diamond; it's a might kind a ya after, well, ya know, everythin' ya told me 'bout."
Applebloom smiled weakly. "Aw, cmon, sis, I sure as hay wouldn't be one of the Apples if'n Ah didn't wanna help somepony out, specially if it's 'cause their pa passed."
Applejack sighed and looked off into the distance for a moment, remembering her parents. She felt a special kind of empathy for Diamond Tiara now that her father had died. She was around her age when her own parents died.
"Ya okay there, AJ?" the filly questioned, noticing the wetness in her fellow Apple's eyes.
"Shucks, Ah guess Ah'm just missin' our ma and pa s'all," the older sister admitted, deciding there was no use lying since she was so horrible at it.
Applebloom's eyes filled with sympathy for her beloved big sister. She had only been an infant when her parents died, and she didn't remember them at all. But she knew Applejack did, and she couldn't imagine the sorrow that would cause.
"Well, we better get a li'l more shuteye, eh? I got trees to buck in the mornin' and you've got school," AJ reminded her sister.
Applebloom nodded and turned towards the door when a question came to mind. "Are ya gonna have Diamond go to school tomorrow?"
The mare thought about that for a minute. Certainly Cheerilee would understand and say that Diamond could be absent for as long as she needed, and, really, only the filly in question would know if going to school was a good idea or not. "Ah guess that'll be up ta her."
"Alright, Applejack," Applebloom said, heading into the hallway, where Diamond Tiara was asleep on the floor. Applejack peaked out and smiled sadly.
"Ah'll just let 'er sleep in mah bed tonight," Applejack whispered. "Ah gotta get up soon anyway."
Applebloom smiled and went back into her own room, quietly shutting the door behind her. Her big sister trotted into the hallway and gently pulled the sleeping orphan onto her back and brought her over to her bed, setting her down as gently as she could. Then, she took her spare blanket in her teeth and carefully draped it over the little pink bundle of fur. Applejack wiped a lingering tear from Diamond's cheek and sighed sadly.
"Ah'm sorry, sugarcube," she whispered. For a fleeting moment, the image of two caskets being lowered into the ground resurfaced in her mind.
