Author's Note

Stage 1-2: Intermission #1

Diamond Tiara was sitting alone in the booth they always ended up occupying, part of a sleek line of red and white plastic that lined the windows of Sugarcube Corner. The almost harsh white of the light spilling from beneath the table muted the already soft pink of her coat, and washed gently against the neon blue ambience of the rest of the diner.

As she approached, Apple Bloom began to bob her head along to the synthesized beats spilling from the speakers hanging in each corner of the room, and inhaled deeply. After a day of hearing nothing but the irritated tweets of birds and the thud of apples landing in bushel baskets, the musical promise of a journey taking shape was like a breath of fresh air.

“Well ain’t you a sight for sore eyes.” She dropped down into the seat opposite and stretched her aching forelegs. “You already ordered?”

“Tell me about it, and yes.” Diamond Tiara pulled her gaze from the window and slid a menu across to Apple Bloom. Her blue eyes, matching the necklace and tiara she wore, sparkled as she looked her friend up and down. “You go to all that trouble of tying your mane up all nice, and yet still leave twigs and leaves in there.”

Apple Bloom cursed under her breath, and pressed a hoof to her plaited mane as she tried to undo the damage. She wasn’t a pony who liked to fuss, but they were supposed to be going out tonight and she wanted to make the effort. “It’s not my fault! Ol’ Longstumps is bein’ mighty difficult ’bout givin’ up his crop this year. Taken me ages to buck those apples today, and I ran outta time.”

“Oh, it’s a nice look, don’t worry about it,” Diamond Tiara waved a casual hoof. “I guess you can take the mare out of the farm, but you can’t take the farm out of the mare.”

Apple Bloom felt a tremor in her jaw; She dropped her gaze to the menu in front of her. “That ain’t funny, DT.”

Diamond Tiara’s snicker was quickly lost to a swell of tranquil melody, and her eyes grew still. “Hey, are you—”

“Oh hey you two, back here again?”

The pair looked across as another young mare approached the table, thick curls of scarlet mane creeping out from beneath the soft pink hat of the diner uniform. Her eyes were wide and friendly behind the thick frames of her glasses and, despite her sour mood, Apple Bloom found herself smiling in earnest greeting.

“Hey, Twist. Could say the same ‘bout you. You’re workin’ more hours than me at the moment.”

“Yeah. Pinkie Pie is away in Griffonstone at the moment—I think she’s looking at opening a new branch—so I’m working double shifts to cover.”

“Another? That’s her third in as many years isn’t it?” Diamond Tiara scratched her muzzle thoughtfully. “You know, that’s going to make Daddy even more disappointed that he didn’t invest in her proposal. She’s grown that business so much since she took over from the Cakes.”

“Yup.” Apple Bloom chewed her lip as she tried to remember the last time she had seen Pinkie Pie regularly around Ponyville. It didn’t take long for her thoughts to drift from there to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo’s most recent letter from Cloudsdale had arrived yesterday afternoon, and it had already been weeks since she had failed to respond to Sweetie Belle’s. The music, charged and inspiring when she had stepped into Sugarcube Corner, was instead starting to leave strange imprints against her chest. Strange, and a little sad.

“Have you decided what you want yet?”

“Huh?” Apple Bloom felt heat on her cheeks as Diamond Tiara’s question penetrated her thoughts. “What do you mean?”

Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. “Food, of course. What did you think I was on about?”

“Uh, yeah, right. Sorry.” Apple Bloom glanced back down at the menu and sighed. “It all looks good but… We sure come here a lot, huh?”

“Well we do have the best shakes in Equestria!” Twist replied, beaming.

Diamond Tiara raised a hoof. “Seconded.”

The best shakes in Ponyville, maybe. Apple Bloom stared up at the neon lights until spots erupted across her vision. “I know, I know. It’s jus’... I jus’ don’t want all this to become… boring.”

She sensed the unspoken conversation between Diamond Tiara and Twist, and frowned out the window instead. Outside, small groups of friends were running for cover from the rain, which was quickly turning them into blurry smears as it fell against the glass.

Why didn’t anypony get what it was she was trying to say? All Apple Bloom wanted was for one of her diminishing pool of friends to turn around and say: “You’re right, AB, feeling left behind because you have no idea what you want to be doing does suck. What’s that? You’re feeling all down about being trapped in a town that doesn’t feel like your own anymore? I totally get that.” Was that really so much to ask?

“Why don’t I whip up one of our famous candy apple shakes, huh?” said Twist. “I guarantee you it’ll put a smile on your face, or your money back!”

Apple Bloom swallowed down her sigh. “Sure, Twist… Sounds good.”

Diamond Tiara watched Twist depart, her eyes narrowed in thought. Then she met Apple Bloom’s gaze, and tilted her head.

“So, what’s up? You seem irritable today… Well, more irritable anyway.”

“Gee thanks.” Despite her mood, Apple Bloom made an effort to sit herself upright and smile. “Nothin’. I’m fine, I guess.”

“Good.” Diamond Tiara grinned as her milkshake, aubergine fritters, and hay fries were placed on the table. “Because I’ve had a really lame day and I want to be bitchy about it, and it would be great if you got on board.”

“I guess you can take the bratty, spoilt mare out of—” Apple Bloom stopped, her smile becoming savage “—oh wait, you can’t.”

Diamond Tiara’s laugh momentarily drowned out every other sound in the room, and Apple Bloom felt a contented warmth ease across her skin. Ever since the day when she and her friends helped Pip win the class president election, Apple Bloom had found her friendship with Diamond Tiara becoming stronger and stronger. Sure they rubbed each other up the wrong way on occasion, but their banter never failed to put a smile on her face. It was something Apple Bloom had come to cherish as the years passed by.

“That’s more like it.” Diamond Tiara took a sip of her milkshake before rolling her eyes dramatically. “So get this: Daddy had me shadowing one of his board meetings today. It was supposed to be about agreeing the budget for the expansion of one of his chains.”

Apple Bloom’s plaits tumbled as she shook her head. “Hold on, I thought you had that meeting last week?”

“No, that was the meeting to agree a date for the meeting to agree the budget. Daddy tells me it’s complicated, but honestly it all just seems like a tragic waste of time.” Diamond Tiara idly played with the straw in her shake. “We didn’t even agree the budget today, just the decision to go ahead with the expansion. Apparently there’s a meeting next week to agree a date for the rest of it. I mean, sitting in the same room with the same ponies and for the exact same reason—how did my life become so monotonous?”

“Well, did you wanna swap or something?” Apple Bloom slid the menu back and forth between her hooves in time to the music. “I mean, you’d be pretty much doin’ the same thing—only, instead of ponies there are trees, and instead of all that fancy talk about budgets and stuff there’s buckin’. But at least you’d be outside. In the rain. All day.”

“You could probably learn a little bit about hard selling,” replied Diamond Tiara drily. “Because you’re making that sound so lame.”

Apple Bloom instinctively opened her mouth to laugh, but managed to check herself before a sound could escape. Even so, the trickling chill of guilt crept across her body, and a little warmth seemed to escape from the room. She knew she wasn’t being fair—that she probably hadn’t been for a while now. She knew that, if anything, she was growing more frustrated at her inability to talk to Applejack about her worries; she loved her sister dearly, and it hurt that she found it so much easier to moan to Diamond Tiara than try and deal with her problems in a more positive way.

But the lighting in Sugarcube Corner felt too harsh, and the sweeping melodies had become heartache in synth-form. Sitting opposite, Diamond Tiara was a warm oasis, and Apple Bloom allowed a few more cracks to form in her resolve.

“Do you think it’s bad if I don’t know if I’m cut out for this no more?”

Diamond Tiara blinked, as though she wasn’t entirely sure she understood the question being asked. Then she sipped thoughtfully at her shake.

“I think it’s bad if you don’t try and find out,” she replied eventually. “Like, you three were so insufferable with all of your ‘Oh, but Diamond Tiara, you’ve got to work hard to understand how your cutie mark works, it doesn’t just make sense overnight’! If you don’t take your own advice after forcing me to listen to it for years then Iwill take your advice and start bucking some apples.”

Though initially insulted, Apple Bloom found her glare softening within seconds. “That… That’s actually pretty helpful,” she replied. “Thanks.”

Diamond Tiara said nothing, but turned her muzzle up, a smug smile on her lips.

“So, how’s Silver Spoon doin’? Have you heard much from her?”

A shadow fell across Diamond Tiara’s face then, her eyes becoming pools of uncertainty. Apple Bloom couldn’t put her hoof on why, but seeing her friend unhappy was like being cast adrift in the world—well, more adrift, anyway. Just as she was thinking of something cheeful to say, Twist approached their booth with Apple Bloom’s milkshake in hoof.

“Here you go! One candy apple shake.”

“Um…” Apple Bloom fixed a smile to her face, her eyes still on Diamond Tiara. “Thanks a bunch, Twist. I’m sure this’ll taste jus’ peachy.”

“You mean appley,” Twist replied with a grin.

Apple Bloom groaned as she pulled the shake towards her. “You really gotta work on those puns if you’re gonna be takin’ Pinkie Pie’s place here, Twist.”

The door to Sugarcube Corner swung open then—the jovial jingle of the bell sounding both surprised and strained—and Apple Bloom looked over her shoulder as a young mare strode inside, casting quick purposeful glances around the busy interior. Her pale green coat was dew-dusted from the rain, and her short, choppy mane hung damp and heavy over her coppery eyes. She grinned upon noticing Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara, and trotted over.

“Hey girls,” she said, slapping them both on the withers. “Sorry I’m late. Top tip, never get into a grease fight with a co-worker, no matter how cute she is. Stuff does not want to come outta your mane.”

Apple Bloom found herself returning the mare’s grin in earnest. She couldn’t recall exactly when it was that she had started hanging out with Peach Fuzz on a regular basis, but the garrulous and rowdy mare had brought a lot of happiness and laughter into her life, and the three of them were now almost inseparable. Just as well, really, she reflected, seeing how far away her old posse now were.

“She still not asked you out or nothin’?” she said, scooting across the seat to make room. The question seemed charge the air, and she looked about, wondering if anypony else had noticed.

“Only a matter of time until my feminine wiles work their magic,” Peach Fuzz replied with a wink. She gazed down at the menu, eyes wide and appreciative. “Boy, I could eat a timberwolf right now. Hey Twist, what do you recommend for a mare who’s been slogging away in a repair shop all day?”

“A bath, maybe?”

Apple Bloom laughed. “Now that one was pretty good.”

“Har har har, you’re hilarious.” Peach Fuzz pressed her muzzle to the menu as she scanned down the page. Hey, do you still do those awesome stuffed waffles?”

Twist nodded. “Yep. We do them in strawberry, chocolate and banana.”

“Yes please!” Peach Fuzz turned away from Twist’s incredulous look and tapped the table excitedly. “So, so. Guess who got three free tickets to the Trom-bone of Contention festival at Blue Note’s jazz club tonight?”

Diamond Tiara popped a hay fry in her mouth. “Oh, I don’t know, Peach. A pony with terrible taste in music?”

Peach Fuzz blinked, and then turned to Apple Bloom. “Hey, so guess who got two free tickets to the Trom-bone of Contention festival at Blue Note’s jazz club tonight?”

Apple Bloom giggled. “Sounds good to me. Think these hooves of mine would appreciate a night of dancin’.” She turned to Diamond Tiara and cocked her head. “You seriously not gonna come? I know you don’t like jazz and all, but I’m sure it’ll be fun.”

Diamond Tiara had momentarily looked spaced out, her eyes staring at some point above Apple Bloom’s head. But then she waved a casual hoof. “Of course I’m going to come—somepony has to make our little group classy enough to get in.”

Peach Fuzz began to talk excitedly about the festival, but Apple Bloom was only half-listening. She kept her gaze moving between Diamond Tiara and the table, trying to fathom what had made her friend zone out so suddenly. She had done that a few times now, but Apple Bloom hadn’t been able to pin down a consistent reason why. She wondered whether Diamond Tiara had worries of her own, beneath all that bluster and snark.

I should be a better friend and actually ask her, she thought. I mean, she listens to me and my moaning all the time.

“Hey, Apple Bloom—you deaf, girl? I said congratulations.”

Apple Bloom blinked and glanced across at Peach Fuzz. “Who, me?”

“Yeah!” Peach Fuzz paused to thank Twist as she brought a plate of waffles over and then shovelled a huge slice into her mouth. “I heard Sweet Apple Acres has taken a record number of helpers on this summer. Business must be booming.”

“Oh, yeah, thanks.” Apple Bloom smiled. “We’ve been really lucky with the new orchard Sis bought in. She says there’s gonna be more cider in Ponyville this year than snow in Yakyakistan. ‘Course, I ain’t never been there, so I’ll have to just take her word for that.”

“Well, now’s your chance, surely?” Peach Fuzz finished devouring the first of the waffles, and reached for a bottle of syrup from the condiments box on the table. “Like, all those extra hooves surely means you could skedaddle if you wanted to.”

Diamond Tiara sat upright, nearly knocking over her shake in the process. “Wait, what? You’re thinking of leaving? When? Why?”

Apple Bloom waved her hooves in placation. “No, no, it ain’t nothing like that. At least I don’t think… Oh, I don’t even know no more. I jus’ thought it would be… like, we’d all be moving on together, you know? But Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo—and even Silver Spoon and some of the others—they’re all away doing really amazin’ soundin’ things. Meanwhile, we’re just here and… and...”

She looked across at the window and frowned. A wind was whipping up the branches of the trees outside, and nothing could have convinced Apple Bloom in that moment that it wasn’t the coldest wind that had ever existed. Her friends were silent, which was disconcerting—usually they would be interrupting her with jokes or friendly insults or even murmurs of understanding. The absence of any sound other than the music and the distant chatter of other ponies made her feel lost, so she carried on talking.

“Don’t get me wrong now, I love the farm—I really do. It’s jus’ that I see what everypony else is doin’ and I guess it makes me feel a little trapped. The older I get the more stuff I do around the farm, and the more stuff I do the more my sister and brother expect me to take on.”

“But leaving?” Diamond Tiara was rigid, her wide eyes still fixed on Apple Bloom. “I know everything is feeling a bit lame at the moment, but can you really see yourself leaving? Moving away from Sweet Apple Acres—Ponyville, even?”

“Not really, no.” Apple Bloom scratched her head and smiled ruefully. “At least, I don’t think so. I jus’ wish I had a chance to go out and see the world—try my own thing, maybe, before deciding. Think I could settle down more easily then, y’know?”

“Settle down where, though?” asked Diamond Tiara, barely audible beneath a particularly soaring song. Apple Bloom wasn’t sure whether it was the question or how quietly it had been asked, but something about it made her stomach ache.

Peach Fuzz had continued to merrily eat her waffles, oblivious to the tension in the exchange. “Ah, my brother felt like that,” she said, reaching for a napkin and wiping away the syrup running down her chin. “Really didn’t wanna settle down in the family workshops.”

Apple Bloom felt her curiosity piqued. “What did he do then?”

Peach Fuzz slammed her forehooves onto the table, making both Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara jump. She leant forward with narrowed eyes. “Two words: OutRun Equestria.”

“What in the hay is that when it’s at home?”

Diamond Tiara frowned. “Whatever it is, I’m pretty sure it’s three words.”

“Eh, either or.” Peach Fuzz dropped her voice to an excited whisper. “It’s a race—well, more like a racing society, I guess. Pretty secret. Mostly legal.”

“Mostly?” Despite her objection, Apple Bloom felt a slight thrill pass through her. “And what do you mean by racin’? You talkin’ ‘bout runnin’?”

“No! Kart racing, of course.” Peach Fuzz pumped the air with both forehooves, a wide grin on her face. “Super-fast, time-elimination kart racing. We’re talking about the best sport in Equestria here.”

The thrill Apple Bloom had felt earlier intensified as memories of getting behind the wheel of the kart she had made with Applejack resurfaced. When had she stopped doing that, anyway? And why?

“So it boils down to this,” Peach Fuzz continued. “It’s a contest of speed, right? Every year they hold one, and each racer starts in his or her hometown and has to get to one of five destinations across the country before time runs out.”

Diamond Tiara had been quietly finishing her food whilst her friend spoke. She pushed her plate aside, her brow furrowed. “So they only have, what, a few days to get there?”

“That’s the cool bit.” Peach Fuzz positioned the condiment bottles on the table and then moved a piece of waffle to each one in sequence. “They fit this neat magical device onto your kart which starts counting down, and when it gets to zero it cuts out the combustion engine in the kart. The society set up checkpoints of wild magic that increase the remaining time when you pass them like so, and there are special ones that freeze the timer for half a day so the drivers can rest.”

“So I wouldn’t—” Apple Bloom paused, heat rising to her face, and dropped her gaze to the table “—I mean, so the drivers don’t race against each other?”

“Not in the normal sense, no. I mean, you could compare your time against the others participating to see who arrived fastest.” Peach Fuzz’s copper eyes shone from under her mane. “Yeah, I heard that slip, Bloom. Exciting, isn’t it?”

Apple Bloom felt an uncertain smile reach her lips, one that grew in strength the more that she thought about the race. The warmth in her cheeks blossomed outward to grip her lungs, her heart, in a burning embrace that Apple Bloom was sure would blind her if it manifested physically in the room. She closed her eyes, willing her nerves to stop tap-dancing against her skin. Speeding along in a kart and seeing the world? It sounded wonderful.

“Exciting? It sounds completely ridiculous,” said Diamond Tiara, her muzzle wrinkled in distaste. “How come you know so much about it, anyway?”

“My brother raced in it… Well, kinda. He tried to outrun the police and crashed his car on the second stage.”

A moment passed in silence before Diamond Tiara snorted. “I stand corrected, it sounds an absolute delight!”

Apple Bloom slapped Peach Fuzz’s probing hoof away from her milkshake. “I dunno,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. “I was thinkin’ it all sounds kinda excitin’.” She felt some of that pleasure wilt at Diamond Tiara’s expression, and tried an encouraging smile. “Come on, DT, you gotta remember how much fun racin’ the Applewood Derby was, right?”

“I guess.” In the harsh light of the booth, Diamond Tiara looked like a wraith. “But we’re not talking about the Applewood Derby. We’re talking about you disappearing off on some cross-country road trip. I mean, are things here that bad?”

“You should totally enter,” Peach Fuzz interrupted, tapping her hooves against the table with glee. “It’ll be so much fun for you.”

“How would she enter?” Diamond Tiara replied. “I thought you said it was a secret society?”

“Yeah, that is a problem.” Apple Bloom sat back, feeling deflated. It suddenly seemed too easy to find a whole list of reasons as to why she couldn’t enter, and she was surprised at how quickly that brought her mood down. “And even if I could, I wouldn’t really be good enough to compete, I reckon. Sounds a mite tougher than drivin’ round a dirt track in Ponyville.”

Diamond Tiara nodded. “Yes, exactly.”

Peach Fuzz waved a hoof dismissively. “Ah, don’t you worry about that. My brother would know for sure who to speak to, and I can teach you what you don’t already know. I learned a lot from him.”

“What, like how to crash your kart and get arrested?”

“No,no, that was Silver Streak. I’m talking about Copper Clutch. He runs a chop shop up in Baltimare.”

Diamond Tiara lowered her head into her forehooves. “Oh good grief.”

Peach Fuzz blushed. “It’s not like that at all. He’s an ethical kinda guy. Does a real good job with his machines. Doesn’t want any trouble with the law after what happened with Silver… and my pop, I guess.”

Silence filled the booth before Diamond Tiara adjusted her mane and cleared her throat. “Well then, now that that’s been decided, can we please get on with our night out? Some of us want to escape the daily grind with more realistic dreams.”

“Yeah, yeah, hang on a minute.” Apple Bloom quickly drained her milkshake, and licked her lips. She didn’t know whether it was the candy apple drink or all that talk about racing, but she was definitely feeling happier.