Diamond Tiara scowled as she idly played with her pencil. Shooting a glance over at Silver Spoon, Diamond rolled her eyes at Apple Bloom, sitting between them with a stupid, eager grin on her face. She was taking notes. Diamond snorted at the waste of time.
"But all sorts of foods have since been grown in farms. You know, a long time ago, tomatoes and potatoes were actually poisonous, but because ponies chose to grow only the ones that…"
Cheerilee was currently lecturing on the history of farms and their impact on Equestria's economy. Diamond huffed, wondering why she had to know about farms when she could just buy out a stall's entire stock at the market if she felt like it. Hay, if she wanted to, she could open up a stall on her own with plenty of venture capital, if she went insane and decided that it would be fun to sit around in the hot sun for hours and hours.
"…farms, like many businesses, operate in debt."
Diamond Tiara perked up. "I'm sorry Ms. Cheerilee, but could you repeat that?"
"Most certainly, Diamond Tiara," Cheerilee said. "You see, even though it may seem like it's a bad thing to owe money to somepony, there are many reasons why not paying back borrowed money can beneficial. Tax deductions and other ways to save bits are actually better for a farm in the long run; if you were to pay off all of your debt right away, you might actually wind up in more trouble! But that doesn't mean you shouldn't give back money at all, class…"
Diamond Tiara wasn't paying attention any more. She was grinning madly, busily piecing together an idea in her head.
"Here you go, Diamond Tiara!"
Diamond Tiara had rushed to the library, not even pausing to taunt the blank-flanks or speak with Silver Spoon. She demanded that the librarian give her all of the books she had on "paying debt or whatever," and a few confusing sentences were passed between the two before the unicorn had finally understood that she wanted to learn about how cash flow worked in farms. Pulling a few books from the many shelves, Twilight Sparkle dropped them into the filly's rhinestone-decorated saddlebags.
"Okay, Diamond, those books will be due back here in three…"
The filly had already run out the door.
"…weeks?"
Bursar Rand had seen a lot in her life. Having been born in Zebrica to an earth pony family, she had migrated to Equestria after twelve years of an unspoken tension that to her charged the air with an uncomfortable pressure to leave a place where she didn't belong. She enjoyed her job at the Ponyville Bank; it was located in a town just small enough that she was never overwhelmed with work, but it had the funds to not look shady or cheap.
Clocking in three minutes before nine, the earth pony was about to take her position at the teller's window before her boss, Red Tape, stopped her. "Hey, Bursar, I need you to clear this first thing once your shift comes." Bursar took the file, glancing over it before shaking her head in confusion.
"Boss, this is a huge amount of money, total."
"You don't think I know that?" Red Tape said in his gravelly voice. "But it's from the Rich family, and they're one of the wealthiest in Ponyville. I'm not sure why it wasn't delivered face-to-face, but I'm not about to argue with them. Besides, it's marked as a confidential transfer, so it's obviously important."
Bursar shrugged, and once the clock's minute hand hit the hour she entered the credit transfer into the records.
If the earth pony had bothered to check the bits' tallies more closely, she might have seen that the amounts paid were in very specific numbers.
Looking even closer would have yielded those precisely calculated payments erasing every single one of Sweet Apple Acres's various debts.
Applejack grunted as she kicked at another tree, shaking the apples loose. Humming in satisfaction, the earth pony moved on, dragging baskets around a grove of trees further up her rounds. As she squared up the crates to perfectly catch the fallen produce, she caught sight of a carriage approaching the Sweet Apple Acres gates.
"Now who in tarnation could that be?"
Abandoning her work for the time being, Applejack galloped towards the coach, noticing Big Macintosh approaching the vehicle as well. The carriage stopped, and a unicorn whom Applejack had never seen before stepped out, squinting into the sun.
"Well, howdy do! What brings you to Sweet Apple Acres, stranger?" Applejack greeted.
"Please, if you could call me Mr. Line," The unicorn sighed, before shaking his head. "I'd like to speak to the proprietor of the farm, who I believe is a Ms. Granny Smith?"
"That's right," Applejack said, wondering why this random unicorn would want to talk to her grandma. "Here, I'll take you to her."
Applejack and Big Macintosh were sitting out on the porch of the Apple household, having been asked to wait outside. Big Macintosh was staring lazily down the dusty road leading up to the house, while Applejack took a position right outside the window, occasionally gazing in. She couldn't hear them, and their stolid expressions betrayed no information.
"What do you think they're talking about in there?" Applejack wondered aloud. She turned to see Big Macintosh shrug and shake his head.
Looking back into the window, Applejack saw the unicorn nod and begin walking towards the door. "I think they're done talking about whatever it is."
"Eeyup," Big Macintosh said, fulfilling his speaking quota for the day.
The porch door opened, and the unicorn stepped out, mechanically thanking Granny Smith. "Thank you for the cooperation. I trust you'll be able to get all of the paperwork from the Mayor without trouble?"
"Sounds just fine to me," Granny Smith answered. Applejack couldn't differentiate her grandma's tone from any other days', but the old pony's eyes told everything, and none of it looked good. The unicorn reentered the carriage, which slowly left the premises.
"What was that all about?" Applejack asked with a measure of trepidation.
"I've got a mite of bad news for y'all," Granny Smith said. "Looks like somepony went and paid off all our debts."
"What?!" Applejack shouted, recoiling from the words as if they were Parasprites. "Isn't that a bad thing? Who'd do somethin' like this?"
"I'd reckon it's somepony who didn't know any better. In any rate, I'm gonna need to get some papers from the mayor, since taxes are just about due…"
"What a time to pick to do somethin' like this," Macintosh mumbled.
"Wait, who paid the debts off then?"
"I don't know," Granny Smith said, her wrinkles deepening through her frown. "The bank said whoever did it asked them to keep quiet about it."
"So what's this mean for us?" Applejack tried to keep her nervousness from her voice, but was as unsuccessful as when she hid the truth.
"I reckon we'll have to see." Granny Smith's voice held the same fear.
"What are we gonna do today, Crusaders?" Apple Bloom asked her friends.
"Ooh! Ooh! I know!" Scootaloo shouted. "We could be Cutie Mark Crusader Debauchers!"
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER DEBAUCHERS, YAY!" All three fillies yelled.
The three continued on for a moment before Apple Bloom asked, "What's a 'debaucher'?"
"I dunno, I just heard it somewhere and thought it sounded cool," Scootaloo replied.
The three entered the gate of Sweet Apple Acres, but before they reached the apple trees, Apple Bloom excused herself to say hello to her sister. The two other fillies dashed off, promising to wait at the clubhouse, and Apple Bloom quietly entered her home.
Ascending the staircase, the filly caught the sounds of her sister and brother talking behind Applejack's door. Curious, Apple Bloom placed an ear on the wood, eavesdropping on the conversation.
"…can't tell Apple Bloom about this, it'll break her heart!"
"I know it's hard," Big Macintosh's deep voice drawled, "but we can't keep it a secret forever."
"It ain't right!" Applejack's harsh voice cut through Big Mac's calm point. "Little fillies shouldn't have to deal with this kind of business until they're older!"
"You're makin' out like we're leavin' the farm." Apple Bloom's big brother showed no change in the tone of his voice after Applejack's outburst.
"We might as well be! At the rate things are goin', we're gonna get evicted by the end of the month!" Applejack's voice became bitter. "I told you, I told you that we didn't need that new silo, but did you listen? No, you said-"
"I know what I said," Big Macintosh interrupted, "but-"
"No! I don't wanna hear it!" Clomping filled Apple Bloom's ears, and the filly scrabbled back towards the stairs, hoping to escape being caught. Flipping around, Apple Bloom ran down the steps, but not before hearing Applejack scream out, "It's all your fault!" and the sharp noise of a door slamming.
Her siblings' words filled Apple Bloom's thoughts as she sprinted to the Cutie Mark Crusaders' treehouse, swimming through her mind to only be replaced by more hateful sentences, directed at her. Reaching the ramp leading up to her and her friends' hideout, Apple Bloom stopped to catch her breath from her nonstop running, before composing herself and walking into the treehouse.
"Hey, Apple Bloom!" Sweetie Belle greeted, losing a pensive frown.
"Hi," Scootaloo said from where she was looking out the window.
"Are you okay? You don't look too good," Sweetie Belle said, getting up from her sitting position.
"Yeah girls, I'm fine." Apple Bloom forced a smile onto her face. "So, what are we gonna be crusadin' for today?"
Diamond Tiara smirked to herself as Apple Bloom morosely gathered her school papers and belongings and swept them apathetically into her saddlebags to go home. The filly had been acting depressed for the past two weeks, and through her dejection the other two blank-flanks hadn't been happy either. Diamond Tiara didn't lose any opportunity to mock them, and they weren't even fighting back now. Diamond Tiara giggled to herself, and followed Apple Bloom out the door from a distance, intending to have fun with the filly again today.
Diamond Tiara frowned as she saw Applejack waiting for Apple Bloom by the flagpole. Grumbling in annoyance that she wouldn't be able to pester the blank-flank without getting scolded by an adult, Diamond Tiara simply headed for home, picking up a snatch of their conversation as she passed by.
"…somethin' we're gonna have to talk about, Apple Bloom."
"What? What is it?" A worried undertone pierced through Apple Bloom's question.
"It's… well, it's best we don't talk about it 'til you're home, okay?" Applejack said, sounding distraught.
Diamond Tiara's grin widened. Looking towards the sky, she considered paying a visit to Apple Bloom's little hovel, before deciding that she'd do so right after supper.
Diamond Tiara unconsciously shivered as her personal coach halted at Sweet Apple Acres's front gates. It wasn't really hers—her father usually rode in it—but she liked to take it out for practice, if only because she knew she'd be getting her own one day. Hopping out of the vehicle, Diamond Tiara entered the property, shrugging off the chilly winds. A little cool evening air was nothing.
Walking up the creaky steps to the porch, Diamond Tiara knocked on the wooden door, and then fidgeted impatiently as she waited. She took note of the somewhat dilapidated household; while it was not quite run-down, it was clear that it hadn't been renovated in some time. The door finally opened, and a yellow head peeked out. Bloodshot orange eyes widened, before collapsing into a resigned stare. Apple Bloom squeezed through the door, hanging her head like she was weighted down with pounds of buckshot.
"What do you want, Diamond Tiara?" She didn't make eye contact, giving Diamond only a view of her unkempt mane and drooping bow.
Diamond Tiara clenched her teeth to keep them from chattering. "I was just in the area, and-"
"Go ahead," Apple Bloom interrupted in a quiet voice. "Make fun of me. Laugh that I'm not goin' to be around any more."
Diamond Tiara blinked. "What?"
Apple Bloom raised her head, no longer hiding the wet streaks trailing down her cheeks. "My sister's takin' me out of school for a while, and I'm probably not gonna be comin' back." The filly sat down on the porch, looking away from Diamond. "So get it over with, when I still can't feel anythin'."
Diamond Tiara trembled, and for the first time it wasn't just from the cold. "Can't you do anything about it?"
Apple Bloom's head jerked up, but fell back down to its low position. "My sister's talkin' about how 'we don't qualify for Chapter Eleven,' whatever that means…" The earth pony drew in a shaky breath. "Why do you care, anyway?"
Diamond Tiara said nothing, unable to force any words past the lump in her throat.
The two stayed on the porch for a few moments before Apple Bloom burst into tears, curling up into a ball. "It's not fair! Somepony tries to help us by paying our debts, and now we're gettin' kicked out of our home! It's so… unfair!"
Diamond swallowed, feeling a burning pain in her windpipe. "Where… where are you going to go?"
Apple Bloom coughed, hacking a few times, before sniffing hard. "I don't know. Big sister is sayin' something about sellin' our stuff, but it doesn't sound like it's gonna be enough…"
"You… you can't!" Diamond said. Her point was lost in her troubled mind, entrapped within a shameful feeling of guilt. Diamond felt her own eyes moisten, and screwed her face shut to stop any tears from leaking out.
But a new feeling arose in the pink filly, evaporating all of her self-reproach and replacing it with a desperate hope.
"Apple Bloom, you're not going to go bankrupt, because I won't let you," Diamond choked out. Apple Bloom glanced up at Diamond Tiara, before returning to her fetal position lying on the porch.
"Thanks, Diamond Tiara," Apple Bloom whispered. "But it's impossible. Nopony, not even your dad, has that many bits."
Diamond Tiara scowled. "You are not going to go bankrupt!" Diamond marched off Sweet Apple Acres, back into the family's coach. She was thinking deeply, busily piecing together an idea in her head.
Apple Bloom awoke with a sore throat and muscles that felt like they wanted to strangle her. She lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling and thinking about how she might not have the roof to look up to when she got up in the morning anymore.
Letting out a miserable sigh, the filly stumbled out of bed, shutting her eyes as she wandered down the hallway. She didn't feel like she could lift her bow to put it on her head, so she left it in her room. Making her way to the kitchen, Apple Bloom had a gloomy breakfast with her family before trudging into Ponyville, readying her goodbyes to her friends and fellow Crusaders.
As she approached the marketplace, a familiar-sounding voice caught her attention, echoing off of the houses and buildings. Looking around, Apple Bloom noticed that nopony was nearby, and had all cloistered into a huge crowd around an open space.
Walking closer, Apple Bloom slowly understood more and more of what was being spoken.
"…So I am here to ask you citizens of Ponyville for your support! Sweet Apple Acres means very much to us, and your donations—even just one little bit—can make a difference!"
Pushing her way through the gathered ponies, Apple Bloom worked her way up to the front of the crowd, where she saw a pony standing on a soapbox, speaking through a megaphone. Around her were various tubs with ponies dropping bits into them.
"D-Diamond Tiara?"
"Please, Ponyville! We don't want to see our Sweet Apple Acres go! Even spare change will do!"
Diamond Tiara directed the crowd as ponies placed bits in various containers and bins with "Save the Acres" labels scratched onto them with a marker. Apple Bloom stood unmoving amidst the throng of ponies, watching in disbelief as a torrent of coins flowed into the containers.
"Do you remember the first time that you bought a Sweet Apple Acres product? Do you want that memory to be taken away?"
Apple Bloom fell onto her haunches, unable to keep herself standing as she watched ponies toss bits upon bits into the collection bins.
"Our fellow ponies need us! And we need them!"
Possessions mixed with coinage as jewelry and items of value were put into the pot.
"Let's hear it for the Apple family!"
As containers overflowed, new ones were brought out.
"You can help!"
Finally, after the spirit had ebbed and ponies were mostly talking amongst themselves, Apple Bloom dared to approach Diamond Tiara, who was thanking Ponyville for its hospitality and its kindness. Stepping down from the soapbox, Diamond Tiara was accosted by Apple Bloom's flying tackle, sending them both to the ground. Apple Bloom hugged Diamond Tiara as hard as she could, rasping "thank you, thank you so much," and struggling to keep from crying in happiness. Instead, Apple Bloom began to laugh, a bright peal that reverberated through the marketplace as ponies chatted around them.
"I'm proud of you, Diamond."
Filthy Rich smiled as he and the Apple family surveyed the wealth his daughter had brought to her home from her fundraiser. Ponyville's donors had constituted well over half of the funds needed to pay the taxes on Sweet Apple Acres; the Rich family was able to provide the rest.
Apple Bloom wouldn't let go of Diamond Tiara. Diamond's attempts to get Apple Bloom off only made her clutch tighter, although the pink filly's struggles were weak and mostly disinterested in removing the filly clinging to her.
Diamond Tiara's mouth curled into a slight smile. "Well, it wouldn't be right if our source of Zap Apples were to go bankrupt, right?"
Filthy Rich laughed. "That's true."
"I-" Applejack coughed, wiping at her face with a hoof. "I am so grateful, Diamond. If you hadn't done this, it might've been too late."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Granny Smith replied. "Let's get this whole thing done and over with!"
"I'll go with you," Applejack said, and the two walked out the door, heading in the direction of the Ponyville Town Hall. Big Macintosh nodded to the rest of the group, smiling as he followed his sister and grandma out.
"Okay, Apple Bloom, you can get off now," Diamond whined, shaking herself in an effort to rid herself of the extra weight. Apple Bloom fell off, and slowly rose to her hooves.
"Diamond?" Apple Bloom bit her lip, her eyes rooted to the ground. "Thank… Thank you."
"Hmph. Don't think this means you're my friend," Diamond said. She saw her father grunt and raise an eyebrow out of the corner of her eye, but he didn't say anything.
"Okay, Diamond, I won't." Apple Bloom beamed at the pink filly before galloping out the door, chasing her family.
Diamond kept watching the door for a few moments, before huffing and walking upstairs to her room.
"At least that blank-flank won't be moping around all the time."
