Of Apples and Oranges, Diamonds and Darkness.

Applebloom dreaded waking up, primarily because the small makeshift bed of hers was so quaint and relaxing she could not stand the thought of parting ways with it.  But of course, as with every other morning, a certain unicorn came in as if on cue to coax the filly up and about.

“Apple Bloom.” Twilight began, “Spike and I need to run some errands in town, I'd like you to assume Spike's morning duties so getting up now is probably a good idea.”

Apple Bloom was anything but pleased. She enjoyed fulfilling work and had no problem with the idea of doing her fair share around the library, after all Twilight did for her but...did it have to be on the day she promised her friends they would set out on a new adventure into the Everfree Forest?

Of course it did.

“Ah'd love to but, Ah promised Scoots' an' Sweetie that ah would go play—er ah mean, splorin' with them in tha Forest!” Apple Bloom did her best to not sound like she was whining though she failed miserably.

“Now Apple Bloom,” Twilight lectured, “There are going to be times in your life where work has to come before play, this is one of them.”

“But-but Twi! Ah-”

“No 'but's Apple Bloom.” Twilight said sternly, “Spike will have a list with the needed supplies for you to get started, Breakfast is getting cold so hop to it!”

With that, she was downstairs again leaving the filly with the bow to attempt to squirm back into her comfort spot; she knew though resistance was petty, and futile and she finally threw off the blanket, straightened her bow and trudged downstairs.

Her breakfast was indeed cold and the list she was given was terrifying: Dusting the whole of the library including the basement, checking the shelves in the foyer for any ill-assigned books and replacing them in their proper slot, among other tedious, trivial things. The look on Apple Bloom's face made it clear as the sky outside that she wanted nothing to do with any of this.

“I know it stinks sometimes Bloom but, the sooner you get it done, the sooner you can be out with your friends.” Twilight tried to put on a smile and make peace with the filly who only replied with a saddened face.

There was no way she'd be able to play—er, I mean, explore with her friends by the time she was done; Scootaloo was still with Rarity who was very prompt and persistent about having Scootaloo home by a 'reasonable hour' which, in the minds of both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle who herself was often subject to the same provision, was anything but 'decent'.  Sweetie Belle generally didn't like getting home later as her parents tended to make something out of nothing if she did.

It had taken no sooner for Apple Bloom's mind's eye to play out that inevitable narrative than Twilight and Spike had already left. The library was silent save for a ticking clock and the occasional bird outside.

It was going to be a very long morning.

_________________________

To say the yellow filly had never done any of the chores she was assigned would be more of a compliment than anything. She wasn't too sure of what time it was but she knew it was easily mid-day and she knew that the dust had no regard for her happiness as it refused to respond to the swoosh of the broom and her vein attempts to yell it into doing her bidding.

“Pleaseeee!~”  Apple Bloom whined perilously as she saw yet another cloud of dust rise into the air, only to come back down and gently coat the surface to which it only recently vacated.

This of course was one of many erroneous consequences of her inexperience; prior to this she had attempted to re-shelve the books, simple enough right?  Well, in an attempt to save time, instead of using the rolling ladder, she attempted to knock down the desired literature down with a broom attached to a long pole Twilight would use as an antenna for various magical experiments.  It brought the book down alright, but it also managed to invite all the books on the shelf to come crashing down with it.  The unicorn nor the dragon ever had the decency to elaborate on how these books were to be sorted and placed thus leaving her with an immovable mess plus a heap of defeat on top of it.

Frustration prompted her to move to dusting. Simple! She had done sweeping around the homestead back on the Acres several times!  Though, as with the books, innovation was greeted with no sign of sympathy, and every indication of mockery:  The dust being stubborn, the filly had the idea of opening the windows and sending it out that way. This would be fine if at that same moment a powerful gust of wind with some proceeding breezes decided to counter her efforts, not only putting the dust back where the dust came from, but bringing in pine needles, grass, sap, and more dust and dirt.

Then she saw the clock, the dreaded clock. It was around one in the evening. Surely she would have a few more hours to make up for lost time right?

She figured Twilight would be gone for another three hours, more than enough time to play with her friends. She put the broom aside and made her way out the door. She figured some time away would help her return in a working mood.

_________________________________________

Sweetie Belle sat on a bluff overlooking Ponyville Park, Scootaloo beside her. A gentle breeze was whipping through, a soft hum about it. They had gone treasure hunting, which then morphed into bug-collecting, which again transformed into Parkour. Neither bore fruit, the latter produced a few bruises and a black eye.

Tired and satisfied with their day they admired the village before them: the blue sky always complemented the earthy look of the thatch roofs and simple buildings. They still had plenty of time to kill though but could not think of what to do. The arrival of their friend was enough to get excited.

“Hiya Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Belle greeted.

“Where have you been? We went exploring, and then bug catching, and then did some sick Parkour in this once part of the forest with some downed trees!” Scootaloo was bouncing in glee remembering the ''awesome' things they had done.

“Sorry girls,” Apple Bloom began, “Twilight made me stay an' help with the library while she an' Spike ran some errands.

“pfft.” Scootaloo rolled her eyes, “We're trying to figure out what to do now.”

“Ooh!” Sweetie Belle lit up, “Why don't we get some ice cream at Sugarcube Corner?”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo replied enthusiastically, buzzing her wings like a hummingbird.

“Now we just, need, bits.” Sweetie Belle's smile soon faded as she realized neither of them had any bits on hoof.

“Dammit!” Scootaloo pouted, “Way to get me all excited!”

Apple Bloom thought about this issue for a moment and a grin grew on her face. She might as well make up for being late to the party,

“Ah got some bits.” She grinned.

“Seriously? Cool!” Scootaloo bounced, “I'll pay you back  when I get my allowance.”

“Me too!” Sweetie Belle smiled.

“We haf' ta' go get 'em first silly fillies!” Apple Bloom chuckled as they made their way down the bluff and towards the library.

Once they arrived, Apple Bloom checked the window to make sure nopony was inside before turning to her companions.

“Now y'all wait riiight here, I'll be right out!”  She shut the door behind her and made her way to the basement. Down there was a jar full of coins. It was intended, according to Twilight, as some sort of savings bank for a very special magical amulet she had seen some years ago. Apple Bloom figured she wouldn’t notice a measly six bits missing and gingerly plucked then apiece out of the jar and headed back outside.

Apple Bloom was shrouded in praise by her friends as they trot down the main stretch into town. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle took a seat at one of the tables while Apple Bloom ordered their treats, to which Pinkie Pie, rambling on about some nonsense or other, quickly delivered.

“Thanks so much AB!” Scootaloo bro-hoofed Apple Bloom.

“Aw it was nothin' girls, figured ah'd make up fer not hangin' out with ya today.”

“It was really nice of you Apple Bloom.” Sweetie Belle added, “We owe you for sure.”

“Don't worry about it Belle, it's on me!” Apple Bloom smiled.

Jacked up on sugar, the three discarded their cones and went bounding out the door and down the street, giggling wildly as they went. Neither of course was too concerned about looking where they were going and as such, Apple Bloom slammed into somepony carrying a stack of boxes.

Turned out that pony was a dragon.

And behind said dragon was Twilight.

“Apple Bloom?” Twilight questioned, “What are you doing here?”

Apple Bloom's energy quickly drained and her body went cold. The ice cream that was caked around her mouth became rather sticky and she looked at her displeased guardian.

“Girls, I'm afraid Apple Bloom will be coming home for the day. There's no way she could be done with her chores.” Twilight answered calmly as she helped Spike re-arrange the various boxes they had.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle glanced with concern at their friend who simply waved and sulked behind Twilight and her assistant.

“One of the important things about doing trivial chores like this is to stay focused and persistent.” Twilight lectured as they arrived at the library, “You need to understand--”  Twilight opened the door and saw the inside. The mess of course was still there. Apple Bloom had completely forgotten. She instantly shrank back as Twilight turned to her,

“To the bedroom Apple Bloom.” Twilight said coldly. “Now.”

The filly made no hesitation, she galloped up the stairs, tripping over stray books of course, and cowering under her covers. Twilight sounded angry, she had done a bad thing and she knew it.

Twilight looked about the library, half angry and half disappointed. “I trusted her to do this, simple housekeeping..” she said as Spike hurried to clean things up.

“Don't worry about it Spike.” Twilight sighed, “She'll finish what she started.”

The two went down to the basement and witnessed a similar mess, Spike was also piqued by something else.

“Hey, wheres the lid to your bank?”  He pointed to the savings jar whose lid was removed. Twilight nor Spike would never do such a thing. Frantically, Twilight cast a spell to gather the sum of the coins.

“Six-thousand, four-hundred, sixty--......sixty-two?” Twilight was bothered, something was off about that number. As if instinctual, Spike ran to Twilight's desk upstairs and brought her totals book. It indeed recorded the last sum to be “Six thousand, four-hundred, sixty-eight.”

Twilight then remembered the ice cream on the faces of the three crusaders.

“Spike....” Twilight sighed, “Go have Apple Bloom come see me please.”

“Y-Yes ma'm!” Spike dashed off.

Apple Bloom still cowered under her blanket. She hoped it was just the mess, she would have to clean it up and that was fine. Part of her felt horrible though, she promised Twilight she would do what she asked and she let her down.  The knock at the door startled the filly, producing a squeal.

“Twilight wants to talk to you.” Spike said in an uneasy tone as he brought in some boxes to unpack.”

Apple Bloom had that same cold feeling as when she bumped into the unicorn earlier...this wasn't going to be good. She sulked down the stairs and into the basement. Twilight was sitting there a look of absolute disdain on her face.

“Apple Bloom.” Twilight began with a stern voice, “You have beyond disappointed me. You not only neglected you very simple duties, all I asked is you tidy the place up for us, you make an awful mess, and then...you steal.  You were in here weren't you?”  She magicked the jar in between them.

Apple Bloom was unable to speak, she chocked up and was trembling in fear.

“It is clear that you don't respect me or anything I have done for you.” Twilight continued, “Therefore, I suggest you find alternative living arrangements for the time being. I won't be accommodating a disrespectful filly.”

“Bu-bu—Twi ah'm so sorry!” Apple Bloom bawled, “Ah d-didn't mean to! Ah was so frustrated, nothin' was workin'! The broom, the-the ah couldn’t clean anything! Scoots and Sweetie Belle were made at me fer bein' late ah'm sure an--”

“No excuses.” Twilight interrupted. “Go.”

With that, Apple Bloom felt herself being gently levitated up and out towards the door and soon enough, was sitting outside of the library. She had never seen Twilight this upset before, heck, she had never seen Twilight that cold, while most her mind was focused on finding a place to crash, one portion was curious if there was more to her temper than Apple Bloom's disrespectful behavior.

Indeed there was, this was made clear as Twilight sat at her desk. She summoned a quill and some paper and began to furiously scribe the sentiments of the day. Slowly, as she began to lament to a certain mare about abandoning and neglecting their own filly, she began to seriously regret her own actions.