A big crowd was impatiently waiting as the train was returning from its long journey with the new heroes of Ponyville within. The brass band had gathered for the occasion, a red carpet had been installed and the mayor had prepared a forty-six lines long speech, which was still about forty more than usual. Altogether, every pony there was very excited to welcome back the successful trio who had changed, at least that was what ponies were saying, the way of life in Equestria.
The excitement reached its paroxysm when the train finally stopped in a big cloud of smoke and the door opened.
But instead of the three expected fillies, Rainbow Dash came out of the opening and immediately kissed the ground, letting herself cry a little out of relief.
“Thank Celestia and everything sacred!” she faithfully shouted, “I can’t believe it’s finally over.”
“We have arrived? It’s over?!?” shouted a previous voice from within the train.
And just as those words had been heard, a white tornado, composed mostly of a very hurried and potentially traumatized Rarity, came out of the opening and rushed through the crowd to go hug some trees, eat some of that beloved mud of good old Ponyville and eventually finish in a familiar bed where all the pain of the long journey could be expressed and thrown away.
And finally, after those two had gotten the freedom they had wished for so much since the simple journey to visit Equestria had turned into a marketing nightmare, the three cutie mark crusaders came out of the door, trying to cover their eyes as they immediately got covered by the flashes of the photographers.
“Welcome home!” happily shouted the mayor, ignoring the distraught and exhausted faces of the little fillies, just before the brass band began to play.
“Oh no, not once more!” complained Applebloom, with good reason as they had gotten pretty much no break since the journey had begun. “Scootaloo, you do it.”
“No way!” replied the little pegasus. “If I do it once more, I think I’ll throw up. Just ask Sweetie Belle.”
But Sweetie Belle was already letting her dinner go to waste on the railways, too upset and too tired to even notice that this conversation was happening between her two friends.
“In the name of all the inhabitants of Ponyville…” began to tell them the mayor, having come nearer, “… let me please welcome you back from your glorious journey!”
“Wait, what? Ponyville?” said Scootaloo, slowly realizing where she and her friends were. “Guys, we made it, we are back in Ponyville!” she suddenly shouted with more joy than she had ever felt in her all entire life.
And she jumped on the mayor to hug her with all her might, as if she were to never let go anymore, and so did the two other fillies as they were just too happy to think about their behavior.
The photographers took the opportunity and they got a very good cover for the next edition of their respective newspapers with three fillies seemingly happy about their triumphal journey and probably very touched by the warm welcome of the crowd.
“Ah, here you are!” said Diamond Tiara, coming out of the crowd and putting an end to the hug, which gave an opportunity for the mayor to breath. “I’ll admit that you didn’t do too bad of a job out there. Keep it up and you could maybe compare to the shadow of my own talent.”
The three fillies thought of just blindly attacking the brat for all they had endured, but sadly hesitated as looking at such a familiar, even if hated, face was giving them some feeling of relief too.
“I told you I would make you enter the real world. You’re stars now, enjoy it while it lasts.” told them Diamond Tiara, without the ability to really hide a point of jealousy, “For the time being, I just need you to sign this paper and take your part of the money.”
She stretched a paper out, as well as a pen that the three fillies looked at somewhat suspiciously, but not for long as Diamond Tiara also threw three bags to them, adding:
“It’s only a part of the fifty thousand bits. I think you’ll find it a little better than the fifty bits you were so happy to earn before. All you have to do is sign the paper and it’s yours.”
The cutie mark crusaders looked at each other, then decided that they were just too tired and happy to have returned home without turning crazy to care much about whether or not they should sign a paper. So they signed and took the money, slowly accepting the fact they had more money in their hooves now than a grown-up mare could earn in many months, as well as all the possibilities that were opening themselves to spend that money.
"You did a pretty good job I guess." said Diamond Tiara in an unusual honest tone. "I may have underestimate you before. You do are losers, but you have more potential than most losers. Keep up working like that and maybe there is some hope you might do something with your lives someday."
The three fillies wanted to respond, but Diamond Tiara very rapidly disappeared to let the crowd celebrate the three little heroes as seemed fit, for those three had given Ponyville a new reputation of ingenuity and excellence from which they were all benefiting.
It took some time and convincing, but finally Applebloom was able to make the ponies, and mostly the mayor, understand that they were appreciating the welcome party a lot, and that it was all very kind and all, but that they needed some urgent rest. The mayor accepted to let them go home at the condition they would give an interview to the Daily Equestria, as she had promised an exclusivity and really wanted to keep her word there. Instinctively knowing that there would be no point in arguing much more, the cutie mark crusaders agreed and, as if the whole background was morphing itself out of nowhere, found themselves facing a very joyfully looking pony with a pen and a writing pad in his hooves, all alone in a comfortable room.
A little silence ensued, as the journalist wanted to let the three fillies breathe a little and cope with the situation. Having made a lot of interviews, he was able to feel that those three needed some space and he gave it, waiting for the right time to introduce himself.
“I’m sorry, but… who are you?” asked Sweetie Belle, who had forgotten why they were there and what they had agreed with the mayor what felt just a few seconds before.
That was the right time he had been waiting for.
“My name is Blue Forsyth.” he presented himself, ignoring the fact his true name was actually blue Forsythia. “I make articles for the Daily Equestria. And, if it’s okay with you, I would like to write an article on you three.”
Scootaloo looked at her two friends, who were as uncertain as she was, and then asked:
“Why would you want to write an article on us?”
Blue gently laughed. He could feel the honesty of those three fillies and the sheer goodness that was in their very nature. And in a way, he was pleasantly surprised.
“I want to write it because ponies all over Equestria want to know about you, who you are and how you came to create that big company of yours. You could for example begin by explaining how you came up with the genius idea of putting water into bottles.”
“It’s not a genius idea!” sharply replied Scootaloo, who was fed up with the concept of water bottles. “I’m sorry.” she said to her two friends. “I just can’t stand it anymore.”
“Yeah, I kind of feel the same way Scoot’.” said Applebloom, as Blue was staying as silent as he could. “I mean, the more I think about it, the stupider it gets.”
Sweetie Belle had her own idea on the subject, but saw no point in arguing with her friends. After all, there wasn’t any wrong in any of both positions. Putting water into bottles to sell it was objectively stupid, but if ponies wanted to buy it, then it was making a lot of sense. Two truths, but sadly way too far apart to get a consensus out of them.
As Blue was still staying silent, as he had learned a good interviewer was one who lets his interlocutors speak, Applebloom added:
“You know what? I think it’s time we say the truth for once.”
Both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo hesitated, but in their heart they agreed.
Not only were they from those ponies whose nature leads to honesty, but Scootaloo felt like she didn’t want to hold responsibility for the whole water bottle thing and Sweetie Belle felt like Diamond Tiara deserved to be the one getting praised, whatever the consequences. And altogether, it was just what felt the most right in their young minds.
Seeing that the other two were agreeing with her, Applebloom turned back to Blue Forsyth and told him:
“We lied. We didn’t imagine the water in bottle, it’s not our idea at all. We actually still don’t understand why ponies are buying it and who produces it.”
She stopped there and looked for Blue’s reaction, but the journalist just gave a gentle smile as all response, trying to show them they shouldn’t fear to speak freely as he was meaning no harm at all and wasn’t judging them.
“Diamond Tiara is the one who came up with the whole plan.” Sweetie Belle said.
“You mean Filthy Rich’s daughter?” asked Blue, who needed the precision to know who they were talking about.
“Yes.” confirmed Applebloom. “She destroyed our lemonade stand and then told us we should work with her and then stuff happened and…I’m not even sure what happened then.” she realized, as the memories were flowing back into her head in a whole gigantic mess.
“We wanted to give her way a chance.” explained Sweetie Belle, forgetting that she was the only one who wanted to try Diamond Tiara’s way of making business. “But we never thought it would become so big all of a sudden. The whole thing had been crazy!”
Another silence ensued, as all three fillies and the journalist were digesting respectively the memories of those last weeks and the new informations.
“So Diamond Tiara is the genius’s mind behind the water bottles?” asked Blue, paraphrasing to make sure he had understood it the right way.
He just didn’t expect Scootaloo’s answer, as the filly suddenly shouted:
“Diamond Tiara isn’t a genius! She is nothing but a big dumb mean poopyhead!”
“A poopyhead? Seriously?” asked Applebloom, as the insult seemed just so weird and coming out of nowhere that she had to ask.
“Give me a break.” replied Scootaloo. “I’m tired.” she defended herself, almost forgetting about the presence of the journalist.
But Blue, trying to follow as best as he was able to, asked:
“What do you mean? Why would she have let you take all the credit if you three are in such bad terms with her?”
“I don’t know!” replied Scootaloo, too confused and upset to think about it. “It’s just another one of her stupid plans to anger us, and it worked once again. We should have never listened to her.”
Applebloom was sharing the opinion of the little pegasus, but Sweetie Belle, finally putting all the pieces together, responded in their place:
“I think she just saw us as an opportunity she could use.” she said, as much for her two friends as for herself or Blue. But she then turned to the latter and told him the following: “You know… I first thought Diamond Tiara was just very dumb for behaving as she always was, and being mean to us all the time. But I learned something, I think… Life can seem very unfair. Sometimes you put a whole lot of effort into something, and your effort finish wasted on the ground, just thrown away like it never mattered to begin with. And sometimes, you might feel like you deserve something that you’re not getting. And maybe the feeling you aren’t receiving what you deserve can make you become very cold, and unpleasant, and overall make you look like a bad person. But it doesn’t mean that you’re dumb, or even that you’re bad. It just means that you feel life is unfair to you and you don’t know how else to react to it…And sometimes, you’re way smarter than people give you credit for.”
Blue thought the speech was actually very good, but couldn’t understand it out of context, so he wasn’t certain what to make out of it. As for Applebloom and Scootaloo, they were still trying to figure out who Sweetie Belle had been talking about and if they should feel insulted or not. This was all very confusing for them.
But then, Blue realized something:
“So in the end, it’s because it was Diamond Tiara’s idea all along that you decided to sell the company to her father?”
“We did what now?” asked Scootaloo.
“You sold the company to mister Rich.” detailed Blue. “We all heard the news, even if the amount of the transaction was kept secret. But I know it is at least a few millions bits.”
“A few millions bits?” said out loud Scootaloo and Applebloom, realizing what last trick Diamond Tiara had played on them. And in their imagination, they could hear her evil unpleasant laugh resonate through the wall of her father’s mansion all the way to the room they were in at that very moment. “I can’t believe it! But she won’t get away with it this time.” said Applebloom with assurance, before rushing out of the room, quickly followed by Scootaloo, in order to go get their revenge, or at least just go tell Diamond Tiara a piece of their minds.
An awkward silence came in place between Sweetie Belle and Blue Forsyth, before the latter eventually asked:
“Aren’t you going with them?”
He had understood that the three fillies had been nothing but pawns in another one hoof and would have understood if they all had felt very upset and had sought some justice. But to his surprise, Sweetie Belle replied:
“No, I’ll just wait until they come back.”
“Don’t you feel bad?” asked Blue.
“I guess I do feel a little bad.” answered Sweetie Belle. “But I’m mostly glad it’s all over. You know, you can’t always win and sometimes it’s just better to keep on moving on to some new stuff.”
“So…” began Blue. “What are you going to do now?”
Sweetie Belle thought about the question, as she hadn’t beforehand, and eventually answered:
“I’m not sure. I’ve got my whole life to do whatever I want to do. For the time being, I’ve got some gift to buy for my big sister and then I think I’ll just convince the others to finish an old project of ours.”
“What project?” Blue asked, very curious.
They both ignored what seemed like a distant sound, the kind that a cannonball shot at a mansion would make, with a side of taunting from a very proud and bragging filly, and Sweetie Belle simply replied with her own innocent smile:
“We used to sell lemonade and we were happy doing it.”
THE END