Twilight stared blankly at the fat bag of bits until her mind could not create any other explanation for how Rainbow acquired them. Her final conclusion was the one she initially thought of, but Twilight refused to believe that explanation. She gave the trio the benefit of the doubt.
"Rainbow Dash. What did you do?" Her voice was cold—the kind of cold that was like a storm cloud on the approach, a rampage of anger thinly veiled by its quiet and calm demeanor from a distance. Dash winced at it. Twilight could see her eerie, calm attitude disturbed Dash. Still, she had her response ready.
"Not me. We did the only thing that's going to get Granny Smith the bits she needs, Twilight," Rainbow Dash said.
"Sweet Celestia, girls. No, this is not what she needs. I'm staring at three criminals before me and you're going to tell me this is what Granny Smith needs? What would she say? Hm? How would she react to her own granddaughter turning to crime?" Twilight demanded.
"Granny Smith wouldn't react at all, Twilight, she's stuck in a bed fighting for her life while we sit here and pretend there's some other way out of this!" Rainbow countered. This was quickly turning into an argument. "And besides, you wanted your proof that we could pull this off. Well here it is, we pulled it off while you sat here and read books all day."
"I never asked for any proof, Rainbow Dash, because it's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. It doesn't count for anything if we got the bits in the wrong way. You haven't really solved anything if you create more problems for everypony by fixing one!"
"Maybe we could use our inside voices for just right now?" Pinkie Pie added gently during the silence that followed.
For the first time since they came in, Twilight paid a bit more attention to Rainbow's accomplices (she was sure Dash was the instigator). Pinkie wasn't looking too cheerful. Now that she thought of it, Applejack hadn't made eye contact with her the whole time. And shouldn't Rainbow Dash have been way more smug? Twilight was able to see that these three ponies certainly didn't take any joy in doing whatever it is they did. In fact, it really looked like Applejack had been crying. It was apparent that they really were just doing it all for Granny Smith. But that didn't change how idiotic it was.
"I'm sorry," Twilight said in her inside voice. "It's just that this is very serious. Probably the most serious thing we've ever been through. I mean, we've been reduced to threatening ponies and robbing them of bits. Aside from that, you girls are putting yourselves in danger. I'm surprised the authorities haven't busted in to arrest you already."
"Exactly, Twilight. If we three dumb ponies can get away with it, I'm sure your egghead can plan even safer ways to pull this off," Rainbow said.
"No, don't even think for a moment that I'm going to take any part in this," Twilight said in a firm voice. She looked Pinkie and Dash in the eyes when she said that. Applejack was still staring at the floor. What had happened? "...besides... How did you do it? Where did you do it?"
"We held up a small store up in Canterlot," Rainbow answered.
"Yeah, and we used a taxi to pull us away. No one even knew! It was a total secret, Twilight," Pinkie added.
"Did you wear masks? Disguises?"
"Yes, we're not total doofuses, Twlight. I covered up my hair, Applejack ditched the hat, and we wore masks," Rainbow answered.
"What else did you use? How did you get the bits?"
Dash and Pinkie looked at each other nervously at this question. Oh no...
"We used this," Applejack finally spoke. She stepped up to Twilight's desk, removed something wrapped in a cloth, and plopped it on Twilight's desk. It hit the desk with a heavy thud. Twilight wasted no time in unwrapping it and gasping at what she found.
Guns were extremely rare in Equestria—they were a relatively new discovery that didn't have too many practical uses. Twilight had only seen one before and it had been at an invention exhibition while she studied at Celestia's school for gifted unicorns. Ponies couldn't really find a suitable use for the things and they were mainly used for clay plate contests and destroying buildings. Twilight had never heard of anypony being shot by one, nevertheless threatened by one. It was unthinkable and unprecedented. She stared at the metal, viewing it in a completely new light. It had a metal brace that a pony would stick their hoof through. It had a trigger within the brace and a second trigger on the side of the small piece, presumably for single and dual-hoof use.
"Where did you get this?"
"We keep it mainly for more dangerous varmints on the farm, just in case. We were raided by timberwolves some time before you came and decided it'd be good for our safety. We ain't really had the chance to use it, but Big Mac likes to go shootin' every now and then with it. Sometimes we need to break up old farmin' tools for parts, too. "
That made sense. With the power to destroy stuck metal rivets and screws for repairs, a gun was obviously lethally dangerous. "And you held this to somepony's face?"
Applejack flinched at that question. Twilight had everything but guessed what was bothering Applejack. She once again lost eye contact with Twilight as she said her next words.
"I love my Granny Smith more than I love buckin' apples, Twi'. She's family to me and nothin' beats enjoying a swelterin' hot day working in the sun with those you care most about, and I wouldn't trade anythin' for that. But I don't know if what we done is right. I didn't mean to scare no one, and that pony was scared for his life Twi'. How could I be alright knowin' that I was as dishonest as a pony can be? We couldn't even show our faces 'cause what we did was so terrible. That robbery was the biggest lie I've ever told. All I can think of now is how I'm a walkin' fib. How that pony will live in fear now 'cause of our lie." A silent tear streamed down her face. Her voice broke. "But you know what else, Twi'? It ain't that clear to me. This is 'bout as clear as black molasses 'cause despite what we did, we got the bits. Despite everything I've learned and held true, Twi', dishonesty is bringing the cows home. And that's been botherin' me. I just can't wrap my head around how bein' so bad has payed us back."
No pony said a word for a long time after Applejack confessed her feelings. Sometimes, truth was deafening. All they could do was dwell on Applejack's words, Granny Smith in her insidious condition, the clerk pony at the store, and what it meant to be a role model for everypony. There was no easy answer. Twilight wasn't even sure if there was an answer this time. It was like a multiple-choice test, but every answer was wrong in some way. Every choice the Elements had made had been simple. Discord versus order. Acceptance versus rejection. Friendship versus loneliness. But how could a pony possibly choose between family and morality?
"You should all get home," Twilight finally said, massaging her head—a feeble gesture in the face of her developing migraine. "I don't think I'm really mad at you girls. I'm just mad at the circumstances. I think we all are. This is tough, but I know we can get through it. The only thing I think we're all sure of is that we will not sit and do nothing while Granny Smith suffers. We're running out of time and options, so I understand why you girls did that, as crazy as it is. But that doesn't mean we're all out of options. I'm going to go ask for loans at a bank tomorrow, so we can at least increase our time. We should get Granny Smith in good health as soon as possible so we can worry about paying for all of it later."
There seemed to be no objections to that as another silence fell upon the room. Twilight made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with robbing anyone.
"Okie-dokie-lokie," Pinkie Pie said, offering a small smile.
"Alright then. I guess we'll be leavin' now," Applejack said, picking up the gun and wrapping it back up. With that, the three mares exchanged their farewells with Twilight and left her treehouse.
Twilight sat back in her seat, staring at the mixture of open books and notes on her desk, her eyes tired and her perseverance exhausted.
Eight hours later, Twilight sat in the same spot, her eyes exhausted and her perseverance broken. Her quest to acquire a loan proved to be useless.
We don't just hand out loans here, silly filly, the teller had told Twilight. We're an established credit union—the last thing we would do is hand out loans of that size to any pony who asks. We'd love to help you, but only once you've become a trusted client, the teller had said with a grin. How else could we feasibly insure all our funds?
"Oh, horseapples!" Twilight cried out in frustration. There was no way somepony could produce half a million bits within a couple of weeks! No one could loan them the cash, no fundraiser they set up could touch that amount, and the hospital needed at least 20,000 to even begin the series of operations. They couldn't even come up with that. Twilight eyed the spilled bag of bits. It seems as if they had forgotten it there last night. Judging by the size of the bag, there must have been around 13,000 bits in there. Still not enough to pay for the operation alone. This was truly a conundrum.
She shuffled through the array of books on her desk, brainstorming for an answer. With a glaring problem to every answer she could think of, Twilight finally sat back in frustration. That's when her eye caught a book on one of her shelves. A History of Heists: Organized Crime in Equestria.
Insured funds, huh... Twilight thought. She stuffed her face in a book and let out a solid two-second groan. With a sigh, she used her magic to bring the book to her desk.
THWACK!
A platoon of apples fell to the floor.
THWACK!
A few more apples bounced onto the dirt.
THWACK
This time, no apples fell from the tree. Despite this, Applejack gave the tree another smash, her mind completely somewhere else.
"Applejack!"
THWACK!
"Applejack!"
THWACK!
"APPLEJACK!"
"Huh?!" Applejack looked up, finally. Twilight Sparkle stood on her hind legs, leaning over the wooden fence.
"Are you alright?" Twilight asked with a concerned look.
Applejack looked at the tree. It leaned hideously away from her, two white spots where the tree's bark had been blasted away.
"Erm, yeah, I'm doin' fine." Applejack could see Twilight didn't believe a word of it. Shoot, Applejack herself was having a hard time believing a word out of her own mouth.
"Well, cheer up because I've decided to help."
"...Wh-"
"I had two choices: family or morality," Twilight continued. "I figured choosing morality doesn't make sense, since it's intrinsically immoral to abandon your family when you could have helped. As such, I have decided to choose fami—please be gentle!" was all Twilight said before she braced herself for an Applejack racing at her full speed. A second later, Applejack crashed into her, hugging Twilight in a full embrace.
"Thank you, Twi'."