Homecoming was always held on a weekday, and just about every pony who didn't have a job in retail wound up taking at least part of the following day off: what was the point of having all of those sales if you didn't make some effort to attend them? Apple Bloom, even before finding her cousin on the platform, hadn't possessed very many plans in that direction: there was only so much money to work with, and she would be paying off the damages from the Crusade for a long time.
Two weekdays.
But now it was the weekend.
...well, for a lot of ponies, it was the weekend. Time off. But there were always things to do on a farm.
The empty spare bed was head-pushed out of the room. A little cleaning found where the note had blown to, and then Apple Bloom checked the window.
Might not have gone after Babs if'fin Ah'd found the note.
...well, maybe. Applejack probably would've wanted t' make sure. See her off. But...
It had closed promptly on the first attempt when she'd tried it on the previous day, and nothing seemed to be having any issues now. In fact, if anything, the latch was working more smoothly than it usually did --
-- no such thing as ghosts.
Can't say the same for latch grease.
Scootaloo was somewhere on the Acres: Apple Bloom's guess was that her friend was continuing the ongoing search for the last undiscovered glide launch points. Granny was getting an early start on preparing lunch, and her siblings were busy with their own labors.
The youngest Malus wrapped up the bedroom cleaning, because it was her -- their bedroom, and she really needed to have more say in when it got cleaned. Then she attended to her chores and, once those were complete, found Applejack.
Apple Bloom, with all labors complete, was free to be off the Acres for a little while. Even with a relatively short travel distance involved, she wanted to make sure somepony knew exactly where she'd gone. That was just being considerate.
Providing the destination delayed her departure. Applejack hardly ever reared back with that much raw force, and it took them two minutes to find where the hat had landed.
Stepping onto the Rich estate was somewhat like being underwater.
She'd been down the approach path a few times -- partially: enough to get a good look at the house, which also gave her some chance of being able to hear whether the only daughter was home. If that hated laughter somehow made its way into yellow ears, then Apple Bloom could venture back to the main road. Some degree of safety for a day's activities could be assured, because their chief tormentor was otherwise occupied.
But to come all the way up to the front doors... to knock...
The servant who'd answered had been -- there was probably a word immediately beyond 'surprised' and if there wasn't, then the mare's initial reaction had demanded its invention. But the visible signs had only been present for an instant, and that had been followed by an inquiry regarding the reason for the visit. 'Inquire' had actually been voiced. Everything about the estate seemed to operate on some degree of Fancy.
She'd been told that Mr. Rich was at the store: the second day of Hearth's Warning sales still required his direct attention. But the reason she'd come to the door... that wasn't a problem. A shock, yes: the servant had needed to suppress that too. But if Apple Bloom truly wished to --
-- come in...
She wound up in a side room: something which jutted out from the eastern side of the house. The placement made it all the easier for the glass outer walls and curving ceiling to let a morning Sun send warmth inside. Concentrating both heat and lumens, to the point where both light and air had a near-liquid look. The servant politely told her the room was called a conservatory, and left her there before explaining how to spell it.
There were warm benches in the area, padded in exceptionally soft fabrics. A few bookshelves. Looking through the glass towards the estate grounds discovered the flower clock.
It was a botanical structure several body lengths across. Certain blooms were known to open petals onto Sun's light on a predictable schedule: precisely arrange a full variety across the huge circle, include those which took part of their nourishment from Moon, and an expert would be able to tell time -- within half an hour or so. This feat had an additional, seasonal requirement, and it was autumn. Most of what was currently available to view were stems.
Not dead. Dormant. Ah can hear that much. And even dormancy could be tricky, but somepony had been looking after the creation with exacting care. It'll come back in a few moons.
She tried to settle onto a bench: a single-occupant specimen which had an equally-plush partner on the immediate left. Warmth did its best to work through her fur and, once it reached the skin, found the dread counteracting it.
It'll be real pretty when all the flowers are back. Worth seein'.
But Ah --
-- this is --
-- Ah shouldn't be here --
Her legs almost jerked. She nearly got up.
But that was when the servant opened the door.
She only heard it happen: most of her visual focus was still directed at the dormant clock. She had to listen to the sharp little intake of breath: something which seemed to draw the air across a sharp edge. And then the door closed, the adult left, and it gave Apple Bloom the chance to listen as four solid hooves moved towards her.
"What are you doing here?"
There was a little bit of shock in that voice, along with a lot of demand. It also happened to be asking a completely legitimate question.
The youngest Malus briefly held her breath before answering, because being on the Rich estate was somewhat like being underwater. She was in a place which had the potential to be rather beautiful, and she still kept waiting for the foreign environment to kill her.
She turned her head. Forced herself to look towards blue eyes, and only found her gaze shifting enough to note the lack of tiara.
"Ah'm sorry 'bout your mom."
Diamond's eyes closed. The streaked tail went limp.
"Did she tell you?" a far too weary voice asked. "Or did you ask somepony?"
"Neither," Apple Bloom told her, and fought to keep the words steady. Gentle. "Ah... figured it out."
Slowly, the pink legs advanced, and did so while their owner refused to look at the world.
The adolescent watched as Diamond stopped just short of the companion bench. Smoothly climbed up onto it, still with closed eyes. You could do that sort of thing, when you'd lived in the same place all your life.
"Ah kept waitin' for your dad t' turn up, after Babs..." The adolescent sighed. "She's gone back, by the way." Which was currently as far as Apple Bloom wanted to go with Babs's side of the story. She was willing to talk about it, but... some other things needed to be settled first. "Anyway, Ah figured you'd have him on the Acres inside an hour, even with the big sale that close. But he never came. Why?"
Diamond's posture was still. The solid form was pressed down into the padding, and every breath was shallow. Her voice, however, still suggested that she felt Apple Bloom was an idiot. "Because I didn't tell him."
"Why?" was a natural enough question. "It ain't because you've said nearly as bad." Or possibly worse. Apple Bloom hadn't exactly been there for everything.
"No." The right foreleg briefly extended, dismissively waved before curling back up. "It was just words. They shouldn't matter."
"Except," said a portion of hard-earned wisdom, "they do."
Something about the accessory-free mane seemed to collapse in on itself.
"...yeah," Diamond eventually said. "And... my daddy doesn't listen to me any more." Quickly, with a touch of bitterness, "Not the same way, not first. Not since the last exams. I didn't know if he'd..."
Stopped. The streaked tail twitched.
"No," Diamond softly continued (and Apple Bloom had never heard that hated voice go so soft, so tired). "Words can matter. They mattered at the train station when Babs left for the first time, and they mattered on Homecoming. I didn't know what my mommy would have thought. About my 'bad attitude'. And... I'll never know."
Her head went down. Ears flattened, and the tail fell still.
"I didn't want you to know," the Rich filly quietly said. "It's easy to keep ponies from finding out. They don't ask. And most of the ones who know won't talk about it any more."
Ah know.
Ah've been there.
Still there. We both live there.
Apple Bloom had seen it as four fillies who had something fundamental in common. Incomplete families. But now it was five.
What do you wait for, Diamond?
It wasn't a question she could ask.
"But you told Babs." The more natural inquiries, however, felt free to keep coming. "Why?"
It got her a small, underpowered snort. "Same reason Silver knows. Because we were friends."
The blue eyes were still closed, and so missed the opportunity to see orange ones go wide. Liquid light did its best to coat the whole of the stare.
"Y'were --"
She'd never truly considered it, not for so much as a second: the concept would have been too unstable to hold together for the full duration. She hadn't thought about it before and something deep within almost needed to reject the possibility. For Babs and Diamond to have been real friends...
"I have friends," Diamond defensively stated -- and, after a moment, added "Plural. As in 'more than one'. Silver's my friend. Cameo loves me --" paused "-- you'll probably say pets don't count. So it's Silver, and Sna --"
The pink filly stopped. Took a slow breath, as the blue eyes refused to open. Apple Bloom forced herself to wait.
"She was from Manehattan," Diamond finally said. "We talked about that. What it was like to live in a big settled zone. What she called the bustle of it. It was fun to hear about, and... dream. I dreamed about what it would be like to live there." Calmly, without any real tone, "When I'll never go anywhere."
"Y'travel lots," the adolescent immediately protested. "With your dad: we all know that. He takes business trips all over the continent, an' you go with him --"
"-- but I live in Ponyville," Diamond expertly cut in. "And that won't change. Even when I grow up. It can't."
"...why?" Apple Bloom asked. "You've got enough money t' go anywhere --"
"-- my daddy is here," the filly quietly stated. "He won't leave. And I'm all he has."
The youngest Malus stared at her old enemy. One blue eye briefly cracked open, noticed and dismissed the regard, then closed again.
"...why are you tellin' me this?"
"Because you're sorry," Diamond calmly answered. (The voice was calm: the tail twitched.) "When you probably shouldn't be. I said enough things that you'd never have to be sorry about knowing. About... anything. But you're here. Even after everything, you're here."
Ah finally saw where the line was. The border. The one y'never crossed...
"Y'never said anythin' 'bout mah parents."
"Three years of you screwing up your manifest," the filly immediately declared, "gave everypony plenty of material --"
-- and sank lower into the padding.
"It's stupid," Diamond stated. "It all feels so stupid now. So I got my mark early. What if I'd had my period first?" Paused. "I probably did." And before Apple Bloom could even begin to deal with that, "I just thought about that. Three years of boasting about puberty. It feels stupid. So maybe all the mark stuff was stupid too. It's not as if anypony's ever not manifested at all. I looked it up. So even you three are going to get there."
Maybe ponies do change -- just barely found a hoof planting in Apple Bloom's mind.
Diamond snorted again. "Mostly in spite of yourselves."
-- but not all at once.
"You'll find your talent," the filly concluded. "Eventually. Maybe even soon."
The adolescent's head felt as if it was spinning on the inside. Thoughts were being flung out.
"Diamond?"
A lightly annoyed "What?"
"Ah jus' realized. What is your talent? 'cause you've never said." Boasted about your mark up one hip an' down the other, but not the talent...
"Leadership," was the quiet reply. "I say something, I try to put my magic into it, and -- ponies listen a little more closely. It works best when they don't know I have it."
The former Crusader was now adding an entire vocabulary of blinks to the silent language.
"And now you do," Diamond added -- and then slowly, softly sighed. "It's not a good talent for the business. When his magic is strong, then my daddy just knows what has to be done. I have to hope I can figure out which other pony does, because I can only tell them to do that. If I pick the wrong employee..."
Ah...
...Ah never really knew you at all, did Ah?
Didn't want to. Didn't feel like there was anypony there worth knowin'.
But...
They rested in silence for a time, as liquid light soaked into their fur.
"What was your mother's name?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Spoiled Sweet," Diamond proudly answered. "She changed it. You have to be brave to change your name. Daddy said it's like trying to rewrite destiny when you don't understand the language in the book."
An' Ah've got a friend named Sweetie. Y'come across the three of us, an' it's a reminder every time.
"Do you remember your mommy at all?" the near-prone filly asked. "Anything? Do you remember Pear?"
Silence.
"...you're not saying anything," Diamond observed.
Her body felt hollow. "Y'said her name."
Somewhat demanding, "And?"
"Ah -- ain't heard anypony say her name in a long time," a living vacuum confessed. "Not when they ain't family..."
"My daddy knows everypony's names," Diamond stated. "That's good business. So I remember names. Do you remember her?"
"A little," Apple Bloom quietly offered. "Not as much as Ah wish. Ah was... real little when she died."
They. But they were talking about mothers.
Diamond simply nodded. "I know how old you were."
"An' --"
Ah can't, Ah can't --
But they'd come this far.
"-- you? D'you remember?"
The quiet closed in, as Sun shone down on the conservatory and the clock slept.
"No. I wasn't even a year old. I don't remember anything."
It would have hurt less if the answer had been stark. Pained. Anything but that horrible matter-of-fact observation.
"I was jealous of you," Diamond added. "For having her longer, and being old enough to remember --" and then laughed for the first time. A new laugh, something bitter, sharp, and aimed inwards. "No. That's an excuse. Most things turn into excuses when you think about them long enough."
The pink form pulled in on itself, then pushed against the padding. Taking on more of a normal sitting position, as blue eyes opened.
Diamond looked at Apple Bloom, and the youngest Malus forced herself to remain still on foreign ground.
"I'm sorry."
Both voice and throat felt oddly dry. "You're really gonna have t' narrow that down."
"No, I don't," Diamond decided. "It's for everything."
"Such as?" Apple Bloom forced the issue.
The Rich filly snorted. "If you want the full list written out, then you'll have to wait a while. More time than you've got today. More paper than I've got in the house. And my daddy goes through a lot of paper."
The adolescent reviewed the previous Diamond-occupied portions of her life.
There was a lot to examine. The majority hadn't fully scabbed over.
Ah wanted Babs t' say it t' you. Or write, t' start.
Ah didn't expect...
...Ah don't know what t' --
"Ah think it's gonna take a little more than jus' the words."
"Like what?" opened the start of the negotiations.
"No idea," Apple Bloom admitted. "Might need some time t' figure that out."
Diamond nodded. And then her features slightly contorted, every limb shuddering as tail and ears twisted in concert...
It was like watching a pony trying to practice a wrestling move. On herself.
"...Diamond?"
The pink filly took a deep breath, and then exercised what Apple Bloom still felt was her real talent. She slammed harder material into softer, and watched everything shatter.
"Silver thinks you're cute."
Apple Bloom felt her brain shut down.
It was amazing, really. She wasn't thinking. No part of her was capable of thought, and movement was completely out of the question. But at the same time, she had been able to recognize the state. This seemed to indicate that there were multiple levels of paradox in play.
She needed to look up 'paradox'. The adolescent was almost entirely sure she had some part of that wrong.
...what?
"I've caught you looking," Diamond said. "The really quick ones, when you're all guilty because you looked at all and you don't feel like you should have. So has Silver. But she doesn't know what to do about it. " Another snort. "Or maybe she does, but not how to start. So somepony needs to start things, and it obviously isn't going to be either of you two. Silver thinks you're cute." With open self-satisfaction, "There. Now you know. So maybe you'll look for more than a second. Or let her see you looking."
...the dreams...
Diamond was peering at her features.
"I don't see it," the filly shrugged. "But I don't see it on mares at all. Silver and I talked about that. She was worried that it was going to change things, but... not mares, not with me. I feel like it's too soon for me to start dating anyway. And I have to get somepony up to my standards first. Doing anything with him is going to be a project. Another project." She squinted. "Your face goes all funny when you're trying to understand basic stuff. Do you need a drink?" Thoughtfully, "Oh, and you should probably meet Cameo. Officially."
Most of what Apple Bloom initially thought about as she staggered her way off the estate was that jeweled scarabs were more visibly affectionate than she would have suspected. It was better than thinking about any other number of things, because the majority of contemplation candidates lived in the nightscape and had no idea what to do with the mere concept of potentially existing under Sun.
Silver thinks Ah'm...
Her brain shut down again, and the next moment of true awareness found her halfway back to the Acres.
...maybe put that one aside for a day.
She tried to focus. Narrowed the world down to the functioning of her lungs, and breathed in crisp, cold, sweet autumn air. The scents of Homecoming.
There's gonna be another one. Every year. Maybe new guests. It would probably still be far too soon to invite Diamond over. Maybe... Certain vital neurons took an expert guess, and she forced herself away from the next crash. An' the table...
Granny set the table that way. Year after year. It was almost a... tradition.
Applejack broke one tradition. That's why Snowflake comes around. But there was a price for that.
Ah could jus' ask Granny t' stop. But... what's the price? What does Granny get from puttin' the good plates out? Is it somethin' she needs t' do, deep inside? Are Applejack an' Mac better off 'cause they get that moment, or...
Ah don't know.
The crisp, sweet scents of a graveyard. One which was only a few moons away from renewed life.
But it ain't just 'bout me. If it's somethin' Granny needs, then... Ah can jus' get through it.
Even when it hurts.
Growin' up hurts.
It was easier to be a kid. To be selfish, and pretend everything was about you. Diamond probably understood how much simpler that was, and -- how much it hurt to stop.
There was pain on Homecoming. But Babs pushed her pain into other ponies, and -- Apple Bloom didn't want to be like that. Maybe there was something else she could do with it. Or a way to make the pain fade.
Maybe she could even grow up enough to figure out what that was.
But for now...
Gotta get home. Gonna miss lunch. Ah can start workin' on that first letter t' Babs right after.
First one's gonna be a stamp. Ah can tell her 'bout Spike that way. The ones after that can go faster.
Yellow legs forced themselves forward. After a few seconds, some semblance of a steady trot began to settle in.
Home.
Ah'll come back on Homecoming, when Ah'm grown.
But Ah don't think Ah'll live here --
-- Apple Bloom froze.
...Ah won't, will Ah?
Might not be enough work for an engineer in Ponyville. An' even before that, this ain't one of the best places t' study. Not the college stuff.
Diamond thinks she's gonna stay forever. But Ah might have t' go...
...it took a moment before she fully recognized that she had twisted her neck and body. Doing her best to stare at the left hip. An expanse of chilled yellow fur failed to notice.
-- no, that was fair. Applejack got her mark by comin' home. Somepony else might set off a manifest when they realize they might have t' leave. But it's gonna be 'bout -- buildin' the right thing.
An' that might take some time.
She straightened her body, faced the general direction of the Acres. Looked down the oldest of Ponyville's roads, the most familiar, and recognized that every hoofstep was leading into something unknown. The mystery of a future. Something terrifying, because she didn't know what was going to happen next. Not to her, or to Babs (she had to make sure she wrote Babs), or... to anypony at all. Nopony could.
But she was older. (Not old enough yet.)
Wiser. (Very much a work in progress.)
And Apple Bloom felt herself to understand this much.
She could wait for the future to arrive.
Or she could go forward to meet it.
The young mare began to move.