Farm Diamond
Chapter 6
The first sound of the morning was the roosters yelling loudly in the open early air. Something that was ignored by Diamond Tiara in favour of literally sleeping until noon had actually done the job of waking her. Although, it was obvious that she didn’t enjoy it entirely. She quickly found herself becoming more and more accustomed to staying on Sweet Apple Acres, which was the number one thing she tried to avoid since she first arrived.
Rising out of her bed, she groaned, rubbing her eye. “Stupid birds…”
The clock on the wall read 7:21a.m. In her opinion, there was no legitimate reason to wake up this early, especially from the fact that there was no school on a weekend! She could only face-hoof at the realisation. She couldn’t quite wrap her head around how Applebloom and the rest of her family could manage to stay asleep with birds screeching their heads off in the wind.
Nevertheless, there was one thing about waking up this early that she adored, and that was the outside. The golden orb that was the sun was still partially hidden behind the horizon at this time, painting the sky in various different shades of orange and violet. It left the moon and some of the stars visible above. It was something out of a first-class painting.
The past couple of days had followed the same old routine: wake up, go downstairs, eat some breakfast, and then go about the rest of her day however she saw fit. She usually spent most of her time with Silver Spoon; the gray earth pony always stopped by to hang out, reminding her of how things used to be. It was as if Diamond never lost all her money. Yet with this, there came a downside.
They could not ridicule Applebloom or her Cutie Mark Crusader pals whenever they were on the farm. A lot of the CMC’s antics would most of the time end with them causing some small amount of damage to the property. Just last week, they somehow knocked over two apple trees trying their hooves at being “Cutie Mark Crusaders Stunt Ponies”. With Silver Spoon here, however, Diamond Tiara managed to avoid much of the farm work. That came in handy when they had to fix whatever damage the Cutie Mark Crusaders would cause.
She hopped out of bed, nearly falling down to the floor after tripping on her sheets, and trotted towards a mirror. Her lavender mane was a complete and tangled mess from the bed; nothing a comb couldn’t fix. She ran it through one hundred and fifty times and straightened out any out-of-place strands of hair she spotted.
The mornings saw basically nothing for her to do, except wait around for someone to finally wake up. Since it was the weekend, she did not have to worry about doing menial chores like bucking apple trees, something she could never quite accomplish despite trying a dozen more times. Albeit, after all the effort she put in, she saw some progress begin to appear. Though she wasn’t nearly on par with Applebloom, she could safely say that she was starting to see herself advance.
Finally, she was finished. She set her comb down on her desk, her rejuvenated as she was ready to start her day. Her stomach growled, so she headed downstairs into the kitchen. She grabbed a carton of milk out the fridge and set it on the table. She got a bowl and a box of Bucky Charms cereal from the pantry and started eating.
She heard a knock on the door and trotted over to answer it. She opened it, hoping to see Silver standing outside. To her disappointment, she was instead greeted to the sight of the local mailpony, along with Dinky. She knew the blonde pegasus as Derpy, the young unicorn filly’s relative. She stood there with an envelope in her mouth, which happened to be addressed to the orchard.
“Message for Diamond Tiara,” she said. Diamond took the letter from her. It was sent from Manehattan.
“What are you doing here?” asked a curious Dinky. She never thought a high-class filly would be living on a farm.
Diamond looked over at the unicorn. “None of your business,” was her response before shutting the door. She trotted back into the kitchen. She saw the letter was addressed to her from Filthy Rich.
She opened it and read the contents:
Dear Diamond Tiara,
I think I might have found a way to solve our money problem. I’ll be heading to Canterlot to meet Fancy Pants. Hopefully he’ll help. I can see things beginning to look up. I hope things have been going well over at Sweet Apple Acres and that you have been getting along with Applebloom and her friends. I should be back within a few days.
With love,
Your father, Filthy Rich
Diamond Tiara checked over the letter to see if she wasn’t hallucinating. She saw it was the real deal after about the fourth or fifth time reading. Everything was coming together, first with Silver Spoon’s long awaited return and now this.
All she had to do was wait…
Diamond Tiara was spending another day with Silver Spoon, and the entire time she couldn’t help but wonder to herself what Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were up to this time.
Whatever the blank-flanks were planning, it wasn’t going to be good, that much was for sure.
“I can’t wait! I can’t wait! I can’t wait!” The letter she received from Filthy Rich had been on Diamond Tiara’s mind as of late. She was just barely able to contain her own excitement.
“Settle down, ‘Tia,” Silver Spoon insisted.
“I can’t settle down. My dad’s coming home, and he says that he might’ve found a way to fix our problem. Everything can finally go back to normal again!”
“I wouldn't go and jinx it, 'Tia. Your dad hasn't really found a solution, yet.” They narrowly got out of the way, avoiding a speeding object zooming past them. The dust kicked up from the wheels had gotten into their manes.
Looking ahead of her, Diamond Tiara recognised the object as a wooden scooter being driven by an extremely familiar pegasus filly. “Hey!” she yelled after her, “Watch where you’re going!”
Scootaloo skid to a stop and turned to see the two earth ponies she nearly ran over. An innocent smile spread across her face at that moment. “Sorry, guess I didn’t see you two there.”
“Why are you in such a rush?” asked Silver Spoon.
“I’m meeting Applebloom and Sweetie Belle at Miss Bon Bon’s place. We’re gonna help make candy.”
A snicker came from Diamond after hearing this. “What in Equestria possessed Miss Bon Bon into letting you three help?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” said Scootaloo, growing evermore frustrated with the two fillies in front of her.
“You always fail at every meaningless attempt you try,” said Silver Spoon, “It wouldn’t be worth the embarrassment.”
“Give me a break. At least we’re trying. You two wouldn’t know anything about that even if it bit your tail off.”
Silver Spoon scoffed, waving her hoof. “Whatever. I still think you three would mess up, as usual.”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. It was always the usual deal whenever she was with them. Turning around, she started speeding for her destination. Anything was better than talking to those two. Besides, when this all worked out, and she and her friends got their candy-making cutie marks, they could rub it in Diamond’s and Silver’s faces all they wanted. It’s a win-win scenario—except for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, of course.
Right now, she was focused on getting to Bon Bon’s house. Hopefully Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were already there and being told what to do. They would fill her in on the details once she arrived, as well. The cream-coloured mare was nice enough let them help with the candy making. Aside from getting their cutie marks, they got to eat any free treat they wanted out of it. Doing this was a foal’s dream come true.
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon watched as Scootaloo departed. Regardless of what was said in the argument, they still stood by their statement. Whenever the Cutie Mark Crusaders tried something, it almost always backfired on them. The three of them didn’t know when to quit.
Silver Spoon sighed at the realisation. “Do you think they’ll ever learn?”
“I don’t think so,” replied Diamond, “Maybe someday they will.” She doubted it, though. As they readied to continue their trot, turning around, they soon found themselves coming face-to-face with Big Macintosh. It was always creepy how the stallion was always quiet most of the time.
“Hey, Big Mac,” Diamond greeted him, hoping that he didn’t see the argument that just occurred. He and Applejack wanted her to get along with Applebloom more, which was something she had been neglecting as of late. She spoke to him in an innocent tone, “What brings you around these parts?”
Scootaloo was lucky to arrive at Bon Bon’s store just in time as Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were given instructions on what they had to do. It didn’t seem too difficult when she first listened to the cream-coloured mare; most of what they would do involved crafting the candy into any shape they desired, another thing that seemed fun about candy-making.
This whole thing would be easy, no doubt. They would earn their cutie marks in no time, at all. They had the materials they needed. This would be similar to the time they tried to make treats at Sugarcube Corner, not counting when they got themselves stuck inside the machine. “So, what should we start on first?” asked Scootaloo.
“I say we should make taffy. That seems like the easiest to make—and they’re good to eat,” said Applebloom. They agreed on it and got started with gathering the materials.
It wasn’t too hard. Bon Bon had a stretching machine here, as well, which would make the entire process simpler. They hadn’t been met with any sign of trouble with the machine or the taffy cubes they threw inside. All in all, it seemed to be going well for the three of them. “Could you image if Diamond Tiara was here?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Knowing her and Silver Spoon, they would probably complain about how hard this would be,” said Scootaloo, “I don’t know if we’d be able to hear the end of it from them.”
“Oh, girls-” Bon Bon trotted in, “These two came here offering to lend a helping hoof with the candy.” She stepped aside, letting the two ponies in.
The CMC couldn’t believe it, at first. They stood with their mouths open as they stared at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Had those two really come to help them with the candy-making? Even if this was the case, they couldn’t trust them that easily.
“Don’t act all surprised at seeing us here,” said Diamond, “Big Mac and Applejack heard you were helping Miss Bon Bon and insisted that we help out, too. As far as I’m concerned, I just need to make it look convincing.”
“Whatever you say,” said Applebloom, although she could honestly see why Big Macintosh and Applejack were doing this. They wanted her and Diamond Tiara to at least tolerate each other’s presence, just as the two fillies promised the first day DT came to the Apple Family household. They hadn't been accomplishing this for the past few days, so she could see why they decided to have her help.
“I’m sure you five’ll do a fantastic job together,” said Bon Bon. She trusted them enough, and they seemed to know what they were doing.
Diamond and Silver didn’t seem all too interested in being here, especially with helping the three blank-flanks that were here, as well. “So what is it that we have to do?” asked Silver Spoon.
“We’re just making taffy,” replied Sweetie Belle, “You should know what that is?”
Silver waved her hoof. “It'll be a piece of cake—even for you three.” Her statement incited a laugh from Diamond Tiara.
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo could feel their boiling points rising. Sure they were used to dealing with Diamond and Silver, but the way the two always acted when around them had gotten on their nerves. Applebloom, however, stood between them before tensions could explode. She was annoyed by Diamond and Silver’s antics as much as the next pony, but she was determined to keep the promise she made to Applejack.
She was going to tolerate Diamond Tiara as much as possible until Filthy Rich returned to Ponyville. Then they could go back to arguing and getting in each other's faces all they wanted. “Listen, girls,” said Applebloom, standing between the four fillies, “I know we don’t like each other, but the last thing we outta do is start a fight. We’re all here now; we might as well get someth’n done.”
Applebloom had a point. Diamond Tiara wanted to get out of here as soon as possible, but that would not happen if they kept arguing. “So how do you make taffy, anyway?”
“All we have to do is put the taffy cubes in the stretcher and let the machine do the rest,” said Applebloom.
“That doesn’t sound difficult. We should be done in no time.” She was correct on that matter. All they had to do was throw taffy into the machine, how much more complicated could it have gotten?
Bon Bon had everything she needed. She was lucky to have the girls help with making the candy. Hopefully she would receive more help from other ponies as time passed. She planned on putting out advertisements for job spaces when she had the money.
“How’s it going, Bon Bon,” a voice came. She turned her head to see an aqua-coloured unicorn approaching.
“Oh, hey, Lyra,” she greeted.
“What’cha got there?”
“Just getting some ingredients.” She presented a bag that was being balanced on her back. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders and their friends are gonna be helping me today.”
“You sure it was a good idea leaving them alone?” Lyra had known of the CMC’s antics for some time now, as well as the entire town. They would normally cause a small amount of damage whenever they did something.
“Don’t worry about it. I trust them,” said Bon Bon, “They should’ve been fine while I was gone.” Suddenly, the two mares heard what seemed like an explosion from inside the house. They hurried inside to see what had happened. Hopefully the girls were alright and nothing was too damaged inside.
Their kitchen was in absolute disarray. The stretcher machine was broken down and the resulting explosion had thrown taffy all around. The cabinets, counters, floors, and even the ceiling were left covered in a complete mess. On the ground lied the five fillies that’d volunteered to help out, each one covered almost head-to-hoof in taffy.
Lyra, seeing the amount of carnage present, just whistled and backed out, acting as if she had seen and heard nothing.
Together, Applebloom and Diamond headed back for Sweet Apple Acres. It was a long day, and the only thing pink filly wanted was head to off bed. Her coat and hooves had become sticky from the taffy, even pulling some of the grass and dirt up from the ground. “First mud, then flour, and now candy.” It was obvious by the tone in her voice that she was beyond frustrated, “How come whenever I’m with you, I get covered in something?”
“Will you calm down, already?” said Applebloom, rolling her eyes. “Miss Bon Bon said she wouldn’t hold anything against us. And I said you could use the shower first.”
Regardless of her words, Diamond was still frustrated about what happened. At least they were finally back home; she would do well to forget about today. They knocked on the front door, and waiting until Applejack answered it. She looked down at them to see them covered in taffy.
“What happened to you two?” she asked, not sure of what to make of it.
“We were help’n Miss Bon Bon make some taffy, and then we kinda messed up when we accidentally put too much an’ clogged the stretch’n machine.”
“You’re okay, though, right?”
Applebloom nodded. “Yeah. Noth’n real serious. Just sticky.”
Applejack sighed in relief. “That’s good to hear. Why don’t y’all head up and take a shower to wash that stuff off. Dinner’ll be ready in a bit.”
The two fillies took her advice and headed up the stairs. As promised, Diamond Tiara was given the shower first. The taffy took a little more time to get out than the mud or flour did. She was just glad she didn’t need to shave some of her coat off to get it out.
She thought back to the letter she received this morning. Filthy Rich said he’d have the situation under control in a matter of days. Diamond hoped it was true, and if it was, prayed that he wouldn’t run into any trouble.