The early morning sun peeked through the stained-glass windows of the church’s congregation room and bathed Diamond Tiara in its radiant light, resulting in her eyes closing tighter together in an attempt to fight off the intruding light and gain a few more hours of shuteye. Unfortunately, that proved to be much too difficult a task for the young filly as her eyes fluttered open to the sight of a strange stallion eating from a bowl beside her.
“Whuh?” was all that the sleepy Diamond Tiara managed to get out as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.
“Oh. You’re awake now, child.” The stallion placed his bowl down onto the bench he was sitting on and picked up a second bowl beside him, offering it to the filly. “Eat up. You must be hungry.”
A growl from the direction of Diamond’s stomach confirmed the stallion’s theory, and she had no reluctance in taking the bowl and spoon offered to her and digging into the… “Blech! What is this?”
“All natural oats and berries,” the stallion told her. “What it lacks in taste, it more than makes up for in nutritional value.”
“Don’t you have any cocoa-balls, or FlimFlam sugar bites?” The stallion shook his head.
“Sorry. This is all that I have.”
“… Got any sugar at least?”
“No such luck. Today is my scheduled visit to the market, where I had planned to pick some up.”
Diamond’s stomach growled once more, reminding her that she was hungry and demanding she eat something fast. “Well, I guess it’ll have to do.”
“Well that’s a mighty fine way ta say ‘thanks’.” Diamond’s ears lowered and she leaned forward with a frown, looking past the stallion sitting beside her and laying her eyes on the filly sitting on a bench at the opposite side of the room to her. “Would it kill ya ta use some manners once in a while?”
“Would it kill you to stop giving me a headache with your lame voice? Especially so early in the morning.”
“Now, now,” the stallion said, surprised to see the two going at it so early. One of them had only just got up, yet she seemed to be full of energy the moment she directed a glare at the other filly. “Please, no fighting, children. You are in hallowed grounds, after all.”
“I’m not a child,” Diamond said to the stallion, her tone sharp. “My name’s Diamond Tiara.”
“An’ ah’m Apple Bloom,” Apple Bloom said to the stallion, who nodded at the two of them as he picked his bowl up again.
“My name is Fry Laurence,” he said, looking down into his cereal and stirring it about with his spoon. “I am the head priest here… Or rather, I’m the only priest here. Everypony else left when crime started to escalate around here, claiming that Manehatten was a lost city, abandoned by our Princesses.”
“I didn’t ask for your life-story,” Diamond said.
“Well maybe he wasn’t tellin’ it fer your sake,” Apple Bloom told Diamond. “Maybe sometimes ponies say things that don’t have ta be about you.”
“No, she’s probably right,” Laurence said as he turned his direction to Apple Bloom. “Right now, I would much rather hear about your story.”
“Our story?” Apple Bloom asked. Laurence nodded.
“Two fillies, out by themselves at such a late hour, fighting and practically biting each other’s heads off. To top it off, you both – and I mean no offence by this – but you both smell like rotten apples mixed with manure.”
Diamond brought a hoof up to her nose and sniffed it, then pushed it away and gagged, her face a slight shade of green. “Ew.”
“You said that you were lost,” Laurence continued, “But I’m willing to be that there is more to the story, isn’t there?”
“… It’s kinda complicated,” Apple Bloom said.
“And personal,” Diamond added before taking a bite of the cereal given to her. She gagged again, this time over the taste and the texture in her mouth. “Gross…”
“I assure you, there is no need to tell me anything that you would feel uncomfortable sharing,” Laurence told the two fillies, which seemed to relax them at least a bit. “However, if there is something bothering the two of you, something big that you may not know how to handle on your own, then perhaps talking about it with somepony might offer a fresh insight and reveal some answers? Of course, anything you tell me will be strictly confidential.”
“Confi-what now?” Apple Bloom asked.
“It means that I will tell nopony. Nothing that you say here will leave these walls. You have my word.”
Both fillies remained silent as they seemed to contemplate this for some time. Laurence, glancing over at the nearest clock and deciding that it was still early, decided to give them some time to think it over before taking them down to the police station and hoofing them over to the police.
“You… really won’t tell anypony?” It was Apple Bloom who spoke up first, her voice quiet and ringing with uncertainty.
“Only myself and Lady Faust herself will hear any word of what you tell me,” Laurence assured the fillies once more. “Even should you confess to a grave sin, my lips will be sealed. I aim only to offer guidance that may put you on the right path.”
“… Well, it’s like this…” Apple Bloom inhaled a deep breath, and the priest leaned forward to listen to what she had to say. “Ourfamiliesaregreatfriendsbutthetwoofusaren’t, infactwefightsomuchallthetimebecausewereallyrealllyreallyhateeachother, butdespitethatourfamiliesaretryin’tamakeusmarryeachothersoweranawaytogethertomakesurewewouldn’thavetomarryan’mycouinhelpedusbutnowshe’sgonnabeintroubleforthatandwe’relostanddon’tknowwheretagoan’ahjus’wannagohomebutDiamondsaysweshouldkeeprunnin’an’…” Apple Bloom inhaled once more. “… Ah jus’ don’t know what ta do…”
Laurence could only offer a blank stare at the breathless filly as a sweat drop trickled down the side of his head. “… Eh?”
“What she was trying to say…” Diamond Tiara recounted their story to the priest. Every last detail about their lifelong feud, their hatred for each other, the fact that their families are so close, and had tried to marry them to each other, and the events that led them to their current situation, lost in Manehatten with only each other, which surely would not last seeing as one would surely kill the other before long.
“I see,” Laurence said as soon as Diamond Tiara was finished. A few details of her story he felt were biased, but he now had a rough picture of just what the two fillies had been through. “That’s quite a predicament the two of you have on your hooves.”
“What should we do?” Apple Bloom asked, a worried look on her face. “Ah don’t wanna marry Diamond Tiara, but ah’m plum tired from all the runnin’, an’ ah got Babs involved in all this, too.”
“… Well, you could always pretend that one of you is dead,” the priest suggested. “That way, the marriage is off!”
…
“Not it!” Diamond shouted, touching her hoof to her nose.
“Not- Darn it!” Apple Bloom cried, her hoof touching her nose a mere second too late.
Diamond Tiara blew a raspberry, whilst Laurence looked between the two with a concerned look on his face. “N-No. I was joking,” he said, which was met with silence. “I was… just trying to lighten the mood…” More silence followed.
“Well we don’t need jokes!” Diamond shouted, glaring up at the stallion beside her.
“We need advice!” Apple Bloom told him. “Y’all said ya were gonna help us, didn’t ya?!”
“I-I… My apologies,” Laurence said, bowing his head in penitence. “But really, my children, there is only one clear piece of advice that I could offer you.”
“Well, what is it?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Spit it out already!” Diamond Tiara demanded.
“Well,” Laurence began, starting to feel like he was being bullied by the two fillies and sweating nervously, “It’s to simply say ‘no’.”
“Say… no?” Diamond asked.
“Yep.”
“Yes?” Apple Bloom asked.
“No!” Laurence corrected.
“Don’t say no?” Diamond asked.
“N-No. Do say no.”
“So we just say no…” Apple Bloom mused.
“Yes,” Laurence said with a nod.
“Yes?” Diamond asked. “I thought it was no.”
Laurence pressed a hoof into his face and counted to ten inside his head. “… Let’s start again,” he suggested. “When your families tell you that you are to marry each other…”
“We run to Los Pegasus!” Diamond Tiara said.
“No!” Laurence said. “You just look them in the eyes and tell them that you refuse!”
The fillies remained silent as they regarded the stallion with a look of awe, as if they had just witnessed him perform the impossible. As if he had just taken down a mighty beast of the Everfree Forest all by himself.
“… Say ‘no’… to my dad’s face?” Diamond asked.
“Applejack would ground me fer life!” Apple Bloom told him. “Granny Smith would have me workin’ the pig pen ‘til I’m old enough a move outta the house!”
“Daddy would cut off my allowance and not buy me any new games!” Diamond Tiara said.
“I think that might be a bit of an exaggeration,” Laurence said with a laugh.
“No, really,” Apple Bloom said. “Granny Smith says that ya should respect yer elders, an’ Applejack’s mah ‘legal guardin’, so whatever she says goes!”
“While it is important to respect your elders,” Laurence began, facing Apple Bloom with a warm smile, “It is also important that they respect you. Just because you’re younger, it does not make you any less of a pony than them. And every single pony born into this world is gifted with something called ‘free will’. It is a precious gift, given to us by the Holy Mother herself, and it is not ours to take from others.”
“But-” Diamond began to protest, but the priest was not done just yet.
“You must not run from your problems, children. They will follow you, and it will only be a matter of time before they catch up to you. Why, if Princess Celestia had run from Nightmare Moon instead of fighting her, we would all be living in a land of perpetual darkness right about now. But she fought, because she had to. And so must you. You must stand up for those who would try to take away what is essentially a part of you, even if it is your own families.”
“But what if we get in trouble, or what if they don’t listen?” Diamond Tiara asked.
“… That is the choice that you must make, I am afraid,” Laurence told them in a solemn tone. “Do you fight for your freedom to hate each other, at the risk of upsetting your families, or do you simply bow your heads and surrender to their will?
“There was once a dragon who was much in the same boat that you are in right now. A young, still-growing dragon, who was once servant to a powerful fiend. However, he never once found thrill in the suffering of others, and wished only to fly free. The only thing keeping him bound was his fear of his ‘master’, but ultimately, he made his choice: ‘If I am to be shackled forever to the whims of another, then for what purpose do I still carry on? I will be free, or I will die trying.’”
The fillies were clearly enthralled in the tale from the looks on their faces as they both stared at the priest. “But our situation is a bit different from that,” Diamond pointed out. “Our lives aren’t exactly on the line here…”
“True,” the priest said. “I wasn’t trying to draw an exact comparison, just merely point out that, unless you fight for your freedom, it will never come. And as things stand now, running away whenever your past catches up to you, can you honestly claim that you are at all ‘free’?”
“… I guess not,” Apple Bloom muttered.
“I’d rather be grounded than spend one more night in a filthy, mucky warehouse with no shower,” Diamond Tiara said, staring down at her half-eaten cereal.
“Ah’d rather be yelled at by Granny Smith than have ta spend one more day in a city where ponies don’t love each other an’ the weather is freezin’ cold,” Apple Bloom said.
“… Please excuse me,” Laurence said as he climbed out of his seat. “I must ring the bells soon. When I return, shall we depart towards the police station?”
The fillies nodded. The priest, making as little sound as possible, made his way out of the aisle he was sitting in and left to give them some time to think about what they wanted to do. Upon his return a few minutes later, he was surprised to see both fillies waiting for him with determined looks on their faces, and newly-kindled flames in their eyes.
“Well then,” he said as he approached the two, ushering for them to rise and follow him, “Let’s be on our way.”
Fry Laurence dropped the fillies off at the nearest police station to the church, leaving them with two final words of encouragement before making his way back: “Be strong.”
The police recognised their faces from the reports they had received the previous day and acted swiftly to send a report to the police station that the reports had come from to let the families know that their fillies had been found and were safe. A full two hours passed, though to Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara it felt like half-a-day. Neither one made any sound outside of answering some questions that the police had for them regarding the foalnapping incident, and the two had to take some time to fill out eyewitness reports, but other than that, they simply sat at opposite ends of the witness lounge and waited.
“Excuse me,” a stallion’s voice called out from outside of the room, “I’m Detective Gumshoe. I’m here for the-”
“APPLE BLOOM!” Apple Bloom gasped as her sister’s voice reached her ears.
“DIAMOND TIARA!” Diamond shook as her father’s voice called out to her.
“They’re here,” Apple Bloom whispered.
“Yeah…” Diamond Tiara raised her head towards the door connecting the witness lounge with the reception area. “No going back now.”
“We’ll tell ‘em how we feel, an’ if they don’t accept it…”
“We’ll just have to worry about that when it happens,” Diamond said. “But I’m not going to run away anymore. I hate you, and if they can’t accept that, then that’s too bad.”
“… Fer once, ah agree with ya,” Apple Bloom said, shuddering as the words left her mouth. “Might as well get it over with then.”
With an exchange of nods, the two jumped out of their seats and Diamond Tiara led the way towards the door, reaching up to twist the knob when it opened suddenly, slamming into her and sending her sideways into the wall.
“DIAMOND!” Silver Spoon shouted as she burst into the room, frantically searching it until her eyes fell on the pink filly stumbling about dizzily on the spot. “Diamond! You’re okay!” Silver Spoon shouted as she grabbed her friend and held her tight. “Thank Celestia! Thank Luna! I swear, when we get back to Ponyville I am sending so many offerings to the palace!”
“Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle followed into the room after Silver Spoon. Apple Bloom opened her forelegs for a joyous reunion, but instead found herself tackled to the floor by her two friends.
“Are you alright?!” Sweetie Belle asked.
“That’s totally cool that you survived!” Scootaloo said.
“You didn’t get ill walking in the sewers right?”
“You are like officially the coolest filly in Equestria now! After me, of course.”
“Guys!” Apple Bloom cried as she writhed and managed to get one of her hooves free. “Guys, I’m fine. There’s no need to worry ‘bout me.”
“Worry?” Scootaloo asked. “Who’s worrying? I’m not worrying!”
Sweetie Belle giggled and leaned in to whisper to Apple Bloom: “She was crying last night, wondering if you were still alive.”
“I was not!” Scootaloo shouted, causing Sweetie Belle to flinch.
As Scootaloo tried to defend herself against Sweetie Belle’s teasings, Apple Bloom laughed. ‘It’s just like bein’ at home,’ she thought to herself. ‘Suddenly, ah don’ know what ah was so worried about.’
Unfortunately, that mindset only lasted until Applejack and Filthy Rich walked in behind the three fillies. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle quieted down upon seeing the two adults walk in, and Silver Spoon released Diamond Tiara and allowed her to breathe again.
“A-Applej-” Apple Bloom was surprised, to say the least, to see her sister launch forward, to feel the older mare’s hooves wrap around her gently, and to hear her light sobs coming from her mouth.
“You’re alright,” Applejack said, brushing her cheek against Apple Bloom’s gently to confirm it wasn’t an illusion. “You’re safe. Oh, Apple Bloom, thank the stars that you’re safe.”
“Diamond Tiara,” Filthy Rich said as he dropped to his knees and pulled his daughter into a hug. “Please tell me that you’re alright.”
Diamond closed her eyes slowly, sinking into the warm embrace of her father that she hadn’t realised she had been missing over the past few days. “I’m alright, daddy,” she said softly. She suddenly became aware of the audience watching them as she heard a ‘d’awww’ from the direction of the other two Crusaders. “D-Daddy, you can let go now,” Diamond said, trying to push her father away with a blush spreading across her muzzle.
Filthy Rich, however, shook his head and held on tight. “Not yet,” he said. “Just a little longer.”
“D-Daddy…”
“We heard about what happened ta ya,” Applejack explained to her sister as she pulled away from her own hug. “When we heard y’all went missin’ after that buildin’ burnt down, well, we were all jus’ so worried.”
“Diamond, sweetie, I’m so sorry,” Filthy Rich said as he pulled back to look his daughter in the eyes. “I’m so, so sorry. Please, come back to Ponyville. I’ll be a better father, I swear. I’ll take more time off, I’ll read you more bedtime stories, I’ll-”
“That’s not it!” Diamond said, suddenly cutting her father off. “Well, not entirely,” she added quietly. “I didn’t run away for attention. I just…” Diamond turned to Apple Bloom, who was staring back at her. The two nodded. “Apple Bloom and I… we’re not getting married.”
Applejack’s eyes widened in surprise, and Apple Bloom spoke up next. “We don’t love each other. In fact, we hate each other! … We’re not gonna run away no more, but we’re also not gonna let y’all decide our fates, jus’ ‘cause ye’re older.”
“We don’t care what history our two families have, or how close together you are with each other. We hate each other, and if you can’t accept that…” Diamond Tiara gulped as she prepared herself for her next line. “If you can’t accept that… then I won’t run, but I won’t submit, either. You’ll just have to live with it…”
“Same here,” Apple Bloom said. “Ya can try whatever ya like, but it won’t change how ah feel. It won’t change how much ah wanna kick Diamond’s arrogant face whenever she… Well, you get the idea.”
The air was heavy for the next few seconds. The three fillies in the background held their breaths as they watched and waited for the adults’ responses. Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara were both tense, but they stood their grounds firm and strong. They had made their decisions, and they going to see them through no matter what.
“Y’all… really feel that strongly ‘bout it?” Applejack asked, receiving a nod from Apple Bloom.
“You really hate her, more than anything else in the world?” Filthy Rich asked.
“I’d sooner give away every last worldly possession I own than marry the likes of her,” Diamond Tiara responded.
The two adults turned to each other for a brief moment, and sighed in unison. “It’s a shame,” Filthy Rich said.
“It sure is,” Applejack agreed, turning back to Apple Bloom. “… But, we really should have seen the signs sooner.”
“They were kinda obvious,” Scootaloo whispered to Sweetie Belle.
“Ah’m sorry, Apple Bloom,” Applejack said. “Ah… Ah shouldn’t have tried ta force ya into this marriage without runnin’ it by ya first. Ah just, ah thought ah was doin’ ya both a favour.”
“The same goes for me,” Filthy Rich said to his daughter. “I thought that I was giving my daughter away to a strong, dependable filly who would treat her right. I thought that I could rest easy knowing you’d be settling down with such a nice filly, but I… I guess that wasn’t my decision to make.”
Both fillies’ eyes shone with a glimmer of hope. “Does that mean-” Apple Bloom began, only to be cut off by a nod from her sister.
“If yer feeling’s are so strong, then how can we force ya together?” Applejack asked. “… Mr. Rich, the deal’s off.”
Filthy Rich nodded. “Regrettably, I must agree. Diamond Tiara, you may be a filly, but… No.” Filthy Rich shook his head. “You’re hardly a filly anymore. You’re almost a full-grown mare. This is… This is a decision that you should be making about your life, not me.”
Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara were too stunned to say anything for a while. They simply stared up at the adults with jaws agape, and eyes as wide as dinner plates.
Breaking the silence in their stead, were their three friends, all of which were still present in the room. “YEAH!” Scootaloo cheered as she wrapped a hoof around Apple Bloom’s neck. “Ya did it!”
“Way to go!” Silver Spoon told Diamond Tiara.
“Now you can be free to fight whenever you want!” Sweetie Belle told Apple Bloom, a cheerful smile on her face until what she had just said reached her ears. Then, it became a look of confusion. “Wait.”
“Jus’ make sure ta take it easy, you two,” Applejack told the two fillies as she rose to her hooves. “No gettin’ too rough, an’ keep it out of school hours!”
Filthy Rich nodded his head in agreement. “You are free to hate each other, but keep it clean and safe.” He turned his attention towards Apple Bloom. “Otherwise, you’ll have to deal with me.”
Apple Bloom flinched at that, and found herself nodding her head unconsciously.
“Well then,” Applejack said, stretching her legs and giving the loudest yawn of her life, a result of staying up the entire night worrying about her sister, “Let’s go home. Ah’m dyin’ ta hit the hay.”
The five fillies found themselves agreeing with her, all yawning themselves before following Applejack out of the room.
“Looks like we’ll have enough room for everypony in these two chariots,” Gumshoe said as finished counting heads to make sure that everypony was present. “Adults, please make sure none of the fillies run off on the way back. If necessary, put a leash around them.”
“We’ll be just fine,” Filthy Rich said, smiling as he lifted his daughter into the chariot. “That reminds me. I still need to pay you for your services.”
Gumshoe shook his head in response. “I’m paid by the government up in Canterlot. There’s no need for you to-”
“But I insist,” Filthy Rich said. “If it hadn’t been for you, I would probably still be in Ponyville, wondering about my daughter’s whereabouts and worrying so much that I couldn’t sleep.”
“… Fine then. Tell ya what. You buy me a drink sometime, and we’ll call it even.”
“I can pay you much more than-”
“Just a drink is fine,” Gumshoe said, staring Filthy Rich down. The other stallion simply nodded, and Gumshoe smiled. “Great. Lookin’ forward to it.”
Filthy Rich watched as Gumshoe climbed into the chariot, a bewildered look on his face. He felt something tugging at his tail, and turned around to face his daughter.
“You were worried about me?” Diamond asked, bringing a frown to her father’s face.
“Of course I was,” he said, leaning down to nuzzle his daughter’s cheek. “How could I not be? You were out there somewhere, and I had no idea where, or if you were even alright.”
“Told ya so.” Both Filthy Rich and Diamond Tiara turned to see Babs Seed approaching them, a smug grin on her face. “Of course he’d be worried about ya! He’s family, after all.”
Filthy Rich nodded, whilst Diamond Tiara simply turned her head away. “… Hey. I-I guess you’re here to see Apple Bloom off, huh?”
“Well, her too,” Babs said, scuffing her hoof against the ground. “… Look, about what I said before. ‘Bout us not bein’ friends anymore? I didn’t mean it. I was just… I was worried ‘bout my cuz, y’know?” Diamond Tiara didn’t seem to respond to what she was saying at all. “I, uh… I heard about what you did. How you went out of your way ta help me find her.”
“I only did that for your sake,” Diamond told her.
“And I appreciate it,” Babs responded. At last, Diamond turned around to face her, though it was with a frown, not a smile. “Uh, look, what I’m tryin’ ta say is… we’re cool.” Babs reached her hoof forward, pointing it towards Diamond Tiara.
Diamond hesitated for a moment, but then, with a smile, raised her own hoof and extended it, bumping it with Babs’.
“Oh, we’re friends again?” Silver Spoon asked as she watched the two from the other chariot. “Cool!”
Diamond and Babs both laughed nervously as they shied their eyes away from each other.
“So, we’ll keep in touch, right?” Diamond asked Babs.
“Of course! Though, not though carrier pigeon,” Babs joked, causing Diamond to giggle.
“… Friend-stealer,” Apple Bloom mumbled as she glared at the two sharing a laugh before her.
Diamond rolled her eyes and groaned. “You’re still going on about that? Seriously, get over it. She chose me over you, stop dwelling on it already.”
“Uh, actually,” Babs said, “I didn’t choose anypony over the other.”
“See that? She didn’t choose you at all, so stop actin’ so close ta her.”
“N-No. I meant that I’m friends with both of y-”
“You need to just open your eyes and face reality. Babs wants to hang with the cool ponies, not a lame lil’ farm pony like you.”
“G-Guys?” Babs asked, watching nervously as the two glared each other down.
“Or maybe you jus’ need ta get yer own friends, instead of takin’ others’. Oh, that’s right, ya can’t. ‘Cause ye’re such a pain.”
Babs sighed. ‘Aaaand I’ve lost ‘em.’ As the two battled it out verbally in the chariot, Babs simply turned around and walked away. ‘… Well, on the plus side, I’ve got two ponies fightin’ each other over me.’ Babs blew her fringe out of her face and grinned. ‘I must be really somethin’, huh?’
“Alright, everypony,” Applejack called out, clapping her hooves and motioning to Filthy Rich to break up the fight. “Let’s mosey on outta here!”
“To Ponyville!” Sweetie Belle cheered, wearing a pirate hat she had acquired from somewhere and pointing a stick forward in the Silver Bullet’s chariot.
“Wake me when we get there,” Gumshoe said, pulling his hat over his eyes and holding his socked hoof up.
“Anypony know any good knock-knock jokes?” Doyle asked. “No? Guess I’ll start.”
Meanwhile, Apple Bloom looked up to her sister, and gulped as she tried to work up the courage to ask a question that had been bothering her since their reunion at the police station earlier that day. “Applejack?”
“Hm?” Applejack smiled down at her sister.
“Um… W-We’re not in trouble fer runnin’ away, are we?”
Diamond’s ears twitched, and she turned her attention towards her father and Applejack, who were both laughing together.
“Oh, Apple Bloom,” Applejack said, roughing her sister’s mane playfully. “‘Course ya are!”
“What?!” Apple Bloom asked, her eyes widening at the news.
“Same goes for you, missy,” Filthy Rich said to his daughter. “We’re happy that you’re back, but what you did was very irresponsible. Also, I believe somepony used my credit card to order over five hundred bits worth of food?”
Diamond’s ears flattened against her head, and she giggled nervously as she backed away in the chariot. “I-It was the blank flank who ate it, though. Well, most of it, at least.”
“Even so,” Filthy Rich said, “You can expect a lot of chores when we get home.”
“An’ don’t go makin’ any plans with yer friends fer the next week, either,” Applejack said, causing her sister to moan and lower her head with a frown. “… But before that, how ‘bout we stop at Sugarcube Corner on the way home?”
Apple Bloom’s face lifted up immediately, as did Diamond Tiara’s ears. “Diamond sweetie,” Filthy Rich said, “How would you like to have dinner at Fine Dine’s restaurant tonight?”
Diamond gasped. That was an expensive restaurant in Ponyville, and they usually only went there for special occasions.
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’,” Filthy Rich said, smiling and chuckling at the huge smile on his daughter’s face.
Both fillies gave their answers in the form of hugging their respective family members in unison. Filthy Rich and Applejack couldn’t help but be amused. Whilst Filthy Rich lowered a hoof to stroke his daughter’s mane gently, Applejack removed her hat and placed it over Apple Bloom’s head.
“Y’all better rest up now,” Applejack said. “It’ll be a long trip back.” ‘Back home, with yer families, where y’all belong.’