“Applejack?”
The orange farmpony glanced around, taking off her hat and wiping the sweat from her brow.
“Twilight!” she said. “Good t'see you. What brings you round to Sweet Apple Acres?”
“I, um, I was a bit worried.” admitted Twilight.
“Worried?” asked Applejack, raising her eyebrows. “And why would that be, sugarcube?”
“Well...” said Twilight nervously. “You remember when Flim and Flam came here?”
Applejack nodded. “Eeyup.”
“And you said that if you didn't sell enough cider, you were at risk of losing the farm?”
“Eeyup.”
“Well... Applejack... that doesn't make sense. The farm's been in your family for generations, you sell the best apples from just about anywhere... you should surely have paid off the land by now...”
“Actually, Celestia gave the farm t' Granny Smith's pa.” pointed out Applejack. “But Ah see what y'mean. Given all the far income, an' reasonable farm costs, we oughta be able t'manage the entire year even without cider sales, right?”
“That's right.” said Twilight. “So I'm a bit worried, that maybe something's wrong, or...”
“Ah, shucks, sugarcube, there's no secret about it. Come ta think o' it, you're one o' the only ponies not renting land from us.”
“...renting?” asked Twilight.
“Sure.” said Applejack. “Few years after Sweet Apple Acres started, Celestia came back t'see how ma ancestors were doin', an' they were doin' right well. So she made a gift of a large piece o' land to Granny Smith, with the intention of it bein' a place t' build a town. Every building in Ponyville is on Apple land – well, 'cept Dash's place – though for government buildings, we gave the land back to Celestia, so she don't have to pay rent.”
“So, Town Hall, the schoolhouse, and the library? But what's the trouble with that? Surely the rent income is enough to cover any associated costs?”
“Most o' the time, sugarcube.” sighed Applejack. “Most o' the time. But these last couple'a years... the parasprites, that Ursa Major, Spike's little... incident... well, part o' the duties of a landlord is t'keep the buildings in good condition. An' every time Ponyville gets flattened, the repair bill ends up on Big Mac's desk.”
Twilight winced slightly at the reminder of her failed anti-parasprite spell. “Couldn't you have sold some of the other parts of Ponyville to the ponies who live there, then?” she asked.
Applejack shook her head. “Celestia' gifts come with a couple o' conditions.” she said. “Y'can't just sell off land she gives you. In short, y'can only transfer ownership in one o' two ways; y'can give it back to Celestia, or y'can let y'next of kin inherit it. Once it's inherited, o'course, then it can be bought an' sold an' overall treated like any other land. The farm was given t' Granny's pa; when he died, Granny inherited it, an' passed it on t' her son; an' then Big Mac inherited that. So that can be sold.”
“I see.” said Twilight, nodding along.
“Now, Ah'll admit things were kinda tight last cider season,” continued Applejack, “but the profits from that were enough t'see us through that spot. An' we've had a good harvest since then, an' of course everyone's rents are almost due, so unless something flattens the entire town before... um... next week Wednesday, we should be just peachy.”