//------------------------------// // Money // Story: Scarlet Foal // by Collins4112 //------------------------------// A/N: Hello. I want to thank you guys for all the great suggestions for names of the foal. Please read and relax. We come back to join Ditzy about a month and a half later. Ditzy felt Macintosh get up, the start of his early morning routine to get to work on time. Ditzy knew he tried his best not to wake her up, but he usually did anyway. "Morning Mac." Ditzy said quietly. Macintosh sighed as he realized he had awoken his wife up...again. "Sorry for waking ya, Sugar." Macintosh said gently. Ditzy smiled at his concern. "It's alright." Ditzy started to roll herself out of bed. Macintosh began to trot to the attached master bathroom. Ditzy felt a pinch in her stomach; it was a strong pinch. "Ow." Macintosh turned to look at her with tired eyes. "Mac, the foal kicked!" Ditzy said excitedly. Macintosh's expression changed from tired concern to excitement. He trotted quickly over to Ditzy and put a large hoof on her side, and the foal kicked again. "It's got quite a kick." Macintosh chuckled. Ditzy smiled, glad the foal was developing well. "It's got a kick like its dad." Ditzy said, while she nuzzled her happy husband. Macintosh had a wide grin on his face. Ditzy was glad that Macintosh could go to work with a happy thought in his head. Macintosh trotted into the master bathroom and started the shower. "Well, you've certainly got your dad's strength." Ditzy spoke to the growing foal in her womb. She remembered when she was pregnant with Dinky. When Dinky had started to kick, her kicks were softer then this foal's. Ditzy laid back in bed. In a short while she felt herself drifting off into sleep. She was jarred back awake as Macintosh left the bathroom. She looked at him. He looked different, but Ditzy couldn't put a hoof on it. He still had a smile on his face, but he just looked different. "Would you like breakfast?" Ditzy asked. Macintosh shook his head. "Nope. Ah'm still full from dinner last night." Macintosh said, before he quickly left the room. Ditzy thought about his statement: she didn't recall him eating anything for dinner. She shrugged the thought off as she walked into the bathroom to clean herself up. ________ "Have a good day at school Muffin!" Ditzy called as Dinky trotted into her regular elementary class. Ditzy turned and headed into Ponyville to find any odd-jobs that needed doing. Ditzy had managed to find odd-jobs to do every day. It managed to pay for groceries and the like, but Ditzy knew that the bills would catch up to them eventually. She walked through town. Carrot Top waved from her shop for Ditzy to come over. Carrot Top had given Ditzy many odd-jobs. Ditzy had refused to take Carrot Top’s money for free, so Carrot Top had found her things to do to help out. "Hey Ditzy, how are you doing today?" Carrot Top asked. "Good, I felt the foal kick for the first time today." Ditzy said, a hint of excitement in her voice. "Oooooo! Can I feel?" Carrot Top asked excitedly. As if on cue the foal kicked again. Ditzy was starting to get annoyed with the strength of the foal. "Ow...yes." Ditzy answered. Carrot squealed as she put a hoof and Ditzy's side, and the foal kicked again. She really wished it would stop kicking because the kicks were starting to get uncomfortable. Carrot Top squealed again as she felt the foal kick. Carrot Top regained her composer and said: "So anyway, I have a job for you. I need you to go and pick up my mail from the post office." "Doesn't your mail get delivered here?" Ditzy asked confused, Carrot Top stuck her nose into the air. "I refuse to have my mail delivered by somepony with so little experience." Carrot Top said with a smug smile. Ditzy smiled at that. Macintosh had also canceled having their mail delivered in protest, and now Carrot Top had picked up the protest as well. Ditzy turned to walk to the post office. She trotted along happily, and watched the other ponies go about their individual lives. She took her time in getting to the post office, as she let her mind drift to her foal. She had many different versions of the foal in her mind, both fillies and colts, but as soon as she started to day dream, she reached the post office. Ditzy opened the post office box that contained Carrot Top's letters, and took them out. Ditzy then went over to her own p.o. box and retrieved the mail from the box. Ditzy sighed when she saw them: they were bills. Ditzy didn't open the mail; she would have plenty of time later. Ditzy walked back to Carrot Top's house. The walk back was quicker due to Ditzy not lollygagging on her walk. "Hey Ditzy." Carrot Top greeted Ditzy, as she arrived at Carrot Top's store. Ditzy placed the mail on the counter, and Carrot Top paid Ditzy a lot more than the minor task was worth. "Thanks, Carrot Top." Ditzy thanked her generous friend, but she knew that her friend's odd-jobs could delay the inevitable. "You mind if I look at my bills here?" "Of course not." Carrot Top said; she would have said more but a customer came into the shop. Ditzy sat in a nearby chair that had a side table by it, and set the bills down the side table. Ditzy first opened the bank statement. She looked at the dreadfully small amount of bits they had left in the bank. Next, she opened bill after bill, subtracting more and more from the money they still had left. She arrived at the food bill: they had been putting tabs on food instead of paying on the spot, so they had to pay it all at once. Ditzy looked back at the sheet she was using to do math on and saw that they only had 114 bits left to pay for food. Ditzy felt a large wave of worry come over her, because their normal cost of food was almost three times that. Ditzy tore open the bill and was surprised at what she saw. The total food cost was 109 bits. They had a whole 5 bits left over. Ditzy realized that the food bill was much too low. She thought about what she had bought that month. Then realization hit her like a ton a bricks. She knew Big Macintosh looked different and now she knew why. She couldn’t believe she had missed it, he was her husband and she was disappointed in herself for missing it. He had barley ever come home in the last mouth, always saying that he always had a few of the non-infested apples. He ate very little at dinner, usually passing his leftovers onto her or Dinky. He was getting thinner... He was starving himself. _______ Ditzy soared above Ponyville. She flew at her top speed to Sweet Apple Acres. Ditzy would put a stop to it. Macintosh would not starve himself if Ditzy had anything to say about it, and she did have a lot to say about it. Ditzy spotted Macintosh walking through the rows of healthy apple trees. She rolled into a dive and landed in front of him. "Oh howdy, Sugar-" Macintosh was cut off. "Don't sugar cube me. Why aren’t you eating?" Ditzy asked. Macintosh's expression quickly changed from surprise to trying to hide a guilty look on his face: he was terrible at lying. "We can't afford to feed me. Ya need the food more than Ah do, with the foal and all." Big Macintosh reasoned. Ditzy looked at him, and she couldn't believe that she missed it before; his ribs were visible, bags under his eyes, and his usual strong presence was greatly diminished. "When's the last time you ate anything sustainable?" Ditzy asked, it came out in a tone like a mother telling her child was doing something wrong. "Three days ago..." Big Macintosh trailed off. "Three days! Mac, you need to eat." Ditzy implored him. Then she realized where they were at. "Just eat some of the apples." "None...these apples we need to sell." Macintosh stood his ground. Ditzy took the money she got from Carrot Top and tossed it at Macintosh. "There, I just bought some apples, now eat them!" Ditzy demanded. Macintosh looked rather annoyed that she had used the loophole, but under his expression she saw look of thanks. Big Macintosh went up to one of the trees. He bucked it, but no apples fell. Ditzy saw exhaustion on his face. She was about to just fly up and pick some apples, but then he fell over. Ditzy galloped over to him. His breathing was shallow, and he was out cold. Ditzy tried to push him, to her surprise, she could, but that didn't make her feel any better: he would have to had lost a lot of weight for Ditzy be able to move him. She knew she wouldn't be able to move him to the hospital. Ditzy took a deep breath, then called: "Applejack!" It didn't take long for Applejack to gallop to the source of the call. "Get the cart!" ________ Ditzy sat at the side of Big Macintosh. He had an IV in his leg dripping in nutrients his body was in desperate need of. He was going to be alright, the doctor told her, but he was going to have eat a lot. She knew that they had no money for the medical bill, let alone food. The doctor had suggested they file for government help. Ditzy knew she would have to take it. There was no way her odd-jobs would pay near enough for the bills. Filing for government help would require her to go to the town hall. Ditzy gathered herself and marched into town. She walked quickly, avoiding eye contact with the other ponies. They all seemed a lot happier then she was. Her dread increased as she came up to the governmental building. She stepped inside and waited in a line of ponies. It took nearly ten minutes for Ditzy get to the front of the line. Ditzy had already filled out the form for government help. She set the form on the secretary’s desk. The secretary looked it over, and as she did the mayor spotted Ditzy. Mayor Mare said: "Oh hello Ditzy. What are you doing here?" "I need financial help from the government..." Ditzy trailed off. The mayor grunted. "Oh. That's just like your type of pony, at the first sign of trouble you go and ask the government for help. You're just a leech on society." The mayor said in an arrogant tone. Ditzy went wall-eyed, but then quickly refocused. "What! You think I want to be doing this? You think I was to beg the government to feed my family! My husband starved himself to keep me and our daughter fed, and it's all your fault!" Ditzy yelled at the mayor. All the ponies turned to look at the scene she was making. Ditzy had never felt so angry in her life: she felt like she was about to explode. "Well, I-" The mayor started. "Shut up!" Ditzy screamed, and the mayor shrank back. "You fire me over half a bit, and replace me with your niece! I'm pretty sure that's illegal! I took a huge pay cut to keep my job, do you take a pay cut? No! You don't! You actually raised your own and your secretary’s salary! You fired me when you knew I had an incoming foal, but I guess that doesn't matter to you, does it? As long as it saves you money!" "I'm going-" The mayor's secretary tried to speak. "And you!" Ditzy pointed at the secretary. "You didn't show the slightest sympathy at me being fired! ’Oh yeah you’re fired' what kind of way is that to tell me? You know what, buck you both!" Ditzy finished letting loose her fury upon the governing ponies. Ditzy felt as if steam were coming out of her nostrils. It felt good to vent her feelings at the ponies that caused them. Satisfaction welled up as she saw the mayor at a loss for words. "I'm going to send a letter to the Princesses and see you fired, see how funny it is then, huh?" Ditzy said as she started to leave. "Whoa! No need to do anything rash, we can work this out, right?" The Mayor suggested. Ditzy had been bluffing with the letter thing; she had no idea that her letter would affect anything. "Nope." Ditzy took her husband’s line. "I can give you your job back, with a pay raise." The mayor was getting desperate. Ditzy considered this for a moment. "I don't think I could work for someone like you." Ditzy felt proud of herself for saying so. "Just file the form." Still feeling that same pride, she left the building. _______ "I'm proud of you." Carrot Top exclaimed after Ditzy told her about what happened at city hall. "Thank you. It felt good." Ditzy said. She truly felt better for yelling at the mayor, but she wouldn't make a habit of it. "So, how are you going to support yourself?" Carrot Top asked out of concern. "Well, with government help I should be able to hold off bankruptcy until the farm can afford to pay Macintosh again." Ditzy replied. "So...how is Mac doing?" Carrot Top asked. Ditzy had gone to see him again before she gone to see Carrot Top. "The doctor says he'll be fine...he just needs to eat." Ditzy said. "I can't believe I missed it..." "I'm sure you mind was just busy with all that’s going on in your life right now." Carrot Top reassured her friend. "He's my husband, Carrot Top. I should have noticed." Ditzy said. She voiced very little of her insecurities; on the inside she was very worried. Am I a bad wife? I missed him starving himself... Who misses something like that? "Well, I've seen that poker face of his, and I'll tell you it's a good one." Carrot Top said. "Come on, let's go get some muffins, my treat." A/N:Thank you for reading. I really appreciate reviews and I thank my beta reader BlackRoseRaven. Also do you think the chapters are too short? I could make them longer but updates wouldn't be as frequent.