//------------------------------// // Chapter 19 // Story: Rise of an Empire, Fall of Another // by Kyuubi325 //------------------------------// Equestria Ponyville Sweet Apple Acres 11:04am One month after the opening of trade between Britannia and Zebrica. “'Taint natural, you hear! Imagine my surprise coming back from Yakastan with Flutters only to find Rainbow drunk off her plot laying in the middle of the road! Now tell me why you went against tradition and bought one of them doohickeys from them weird lookin diamond dogs?! Us Apples have always used Cloudsdale to water our crops! Because of you Rainbow lost her job!” Applejack screamed at her brother while she banged her front hooves on the table. Apple Bloom hid in the other room, listening in. Big Mac sighed as his sister ranted at him, knowing that it was time to tell her the truth, whether she liked it or not. “Because I had to! Them Pegasi were bleeding us dry. We had to adapt or we would have lost everything! Would you rather have us continue hemorrhaging money till we lose the farm? The prices they charged us just kept getting higher and higher, and it doesn’t exactly help that I have to pay Rainbow by the hour! Do you know how long she spends just sleeping in our trees?! She only needed to spend a few seconds moving some clouds around our farm. I know she’s your friend, but did you forget that only a few years ago you sent a representative from the Cloudsdale Weather corporation to the hospital over their latest increase in price? Do you really think that was the last time they increased the price?!” he yelled back at his sister angrily. She glared at him, and then snorted. “All I hear is the talk of a quitter! We have always come through! You always find us a way to keep the farm going; are you really expecting me ta believe that there wasn’t any other options? My hard work has helped keep this farm afloat and it will continue to keep it afloat! I want them new doohickeys gone!” she screamed at him, before he stood up and trotted over to his hysterical sister and smacked her across her face. He looked her directly in the eyes while, she just sat back in shock. Her hat fluttered to the floor, it's absence unnoticed. “You really want to know how much you contribute to this Farm AJ? Because let me tell you, it’s not as much as you like to believe... in fact, if anything you’re a hindrance!” he screams at her, as she starts to tear up and stutter. He then pulls up some of their finances and throws them on the table in front of her. “Take a Celestia dammed look! Because you sure as Tartarus don’t do as much as you think, bucking a few apple trees and running off on adventures with your friends! Me and Apple Bloom have had to pick up the slack ever since that eyesore of a castle sprouted out of the ground in the middle of Ponyville. Never mind that you always chase away business partners who we could have worked with; sure, them Flim Flam Brothers were seedy, but their magic could have helped us with our harvests! Don’t even get me started on the times I’ve had to pay out of my own pocket to cover all the damage that happens when your friends come over to our farm, or that you agreed without me to allow those fruit bats to settle on one of our most productive orchards!” He forces her too look at the documents as she tries to figure out why they don’t look right, and why her quota is so low. “Even when you’re here helping me buck those trees it’s still not enough! Our poor baby sister struggles in school because we can’t afford to buy her books and supplies! You may want her to be a farmer, but I don’t want her to have to make the choices I’ve made to keep this place running.” he continues to yell at her as she starts to cry. She slumps back into her chair. “Mac...is my quota really this low?” she sniffs as she reads over the documents, trying to find something to grab onto to salvage her argument, before she noticed that the apple sales and net profit didn’t add up. With a flash, she remembers what he said. “What do you mean choices? Why don’t our sales and profit match up....” she, shakes not really wanting to know. Big Mac just sighs, looking at his sister in the eyes. “I’m sorry AJ...I didn’t mean to hit you.” he says, feeling ashamed that he let the stress get to him. “Mac don’t dance around the question…you and I both know I’ve had worse...” she says, trying to pull herself together. “The reason that our sales and profit don’t match up is because apples aren’t where the bulk of our money comes from AJ. Farming isn’t a profitable business, especially with all the regulations and taxes that the council of nobles keep sending our way. I’ve had to branch off a bit…into bootlegging…” His sister's eyes widen in shock. She looks up at him, trying to come up with something, anything that could make this all better. “Are things really that bad at the farm? Can’t we just ask Celestia for help?” He just shakes his head “She couldn’t help us; even if she wanted to, the nobles wouldn’t let her spend bits on earth ponies.” “I love my friends, but if things are this bad here at the farm then...Twilight will just have to find somepony else to go on one them crazy friendship adventures.” she looks at her brother with newfound determination. “I may not like the changes that you have done but your right. as much as I hate to admit it…let’s get to work. I want to know everythingm and how I can start helping more like I should around the farm” she says. Mac nods pulling out some plans for some larger Submarine stills, and where he had in mind to hide them along with other lists of purchases that they would need to make the projects and protect them. Equestria Ponyville Cranky's Speakeasy 9:17pm Rainbow sat at the bar, drinking another large mug of Cider. She looked horrible, obviously not having run a brush through her mane in a while, and the bottom of her now darkened eyelids drooped from exhaustion. Even her normally light cerulean coat was scruffy looking. “Bring me another one of your Cabin Scotch” she ordered, slamming the mug on the counter. The old Donkey who ran the bar shook his head. “You’ve had enough Rainbow.” Cranky said,cleaning the now dirty mug. He gave her a dark look. “What are your talking about? You're really gonna pull that? I just saw a stallion piss himself and you didn’t tell him to stop!” she looks at him, swaying. “Ya, well I’m trying to look out for you, and besides, at least they pay up front unlike you! You still haven’t paid off your tab here and until you do I’m not serving you anymore” he said, finally finishing with the mug. She glared at him “What, you're going to stop serving me?! The great Rainbow Dash?! You should be happy I even come to this dump! I’m a celebrity! I’ve saved Equestria, and broke the sound barrier! THRICE! ” she yelled, waving her hooves. Cranky sighed, looking anywhere but the lightweight pegasus ranting in front of him. His eyes wandered across the joint, his own little speakeasy. He had built it all himself, and well within budget. While originally just some forgotten old store in Ponyville with boarded up windows and doors he had turned it into a yarn and craft store as a front for his real business, all with the help of his loving wife. During the day it was Matilda’s Yarns, but at night it was Ponyville's most popular place to come to eat, drink, and take Everfree Spice. He had found that for one reason or another behind the store front there was a large open room in the basement under the storage room. After buying some discount lumber and furniture (no questions asked) from Filthy, he spent weeks building this all by hoof. Now he was raking in bits, even with the money he had to spend on protection, and could afford to give Matilda the life she deserved. He no longer had to do odd jobs around town, saving and scrimping for her. The lovingly hoof crafted tables were filled with happy patrons, the walls decorated with a few paintings. "...listening to me?" Cranky slightly jumped, only to see that Rainbow Dash was still there. He sighed, and decided enough was enough. “I don’t care if you are Celestia herself; pay your tab or leave, but I will get my money Rainbow." “Is that a threat?” Rainbows voice went low “Just give me my drink!" She shook her hoof before slamming it down on the counter. “If you don’t give it to me I'll just have to get it myself!" Cranky simply brandished his new shotgun. “Leave and don’t come back till you are willing to pay your tab" he said with a deadpan expression. “Hey hey hey... lets calm down for a minute” she shakes, remembering what one of those boomsticks did to Cloudchaser when she tried to smash Carrots irritation system. “Hoss, Gerald?” A large blue earthpony and Griffon emerged from the corners they hid in, stopping behind Rainbow. Hoss (Earth Pony) held a bat, and Gerald (the Griffon) brandished a sawed off shotgun, which he was currently shoving into Rainbow's back. “Escort her out of my bar, and don’t let her back in till she has the bits to cover her tab” Cranky said, as the two hired muscles dragged her away and deposited outside the building. Rainbow got up and staggered back to her cloudhome, flapping her wings clumsily. As she flew she saw how much Ponyville had changed since they had opened up trade with the South. Before it was a small village that made some money from farming and trade caravans coming from Appaloosa and the other settlements to the east of them, but now with the new railway being built by the Zebras and diamond dogs, coupled with all the trade that comes through, things were changing. Barnyard Bargain's had nearly doubled in size. with talks of another store being opened somewhere; the Flower sisters now had their own store front instead of their little carts' Twilight was often too busy working with Mayor Mare to hang out; Quills and Sofas now opened another store called Pens and Chairs, and Sugar Cube Corner was in the middle of a renovation after getting a loan from some Zebrican bank. Ponyville was thriving, but it had left behind the Pegasi... sure, Derpy’s delivery service was thriving, but she only needed so many Pegasi for her business. and with her is was first come first served. The massive influx of unemployed after the Weather Company nearly went bust didn'thelp. After crashing on her cloudhome, she noticed a note on her door. She sighed seeing it was another notice about her not paying her taxes or bills. But there was something else, a letter from the Wonderbolt Academy. She glossed over it before her eyes widened; due to their grant money from the Weather Corp drying up, they had to increase tuition. She walked into her bed room and laid on her bed, letting the letter fall on the floor. She couldn’t pay that; even if she got a scholarship it was still too much. She buried her face in her pillow as Tank crawled up next to her slowly. “At least you’ll always be by my side” she held the tortoise close to herself, cuddling him. He just gave her his usual sad smile. Equestria Ponyville Castle of Friendship 10:11pm Twilight had just finished a long day of working with Mayor Mare to design the latest expansions to Ponyville. Since the influx of trade that came with the discovery of Britania, Ponyville had changed so much in such a short amount of time. Now there was a new and much faster rail line being built, all thanks to the Britannian Diamond dogs; this would boost the already impressive amount of goods that came through to unseen levels. She smiled, thinking off all the good it was doing for their formally small community. Surely everypony would benefit from it! She was a little upset that she hadn’t been able to see her friends lately, but the party she and Pinkie had planned to have would be a great time to see how everyone was enjoying the changes. She was pleased to see Spike was working hard in her absence; the library was clean, all the books were restocked, etc. He was currently bundled up in his basket. She looked at her nightstand, seeing that she had a letter with a red seal of a fox biting its tail. Her eyes widened as she opened it. “To the youngest and newest princess of Equestria, also known as Twilight Sparkle and The element of magic. Greetings from Zebrica from Ambassador Ivo. While I have only recently returned to my embassy on the tropical eastern coast of Zebrica, I feel as if my job with Equestria is far from finished, since you and the other princesses know so little of what has changed to the south of your country. I have talked with the Zebrican parliament and have agreed to have your and your friends as special guests at the Victory Day parade this Summer in the month of June on the 10th. Should you be willing to accept you and your friends will get full VIP treatment and have all your expenses covered as you tour the revived Zebrican cities. You will also have free access to the libraries, museums, and art galleries of Zebrica, and get a first look at the latest goods that will be hitting the shelves long before anyone else does. I also feel that it is important to tell you that the nobles Fancy Pants and Blueblood have received our invitation, and agreed to come/ Don’t worry about transit, as the railway will have already been completed a month before we send a private train to pick you up should you respond in the affirmative. I hope that this could be a precusor for you to come and formally meet the Emperor in our homeland, since he has been most interested in meeting you and your friends. Finally, I believe I should tell you that the young Princess Martha of Sweden will be coming to see the Victory Day parade and it would mean the world to her if she could meet you. She loves listening to the old story’s our kind have of Alicorns and other mythical beasts. She dearly wants to hear the stories of your exploits. Signed, Ivo Andric “ Beneath the body of the letter was a black and white picture of the young princess, wearing a what looked like an uncomfortable overly elaborate dress with an apron and a strange white bent rectangular hat. The small Vallhund couldn’t be more than 8 years old with a cute grin on her muzzle and bright eyes. Twilight smiled, writing a reply confirming that she and her friends would be coming, if for nothing else then to make a little pup happy.