Of Coal and Diamonds

by Alaxsxaq

21. Last Chance

21. Last Chance

The Rich Mansion was built several years ago, when a certain Filthy Rich decided he should relocate his family to Manehattan. The late businesscolt acquired majority stock of several varied companies, and eventually consolidated them into the more easily manageable Rich Enterprises. In the remaining time that he lived, the corporation expanded modestly, netting the Rich family a healthy profit.

But even with the business sense of Mr. Rich, he still couldn't even compare with the meteoric rise of Apple Industries. The tenacious Applebloom quickly became a titan of industry, soon to lead the economy forward. Filthy noticed this, and though not a direct competitor, the Apple family was a close associate of his.

A friendly, unspoken contest between the two. Confident pushing arrogant though the old stallion was, he still maintained an amiable attitude to whomever he encountered.

But all his plans were suddenly halted by an unsuspected death. The cause was never fully determined. Some said he simply gave out from stress. Others said it was just his time. Whatever the cause might have been, his young adult daughter was devastated.

She looked up to her father, and took every word of his advice to heart. She loved him dearly, and grew inconsolable in the days after his passing. Silver Spoon managed to coax her into the limelight. Within weeks Diamond Tiara became the new face of her father's company, and did her best to expand.

Even taking less than honest measures.

The vast fortune Applebloom had amassed needed to be surpassed! There was no other way than to cheat and lie, steal and threaten.

But Diamond Tiara realized it couldn't be done. Applebloom was just...too good. So the logical solution came: acquire her company. Ever since that night at the party, Diamond had carefully and cunningly played her cards, building up a relationship with the mare. All was perfect to obtain both the industrial giant and its owner.

Until that yellow pony adamantly refused her.

Now Diamond Tiara had only one choice: destroy what she couldn't have. It was all laid out and planned. Everything would be flawless, and she could sadistically enjoy her victory prize. But even that failed. She was running out of options. Her world was crashing down.

Manehattan had been freed from her "soldiers" and the criminal underground was becoming unraveled. Palomino served to solidify her hold over those gangsters, but not five minutes ago she received calls that all of her leaders were captured and facing judgment by the citizenry.

She could rebuild it all. Straight from scratch. But not until her greatest threat was no more. Not until Applebloom was a memory could she reconquer her shining gem.

This was her last shot. If she didn't succeed here, there were no second chances.

And so, in the mansion her father had built, Diamond Tiara patiently awaited the arrival of Applebloom.

Shaking the ashes from her cigarette, she brought the black holder back up to her mouth. Distracted from her thoughts, the magenta pony heard a voice. Staring at a photograph of her late father on the end table, her eye began twitching.

"I did what I had to do!" She yelled, reaching for her glass of wine.

The voice continued.

"No! She betrayed me! TRAITORS MUSTN'T BE TOLERATED!" She screamed. "You said all traitors deserve the same thing!"

"Shut up!" Calming down, Diamond Tiara laid her head down on the chair arm. Mascara running from her eyes, she gazed into the crackling fire. "I...I miss her too. But...it had to be..."

The voice didn't let up.

"Applebloom is too dangerous! She'll ruin everything you strove to accomplish!" Now holding the sides of her head, the Donna thrashed about on the chair. "STOOOP!!!"

In a fit of rage, Diamond Tiara swung her hoof across the table, causing its contents to smash on the floor. The picture frame was shattered.

Realizing what she had done, the mare picked up the photo and started sobbing uncontrollably. Only the approach of her handycolt ceased the crying.

"Excuse me, Mistress. There is a vehicle outside. The occupants are as of yet unknown."

In true bipolar fashion, she perked up and gave a devious smile. "Tell everypony to be ready. I don't want her to leave the carriage. Bring me her head!"

Saddlesworth gave a similar grin. "Of course." He bowed and trotted off to complete his task.

There was no conceivable way Applebloom could fight her way through all the stallions Tiara had placed. Producing her diamond-encrusted knife, the Donna stared into the fire once again, imagining her deceased friend before all this. Applebloom would pay. Damn it would she pay.

----------

Coming up to the open gate leading to the mansion, Sweetie Belle looked around for anything suspicious. This was obviously some kind of trap. The key to a trap, however, was anticipating it. Caught off guard, the trappers become the victims.

And Scootaloo knew for a certain fact somepony would be waiting for them. Lying in wait, they would shoot the three quick and easy, securing final victory. But the pegasus was on her best vigilance. She squinted, looking for any poor bastard unlucky enough to wander into her line of sight. Innocent or not, anypony was a target to be eliminated immediately.

Mentally prepared for what seemed like ages, Scootaloo noticed a dark figure shuffling out of the bushes beside the path. She saw the pistol, and like lightning aimed her rifle at the figure.

The Wonderbolt was too fast, and whoever sought to shoot was shot himself, now dead on the snow-blanketed grass.

The firefight had begun. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom held their heads down. The earth pony wished to save ammunition, and the unicorn of course was a noncombatant. With outstanding aim, Scootaloo quickly felled the three stallions dashing out to fire.

A conservative gunmare, the pegasus expended only one bullet for each colt. It was more than enough, hit in the right place. Four ponies dead and the way seemed clear. Seemed.

Sweetie Belle heard the shooting stop, and rose her head up.

"Is that all?"

Remaining dutiful, Scootaloo surveyed the area. "Appears like that..."

"Alright! Now let's go!" Sweetie exclaimed, hopping up from her hiding spot under the dashboard. Too easy, the concealed thug thought. A combustion of gunpowder, and Sweetie Belle was knocked into the backseat.

With a vengeance, Scootaloo shot that stallion, and to ensure he was dead, she unloaded the rest of her rounds into his body. Only when the clip popped out did she let up. Heaving, she put the rifle down and turned to examine Sweetie.

With Applebloom holding her unicorn friend's hoof, Scootaloo studied the wound. The bullet had pierced through her shoulder, first penetrating the windshield and eventually embedding itself within the seat cushions.

"The bullet isn't in there." Scootaloo said in a morose tone.

"That's good, right!?" Applebloom asked, desperate for a yes.

"Not as much as you might think. It helps to lessen bleeding."

"It hurts...like my bone was shattered." Sweetie said, trembling. She then looked up at the doctor with sad eyes. "Am...I going to...die?"

Biting her lower lip, Scootaloo tried to come up with a response. Instead, she opted to question Applebloom. "AB! We gotta get to a hospital!"

"But...Ah need to do this!" She shouted, mentally cursing the situation.

Calculating the outcomes in her head, Scootaloo produced a compromise. "I can give you five minutes. After that..." She looked at the hemorrhaging already increasing through Sweetie Belle's overcoat.

"After that, y'all leave without me. Assume the worst." Applebloom drew her revolver. "You have been the best friends ever in coming this far, but it looks like Ah gotta go the rest of the way mahself."

"Go kick...some flank..." Sweetie uttered, still wearing a smile.

Filled to the brim with confidence, Applebloom nodded and jumped out of the vehicle. Leaving Scootaloo to attend to the ballistic trauma, the yellow mare cantered up to the doors of the mansion and bucked them open.

Inside was the grand staircase she admired not two weeks ago. The luxurious decor now held empty meaning to Applebloom; gilded and full of deceit. Prepared to run up the staircase, she was interrupted by the sound of hooves on the wooden floor getting closer. Turning to her left, she spotted a grey stallion emerging from the hall.

Dressed in a very expensive-looking black suit, he smirked and levitated a pistol, matching Applebloom stance. Glaring at him, the earth pony didn't let up. She had seen enough films to know better.

"So you've bested those outside? Admirable, but I―" BANG! The unicorn fell to the floor, dead.

Applebloom didn't care to remember the more visceral details, and she ran up the stairs. Or rather she would have if another interruption hadn't arrived.

Steely eyed, she stared down the butler bearing a gun appearing on the scene. Oddly reminiscent of her own aid, he was still in the service of that cruel pony.

"Applebloom!" He shouted, alerted by the gunshot. "The Donna's not going to like th―" Again she fired, this time leading the bullet straight through the stallion’s chest. He was knocked back by the force of the large caliber round, and rested on the floor. Blood flowed from his corpse, staining the wood.

Smoke still rising from her barrel, Applebloom hoped he would be the last distraction from her ultimate goal.

Meanwhile in her parlor, Diamond Tiara was well aware her adversary had infiltrated the mansion. Against all odds, she made short work of her security and beaten her way to the center. Caring little for the demise of her right-hoof and handycolt, she took up the knife from the table, and readied herself for the decisive showdown.

She then casually walked up to the top of the stairs. There she was. Applebloom stood staring back at Diamond Tiara.

"I give you one last chance."

Applebloom didn't want to listen, and fired again. Unfortunately, anger affected her aim. Diamond went down, but only for a split second. The bullet merely grazed her foreleg.

The Donna quickly jumped behind the wall, trying to avoid another shot.

Applebloom began her ascent up the stairs. "Ah didn't come here to talk." She aimed the revolver and let off another round, hitting the wall Diamond hid behind.

Yet again she missed, but just barely. Tiara started sweating, noticing the bullet hole in the wall. It had missed her by a few inches. Then she got an idea.

With only two bullets left, Applebloom had to make them count. But as soon as she reached the top, Diamond Tiara leaped out and tackled the mare. The revolver was thrown off to the side. Her target defenseless, the pink pony began punching Applebloom's face, never feeling more satisfied.

Diamond only got a few good hits before the strong red-maned pony thrust her down, reversing the position. Applebloom grabbed Tiara's head and started bashing it on the floor. A bit fazed, the magenta one realized she still had that knife, and found a nice placed to put it.

A sharp pain in her chest caused Applebloom to relent. The knife had been jammed into a space between the ribs. Ignoring the blood staining her waistcoat, the adrenaline-fueled pony grabbed her pink enemy and hurled her to the fire place. Quickly jumping on her as Diamond tried to get up, Applebloom could hear something pop. Again punching the pony, she would've reduced that once pretty face to a bloody pulp.

But Diamond Tiara noticed a wooden chair. Utilizing all her strength, she reached for it and swung it across Applebloom's face, breaking her nose and busting her lip. Now getting on top of the yellow pony, Diamond Tiara laughed maniacally.

Applebloom however saw a shovel used to move the coals in the fire. Grabbing it, she bashed Tiara's face, causing first degree burns all over her cheeks. Thinking it a victory due to Diamond's shrieks of pain, she didn't realize Tiara still had the knife, or that the coals were setting the wooden floor alight.

Diamond Tiara resumed her pinning, and positioned the knife over Applebloom's left eye. Coming down hard, only the strong foreleg of her victim prevented a total slash to the eye. Instead the blade tip just cut a long laceration from her brow to upper cheek. Trying her best to endure the pain, Applebloom made Diamond Tiara drop the knife. In retaliation, the Donna pile drove her hoof into the bright orange orb. The cornea had been ruptured, blood and vitreous humor pouring out at an alarming rate.

The pure agony was greater than anything Applebloom had ever experienced, and she wailed out at the top of her lungs. Temporarily incapacitated, the yellow pony was tossed against the wall and pressed there by Diamond Tiara. Pushing her hooves against Applebloom's throat, she smiled and leaned closer.

"I've heard suffocation is one of the least pleasant ways to die." She pressed harder until Applebloom started choking and coughing.

But the resourceful mare's hind legs were still free. She folded them up, storing a massive amount of energy, and like a spring released them right into Diamond Tiara's gut. Flung across the room, the Donna landed on a table, breaking it on impact. Applebloom quickly ran over to find her gun, a challenge without depth perception. Grabbing it, she turned around to shoot but was pounced by Diamond Tiara,

Her eponymous accessory had already fallen off during the fight, and her mane was messy. The look in her eyes was of true insanity, and she was poised to end Applebloom. Seeing an opportunity, Applebloom pointed the gun as best she could and fired.

In a spray of blood, the bullet has taken Diamond Tiara's left foreleg clean off. Glancing at the stump, she belted out in pain, screaming up at the ceiling, which was now burning faster and faster. Then, upon the realization of a missing leg, she cried again. The wound was spurting blood, and Applebloom was distracted for too long. Diamond Tiara unleashed a one-armed beating on her opponent, and finally kicked her down the stairs, the revolver going with her.

Applebloom tumbled down each stepped, banging every part of her body. Once at the bottom, a strong pain in her left shoulder prevent further movement; she had dislocated it.

While Applebloom was falling, Diamond Tiara hastily tore a strip of fabric and fashioned a makeshift tourniquet. Grabbing the knife, she calmly stood at the top of the stairs. Her demonic countenance was shadowed by the ever-increasing fire raging.

Applebloom braved the sensation of shoving her humerus back into position, and reached for her revolver. One last bullet.

"This is the end of the line. Goodbye...Applebloom." Biting the knife hilt, she curled up for a large jump, aiming for Applebloom.

Leaping off the stairs, Diamond Tiara smiled through her clenched teeth and never stopped glaring at Applebloom. The yellow mare struggled to aim, but knew if she missed...it was over.

Firing off her last round, the pink form of Diamond Tiara landed just past Applebloom. The shot made contact, and finally brought down the tyrant. Her body was mangled upon landing, her three remaining legs bent in horrifying positions. Her head, or what was left of it, didn't bear a face.

Applebloom stood up and spat blood on the corpse. Despite her hate for the mare, it was still rather hard to look at Diamond Tiara in such a fashion. A once such elegant and refined creature reduced to a sanguine mess. A fitting metaphor, Applebloom thought. The "Donna" truly was a lesser spawn of greater sires.

Finished reflecting, Applebloom witnessed the flames consuming the rafters. Embers started falling onto the floor, and she knew it was time to go.

Outside Scootaloo could see the fire growing, and began to despair. She heard the gunshots. She counted them. Time was almost up. Sweetie was slipping into unconsciousness. Where was Applebloom?

Then, as if by a miracle, the yellow pony came from the doors. She was alive! Limping, battered and bruised, covered in blood; her eye swollen shut and her yellow fur stained red. But alive.

Positively elated, Scootaloo grinned widely and cheered at the triumphant Applebloom. However the industrialist was quickly becoming drowsy. Her adrenaline rush gone, and blood continuing to leave her body, she fought to remain awake.

"It's...done...it's over." She weakly murmured.

"Let's go." Scootaloo suggested, a great burden lifted from her shoulders.

"We...gotta take care of...Sweetie... Hey Scoots?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm...I'm gonna need a doctor too..." Totally exhausted and pushed to her limit, Applebloom collapsed onto the pavement.

"Coming right up." Scootaloo picked up her friend and placed her inside the vehicle. Starting it up, she set course for the nearest hospital. The ordeal was finished, and they all deserved a good rest and a hot meal.

Putting the automobile into gear, the pegasus left the Rich Mansion. The inferno would consume everything and reduce it to ash. There would be hardly anything left to find.

But a single gust of wind blew through the house, taking with it a photograph. It would land safely in the snow, surviving the charring of all other contents within.

A photograph, taken many years ago, of Filthy Rich.