Of Coal and Diamonds

by Alaxsxaq

3. Tea with Tiara

3. Tea with Tiara

Several burly ponies stood beside a fine wooden desk, their visages barely visible under the minimal light from the lamp overhead. The room was bathed in tobacco smoke, the largest source coming from behind the desk. A large stallion pegasus, his coat golden and mane as white as snow, puffed his cigar. The unicorn across his desk, sitting in a chair, shook several ashes from his cigarette.

The pegasus leaned in, hoping his intimidating appearance and reputation would work in his favor.

"What do you want? I can pay you a hefty sum."

The unicorn inhaled his cigarette, then smiled. "I'm not looking for money. We had a deal."

"I'm alterin' da deal. Accept da money, and I'll let ya run away with youse limbs intact." The pegasus said, puffing his cigar.

"I'm afraid that's not good enough. You will follow the parameters of the agreement. Face it, Palomino, you aren't the legend you once were."

"I'm about to prove you wrong. Gotta hit on dat police chief."

"You will leave Babs Seed alone. Is that clear?" The unicorn said, his voice becoming more forceful.

"What? You think I'm gonna just let dat bitch slide? Because of her, they caught me! AND if she went ahead with dat investigation, I'd be facing life in da big house, or sittin' in da chair!"

"Which is exactly why you should be so gracious that we helped you. Polly―"

The don pony interrupted. "Nopony but my friends cawll me dat!"

"But I thought we were friends."

"You better watch yourself." Palomino said, visibly losing his patience.

"Likewise. The East End is lacking 'protection'. It'd would such a shame if those good ponies' homes had an...unfortunate accident. Address this matter."

"So what, you expect me to take orders from you?"

The unicorn crushed out his cigarette, then gave the most devious smile the boss had ever seen. "Not from me, Polly." The pegasus shot him a glare. "I'm just the messenger. And you're just a pawn. Do as I say, and I promise you, my boss won't seek retribution."

"I'm da only boss 'round here! 'Big Daddy Palomino' don't take orders from nopony!"

"You do now. Get that through your thick skull." When the unicorn finished speaking, his two massive bodyguards slammed their hooves into the don's nose. He yelled out expletives and clutched his bleeding snout. The guards turned around and knocked out Palomino's own guards, sending them to the ground.

"Times have changed. Now get to it. My employer does not like to be kept waiting."

"...Yes...yes Grey Eminence."

The unicorn got up and left, opening the door to the outside. Before he crossed the threshold, he turned his head and addressed the don one last time.

"And Polly, pay your taxes. Honestly that was just pathetic."

He exited, followed by his two bodyguards. Slamming the door behind them, the party abandoned Palomino alone to his thoughts. Who was this "boss"? And how could they be more powerful than him? Wiping away his blood with a rag, he took out a bottle of whiskey, trying to ease the pain.

----------

In her office, Applebloom resumed studying her stack of papers, paying close attention to any mistakes. They were few and far between however, as the businesspony had learned over time what separated a good manager from a poor one. After many, many hours of trial and error, Applebloom had her company running like the hundreds of well-oiled machines she built weekly.

Barring interruptions, she could finish going through all the papers within the hour. However, distractions had a habit of popping up, whether her own fault or not; a second time her phone rang.

Dearly hoping it wasn't Rarity; she picked up the phone and again respectfully answered whomever was on the other end.

"Howdy! This is Applebloom, owner and CEO of Apple Industries. What do you need?"

"Hello Applebloom! It's me, Diamond!"

The industrialist was...unenthused to say the least. "Oh uh hi."

"I'm calling to see if you're available later today for some tea."

"Ah suppose so. What time did you have in mind?"

"How does five o'clock sound? In fact, we'll dine as well. My treat!" The voice on the other end was as cheery as Applebloom's old schoolteacher.

"Sounds good. Where?"

" ‘A Taste of Heaven’. All the critics say it is simply to die for! Meet me there at 4:45. I'll make us reservations!"

"Alright. Um bye."

"See you then, Applebloom!"

Hanging up the phone, the yellow mare found herself more confused than at the party the previous night.

"What's goin' on? She used to be such a brat. Hmmm...Ah guess she matured. Oh why did Ah say yes? Ah have no desire to eat at some fancy restaurant with pompous ponies."

Her regret lessened however when she recalled why she agreed to do anything with that pink mare.

A chance to become one of the high society ponies. The prospect of being considered part of them. Being invited to cocktail parties and charity drives. She loved her friends, but Applebloom was a pony of two different worlds now; her small town country roots would never be forgotten, but she had to acknowledge the fact that she was one of the richest ponies in Equestria. As superficial as it sounded, she was required to be proper and classy if she was ever going to be accepted as the upper class citizen she was, never minding her dislike for all those "trust fund foals" and stockbrokers.

Was all this what she really wanted? Maybe, maybe not. Hopefully Applebloom would find out tonight with Diamond Tiara. Perhaps making amends wouldn't be so bad.

Returning to the papers, she spotted a request document, filed by a manager of hers. It was a detailed permission form to launch the new model of locomotive, the AI-SL 13/67. All the railroad giants wanted some, and it was advertised in the company catalog that they would be the fastest, safest, and most efficient engines when they hit the market. Only one problem; it wasn't done yet.

Every day for the past week, the head of the Mechanical Engineering Department had been sending her these forms. And every time she explicitly told him that it wasn't ready. And every time he ignored her.

Fed up, she rose from her chair and made her way to the elevator. Applebloom was going to set this stallion straight. Pressing the button to the floor where his office was, the carriage took her down. Stepping out a few seconds later, she walked past all the cubicles with ponies selling her products.

One after another called out to inform the CEO of their latest sales.

"Miss Applebloom! The Coltorado Mining Corporation just ordered 4 units of steam shovels!" Yelled a young unicorn mare.

"Excellent." She said, still focused on the office at the other end of the floor.

A pegasus colt was next. "Ma'am, I've finalized an order for 17 steam turbines for Vanhoover Shipping!"

She paused for a second and congratulated the colt. That was a considerable sale.

Continuing on, slightly annoyed by these interruptions, Applebloom was a few feet from the office door when yet another pony announced their sale. But this one was special.

"Miss Applebloom!" cried a pinto stallion. "We got the Hoofington-class Contract!"

This bit of news made her stop dead in her tracks. "The...Hoofington-class..."

He smiled, understanding fully the importance of his sale. "That's right. We beat Baltimare Shipbuilding to it. Now the four Hoofington-Class battleships will be constructed at our shipyards! And of course the Navy gets a free patrol boat with the purchase of three or more capital ships."

"H-h-how much was the sale?"

"4 billion bits."

Applebloom's jaw dropped, and for a second she felt as if she were about to fall over. Regaining her composure, she rushed over to the pony and shook his hoof.

"You just earned your Hearth's Warming bonus! Everypony's earned a bonus!”

The entire room cheered, befuddling the ponies on the phone with the sellers.

Amidst the happy occupants of the floor, Applebloom trotted to the office door marked "Head of Mechanical Engineering Dept." Knocking on it, she heard a voice from the other side.

"Yeah? What is it? I'm very busy!"

"It's your boss! Open up!"

Not two seconds later the unicorn inside rushed up and opened the door. Looking nervous, he pulled out a chair for Applebloom to sit down in, and even began pouring her a drink.

Hoofing her the glass of water, he sat down in his own chair, straightening up the desk to appeal to his employer.

"What can I do for you, Miss Applebloom?"

"Ah'm here concerning the request form you filled out. The one about the new locomotives."

"Oh yes! I can have them ready for production by the end of the day."

"That's what Ah wanted to talk to you about. Ah've told you several times it ain't ready."

"Yes but our buyers are getting antsy. I don't want to lose the sale―"

"We ain't gonna lose it. We have a reputation to uphold, and Ah can't do that if y'all try to launch somethin' before it's ready! They'll wait a little longer for a quality product."

"But it's finished enough. Couldn't we push it through? I mean―"

"NO! Ah know you don't know much about engineering, Joint Stock; you're a wonderful manager though. Listen carefully: the new line has a problem with overheating. Do ya know what that means?"

"Um...well..." In truth, the stallion probably had actually only seen one of those steam engines no more than five times in his life.

"It means that at the high pressures we advertised it could go, the engines have a tendency to get too hot. That can lead to some nasty problems. Ah've built a name on safe, reliable products, and Ah intend to stand by that principle. We sell so much because our customers know we make good stuff. How do ya think Ah can give ya that six-figure salary?" She asked, staring the poor stallion down.

Joint Stock was about to answer, before he realized it was a rhetorical question.

"If Ah let this model go now, well it could explode, killing somepony! And since Ah'm the owner, it’s mah responsibility! Do you think Ah want to live with that? Having one of mah products kill a pony because Ah wanted to make some extra bits? What do Ah tell the family?" Applebloom was now beginning to rant. "And if killing somepony wasn't bad enough, those self-righteous anti-business crusaders in Canterlot who think they know best would then pass laws and regulations, telling ME how to build an engine when they can't even tell a gasket from a piston head!" Her last sentence ended in her hoof slamming down on his desk.

"I'm...I'm sorry, ma'am...I didn't realize how strongly you felt about this..."

"Ah'm sorry for yellin'. But please remember, Ah say no for a reason. You had good intentions, but Ah don't pay you to think; Ah pay you to make sure these ponies sell."

"Yes ma'am"

"Don't let it happen again. Ah'd hate to do this, but Ah will take extreme measures if necessary."

Now sweating beads, he saluted his boss. Before she left, Joint Stock asked her one last thing.

"Miss Applebloom, could I have a performance review?"

Rolling her eyes, she replied. "Fine...um Ah guess you're doin' somethin’ right. We got the Hoofington-class contract. Keep up the good work, but leave the decision making to me."

Joint Stock thanked his lucky stars he had such a forgiving employer, and as soon as she left the office, he sighed audibly.

A bottle of liquor was stored in his office refrigerator for the times she became angry. Thank Celestia this was not one of those times.

----------

As the day dragged on, Applebloom had returned to her office and finished looking at the paperwork. For a few hours afterwards she paid most of her managers a visit, inspecting their work and reviewing the day's sales. At Apple Industries an executive always had to be prepared for a surprise inspection. They were scheduled without rhyme or reason. Applebloom did this to captured them in as natural state as possible; if they knew she was coming, they all could prepare.

And what point was there in seeing how they acted while she was around?

After some fun scares with that, the yellow mare ventured back to street level. Walking around behind the tower revealed a large building just away from the view of street travelers. Passing underneath the large shutter doors, Applebloom entered a massive warehouse-like setting, filled with sparks of arc welding and the industrial dim of metal being machined.

Dozens of ponies, all grease-covered and wearing tool belts ran around, hammering and drilling, driving rivets and fabricating large sheets of steel. This building was warmly known by its occupants as the "Shop". This was where Apple Industries built most of its prototypes. To the casual observer, its hundreds of yards of cables, advanced machinery, and small rail network would have given the impression that it was a factory. In fact, however, the real factories were much, much bigger.

Applebloom carefully stepped over power cords and ducked as low-lying chassis suspended by cranes swung overhead. Grabbing a hardhat from a bin near the entrance, she greeted the ponies walking along the catwalks above.

"Hi Miss Applebloom!" Said a gruff-looking stallion, the true color of his coat belied by the grease and dirt in it.

"Howdy, Rusty. Ah'm heard to check up on the new train."

He blushed slightly, rubbing the back of his head. "Well...this is embarrassing, but uh we were hoping you could come take a look. We can't seem to get it right."

"Lemme see what Ah can do."

Taking off her jacket and rolling up her sleeves, Applebloom donned a tool belt and cantered over to a large locomotive sitting on a platform. The vehicle was unpainted and unfurnished; bare bones.

"As you know, the radiator just don’t seem to be able to handle the heat. She was pushing critical before we got to the 'max' pressure. I dunno, maybe we ought to make it a standard."

"The Western Railroad's havin' trouble fillin' up their boilers, out near Appaloosa. We promised a condensin' engine, and Applebloom is a mare of her word. Ah've amended the design." She produced a blueprint from her waistcoat pocket, and hoofed it to the overseer.

"Well I'll be...never thought to do that."

The yellow mare just smiled. Tying up her red mane and tail, Applebloom went to work on her newest invention.

If the Apple family was considered to have an oddity, something that didn't quite fit, it was her. Her talent was not in any way related to bucking apples, growing apples, making cider, making pie, or anything like that. Granted she was not inept, and enjoyed helping her family on their farm sometimes. But Applebloom had a different calling.

The wrench and screwdriver were her instruments with which the pony composed beautiful symphonies of metal and coal. On every track in Equestria; in every armory the military owned; in every home from Fillydelphia to Cloudsdale; there stood her pieces. Strong, reliable, and very difficult to break.

At her large home, the study desk was usually covered in blueprints and sketches detailing the latest idea her mind thought up. A garage also sat adjoined to the house, full of engine parts and tools, where Applebloom spent a good chunk of her Saturdays. The mechanical was her calling, and Applebloom had made a fortune on selling her legendary creations. She didn't acquire wealth from inheritances, nor trusts, nor stocks, nor entertaining; she was a billionaire from her own blood and sweat. She was an industrialist in the purest sense of the word.

And she loved working so much on a machine, trying to make it run, that she had forgotten the time. Before Applebloom knew it, it was already 4:30.

"Buy some apples! Rusty, Ah gotta go! Test it out, and tell me how it works tomorrow!" Wiping her hooves and grabbing her jacket, she galloped out of the Shop, saying goodbye to all the ponies.

Now running at full speed, the pony rushed past all the pedestrians on the Manehattan streets, trying to arrive at that restaurant at the agreed time. Finally, her heart pounding as if it might burst from her chest, Applebloom was at the entrance to an eatery vainly named "A Taste of Heaven".

"With a name like that, Ah'm gonna walk in with high expectations."

Straightening her tie and hat, making herself look presentable, the mare trotted up to the hostess, standing behind her podium.

"I do believe the 'hoedown' is on 3rd street. Please step out of line. Some of these ponies wish to pay." The rude pegasus' words reeked with disgust at Applebloom.

"Actually, ma'am." Her voice contained a hint of malice. "Ah have a reservation. Applebloom."

The name immediately caused the hostess to act courteous to the earth pony. "Oh! Right this way! Miss Diamond Tiara is waiting for you."

Applebloom followed the pegasus as she admired the decor in the restaurant. It certainly was a pretty place to dine.

At the end of the direction, the hostess stopped in front of a luxurious ebony table, which seated two posh mares, one pink and the other grey.

The pink pony had a violet mane, with a white streak running through it, which was done up in a fashionable hairstyle; something Applebloom never much cared for. For the cold weather, she wore a coat, the collar adorned with feathers. Sticking out of her mouth was a black cigarette holder, filled and lit. Most notable of all was a diamond-encrusted tiara sitting on top of her head.

The pony beside her possessed a light grey mane, braided into a ponytail. The mare wore blue eyeglasses and a similar coat to the former, but colored to match the fur of her natural coat.

The two had been chatting about who knows what when Applebloom took a seat. Immediately stopping their conversation, the two mares lit up and dropped everything to give her their undivided attention. Bracing herself for the worst, Applebloom would confidently brave whatever these two fillies could dish out.

Diamond Tiara was first, bearing a smile so big that it would put Pinkie Pie to shame.

"Applebloom! I'm so glad you could make it!" The pony motioned to a waitress. "What's your pleasure?"

"Um...tea will be fine."

"One iced tea, please." The waitress abided, bringing back a glass in record time.

"Thank you." Applebloom said, taking a sip from the glass. "Ah didn't know they'd let ponies smoke inside a fancy place like this."

Diamond smiled, tasting her own tea. "Normally they don't, but being as important ponies as we are, they're willing to make an exception. Oh where are my manners? You remember Silver Spoon, don't you?"

The grey mare smiled at the yellow one, adjusting her glasses. "It has been a long time, Applebloom. What have you been up to?"

"Yes. Tell us all about your life!" The two placed their elbows on the table and held their heads, preparing to listen intently.

"W-Where should Ah start?"

"After high school, when we all went our separate ways."

"Alright." She took another sip of water and cleared her throat. "Well Ah attended the Manehattan Engineering School, and uh...got a Master's. Then Ah got a job at a machine shop, where Ah worked for a while. Then Ah started mah own company...and it sorta took off from there."

"Riveting. A true rags-to-riches story! Looks like Applebloom isn't just another pretty face, huh Silver?"

"Congratulations!"

"Uh thanks. So what about y'all?"

The grey one elected to go, perhaps at the silent approval of her "master".

"My trusts have matured, and I can happily say I'm living comfortably as Diamond's right-hoof filly."

"That's right!" The tiara-wearing pony interrupted. "I'm the new CEO of Rich Enterprises...well after my father died..." Her face took a bipolar turn from jovial to spirit-crushingly sad. Applebloom placed a hoof on her shoulder.

"Ah'm sorry. If it makes you feel any better, mah parents died when Ah was really young..."

The grieving pony wiped her eyes and shook herself from sorrow. "Oh it's quite alright! Let's get ready to eat, hm?"

"But Ah haven't even ordered."

"I took the liberty of ordering for you. I hope you don't mind."

In truth Applebloom did mind, more than she would like to admit. But she had to be polite. "Not at all."

Not a minute later a waitress came levitating several plates. Placing them on the table, she bowed and left the three ponies to their meal. Each of the plates had a salad. But not just any salad; the lettuce was of the highest quality, perfectly grown and tended. Covering the greenery was a plethora of small vegetables, from carrots, baby corns, mushrooms, and broccoli. It was skillfully glazed, but not bathed, in a sweet yet tangy dressing. It actually wasn't that bad, Applebloom thought. Certainly not a "taste of heaven", however.

"So, Applebloom." Diamond asked between chews. "Are you ready to undergo your 'high society training'?"

"Ah sure am."

"Alright. Well for starters, that bolo tie."

"Ya like it? Ah made it mahself. Outta stainless steel and―"

"It's...nice. But I'm afraid it’s too country. Same goes for the hat."

"...Not mah hat."

"It's fine for whenever you're working. But during social gatherings it is a grave faux pas. Also you must reform your speech. The accent isn't helping."

Applebloom blushed, feeling very small.

"Oh it'll be fine, dear. There's a cocktail party at my mansion this Friday. Please come. Dress fashionable and I'll help you every step of the way."

"...And you're sure this'll get me accepted?"

"Of course." Diamond smiled.

Several hours passed as they ate their meals and chatted, mostly Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara. Many laughs were shared, even if Applebloom didn't quite understand some of the jokes. By the time the clock struck seven, the businesspony got up from her chair.

"Ah'm sorry, but Ah really should be goin'. It was nice catching up again!"

"Yes it was! Don't forget about Friday! And I have your bill covered."

Applebloom left, but not before placing at least twenty bits on the table as a tip. "Thank y'all, girls!" She yelled before exiting the restaurant, snow lightly falling on the sidewalk. She took a moment to look at the menu posted outside. "62 bits for a salad?! They sure ain't payin' for the food." Mentally reviewing the establishment, giving it about three stars, Applebloom headed in the direction of her home as the sun began to set. Perhaps Diamond Tiara had changed. A welcome change, she thought.

Meanwhile back at the table the yellow earth pony was just at; Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were still sitting, waiting for the check.

The pink pony snatched the tip money Applebloom had left and placed it in her purse.

"How long do you think it'll take?" Asked Silver Spoon, finishing her tea.

"This is a very different scenario. But I'll get there. I think we made quite the impression." For the umpteenth time today she smiled. But not one of bliss; rather a devious grin hinting at some not-so-nice machination of her mind.

Diamond Tiara took a breath from her cigarette, and then exhaled. "Soon, if I play my cards right."

Comments

[Alaxsxaq]

1791147What if many of them were smaller businesses? I don't know everything about business but I like to believe I know an itty bitty amount.