This fanfiction is intended to be a proof-of-concept for ideas that could be used for in the future for Hasbro's My Little Pony franchise; therefore, the author of this work hereby grants Hasbro Inc. and its affiliates and licensees, including but not limited to DHX Media, express, written permission to use, create derivative works of, sell, claim as their own intellectual property, and in general take any action they see fit with all and any content of this fanfiction, including, but not limited, to narration, dialog, story elements, story events, names of characters, names of fictional locations, names of fictional objects, fictional properties assigned to objects that exist in real life, character traits and backstories, worldbuilding elements, lyrics, and fictional magic spells. The author of this work relinquishes all and any intellectual property rights for all and any content of this fanfiction work to Hasbro Inc. and its affiliates and licensees, including but not limited to DHX Media.

Applejack felt so tired-not just from walking and climbing and danger all day, but emotionally exhausted from having some very saddening epiphanies from reading Twilight's journal...and from what she'd written in response. Applejack didn't know what would happen next, but she did know she needed to sleep, and soon.

She walked back to the spot where Twilight, Fluttershy, and Shining Armor were sleeping. They hadn't brought bedrolls with them, so they had to improvise ways to keep warm in that cave: Shining Armor was wearing his rainsuit, Fluttershy was wrapped up in Twilight's cape, and Twilight herself was curled up next to Shining Armor with her towel and Shining Armor's towel wrapped around her to try to keep warm.

Applejack couldn't help but feel moved by this sight-this was the pony who had written all those words that had really reached her, and here she was, asleep and snuggled by the brother she loved so much. She could relate; she loved Big Mackintosh a lot, and she'd been sleeping in the same bed with him since she'd been a toddler, just like Twilight and Shining Armor shared their bed!

But...Twilight needed to see what Applejack had written back to her at some point, and the sooner, the better.

Applejack gently put her hoof on Twilight's shoulder and kept giving her a little shake until she stirred and looked up at her. "Your shift," Applejack whispered.

Twilight frowned, said nothing, and slowly walked away, with the towels still wrapped around her. She shuddered audibly.

"Hey," Applejack called after her, starting to take her duster off. "Wanna trade? You wear my duster and I sleep in your towels?"

Twilight scowled at her. "If I wore anything you'd been wearing, I'd need to take a bath!" she spat.

Applejack grew sad-she'd wanted to extend the olive branch to Twilight, but from the way she was reacting, it probably wouldn't work. Some part of her wanted to return fire with a snappy comeback, but that wouldn't accomplish anything. If anything, it'd ruin her chances of a peaceful trip. So Applejack just stayed silent, lay down in the spot where Twilight had been lying, and closed her eyes. Even though she was anxious to know what would happen next, she was so exhausted that she almost immediately fell asleep.

Twilight lazily walked toward the light of Shining Armor's lantern in the tunnel and lay down next to it, hoping that curling up would give the towels less area to cover and keep her a little warmer-then she perked up immediately when she saw her journal, safe and sitting right next to that lantern! She scooped the journal up in her hooves and hugged it to her chest like a teddy bear...but then she heard a clatter on the rocky ground: her writing-bracelet had fallen out from inside her journal, and her pen was sticking out between the pages.

What? Twilight wondered. The last time I saw my pen and my bracelet, they were with me in my saddlebags! How did they get here? Wait... HOW did my journal get here?

Twilight opened the journal to the page where her pen was sticking out, and saw hoofwriting that wasn't hers. She was horrified! Somepony who wasn't her had been messing with her journal-reading it and writing in it! WHO?!

The only way to get some answers was to read what that thief and spy had written...!

Dear Twilight-

...Oh, I'm having so much trouble figuring out what to write, here! I've read your whole journal, front-to-back, and it's shown me things about you I never would've guessed. I'd always figured you were just playing at being explorers on Rainbow Mountain, that it was all a just a big game to you, and that you and Shining Armor were playing all day like foals while your parents were slaving away, trying to turn an honest living!

But then I read about how much work you did just learning that diamonds were up on the mountain, how systematically you searched it-you've been working all these years, and I didn't see it! You're not lazy at all; you even made me look lazy when you were working, even while you were bedridden with a broken leg!

But that's not the really important thing I learned from reading this...Twilight, the moment when I offered you a little taste of ice cream a few years ago...I was trying to teach you a lesson. ...That didn't sound right at all, but now that I've written it, I can't take it back, but what I meant was: I wanted to teach you that good things come from working hard. It was the lesson my parents taught me when I graduated from school: they gave me one tiny taste of ice cream, and then they told me I had to work and earn money and buy my own ice cream with my own hard-earned money if I wanted ice cream. I learned that lesson from them, and back in those days, before money got so tight, I had ice cream just about every week when I got my allowance, and I thought it tasted better when I knew I'd earned every bite, and I wanted to share that lesson with you. I really was trying to be nice-and the moment where I gobbled it all up? I just didn't want you to steal any from me...I'm sorry I hurt you, Twilight, and if I'd known it'd do more harm than good to only give you one little bite, I swear, I wouldn't have done it!

...No, that's not even the most important thing I learned from reading this journal, Twilight; I'm rambling...

What I learned, is that the reason we hate each other so much is that there's a kind of a wall around our hearts. ...I'm saying this very badly, but here's what it amounts to: I really was trying to be nice when I gave you a tiny taste of ice cream and offered you apple seeds. I was trying to teach you about the rewards of hard work and give you free snacks if you just wait for the seeds to grow and water them every day. But all you saw was me giving you a painful reminder of what you can't afford anymore and an apple core-which just looked like garbage to you; you didn't see the seeds inside the core. It's like...like there was a wall around your heart, a wall made of your expectations, that made you think I was being mean every time I tried to be nice, so any kindness from me just bounces right off.

But it's not just you-I've had a wall around my heart all this time, too: when you invited me out for ice cream that day you found three diamonds...I didn't see the kindness in you, either. All I saw was a reward I thought I shouldn't get because my family wasn't doing well financially at the time, and...looking back on it now, that was a stupid reason to turn you down. I should've just gone with you and accepted your generosity; we might not even be enemies right now if I had just done that! And I didn't see the kindness when you told me just yesterday to turn up my collars while it was raining. I was expecting everything you did to me would be to make me feel bad, or insult me, or push me down. And that expectation meant...I just couldn't see it when you really did try to be nice to me, just like you couldn't see it when I tried to be nice to you. At least...I couldn't see it until after I'd read your diary.

I guess we've both ended up becoming the thing the other was expecting us to be. I mean, I know you really did want it to hurt when you spent a gold bit for one apple, and you know I really wanted it to hurt when I said I'd laugh when your family ended up on the auction block, and I really wanted it to hurt when I stole this journal yesterday while you and your brother were distracted crying...but I just can't want that anymore. And I know you really wanted it to hurt when you said you wished I'd jump off a cliff yesterday...yeah, I overheard your whole talk with Shining Armor while I was emptying my guts off a cliff just out of sight. When I heard Shining Armor yell at you that you're a better mare than the kind of mare who wishes death on another pony, I really thought he was wrong...but after reading this journal, I'm not so sure.

I'm sorry for bringing out the worst in you, Twilight, and I'm done making this trip awful for you. I'm going to follow ground rule one: if it's not important to us getting back home with saddlebags full of gemstones, I'm not even going to open my mouth. And I'm honoring the truce we made for Fluttershy's sake.

And I'm giving you back your journal. I'm sorry for stealing it. Now I know why it means so much to you.

All I ask is you honor the truce, too, for Fluttershy's sake if not for mine or for yours, and that you honor ground rule one, too.

I feel like there's so much more to talk about-I've felt the same kinds of fear you felt when I saw the silo fall onto Big Mackintosh, I've been feeling like I'm all alone this whole trip too, and I felt like the world and my family betrayed me, just like you did, and I know what it's like to get so upset that you say things you don't mean-I knew I didn't mean that I wished to be eaten by a bear the moment I saw that bear, so I know you didn't mean it when you said you wished I'd jump off a cliff...

But...I'm too tired to write any more. I'm leaving this journal here so you'll find it during your shift keeping watch, and I'll wake you up first so you'll find it instead of Shining Armor or Fluttershy.

...That was all Applejack had written.

Twilight stared at that hoofwriting with a sense of violation. Applejack, the pony she liked least in Ponyville (except for Filthy Rich), had stolen her journal, her most prized possession! And now she was accusing her of being a jerkface, too?

Twilight tried to clear her head-whenever she wanted to clear her head, she always wrote in her journal, and now here it was, safe and sound (though sullied by Applejack's touch), so it was all she could do...

Dear Diary-

I was SO glad when I found you on the ground, here in the tunnel-I was afraid I'd left you out on Rainbow Mountain to get ruined in the rain! But when I found out APPLEJACK took you away from me...!

Ugh! I can't BELIEVE her! STEALING MY DIARY!? READING IT?! And it wasn't enough just to read it, no-no-no-she had to SCRIBBLE ALL OVER YOU, didn't she? All that talk about walls around hearts, and how she tried to be nice to me-HER? Nice?! Give me a break! If she'd wanted to be nice, she wouldn't have stolen you-ugh...okay, she gave you back to me, I'll give her that much.

I'll admit I was trying to take her down a peg when I spent that gold coin. And maybe I went too far when I said she should jump off a cliff, but honestly...?

Twilight re-read Applejack's whole entry in her journal. She remembered the moment when Applejack had offered her ice cream, and when she'd offered her some, too. She remembered the moment where Applejack had struggled in the rain and when she'd tried, for just one minute, to be nice. Was it really true? Twilight wondered. Would I really be blind to Applejack trying to be nice to me for a change? Then she read the line she'd written minutes ago: okay, she gave you back to me...

Twilight's face went pale.

...Applejack...she really was trying to be nice for once, and Twilight hadn't been able to see it at all until she'd taken a good, hard look at herself.

A tear splattered the page as she realized: she was exactly as bad as Applejack.

It took her a while to process this. She remembered the moment when she'd cried into Shining Armor's shoulder on the mountain, just after the rain, and it was then that she had begun to realize that she really was as awful as Applejack was, but she had refused to admit it to herself back on the mountain.

But now, here in this cave, shivering in the cold, alone, with nopony to see her and no one to look at her and judge her except herself, Twilight could finally admit it to herself: she was exactly as bad as Applejack.

Her heart heavy and her mind aching to get this thought out, she began writing again:

I'm just kidding myself. I'm no better than she is at all!

Okay, okay-I have to write this down...let me start from the time where the rain stopped-the same rain that was happening in my last entry. As soon as the rocks were dry, Applejack went away for a few minutes to relieve herself. I confronted Shining Armor about why he wasn't taking my side every time Applejack and I had an argument; he was making me feel like I was all alone, and that was especially painful, because whenever we explored before, we were always such a team...I always felt like I could trust him with anything, but now, every time we fought, he always tried to shut me down. Who am I supposed to trust now?!

He told me that Big Mackintosh was afraid Applejack was at the end of her rope, and that she might jump off a cliff if she were pushed too far emotionally, so that's why he kept shutting me up every time we got in an argument. I said words that I regretted right away, but at the time, I thought I'd meant them: "Good riddance!"

Isn't that worse than Applejack wishing my family were on the auction block?

And now that I've read everything Applejack wrote about how she couldn't see my kindness and I couldn't see hers...and how I realized I wasn't seeing her kindness at first when she gave you back to me...

Twilight stopped and let more tears drip off her snoot as she sniffled.

I'm a horrible pony!

For a long time, Twilight couldn't write any more. She cried again, with no shoulders to cry on, and left her journal's page tear-stained again.

She turned the page.

These pages are stained with tears way too often! And too often, it's my own fault-if I'd kept my snoot shut for just a few more days, we wouldn't be in this mess. If I hadn't been blind to Applejack's kindness, we wouldn't be enemies.

Well, enough is enough-I'm done doing these things to myself and other ponies around me! I'm done! I'm DONE!

Twilight took a deep breath and paused her writing for a minute or so.

...It felt good to write that...

Maybe I'll feel better if I write about the other things that happened since then? I mean, quite a bit happened...

Twilight wrote about filling their saddlebags with diamonds, and the bear, and how she desperately used a Rainbow Diamond to try to get them away from the bear, and how Fluttershy saved them, how she'd led them to a cave, and finally how she'd cried when her journal was missing, and finally how she'd found it.

So...here we are, Twilight finished. Hoping that we'll be able to find a gems dealer somewhere in Unicornia who has a mountain ruby that we can trade these diamonds for. Even if it takes every diamond in our bags, we can just fill them up again when we get back to our cave.

I sure hope Mom and Dad aren't too worried...but how can they not be? I mean, everything is at stake, here...! Oooo...I wish we had some way to tell them that we're okay...

Twilight was beginning to get very sleepy again, and looked at the sky outside the cave mouth. Constellations that had been on the horizon when she started were now halfway up the sky; she'd stood watch long enough.

She picked up her journal and crept back to the place where Shining Armor, Fluttershy, and Applejack were sleeping...and there was Applejack, curled up next to her brother, side-to-side and snout-to-snout...just like how she'd always slept next to him when they were adventuring. And he was sleeping next to her as if she were his sister!

She stopped herself...Shining Armor was used to sleeping next to his sister, and Applejack was used to sleeping next to her brother-they were both asleep, and didn't know any better.

Finally, she decided that she'd need to wake up either Fluttershy or Shining Armor for a shift...and if she woke Fluttershy up, then Twilight could sleep next to Shining Armor and keep a little warmer, and she wouldn't be sleeping next to Applejack...

She gently woke Fluttershy up; she started awake with a little gasp the moment Twilight touched her. Twilight whispered to her, "It's just me-one of the earth ponies who you saved yesterday! We're taking turns keeping watch while the other three sleep; I just finished my turn. Can you keep watch for a couple of hours?"

Fluttershy whispered back, "Okay," and trotted up the tunnel into the light of Shining Armor's lantern.

Twilight curled up next to her brother, put her journal under her head like a pillow, tried to get the towels over him a little so that she could share some body heat with him, and closed her eyes.

She must have slept through the night, because the next thing she knew, Shining Armor was shaking her awake; it was again time for them to move.

Twilight half-remembered finding her journal in the night, reading Applejack's letter, and coming to the conclusion that she was just as awful as Applejack. She took a look at Applejack as she was packing the towels into her saddlebags, and their eyes met. Both mares froze, unable to think how to respond to the other. Neither of them scowled, but they both looked very defensive.

Finally, Applejack swallowed hard and whispered, "Ground rule one?"

There was a pause, while Twilight tried to think how to react. Some part of her wanted to give a snappy comeback, but after all that she had read, she was too ashamed to. If there was going to be a first shot fired, it wouldn't be from Twilight-she'd made her mind up of that. So she just whispered back, "Ground rule one."

After that, they again began following Fluttershy, grabbing mouthfuls of grass or wild oat as they could. They were so sleepy, but then something happened that got them fully awake again: Applejack looked over her shoulder, and rushing toward her, mouth slavering, was the same bear as before! She screamed and bolted.

Fluttershy turned around and scowled at the bear. He stopped in his tracks and seemed to get sadder. "Just yesterday I told you it wasn't nice to eat ponies!"

The bear looked down at the ground and gave off a few chastened grunts.

Applejack turned around, her face pale. "What did he say?" she asked between gasps.

"Says 'e can't help it!" Fluttershy translated as she sent the bear away again. "Something smells awfully good to him on your back!"

"My back?!" Applejack let down her saddlebags. "What's on my back?!"

Shining Armor's jaw dropped. He tugged a small white patch off of Applejack's back with his hoof. Applejack yelped as it ripped at her fur. Twilight bit back the urge to say "Good one, bro!"

Shining Armor held the patch up, and his teeth clenched: "This...it's a bear musk patch!"

"Bear musk?" Applejack asked.

"Their scent attracts bears. Explorers sometimes set them up way off the path they're taking to attract bears to someplace away from them." He turned to Applejack with a horrified look on his face. "Did you put this on your back? Did you deliberately attract a bear to us?"

Applejack shrank back, her face equally horrified. "NO! No, I didn't even know those patches existed! I-"

Twilight remembered Applejack's entry in her journal, so she decided to do something very risky, something she'd told herself never to do: she did something kind for Applejack. "She didn't want this!" Twilight insisted to her brother. "Trust me!"

For a moment, Shining Armor stared at Twilight, not sure why she was defending Applejack.

Then something clicked in Applejack's mind. "Wait...Silver Spoon!"

Twilight and Shining Armor turned to her.

"Silver Spoon slapped me on the back while we were just about to leave, and she slapped me at just that spot on my back. And...and when I tried to leave when she gave you two an extra 48 hours, she threatened me-she said she'd slap Section 63 on my family if I didn't go with you. I was too afraid to ask why-but it must've been because she put this patch on me!"

Shining Armor and Twilight stared at her for a moment.

"Please-" Applejack added, "Don't tell anypony I told you all this; Silver Spoon said she'd hit my family with Section 63 if I told anypony she'd threatened me!"

Shining Armor swallowed hard. "Filthy Rich tried to kill us."

Applejack nodded.

Twilight spoke up: "Don't worry. We won't tell anypony that you told us this, but we will tell everypony that he had Silver Spoon put that patch on you! Once they know her boss is a murderer, they'll run him clean out of town, and nopony will ever have to pay him another red cent! Everypony hates him."

Fluttershy whimpered, shrank down toward the ground, and looked down in fear. "Does 'e have a curse on 'im that makes everypony hate 'im, too?"

They instantly softened their tones. Applejack put her hoof under Fluttershy's chin and gently lifted it up. "It's not a curse that makes us hate Filthy Rich. What makes us hate Filthy Rich is because he's greedy, horribly mean to everypony else who owes him money, and he's willing to kill if it means he can get his filthy hooves on more money. You're none of those things; you're kind, and brave, and probably you haven't even thought about money in years! Don't worry-not about us hating him!"

Fluttershy sniffled. Trembling, and gazing into Applejack's eyes, she whispered, "Thank you!"

At the word "money", it occurred to Twilight that she had no idea what kind of currency there was in Unicornia, nor how she could find out what value it had relative to the diamonds she was carrying. For that matter, who knew whether there'd be any unicorns desperate enough to steal the diamonds from them...?

Twilight decided to get some answers from Fluttershy if she could, so as they began moving again, she asked, "I guess you must be curious about all the diamonds we're carrying. My brother and I were exploring a mountain in Ponyland, and we discovered a cave FULL of diamonds. We were going to take three bagfuls back to sell in our hometown so we can pay off a debt my family owes to Filthy Rich, but then that bear attacked us while we were still back on our world...he must've smelled that musk-patch...I knew we had to get away, so I used a magic spell to take us to Unicornia:

Magic gem with magic might,
Unleash your magic, lovely light!
Through airless space be safely hurled
My party to another world!

"All I had to do was hold a rainbow diamond in my hooves, say the spell, and then the diamond shattered, and off we went from Ponyland to Unicornia! That spell accidentally took the bear with us...the rest of our story, you already know."

Fluttershy said nothing in response, she just stared at Twilight, too afraid to speak, lest she say something that made Twilight hate her. It was clear to Twilight that conversation, at least with other ponies, wasn't Fluttershy's strong suit. She was even more defensive than Twilight was when she was around Applejack!

Twilight felt awkward, so she started talking more about the spell: "Shining Armor found an old chest while we were exploring Rainbow Mountain, and there was a spellbook in that chest with that spell-and the funny thing about it is that you need to be holding a gem in order for the spell to work, and the question of which gem you're holding determines which world you teleport to. Rainbow diamonds get you here to Unicornia, star emeralds get you to Cumuland (where the pegasus ponies live), and a mountain ruby will get you back to Ponyland, where we're from.

"So...that's why we need a mountain ruby in order to get back to Ponyland so we can pay back our loan before Filthy Rich takes our home...and sells us all as slaves...and takes the mineral rights to our cave...ugh...I need to stop talking about this! Anyhow, just ruby will be enough. You wouldn't just happen to know what the value of a rainbow diamond is compared to a mountain ruby, would you?"

Fluttershy shook her head beneath her hood.

"...Right..."

The conversation was just a little too awkward-Twilight decided that, when they got to Canterlot, they'd need to just ask directions from a local there to see where they could find a gems dealer.

As they approached Canterlot, they saw that the city was absolutely huge compared to Ponyville. Buildings well over five stories tall towered over them with architecture like they'd never seen before, and more than once, they saw another floor being added to an existing building. Crowds of ponies were coming and going, markets were bustling, and Fluttershy was shivering inside Twilight's cape, terrified of meeting any other ponies-of which there were a huge number!

"Don't worry," Shining Armor whispered to her. "Nopony will recognize you; they'll think you're an earth pony just like us. Just keep your hood up."

"Okay," she whimpered softly-so softly, Shining Armor could barely hear it over the bustle of the market.

Suddenly, Applejack felt a hoof on her shoulder. "Why hello!" an unfamiliar voice said. It was a tall, white-furred unicorn stallion. "I don't believe I've seen a mare without a horn before. I expect you're...shall we say, not from around here?"

Applejack was a little leery of this unicorn; he was acting a little too chummy. But she answered, "We're explorers from Ponyland."

"Ponyland? Well, well, well. Not many ponies come from that far away!"

Hoping to end the conversation politely, Applejack asked, "Can you direct us to a gems dealer?"

"A gems dealer, you say? I might just be the stallion you're looking for," he answered, his horn glowing gently. "Are you buying, or selling?"

"Both," Shining Armor answered. "We're in the market for a mountain ruby-we only need one. Do you have one?"

"Well, I'd...have to see what we have in stock," the stallion answered neutrally. "What kinds of gems would you be able to sell me?"

Twilight slipped her hoof into her saddlebags under her towels, and brought out a single rainbow diamond. For the briefest instant, she saw the stallion react with the beginnings of awe, but he checked himself. "I must say, not a bad stone. I'll give you ten silver unicoins for it!"

"Thanks," Twilight said, sensing that he might be trying to cheat them, "But we'd like to get a second opinion of its worth."

At that moment, a second unicorn stallion appeared, the same height and fur color as the first, but with different clothing and a different accent. "Such a lovely stone! I'll give you a hundred unicoins for that!"

The first stallion glared at the newcomer with a hint of annoyance.

Twilight smirked at him. "Maybe you misplaced a decimal point?"

"I'll offer a hundred and ten," the first stallion replied.

"A hundred ten, a hundred ten, do I hear one-twenty?" Twilight began auctioneering.

The second stallion answered, "I bid one-twenty!"

"Do I hear one-thirty?" Twilight asked.

The first stallion threw himself into the auction. "I bid a hundred and thirty!"

"A hundred and forty!"

"One-fifty, and that's my final offer!" the first stallion insisted with finality.

"A hundred and fifty unicoins for the diamond. Going once, going twice-"

"I bid ten thousand silver unicoins!" said a mare with white fur, coily purple hair, a nice dress, a more sophisticated-sounding accent, and a scowl on her face.

Fluttershy slowly shrank behind Shining Armor as this mare and her husband approached them.

"Flim and Flam! Honestly...you two! Taking advantage of these foreigners who don't know the true value of these gems! How dare you?!"

Flim snorted. "Now, Rarity-have you forgotten your economics? Every item is always worth whatever a pony will pay for it-no more, no less!"

"Close your mouth and get out of here before I call the authorities!" Rarity growled with an icy glare. Without another word, Flim and Flam trotted away. Rarity eyed them until they were out of sight, then turned to Twilight. "It's for the best that you keep that gem out of sight until we get back to my office."

"Back to the office? Now?" her husband asked. A glowing bouquet of flowers that had been floating next to him shifted a little downwards as he asked.

"Our visit to the graveyard can wait another hour. That grave marker isn't going anywhere," she whispered back.

Twilight put the diamond back into her saddlebag and followed her. She noticed that Fluttershy was reluctant to follow, but she did-and always kept either Shining Armor, her, or Applejack between herself and Rarity. But she figured she'd better be polite, and turned her attention to Rarity. "Thank you so much for helping us-we don't have any idea what the relative values of gems are; I knew we'd probably get swindled, and when the opening bid went from ten to a hundred, I knew he had been trying to cheat us...but I had no idea by how much!"

Rarity shook her head. "You really should look up the relative prices before you walk into a market like that! Oh-where are my manners? My name is Rarity, dealer of pearls and precious stones. This is my husband, Zephyr Breeze."

With a slight nod, he added, "Jeweler."

"We fell in love while plying our trades," Rarity explained with a slight blush. "They tell you not to mix your personal and professional lives, but...it really worked for us!" After a small giggle, she asked, "What about you?"

"My name is Twilight Sparkle, and this is my brother Shining Armor, and a friend of the family, Applejack. We're explorers from Ponyland."

Rarity's eyebrow went up. "Ponyland, you say? Isn't that another planet?"

"Yes...my brother found an old chest while we were exploring, and it had a spellbook in it with a spell that you can use to go from one planet to another."

"Oo, my!" Rarity gasped. She said nothing for a long time after that as they walked toward her dealership, and seemed lost in thought.

Twilight wondered why for a moment, then realized that Rarity was considering the implications of being able to travel from world to world. Twilight hadn't heard more than rumors and legends of ponies being able to go from one world to another, but there had always been an idea in the back of her mind that it happened from time to time. But when you consider that prices in one world could be low for a given item and high for that same item in another world, she realized it'd be easy to get rich very quickly if you had a reliable way of getting from one world to another, and knew the relative prices.

She was a little ashamed to realize that she'd never considered that as a viable alternative to looking for the entrance to the diamond cave-but then she also realized that, until and unless she finds a sustainable source of mountain rubies, she didn't have a reliable way of getting from world to world, so even if she had thought of this idea, it wouldn't have made any difference.

The next thing Twilight knew, she was being shown into a very nice-looking business, made to lay down her saddlebags, sit down on a very comfortable and expensive-looking couch, and served tea and food by a servant. The teacups were built for unicorns to use their magic on them, but she and Shining Armor and Applejack managed to find ways to get the hot liquid to their lips. Now THIS is exploring! Twilight thought to herself, Meeting important ponies, sitting down to tea with them-way better than getting rained on!

For that matter, Twilight thought to herself, THIS is what a real TOWN should be like! I've never seen so much construction and building in my life before! I wonder if Ponyville could do this much building, if everypony didn't need to save every spare cent to pay down their debts...?

After they'd finished their meal, Rarity said, "And now, down to business. I hope you'll take a check for that diamond; ten thousand silver coins is far more than four ponies can carry!"

"Actually, there's a different gem that we're in the market for," Twilight explained. She began to retell their story, but as she did so, Applejack felt a tug on her tail.

She turned around. She didn't see anyone there, and just as she was beginning to wonder whether she imagined that tug, she felt it again. She saw a yellow glow on the tip of her tail, and had no idea what it was-until she looked up at Fluttershy. Her pleading eyes, a slight glow from her horn underneath her hood, and a glance toward the door told Applejack that she desperately wanted to talk about something-in private.

"Excuse us, could we use your restroom?" Applejack interrupted awkwardly.

"But of course. Second door on your left. Do tell on, Miss Twilight!"

Applejack and Fluttershy slipped out of the room quietly and hid inside the restroom. "What's wrong, Fluttershy?"

"We've got to get out of 'ere!" Fluttershy whimpered. "These ponies were especially mean to me when I was a filly!" Fluttershy squeaked. "There's no way we can trust them, 'specially not with all your gems!"

Applejack gulped.