What's on the Menu

Months passed by while Twilight and the others spent their time searching for Rarity and Sweetie Belle; unfortunately, there had been no leads. Nopony in Ponyville had seen them and they were nowhere to be seen in Canterlot. Pinkie and Fluttershy went to the Crystal Empire to meet with Cadance. Their thinking was that Rarity might have gone up there for inspiration or to at least visit Cadance. Rainbow Dash and Applejack even made the trek to Manehattan. Knowing the CMCs, they could very well had popped up there to try for cutie marks or meet up with Babs. Yet, every time it ended the same: a dead end.

While Applejack was in Manehattan, Big Mac had taken charge of the care of the two ordered cows. Every day at the same time he would lead a bull into Raricow’s stall to let him breed with her. At first she had been repulsed by the sweaty and smelly bulls and less than satisfied by their thin cocks. But as time passed, whether by herself or as a side effect from the transformation spell, Raricow not only became more accepting to the bulls but eventually looked forward to her ruttings. She no longer cared about dresses, fashion, or that she wasn’t alone when she was getting bred.

Every day Raricow stood in the breeding stall and lifted up her tail. There was no longer any hesitation when her lover of the day was led in. As soon as the bull saw the cow presenting herself, his cock got hard and he quickly mounted up on her. A few rough thrusts pushed the thin cock against Raricow’s plump, plush rump before finally slipping in between her netherlips. As soon as the bull felt the soft, warm, velvety smoothness of Raricow’s vagina he began pounding away. Each thrust caused her plump body to jiggle and her udder to swing about underneath her.

After making sure the bull was properly giving their newest cow a good rutting he turned his attention to the young Cowbelle in the next stall. She was much too young to breed but was perfect to groom for the veal order the farm had received. Some days Cowbelle would eat everything she was given, but other days it required the use of a feeding tube. That particular day he didn’t need the tube; the young calf ate and ate and ate happily, barely paying attention to her sister getting a rough rutting.

If they were to stay on target to fill the order, he had to make sure the calf ate and the cow got pregnant. Big Macintosh glanced over the logbook, made a few marks, and gave a nod. Once satisfied that things were progressing properly for the day, Big Macintosh left the two to their devices; he had other chores around the farm to take care of. Just as he stepped out of the barn, he heard the bull grunt out as his seed spurted out into the cow underneath him; the first of many times for the next few hours. With the constant stimuli of feedings and breedings, thoughts of escape still lingered in both the cows but were effectively suppressed to the back of their minds.

The routine stayed the same for a few weeks with Raricow getting rutted hard and fast and Cowbelle getting fed more than she normally would have eaten. After what seemed like an eternity (and with Big Mac nearly at the point of attempting artificial insemination) it finally happened; Rarity became pregnant with her very first calf. Big Macintosh was proud of himself for being able to run the farm without needing his little sister’s help. He kept track of everything; in a logbook he wrote down how much he had been feeding Cowbelle as well as how much weight she had put on, Raricow’s weight, milk output, how far along her pregnancy was, and any abnormalities with the pregnancy. As far as he could tell there was nothing out of the ordinary. After just a few more weeks her milk came in, coinciding with the return of Applejack.

Big Mac was out in the barn early one morning making a check on the two cows when he heard a familiar pony’s voice carrying through the orchard.The voice sounded annoyed, tired, angry, and getting louder with every passing second. A small yellow streak zipped to the barn.

“Big Mac Big Mac!” yelled Applebloom as she hugged her big brother. “Applejack’s back!"

“Eeyup."

Big Macintosh was just finishing strapping Raricow to the barn’s milker and turning it on when Apple Bloom brought the news.They both listened as the angry voice drifted away from the barn and back toward the house.

“Half a month wasted searching for Rarity and Sweetie Belle! Nopony’s seen or heard from them in months but Twilight insists we keep looking! What about the problems here in Ponyville? What about our real jobs when we aren’t saving Equestria for the billionth time?” Applejack complained loudly as she stomped through the front door of the house. “Big MAC! What’s the status on our two orders?”

Unsurprisingly to her, Applejack heard absolutely no response. She checked the living room to find Granny Smith napping and upstairs to find that both Big Mac and Applebloom not in their rooms. “Guess they’re out at the barn.” A quick glance to the clock showed it was right about the time for checking on the cows again. “Yup, they’re gonna be out in the barn checking on the cows, I reckon. Just need to clean up from the trip.”

After putting her stuff away and taking a quick shower in her familiar bathroom Applejack made her way out to the barn. She was nearly there when she heard a shout and saw a small yellow streak coming straight for her! Before she knew what was happening, Applejack found herself in a tight hug.

“YAY! Applejack’s back!”

“Whoa there, Applebloom! I’m sure as shoot excited to see you too!”

“Did ya’ bring me anything?”

Applejack gave a small chuckle. “I’ve been gone for two weeks and all you care about is a gift?” she asked while rolling her eyes. She gave a pat to Apple Bloom's head. “Missed you too kiddo. Yeah, I gotcha’ a little something from Manehattan. But before that, how’s our two cows doing? Is Cowbelle still on pace to be delivered? And Raricow? She making us milk yet?”

Applebloom broke off the hug and gave a small frown. “Cowbelle is getting nice and plump but… you might need to go talk to Big Mac about Raricow. She’s pregnant but…”

Applejack gave a small nod and shooed Applebloom off. “Go get your present from your room, I THINK Babs sent you something as well.”

“Babsy Gift! Yay!” Applebloom cried out as she galloped toward the house.

Applejack gave another little chuckle as she turned to walk into the barn. She could hear two sounds that piqued her interest: the sound of their milking machine going, and the loud moos of Raricow as she was being milked. “Big Mac!! You in here?” Applejack called out as she stepped up to the pregnant Raricow, looking her over. Her belly sagged down and nearly touched the ground while her udder only looked half swollen with milk.

“Well, you sure as shoot got yerself knocked up!” she commented, turning when she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye. It was Big Macintosh walking into the main portion of the barn. “Howdy, Big Mac. I just got back from the trip and it looks like it was a waste of time. Again.” There was a hint of frustration, anger, and worry in her voice. “Anyhay, just got finished talkin’ with Applebloom, she was saying something about a problem with Raricow?”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac responded, hoofing over the logbook he had been keeping. It wasn’t exactly the way SHE would have done it, but she was certainly impressed with the job Big Macintosh had done while she was away. Applejack scanned over it quickly. “Cowbelle’s intake has steadily increased, as well as her weight… she’s nearly at the target it looks like. eyes widening in surprise. “Are… are these numbers right?”

“Eeyup.

“And they haven’t been getting better?”

“Eenope.”

“Well, let’s give it a couple more weeks and see how those numbers go. She could just be a late bloomer like that one cow we had a few years ago.”

Applejack turned back to the cow and gave a pat to her flank. She started to take a quick look to make sure the cow was healthy. She poked at the udder and heard a small slosh of milk. A glance at her slit saw it was wet and winking, the poor thing horny despite being pregnant. She gave a light touch to the slit. The touch caused the cow to let out a needy moo. Applejack glanced over her shoulder to Big Mac. “Schedule a few more matings, I think she’s needy and that might be affecting her production.”

Applejack stood up and headed to the front of the cow, giving pokes and prods all the way. She made a few mental notes as she went. Eventually she made her way to the cow’s mouth and forced it open, taking a good, hard look. “She been eating everything?”

“Eeyup.”

She examined a bit closer and gave a poke to the teeth and tongue. “Up her food intake too, just in case. I don’t want to have to get in contact with Derpy if these numbers don’t improve.” Applejack trotted out from the milking stall and gave the clipboard back to Big Macintosh. “Get started on making sure the cow’s happy and well fed, whatever it takes, to get these numbers up. I’m going to take a look at how Cowbelle is doing, not just go by your logbook.”

Three more months passed by. Raricow fully enjoyed her daily bull matings now, the upscale feed, and the music piped to her stall. Applejack and Big Mac were doing everything they had heard of and could think of to make sure the cow was happy, healthy, and productive. Yet despite all the good food, the luxury, and most of all now owning the most content cow in all of Equestria, Raricow’s milk production just wouldn’t increase. A pony was never built to make as much milk as expected for her new cow form. As such, every milking produced much less milk than her care was worth.

It was quickly becoming apparent to Applejack that the cow was not turning a profit. Not for Derpy, and certainly not for Sweet Apple Acres. It was quickly becoming apparent that Derpy would end up owing more money than she could afford for taking care of the cow and much more than Raricow was worth. She had signed over the cow under the hopes of said cow actually turning a profit. She just didn’t know what could go wrong.

One quick letter Applejack had dreaded to send to the mare set up the inevitable meeting. She didn’t like giving bad news, especially to a pony such as Derpy

‘Derpy,
It is unfortunate that I have to write this letter, but it’s important that you know. Despite our best efforts, the cow you are currently housing at Sweet Apple Acres is not producing enough milk to cover the costs of housing and milking. We had hoped a few extra months might turn things around for her, but as of this letter, you now owe Sweet Apple Acres for the cow around 7,000 bits. Please come down to the farm so we may discuss how we can reconcile this.
-Applejack-’

“Thanks for coming Derpy,” said Applejack, a slight frown on her face. “I’m sure you read over the letter I sent.”

Applejack and Derpy stood in the barn right in front of Raricow. Derpy looked first at her cow, then to Applejack and saw her frown. She couldn’t help herself and mimicked the facial expression. “Yeah, I did,” she said softly. A soft tone of disappointment was mixed in with her generally bubbly voice. “There’s really nothing to be done?” she continued. “I was hoping for the milk to make more and more muffins.”

Applejack just shook her head slowly. “I’m sorry, sugarcube, but unless you’re willing to sell your muffins for nearly four times the cost, there’s just no way to keep her here.” She paused to let out a small sigh. “I know you don’t have anyplace else to keep her and any other farm will charge you even more than I’m offering. At least this way, you’ll pay off the care for your cow plus a bit of profit. It’ll probably be enough to buy another cow that would be productive.”

The cowpony draped a hoof around Derpy’s neck. “Don’t be too upset, these things happen sometimes, though eventually it’s the fate of all milk cows when they can’t produce milk. She won’t even really know what’s going on, you know?”

Derpy slowly shook her head. She DIDN’T know and made that known. “Not… really? Know what?”

“Well, the dairy cows we have aren’t like the other cows in town. These cows aren’t really that smart or aware of things. They work on instinct alone, so when we go to slaughter them they don’t really understand or know what’s going on.” She paused before giving a smile. “Besides, we use a bolt gun. One shot right in the middle of their forehead and that’s it. Effectively simple and painless.”

Derpy nodded and gave a small smile herself. “Ok… well, if that’s gonna be the best for me and the nice cow isn’t going to feel pain, I guess selling my cow for meat is gonna be ok.”

“Well then, sugarcube, let’s go into the house and we’ll take care of the paperwork. Once signed it’ll be a few…”

The voices faded away as the pair of ponies left the barn. Unbeknownst to them, the very cow they were discussing wasn’t quite as unaware of things as they thought. Raricow had listened to the whole conversation and she was not only shocked, but scared. Despite her desire for escape being suppressed, unless there was some way for her and Cowbelle could find a way to escape, their fates were sealed.