"Hurry up, Big Macintosh... there ain't that much time left!"
Applejack and her brother went from tree to tree in Sweet Apple Acres, bucking as fast as they could. The sun had almost set and their bodies were now on the verge of breaking down, with their stomachs rumbling to the point of cramping, joints aching, hooves beating red with freshly formed callouses and sweat dripping into and burning their eyes. They tried their hardest to ignore it all and continued bucking with what little energy they had left. Applejack in particular was out of breath and breathing like she was a minute away from dying from an asthma attack, a feeling she hadn't felt in years, if ever.
Hoofsteps approached them, followed by two shadows in the shape of an older mare and filly. The two ponies hard at work didn't turn their heads around, as that would've meant the loss of a few seconds, far too much time to waste.
"I think it's about time you two stopped," Granny Smith said, with Applebloom next to her, "Working past sundown never helped anypony, and I'm not lettin' you two go to bed without at least one meal."
"Sorry, Granny," Applejack said, still bucking, "But we still got a whole bunch more fields to do." True to her word only a little more than half of Sweet Apple Acres was bucked, with the rest still full of apple packed trees. "If we don't finish in time then we won't have enough apples to meet the demand, and I rather not let that happen. Ain't that right, Big Macintosh?"
Big Mac continued bucking, taking second long breaks between each kick to catch his breath, "Ee... yu.." He never finished his line, as he was on the ground with his tongue sticking out before the final part could be said.
"I'll just continue on finishin' this through the night. One night without hittin' the hay shouldn't mess me up too much," Applejack said, on yet another tree. Her right eye was shut to prevent anymore sweat from getting in.
Big Mac stumbled up, "N... ope," but fell down again.
"You just stay down; you bucked more apples than me and deserve a break more. Now get on inside while I finish up," Applejack said.
"You sure there?" Granny Smith said.
"Yeah, remember what happened last time you wouldn't stop," Applebloom said.
"Sure as sugar. These apples aren't gonna buck themselves, though at this point I wish they did."
Granny Smith and Applebloom gave a worried look to each other. "Alright... if you think you can handle it," the elder pony said. They both walked over to Big Mac, who was still on the ground, and began to lift him up, stopping a few seconds later as the voices of two unfamiliar ponies interrupted the scene.
"This is surprisingly well kept for a farm. I guess our intel was right after all."
"It's still a farm though. I swear if another bug tries to crawl up my hoof I'm gonna burn this place."
The two were both unicorns of what was around Big Mac's age. The first one, the one who commented on how well kept the farm was, stood with a white body, a sharp contrast to his black mane and tail, and spoke smiling with a soft, slow and professional sounding voice. His cutie mark was a downward slant that ended in a ninety degree cliff, with a boulder rolling down the slant and about to fall. The other unicorn had a black body with a white mane and tail, a spoke with a never fading smug smile. His cutie mark was a green circle with a grass pattern on it and a pony shaped hole that looked like an impact crater. A trait both unicorns shared were their eyes, which were a dull gray.
"We will however have to change the look of the barn. I know they're supposed to be red, but I never did like that color."
"Nah, trust me, we're gonna be changing a lot more than that."
They both stopped in front of the Apples, looking around and seemingly oblivious to their presence.
"Uh... can we help you?" Applejack said.
"Oh... Sorry!" the black bodied unicorn said, turning to her and chuckling, "How rude of us. My name is Tabilis, and this is my friend and partner, Free Fall. I hope you forgive our intrusion, but we're here on a business venture that involves your farm and would appreciate it if we could all talk... though if you're busy right now we totally understand."
Applejack wiped her forehead, splattering sweat onto the ground around her, "Well we are mighty busy, but we got a minute or two. What's this business venture you wanna talk about?"
Tabilis paused, looking around, "This really is a big farm; looking at from a distant doesn't do it justice. Judging from how... tired you look right now, and how many apples are still left, I'd say bucking all this must be as fun as it seems. Didn't you ever think there was an easier way? After all, time is invaluable."
"Go on..." Applejack said.
Tabilis opened his mouth to talk, but was cut off by his partner, who said, "Oh, just say it already! We're here to buy this place!"
The Apples all gasped and glared at them. "Well sorry for wastin' your 'invaluable' time, but Sweet Apple Acres ain't for sale!" Applejack said, stomping the ground. "So I think it's best if you two just headed on outta here!"
Free Fall chuckled, saying with a smug smile, "Yeah, we pretty much knew you'd say that. We heard about what went down between you and those jokes Flim and Flam."
"Agreed, we expected a fight, and to be honest, I respect you for loving your farm so much," Tabilis walked towards the Apples, "But I think that you mistake our intentions. We're not here to buy this for our own personal gain as Flim and Flam were; what we're here for is the gain to everypony."
"I beg yer pardon?" Applejack said.
"Basi-," Tabilis said, only to be cut off by his partner.
"Basically, what we're saying is that we can do what you all do but better," Free Fall's horn glowed," Cuz you know, magic and all."
Tabilis gave him a dirty look and stepped in front of him. "Essentially that. You see, with us in control and our magic we'll be able to do what you do faster, cheaper and more efficiently, ensuring better prices for everypony and-."
"I have had just enough of this!" Applejack screamed, stomping. Her family and she all glared harder at the two unicorns. "Sayin' you wanna buy the farm is one thing, but nopony comes here sayin' we're less than them cuz of who we are!"
Free Fall stepped forward, ready to talk, but Tabilis put his hoof in front of him, saying, "Let me handle this." He approached the Apples with a friendly smile. "It's understandable that you'd all be... angry, to put it lightly, but I can assure you that we're not insulting you in the slightest. What I'm talking about is simple economics, that's all. Let me prove my case, " he said, firing up his horn and grabbing an apple from the other side of the farm with his magic, "Apple bucking is fine and all, but you have to agree that removing apples with magic is just plain and less tiresome?"
The Apples just all growled at him.
"And since using magic makes the process so much easier, we'll be able to sell more faster. With this we'll be able to lower prices, helping everypony, as well as end the possibility of a shortage ever happening."
"What about cider season?" Applebloom said, "Without us who else how are ya gonna make the cider?"
"We'll figure something out. Don't worry about us, alright," Free Fall said.
"Also, with the extra profits we'll be able to expand into the rest of Equestria, something a small, family owned farm like it is now can't do."
"And what bout' us?! What are we supposed to do in all this?!" Applejack said.
"No need to worry... We will pay for the farm and more. The company will also have your name on it, and in addition we'll give you all a fifty percent cut in all profits, as well as any extra royalties. Think about it, you'll have more bits than you'll know what to do with," Tabilis said, "And we'll even give you back the farm if the profits aren't that much higher than they are now. Like I said, everypony wins." He stuck out his hoof. "So... deal?"
Applejack paused for a second, but then slapped his hoof away, "No way! I've heard this all before, ponies sayin' they can do it better than good old integrity and hard work."
"Easy there..." Granny Smith said, looking worried.
"No! You both said you heard bout' Flim and Flam, right? So I'm sure you know what happened to em."
"Are you really comparing us to them?" Free Fall said, "Now I just feel insulted."
"Applejack continued on, "I've had enough of your hogwash, and if ya'll think ya really are that high and mighty with your magic I'm sure you won't back off to a buck off. So what do ya say to that?!"
Tabilis took a deep breath, "Just calm down, we can negotiate this. I don't want this to be settled in some competition; what kind of professionalism would that be?"
"No! No negotiations! There ain't no deal in Equestria you can make now!"
"Alright then," Tabilis said, sighing with a frown, "If you say so."
Free Fall laughed, "It's been a while since I kicked some major tail... Looking forward to it."
"Tomorrow at noon, right here!" Applejack said. She turned to her family. "We'll show em what happens when you mess with the Apples, ain't that right?!"
They all shouted and backed her up, all but Granny Smith. She remained silent and looked on with a worried face.
She knew the truth.
