Chapter 1: Wonderful Cider
One bright sunny morning, at one of the large apple orchards on the farm known as Sweet Apple Acres, owned by the Apple family, the pony Applejack used a hoof to wipe the sweat from her brow as she bucked another apple tree and heard the familiar thumping sounds as the apples fell into the wooden buckets. She was a strong pony with just as strong of a personality, and her orange coat, along with her yellow hair was matted down with sweat, which was also dripping down into her green eyes. It was early afternoon and she had been working since morning, and hadn't stopped for a break all day. Nearby, she could see her brother, Big Mac, also working hard. He was a big, strong stallion with a red coat, a light-orange mane and tail, and green eyes just like his sister's. He had not stopped for a break, either. Winona, the family dog, ran around the orchard as the two ponies bucked trees, barking happily, chasing her tail, and grabbing apples with her mouth that fell out of the buckets.
Applejack paused for a moment to catch her breath, trying to ignore the hot sun beating down on her, before moving onto the next tree. The process was supposed to be simple. Buck. Move onto the next tree. Repeat. Except the process wasn't so simple after awhile. Applejack was a strong pony, but after working this long with no break, she was starting to grow tired. Looking around, she saw that not even a quarter of the orchard had been done yet.
She decided to take a break. Hoisting one of the buckets of apples onto her back, she looked over her shoulder and saw Big Mac, still working away. He looked very sweaty, but not tired- yet. Applejack smiled inwardly and trotted off, carrying the bucket of apples.
When Applejack reached the barn, she trotted inside, satisfied that the doors were already open. Going to the center of the barn, she spied the open trap door and began carefully trotting down the staircase, being careful so the large bucket of apples on her back would not fall. When she got to the basement floor, she looked over across the dark room, at the machine she had spent months carefully creating.
This machine was quite a sight, even to Applejack's eyes, and as she was the one who had designed it, she was damn proud of it. Standing at twelve feet tall and about twenty feet wide, made out of gleaming metals and gears, this was truly the ultimate cider machine. Applejack looked at it and sighed happily. Every year, when cider season came, there was never enough cider for all of the ponies in Ponyville, and at least half of the whole town was always left cider-less. But no longer would that happen, because this machine would make multiple times the amount of cider needed for all the ponies in town, for the entirety of the cider season.
Applejack trotted over to the side of the machine to the control panel and hit a button on it. The machine started up, the gears clanked, and it sounded just perfect.
Done with starting it, Applejack went around to the side of the machine where there was a small staircase that led to the top of the machine, and carefully moved up to the top of it, the large bucket of apples still balanced on her back.
Applejack looked down at her machine, at the top, where there was an opening to dump the apples in. The opening had slicers at the top to cut up the apples, and rollers farther down inside, perfect for squeezing every last bit of juice out of the apple pieces. Not only that, but this machine had a special ability. It could collect the juice, and spit all the unwanted stuff out, such as the seeds and apple skin, into a separate barrel, which was located at the other side of the machine.
Applejack smiled and tipped the bucket off her back at a calculated angle, causing the bucket to hit the rim of the cider machine but spill all the apples into the slicers and rollers, efficiently making apple cider in less than ten seconds flat. Although Applejack could not see from this angle at the top of the machine, she already knew that at the other side of the machine that the waste from the apples was going into one barrel while the freshly squeezed and prepared apple cider was going into another barrel- and she knew this because this was far from the first test she had done. True, the first, second, and even third tests with the machine had not really worked, and her cider had not tasted that good- and yes, those tests had used many valuable apples that had taken hours to buck- but it was all worth it. Once Applejack had finally fixed all of the flaws in her machine, it worked like a charm, and all of the six other tests she had done besides this one had produced perfect apple cider. She already had several barrels of cider made from those six tests, and it was still two weeks from when she would have to present her cider to the town. She had plenty of time.
Applejack was smiling to herself as she climbed down from the top of the machine. Finally, she thought, everypony will be happy this year, and every year after. With this machine, ah'll finally be able to make enough cider for all them ponies.
***
That same day, the Cutie Mark Crusaders- Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo- were out in their clubhouse, which was located on a different part of Sweet Apple Acres. All of them were small fillies, and all of them were unique in their own ways. Apple Bloom was Applejack's and Big Mac's sister, an earth pony just like them, and the youngest of the family, with a yellow coat, a reddish mane and tail, and reddish-orange eyes, unlike the green ones of her brother and sister. Scootaloo was a Pegasus pony, with an orange coat, tiny wings, and purple eyes, nearly the same color as her mane and tail. Sweetie Belle was the younger sister of a pony named Rarity, who was a friend of Applejack's, and just like her sister, she was a unicorn, although she did not know how to use magic. She had a white coat, light green eyes, and her mane and tail were curly, and were lavender and a light shade of pink for their color. All three of these little ponies had one particular thing in common today, as they did many other days before.
"We've tried literally everything to get our cutie marks," Scootaloo said, sounding down. "We've literally tried everything there is! Nothing ever works. I bet we're going to be blank-flanks forever at this point."
"Ah know how ya feel, Scoots," Apple Bloom said, sounding just as down. "Ah jus' don't know what else we could possibly do."
"I have an idea," Sweetie Belle piped up. "I just thought of this! Apple Bloom, it's almost the opening day of cider season, right? Maybe we could all get our cutie marks by making cider!"
"Ah already thought of that idea, Sweetie," Apple Bloom replied, sounding dejected. "But Applejack's been actin' real weird about that this year. She says she's gonna be doin' the cider-makin' all by herself. And she says she has a secret to make more cider than ever before. Says it's a surprise. Not even Big Macintosh knows what she's up to- she's just havin' him buck as much apples as possible and give them to her."
"Well, darn," Sweetie said, grumpy. "I really thought that might work."
"You know something, guys," Scootaloo said, with an excited edge to her voice, "Now that Apple Bloom has said something about it, I wanna know what Applejack's up to. I wanna find out how she's gonna make all of that apple cider by herself. It's a mystery, which means we... it means we can get our cutie marks in being detectives!"
"That's actually a great idea!" Apple Bloom said, with renewed energy in her voice. "Let's do it!"
"Nobody ever listens to my ideas," Sweetie muttered, but nevertheless, she leaned her head in to contribute to the conversation as the three plotted and schemed up the best way to find out how, just how, Applejack was going to make all of that cider by herself this cider season.
***
Flim and Flam, the Flim Flam brothers, were riding in a carriage through the land of Equestria, riding away from a village, where they had, yet again, failed to get ponies to buy their apple cider. Flim and Flam both looked pretty much the same, they were both rather slender stallions with green eyes, red and white manes and tails, and straw hats. They also both wore the same blue-and-white striped shirts complete with the same black ties, really, the only way to tell them apart from one another was the fact that Flam had a mustache while his brother Flim did not.
As the brothers rode away in their carriage, their thoughts both wandered to the same frequency. It was Flim who spoke first.
"It just isn't fair, brother of mine," Flim said. "Ever since we lost that competition to the Apple family at Sweet Apple Acres, nopony wants to buy our cider anymore!"
"I know exactly how you feel, brother of mine," Flam agreed. "We can't keep doing this for much longer. We won't be able to afford anything if this keeps up. We should've gotten that farm. If only everything had worked out, we would be rich by now!"
"I just don't know what to do anymore," Flim said unhappily. "We can't sell any cider anywhere. That story about Sweet Apple Acres- it seems as if everypony in Equestria knows about it."
"Think, brother," Flam urged. "We need ideas."
They both thought in silence as the carriage continued to bump down the road. After just a few minutes, they both looked at each other with wide eyes, coming up with the same solution at the same moment.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Flim asked with a grin.
"I believe I am," Flam answered. "It's simple, really. We will just go back to Sweet Apple Acres. We'll set up something that will make Applejack lose credibility and trust with the town. And when that happens, that story as well will spread all over Equestria. And with nopony wanting to get cider from Applejack, they will come to us, the Flim Flam brothers for the best cider in all of Equestria."
Flim looked at Flam, and his grin grew wider, and crueler. "Dear brother, I do believe you just read my mind."
***
It had been two days, and Applejack was once again down in the cellar, wiping the sweat from her brow, done with loading another bucket of apples into her machine. Stacked against the far wall of the cellar were perhaps ten barrels of cider, and there were still twelve days before the opening day of cider season. Applejack smiled, knowing with absolute certainty that there would be enough for the entire town by the time opening day came around.
Applejack trotted to the end of the machine and deactivated it, then walked around to the other side where a barrel sat perhaps a quarter of the way full with cider, and right next to it, a barrel with all of the waste from the apples used, sitting right underneath the opening where all of the waste was ejected out of the machine. Applejack looked at the small amount of cider in the barrel; this would take perhaps one or two more loads of apples to fill the barrel to the top, just like all of the other barrels, and although it was hard work, she was certain she could get it done by opening day.
Stepping out of the cellar and into the barn, Applejack was careful to lock the cellar door after she closed it, and put the key where she always kept it; safely tucked into the hairband that kept her mane in a ponytail. She was slightly guilty about the machine, and definitely didn't want anyone else knowing about it, at least not yet, and she definitely didn't want her friends or family to find out.
And ah'm supposed to be the element of Honesty, Applejack thought to herself. She laughed, then shook her head. Despite feeling guilty, she reasoned with herself that this was an okay thing to do, because it was still her apple cider, the machine just made making it go a lot faster. Not only that, but if she could make enough cider to keep everypony in town full and happy, then it would all be worth it.
From the barn and up to the house, Applejack thought more about the cider she had been making. She thought about the taste of it, and realized something. Sure, she thought the taste was good. It tasted just as good when made by her machine as it did in the past when she hoof-made it... but she wanted it to be better, she realized. In addition to making more than enough cider for everypony in town, she wanted to blow them away with the taste. Every year, it was the same old taste, and every year, everypony seemed to enjoy it... but that wasn't good enough. She wanted it to taste so good, it would completely blow away the ponies' minds when they tasted it this year. She thought more. It couldn't hurt to experiment with some ingredients, maybe add in some extra stuff to give the cider an extra kick, could it?
Applejack trotted through the house, quietly going through the living room where the old and tired Granny Smith was taking her afternoon nap in the rocking chair, and entered the kitchen. Going through the cabinets in there, she got some bottles of spices, some cinnamon sticks, and a bag of sugar. Placing all of these in a pile on the counter, she went over to another cabinet and took out a paper bag, took it over to the pile of extra ingredients, and scooped them into the bag. But before Applejack could pick up the bag, an old, familiar, creaky voice from the living room spoke loudly, causing her to freeze in her tracks.
"Applejack? What're ya doin' there in the kitchen, youngin'? Granny Smith called from the living room.
"Uh... Jus' takin' a break, Granny!" Applejack replied, a bit guiltily. "Workin' hard out there, ya know!"
"Oh, I do indeed know," Granny Smith replied thoughtfully. "I remember back when ah was yer age..." She stopped talking after that, apparently lost in old memories. Applejack took the moment to head back out the back door, and she closed it quietly.
Back down to the cellar it was, this time with the bag of extra ingredients. Setting them on a counter over by the staircase that also held three rusty metal cups on it, Applejack ignored the machine and instead trotted over to one of the barrels of already-completed cider. Popping the lid off, she stared at the amber liquid inside, inhaling its sweet, familiar aroma. Heading back over to the counter, she picked up one of the cups with her teeth, and went back over to the barrel of cider, dipped it into the cider to fill the cup, and went back over to the counter and setting it down before repeating the process with the other two cups.
Now she was ready. Dumping the ingredients out of the bag onto the counter, Applejack firstly took the bag of sugar, and sprinkled some of it into the first cup of cider, and took a sip after giving the cup a swirl to mix in the suger. Definitely a bit sweeter than usual, but not quite the mind-blowing flavor Applejack had in mind. Maybe something else would work.
For the second cup, Applejack crushed a cinnamon stick, and sprinkled it in, swirling the cup to mix it well. She then tasted it, and nearly spat it back out, her tongue burning. Way too much cinnamon. The ponies would never like this; if she served this to them, there might not be any customers the next year, or even the rest of the cider season for that matter.
Moving onto the third cup, Applejack once again put cinnamon in- but only a tiny bit, not nearly as much as she had put in the second cup. She also added about the same amount of sugar she had put in the first cup, and threw in a couple of other spices she thought might be good. Done with that, she gave it a taste, and this was definitely the best out of the three of them so far... and yet it just seemed like something was missing. Applejack made a mental note of what she had put in the third cup and how much of each thing, then, she dumped out the contents of the second and third cup so she could try to make something even better with the cider.
***
"Look at that!" Scootaloo said. "She just came out of the cellar!"
The Cutie Mark Crusaders were watching from afar as Applejack came out of the cellar for the first time, looking deep in thought. She moved out of the barn and began trotting in the direction of the house.
"What do you think she's doing down there?" Sweetie Belle asked, after it was silent for a minute or two.
"It's obvious, ain't it?" Apple Bloom replied. "That's were she's makin' the cider for cider season."
"I still don't get why she's keeping it such a big secret," Scootaloo said. "I mean, why is she doing it down there?"
"Like ah said before, Applejack says it's a surprise. She made it a challenge to make enough cider for all the ponies in town this year, all by herself. She won't accept any help."
"I really wanna know what this big surprise is," Scootaloo muttered.
"Well, ah guess we can find out now," Apple Bloom said uncertainly. "Looks like AJ went inside the house."
The three Crusaders ran over inside of the barn to where the trapdoor that led down to the cellar was. Apple Bloom grabbed the edge of the door and tried to lift it. "Oh mah, it's really heavy. Could y'all help a bit?"
"It's not going to help," Sweetie Belle said sadly. "Look!" With her hoof, she motioned to the corner of the trap door- the corner with the heavy lock on it that prevented it from opening.
"Gosh darn it!" Apple Bloom said. "Now how're we ever gonna figure out what mah sis is up to with that cider down there?"
"I don't know, Apple Bloom," Scootaloo replied. "I do know one thing though. This detective stuff is hard!"
"Well, now that ah'm onto it, ah wanna find out how sis is makin' all the cider by herself," Apple Bloom said stubbornly. "C'mon, don't give up yet, Scoots! Ah just know we can get our cutie marks as detectives."
Scootaloo sighed. "Fine," she said.
"I really wanna know now, too!" Sweetie Belle said.
"Ah think I'm gonna give that lock one more try-"
"Apple Bloom!" Scootaloo said in a harsh whisper. "We need to hide! I think Applejack is coming back!"
Apple Bloom listened, and sure enough, she heard hoofsteps approaching the barn from the side.
"Guys, we need to get out of here!" Sweetie Belle whispered. She began to run for the open barn doors, but Apple Bloom pulled her back.
"Sweetie, no! If ya go out there, Applejack will know we've been in the barn! We have to hide!"
"There's no place to hide in here!" Scootaloo said as the hoofsteps grew closer. "We're gonna get caught!"
Apple Bloom looked around in a panic, and spied what she needed at the very back of the barn. "That pile of hay. C'mon, y'all, we'll hide in the hay!"
The three Crusaders made a run for the hay, jumped in, and just finished covering themselves up right when Applejack got into the barn. She was carrying a fairly large paper bag which she set down for a moment, and, as Apple Bloom watched, pulled the key from her mane to unlock the door before raising it, grabbing the bag, starting down for the cellar, and then shutting the door again.
The three Crusaders jumped out of the pile of hay that they were hiding in.
"Did y'all see that?" Apple Bloom asked excitedly.
"Yeah," Scootaloo said with a small frown. "I wonder what was in the bag?"
"No no, Scoots, not the bag," Apple Bloom said impatiently. "The key! AJ keeps the key to the cellar hidden in her mane!"
"That means you could get it from her!" Sweetie Belle said excitedly.
"I know I could," Apple Bloom said. "And I think I know just the way to do it..."
***
The Flim Flam brothers rode in their carriage, getting closer, but still about a day or two away from Ponyville. They had been plotting nonstop, but couldn't seem to come up with an idea that would frame Applejack well enough to get everypony to hate her.
"I think I have another idea, brother!" Flim said as the carriage bounced along the bumpy road. "How about when we get to Sweet Apple Acres, we look around a bit. We'll find where Applejack is keeping all of her cider- she must've started making it by now, since it's so close to cider season. And then, the day before the opening day of cider season, we will put a bunch of rotten apples in all of her cider, and make it taste horrid when the ponies taste it! They'll never want to drink her cider again!"
Flam smiled at his brother. "That is perfectly diabolical, and I think it just might work. As for the rotten apples, well, we have plenty of those." Both turned around to look into the back of their carriage, at the large pile of rotten apples that had gone bad since their last cider-making attempt.
"When everyone tastes just how disgusting the Apple family's cider is, nopony will ever want another drop!" Flim said gleefully. "It will finally be us, the Flim Flam brothers, who will have the best cider in all of Equestria!"
"This plan of ours is flawless, brother!" Flam declared. "So flawless, I feel as if I could sing a song about it!"
Both brothers cleared their throats as their carriage bounced farther down the road, closer to Ponyville, to Sweet Apple Acres, closer to Applejack's cider.
***
It was nighttime out, and the moon had replaced the sun in the sky several hours ago, but despite this fact, there were a few sleepless ponies in Ponyville. One of the sleepless ponies was little Apple Bloom, who was determined to find out why Applejack was hiding her cider, and to get her cutie mark in detective work.
After awhile of tossing and turning, impatiently waiting a good long time for Applejack to get to sleep, Apple Bloom climbed out of bed as silently as possible, nearly jumping in fright when her hooves touched the wooden floor, causing it to creak. Did the floor creak that loudly during the day? Apple Bloom didn't think so. She stood perfectly still, a silent statue, listening to the deafening silence, trying to hear any noise that might be her sister getting out of bed to investigate what the creaking floor was. She heard nothing, though.
Breathing heavily from excitement, fear, and adrenaline, Apple Bloom crept out of her room ever so slowly, down the dark hallway in the direction of Applejack's room. Every step she took, no matter how soft, sounded deafening in her ears, and several times she froze up, worried that she had made too loud of a noise. And how was her breathing not waking up anyone else in the house? Why had no one ever told her she breathed so loud?
As Apple Bloom continued on down the hallway, impatiently waiting for her eyes to fully adjust to the dark, she nearly ran into the wall and gave a whispered gasp of surprise, once again stopping, fearing that the noise had awoken somepony else in the house, but once again, she heard nothing. After five more minutes of petrifying fear, she forced herself to keep moving forward. Part of being a good detective, she figured, was being brave, and there was no way she was going to earn her detective cutie mark if she couldn't be brave.
After what seemed like an eternity, Apple Bloom finally made it to the open doorway of Applejack's room. In the moonlight shining in through the window, she could see her sister out cold on the bed. The other thing she could see, glinting dully in the moonlight, was the key that Applejack still had kept in her mane. That was the target. And Apple Bloom, being the good detective she was, was determined to reach that target.
Apple Bloom crept into Applejack's room, freezing about halfway to the bed as the latter let out a snore, but after a moment, she continued moving on. It was such a simple plan. Take the key. Head down to the cellar. Inspect this cider that Applejack had been making. Come back in, toss the key back on the bed near Applejack's face. When she woke up in the morning, she would just assume it had fallen out of her ponytail during the night. Such a simple plan.
But, as Apple Bloom should've realized, there's no such thing as a simple plan, and something is always bound to go horribly wrong, and that is exactly what happened here in this situation. Apple Bloom was so focused on the bed that she forgot to pay attention what was on the floor, and she was about three or so feet away from the bed when she tripped over Winona the dog, effectively scaring the dog into a barking panic, and causing Apple Bloom to face-plant right to the floor with a startled yelp. Winona's barking also woke up Applejack with a start, who shot up in bed with wide eyes. "What in tarnation...?"
Apple Bloom, even in her panicked state, realized she had about two seconds before she was caught, so she went for the only hiding place available; and that was right underneath Applejack's bed. She slid under there just in time to avoid Applejack's gaze as she looked down over the edge of her bed to see if there was anything down there with Winona, who was still running around the room and barking her head off.
"Whoa, whoa, easy there, girl!" Apple Bloom heard her sister yelp as Winona jumped onto the bed. "What's gotten into ya? Did ya have a bad dream?"
Winona began whimpering, and Apple Bloom slid further under the bed, hoping to Celestia that the dog couldn't smell her there under the bed. Applejack began talking to Winona some more, but the dog made no attempt to go back to the floor where she might spot Apple Bloom.
"Ya can sleep with me tonight," Applejack told the scared dog. "There there now, there's a good girl."
It took forever for both Applejack and Winona to both fall asleep again, and by the time they did, Apple Bloom's body was cramped up from hiding so long. Still shaking from what had just happened, she did her best to stretch out, and as fast and as quietly as she could, she ran from Applejack's room and back to her own where she jumped into bed, angry at herself that she was unable to solve the cider mystery and even more angry at herself that she was too scared to go back and try again, but promising herself that she would figure it out the next day, no matter what it took.
***
The next day, Apple Bloom was once again in the clubhouse with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom had been telling the two what had happened the night before.
"But ah don't think she knew it was me," Apple Bloom finished excitedly. "She was actin' normal this morning. She did say though that she would be goin' into Ponyville later to get some stuff, so maybe that'll give us a chance to do more investigatin'!"
"As long as we're more careful this time, I'm up for that!" Scootaloo said.
"Me too!" Sweetie Belle agreed. "We just need to be more careful. I really don't want to get caught."
"We will be a lot more careful this time!" Apple Bloom said. "Don't worry, y'all! This time, it'll be a piece of cake."
The three were so busy talking that they weren't even bothering to look out of the clubhouse window. If they had looked out the window at that moment, they might have seen off in the distance that the Flim Flam brothers were rolling down onto the property in their carriage, both smiling wicked smiles. But since none of the three looked out the window, none of them even noticed.
***
The carriage rolled silently through the apple orchard, both brothers keeping wary eyes out for any of the Apple family members outside. But they saw no one. At least, not until they got closer to the barn.
"Brother, look, over by the barn!" Flam said excitedly.
"It's Applejack, and her brother!" Flim replied. "And it looks like they're both heading out of here!"
"You know what that means, dear brother of mine."
Both grinning wicked grins, they parked their carriage on the side of the barn and, using their magic, each levitated a bucket of rotten apples out of the back of the carriage.
"We better be quick about this!" Flim said anxiously. "We don't know when they're going to come back."
"It'll be a piece of cake, brother!" Flam said with confidence. "We move in, we move out. They can't have that cider hidden because they wouldn't be expecting us. Our mission today is to locate, maybe get some rotten apples in one or two of the barrels, and then come back right before opening day to finish the job! And I'd be willing to bet that they're keeping their stock of cider in the barn."
The brothers looked at each other, and both ran inside the barn at the same time. They were surprised to see nothing except a big pile of hay at the back of the barn.
"It's not in here," Flim said. "I don't understand. This is the only building big enough on this property to store such a large amount of cider. You don't suppose they haven't started making it yet, do you?"
"I do suppose they've started making it. And I believe I know where it is!" Flam said.
Flim looked over at his brother who was standing above a large trap door in the middle of the barn with a lock on it.
"Locked it all up, eh? Clever, but nothing a unicorn can't handle." Flam's horn glowed green, and the lock on the cellar popped open.
Both brothers looked at each other again, then both of them descended down into the dimly-lit cellar, still levitating their buckets of rotten apples.
It took a bit for the eyes of the brothers to adjust to the dim light, but once they did, they both gasped.
"I believe we've found the cider!" Flim said excitedly.
"You know what else we've found?" Flam said with delight. "A cider-making machine! Brother, this is too good. We don't even need to frame Applejack for anything. She's already done it to herself!"
Laughing, the brothers went over to the machine and started it.
"What do ya say we leave Applejack a little present to let her know someone stopped by?" Flam asked with a wicked laugh.
"You just read my mind, brother!" Flim said happily. With those words, they both ascended the staircase that led to the top of the machine. Grinning at each other, they both levitated their buckets of rotten apples over the gnashing teeth of the machine, ready to contaminate the cider barrel that was waiting at the other end of the machine with rotten apple juice. They never got the chance to.
"What and who in tarnation is down here?" a very angry voice said on the staircase down to the cellar. A second later, Applejack appeared at the bottom, first noticing the machine running, and secondly noticing who was on top of the machine.
"You two!" Applejack shouted furiously. "Get down from there! This is private property y'all are on, and you'll be lucky if Celestia doesn't hear about this!" With that, she ran over and started to trot up the staircase to the top of the machine.
"Oh, we'll get out, Applejack, old friend!" Flam said. "Just allow us to give you a little gift first."
"NO!" Applejack shouted, as the buckets of rotten apples in midair began to tip. She ran up the stairs, meaning to tackle the two brothers to throw their aim off guard, which worked, and the buckets of rotten apples fell to the floor. What she did not mean to do, however, was slam into the brothers with so much force that she accidentally knocked them into the jaws of the machine, which is exactly what happened.
Flim and Flam both began to scream in agony only seconds after Applejack's panick-induced attack sent the brothers flying into the machine, where the slicers at the front were already turning a sinister shade of red as Flim and Flam's back legs were sliced to the bone, which was being fed to the rollers, effectively crushing what the blades could not cut.
Applejack herself began screaming as the brothers slid farther down, blood spurting high into the air above the machine as it effortlessly cut and smashed through their back legs, and although Applejack couldn't see it, the waiting bucket to collect the apple cider at the other end of the machine was turning a darker, more sinister color than amber as crimson liquid squirted into it.
"Grab my hooves!" Applejack said, panicking. "Grab them!"
Flim flailed out with his front hooves, accidentally knocking away the desperately flailing front legs of his brother, and Flam fell sideways into the slicers, and Flim and Applejack were both sprayed with blood and pulverized bits of bone and insides as his body was sucked in and then dumped out into the waste-barrel in less than ten seconds flat, while his blood poured into the cider bucket, which got a lot fuller, and grew an even darker color.
"Flim! For the love of Celestia, hold on!" Applejack shouted, still holding onto his front hooves. Flim tried to respond but his eyes were rolling wildly in their sockets, and blood spewed from his mouth as the slicers and rollers ate through his legs and reached his flank, ripping his tail off and slashing up his cutie marks. As Applejack tried hopelessly to pull Flim back from his certain doom, the slicers tore up deep into Flim's flank and stomach, gashing them up, and ripping them open, spraying blood, half-digested food and feces all over his body and in Applejack's face as the machine sucked him in.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" Applejack screamed. She tried once again to pull Flim out of her machine, but she instead nearly threw herself into it, the pull of the machine was even stronger than the strength of an earth pony like her.
Applejack gave up after about fifteen seconds, although it seemed more like an hour. By that time, Flim was very much dead, though with half of his body still being sucked into the machine, blood sprayed from his mouth and made gurgling sounds as if he was still alive, though his glassy eyes told the real truth. It never even occurred once to Applejack to turn off the machine. Her mind was in complete shock, even as the machine tore through the rest of Flim's body, and then his head, splintering his skull and slashing his green eyes to pulp as his brains splattered up into the air before all of that was sucked into the machine as well. And then it was all over.
***
"Ah'm worried about Applejack," Apple Bloom told her friends hours later that day. "She's been in that cellar all day, I'm pretty sure. She should've come out to take a break by now."
"You've been saying that for hours," Scootaloo said in an exasperated voice. "Just go check on her!"
Finally, Apple Bloom listened. "I think ah will," she told her friends. "Wait here, ah'll be right back."
Apple Bloom went over to the trapdoor which led to the cellar, lifting it up with some difficulty, although it was obviously still much easer with the lock not on it.
Nervously, Apple Bloom trotted down into the dimly lit cellar. It was there she saw her sister leaning against the wall. Her mane and coat were all damp, as if she had just been washing herself off lately.
"Sis?" Apple Bloom questioned, not scared but just slightly worried. "Applejack, ya look tired. Have- have you been using a machine to make the cider? Is that what you wanted to be kept hidden?"
Applejack didn't say anything; she merely nodded her head.
"Well," Apple Bloom said, "that definitely ain't the traditional way, but I guess it would make enough to last a good long time, which is something ah don't think the ponies have ever gotten, I reckon. I remember last year, we all ran out on the third day of cider season."
Applejack nodded her head again, and Apple Bloom looked at the single bucket that was at the other end of the machine. It was covered with a lid. Surely Applejack wouldn't mind if she had just a sip of the new cider?
Apple Bloom spied an empty metal cup on a nearby counter. Running over to grab it, she then trotted over to the barrel, popped the lid off, and got a big cup of the cider. She noted that it was darker than its usual color, but if it was made differently, she guessed there would be some differences.
Apple Bloom took a long drink of the cider, and her eyes widened in shock. "Applejack! Oh my Celestia, ah don't know how ya made this, but this is the best cider ah've ever tasted!"
Applejack looked up for once and realized what her sister was doing. "APPLE BLOOM! Why did ya- Oh my gosh- Did you just- Wait- what in tarnation did you say?"
"Ah said this is the best cider ah've ever tasted in mah life!" Apple Bloom said happily. "Ah don't know how you made it, but it's amazin'!"
Applejack looked at her with an expression as though she might vomit at first, but then something on her face changed. "Ya- ya sure you're not jus' sayin' that?"
"Would ah lie to you about this, sis?" Apple Bloom said. "This cider's amazin'! It's beyond amazin'! Ah don't know what you did to get it to taste like this, but ah guarantee if you make more of this cider the way you're makin' it now, the ponies will come back for more and more! We'll be rich!"
Applejack laughed nervously, still with a slightly nauseous expression on her face. "Ya think so?"
"Absolutely!" Apple Bloom practically shouted with happiness. "Don't tell me you haven't tried it yet. It's amazin'!"
"Ah actually haven't..." Applejack admitted. "Bring that cup over here... ah- ah- ah- ah'll try a s-sip."
Apple Bloom brought the cup over, and Applejack held it in her hoof. After such a long time staring at it, and Apple Bloom waiting expectantly, she raised the cup to her mouth... and took a sip.
***
It was perhaps twenty minutes since Apple Bloom had gone down into the cellar to check on Applejack, and Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were starting to get impatient. Before they could start complaining to each other though, the two sisters came back up, smiling brightly.
"What took you so long?" Scootaloo demanded.
"Mah sis has a secret recipe for the best apple cider in the world!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. "Ah don't know how she does it, but she says she's gonna keep making it just the way she is right now for the start of the cider season! It'll be the best cider ever, ah can't wait for y'all to try it!"
Applejack smiled, raising a mug of the dark cider to her mouth. "Y'all're darned tootin' it'll be the best cider."
***
It was finally the big day, the first day of the cider season. Almost everypony from Ponyville was in line, along with a ton of ponies from other cities, such as Canterlot and Manehattan. All of these ponies could not wait to try out the new apple cider that Applejack had created, and as the first ponies got their cider, they only had good things to say about it, and they went off to go tell other ponies just how good it was, effectively making Applejack's cider line even longer. Most of the ponies in line, such as Rainbow Dash were extremely happy ("I heard Applejack's got a new super cider recipe. I heard it's so awesome!" she told her other friends in line) but there were maybe twenty or thirty ponies in line that weren't doing so great, and it was all because at least one of their loved ones had mysteriously disappeared over the last week, and nopony knew what happened to them. Applejack, though, had plenty of her cider, and she was planning on making a lot more, and she smiled happily at the line she was getting, and told herself to prepare for the best cider season ever.
