Drinks Are On Us

"Have you seen Sweetie?"

It was the next day, and Berry had been walking on her way to Taps to start her shift. It was during the commute that she had run into Lemon Hearts, who had suddenly sprung the question upon her.

"E-er, I saw her last night. Why?"

"You know how she usually is, early pegasus gets the apple, all that. But I haven't seen hide nor hair of her this morning."

Berry shrugged. "Maybe she went into work early."

"Yeah... yeah, that may be it. We'll probably find her there. Sorry, just... a little nervous." The unicorn rubbed her arm, before dashing ahead. "Well, I'm gonna go ahead and go find her then. See you there?"

"Yeah, sure. Just gonna take the scenic route. I'll see you, don't worry!" the wine mare called, waving.

It was only after Lemon was out of sight that Berry ducked down a back alley, changing course to a completely different part of town. It didn't take her long to emerge in Ponyville's bustling marketplace, the food and goods being hawked and called over in the crisp autumn air. It reminded her that there was a lot to Ponyville that her so-called 'boss' had yet to experience, or deigned to notice.

That can wait for later. Right now, I gotta find AJ.

She shouldered her way through the crowd, at length happening upon the Sweet Apple Acre's stand spot. To her luck, the cart was there, and they were selling today. On the other hand, Applejack wasn't there. It was currently being manned by the towering and well-built form of Big Macintosh. Which had the con of not being Applejack, but the pro of being Big Macintosh.

"O-oh, hellooo there sailor." Berry spoke, stepping up to the stand. "Takin' care of th' shop today?"

"Eeee-yup."

"Nice. Say, uhm, is your sister anywhere about?"

"Eeee-yup."

"Awesome! Can I speak with her?"

The piece of hay in his mouth shifted. "Soon. Takin' a break."

"O-oh, I see." she fidgeted in place a little bit, trying not to let her eyes roam over his arms and shoulders, completely failing in the process. "Got any idea when she'll be back? It's... kinda important."

He gave a mighty shrug. She felt her chest heaving with his shoulders. "Nnnnope."

"I-I see." she stammered. She then proceeded to look left and right, and then back up at his placid expression. Taking a breath, she then opened her mouth... only to have the words "Celestia damn I want you to grope me." tumble out before she could stop them.

He stared at her blankly. "Eeeeh... what?"

"Ah'm back!" Applejack suddenly announced from behind them, saving Berry from any further embarrassment. "Any business, Mac? Oh, hey Berry! Ah'm not interruptin' anythin', am I?"

Mac opened his mouth, but again the purple mare spoke up first. "AYJAY HI, we weren't doing anything, honest. Really." She cleared her throat. "Seriously. AJ. We need to talk. Sweetie's gone missing."

The farmmare bolted up straight, before leaning over the counter. "A-are y' sure?"

"Well, that's what Lemon just told me. I'm on my way into work right now, so we'll know for sure soon. I'm going to be really doing some poking-around today, see if I can find anything at all."

"Gotcha. Y'all be careful now, y' hear?"

"Oh I will. I'll meet you over in front of Sugarcube Corner this evening, with whatever goods I've got."

"Sounds good. Dang, fer this t' happen just a couple days away..."

"Cid- u-um, the big day's after tomorrow, isn't it?"

"It is." Applejack confided, looking over at Mac beside her. "Ah think we're more than ready fer it now, but this whole Taps business has thrown off our rhythm. If somethin' goes down th' day b'fore, ah'm likely not t' be able t' make it in time."

The stallion shook his head. "Nnnnope... but ah reckon if it does come t' that, ah could try an' take th' reigns. Just long enough fer you t' get back, ah imagine. Ah ain't a real salespony like you, Applejack, but ah figure if anypony can yell about sales and do long division in their head all in a single sitting, well... ah've got a fair chance o' pullin' it off. At least long enough fer you t' hand a Canterlot Industry its gluteus maximus."

Berry gaped in surprise. The orange mare just smiled, and hugged her brother from the side. "Ah dun have any doubts that you'd do just fine, big bro. Now, we still got some apples t' sell. Mind gettin' another bushel o' th' Pink Ladies an' settin' them out?"

He nodded, and stepped away to do just that, allowing her to turn back towards her friend. "Actually, if yer goin' steady wit' Minuette, what you want mah brother for?"

"We both agreed that he could lift each one of us easily in one hand."

"... thank you Berry, that is now a mental picture ah am fightin' not t' see."

The wine pony cackled, but her laughter was cut off as her eye was drawn by Applejack's chest. The shelf of flesh was projecting well over a foot out from her body, and even though she had her vest riding the sides of it, her buttons were undone up front, yet again displaying a long canyon of freckles. Quietly, she asked "Have you... uhm... emptied yet today? Or are you planning on joining me and having another faceoff against Miss Big-Britches?"

AJ looked down at her self, before looking away, a bit of a blush of her cheeks. "I... I-I actually... Ah just haven't had th' time t' empty, is all." she replied, not meeting her eyes.

"Uh-huh. Miss I-Need-to-Make-Enough-CIDER-for-all-of-Ponyville, forgot to pump."

The apple mare bit her lip as her bust swelled forward, filling her shirt out even more. "L-look... just because ah'm... ah'm doing this for an actual cause... It don't mean that it don't feel... w-well... that it don't... bah, ah don't know what it don't-"

She suddenly felt her hand being taken. Berry grasped it, looking at her with a small smile. "Applejack... you don't have to be so proud that you deny it. Not around me. I admitted before, if you remember... it feels good, doesn't it?"

AJ was slow to respond. In the quiet that followed, Big Macintosh arrived with the bushel, placed it, then moseyed towards the back again to rearrange more wares.

"... s-sometimes..." she whispered. "Sometimes... when ah'm by mahself. In mah room, out in th' barn, out in th' orchard... ah chant to mahself. Make mahself fill up." she crossed her arms under her bust, almost as if to cradle them. "Ah... ah make a lot, Berry. Ah really do. Before, ah was just tryin' t' keep it business... but now, well... ah've been startin' t' see... a little bit more t' this..."

There was a pause. Berry raised an eyebrow. "I'm sensing another 'But' in here. What happened?"

"Th' whole business with Taps. Findin' out about those missin' mares. About that spell that's s'possed t' make this addictive." She placed her hands on both sides of her bust. "How'm ah not supposed t' feel guilty, fillin' mahself to th' brim while those mares are out gone somewhere, maybe never t' be seen again? An' how am ah s'possed t' know that that well didn't put a little of that magic on me too? Ah mean... it j-just don't feel..."

The purple pony squeezed her hand. That caused her to pause again long enough for her friend to get a word in edgewise. "Ayjay... if that well had put any of that 'feelgood' magic on you, I don't think you'd be here, worrying about those mares now. You'd have been long gone off the deep end. What you're feeling is natural... and I can attest to it, because it happened to me too. I just treated it as a boost to my business at first... but you know, after a few years, one gets curious, and discovers just how much they can make and hold, and how good it feels to do it."

"As for the worrying... honey, I hate to say it, but just because you're one of those elemental heroes, it doesn't mean you're a goddess among ponies. You're still only equine. You gotta eat. You gotta sleep. You gotta get your rocks off. And you, you've gotta make that there cider, am I right?"

Again, the orange mare's bosom expanded outwards. But this time, Berry watched a smile cross her friend's lips at the sensation. Squeezing her hand once more, she wrapped up her little spiel. "We're all doing what we can. Those mares aren't going to be forgotten. We'll find them, you just wait and see."

"... you're right." Applejack slowly replied, gathering herself together. "You're right... me feelin' guilty ain't gonna help things... Thanks Berry. Ah'm glad ah got t' know you as a friend."

She grinned. "Listening to ponies pour their hearts out's a skill I've developed. You've always got my shoulder, hon."

"Ah know... and again, thank you, sugarcube... ahh dang, how long have we been talkin'?" She tilted her hat over her eyes as she gazed up at the sun, before taking said hat off and batting it at her friend. "You got a bar t' spy on, an' a pony t' find. Enough listenin' t' my tar an' potatoes, you g'wan now, git! "

The wine pony danced away, chuckling, before calling back. "Alright alight, I'm goin'! Just remember what I said, okay? I'll see you later, AyJay!"

"You too, Berry. Remember, stay safe! Don't want you vanishing on us too!"

Stepping into Taps in full uniform again, Berry could feel a shift in the atmosphere from the night before. Something's not right... I got a bad feeling about this...

The club was subdued, this early in the day. A fair number of the waitresses were looking all around themselves, as if spooked. As a result, what clientele there was, was being slow to engage and move forward. She could see that even some of the regular ponies were on the lookout, watching for someone.

"Berry! Oh Berry thank Celestia you're here." Lemon trotted up to her from the crowd, obviously beside herself. "Berry, Sweetie never showed up for work today. None of the other girls even saw her leave yesterday. Mountain Breezy told me she was supposed to have been with them on the stage last night, but she just up and vanished on them too!"

Vanished... just like the mares in Canterlot. She found herself taking a breath. "Okay... alright, Lemony. Let's do this slow and steady. If she didn't leave last night, logic follows she must still be here. Have you looked all over the club?"

"Yes!"

"Did you check the bathrooms and our spare kitchen room? Sometimes ponies wander off and pass out in the oddest places, I should know."

"Yes, we did. We even looked in the vents above the stalls."

"Okay... what about the-"

"Yes, we checked the lockers too."

"Dang. Okay, last one. Has anypony checked the boss's-"

"May I have your attention please, my little ponies." Vanilla's voice suddenly echoed through the club's intercom. The mare herself had just stepped out of her office, in her black business suit again, sauntering towards the center of the floor. "It's come to my attention that everyone is worried for our co-worker, Sweetie Sunrise. I want you all to know that last night, she came down with a terrible fever, and I let her rest in my office for the night. She's currently at home resting, and will likely be out of commission for the foreseeable future."

She let her gaze sweep across the crowd, seemingly singling out her employees as she continued to speak. "Let's keep Sweetie Sunrise in our thoughts, and wish her a speedy recovery. In the meantime, let's look alive, ponies! I don't think she'd want us to mope around, worrying about her now, would she?"

There were general murmurs of agreement in the throng, and the pale mare nodded to herself, swinging herself and her bosom about, making a beeline back to her office door, and disappearing behind it. Berry watched her the whole time, herself stepping towards the bar, leaning back against it, the yellow unicorn trailing close behind.

"... Berry?"

"Yes?"

"I checked Sweetie's house before I got you earlier. She... she wasn't there."

The lavender pony's eyes narrowed. "Just like in Canterlot."

"Wh-what?"

"Lemony," she began with a whisper. "There's something rotten in Denmaresk. I've been feeling it for a long while now. Taps and Miss Prefers-everyone-use-her-first-name aren't exactly on the up and up. I just need to find some dirt that'll blow it all open."

The mare was petrified. "What? Wh-... w-why would they want to? What are they up to?"

"I don't know exactly. Not yet. All we have for leads right now is that make-happy thing in the spell they use, and a bunch of newspaper clips of missing mares in Canterlot." She pinched her brow, closing her eyes in thought. "Work with me here, Lemony, okay? There's something wrong here, and you and I are the only ones who know it. Can I count on you to help me find out what's going on here, and find Sweetie?"

Lemon Hearts glanced back and forth, between Berry, and the mass of hazy-eyed mares working the floor. At length, her brow furrowed, her eyes becoming resolute. "... okay Berry, I'm in. What... what do we do first?"

"Well... going back to Sweetie missing, you and I know she's not at home, despite whatever the boss mare says. Therefore, she must still be here."

"What were you about to ask me, before Miss Vanilla interrupted?"

"Have you looked in her office? That's the last place I could think of."

"Cherry B did actually. Just stuck her head right in and gave Miss Vanilla a start. She said it was empty besides her and Mr. Deal."

"Damn. There must be someplace else that we're missing..." Berry rubbed her head. "You'd think digging up something would be easier than this-..."

There was even a small shoveler inside, conveying dirt to a pile behind the building.

"What's that for?" Lemon asked, gesturing at the shoveler.

"My guess is wine cellar." Berry replied, leaning upon one of the barricades. "Lotta places like 'em. Looks like it's gonna be a big one too."

"... has anypony checked the cellar?"

Lemon blinked. "The what now?"

"The cellar. The big-ass wine cellar they were digging out. Don't you remember? They had a shoveler in the middle of everything, piling up dirt outside."

It a took a bit for her to remember. "... you're right. You're absolutely right. Gosh, that seems so long ago... has it really been almost two weeks?"

"Hey, I can't exactly blame you. We've all done a little growing since then... some more than others." she playfully poked her friend's engorged bust, which earned her a squeak. "But yeah, they put a cellar in... did nopony think to check in there?"

"... I don't think we even know where the door to it is."

"Celestia's sun. Well, let's start looking for it then. If nothing else, it'll give us a reason to look busy. Hopefully, Madame Moneybags won't notice a thing."

They searched as best as a pair of mares carrying trays of glasses and beverage-lactating breasts could. Which was to say, not all that well.

Both mares poked around the walls of the main floor, and then the floors of the hallway and locker lounge. They tested tiles in the bathrooms ((the stallion's room was a real trick,)) and they even probed the unfinished kitchen and janitor's closets. All to no avail.

"This is ridiculous." Lemon said later, as they rested and recovered at the bar. "We both know it's here, but there doesn't seem to be any stairs installed for it in this joint."

"I'll bet it's in her office." Berry groused, glaring at the air. "Didja check with Cherry if there were any doors in there?"

"I did. She said there weren't."

"Then maybe it's hidden under her desk or something." She lifted her head, glaring out at the office door. "She looks the type. Someone who likes to put things here and there that only make sense to her. Like a plaster well in the middle of the floor with a soda-store chic."

"You noticed that too, huh?" The unicorn turned her head to look at the aforementioned well. "I always thought that was a little weird. It just doesn't fit with everything else. What's the point of having it there?"

"Well, if you're in the know... and you sorta are, so I'll fill in some holes." Berry rested her chin in her hand. "Ponies with 'natural talents' seem to get their talents from a traveling wishing well that looks just like that. She knows about that. So, it's there in the middle of the floor in plain sight, as a sort of sign to those ponies with-..."

Lemon lifted her head at the pause. The wine mare had suddenly raised her head, eyes wide. "... she would, wouldn't she?" she whispered. "She does look the type..."

"What? Would she- what would she do?"

"Hide the stairs in plain sight."

There was a beat, before the both of them looked back at the well again. Then at each other. "You'll never get a chance to test until after closing hours." the yellow mare cautioned.

"Yeah. And I've got a meeting with AJ at the Sugarcube Corner after work, so I can't exactly wait that long... that means I need a distraction."

With that, Berry ducked under the bar counter, her friend peering after her curiously. When she did come up, it was with a large clear glass jug. She then stared at her expectantly.

".... oh. Oh no, Twilight told you about that, did she? Look, I'll be a distraction, but I am not doing that again. Absolutely not. No way, no how-"

"I think there's a bit of peppermint oil in the bottom of it."

Five minutes later saw the doors of Taps burst open as Lemon Hearts ran outside, her head impossibly stuck inside a jug, over half of the waitresses and clientele running after her.

With the club having suddenly lost half its occupants, and the other half in a confused state, watching out the windows, Berry dashed over to the faux-stone well, looking it over. Tapping the metal platform that covered it, she heard the hollow tone, revealing there was something underneath. Enthused, she began pressing her palms over the stone facade that covered its sides. If I were going to make a trap-well, I would hide a stone in the side that would just need one little push...

Nearly at the join of the well to the runway platform, she felt one such stone shift, and click. The platform began to descend downwards, crawling along the pole that jutted up from its center. She leapt up onto it, and crouched down on the platform as it carried her out of sight.

The interior of the well dove for a good long while, drifting off into darkness. Only the circle of light from above gave any illumination, and it was scant. When it finally did stop, she had to paw around to make certain there was floor there to step on.

The small bit of light from above did illuminate a wall right behind the elevator platform. To her relief, she spied a green 'up' button, and next to that, a light switch. She hit it.

Low lights embedded in the ceiling flickered on. The first thing Berry noticed was that she was right, the cellar was big. And deep. The room was two stories tall in of itself.

The second thing that she noticed, was the equipment. Against the opposite wall from the lift, there were a number of huge storage tanks, similar to ones used to store oil and other fluids. Set up next to these, was what looked like a half-assembled bottling machine, and several stacks of electronic equipment.

The third thing she noticed was a scaffolding ladder, which led up to-

"SWEETIE!!"

Suspended a few feet from the ceiling, Sweetie Sunrise hung, bound in black straps, her body belly-down, but her head level. Her legs had been folded up behind her, and her arms stretched out in front of her, these limbs also being supported by more black ropes from above. She had been blindfolded, and a pair of headphones secured to her ears, the cables of which were connected to the electronic equipment below.

And hanging beneath her... Berry staggered. Swaying ever-so gently from the short pegasus's ribcage, were a pair of pale yellow globes big enough to contain a whole pony inside of each. Rounded, taut, they seemed to be rippling, fighting to keep from exploding, as below them huge suction cups drew tropical soda endlessly from her nipples, hoses draining away and through a pump... one of many... into one of the fluid tanks arranged at the cellar's end.

"Sweetie!... SWEETIE! Sweetie, can you hear me!?" she called up at her. The redheaded mare did not reply, except with a long slow moan of ecstasy.

Berry stared at the entire scene, all the machinery, and her swollen friend being milked like a cow... she then remembered that she didn't have all that much time before she was missed. Digging into her pocket, she fished out the gem-camera that Twilight had given her, and began pointing it around the cellar, at the equipment, at poor Sweetie having been trussed up like a turkey. At those impossibly large breasts. I need to get as much as I can. This is my only shot-

"And just what do you think you're doing?"

She whirled in place. Three of the black-trimmed bouncers from upstairs had landed behind her. They were between her and the platform.

She backed up, slipping the gem into her back pocket. "Sweetie hadn't gone missing at all. You creeps kidnapped her! What is this?! What're you doing to her!?"

"It's simple." the lead goon replied, the three of them spreading out and advancing on her. "She's being given the Standard Treatment."

"What's that mean? I don't speak corporate scumbag!"

"Your friend there, found herself falling in love with her job... so much so, that Miss Vanilla gave her a promotion. From floor-worker, to full life-time employee."

"You should also know." one of the other goons spoke. "That Miss Vanilla gave us very specific instructions, to keep an eye on you, in case you got too nosy for your own good."

"Oh did she now? Well... you've caught me red-handed. So what's next? Gonna give me cement shoes?"

"Oh nothing as crass as that." the ringleader spoke again, his sunglasses glinting menacingly. "What she told us, was to reward your perseverance... by giving you a promotion as well."