Apples and Cinnamon

The smell of the sea fills the nostrils of the ponies as Cinno guides them around the harbor until they got to a large royal flagship fully crewed with seaponies. One of the sailors salutes Cinno and grabs his and Applejack's luggage and brings it on board.

"How did you manage this?" Asks Twilight Sparkle doe eyed

"I didn't princess Celestia did said it was the least she could do after all my years of service." answered Cinno as he looks to the horizon.

"Do ya have to go uncle Cinno?" asks Sugarcane with a concerned look

"Yeah I do be brave little one for me. Ok?" says Cinno as he hugs his niece in a tight embrace.

"I will but I still don't understand why you have to go on some trip without me."

"Oh Sugarcane what would your mother say if I took you out into the open sea. Just stay here and be good me and Applejack will be back before ya know it." Cinno smiles

"All aboard! We'll be setting sail shortly!" yells the captain making the rest of the crew work double time.

"Well that's us. Time to go. You ready Applejack?"

"As ready as I'll ever be. Big Mac take care of the farm while I'm away."

"Ye..app" answers Big Mac.

The two ponies walk the plank and step onto the impressive flagship. As soon as they do a sailor pulls the plank aboard and unties the secure knots. With that the sail unfurls and is quickly filled by a strong gust; pulling the ship away from the harbor. Applejack waves to her friends who are waving back; while Sugarcane salutes. After a few minutes in open waters Applejack quickly finds herself at a loss as she winds up getting in the way of one sailor or another. That is until she looks up to see the captain and Cinno laughing at her making her turn red. She joins them at the helm where an impressive assortment of treats were laid out on a table. Her mouth drooled at the site there was all kinds of delicious foods on the table. To her astonishment Cinno and the captain were sitting there with strange drinks in hoof reminiscing; she had thought that they were laughing at her but turns out they were just telling eachother jokes.

"Oh Aj come sit! This here is the saltiest captain under the princesses command. Let me introduce you to captain North Wind." states Cinno with a flush to his cheeks.

"Ah so this is the infamous Applejack! A pleasure to make your acquaintance ma'am." says North Wind.

"The pleasure is mine captain." answers Applejack. She couldn't help but notice that the captain was considerably older then the rest of the crew. His salt and pepper mane was slicked back and he had a rather unkempt beard that flapped in the wind. He was also much more muscular then any of the other sailors it looked like he was about the same size as Cinno; which is impressive for a stallion well past his prime.

"Here have some of this it'll take the chill of ye bones." says captain North Wind as he pours Applejack an amber liquid.

"Ah what is it?" asks Applejack as she sniffs it but can't tell what it is.

"It's good that's what just try some." says Cinno as he tries to hold back a smile.

Applejack takes a deep breath as she takes a sip. "What (cough cough) was that! (Cough)"

"Spiced Rum!" the two stallions say in unison as they laugh and clank their mugs and take a large gulp.

"Spiced Rum! Why in tarnations are you giving me spiced rum!" demands Applejack as she tries to catch her breath.

"Well you will see in about three...two...and one." says Cinno as a powerful swell blasts the ship on the side and covers the mare in icy cold water.

"Brrrr. What was that!" asks Applejack as she looks at the two stallions who slam the rest of their mugs.

"Look up Aj." states Cinno with a blank expression.

What she saw wasn't pleasing at what was nothing but clear skies when they set sail was now a massive cumulonimbus cloud. She looks to her right and sees nothing but swells beginning to form. However the ship was not yet rocking she looks at the two stallions with utter confusion.

"Ye see miss the rum will keep ye nice and warm while we seaponies deal with our mistress. Don't ye worry though this ship is the finest flagship in all of Equestria she wont sink in a drizzle like this haha!" The captain says as he puts on his hat and begins to bark orders at his crew. Cinno gets up and grabs Applejack by the hoof and leads her to her quarters.

Applejack finds herself struggling to keep down her lunch as the ship is rocked back and forth by the large swells. All the while Cinno is laying in a hammock nearby playing a mandolin and singing a sea shanty. The song was about a mare who waits faithfully for her sailor to return to her but doesn't know that he died. The song made Applejack feel a little better but still did nothing for her stomach. Cinno seeing that Applejack is about to throw up points to a drawer nearby to where Applejack was. She opens the drawer to see a large bottle of rum she gives Cinno a malicious look to which he just shrugs and continues to play. Applejack uncorks the glass bottle the smell of spiced rum fills the room making Applejack's stomach churn, but she simply plugs her nose and takes a gulp. She didn't gag this time she only tasted the spices and alcohol. As she continued to drink the rum her belly starts to feel warm and fuzzy a red tint roses her cheeks. Before she knows it she has emptied the bottle and is drunk dancing to the new song Cinno was playing. She dances while he plays the swells no longer bother her in her drunken stupor all she cares about is having fun.

Applejack slightly wakes she was in a warm comfortable position. She didn't want to move, but she found that despite staying still she was in fact moving. She looks down to see that she is sleeping on top of Cinno. She is now fully awke as she panics and scrambles off of him making him fall out of the hammock face first. This was a mistake moving so fast as her head so generously reminded her that she was hungover and began to pound mercilessly.

"What the hell was that fur Aj?!" Cinno says as he rubs his head.

"You know exactly why! You took advantage of me while I was drunk! Didn't ya?" yells Aj who regrets that decision.

"Take advantage? No. I fell asleep before you did. Last thing I saw was you dancing on the desk. Ya must have crawled into my hammock after I fell asleep." Cinno answers as he goes to grab another bottle this one had a clear liquid in it.

"You really expect me to believe tha... ah my head."

"Here don't worry its water. Help to deal with that hangover." Cinno gives her the bottle. Then walks out the door.

It was now later in the day the water Cinno gave Applejack helped with the hangover. So now that the majority of the hangover was over she decides to go out side what she saw was amazing. A beautiful rainbow streamed across the top of a tropical island that was in the distance. The sailors showed signs of fatigue but were still moving with precision. The main sail had several small tears in it but was still salvageable. Aj walks up to the helm were once again Cinno and the captain were together, but at least this time they weren't drinking.

"Ah glad ye could join us lass! We will be reaching Whore's Mouth Island shortly. Didn't want ye to miss a hot meal before ye set off." North Wind says as he gives Aj a hot plate of food.

"Whore's Mouth Island? Who would give the island a name like that?" asks Applejack as she accepts the food thankfully.

"The island is notorious for all kinds of exotic plants and insects all of them poisonous. Not to mention that the bay looks like a mare with her mouth open when you get to the top of the dormant volcano." answers Cinno while he takes a sip of hot tea.

"Wait if all the plants are poisonous then why in tarnations are we going there to get spices?!"

"The spices themselves aren't poisonous but there are plants that look like the spices we are collecting. That is why I am going; I am one of the few ponies in all of Equestria that can identify which is which."

One of the sailors approaches the captain and gives a nod to which the captain nods in response. Both Cinno and Applejack are escorted to a long boat that is stocked with supplies. A sailor gives a hoof to Applejack to help her steady herself into the boat while Cinno simply gets in with no help at all. Once both of them are situated the long boat is lowered into the crystal clear blue water. Applejack marvels at the site of being able to see all kinds of tropical fish and the colorful reef that laid several feet underneath them. Cinno places the oars into their slots and begins to row the two to shore. Applejack jumps out of the boat when it gets to the shore but Cinno got out one hoof at a time. She looks at the surroundings taking in the site when a thud behind her gets her attention. Cinno was in the surf struggling to stand in the sand. Applejack carries him to more solid footing.

"Thanks Aj I guess I can't go for long walks on the beach any more."

"Ya sure you can manage?"

"Yeah it's not like we are here on a vacation. Although being on a secluded island with a mare is tempting."

"Oh hush you we're here on business. So where do we start?"

"First you are going to have to get the supplies off of the long boat. After that we head inland to the marsh to get some mushroom spores."

"Mushroom spores? I thought we were hear for spices not mushrooms."

"Plants wont make the trip so we have to gather seeds. As for the mushrooms they are a delicacy and quite rare. Trust me if you eat one of these mushrooms you'll consider it a spice." winks Cinno.

Soon enough the two head inland to a small marsh there were fallen trees covered in bright red and orange mushrooms; that looked like small globes of lava. Cinno trudges into the water and with a stick gently pats one mushroom after another until he fills a glass jar with white spores, and hands it over to Applejack while grapping another jar. Cinno fills three jars with the spores once done he gets out of the water and grabs one of the smaller shrooms.

"Here try it if you're brave." smiles Cinno as he presents the mushroom to Applejack. She puts the whole thing in her mouth and soon enough her face turns red.

"Spicy!" cries Applejack. which elicits a laugh from Cinno who grabs another mushroom and eats it.

They take the three jars of what Cinno later tells Applejack are called lavashrooms to the campsite, and place the jars into a crate. They grab some more empty jars and head off to their next destination. This time they traveled to a prairie filled with several different colored flowers Cinno states that they are collecting the seeds of what is known as frozen mint. He states that it only blooms in the winter which is lucky for them that winter just started. The unique mint proved difficult for Applejack, but Cinno simply says that she has to wait. A sudden gust of wind rushes over the prairie and then sure enough strange seeds shoot up into the air. Cinno wastes no time in pursuit he collects them while telling Applejack not to let them touch the ground. She was confused at this remark but quickly found out why when a seed landed near her, and the ground froze immediately around where the seed landed. Where the seeds land a white plant rapidly grew and filled the air with the smell of mint. It was overpowering Applejack's other senses each time she took a breath it felt like she was breathing in artic air. At least the cold sensation made the burning sensation of the mushroom go away. Cinno danced around the field as he gathers seeds in the air while avoiding where the plants popped up. This took the rest of day but they were able to collect another three jars of the strange seeds.

The night air is filled with sound of insects, and birds chirping, and the crashing of the ocean to shore. Cinno plays the mandolin while waiting for their supper to finish cooking. A stew of various vegetables boils over the camp fire Applejack sits on in hammock staring at the beauty of the clear night sky. A sea of stars could be seen glistening in the night sky. The smell of the stew was mouth watering as it perfumed the air making Applejack's stomach growl.

"Is dinner ready yet? Don't know how much longer I can hold out." asks Aj

Cinno sniffs the air waits then a loud pop comes from the pot. "Now it is." answers Cinno as he puts the mandolin down and heads to the pot.

"What was that?" asks Aj startled from the noise

"That Aj would be the lavashroom bursting open into the stew don't worry it won't be too spicy." answers Cinno smiling.

He hands her a bowl of stew she grimaced at the thought of eating another lavashroom, but takes a small sip. It was delicious; light with just enough kick to wake you up; Applejack devours the stew with a renewed vigor making Cinno chuckle as he makes himself a serving. After her third helping of the stew Aj's stomach was now flowing over into a pudge she couldn't mve if she wanted. So Cinno picks her up and places her into the hammock puts a blanket over her and sings her a song about two friends who get separated and reunite when they are old. He smiles as he looks down at the sleeping mare in front of him she looked like an angel.