Chapter 1: The Cider Festival
As the mango-sweet sun rose over the magnificent land of Equestria, its warm glow bathing the nation in a comforting golden light, ponies were emerging from their cosy homes with wide smiles on their faces.
Thank Celestia, for a new day had begun.
Up above, lively pegasi could be seen having races through the sapphire-blue sky, laughing and chattering as they zoomed rapidly through fluffy rings of marshmallow-soft clouds, whilst far down below, earth ponies and unicorns were having the time of their lives, sipping ice-cold, freshly-squeezed apple cider as they gathered jovially in Ponyville’s very own town square, talking merrily to one another as they reminisced all the wonderful memories they had made with all of their closest friends.
For this was what Ponyville was famed for; it was a land of harmony and diversity, a land of friendship and magic, a land of love and peace.
“Who wants more CAAAAKE?!?!” A bright pink earth pony squealed, bounding into the town square with a platter of chocolate cake in her hooves.
A lavender alicorn rolled her eyes in mock exasperation, smiling at her friend. “Pinkie, it’s the annual cider festival. Where people drink cider. What are you doing with all that cake?”
“What would I be doing without all this cake?” With a large gulp, she swallowed the chocolate cake whole and belched contentedly. “Really, Twilight — and you’re supposed to be the smart one!”
“Fillies and gentlecolts!” A voice blasted from the speakers, echoing and resonating through everypony’s ears as Mayor Mare stepped onto the podium and adjusted her tiny glasses perched atop her pointed muzzle. She smiled widely at the townsfolk, who gazed up at her from their drinks eagerly, waiting for her to begin. Even the pegasi flew down from their races, attentively turning their ears towards the mayor, their wings folded neatly against their flanks.
“Fillies and gentlecolts,” she repeated. “For over five hundred moons, Ponyville’s very own Sweet Apple Acres has provided us with a high abundance of top-quality apple cider! To this day, they have tirelessly worked to satisfy our infinitely unquenchable thirst for the refreshing beverage.”
Deafening cheers came from the crowd, stomping their hooves against the dusty ground in approval.
“And we owe it all to the Apple family! Applejack, would you like to come up and say a few words?”
The townsfolk turned to face an orange earth pony to the side of the podium, who was blushing a brilliant shade of crimson. “Aw, shucks, Mayor Mare. It’s nothing, really. Us Apples love to do what we do, and if it makes the lives of everypony even just a little bit better, then I guess we’ll keep at it!”
The mayor beamed at her wise words, nodding in agreement. “And now, it is of great and wholehearted pleasure, that I, Mayor Mare, do so commence the annual Ponyville Cider Festival! May you all drink cider to your hearts’ content!” She raised a mug of cider towards the sky, its polished surface glinting in the radiant daylight, the sweet bubbly goodness spilling over the glass brim.
And so it began. Mugs of fresh, sweet, refreshing cider were passed about the bustling citizens of Ponyville, the fragrant scent of apples drifting through the air like a lightly aromatic perfume. The sound of clinking glass and merry laughter filled the streets, as colourful, flamboyant flags decorated the town, flapping and fluttering in the morning breeze.
“Applejack!” A snow-white unicorn with a luscious violet mane approached Applejack with a smile of delight. “You’ve really outdone yourself this year! I’m loving the new décor, I really am!”
“Rarity’s right!” Their other friend, Rainbow Dash, agreed, nodding vigorously. “And this cider is just…” She took a big swig of cider, her eyes rolling back in her head in pure happiness. “…AWESOME! Right Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy smiled. “It’s lovely,” she agreed, taking a quiet sip from her mug.
Pinkie Pie skipped over to their group, her muzzle smeared with cider froth. “This is the Best. Cider. Festival. EVER!!!” She stared at Applejack straight in the eyes, her own eyeballs positively bulging out of their own sockets. “Pinkie Promise me you’ll never stop making cider!”
Applejack blushed again, tipping her cowboy hat to her friends. “Okay, Pinkie. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. I don’t see why I’d ever stop making cider.” She added, grinning widely. “Thanks y’all. Me and the rest of the Apples have been workin’ our flanks off for the past month gettin’ ready for the festival — makin’ sure everypony gets their fill of cider!” She glanced around at all the happy ponies in the square. “And it was totally worth it!”
Twilight appeared beside her in a burst of magenta-hued teleportation magic. “That’s right, everypony! And based on my recent calculations, Sweet Apple Acres has stored up enough cider to last Ponyville a whole moon!” She spoke the last three words a little too loudly, causing a ripple of excitement to spread through the townsfolk. “Oops. I guess that’ll keep you pretty busy for the next couple of weeks.”
“Aw, don’t worry ‘bout it, sugarcube,” Applejack replied. “Us Apples have got this whole shindig under control!”
She smiled to herself. She was usually quite the modest pony, but this time, she found it difficult to contain her pride. After slaving in the apple orchard for a whole month, under the blazing summer sun, the Apple family could finally reap the fruits of their labour by witnessing the joy on their happy customers’ faces as they drank the finest cider in all of Ponyville — why, all of Equestria, even!
She barely had time to relish in her moment of happiness before her younger sister, Apple Bloom, came galloping towards her at full speed, her face as white as a sheet, the expression of sheer shock. Trailing just behind her were the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, who seemed equally distraught.
“What’s wrong, sis?” Applejack asked.
Apple Bloom stopped to catch her breath, puffing and panting as she wiped beads of sweat trickling from her forehead. “The c-c-cider!” She wheezed.
“It’s all gone!”
[TO BE CONTINUED…]
Chapter 2: For The Love Of Cider
“What in tarnation d’you mean it’s all gone?!?” Applejack practically screamed, as she frantically sped towards Sweet Apple Acres with her sister. “But we just started selling ‘em!”
“The cellar’s just… empty! Everything’s gone, barrels and all!” Apple Bloom yelled back in a panic. They took a left, turning into the pathway leading straight to their farm. “Come see for yourself!”
As they arrived at their cellar, they were greeted by their older brother Big McIntosh, who was pacing the floor in distress as he mumbled to himself in confusion. He noticed them, pointing a hoof at the barren cellar. “Eeeyup.”
“Land sakes!” Applejack rubbed her temples in bewilderment. “What in Equestria just happened?! Where’s all our cider?!” Then coming to a sudden realisation, her eyes widened into perfect circles.
“What in tarnation are we gonna do about the Cider Festival?!?”
She could see the nightmare happening right before her very eyes. Somepony, somehow… must’ve stolen all their cider. Customers would arrive at Sweet Apple Acres, ask for their cider… and when their demands were refused, they’d spread the word about it! The Cider Festival — without any cider? The Apple family would lose their sales, their reputation — they could even lose the whole of Sweet Apple Acres!
“Look, sis!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. She pointed to a trail of hoof prints leading out of the barn door. “Those must belong to the thief!”
Applejack inched closer to the trail. The hoof prints were unnaturally light for a pony; most would be heavily inset into the ground — perhaps they belonged to a foal. But what foal would be able to steal so much cider in one go? And why?
Apple Bloom huffed in disgust. “Why, I bet my boots it was Diamond Tiara who took the cider! I knew she was still against us Cutie Mark Crusaders!” She paced the ground in a fury, kicking up dust into the air. “I can’t wait to give her a piece of my — ”
“Now, now, sugarcube,” Applejack chided. “We can’t just accuse anypony just yet.” She clenched her teeth. “But whoever that somepony is…”
She grimaced. Whoever had stolen their cider was in for it. The Apples were Ponyville’s most dependable families. She wasn’t going to let anypony take that away from them.
Besides, nopony steals cider and gets away with it. “I’ll just have to track that thieving vermin down.” She had to do this. For the Apples. For Ponyville.
For the love of cider.
———————————————————————————————————————
“But nopony’s strong enough to carry 50 barrels of cider at once, let alone manage to do it sneakily!” Twilight exclaimed to a frustrated Applejack, who was pacing up and down the elegant crystalline hallways of the Castle of Friendship.
“But you must know somepony!” Applejack pleaded. “You’re Princess Twilight Sparkle. You know everything! You must have some clue as to who did it!”
“I’m sorry,” Twilight shook her head. “Perhaps we could ask the Mayor; she’s bound to know — ”
“NO! WE CAN’T!” Applejack yelled, a bit too loudly. Noticing Twilight’s shocked expression, she sighed. “Sorry, Twi. I just can’t let anypony else know that we don’t have any cider. Think of all the reputation Sweet Apple Acres would lose if anypony found out we couldn’t provide enough cider during the Cider Festival!”
“But I’m sure everypony would understand…” Twilight began, then decided otherwise. She knew how important Sweet Apple Acres was to her friend. “Okay, fine. But there simply isn’t anypony who could do that with just pure muscle.”
Then she paused. Her face lit up. “Wait. I’ve got it!”
“You have? Tell me!”
Twilight grinned in delight. “How did I not think of this before? It was so blatantly obvious!”
“Tell me then!”
“I can’t believe it took me so long! Anypony could have just — ”
“WHAT IN TARNATION IS IT?!?” Applejack bellowed, so loudly that behind her, a glass vase shattered into a million tiny shards.
Twilight ignored the broken vase, as her trusty assistant Spike hurried over to the mess to clear up the fragments. “Nopony could be strong enough to lift so many barrels of cider at once on their own. Not with just sheer strength. They’d have to use…”
Applejack quickly caught on, her face also lighting up. “Magic! Land sakes — our thief is a unicorn!”
“Precisely! Now all you have to do is find a particularly lightweight unicorn, perhaps a foal, or…”
Twilight paused again, realising she was talking to nopony. Applejack was way ahead of her, having already left the castle, leaving the castle doors wide open in her wake.
“A unicorn, huh?” Applejack repeated to herself under her breath. “As Celestia is my witness, I will find that cider-stealing pony — goodness knows who it could be!”
———————————————————————————————————————
Rainbow Dash sauntered merrily towards Sweet Apple Acres, tossing a bag of bits up and down in her hooves. “Oh, sweet, sweet, cider!” She sighed, licking her lips at the thought of the delicious drink. Surely her friend Applejack was sure to give her a good discount!
She rapped on the barn door excitedly, a cheesy smile on her face as Big McIntosh opened it slowly.
“Hey, Big Mac! Is Applejack home?”
“Nope.”
Rainbow’s heart sank ever so slightly. “I see. Any idea when she’ll be home?”
“Nope.”
“You really don’t talk much, do ya?”
“Nnnnnope.” Big Mac shook his head.
Rainbow sighed. “Well, could I at least have a mug of fresh cider? I’m parched.” Big McIntosh’s eyes widened to the size of apples.
“NOPE!” He shook his head even more vigorously. If the public found out there was no more cider during the Cider Festival… who knew what terrible things would ensue?
Rainbow Dash frowned. “Uh, Big Mac? It’s the annual Cider Festival. And I want my cider. I need my cider. What in Equestria is going on?” She stopped suddenly, her eyes widening slowly. “Y-you haven’t sold out already… have you?”
Big Mac groaned to himself. Applejack had better come back home soon, or he would have a mob on his hooves. But he couldn’t just stay quiet forever.
He sighed. “Eeeyup.”
[TO BE CONTINUED...]