Spiced Cider- Thanksgiving Special
It's the great pumpkin, Rainbow Dash!
"That should do it, RD! Let go!"
Rainbow Dash, prismatic flyer of Ponyville, released the rope she was holding. At the same time, Applejack, orange farmer of the same town, released her own rope. The complicated block and tackle system her brother, Big Macintosh, and little sister, Applebloom, set up creaked slightly as it relinquished its load to the wagon below.
The big, four-wheeled wagon groaned under the stress of the new weight, weathered wood creaking, but refusing to break. Both ponies breathed a sigh of relief when the wagon held up to its task.
Rainbow, however, couldn't get her mind off the payload. She examined the bright orange cargo one last time as Applejack hitched herself to the wagon. The cargo was over twice as tall as she was, and at least that wide. It was also insanely heavy. Even with the pulleys, the two of them had barely managed to move thing.
Her admiration of the giant object was cut short by the voice of her orange friend. "Hey, Rainbow, before Ah forget, can ya tie the thing down?"
"Sure, AJ!" Rainbow slid the ropes from the block and tackle system, then proceeded to lash down their cargo. Once that was done, the pegasus hitched herself to the wagon beside Applejack.
She checked Rainbow's harness to make sure it was fitted properly. "Thanks fer helpin' out, Rainbow. With Macintosh in the hospital, Ah didn't think Ah was gonna get this thing moved."
"No problem." Rainbow dash looked over her shoulder at the wagon. "Why did you grow such a big pumpkin, anyway?"
Applejack looked back at the thing as well. "Pinkie asked for it, said she wanted the biggest pumpkin we could grow, so she can make the biggest pumpkin pie anypony's ever seen for hearth's warming."
Rainbow looked over at her friend with a frown. "But that's not for at least a month, why are we delivering it now?"
Applejack shrugged. "She asked for it early. Ya know how Pinkie is sometimes."
"Yeah," said Rainbow with a nod, "but you know it's gonna taste awesome when she's done with it."
Applejack chuckled as she started walking forward, Rainbow following her lead. "Cain't hardly wait."
The Sweet Apple Acres pumpkin patch was on a flat patch of ground with it's own access to the road to Ponyville. It was designed that way so wagons full of the round fruits wouldn't have to contend with hills. This made the walk a smooth one. But it would still take some time to get to Ponyville.
Rainbow decided to break the silence. She had an important conversation she needed to have with the pony beside her, and now seemed like as good a time as any. Especially since she had no means of escape. "So, AJ, about me and Mac-"
Applejack cut her off with a chuckle. "Look, Rainbow, it was a good try, it really was. As pranks go, it was definitely one a' your more imaginative ones. Ya just got a little… ambitious with the delivery."
Rainbow let out a sigh, she didn't want this to turn into an argument. "So, hypothetically, if Mac and I got together, would you be ok with it?"
"Hypothetically, Ah don't see why not. Why? Ya got a crush on him or somethin'?" Applejack let out a gasp and her eyes lit up like foal's on hearth's warming morning. "Ya do, don't ya? That's why you've been prankin' me about it!"
"Way to miss the point, Applejack." Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Something like that. So you're cool with it?"
Applejack chuckled. "Fine and dandy. Mac's never had a special somepony before, love poisons not withstandin'. Course, it's up ta him if he likes ya or not."
Rainbow burst out laughing. "Of course, AJ, of course." They walked in silence for a while before Rainbow spoke up again. "What if he did like me, and things went well, what then?"
Applejack blew off a leaf that landed on her nose. "How well we talkin' here, Sugarcube?"
"Really well," Rainbow mulled it over for a second, "like, joining the family, well."
Applejack smirked. "Shoot, ya know yer part a' the family already, don't ya?"
Rainbow fixed her friend in a mock glare. "You know what I mean."
"Ah'm just jokin', Sugarcube." The leaf she had blown off her nose was now stuck in her hair and she shook her head to dislodge it. "Ah just never had ya figured for the settlin' down type."
It was Rainbow's turn to smirk. "Neither did I. But that would make us what? Sisters?"
"Huh." Applejack looked over at her friend. "Ah guess it would. Then we'd have a sibling rivalry instead of the plain ol' rivalry we've already got."
"Yeah," Rainbow nodded, "but I'd be helping out around the farm more often."
Applejack smiled. "That'd be nice. Celestia knows we can always use more help around the farm."
Rainbow let her mind wander. "Say, AJ, isn't it kind of weird to use that expression, especially since we know the princess personally?"
Applejack laughed. "Ah meant it literally, Sugarcube. Mentioned it in my last letter."
"Oh, duh." Rainbow made a show of smacking her head with a wing. "Well then, what abou-"
"CRRAACCKK!!" The wagon came to a sudden stop, yanking the two ponies forcefully against their harnesses. With groans of mild pain, the two ponies rubbed their chests where the harnesses had been resting.
Rainbow undid her harness. "What was that?" She walked around the wagon to make sure the pumpkin was still secure.
Applejack started on her own harness. "Blasted thing's always easier ta put on than ta take off." She looked back at the wagon. "Ah think the the axle done broke."
"Really?" Rainbow poked one of the front wheels. "What are we gonna do with the pumpkin now?"
Applejack lowered her head to look under the wagon. "Ah think it's the rear axle, RD."
"Oh, I knew that." Rainbow walked over to the rear wheels.
"No ya di- WHOAA!" As soon as Rainbow poked one of the rear wheels, they both fell off. The sudden shift in balance tilted the wagon backwards, lifting Applejack high into the air. She moved her legs in vain. "Rainbow," her tone betrayed the fact that she was not amused by this situation, "what did you do?"
"I didn't do nothin'! All I did was poke the wheel!" Rainbow poked the side of the upturned wagon to illustrate her point.
"SNAP!!" The harness keeping the orange pony suspended broke free from the rest of the wagon.
Applejack looked at the broken harness, then at the ground, then at nothing in particular in front of her. "Oh, hayseeds." She fell, landing solidly on her rump. She got up slowly and walked to the side of the wagon, groaning all the way. She walked up to Rainbow. "Ya sure ya just poked it?"
"Yeah! See?" Rainbow poked the side of the wagon again.
"POKE!!"
"CRASH!!"
The wagon came apart at the seams collapsing into a pile of of old boards with a pumpkin on top.
"Heh, heh." Rainbow offered her friend a nervous smile. "Oops?"
Applejack poked her friend in the chest. "No more pokin' stuff."
"Relax, AJ!" Rainbow rubbed the spot where she got poked. "At least things can't get any worse." She leaned back against the pumpkin which started rolling. She pointed at the rolling produce as they watched it go. "Ok, now it can't get any worse."
One of the ropes tied around the pumpkin got caught around Rainbow's leg. She had just enough time to look down at it before it pulled taught and threw her into the air like a slingshot. She landed on top of the moving pumpkin and had to start running to keep from getting bowled over.
Applejack took off running after the impromptu carnival act. "LAND'S SAKES, GIRL, QUIT SAYIN' THAT!!"
Rainbow glanced behind her. The pumpkin was headed straight for a tree! She started running to the side to avoid the collision, but she didn't move. Instead, the pumpkin started rolling in the direction opposite the one she ran.
"THAT'S IT!" Applejack yelled as she ran after her. "RAINBOW! GO LEFT!" Rainbow threw herself to the left. "OTHER LEFT!"
Rainbow threw herself to the right. "MAKE UP YOUR MIND!! DO I GO LEFT, OR DO I MAKE THE PUMPKIN GO LEFT?!"
Applejack ran up beside the pumpkin so she could watch for obstacles ahead. "WHICH ONE'S BETTER FER YOU?!"
Rainbow was a little too preoccupied to think about it. "I DON'T CARE! JUST PICK ONE!"
Applejack saw a tree coming up. "RAINBOW! YOU RUN LEFT!" She threw herself to the left and the pumpkin moved to the right, narrowly avoiding an impact with a large cedar. "STRAIGHTEN UP!"
"GOT IT!" Rainbow ran straight back, straightening the pumpkin's path.
"WE CAN DO THIS, RAINBOW!" Applejack ran beside the pumpkin, calling out precise directions when necessary. "LEFT! RIGHT! 'NOTHER RIGHT! STRAIGHTEN UP! NOW GO LEFT!" Rainbow followed the directions perfectly, executing each move with grace and skill, deftly avoiding each obstacle. "LEFT! LEFT! ONE MORE LEFT! RIGHT! STRAIGHTEN UP! OK, NOW, DUCK!"
"WHAT?!" That last command caught Rainbow off guard for a second. In that second, the low branch that Applejack was trying to warn her about connected with her rear with a loud, "WHACK!!" She was knocked off the pumpkin to the ground below, but she immediately jumped up, turning in circles and rubbing at her flank. "Gah! That stings!" She stopped and looked up. "Oh, right. Pumpkin!" It hadn't stopped and Applejack was still chasing along after it. Rainbow took off after them.
AJ was putting all she had into keeping up with the home-grown wrecking ball as it barreled towards-
"CRASSSHH!!"
"Sorry, Caramel!" Nevermind. As it barreled through Ponyville. The pumpkin showed no signs of slowing down, and, if anything, was actually speeding up! Applejack was starting to fall behind as the orange ball streaked past town hall and the neck-tie clad pony leaving it. "Hi, mayor!"
Rainbow Dash on the other hoof was coming close to catching up, if not with the pumpkin, then with Applejack. She was only seconds behind when she passed town hall. "Bye, mayor!"
The mayor just sighed, glad that it was still early in the morning and that not not many ponies were out and about. One of those ponies was sitting on a nearby weathervane, watching the spectacle with a hint of sadness. The grey pegasus flew off to finish her morning rounds as mail-mare, one eye lingering a little while longer on the giant pumpkin chase. "That looks like fun."
Down below, Rainbow had finally caught up to Applejack and was running neck-and-neck alongside her. "AJ! How do we stop this thing!"
"How should Ah know?!" The two off them tried to think of someway to end the gourds path of of destruction and didn't notice when a piece of rope came off the pumpkin directly in their path. Their hooves caught and they tripped, tumbling end-over-end until finally coming to a stop. They were too tightly tangled in the rope to move, and could only watch as the pumpkin approached it's final destination. "Ah hope nopony's in there."
"The Cakes' are on vacation, right?" The pumpkin crashed through the faux gingerbread of Sugarcube Corner, spreading sweets, both real and architectural, in the wake of its destruction. "And maybe Pinkie was upstairs?"
"Oh, wow! That was fast!" Pinkie Pie, who was running Sugarcube corner for the Cakes, came hopping out of the hole caused by the piece of produce. From her nose, there hung a pair of scissors. "I thought it would take at least another hour for it to get here, but now, I can start on it early! Yay!" She hopped over to the trapped duo and proceeded to cut them free from their restraints. "You even put it right in the kitchen! That's gonna save me a ton of time."
"But, what about the building?" Applejack pointed at the giant hole in the front of it. "How are we gonna fix that?"
"Don't worry about it!" Pinkie started hopping back towards the damaged bakery. "I've been building a new front wall all week. It's modular too, so it'll be a really easy fix."
Rainbow raised a hoof like a school-foal would before asking a question. "Is that why I heard chainsaws last time I was here?"
Pinkie stopped hopping for a moment. "Right-a-rooney! But that sounds like I'm calling you looney, so maybe I should say right-a-roo instead, but you're obviously not a kangaroo. Anyway, Gummy helped me." She pointed at her reptilian companion who appeared to be appraising the damages to the bakery. He probably blinked, since that was all he usually does, but if he did, the blue hard hat on his head blocked it from view. "Anyway, gotta go!" She hopped back to the bakery. "Lots of work to do!"
"Speakin' a which," Applejack got up and dusted herself off, "Ah've still got some cleanin' up ta do after that whole crown rot mess in the west field."
Rainbow followed suit. "I'll help."
"Well, thanks, pardner," Applejack said with a smile, "but don't ya have weather work ta do?"
"Nah." Rainbow rolled her eyes. "I filed the paperwork yesterday, but it doesn't go through till tomorrow." She shrugged. "Bureaucracy, what'cha gonna do?"
"Ah'll tell ya what," Applejack said, "we get everything's done, and Ah'll share some a' the cider Granny gave me. It's her own special recipe for spiced cider."
"Hay, yeah!" Rainbow was excited about that. "I'm always down for a nice cold cider!"
Applejack let out a chuckle. "Slow down there RD. This stuff ain't cold, Granny said yer supposed ta heat it up an' drink it hot, like tea."
"Warm cider?" Rainbow thought it over for a moment. "I guess it can't hurt to try it."
It was shortly after sunset when Big Macintosh made it home. The hospital finally released him an hour ago, but he was still a little sleepy, so it took a little longer than normal to get home. As he opened the farmhouse door, the sound of laughter filled his years.
"So, theh earth pony goes an' points behind 'im, shayin', but if Ah walk home, it'll only take fahve!" More laughter followed Applejack's joke, and Mac followed the sound to two red-in-the-cheeks ponies sitting on the floor around two cups and a small crock.
"Granny," he sighed, "Ah shoulda known."
"Oh, hey, Mac!" Rainbow grabbed one of the cups and thrust it towards him, spilling its contents on the floor in front of him. "It'sh Granny's special, um," she looked sadly into the now empty cup, "recipe."
Applejack picked up her own cup and took a sip. Then she leaned over so she could "whisper" in Rainbow's ear. "Ah bet the two a' ya'd look mighty cute tagether, ya oughta ask'im out." She leaned away from Rainbow to take a sip of her drink, only to find that she had spilled it. She went to pour some more from the earthenware jar in front of them.
A pair of red hooves took the jar from her and set it aside. "Ah think you've had enough a' that."
"What makes ya say that?" Applejack stood up to confront her brother, and ended up falling into him. "Maybe yer right.
Mac picked her up and started guiding her towards the stairs. "Let's get ya into bed."
Applejack leaned heavily against the large, red pony. "Bed sounds good. As they started up the stairs, she called back to Rainbow. "G-night, sis!"
Rainbow called back with a, "G-night, sis," of her own.
"Once they made it to Applejack's room, she whispered to him, "don't tell her Ah told ya, but, Rainbow's got a crush on ya."
"Ya don't say?" Mac helped his little sister into bed and tucked her. "Thanks fer tellin' me. Good night."
"Mmh." Applejack nodded against her pillow. "Night."
Mac went back downstairs to where Rainbow was waiting. The first words out of her mouth were, "ya sure ya don't wanna try some? It's good. like, reeeeaaal good."
"Well, we'll see if ya feeeeeel good tomorrow." Mac sat down next to Rainbow. "You tell her?"
Rainbow leaned up against him. "Mmh. I tried, I think she missed the, um, point. But she's cool with it." Rainbow let out a loud yawn. "I'm tired. Mac, can I, um, crash here?"
"Eeyup." Mac chuckled softly. "Whenever ya want."
He heard no reply, only gentle snores.
