//------------------------------//
// Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 
// Story: Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S2 
// by Banshee531 
//------------------------------//

Our story today opens up in the canyon area that Flash and Twilight had defeated Big Score and his cronies in. The place might have looked peaceful, but looks can be deceiving. For instance, the canyon was currently illuminated with orange light and several yells from a certain familiar orange pegasus.

"FLASH FORCE!"

"FLASH CUTTER!"

"FLASH DRIVER!"

You may be wondering what was happening. Was Flash fighting off a horde of bandits, or some kind of monster? The answer was no, the one he was fighting was Iron Core.

"Flash Cutter!" The pegasi apprentice knight swung his Celestic Gear through the air, unleashing a blade of light towards the earth pony.

Iron just smirked, holding up Piecemaker. "Iron Guard Shield!" In a quick flash, the spear head changed to its shield form and the Flash Cutter simply bounced off. The force of the attack seemed to only push Iron a few inches back. "Come on, that's nothing Sentry!"

"Alright then, try this! New move..." Flash began spinning like a top while in the air, his weapon glowing. "Flash Cutter Barrage!" Several blades of energy shot out of Lightbringer, firing in quick succession toward Iron. Iron smirked before transforming his shield into a sword, quickly striking down each Flash Cutter in a flash of finesse. This continued till Flash finally stopped his attack as he succumbed to a spell of dizziness.

Iron put the blade over his shoulder. "Not bad, but it still needs work."

Flash smirked at this. "Alright. If that's the case, what have you got then?"

Iron returned the spear to its base form before pointing it to the ground. "Iron Spike Assault!" He struck the ground and dug the spearhead into it. The next thing Flash knew, the ground beneath him began to shake. Before he could even ask what was happening, a line of giant metal spikes shot out of the ground towards him.

"Whoa!" Flash yelled as he flexed his wings and shot into the air, dodging the onslaught of spikes.

"How's that?" Iron asked as the spikes retracted and he pulled Piecemaker out of the ground.

"Not bad," Flash said as he landed, quickly dusting himself off with his wings. "Its a good move for taking out multiple opponents."

Iron smirked as he spun Piecemaker like a baton. "That's right shrimp. And with a little more practice, I'll be able to make more than one line of awesome iron spikes."

"Tch, yeah right. Knowing your sorry slow hide, it'll take you a million years!" Flash retorted, spinning Lightbringer as well.

"Oh yeah?!" Iron barked back, transforming his weapon into a hammer. "Let's go featherboy! I'll kick your flank right now!"

"Bring it on!" Flash readied himself, taunting Iron with one his hooves. "I can do this all day Iron! In fact, I'm gonna-"

RING! RING! RING!

The duo turned their heads to the sudden sound, only to see a tiny alarm clock ringing like no tomorrow. Two sighs followed as Flash went up and tapped the alarm clock. "Looks like that's it for training," Flash said as now he moved over to where he had placed his saddle bag.

"Shame." Iron replied as he did the same. "I wanted to spend a little bit more time kicking your flank."

"Oh please, I was kicking your flank." Flash retorted back before shrugging his head to the road in front of them. "Now come on, we've got other stuff to do."

The two headed out of the canyon and made their way towards town. They had recently decided to change their heavy duty training area to the canyon to prevent damage to the Everfree Forest. That and it made sure that they didn't disturb any random abomination inside the evil trees. As they reached the edge of town, Iron spoke up, "So...where's Springer? That mutt usually doesn't leave your side."

"The same place everypony else is," Flash replied as he waved his hoof around, insinuating the sigh in front of him. As such, Ponyville had become a ghost town, seeing there was nopony in sight. "Cider Season."

"Ah, makes sense. Though uh...you didn't want to go?"

"Not really a big cider fan," Flash explained as they passed Rarity's closed shop. "Plus, I had better things to do today then stand in a line waiting to get one cup of a drink."

"I think that might be the first thing we agree on," Iron replied with a chuckle. "And that's saying something." With that statement in mind, the duo decided to head to Sweet Apple Acres anyways, as they knew they still had to perform guard duty. That and everypony was there, so it made things slightly easier...till Iron saw a ridiculous line of ponies outside of the farm. "They're seriously lining up to buy a drink that they can get at a corner shop in five minutes?"

Flash just shrugged in response. "From what I hear, Sweet Apple Cider is supposed to be the best in all of Equestria. It must be good if this many ponies are lining up for just a cup. Pinkie was so excited that she came over last night, saying she wanted to camp out to be first in line. Heck, Twilight and Springer liked the idea so much that they did the same."

"Right...that's dumb."

They walked down the path towards the front of the line, where they saw a bunch of ponies they recognized were waiting patiently for their cup. That and one particular pony that was waiting impatiently.

"Come on!" Rainbow said as she jogged in place. "Hurry it up! I wanna a drink of cider!"

"Seriously?" Iron asked, dumbfounded at the sight in front of him.

"Oh!" Fluttershy said as she noticed Flash and Iron. "Hello you two. Are you two planning on getting a cup of cider?"

"If you are, then get to the back of the line!" Rainbow barked at them, pointing at the end. "I'm not giving up my spot for somepony who didn't get up early enough."

"I'm pretty sure we were up before you," Flash told her flatly. "And we don't want any cider. We just came over because Ponyville's a literal ghost town."

"Ghosts?!" Fluttershy yelped, only to get three flat stares in response.

"Ghost town, Fluttershy. As in, there's nopony there to-"

"Excuse me."

Flash and Iron turned around, only to see a stack of cider filled cups with pink legs walking towards them. "Pinkie?" Flash asked as he and Iron moved so the stack could pass by. "Did you buy all those for the ponies who might not get some?"

"Nope! They're all for me!" Pinkie exclaimed as she continued her balancing act.

"Seriously?" Flash asked, almost yelling. "You bought...one, two, three, four...nine cups for yourself?!"

"Ten actually."

"Isn't that a little greedy? What about the nine ponies who won't get to have a cup now?" Pinkie thought for a moment, several moments actually, until Flash just rolled his eyes and walked off with Iron. With this, they arrived at the front of the line, where they found Twilight, Rarity, Spike and Springer all enjoying a cup. "Hey everypony, how is it?"

"Not bad." Springer replied, taking his last sip.

"You really should try some darling." Rarity told him, batting her mane before taking another swig. "Its quite good."

Flash replied with a shrug. "Not really a cider fan."

"Then why are you here?"

"Not much point watching over a town with no ponies in it," Iron replied. "Besides, might be a good idea to hang out here. Me and Sentry get the feeling that we might need to do some crowd control soon."

And so, they watched as more and more ponies bought a cup of cider. As they did, the Apples kept going through cider barrel after cider barrel. Flash looked down the line and saw Rainbow and Fluttershy getting closer to the front, with Rainbow looking like she was about to lose her mind as she saw Big Mac loading the final barrel. Flash really hoped she got a cup, mostly because he didn't want to deal with an angry Rainbow. Eventually, Fluttershy got her cup and Rainbow was at the front. But as Fluttershy walked away and Applebloom pulled the tap, there was a spluttering sound as nothing but air came out of it. The last barrel was empty. Rainbow looked close to tears, before her face became one of anger and annoyance.

"Sorry everypony," Applejack said as she stepped up to line. "That's it for today."

A collective groan filled the air, as the ponies who had been waiting patiently complained.

Rainbow flew in front of the earth pony, her angry look all too visible. "Surprise, surprise. You ran out...again!"

"Yeah! You always run out!" an earth pony Flash knew as Caramel yelled.

Fluttershy blushed as she realised she had taken the last cup. "For the record, I don't mind-"

"Why can't you make enough cider for everypony?" Rainbow asked, cutting the yellow pegasi off. "Or at least for me?!"

This of course, resulted in the line breaking apart and they began crowding around Applejack, voicing their complaints. Not liking the look of this, Flash jumped in front of her, making the ponies back off slightly. He took a deep breath before yelling at the crowd. "Alright everypony, let's all try to calm down!" He glared at Rainbow and the others. "Now, you can't expect four ponies to make enough cider for everypony in town every single day! They would keel over by day five."

"He's right!" Applejack said as she leapt onto the stand they had been selling the cider from. "We've done our best to improve supply this year!"

"You always say that!" Caramel barked back.

"And it's always true!" Applejack replied proudly. "But Apple Family Cider is made with love and integrity, and only the highest quality apples in Equestria. Sorry, but that recipe takes time." Applejack's speech didn't go over so well with the crowd, who all yelled as they began to make their way home. "And if ya'll just be patient, there'll be plenty more tomorrow!" Applejack called after them.

As Rainbow turned to leave, Pinkie suddenly appeared in front of her. "She's right you know. You can't rush perfection and this year's perfection!"

"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it so much..." Flash growled as he and Springer stepped up to her. "Because you're not going to be having anymore this year."

"WHAT?!" Pinkie screamed as she rushed up to the pegasi. "Why can't I have any more?! That's not fair!"

"It's totally fair!" Flash replied as he pointed to the grumbling ponies leaving. "You bought ten cups of the stuff and that's more than half of these ponies are gonna get this year combined."

Pinkie thought about what he had just said before turning to the still angry Rainbow, realising how greedy she was being. "I'm sorry."

Flash nodded. "But sorry doesn't cut it Pinkie. I want you to Pinkie Promise that you won't buy anymore cider this year, and to only buy one cup next year. Got it?"

"I promise," she replied as she did the action.

"Good. Now go home."

Pinkie nodded and began to head back to town while Twilight stepped up to Flash. "Wasn't that a bit harsh Flash?"

Flash just sighed. "Sometimes my job requires me to be harsh Twilight, even to my friends."

"I just wish there was a way to make enough cider for everypony," Springer added. "There must be an easier way to make more of the stuff."

Twilight shook her head before patting Springer's head. "Nothing worth having is achieved easily Springer. In fact, sometimes the hardness of getting it makes it even better."

Before Springer could say anything else, something caught everypony's ear.

BEEP! BEEP!

Everypony looked for the source of the beeping, only to see something pumping out steam and slowly making its way to the farm. Iron then stepped up next to Fluttershy, his eyes squinting at the sight. "What's that?"

Flash wanted to reply, but he couldn't. "I'm...not sure. I've never seen something like that before."

That, turned out to be a wood and metal land train that was steam powered. It was red with large front wheels and small back ones with a barrel-shaped machine on its back. At the front of machine was a stage like construct with a wooden podium. Seeing this, the machine came to a stop in front of the crowd, knocking over a post and making Granny Smith frown at it.

The crowd slowly gathered around the machine, all wondering what it was and why it was here. As they did, two identical unicorns suddenly hopped off the stage. They had the same stature as Mr. Cake, but were cream in color and had red manes and tails. They both wore a blue and white striped shirt along with a black bow tie, though one of the unicorns had a moustache under his nose. The two unicorns looked at the crowd until the one without a moustache turned to the other with a cocky smirk.

Then, he started to sing.

"Well, lookie what we got here, brother of mine! Its the same in every town!"


He moved over to Berry Punch and placed his hoof under her nuzzle.

"Ponies with thirsty throats, dry tongues, and not a drop of cider to be found."


Berry looked shocked at this as the unicorn moved back over to his brother.

"Maybe they're not aware that there's really no need for this teary despair."


The moustached unicorn nodded, before joining the song.

"That the key that they need to solve this sad cider shortage, you and I will share!"


This certainly got everypony's attention, causing them to begin chatting loudly at the prospect of solving their problem. Seeing this, the two unicorns began singing in sync.

"Well, you've got opportunity! In this very community!"

"He's Flim!"

"He's Flam!"

"We're the world famous Flim Flam Brothers, travelling salesponies nonpareil!"


Springer was confused. "Nonpa-what?" Flim then moved over to him.

(Flim)


"Nonpareil, and that's exactly the reason why, you see! No pony else in this whole place will give you such a chance to be where you need to be!"


He picked Applebloom up in his hoof before kissing her forehead. He then leapt onto his machine's stage.

(Flim)


"And that's a new world, with tons of cider! Fresh squeezed and ready for drinking!"


Flam was also on the machine, riding atop a large vacuum like hose with a bronze nozzle.

(Flam)


"More cider than you could drink in all your days of thinking."


"I doubt that," Rainbow said as she flew by.

(Flim and Flam)

"So take this opportunity."

(Flim, Flam and crowd)

"In this very community."

(Flam)

"He's Flim."

(Flim)

"He's Flam."

(Flim and Flam)

"We're the world famous Flim Flam Brothers. Travelling salesponies, nonpareil!"


Flash leaned over to Iron, whispering. "These guys can sure put on a show."

Iron let out a low maon before rubbing his forehead. "Yeah, and they're giving me a headache."

Flim then moved back over to the crowd before pointing at the machine.

(Flim)

"I suppose by now you're wondering 'bout our peculiar mode of transport."

(Flam)

"I say, our mode of locomotion."


Flim then moved over to the podium.

(Flim)

"And I suppose by now you're wondering, where is this promised cider?"

(Flam)

"Any horse can make a claim and anypony can do the same!"

(Flim)

"But my brother and I have something most unique and superb, unseen at any time in this big new world!"

(Flim and Flam)

"And that's opportunity!"


Flim began moving through the crowd once again.

(Flim)

"Folks, it's the one and only, the biggest and the best!"

(Flam)

"The unbelievable!"

(Flim)

"Unimpeachable!"

(Flam)

"Indispensable!"

(Flim)

"I-can't-believe-able!"

(Flim and Flam)

"Flim Flam Brothers' Super Speedy Cider Squeezy Six Thousand!"


Everypony once again looked up at the Flim-Flam Brother's machine, amazed by their claims that it could make enough cider for them all.

"What do you say sister?" Flim asked as he stood by Rarity, causing her to faint and forcing Spike to catch her. As he did this, Twilight, Flash and Iron watched as the rest of the crowd began to join in on the brothers' song.

(Crowd)

"Oh, we got opportunity, in this very community.
Please, Flim, please, Flam, help us out of this jam.
With your Flim Flam Brothers' Super Speedy Cider Squeezy Six Thousand!"


"Young filly," Flim moved over to Applejack. "I would be ever so honored if you might see fit to let my brother and I borrow some of your delicious, and might I add, spellbindingly fragrant apples for our little demonstration here?"

Applejack thought for a moment, seemingly still bewildered by the brother's entrance. "Uh, sure, ah guess."

(Crowd)

"Opportunity, in our community."

(Flam)

"Ready Flim?"

(Flam)

"Ready Flam."

(Flim and Flam)

"Let's bing bang ZAM!"


They fired their magic at the machine, causing the hose to once again extend and fly over to a nearby apple tree.

"And show these thirsty ponies a world of delectable cider."

(Crowd)

"Cider, cider, cider, cider..."


"Watch closely, my friends!" Flim said as the machine created a vacuum, which caused the apples to be sucked inside the hose and inside the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy Six Thousand.

(Flam)

"The fun begins!"


"Now, here's where the magic happens," Flam explained from atop the machine. "Right here in this heaving, roiling, cider-press-boiling guts of a machine, those apples plucked fresh are right now as we speak being turned into grade-A, top-notch, five-star, blow-your-horseshoes-off, one-of-a-kind cider!"

Everypony, even Twilight, Spike, Springer and Rarity, were beginning to believe what they were saying to be true. Only one pony didn't like what they were selling.

(Granny Smith)

"Now wait, you fellers, hold it!
You went and over-sold it!
I guarantee that what you have there won't compare!"


She moved closer to the machine, looking mighty angry.


"For the very most important ingredient,
Can't be added or done expedient,
And it's quality, friends, Apple Acres' quality and care!"


Everypony seemed to believe her. What was the point in having so much cider, if it tasted horrible? Flim and Flam also seemed to be listening, but the smirks they both had showed they weren't worried.

(Flim)

"Well, Granny, I'm glad you brought that up, my dear, I say I'm glad you brought that up!
You see that we are very picky when it comes to cider if you'll kindly try a cup."


He handed Granny a cup and she took a swig. Her eyes went wide from the delicious taste, only to then realize that she need to hide said deliciousness reaction. As she did this, everypony began looking at the machine through a little window, seeing one apple after the other being pulled along on a conveyor belt. Said apple would stop in the center of the window before one of the two lights on the side flashed. If the green light flashed, the apple was moved into the cider making area, but if the red light flashed, the apple was dropped into the rubbish.

(Flim and Flam)

"Yes, sir, yes, ma'am, this great machine accepts the very best."

(Flam)

"So whaddaya say then, Apples?"
"Care to step into the modern world and put the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy Six Thousand, to the test?"


Once again, the crowd was chanting cider over and over. Flim rushed over to said crowd with a smirk. "What do you think folks? Do you see what the Apples can't? I see it clear as day! I know she does! So does he! Come on Ponyville, you know what I'm talking about!"

(Flim and Flam)

"We're saying you've got..."

(Flim, Flam and Crowd)

"Opportunity, in this very community
He's Flim, he's Flam
We're/They're the world famous Flim Flam Brothers
Traveling salesponies nonpareil!"

(Flim and Flam)

"YEAH!"


With that, their song came to an end and before anypony else could react, Applebloom shot in front of the brothers and held up her hoof. "You got a deal!"

The crowd all cheered, but Granny Smith wasn't so easily swayed.

"Not so fast," she barked before motioning the apples into a huddle circle. Flash tried to listen in, but even his hearing couldn't pick up what they were saying. In the blink of an eye however, Flim and Flam somehow got into the huddle and joined the conversation.

A few seconds later, the huddle was broken by Applejack with a scowl on her face. "Hang on there! Who gets the seventy five?" she asked the brothers.

"Why us naturally," Flim told her.

"And," Flam butted in, "we'll throw in the magic to power the machine for free."

Applejack turned back to her family. "Cider sales keep our business a float through the winter. We'd lose Sweet Apple Acres if we agreed to this."

"So?" The brothers asked in unison. "What'll it be?"

"No deal," Mac told them flatly.

The looks on Flim and Flam's faces were one of anger, obviously hating the refusal. "Very well. If you refuse our generous offer to be partners, then we'll just have to be competitors."

"You wouldn't dare!" Applejack barked back, growling.

"Oh no!" Flim replied before turning back to their machine, showing a fake frown.

"Don't you worry everypony!" Flam said from his spot at the podium. "There'll be plenty of cider for all of you!"

"Once we drive Sweet Apple Acres out of business," Flim whispered to the Apples, causing them to all gasp.

With that, the two brothers started up their machine and rolled down the road. As they did, Springer turned to Flash. "I uh...don't get how of this works. They aren't really gonna try and drive Applejack and her family out of business, are they?"

Flash did a slight shrug. "That looks to be their intention buddy."

"Can't you and Iron do something?" Fluttershy asked.

Iron just shook his head. "Sorry, but no, we can't. As long as they don't break the law or put anypony in danger, we're powerless to stop them."

Hearing this made everypony grow sombre.

"Hey now," Applejack yelled as she jumped back onto the stall. "We ain't gonna let a pair of fancy speaking show ponies beat us. Sure, they have their high tech do-hickey, but they don't have the love that we put into each barrel of our cider. You'll see!"

"I hope you're right Applejack," Twilight told her with a slight grimace.

Applejack only sighed in response. "So do ah."





The Next Day...

Once again, the town of Ponyville was deserted. Like yesterday, everypony was back in line to try and get a cup of cider. Flash, Iron, Twilight, Springer and Applejack were all standing by the stall with Twilight, Spike and Springer all having a cup of cider in possession.

"Still worried about Flim and Flam?" Twilight asked Applejack as she finished her cup.

"Granny Smith says they were just blowing hot air," Spike replied, taking his last sip.

Applejack sighed before shaking her head. "I'm not so sure. They sounded mighty serious when they threatened to run us out of business."

Springer let out a shrug. "I did sense that they had a really weird aura to them. I couldn't quite put my paw on it."

"How could they run you out of business anyway?" Flash asked, blinking at his friends. "They can't make cider without apples, and you guys are the only apple providers around. That means they shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Before anypony could answer him, they heard Applebloom call out. "That's it! Last cup!"

"OH FOR PETE'S SAKE!" They all heard Rainbow scream from a mile away. The rest of the line also housed their displeasure at the sound of not getting a cup.

"Come on back tomorrow everypony," Applebloom assured them, waving at the crowd.

More annoyed yells filled the air until they were drowned out by the sound of a familiar vehicle. The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy Six Thousand rolled up to the stall, knocking over the same fence that Granny Smith had just that minute repaired. As the machine came to a stop, Flim and Flam leapt off and moved over to Applejack. "What seems to be the problem here?" Flim asked her.

Flam then stepped up. "Oh my, oh my, out of cider again."

Flim then moved over to the back of the machine, which then unloaded a barrel. "What have we here?" He asked as the barrel landed on the ground. "Who would like a cup?

Flash and Iron barely managed to push their friends out of the way of being trampled as the stampede of cider starved ponies rushed past them. They crowded around the machine as the twins began filling cups. "Don't worry everypony!" Flam said as he handed to first cup to Rainbow. "We've got the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy six thousand to make more in an instant!"

Applejack, who Flash heard gasp for some reason, pulled out her trusty lasso and threw it at the barrel. She managed to snag it before yanking it away, causing the barrel to almost collide with Rainbow, spilling her drink. "You can't sell that cider!" Applejack barked as the barrel rolled to her hooves. "That's made from Apple Family apples."

"Is this some kind of cruel joke?!" A distraught Rainbow cried as she moaned the loss of her cider.

"She's right," Flash said as he moved over to the brothers, his hoof ready on his blade. "If you want to sell that cider, you'll need to pay the Apples for every...apple, you used to make it."

The Flim-Flam Brothers raised an eyebrow at the pegasi's presence. "And who might you be?" Flim asked.

"Flash Sentry," the apprentice knight replied before gesturing to Iron. "Me and Iron Core are the ones in charge of keeping the peace around here, by royal authority." He empathized the last three words as he continued. "So the two of you either pay up, or I'll be forced to confiscate these barrels."

The brother shared a glance before turning back to the crowd. Flim did a slight gulp as he waved at the crowd. "Don't worry everypony, there are plenty of apples in Equestria. We'll find some others and make more cider than all of Ponyville can drink!"

Applebloom chose to take this moment to challenge the twins. "We'll make more cider than you could ever imagine!"

The crowd were beginning to get restless hearing the smack talk. However, before the twins or filly could say anything else, Big Mac grabbed Applebloom by the tail and pulled her away. Granny Smith turned to her tail hanging granddaughter. "Now, it ain't about the speed, young'un. Its about quality."

The crowd only groaned hearing this, with Rainbow looking more annoyed then ever. "Who cares how good the cider is if I never get to drink any?!"

"So you would drink something that tastes disgusting as long as you get to drink it?" Flash asked her, his eyebrows hopping up and down. "I'll remember that."

"You know what I mean!" Rainbow barked back before Flim appeared and grabbed her by the cheeks.

"Oh, look at these poor, dissatisfied ponies." Flim fake gasped, waving his body around in fake despair. "How sad they have to rely on these Apples!"

"Ponyville is Sweet Apple Cider country!" Applebloom yelled with a frantic wave of her hooves, causing Mac to lose his grip and drop her on her head. "You ain't-"

Applejack's hoof inserted itself into the filly's mouth, interrupting her as Applejack tipped her hat at the duo. "She's right. Our cider speaks for itself."

"Then let's put it to the test." Flim mocked as he laid on a couch that was bolted to their machine's stage.

"Anywhere, anytime." Applebloom challenged.

Once again, the crowd was getting riled up, excited at the sound of a possible competition. Flash and Twilight shared a concerned glance, fearing that this might be getting out of hoof. Thankfully, Granny Smith seemed to share this thought as she spoke up. "Well, that's enough now. We ain't doing no contest here."

Flam however, was all about the idea of the contest. Casting a cocky smirk at the ponies, he said, "With our machine, we can make enough cider in one hour to satisfy this entire town!"

"We'll do it in forty five minutes!" Applebloom yelled, causing the crowd to grow even more excited.

"Easy, Applebloom, easy," Granny told her granddaughter, patting her head. "We ain't doing that. Now, how about we-"

"What's the matter Granny Smith?" Flim interrupted, his hat shielding his eyes to show his relaxed position. "Chicken?"

That did it.

Granny's eyes narrowed, one of them twitching as she hissed. "What did you call me sunny?"

"If you're so confidant in your cider, then what's the problem?"

In that moment, Granny Smith moved at speeds even Rainbow would have trouble reaching as she suddenly appeared in front of Flim. "Tomorrow morning, right here!"

Flam then got back into the conversation. "But I'm afraid we haven't any...apples!"

"You can use our south field," Granny told him sternly. "It'll be worth it to teach y'all a thing or two about cider making!"

That was all Flim and Flam needed to hear. "Excellent! We have a bet!" Flim held out his hoof to shake. "Whoever produces the most barrels in one hour wins the exclusive right to sell cider in Ponyville."

Before Granny could shake his hoof, Flash decided to interject. "Hold it!" He cried, flying in between them. He let out a long sigh before turning to Granny. "Are you sure about this? You know what could happen if you lose."

"Ah know," Granny said, a low growl in her tone. "But this is something we have to do."

Flash saw the determined look in her eyes, recognizing it as the same one he had seen Applejack use so many times. A look which said 'I will win, no matter the cost'. Flash let out another sigh before stepping back so he was in a position where he could see both her and Flim. "Fine. But to make sure its an even contest, I'll be making the rules."

Flim gave a devilish grin. "Deal! No matter what rules you make, me and my brother's machine will not be beat."

"We'll see about that!" Granny barked back, shaking her hoof at them. "And when we beat ya, Ah don't ever want to see you bambahoozlers around here ever again!"

"Agreed." Flam said nonchalantly before turning to Flash. "Now, the rules?"

"Will be told to you all tomorrow." Flash replied, lightly jabbing the unicorn's chest. "That way, you'll both be on even footing and there can't be any cheating."

The brothers gave each other a cocky smirk before leaping back onto their machine. "Until tomorrow."

With that, they drove away. And as Applejack watched them disappear, a look of worry appeared on her face. Then, Twilight tapped her shoulder, a look a little less worry on her face. "Don't worry Applejack, I'm know you'll win tomorrow."

"We'd better," Applejack replied with a long sigh. "Cause if we don't, we're gonna lose the farm."

As they watched Applejack and her family return to their farm, Flash and the others all shared a sombre look. Flash let out another sigh before saying, "I really hope I didn't just do something I'll regret later."

"This isn't your fault Flash," Twilight told him. "The uh...competitive spirit came over all of them. Though um...I do hope you've got a good set of rules to help them win."

"Yeah..." Flash replied, a slight bit of sweat appearing under his mane. "I hope I do too."





The Next Morning. Again.

For the third day in a row, the town of Ponyville was empty. Everypony was once again at Sweet Apple Acres. However, instead of trying to get a cup of cider, they were all there to cheer the Apples on in their battle against the Flim-Flam Brothers. As for the Apples, they were all warming themselves up, bright and ready for the competition. Big Mac was stretching out his legs to make sure he wouldn't cramp while Granny was preparing to do quality control as Applejack and Applebloom were practising for apple collecting by using a punching bag.

As they did this, Twilight walked up to her honest friend. "Applejack, are you sure this is a good idea?"

Applejack had the same determined look on her face had Granny had yesterday. "Me and the family area hundred percent confidant in our cider making capabilities Twilight. We know we'll win."

"And besides," Applebloom continued as she held onto the bag. "Nopony calls granny a chicken."

Before Twilight could say anymore, the sound of Mayor Mare's voice caught their attention. "Attention everypony! The main event is about to begin!"

Hearing this, Twilight let out a sigh before turning to Applejack one last time. "Well...good luck Applejack." She then returned to where the others were waiting.

"Thanks Twilight," Applejack said as she looked over at were the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy was parked. "We'll need it."

The two teams moved over to where Mayor Mare was. "We're just waiting for Flash to arrive and explain the rules."

"I'm here."

Everyone turned to see Flash step through the crowd and into the field, a group of townsponies following after him.

"What took you so long?" Applejack asked him.

"Sorry. Had to get everypony together." He pointed to the ponies behind him, Applejack counting about fifteen of them and recognising some as Cheerilee, Thunderlane, Lyra and Bon Bon. "They all agreed to help in the contest."

"Help?"

"I'll explain," Flash said before turning to everypony. "Okay, here's how the contest's gonna work. There'll be two rounds, the first being the cider making round. Both teams will have an hour to make as much cider as they can and when that hours up, the barrels will be counted up and the teams will be awarded one point for each one."

"So it's just a race to make the most cider?" Rainbow asked from the crowd.

Flash shook his head. "Nope. That when the second round comes into play. The second round will be a quality contest. Both teams will pick three of their opponent's barrels and those barrels will be pitted in three one on one tests." He pointed to the group behind him. "These ponies have agreed to be taste testers and will be split into three groups of five. Each group will test one of the Apples' barrels and one of the Flim-Flam's barrels, before picking which one they prefer. The barrel that gets best three out of five wins its side an additional ten points, meaning there is thirty points up for grabs. After the second round, whoever has the most points win. Everypony follow?"

There was a collective nodding as the two teams prepared for the contest. A few minutes later, Mayor Mare turned to the Apples with a small smile. "Okay...are both teams ready?"

"Ready!" Applejack spoke for her family.

She then turned to the brothers.

"Ready!" They said together.

The mayor turned to Time Turner, who spun around the hourglass he had brought. "Then let's...GO!"

With that the Apples, minus Granny Smith, rushed off to their stations. Meanwhile, the brothers just yawned as they lit their horns and activated the machine.

Everypony watched as the two teams got to work.

Applejack bucked the apples our of the tree and Applebloom caught them in a bucket she balanced on her head, before taking it over to Granny Smith who looked through them to see which one was good and which one was bad. The good ones, she threw into a juicing machine that was powered by Big Mac running on a tread mill. The apples were crushed and the cider made from them was funnelled into an empty barrel.

"Great job ya'll," Applejack said seeing the first barrel filled. "We've already filled an entire barrel."

Applebloom smiled as she rushed another bucket of apples over to Granny. "I'll bet those guys don't even have-" Her sentence was stopped by her own gasp as she and the others saw the machine had just finished filling its sixth barrel.

It was only now that the Apples realised how much trouble they were in. Despite this, the four earth ponies still intended on winning. As Applejack bucked more apples, she looked over and noticed that Applebloom was so focused on their opponents, that she missed the apples that dropped. "Come on Applebloom, focus! We gotta forget those guys if we're gonna have a chance of winning!"

Hearing this, Applebloom shook her head to snap out of it. "Sorry sis," she said as she picked up the apples and rushed them over to her grandmother. "Better keep up Granny. We're falling behind." She dropped the bucket and grabbed an empty one, before rushing back over to Applejack.

However, it was obvious the Apples were feeling the strain. Granny was beginning to sweat and Big Mac was already looking exhausted. Applejack then let out a yell at her brother. "Rest when it's over Big Macintosh!" Hearing this, Mac took a big breath of air and upped his speed.

But despite their determination, the Apple Family were still falling behind.

"This is just dreadful," Rarity said to the others. "Even at top speed, the Apples are only making one barrel to the twin's three."

Springer just nodded. "At this rate, even if they win all three taste tests, they'll still lose."

"Why didn't I make it thirty points instead of ten?" Flash moaned.

Twilight on other other hoof, was trying to think of a way to help them, an idea soon popping into her head. She rushed over to Mayor Mare, followed by the others. "Um, Ms. Mayor. Are honorary family members allowed to help in the competition?"

They watched as Mayor Mare thought. "Well, I'm not sure." She turned to the twins. "Flim? Flam? Would you object to honorary family members helping?"

Said twins simply smiled. "Are you kidding?" Flim asked.

"We don't care if the whole kingdom of Canterlot helped!" Flam agreed. "It's a lost cause."

Hearing this, Mayor Mare turned back to the group. "I guess it's okay." She turned to Applejack. "Applejack, what do you think?"

Applejack and the other apples all smiled. "Ah say ah would love to have the rest of mah family helping out."

"ALRIGHT!" The whole group yelled before lining up.

Twilight walked along the line, seeing who was willing to help. Flash, Rainbow, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Springer and...Iron. Twilight stared up at the earth pony, who just smirked back at her before smiling and turning back around. "Okay everypony, we're not gonna let those smooth talkers take our friend's farm."

"YEAH!" They all agreed.

"Fluttershy and Iron, help Applejack with the trees."

"Got it," Fluttershy replied.

"Leave it to us," Iron said, cricking his hooves. "Time for a workout!"

"Pinkie and Flash, you're on apple catching duty."

"Yes sir, ma'am sir!" Pinkie replied with a salute.

Flash just chuckled before saluting as well. "You got it. We won't let a single apple hit the ground."

"Rarity, you've got a good eye. Help Granny Smith at the quality control station."

"Of course," Rarity replied, nodding.

"Same with you Springer. Your nose is second to none."

"I won't let you down," Springer said as he pounded his fist into his paw.

"Rainbow Dash, do you think you can help Macintosh press?"

"In my sleep!" The pegasi waved her hoof in a cocky manner.

"Alright everypony," Twilight said as she turned to the contest. "Let's save Sweet Apple Acres!"

"ALRIGHT!" They all cried before getting to work.

Applejack and Iron Core used their incredible strength to knock the apples out of the trees while Fluttershy flew into them, shaking the apples loose. On the ground, Pinkie, Flash and Applebloom were working to catch as many apples as they could. "Over there Applebloom!" Pinkie cried as she pointed. "Don't miss them!"

Applebloom leapt over to where Pinkie had instructed, catching a bunch of falling apples. "Right behind you Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie did a backwards flip, managing to catch some more falling apples.

"Great work girl!" Flash called out as he zipped around the trees. "Keep going! We got this!"

Granny, Rarity, and Springer were going through the apples to see which ones could be used. Springer took a whiff of one and flinched before throwing it away. A second later, his nose found a good one, quickly throwing it into the press. Said press was now being powered by both Rainbow and Big Mac, while Twilight started replacing the full barrels with empty ones. After a while, the Apple team's stake grew to the same size as the twins and quickly got bigger.

"Based on these figures, we're making seven barrels for every three of theirs." Twilight said as she finished doing the math.

This got the crowd cheering. "Keep it up everypony!" Applejack ordered as she, Iron and Fluttershy continued bucking. "We're back in this!"

Upon hearing this, Flim literally spit out his drink before turning to Flam. "Come on brother, we've gotta pick up the pace!"

"Right! Now uh..." Flam thought for a second only to come with one solution. "Let's double the power!" The two fired their magic at the machine, causing it to increase in power. The added power caused the machine's vacuum to go into overdrive, causing to not just suck up apples, but the entire tree as well! Because of this, the apples going into the machine were all battered, bruised and mixed with the destroyed pieces of trees. Production came to a staggering halt, as the machine wouldn't allow any of the damaged apples into the juicer.

"We've gotta try something else!" Flim panicked, rubbing the side of his head in frustration. "We can't lose now Flam!"

"I've got it brother of mine," Flam replied, flipping a switch that shut off the quality control for the machine. Without the quality control, even the most damaged, inedible and probably toxic apples, were cleared to be sent into the press.

"Well done Flam!" Flim exclaimed as he watched the machine get back to work. "We're at top productivity!"

The two unicorns high hoofed, unaware that one of their opponents had seen what they had done.

"Iron!" Flash called out to the earth pony. "Stop looking at what they're doing and get back to work!"

Iron just smirked. "Yeah, sure." He turned back to the trees and started smashing them with his tail or back hooves. "We got this now."

A few minutes later, the machine started pumping out more barrels that the group's production. It also didn't help that everyone was starting to get tired, which made a few start panicking.

"What'll we do?!" Rainbow asked, pointing at their pile of barrels. "There's no way we can catch up now!"

However, before anyone could reply, Iron spoke up. "Stop whining! We don't have to catch up, we just have to keep it close!"

"He's right," Flash said as he brought another bucket of apples to them. "We can't give up. Come on everypony, we can do this!"

Rainbow nodded and doubled her efforts along with Mac.

And so it was that the two teams created more cider then had ever been made before in the history of Sweet Apple Acres, as the last few grains of sand neared the bottom of the glass. Eventually, after filling what felt like the two hundredth barrel, the Mayor cried out. "TIME'S UP!"

The second they heard that, the members of Team Apple collapsed from exhaustion while the crowd cheered for them. With this, the Mayor started counting the barrels, writing the scores on a clipboard.

"I'm proud of you Applejack," a panting Twilight told the earth pony. "I'm sure all your hard work will be...rewarded."

However, before the farmer could reply, Mayor Mare spoke up. "We have the scores everypony!" The two teams turned to her. "Team Apple has seventy eight filled barrels." Everypony smiled at the amazing effort. That is, till they heard Flim and Flam's score. "And Team Flim-Flam has ninety five barrels."

"YES!" Flim and Flam cheered, hearing their victory.

Team Apple were all disheartened until they heard Flash cry out. "This isn't over!" Everypony turned to him as he and Iron stepped up. "Don't forget, there's still another thirty points to win."

Iron chuckled before crossing his hooves. "He's right, you know. All we have to do is win all three taste tests and we'll defintely have enough points to beat you."

Suddenly remembering about the second round, Flim and Flam started sweating. Hiding their concern, the two moved over to the barrels. "That won't happen!" Flim blurted out.

"Not against this great cider!" Flam finished. He tried to use his magic to take the barrels from the bottom, only to hear a sudden hoof slam the ground, causing them to both hop in place. It almost felt like a quake, causing the brothers to slowly turn around as sweat flowed down their faces.

There, they saw Iron Core, who was wearing a devilish grin on his face. "Oh no you don't. Don't forget, we get to pick which barrels to try."

Flash walked in front of him, a flat stare on his face. "He's right. I did say that."

A series of gulps went down the twins' throats, knowing they were in trouble. They both gave each other 'Think of something!' looks as Applejack moved to the front, trying to decide which of their opponents' barrels to pick.

"Go for the top one." Iron called out to her, his grin still showing on his face.

Applejack turned to Iron, a confused look on her face. "Pardon?"

"The last three barrels. Trust me."

"Alright," Applejack said before turning back to the twins. "We pick the top three barrels."

The twin's eyes both went wide, and before they could think of a way out, Twilight's magic enveloped the three chosen barrels and flew them over to where the taste testers were. Their eyes shrank as they kept trying to think a way out. That is, till another voice spoke up.

"Aren't you going to pick a barrel?" Flash asked the twins, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh...er...." Flim stuttered, twiddling his hooves. "We uh..."

"We were thinking um..." Flam continued, stuttering as well. "I...that is to say, we..."

Flash rolled his eyes before crossing his hooves. "I don't know what going on here, but please go ahead and choose. If you don't, I'll consider it forfeit."

Flim and Flam gave each other a defeated glance before looking at their opponent's barrels. Realizing they were out of time, they used their magic to pick up three barrels for the taste testers. The two barrels were placed on different tables as the first five tasters stepped forward.

"Team Apple, if you please." Mayor Mare asked, pointing to the tables.

Applebloom moved over to the barrel and pulled the tab, filling five cups to the top before handing them to the drinkers. The five took a swig of it, each letting out a refreshed sigh as they did. Each of them liked it.

"It's looking good," Flash said with a wink. "I think we won."

Twilight however, had a look of concern on her face. "Yeah...but how will they like Flim and Flam's?"

Iron let out a dark chuckle, getting their attention. "I don't think we have to worry."

"Why's that?" Spike asked.

Fluttershy walked in front of the dragon, glaring. "Iron, what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything," Iron shook his head, waving his hoof. "Trust me."

Before they could say anything else, the sound of cries filled with pain could be heard. The taste testers had just drunk the twin's cider and all seemed to hate it.

"I can't get the taste of my tongue!" a pony named Cherry Berry cried.

"Mine's got rocks in it," Bon Bon complained.

"I wouldn't pay one cent for this dreck!" A unicorn named Comet Tail yelled. He then turned back to Applebloom. "Can we have some more of yours? We gotta wash this taste out."

"So..." Applejack asked him and the other four tasters. "You like our cider better?"

"YES!" They all screamed before taking another swing of the Apple's cider.

"What's going on?" Twilight asked, nudging Iron. "You obviously know."

Once again, Iron just chuckled. "Those idiots were so eager to make more cider that they doubled the power in their machine and began sucking up the whole tree along with the apples. That ruined the apples, so they switched off the quality control to get more cider going." Iron rubbed his chin with a wicked grin. "I would say about half their barrels are filled with inedible cider." Hearing this made the others all smile. "Good thing I kept an eye on them while I was working."

"I'll say," Flash said, nudging the defender. "If the other two barrels are that bad, we've won for sure."

Hearing this, the taste testers all moved over to the twin's other two barrels and removed the lid. The smell alone was enough to make them want to puke. They all turned to Flim and Flam, a disgusted look on their faces. Flim and Flam both saw this and began to nervously chuckle.

"Looks like we've encountered a slight problem, here in Ponyville." Flam said.

"Nopony wants our product." Flim agreed. "Next town?"

"Next town!"

Before anypony could do anything, the two leapt onto the machine and kicked it into gear. In a puff of smoke, the two were gone. Applejack couldn't believe it.

"They're gone." she gasped. "They're really gone."

"That means you win," Twilight told her. "Sweet Apple Acres is still in business."

"And..." Caramel butted in, "we can still have high quality Apple Family Cider."

Applebloom agreed. "Thanks to this silly competition, we've made enough of our cider for the whole town!"

"And then some," Flash finished as he pointed to the stack of barrels Flim and Flam left behind. "Half of these things should still be good."

"Ah don't know about that." Applejack said as she looked at it. "Selling cider those two made..."

Flash shrugged. "Think of it as...collateral. Especially considering that they didn't pay you back for wreaking a bunch of your trees."

Hearing this, Applejack gladly agreed to sell it.

And so, the whole town got to enjoy a cup of delicious Apple Family Cider as Applejack wrote a letter to princess Celestia. Flash and Iron were watching everypony enjoy their drink. That is, until they saw Twilight walk towards them with a trio of cups in her magic.

"I know you don't really like cider," she said as she placed two of the cups in front of them. "But even you must be parched after all that hard work."

Flash and Iron both smirked before taking the cups and drinking their contents down, their eyes going wide in doing so. "Wow..." Flash said, impressed. "This is better than I thought it would be."

"Agreed," Iron shrugged, taking another sip. "Not bad."

Twilight just smiled before taking a seat next to them, watching everypony get a cup. Eventually, it came to only one pony that hadn't gotten a cup. It was Pinkie, who was pouting at her ban until a cup was placed in front of her.

"Here Pinkie," Rainbow said, looking slightly away.

"But...I'm not allowed-"

"You're not allowed to buy a cup," Rainbow told her, rolling her eyes. "I'm sure this is fine."

Pinkie smiled happily before taking the cup. The two cheered and then drank the cider down, enjoying the beverage tremendously.