Applebloom had traveled far and wide to find the Caves of Cutiezalaphan. She soldiered on through harsh weather and unforgiving terrain, but she had finally made it.
She went inside the caves to find the wisemare who knew the special talent of everypony in the world, even the talents of the ponies who hadn't gotten their cutie marks! The caves were decorated in gold and diamond jewlery, and the floor was tiled. The light from the torches made the entire cave glisten.
After gawking for a few minutes, Applebloom saw the wisemare laying down on a pillow on top of a staircase. She had a gold plate where her cutie mark would be, and she looked even older than Granny Smith. Applebloom knew what she had to do.
"Oh, Wisemare of the Caves of Cutiezalaphan! My name is Applebloom! I have traveled mighty far to seek your advice in order to discover my special talent, and gain my cutie mark!" Applebloom stated confidently.
"Yes, I see," Said the wisemare in a gravelly, ancient-sounding voice. "Come here, young Applebloom, and I shall tell you that of which you yearn to hear."
Applebloom trotted up the staircase and to the wisemare. Applebloom adopted a cartoonishly eager face as she leaned in close to hear what the wisemare had to say.
"Bark! Sniff sniff sniff. Hrmmm, bark!"
"Hmm, bark in the sense of— wait, what?!"
"Hey, Applebloom, wake up 'n shake up! Ah need your help with something!"
Applebloom woke up to find Winona, apparently very excited to see a sleeping filly.
"Eww, dog breath!" said Applebloom, shooing the dog off of her. She turned to see her sister, grinning. "What you want? Makin' shakin' bacon'?" slurred Applebloom.
"C'mon, sleepyhead, can you help your big sister out with her job?" said Applejack.
Applebloom sighed and looked up. "This means that I'm gonna be forced into some kinda wacky situation, right?"
Applejack rolled her eyes. "Well, I won't beat around the bush, so yeah, pretty much. Then again, what else are you gonna do today?"
Applebloom knew her sister was right. School's out, Sweetie Belle's sick with Pickonfernosis, or whatever Rarity said, and who knows what Scootaloo's been up to, seeing as she acted really weird the last time she saw the other Crusaders. And Celestia forbid even considering doing anything with Diamond Tiara. The only other filly that she really knew was Twist, and she was with her aunt today.
"All right, what're we doing? And more importantly, what's in it for me?" Applebloom said, sliding out of bed. She grabbed her bow, which was hanging on the wall next to her, and placed it in her hair. She walked with Applejack to the breakfast table, where Applejack started explaining to Applebloom what was happening as they both sat down.
"Remember when you went nuts trying to hock apples to everypony at the market?" asked AJ, spreading apple butter on two slices of toast. Applebloom remembered, especially when she tried to get four thousand bits out of that one mare.
"Yeah, but didn't that turn out to be bad for business?" asked the filly, taking one of the pieces of toast.
"Well," said Applejack with toast in her mouth, "I've been thinking..."
"You think?" Applebloom said, before starting to giggle. Applejack looked unamused.
"That ain't even a little bit funny," Applejack said.
"Well, you were pretty much asking for it," said Applebloom, eating her toast.
"Anyway, I was thinking that if you tuned down your attitude to something less, uh, crazy, you'd be able to attract more business for the stand. You see, I really need a gimmick to attract customers, since I've recently gotten myself a business rival," Applejack said.
"Oh yeah, I'll show that no-good, rotten pony to mess with us!" said Applebloom, jumping up and down, while growling.
"Hold on there, cowgirl, we gotta be honest with our business!" said Applejack, grabbing her sister up. They both walked out the door to the apple stand, which was parked next to the barn.
"Well, I promise," said Applebloom, "I'll get so many customers, you won't even know what to do with them! Well, actually, you're just gonna sell apples to them, but there's gonna be a whole lotta customers, and..."
Applejack patted Applebloom on her head. "That's the spirit! I knew that I made the right choice having you help me!" Applebloom felt proud. She had never really done good enough at a job for her sister to award her with that much praise. Whatever happened, she had to make her sister proud.
After what felt like forever and a half, the sisters finally made it to the market. It was early, so there were few customers, but little competition as well. A great start to a successful day of apple selling.
"So, you ready to be swimming in bits, sis?" Applebloom asked in a cocky tone.
"Just keep your eye on the ball," said Applejack, "And we will be, Small Fry."
"Hmm," Applebloom said, "Small Fry's a new nickname, y'all come up with that yourself?"
Applebloom started to take apples out of a bag and put them onto the cart. Applejack looked around to see if she could spot any of her regular customers, but instead found something quite unexpected.
"Applejack!" Golden Harvest said, setting up her stand across the way from the Apple Sisters'. "How's that fledgling apple stand of yours? I'm sure you'll eventually catch up to me... when I eat a snail and turn into a flamingo!"
"Oh yeah, Dirt Farmer? Well, I hope you've been practicing standing on one leg, because we ain't gonna be outsold by... what was it you sell again? Turnips?" Applejack replied. Applebloom piped up from her apples and looked towards Golden Harvest.
"Yeah, and I hope you're from Prance!" she added.
Applejack looked back at Applebloom.
"Prance?" she asked.
"Yeah," Applebloom explained, "Ponies from Prance eat snails, right?"
"Hmm, might wanna work on making it clearer, sis," Applejack advised.
"Hey, is that your daughter, Applejack? She seems nice!" Harvest shouted.
"I don't like her at all," Applebloom whispered to her sister.
"Don't worry," Applejack whispered back, "She doesn't really mean all that stuff, it's all part of the show."
Applebloom looked around for an audience. "Show?" she asked.
"Just a friendly competition, but that still don't mean we're gonna lose!"
The Apple sisters bumped their hooves together, and turned towards the carrot stand, which was across the way from theirs. The three ponies met in the middle of the way to make an agreement. "Whoever sells more of their crop wins!" shouted Applebloom.
"We'll keep scorecards and tally each apple or carrot," Harvest said.
"And no exaggerating how many crops we sold!" Applejack said. Applebloom pulled her sister into a huddle facing away from Harvest.
"How do we know she's not gonna cheat?" Applebloom asked.
"Don't worry your little head, I've got a failsafe," Applejack assured, before loudly whistling a brief tune. Within seconds, Pinkie Pie was galloping up to the three ponies.
"How does she do that?!" Applebloom exclaimed.
"No idea, but it's downright normal compared to how she acts sometimes," Applejack said. Pinkie leaned in close to Applejack.
"Only you can whistle my tune that loud! What do you need?"
"Me and Bronze Harvest are having a friendly competition, and we need you as a referee," Applejack said.
"Okay then! Ms. Harvest, would you mind coming here for a sec?" Pinkie replied.
Harvest walked over to Pinkie and the Apple sisters. "Do you, Golden Harvest, Pinkie Promise to be utterly and entirely honest with your results for this competition?"
"I don't need to lie, I know I can win this!"
"And do you two, Applejack and Applebloom, Pinkie Promise to be utterly and entirely honest with your results for this competition?"
"Sure as the sweetest sugar!" Applebloom shouted.
"As long as I'm the most honest and dependable pony around, we'll win this contest without any tricks and fibs!" Applejack said.
"Then by the Pinkieness invested in me, I hereby declare that this competition's results are bound by a Pinkie Promise!"
"Trust me," Applejack said to the others, "If you break one of those, you'll regret it."
Pinkie turned around. "Well, it's been nice, tell me when you're done, gotta go! Bye!" she said, before going on her way. After a few anticlimactic minutes of waiting, the first customer made her way to the stands. It was Derpy Hooves, who was taking her lunch break. She didn't eat carrots as much as she did apples, but she made sure to say hello to Golden Harvest every day. She trotted up to the carrot stand.
"Hello to Golden Harvest!" Derpy said to her friend. Golden Harvest was confused for a moment, before simply chalking up the strange greeting as Derpy being herself, as always.
"Hey there, Derpy! Can you do me a favor?" Harvest replied, slowing down her speech a bit for her friend.
"Ok," said Derpy, starting to look nervous, "But if it means going near chickens and a magic gem, I can't help you. Super duper sorry."
Golden Harvest made a mental note to ask about the story behind that statement later, since she had some applebuckers to outsell.
"No, it's nothing like that! You see, I'm in the middle of a competition with Applejack and her sister—over there across the way—and I need to sell a lot of my carrots," Harvest said.
"Competition? Like a contest? What are you gonna win?" Derpy asked.
"Uh, pride," Harvest said. "Anyhow, can you buy some carrots?"
"Yeah, okay!" Derpy said. She put six bits on the table, took a second to count them twice, and traded them for three carrots before walking off. Golden Harvest was proud of her first sale, her first hit, her first step to outshining the Apple sisters.
Until she saw Derpy buying apples from her business rivals, of course.
"Okay, we have six bits, sis," Applebloom said.
"That makes us tied with her," Applejack said, "So, you'd best get ready to go into overdrive! But remember, keep it under control." Applebloom went off to find a customer, repeating 'under control' to herself the whole way. After a few minutes, she found someone that she tried to sell apples to before, a mare with a cream-colored coat, a pink and dark blue mane, and candies for a cutie mark.
"Hi there!" Applebloom said at a high volume from behind Bon-Bon. Bon-Bon was understandably spooked, and when she saw who was behind her, her mood didn't improve at all. She began to back up. "Sorry, don't go," Applebloom said, "I just wanted to talk to you this time!" Bon-Bon froze for a moment.
"You want to talk to me?"
"Yeah, I'm really sorry about what happened at the stand so long ago, so this time I wanna get a fresh start. Wanna buy some apples?"
Bon-Bon thought for a moment. "Well, I only really came here to pick up some caramel and sugar..." she said. Applebloom decided to pull out her ace in the hole. Her eyes swelled up, her lip formed into a quiver, and she looked up at Bon-Bon. Bon-Bon sighed. "I suppose buying some apples won't do me any harm" she said.
"Thanks so much! By the way, I never got to introduce myself! My name's Applebloom, what's yours?"
"Yes, I remember your name. My name's Bon-Bon, thanks for asking."
Bon-Bon and Applebloom continued to chat until they both made it to the apple stand. By that time, the marketplace was starting to get into swing. Bon-Bon bought a few apples and left. Applebloom, in a stunt to attract customers during the rush, began to jump around and shout.
"Apples! Nice 'n' sweet! Bucked by hoof! Perfect for any cooking project or just for eating straight!"
Applejack even began to holler as well. This attracted more customers than Harvest, who was falling behind. However, Harvest had an idea.
"Selling my carrots half price would surely attract more customers than some song and dance routine!" she said to herself. As quick as a lick, she got out a large piece of cardboard that said "Limited time! Half off!" that she'd been saving for emergencies, and sure as that, customers started flocking in. However, this caught the attention of Applebloom, who got her own idea.
"Half-price is nothing! We can do quarter price and beat her in no time!" Applebloom said. Applejack looked disapproving for a moment.
"Well, we still have to make a profit" she said.
"But, if we have a lower price, then we'll get more customers, and more customers means more money!" Applebloom said.
"Well, that makes sense..." Applejack began to say, before being interrupted by Golden Harvest.
"127 bits here! Looks like the ponies here know enough to go for a smart pony's deal!" Harvest shouted. Applejack adopted a scowl.
"That pony is goin' down," Applejack said.
Applebloom grew a sneer, which her sister copied. The price of apples at the stand was cut down to a fourth of the regular price.
After a few hours, the marketplace closed and Applebloom, Applejack, and Golden Harvest gathered to see the results.
"I don't think I need to say anything at this point," Harvest boasted.
"You sure don't!" said Applejack.
Applebloom pulled out the sales tally for the apple stand, and Harvest pulled out the tally for her stand as well. Applejack whistled a tune, and Pinkie ran up to do her thing. She took both tallies, triple-counted them with a calculator, shook them out, dusted them off, and sniffed them once she was done.
"Well, these tallies are accurate and legitimate, no doubt! So, I'll announce the winners, Applejack and Applebloom!" Pinkie said.
"Wait, you're just going to say it? No dramatic buildup?" Applebloom asked.
"Hey, lighten up, we won!" Applejack said. The fact of victory caught up to Applebloom, and she started celebrating with her sister.
Golden Harvest sighed and looked down. She had barely made a profit, and she lost the competition as well. "Hey!" Pinkie said to Harvest.
"What?" Harvest said solemnly, "Are you gonna tell me not to feel bad, since I'm invited to the victory party?"
"Yeah, pretty much!" said Pinkie.
"Hey, don't get too down, Harvest," Applejack said, "You were doing pretty good! How 'bout I give you a few bits as a consolation prize?"
Applejack pulled out her money box to get a few bits. However, something caught her attention. The box was nowhere near full. It practically had to be full in order to make a profit from a day of apple selling. Sure, it had a reasonable amount of money, but it wasn't near enough to be profitable. Her good mood faded instantly.
"What's going on here?" Applebloom asked as she trotted up to Applejack. Once she saw the bits in the box, her good mood faded too, but much more so. She was supposed to make her sister proud today, but it was her idea to lower the price. She'd failed.
"I'm sorry, sis, I really am," Applebloom said.
"No, it ain't all your fault," Applejack stated, "Let's just go home."
"I think I'd better leave, too," Pinkie said. Harvest just stared at the ground.
The Apple Sisters went back to the farm. Applejack tried to talk out options with Big Mac throughout the night, but nothing seemed to work. Applebloom was put to bed, but there was no way she could sleep. This wouldn't have happened if she didn't sacrifice profits for a competition. She had to do something.
Then it hit her. The two stands were never meant to compete in the first place. Comparing apples and carrots was like comparing, well, apples and oranges. If they wanted to, Applejack and Harvest could even...
"That's it!"
Applebloom covered her mouth, knowing that if she was too loud, she'd wake up the entire farm. She snuck down the hall and out the door, stealthy as an antisocial snake.
After a long while, she got to a house with a carrot garden in the backyard and an orange mailbox with a bundle of carrots painted on it. This was the place, all right. Applebloom swallowed hard as she walked up to the front door and knocked. Applebloom was surprised when she saw Harvest immediately open the door, looking like she hadn't slept in forever. She simply sighed upon seeing Applebloom.
"Just go, kid. I'm not in the mood for whatever taunts you want to sling at me," Harvest said before turning around.
"Wait," Applebloom said, "It ain't like that!"
Harvest turned around. "Well, then what do you want?" she said with a scowl.
"I wanna make up for what happened yesterday, and I have a plan to do it. But I still need your help."
There was a silence. "Fine, I'll bite, what you think we can do?" Harvest said before opening the door for her guest.
"A lot, and here's how..."
The next morning, Applejack woke up to see her dog on her bed, looking quite excited. "Ahh, good dog. Best friend," she said sleepily.
"Applejack! Makin' shakin' bacon!" shouted Applebloom from another room. Since when's Applebloom up before me? Applejack thought. She made her way to the breakfast table, and saw Applebloom with none other than Golden Harvest. Applejack looked down to avoid eye contact with her.
"I'm awful, awful sorry for what happened yesterday. If I'd have known that trying to one up you with my prices would cause us to lose funds, I wouldn't have done it at all"
Golden Harvest walked up to Applejack. "Well, if you feel that bad about it, I'm sorry I initiated the price dropping in the first place."
"Right, well now that you two have gotten your apologies off, I have a plan that'll make us enough to make up for yesterday, and more!" cheered Applebloom.
"She thinks that if we work together to attract customers," Harvest continued, "We'll be able to make a big enough profit to do that. Not exactly professional businesspony material, but I think it's a decent enough idea."
Applejack thought for a minute. "Well, it seems like a solid plan, and it's not like we have any better options. Let's try it!"
"Alright! Time to get this show on the road!" Applebloom said.
And so, the three farmers worked together, the Apple Sisters attracting customers with tricks, stunts, and various routines, while Harvest kept the prices reasonable. At the end of the day, they made a decent profit and split it. The profits each pony got weren't much to write home about, but it was enough anyhow.
As the Apple sisters went home, Applejack stopped and turned towards Applebloom. She pulled her sister close and patted her head.
"You helped out alright, kid. Without you, me and Dirt Farmer back there would probably still be at each other's throats!"
"You really think so, big sis?"
"Ha! Since when do I think?"