The Storm's Challenge

by OneLonelyPickle


9 - Day Trip to Canterlot

Chapter 9

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Day Trip to Canterlot

Applejack had given her daily chores to Apple Bloom, Big McIntosh, and Granny Smith for the day. She successfully pitched her idea to go to Canterlot to earn a lot of money for the Apple family — this time for real, not like at the Grand Galloping Gala.

Shoot, can’t do any worse! These are race fans, Applejack! They’re gonna love yer apples!

She thought of Rarity and snorted.

And ah certainly can’t lose to Miss Prissy Pants. Although…

Applejack strained as the harness she was strapped into refused to yield to her trot all of a sudden. She looked down between her four hooves and saw that the wagon she was pulling had caught on a rock. She unhooked herself and cleared the obstacle. She looked up at her wares, piled high and shining in the late morning sun, and smiled.

The wagon was fitted with a huge, tiered wooden chest. On top were the apples, the next tier was baked goods, the one below that was filled with different sized barrels of cider, and the last tier had the necessary equipment to set up shop and take bits.

When she strapped herself back up, Applejack returned to her thoughts and frowned.

…I just hope I ain’t taking things too far with this whole rivalry thing me and Rarity got going on.

Applejack shook her head.

“No, no,” she said to herself, “It was Rarity who started this whole thing. She had to be miss” —Applejack batted her eyelashes and puckered her lips — “I’m so perfect!” Applejack smiled. “Plus, s’all in good fun.”

A stallion walking on the road had stopped to listen to Applejack talk to herself. She saw this and blushed, waving at the stallion with a goofy smile. He went on his way, looking back uneasily at Applejack.

The day after the announcement of The Storm’s Challenge saw Ponyville nearly deserted. Ponies were still out and about if they had business to attend to, but Applejack reasoned that ponies with any time off were in Canterlot to enjoy some pre-race festivities, which didn’t bother her since it made it easier to leave town with her cargo in tow.

Somepony cried out down the road and it drew Applejack’s attention.

“Come on! Wake up already!”

Applejack made her way down the street until she was standing in front of a restaurant with an outdoor seating area, where the source of the noise was. A stallion in an apron was prodding a big lump of tan fur and messy maroon hair, slumped over six outside dining tables that had been brought together to form a big make-shift one. The lump was snoring so loud it shook the chairs that surrounded the tables. Applejack sneered.

“What in tarnation…”

The stallion in the apron jabbed the lump again.

“Get up! I need to get the dining area ready for the day!” The stallion sent a rapid flurry of jabs into the lump. “And you shouldn’t have passed out here in the first place!”

Applejack began counting the empty mugs of cider surrounding the lump: ten, twenty — thirty?! Applejack’s mouth dropped.

“Not a chance he drank that all himself!”

BORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRP!

A loud belch broke out from under the lump and shook the tables and caused a draft of air that blew Applejack’s hair. She covered her nose.

“Ewww…” she complained.

The stallion with the apron took a step back. Applejack realized he must have owned the restaurant.

“Finally! Could you please clear out of here?” The lump stirred as the restaurant owner continued, “Thank you for the business but you’re going to be driving away customers looking… like that.”

The lump was, evidently, a stallion, given that it stretched out four thick appendages with a yawn. The tables underneath him groaned as he shifted and got onto his own four legs. He wobbled, his shaggy mane swaying side to side like window curtains.

The newly awake stallion slowly rotated to see where he was. He eventually locked eyes with Applejack, then quickly tore them away when he saw the wagon behind her. His mouth dropped and his brown eyes opened wide.

“Cider!” he shouted, pointing a hoof at the various barrels and mugs on Applejack’s wagon. The cowpony turned to look at the wagon as well, and then looked back at the hefty stallion, who was drooling. Applejack raised a brow.

“Y-You like yer cider, huh?” The bushy maned stallion briskly nodded. Applejack took notice of the wings pressed against his sides. Each one had to be the size of three or four of Rainbow Dash’s! Then Applejack came to a realization.

“Now hold on — you’re a pegasus pony? You’re not flying in them bigshot races, are you?!”

She looked at the wobbly stallion, another burp escaping his lips. He groaned and held a hoof to his head.

“Aye… tha’ I am. No racin’ today, I hope? Got one Tartarus of a headache.”

Applejack thought that the stallion sounded like one of the weird ponies in kilts that sometimes came to the farm in search of cider by the barrel. She got onto her hind legs and grabbed an empty mug from the wagon and filled it with one of the kegs of cider. She held it out towards the wobbly stallion with a great big smile.

“Lookin’ for a hair of the dog? Have a mug of my Apple Family Cider — best cider in Equestria!”

Before she could even blink, the stallion shot over like a bullet and was gulping down the cider. When she finally did blink, Applejack saw that the stallion was already done with the beverage. He hiccupped and stretched out his wings. Applejack had to take a step back to avoid getting a wing tip in her eye.

“Tha’ was amazing!” The stallion roared, and Applejack saw that a small crowd was gathering around. Somepony in the mass held out a hoof and cheered.

“It’s Boozebeard! He’s going to do his signature Rocket Jump!”

Applejack held onto her hat as Boozebeard started to flap his wings, slowly at first, and then fast enough that they became tan-colored blurs. He bent at his knees. The crowd was all smiles or open mouths. Applejack hopped behind her wagon just as Boozebeard shot up.

The powerful force of his rise started an explosion of dust and dirt. Applejack turned at the last moment and avoided an eyeful, but some still entered her mouth, chalky and coarse. Boozebeard’s ascent caused a break in the sound barrier, creating a boom not unlike Rainbow at top speed. Cheering overtook the small crowd. Applejack coughed out some dirt and looked up to the sky, shifting her stetson to block the raging sun.

“Ah’ll be a donkey’s — this Boozebeard fella’s even faster than Rainbow!”

The sound of a cash register opening resounded in Applejack’s mind and she saw bits in front of her eyes.

Wait, he’s even faster than Rainbow? And he’s in the races?? AND HE LOVES CIDER?!

“Hot dog!” Applejack cheered, dancing around her wagon with a twirling lasso. “We’ll be rich! This guy’s gonna help me sell so much cider for the farm, we’ll need to hire farmhooves just to keep up with the demand! Might even need one of them super sleezy cider mcsqueezie thingamawhatsits!”

Applejack stopped and rubbed her forehooves together, wearing an evil grin.

“And ah’ll sell way more apples than Rarity will her fancy, shmancy dresses and what not! Why, it takes a hundred apples just to make one batch of cider!”

The stallion-cum-rocket eventually descended back to the mortal realm with a huge gust of wind from his wings to soften his landing, right at the same spot he took off from. Seemingly renewed after some cider and a flight, Boozebeard held up his head proudly with a crescent smile. He roared with laughter.

“Hello, wee ones!” he proclaimed. The crowd swarmed him with questions and cheering. Applejack and Boozebeard were trying to maintain eye contact but stallions and mares were getting in the stallion’s face. Finally, Applejack grew tired of waiting.

She pursed her lips around the end of a forehoof and blew. The shrill whistle caused the crowd of ponies to cringe and turn to her.

“Shucks, everypony!” Applejack complained. “Ah wanna have a few words with Mr. Boozebeard here. Mind toning it down for a spell?”

The crowd looked at Applejack in silence, then to Boozebeard, and back at Applejack. The momentary pause reverted to madness as the fans resumed their onslaught. Boozebeard raised a hoof as if to say, “What can you do?”

Applejack gritted her teeth. The crowd wasn’t getting any smaller. She grabbed another empty mug and shook it, gaining Boozebeard’s attention. She pointed at the mug and opened her eyes wide at Boozebeard. His mouth opened slightly and he shook his head, mouthing, “Wha’?”

Applejack made several more pointing gestures at the mug, then at the keg of cider, then at Boozebeard. She mouthed the words, “You want more? A LOT more?”

At that, Boozebeard’s face lit up and he flew at Applejack. He grasped her in his hooves and flapped his wings.

“If it’s about cider, why did ye not say so, wee one?” Applejack’s eyes grew wide as she realized what was about to happen.

With another rumble that defied nature itself, the two took to the sky. Applejack was screaming and holding onto her stetson with one hoof and had the other latched onto one of Boozebeard’s own.

“PUT ME DOWN!” Applejack screamed. “WE’RE TOO HIGH!” The force of the air being cut by Boozebeard’s form made her cheeks flap.

“Bah, it’s the only way to escape tha’ fans. What was tha’ about a lot more cider?”

Boozebeard slowed his speed to a gentle glide. Applejack was hyperventilating. She could see colorful specks on the ground below, whenever the poofy white clouds weren’t blocking her vision. The buildings of Ponyville looked like miniature models of a town. A bird flew right past her and Boozebeard, causing her to watch the flyer for a few moments in awe.

“Hullo? I’ve not got all day here,” Boozebeard said with impatience.

“R-Right!” Applejack said with a gulp. She tried to remember everything she had asked Rainbow the night before, and the made her pitch to Boozebeard, with modifications to entice his love of cider. It seemed to work because the hulking stallion erupted with laughter.

“Aye, that’s it then? You want me to endorse yer cider and yer apples an’ I can have all the cider I can drink?”

Boozerbeard turned Applejack around in his hooves so they were staring at eachother. Applejack hadn’t forgotten they were hundreds of feet above the ground and was shaking.

“Lass, you sure about this here arrangement? I can drink my weight in cider a hundred times ovah.”

Applejack smiled nervously.

“T-that’s fine. Ah’ll sell enough that it won’t matter. I mean, how much we talkin’ here? A barrel a day?”

Boozebeard made a spitting noise out of one side of his mouth.

“P’shaww! A barrel a day she says!” He chuckled. “Try five!”

Applejack’s eyes got wide. She swallowed hard.

“F-Five, huh? Well, ah s’pose it’s still a good arrangement.”

The farmer pony smiled and motioned to shake Boozebeard’s hoof but remembered the predicament and stopped.

“How’s about we get back onto land and shake on it?” she asked hopefully. Boozebeard grunted affirmatively and nodded. He brought the two back to the ground with surprising grace and sat Applejack back down where he left her. The crowd had not left and resumed their craziness when they saw Boozebeard had returned.

Boozebeard, however, paid them no mind and raised a hoof to shake Applejack’s. She smiled and the two locked hooves.

“NAME’S APPLEJACK.”

“CALL ME BOOZEBEARD!” Boozebeard shouted much louder than Applejack.

“SO,” Applejack shouted over the crowd, “I RECKON WE SHOULD LEAVE NOW BEFORE WE MISS ANYTHING IN CANTERLOT.”

Boozebeard nodded.

“WORKS FER ME. I WAS GONNA GO BY MESELF AT SOME POINT ANYWAY!”

Applejack walked back and began to hitch herself to her wagon, but Boozebeard stopped her with a hoof. He had a mad gleam in his eye as he hitched himself to the wagon instead. Applejack raised an eyebrow, then realized what the stallion intended and gasped.

“A-ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THIS?” she shouted, “AH CAN TIE UP THE GOODS AND SUCH BU—”

“DO IT AND LET’S GO ALREADY! DUN WORRY ABOUT THE LOAD, WEE ONE, I’VE GOT ‘ER!”

Applejack exhaled and started to close the chest of the wagon to secure all her goods inside. She tied a special knot around the chest to keep it closed, then worked quickly to make sure nothing was loose. Lastly she took a long length of rope and tied the chest itself firmly to the wagon. With one final swallow of a lump in her throat, Applejack jumped onto the wagon just behind Boozebeard and held on tight to the wagon. The crowd surrounded the wagon and Boozebeard.

“ANYPONY GOT A PAIR O’ GOGGLES FER ME?”

Five ponies all stretched their hooves out towards Boozebeard, goggles being offered. The stallion took one that looked wide enough for his head and strapped them on. He shouted back at Applejack.

“ALRIGHTY, LASS, HOLD ON TIGH’!”

At the last minute, Applejack wrapped herself in rope and tied both ends to the wagon just in case. Without warning Boozebeard leapt into the air with his Rocket Jump.

* * *

“Let me go, Pinkie!”

Spike shouted and struggled against the ropes holding him tight against Pinkie, who was cheerfully bouncing down the street, her saddlebags jiggling, full of only-Pinkie-knew-what.

“No can do, Spikey! Fluttershy said you need to take the afternoon off, so you’re coming with me!”

The baby dragon grumbled and fussed. He tried to loosen the ropes with his claws, but it was no use. Bushwhacker, who had accompanied Fluttershy to the library, was an expert outdoorspony, and that meant his rope skills were second only to Applejack’s.

Pinkie giggled.

“Fluttershy and her pal Bushwallop have got that library under control! I mean, did you see how those animals worked? Wowza!” Pinkie snorted. “Twilight might make them full time employees! Anyway, don’t worry about letting her down, Spike. Fluttershy said you worked so hard yesterday that you passed out. Twilight will understand that you need a break!”

Spike resigned himself to his fate and sighed.

“Okay, sure, but do I have to be strapped to your back the whole way to Canterlot? And why’re we going there again?”

Pinkie explained how her tail had twitched like crazy the day before as the two (one more willingly than the other) made a steady pace down the road to Canterlot. Every so often, another pony or group of ponies passed by, usually carrying goods in saddlebags or on wagons.

“Alright I get that now, but why are we not taking the train?” Spike questioned once Pinkie finished her spiel.

“Oh, it would take WAY longer to get there by train. Have you seen how busy they are because of the races?”

At one point, a huge stallion strapped to a wagon flew by overhead. Pinkie had kept telling Spike to look, but the baby dragon complained that he had had no way to turn his head skyward, causing Pinkie to laugh when she remembered it was true.

About halfway to the capital city of Equestria, Spike chimed up.

“We’re going to see what’s up with this Maelstrom guy, right?”

“Mhm!” Pinkie hummed.

“Okay, so what’s your plan? He’s going to be surrounded by guards and busy talking to ponies or giving speeches, won’t he?”

Pinkie stopped bouncing and brought a hoof to her muzzle.

“Hmm, good point, Spikey.” She tapped her muzzle a few times before turning to face where she assumed Spike would be.

“Uhhh, Spike? Where’d you go?” She turned around again, then again. Spike coughed.

“I’m tied to your back… remember?”

Pinkie chortled.

“Oh, haha, right! That’s priceless!”

“Hilarious…” Spike lamented.

Pinkie continued down the road once more.

“I figured,” she finally answered Spike, “Once I get close to Magistross, if my Pinkie Sense goes crazy again, that’ll mean there really is something funny going on with him!”

“Maelstrom,” Spike corrected, twiddling his claws. “And if your Pinkie Sense does nothing? Can we at least buy some candy apples and play a game of horseshoe toss or something?” Pinkie nodded with a smile. Spike said nothing for a minute.

“Uhh, was that a yes? No?”

“Oh!” Pinkie Pie snickered. “I forgot again! Yep! If my tail doesn’t twitch, then we’ll just hang out for the day! I think Applejack and Rarity are going to be there, too!”

Spike went starry eyed.

“Rarity, huh?” he said, dreamily, “That doesn’t sound so bad at all, then…” Spike snapped out of it and spoke with some annoyance. “I’m still not super happy you guys forced me away from the library, you know.”

The two talked about other things for the next hour or so until they came over a hill and Pinkie beheld the great city of Canterlot, its spires glistening in the intense midday sun. A waterfall poured over the side of the mountain next to the city, itself also glimmering as sunlight hit it. Pegasi and flyers of all stripes could be seen, like dots, flying overhead. There was even the odd airship or hot air balloon landing or taking off.

Pinkie and Spike passed the great gates amidst dozens of other ponies and a few other creatures. There was a minotaur, some donkeys, and more than a hoofful of griffons. Once inside Canterlot, stalls of innumerable wares and games lined either side of the street, and restaurants and cafes with outdoor seating were packed, with all of them having long lines of ponies waiting to be seated.

“Get your candy apples here!” shouted one stallowner, who caught Spike’s eye. He waved the tasty morsel at the baby dragon, causing Spike to lick his lips. He pushed against the rope.

“Come on, Pinkie! Let me out of here already! It’s not like I’m going to run away now!”

Pinkie replied, “I would, but I don’t know how!”

Spike protested, “What! Find somepony who can then! I don’t want to be tied to you all day! I’m already getting sweaty where our bodies are touching!”

“That’s why I’m keeping an eye out for Applejack! Don’t worry, Spikey, she’ll get you off of my back!”

Spike pushed a claw against his face and said quietly, “Will she help me get you off my back?”

Another stallowner the pair passed held up a horseshoe to the passers-by. Several ponies of all ages were throwing horseshoes at pegs on a wall and winning prizes. Spike sighed longingly.

Pinkie stopped to ask a guard where Maygstrad was (Spike and the guard both corrected her) and was directed to the Royal Courtyard in front of Canterlot Castle.

“You got about an hour until Maelstrom speaks!” The guard cried as the pair went on their way. “Take it easy and play some games!”

Spike smiled. “You hear that, Pinkie? Let’s go find Applejack already!”