//------------------------------// // The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 // Story: The Impact of Humans on Ponies // by the koopanater //------------------------------// After Zenix's introduction to the group, there were a few things that changed. For one, Zenix could be seen all around town, from the market to the residential areas, selling his goods and buying more wares and information that spanned from basic information about the world around the humans to learning about some more rare merchandise, to some more unnerving things like information about big companies. The second thing that changed however was more personal, and that was with Xavier. Alex, Huston, and Jasmine saw how he reacted to Zenix, and what they saw wasn't one they would see with him meeting a stranger. One way or another, they knew that they knew each other one way or another, and they decided to tell the others. Unfortunately, none of them could act on this information since they saw that the both of them were on guard and unwilling to answer their questions, so they would let the situation go for now. After a few weeks pass, Huston, Jasmine, and Cali were sitting in the living room, playing a card game. "So, are we really going to give up on gettin' those two to talk?" Cali asked as she put a card down. "It's not that we are giving up, it's that asking would do more harm than good." Huston explained as he drew a card from the deck. "Maybe, but still." "Maybe we should let them tell us when they're ready?" Jasmine suggested, placing a card down. "I don't want to go too deep if it's something that's painful to either." "And what if keeping it a secret makes things worse?" Cali asked. "It might, but we can't do much." Huston said. "We just have to accept that those two have a secret and let them tell us when the time's right" "Bah, you two are too passive." Cali said, leaning over and pointing at them. "You guys seem to never act on anything." "Well, sometimes it's best to step back and wait." Huston said as he put down another card. "You can't do everything, so trying to force something can cause problems. In this case, we could lose the trust and respect from either Zenix, Xavier, or both, so we shouldn't pry." Cali was about to retort against Huston's words, but she couldn't think of anything and lowered her finger. "I... Erm... Can't... argue with that." Cali stammered before leaning back into her chair. "Y-you know what, I'll follow along with your plan for now. But if they get worse, I'm going to get them to talk, one way or another." "I can allow that." "Still, that new guy is interesting." Cali pondered out loud. "He's smart, I'll give him that. But there's something unnerving about him, and it's not the secret he's hiding." "I won't deny that." Huston agreed with a sigh. "He's quite unique." "Y-yeah." Jasmine joined in. "And in what way?" A voice behind them say. All of them jumped up in surprise to see that it was Zenix, smiling and cackling at them. "Awh, you guys were so focused. I thought I could squeeze a bit of info outta you." "Zenix! What is wrong with you!?" Cali asked loudly, an irritated look on her face. "Aww, it's all in good fun, girlie." As Zenix cackled at her, Xavier entered the scene via his room. "And why is everyone so loud today?" He asked as he looked at the scene. "Aw, nothing to bad. Just some light fun." "Light fun!? Why I'll show you-" "Cali please!" Jasmine cried as she grabbed Cali's arm. "We just talked about this!" "Oohh, but this is different!" "Nah, not the face!" Surprisingly, Zenix went into a defensive stance with his hands in front of his face when Cali stood up looking for a fight. As most of the group was looking at him confused, the front door opened to reveal Alex. "Ay, y'guy's got any- what the hell did I miss?" Alex asked, his joy turning to confusion upon seeing the scene in front of him. "It's nothing, right Cali?" Huston said, giving a look at the cook to get her to stop, to which she did. "Yeah, nothing." "Well anyway, ye lot got some time tomorrow?" "It depends." Xavier said with a questioning tone. "What's going on tomorrow?" "Tomorrow's the start ta cider season over at Sweet Apple Acres, so ay wanted ta tell ya ta come over ta get some." Alex explained. "Cider season?" "Yep, it's a big day fer the town where the Apple family makes cider fer sellin'. An' don't worry, the stuff isn't alcoholic, so it's safe ta drink. Ay can vouch since ay helped make it." "Sounds quite interesting." "Yeah, but we got a limited supply, so yer gonna have ta get ta Sweet Apple Acres early since so many ponies love their cider. So much so that every year the Apple family runs out." "Wow, and I thought the zap apple jam was good." Cali commented. "Yeah, though it's apparently somethin' that the townsfolk complain 'bout every year." Alex shrugged. "Hmm, well we'll try to make it there before they run out." Xavier promised. "Good. Now if ye'll excuse me, ay need ta hit the sack early today. Need ta wake up early fer tomorrow's busy day." Alex said as he stretched his arms upwards and went to his room upstairs. "Seems like that guy's the busybody, ey?" Zenix commented. "Well it's more like he hates to be idle." Huston said, focusing back onto the card game him and the girls were playing. "Yeah, he's never in one spot." Xavier agreed. "If he's not doing something he's looking for someone to hang out with." "Seems like an upstanding guy." Zenix said with a cackle. "Yeah, but he's got a temper." Cali mentioned, looking over her cards. "Like you don't?" Huston reminded her. "Shut up." "But it's true. You weren't there to see them, but Alex can get angry." Jasmine said, shuddering at the thought. "How angry are we talking?" "Well you've met Rarity enough, right?" Huston asked, getting a nod from Zenix. "Well within the first few weeks we've known him Rarity did something and Alex ended up snapping at her. He's still hasn't forgiven her entirely." "Yikes. remind me to never get on his bad side." "We will if you remind us as well..." Everyone shuddered a bit. "Yeah, I will." Shaking his head, Zenix gave a smile to everyone. "So I have an idea. Why don't we camp out by the stall tomorrow?" Everyone looked at him like he was crazy. "What? You want to camp out front of a cider stall?" Cali asked, putting her hand down. "What is this, a convention?!" "Well just hear me out my friends." Zenix began as he waved his hands in front of him. "I'm simply looking over the facts. I've heard that a... certain colorful pony has been unable to get a single mug ever since she moved into Ponyville. And I also learned that there is a bit of a one-sided rivalry between her against a pink pony since said pony manages to get multiple mugs every time. In fact, it's common that over half the town leaves thirsty despite there being plenty of barrels." Zenix then began to walk away and towards the basement where he decided to live. "If you don't want to guarantee a mug, then more power to you. I'll be setting up camp later this evening to get a mug, so see you later." With that he entered the basement, leaving the other humans to look at each other, blinking. Later "How are you so persuasive?" "What can I say? I'm just a charmer." As per Zenix's suggestion, the humans all decided to follow his lead. Now as the sun set the humans all were walking over to Sweet Apple Acres with a few tents and stuff to stay comfortable. "It's kinda exciting though!" Jasmine said happily. "I've never been camping before." "That's the spirit!" Zenix cackled. "This'll be a fun way to bond." "Well that's one way to put it..." Xavier mumbled, side-eyeing him. "Well let's just hope that Applejack and her family is fine with the idea." Cali mentioned. "It's mostly up to her to decide whether or not we can stay for the night." "I don't think it'll be a problem." Huston said, gaining the other's attention and curiosity. To answer he pointed forward, putting the spotlight to the certain pink pony mentioned before pitching a tent with said cowgirl watching and talking with them. "... Maybe I underestimated you..." Cali murmured. "Nyeh, you doubt the information network of a merchant?" Zenix smirked with sarcasm as he began to walk with the others to their friends. "I'll forgive you for now." "Well for now, hey Pinkie, Applejack." Xavier called out with a wave, catching their attention. "OH, hey guys!" Pinkie greeted with an enthusiastic wave. "Are you also here to camp out?" "Mostly by this guy's suggestion." Cali mentioned as she pointed to Zenix. "Well it's no problem to the Apple family." Applejack said with a nod. "Pinkie did say that there were more ponies coming over." "Really?" Xavier questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah! I couldn't sit still 'cause I was so excited about cider season, and I had this brilliant idea to come down here and camp out, so I told a few others about it, and they all thought it was a great idea too, and now it's going to be one big old cider party!" Pinkie cheered, hopping up into the sky, landing back down happily. "And you thought I was being ridiculous." Zenix smiled at Cali, the vested cook scowling to the side. "In that case is it okay if we join you Miss Pinkie?" Huston asked. "Of course! Get over here, I brought marshmallows!" "Oh!" This was enough to convince Jasmine as she hustled over to the party pony, the others laughing as they joined in for some camping fun. Early Sunrise Sure enough, more ponies showed up to camp out for cider season, even Twilight, Spike and Rarity decided to join in (to much surprise to the humans) It was pretty fun for the campers as they all drifted to sleep for the night, and as the sun rose and they woke up they were greeted by three more guests as Alex, Rainbow, and Fluttershy approached the tents of the humans and Pinkie. "This is where y'all went?" Alex asked as he and his pegasi friends came closer. "Yep." "Ye do know this is cider, right? It's not a convention." "*sigh* Zenix is very persuasive." A cackle could be heard from said merchant as Cali pinched the bridge of her nose. "W-who are all these ponies?!" Rainbow asked in both rage and confusion. "Well we all thought Zenix was crazy at first, but it turns out that Pinkie had that idea before us..." Xavier explained. "As it also turns out, she decided to tell a good chunk of the town and, well you can see the results." "Yeah, and now it's going to be one big cider party!" Pinkie exclaimed jumping high into the sky, landing without a scratch. "Oh, gosh, that's a lot of ponies. Hope they don't run out before you get any." She then commented, angering Rainbow even more before flying to the back of the line, Fluttershy joining them. "Ye really do feel bad fer her." Alex said, watching her go. "I was about to offer her a spot with us too." Xavier sighed. "Well what can ye do? Ay have ta go and check in with the Apples so ay'll talk ta ye later." Alex then waved them off, walking up the road. "So what are we going to do with Rainbow?" Jasmine asked, clearly concerned and feeling bad for her. "Well it's first come first serve." Zenix shrugged, an unforgiving smirk on his face. "She thought that waking up early would be enough and didn't even think that anyone would come earlier." Zenix's reasoning left a very concerned feeling in them all. "You are ruthless dude..." Cali commented, now just seeing how he operates. "And so is the market girlie." Zenix responded. "If you want to walk to where she ended up and risk both of you not getting any cider when the rest of us get our mugs and leave the line, then more power to you." Zenix's words left uncertainty in each of them, but they all sighed as they knew he was right. In the end, they decided to go with his idea as none of them actually wanted to risk it. Their call was right too, as a short while later, Applejack, Alex, and the rest of the Apple family walked out with a large number of barrels. "Attention, everypony! Cider season is now officially open!" She said through a megaphone, the ponies in line all chattering away excitedly. The Apples and Alex were ready as well, each of them taking their stations around a stand as their first customer came up, Pinkie. They all watched her pull up with a pouch of bits too, much to the humans' surprise as she dumped the bag into the chest that was on the stand. The Apples saw this coming however and began to pour mug after mug for her, leaving Pinkie to walk away with multiple mugs balanced on each other. "Y'know, I wonder how she manages to fit everything she eats into her..." Xavier commented in a murmur, the humans walking up to the the stand. "Hey Applebloom." "Howdy y'all!" The filly smiled. "Glad you could make it!" "The pleasure's all ours." Xavier said. "So how much for a mug?" "Three bits per." Nodding, each of the humans pulled out the needed money and tossed them into the chest, Granny Smith nodding to the filly. Seeing her grandmother nod gave her the signal to start pouring their mugs, and before long there were five mugs filled up and ready for drinking. "Thanks Applebloom." Xavier said as he took a mug alongside his friends before walking off to the side. "Hmm, well I will say it's got a nice scent." "Well scent's not what you do with drinks, now is it?" Zenix said with a grin. "Down the hatch." Taking a decent swig from the mug, he closed his eyes as he tasted it, leaving the others nervous. "S-so?" Jasmine asked, the tension getting to her, only to see Zenix smile wide. "Mmm, this is quite delicious." Zenix commented happily. "Some of the best I've tasted in fact." As Zenix went in for another sip, the other humans all nodded with smiles and tipped their mugs as well, getting the taste of the cider. "Ahh, yep. This is definitely tasty." Huston said with a nod. "Makes campin' here all night worth it." Cali said. As the humans were enjoying their cider, Xavier noticed the stack of a dozen or so barrels by the Apple family as Big Mac took one of the barrels to replace the first. "Looks like you were right, Zenix. There isn't enough for everypony." Xavier said, looking at the size of the line and doing some mental math, the others nodding as well. "Even with Alex's help too." Jasmine added, feeling bad for the ponies in the back. "Well what can you do?" Zenix shrugged, not a hint of guilt or sympathy in his voice. "That's just the market. Either you jump on the sales first or you go home empty-handed." "You're evil, you know that?" Xavier said, sarcasm in his voice and a cackle as a response. The group continued to converse amongst themselves, watching the line move forward and the stack of barrels grow smaller. After a while, the last barrel was in play, and Fluttershy and Rainbow made it to the stand. After paying, Rainbow began to float in excitement, watching the tap... fizzle as the last of the cider was gone, leaving the pegasi with multiple emotions ranging from anger to sadness. "Heh. Sorry, everypony! That's it for today!" Applejack said as she and Alex walked up to the stand, the crowd crying out in sadness and disappointment before Rainbow flew up into the sky. "Surprise, surprise. You ran out again!" She called out in anger, rallying the crowd. "Yeah, you always run out!" "Why can't you make enough cider for all of us? Or at least for me!" This comment led to the entire crowd complaining and agreeing with Rainbow. This continued for a bit before Alex jumped up onto the stand. "Well ye try makin' cider of this quality!" Alex yelled out, getting the crowd's attention. "Ay can say as a newbie that the quality in each mug isn't somethin' ye can make by tossin' a few apples into a barrel an' callin' it a day. All of them take careful integrity an' the highest quality apples here, so it takes time ta make. They've tried ta increase supply each year but they can't without sacrificin' time. Sorry ta say, but this is as much as they can go fer now." Alex's speech didn't do much to settle the crowd however, as they all simply tuned away grumbling. "If y'all just be patient, we'll have plenty more tomorrow." As Applejack was trying to settle the crowd, both Huston and Cali heard some strange noises coming from down the road. "Hmm?" As they looked at the source, they saw that there was a strange vehicle driving up to them, and it didn't take long for the crowd to hear the honks and bangs it made as it approached. They all crowded around save for the humans and the Apples crowded around the vehicle as it stopped right in front of the stand, putting worry into them all. A few moments after it stopped two tall unicorns hopped out of the vehicle, both of them looking alike. Besides one of them having a mustache, they both had yellow coats, red and white manes, blue and white striped tuxes with black bow ties, and straw hats. Looking around, the clean-faced unicorn began to sing. Well, lookie what we got here, brother of mine, it's the same in every town Ponies with thirsty throats, dry tongues, and not a drop of cider to be found Maybe they're not aware that there's really no need for this teary despair That the key that they need to solve this sad cider shortage you and I will share This riled up the crowd in excitement, ready to get some cider. Though the ones close to the vehicle weren't having the same sentiments. Well you've got opportunity In this very community He's Flim He's Flam We're the world famous Flim Flam Brothers Traveling salesponies nonpareil "Nonpa-what?" Jasmine questioned as Alex hopped the fence to join up with his fellow humans. "So is this common?" "The vehicle, no. The song, yes." Xavier answered, all of them with mixed emotions. Well most, as Huston had one of fearful worry and Zenix seemed ire. Nonpareil, and that’s exactly the reason why, you see. No pony else in this whole place will you such a chance to be where you need to be. And that’s a new world, with tons of cider. Fresh squeezed and ready for drinking. More cider than you could drink in all your days of thinking “I doubt that.” Rainbow said bluntly. So take this opportunity In this very community He's Flim He's Flam We're the world famous Flim Flam Brothers Traveling salesponies Nonpareil At this point, much of the crowd was beginning to join into the song, their excitement growing. I suppose by now you're wondering 'bout our peculiar mode of transport I say, our mode of locomotion And I suppose by now you're wondering, where is this promised cider? Any horse can make a claim and any pony can do the same But my brother and I have something most unique and superb Unseen at any time in this big new world And that's opportunity Folks, it's the one and only, the biggest and the best The unbelievable Unimpeachable Indispensable I-can't-believe-able Flim Flam Brothers' Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 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 6000 Looking over the machine again, the masses all had excited gleams in their eyes and began to sing along as well. The Apples and humans however didn't share these sentiments, as they all felt uneasy about both the machine and the brothers. “Pardon me, miss.” Flim turned over to Applejack with a grin. “It would be a great honor if my brother and I could borrow some of your delicious, and sellbindingly fragrant apples to demonstrate what our beautiful machine can do?” “Uhh, sure, I guess…” Applejack replied with an uneasy tone. Opportunity, in our community Ready, Flim? Ready, Flam? Let's bing bang zam! And show these thirsty ponies a world of delectable cider! Charging the machine with their magic, the machine began to whir with life. As the machine charges, the crowd began to chant "Cider, cider, cider." Over and over again, excited for the outcome. “Now, this is where all the magic happens, folks!” Flim called, explaining how the machine worked to the masses. “Inside of the heaving, rolling, cider-press-boiling-guts of our machine, the apples that have been plucked fresh from the trees, as we speak, are being turned into Grade-A, top-notch, five-star, blow-your-horseshoes-off, one-of-a-kind cider!” "Feel free to take a sneak peak!" Now wait a second, hold it! Suddenly, Granny Smith yelled out, having enough of the two. You two just over-sold it! I guarantee that what you have just won't compare Cause the very most important ingredient Can't be added or done expedient And that's quality, friends, Apple-Acres quality and care! Well, ma’am, I’m glad you brought that up, my friend, 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! Flim sang as he handed a mug of cider to Granny Smith, giving her a taste test. When she did, her face showed fear, learning that the taste was great. Seeing her face, the Apples and humans looked a bit worried (Other than Applebloom who actually seemed interested) Yes, sir, yes, ma'am, this great machine lets just the very best So whaddaya say then, Apples? Care to step into the modern world And put the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 to the test? We're saying you've got Opportunity In this very community He's Flim, he's Flam We're the world famous Flim Flam Brothers Traveling salesponies nonpareil Yeah! "You got a deal!" Apple Bloom exclaimed with a happy smirk, oblivious to any other intentions the two had. "Not so fast!" Granny Smith exclaimed, pulling Apple Bloom away from them and pulling her an the other Apples into a huddle, dragging in Alex a moment later by his shirt collar. "No way no how that machine matches up with the care we put in our cider!" "But if it really does work, we could make everypony in town happy!" Applebloom reasoned "I just don't know, y'all. We've always made cider the same way." Applejack commented, a bit hesitant. "An' besides, somethin' 'bout these guys itches me the wrong way." Alex added, a growl in his voice. "Eeyup." Big Mac simply said, at least until he noticed that the brothers managed to slip their way into the huddle. "We'll sweeten the deal." Flim assured. "You supply the apples..." "And we'll supply the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000." Flam finished. "Then we split those sweet sweet profits..." Flim and Flam said in unison. "...Seventy-five..." "...Twenty-five." "Deal-" "Hold on!" Applejack stopped her sister from saying anything before looking at them with a suspicious gaze. "Who gets the seventy five?" "Why us, naturally." Flim stated. "And we'll throw in the magic to power the machine for free." Flam added. "Ye both are crossin' the line!" Alex growled. "Right..." Applejack nodded. "Cider sales keep our business afloat through the winter. We'd lost Sweet Apple Acres if we agreed to this." "So? What'll it be?" Flim and Flam asked in unison. "No deal." Big Mac said for the family, all of them with serious looks on them. "Hmph." Flim scoffed. "Very well. If you refuse our generous offer to be partners, then we'll just have to be competitors." "You wouldn't dare." "Oh no?" "Don't you worry, everypony! There'll be plenty of cider for all of you!" Flam called out to the crowd, all of them excitedly chattering away. As they were, Flim leaned close to the Apples "Once we drive Sweet Apple Acres out of business." He said quietly and sinisterly, causing the Apples and Alex to gasp in fear. While mostly everyone was focused on Flam, two humans managed to overhear what Flim said, and each had a look of terror and scorn respectively. The Next Day After the scare to the Apple family, both the Flim Flam brothers and the crowd left. The humans save Alex left a bit later after checking up on the Apples, but they went to work on making cider for tomorrow. And soon enough, tomorrow came with another line ready for cider. Of course, not everyone was happy today, as the Apples and Alex all felt the pressure, and Applejack and Alex was confronted by their human friends minus one merchant and mechanic, most of them concerned. "Hey you two, you still worried about those two salesponies?" Cali asked. "I mean, kinda." Alex shrugged, feeling both concern and a lack of. "W-what do you mean 'kinda'?" Huston asked with a surprisingly uncharacteristic amount of panic in his voice, though the group moved on from that after a moment. "Well, it's just that they may just be exaggeratin' an' all." "I'm not so sure. They sounded mighty serious when they threatened to run us out of business." Applejack disagreed, a glance to the side to sell it. "That's it! Last cup!" "Oh, for Pete's sake!" At Applebloom's announcement, the crowd erupted in more groaning and complaints. "I'm not sure that it's going to be such an easy task..." Jasmine commented, watching the crowd complain. As they were, they all heard the familiar sound of bangs and horns coming closer as the Flim Flam brothers drove up in their cider machine. "What seems to be the problem here?" Flim "asked" as him and Flam dismounted the vehicle. "Oh my, oh my, out of cider again?" Suddenly, a barrel of cider popped out of a chute in the back, launching up and right next to them. "What have we here? Who'd like a cup?" Suddenly, the line of ponies crowded around the machine, ready for their fill of cider. "Don't worry, everypony, we've got the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 to make more in an instant!" Flim declared, passing a mug of cider to Rainbow, who excitedly took it and was ready to finally have a mug. At least, before a lasso grabbed of the barrel the two were standing next to and was sent flying into her hoof, sending the mug and the contents into the dirt as the barrel landed next to Applejack, with her and the family looking angrily at them. "You can't sell that cider! That's made from Apple family apples!" She yelled out. The brothers didn't look phased however. "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!" Flam said confidently, getting the crowd to hype up. "We'll make more cider than you could ever imagine!" Applebloom suddenly yelled at them, getting the crowd even more hyped until Big Mac grabbed her by the tail. "Now, it ain't about the speed, young'un, it's about quality." Granny Smith explained, immediately killing the hype. "Who cares how good the cider is if I never get to drink any?" Rainbow groaned and Flim grabbed her by the face. "Oh, look at these poor, dissatisfied ponies." "Ponyville is Sweet Apple Cider country!" Applebloom announced as Big Mac dropped her. "That ay'll have ta agree with!" "Our cider speaks for itself!" "Let's put it to the test!" Flim said cockily. "Anywhere, anytime!" Applebloom challenged, bringing the hype back up from the crowd. "Well, that's enough now." "With our machine, we can make enough cider in one hour to satisfy this entire town!" Flam declared. "We'll do it in 45 minutes!" At Applebloom's statement, the crowd's excitement grew to an all-time high, but her family was attempting to calm her down. "Easy, Apple Bloom, easy." "What's the matter, Granny Smith? Chicken?" Granny's eye twitched at Flim's question, a glare growing on her. "What did you call me, sonny?" "If you're so confident in your cider, then what's the problem?" "Tomorrow mornin', right here!" She screamed into his face, causing both the Apples and the human's faces to drop. "But I'm afraid we haven't any... apples." Flam said, polishing an apple. "You can use our south field! It'll be worth it to teach y'all a thing or two about cider making!" She threatened, but the two didn't budge. "Excellent; we have a bet. Whoever produces the most barrels in one hour wins the exclusive right to sell cider in Ponyville." Flim said, putting his hood out to shake. And even though Applejack began to sweat bullets, Granny reached out and shook. "And after we beat ya, I don't never want to see you bambahoozlers around here again!" The crowd's excitement turned to nervous energy, not sure who to root for. "Until tomorrow." The brothers bowed, driving off to leave the Apples worried. "D-don't worry, Applejack, I know you'll win tomorrow!" Jasmine said, hoping to lift her and her family's sprits to little avail. "We'd better, 'cause if we don't, we're gonna lose our farm." The Next Day The day for the big competition came, and now each side was getting ready for it as the town looked from behind the fence. Well, one side was since the brothers were simply relaxing on the couch that was installed on their machine. As for the Apples, all of them were warming up for what was for stake, even Alex as he was practicing his bat swings. As they were, Twilight and Cali walked up to them. "Applejack? Are you sure this is such a good idea?" "Me 'n' the family are... one hundred percent confident... in our cider making capabilities." Applejack growled as she kicked a punching (Bucking?) bag while Applebloom clung onto it. "And besides, nopony calls Granny a chicken." The filly said just as a powerful kick launched her off. "Okay, but is it okay for Alex to join in?" Cali asked, Alex pausing for a second. "Don't ye worry lass, we got permission from both the mayor an' those sleezy brothers since ay've been employed here. Ay'm practically family here." Alex said. "Besides, ay can't just sit back an' watch!" "Well, more power to you." Cali said as she looked behind her at their friends who were still missing two humans. "It's strange though, both Xavier and Zenix didn't come. And we couldn't find either of them to tell them about this whole thing." "Well, what can ye do?" "Attention, everypony!" Mayor Mare's voice rang out, ready to start. "Well, good luck." "Thanks, you two. We'll need it." "The teams have one hour to produce as much cider as they can, after which the barrels will be counted and the winner will be named the sole cider provider for all of Ponyville!" She explained, the crowd chattering nervously at the thought. "Now... are both teams ready?" Mayor Mare asked. The Apples team all gave their own signals to tell Applejack they were. "We're ready!" Applejack called out. "We've been born ready." The brothers said nonchalantly. "Then let the cider making..." Mayor Mare brought out a hourglass and turned it upside down. "Begin!" The Apples didn't waste any time to sprint off to their jobs (Well Granny tried to, but her bones weren't really built for that) As both Applejack and Alex slammed into two different trees with hooves and bat respectively, knocking apples to the ground. Applebloom was already underneath the tree that Applejack was bucking with a wooden basket on her head, letting all the apples fall into the basket. Once all the apples fell in, she dashed over to Granny and placed the basket before taking another and rushing back over to the trees. Granny's job was arguably the most important, quality control as she took a sniff of each apple before tossing them either into a pile of low-quality apples or into a press operated by Big Mac via treadmill. Each apple pressed filled up a barrel by a tap, and once full Big Mac replaced it and put their first barrel up. "Great job, y'all! We've already filled an entire barrel!" Applejack congratulated as she bucked a tree. "Hell yeah! At this rate we'll-" Alex's confidence was shut up along side him when he and the family looked over to see that the brothers already had five barrels by them, with a sixth being tossed over to the stack. With a smug wave from the brothers, the Apples all felt their blood run cold as they realized they were in an uphill fight. A half Hour Later To say that things were grim for the home team would be an understatement. By simply looking at each team you could see that even though the Apple family was giving it their all, they were falling behind fast while the brothers were drinking some cider for themselves. "This is just dreadful. Even at top speed the Apples are only making one barrel to the twins' three!" Rarity cried, her friends all sharing her concerned face (Even Rainbow as she didn't want to lose a friend over cider) Out of everyone though, Huston's looked like an army soldier going through ptsd, fear and terror in his face like it was life or death. "No, no no no no NO!" He cried as he jumped the fence, shocking his friends. "Huston!" Twilight yelled as she used her magic to grab him. "What are you doing?!" "I need to help them!!" He screamed, desperation in his voice and putting serious concern into his friends. "But this is a family matter, you know that right?" Cali asked seriously. "And you can't say the same?!" He yelled back, causing Cali to take a step back. "You don't want to help them?! Alex is already doing all he can and he's not family!!" This snapped something into everyone, realizing he was right. With this revelation, Twilight went over to the mayor to talk. "Um, Miss Mayor!" Twilight called, getting her attention. "Is it okay if the rest of the Apple's honorary family join in to help?" "Well, I'm not sure..." The mayor mused, turning to the brothers. "Flim, Flam, would you object to honorary family members helping?" "Are you kidding?" "We don't care if the whole kingdom of Canterlot helps. It's a lost cause." "Hm, I guess it's okay. Applejack? What do you think?" Looking at them all, Applejack smiled with hope and determination. "I think I'd love to have the rest of my family helpin' out." She said with exhausted happiness, her friends cheering with determination. "Okay, everypony, we're not gonna let those smooth talkers take our friend's farm." Twilight said to begin giving jobs. "Yeah!" "Fluttershy, help Applejack with the trees." "Got it." "Pinkie Pie, Jasmine, you're on apple catching detail." "Yessir, ma'am, sir!" "Okay." "Rarity, Huston, you've got discerning eyes. Help Granny Smith at the quality control station." "Of course." "Say no more!!" "Rainbow Dash, do you think you can help Big McIntosh press?" "In my sleep!" "Right. Cali, you're with me. We'll be on barrel duty." "Got it." "Alright, everypony, let's save Sweet Apple Acres!" With that, everyone dashed to their jobs, and thanks to the new help, the Apples found a second wind to ramp up their production again. Both Alex and Applejack raced to trees with Fluttershy shaking them from the top, leaving Applebloom and Pinkie's speed and Jasmine's magic to collect them. And thanks to the increase in apples into the press by Huston and Rarity, the press had plenty of apples to make cider, and with Rainbow to reduce the power needed, the cider was coming out fast. And with Twilight and Cali working to replace the barrels, production never stopped for a second, equating to tons of barrels joining the family's stack, faster than the brothers in fact. "Based on these figures, we're making five barrels for every three of theirs!" Twilight said doing some mental math. "Keep it up, everypony! We're back in this!" Applejack yelled, confident. Despite the sudden increase to production however, the brothers didn't seem too phased. "Hmm, this is a predicament brother." Flim said casually. "Yes, how about we double the power." Flam replied, the two nodding and doing just that. The machine's whirs became violent fast, the vacuum sucking way harder, enough to uproot the trees on the farm. Even with the added debris however, the machine never gave so much as a red beep for quality. Team Apple didn't slow down or let it get to them however, as they pressed forward, ready to show them up. So as each grain of sand fell in the hourglass, team Apple didn't let that get to them, in fact they didn't even seem to notice as they worked harder to close the gap that was already there. They all kept up their assault for the half hour that remained, right up to the very last grain of sand fell. "Time is up!" The mayor called, the field going quiet for a few moments. Until team Apple all fell in exhaustion, leaving the mayor to count the barrels. "I'm proud of you, Applejack." Twilight panted to Applejack who smiled back. "Thanks." "Y-yeah, work like that, haahh, is sure to win." Alex panted, giving a grin- "Flim and Flam wins!" "Wait what?!" Everyone asked in confusion as they all looked, only to see that it was true, with the brother's stack of barrels being much higher, though some of the ones up top seemed to have... something leaking out. No one noticed however as the brothers all walked to to them laughing. "Daww, too bad, Apples." Flim chucked with a mischievous smirk. "Guess you'll just have to find a new line of work that doesn't match your names quite so...perfectly." Flam smirked slyly before returning to laughing. "Now should we tear down all these tacky old buildings and put up new ones, brother?" "I don't see why not, brother. After all, this isn't Sweet Apple Acres anymore. How about 'Flim Flam Fields'?" Flam said, using his magi to put up a banner with their faces and cider mugs on it. Everyone's faces were all mixed, but Huston's face was the most intense, it was one of defeat and terror. "N-no." He simply muttered before running off, the exhaustion from before being replaced by adrenaline. No one noticed that he ran off though, as Rainbow took center stage. "I ought to press you into jerk cider!" Before she could fly off however, Applejack stopped her. "No, Rainbow Dash. A deal's a deal." She said before walking up with her family, Alex looking concerned. "A-AJ?" "Congratulations to y'all. The cider business in Ponyville... is yours. C'mon, Apples. Let's go pack up our things." Applejack said, turning with her family to the farm house. The brothers didn't care though as they turned to the sad crowd. "Fear not, everypony, there's more than enough cider to go around." The crowd was hesitant to try the drinks, but Applejack noticed and turned to them. "Go ahead, everypony. Go on, y'all. It's okay." Despite their better interests, they all started to line up to the stand. "Hold it!" Flim yelled out, confusing everyone, Apples included. "Before any of you get any, we must do our part of our contract with our sponsor, two mugs of our top-quality cider." Once Flam stopped talking, they all heard footsteps, and when they looked at who was walking down the road everyone gasped. "An, and speak of the devil. Come right up Zenix." Flim said, waving in the human, who's face was emotionless. "What. The. HELL!?" Alex growled, his face having similar rage to the one he gave the noble couple in Canterlot. "Zenix! WHAT ARE YOU DOIN'!?" Cali yelled with similar anger as she and Alex started to walk up to him, only to be stopped by Twilight's magic taking hold of Alex and Jasmine grabbing Cali's arm. "Sorry, but I simply saw an opportunity." Zenix shrugged. "And a good one at that." Flim said. "We must thank you for suggesting the idea of a contest." "And of course telling us that they would get some help somewhere." Flam added as he poured two mugs of cider, though it looked a bit suspicious. "Of course, anything for my favorite customers." Zenix said as he took the two mugs, sniffing them. "WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, I'LL-" Alex's threats were cut off however as what Zenix did stunned everyone watching as he tipped the mugs. The thing is, the direction wasn't towards his mouth, rather the dirt floor. He didn't pour everything however, there was a very small amount of cider left as he turned them mugs up and walked over to the stunned Alex and Cali. "Do either of you want a drink?" Zenix asked, the two looking at the mugs' contents. When they did however, their stunned faces suddenly turned into disgust and shock. "OH WHAT THE HELL!?" Their shouts confused the crowd as they all looked in suspense. "AH WHY IS THERE A BLOODY WORM IN THERE!?" "ARE THOSE ROCKS AND STICKS!?" Upon the two's shouts, the crowd gasped in shock, horror and disgust as the Flim Flam Brothers began to sweat. "Hmm, OH! Oh they're right, oh my." Jasmine uttered as she too looked into the mug, looking a bit sick when she went back. The brothers saw this as bad news, so they turned to their machine... But to their horror, they saw Xavier sitting on their couch, twirling a gear around his finger with an unamused face. "Thanks for your help Xavier." Zenix said as he walked up to the base of the machine, tossing a fairly large pouch of bits up. "Whatever." The engineer said with an aloof look, taking the bag of bits. "Just tell me when to reinstall their engine." "W-wait!? Y-you took our engine out!?" Flim asked with panic. "When did you do that?!" "Not your biggest concern right now." Zenix said walking up to them. "Y-you! I thought that you were on our side!" "I already told you, I'd do anything for my favorite customers." Zenix replied. "I never said that they were you." "W-wha-" "Let me explain, I did tell you to hold a contest, but I never said that you could win." Zenix explained, walking closer to them. "And I did tell you that their friends would help them, it was simply up to you to play fair. If you simply continued to produce your cider at base rate, you would lose dignified, and if you didn't and up production, well let's just say that I had the human up there mod your vehicle to stop sorting apples from good and bad if speed increased." He pointed to Xavier who simply waved. The brothers' panic turned to anger. "Wha- you tricked us!" "What kind of businesspony are you!?" "Don't act like you have a moral high-ground!" Zenix shouted, grabbing them by their bow ties, panic returning to them. "You sealed your fates when you wanted to run the Apples out of business. I may be a merchant, but I put livelihoods over money, morals me and my family put over our company!" "R-really? And why should we believe you?" Flim's question simply got a sneer from Zenix, putting him into the hand that his brother was in to reach into his backpack. "You wouldn't recognize this, but the humans would." Zenix said as he raised a silver medal up, on it was an engraving of a fox with demon wings. The humans save for Xavier looked at it, but once they got a good look at it they recognized the engraving, and they all recoiled back in shock and fear. "W-wait, yer a Mirmadon!?" Alex yelled, fear in his voice. "Uh, who are they?" Rainbow asked. "They're one of the biggest trading companies back where we come from!" Jasmine explained, a bit of worry and fear in her voice. "Over thirty percent of transactions in the world was processed through them!" Hearing this, everyone's eyes went wide. "Yeah, it's also a wall known fact that they've toppled multiple businesses as well-" "And I've toppled one by myself." Zenix cut Cali off, his voice cold as he stared daggers into the brothers, the two sweating bullets. "You may think that we're greedy, but we simply did what's right." "How is taking-" "They weren't honest businessmen, that's why." He cut them off, knowing what they would say. "The businesses we fell were tyrannical and greedy, all of them willing to sacrifice livelihoods for their own gain. And let me tell you, nothing pisses us off more than learning that a monopoly was sprouting." "W-well you sound-" "We aren't a monopoly. The key word here is 'thirty'. We kept it that way as to ensure we never grew too big, as having a single company, person, or anything controlling the market in any product is unhealthy to everyone. We built ourselves through generations of blood, sweat, and tears, and we like it this way. From my Greatest Grandfather that founded to the company, to the current head of the company, my father, to me who is more than happy to keep our legacy alive." Zenix then dropped the two, stomping his foot right in front of them, scaring them enough to cling to each other. "And you've made an enemy out of the Mirmadon family, so you're going to have to pay." "P-pay?" "Not me specifically, the Apples for the damages you've done to them." Zenix said pointing to the family, all of them in shock. "You're going to be paying back every last bit for what you've done." "What-" "Damages to the uprooted trees, costs for emotional trauma, and tainting hundreds of gallons of apple cider with dirt, twigs, rocks, and the occasional worm." Zenix said. "I'll let the Apples sort out the costs, but you'll be lucky if you don't go bankrupt." "Wha-" "Worst case scenario, you're going to have to work here for a while to pay them back." "T-this is unfair!" "Is it?" Zenix asked sneering. "Well you should know that this is how business goes back home. I'll let you know the thing us merchants say in the business, 'we don't do favors, we get even'. And you are going to pay the Apples what they owe to get even, else you're going to regret it. Also, if I hear a single word about you making any of my friends lives harder, you're going to rue the day you set foot in this town. Do I make myself clear?" Getting the point, the brothers simply nodded. "Good, I'll leave them to you farmhand." Zenix said placing his hands into his pockets and walking away. "H-huh, y-you're not staying?" Applejack asked. "Well if you haven't noticed, we're missing someone." Looking around, everyone finally noticed Huston's absence. "You really need to learn to observe your surrounding." With that last sentence, he walked into the forest of apple trees in the direction of the artist. Meanwhile "WHY!?" While the events of Zenix's identity were going down, Huston could be found punching one of the trees with tears of anger and sadness streaming from his eyes. The apples on it were all on the ground, but he never stopped punching. "WHY CAN'T I KEEP ANY OF MY FRIENDS FROM TRAGITY!?!?" With a might cry, he slammed the bottoms of both fists into the tree. Paused, one could see that blood was dripping from his knuckles, and now the bottoms of his fists after slamming them. His silent sobbing managed to mask the sound of footsteps, but not the voice that called to him. "There you are." Turning, he saw Zenix approaching him with the emotionless face he had from before. Huston however turned back to the tree. "Leave me be." "Well, you should at least stop punching that tree. I think both the tree and your hands would appreciate it." "Why should I? I'm losing another friend and her family, so what's the poin-" "I'm going to cut you off there because you're wrong." Huston looked up at the merchant with confusion. "If you didn't run off, you'd know that those two merchants are not only being forced out of town, but also paying restitutions to the damages they've caused." "I-I'm sorry, what?" Huston asked after a moment, voice simply in disbelief. "Listen, I've already said my piece, you can ask the others about it. For now though, you can get over here so I can treat your wounds." "O-okay." He simply responded, walking over to Zenix who was pulling out a first aid kit and tweezers. "And while I do this, you're gonna tell me what you meant earlier." Zenix said, grabbing one of Huston's wrists and pulling a few splinters out of him. "W-what do you mean?" "'I'm losing another friend and her family,' That ring a bell?" Huston tensed up when he was reminded of what he said. "Hey! Don't tense up like that! You're making things harder for treating you." "O-oh! Sorry..." "Listen, I know I shouldn't ask and all, but you've been acting strange ever since those con artists showed their ugly mugs." Zenix explained as he pulled out some water. "This is going to sting, so bear with me." "Well, I-I mean- U-Um... Oh what's the point..." Huston fumbled before giving up. "I'll tell you the story..." Back in my childhood, I lived with my parents in the countryside with another family. We lived on a farm owned by the other family, and both of our families were close. They had a daughter who was the same age as me. The two of us were about as close as you could get. "Did you develop a crush later on?" NO! Please don't interrupt me! "Sorry." Anyway, the two of us did everything together. We helped our parents tend the fields, play games together, go to school together, everything. We also taught each other different things. I learned my martial arts from her, and in "return" I taught her about art. I still remember her saying it was funny to think about the both of us being artist is two ways. I guess it stuck since I still quote that thought all the time. "You seem close, so what happened?" *sigh* You know the saying, "nothing good lasts". One day, a large company's CEO came to our farm and told my family that they would be buying it from both our families. Both of them refused of course, it was the place that they were raised at along with many generations. We thought that that was the end of it, but we didn't know what that company would do. They used so many underhanded tactics, from cutting off our water supply, somehow scaring off our animals, they even decided to damage our crops with chemicals they produced. It didn't take long before the land that we raised became somewhere no one could grow crops in, and we were forced to sell the land for a fraction of what they offered the first time. I never saw her again, we moved to different cities after that... "When I saw those two, I just... felt the memories flood back again. I couldn't help but try and do something when I saw they were losing the contest. But even with my help I couldn't save them, just like my friend." "And did you fight to stay friends?" Zenix asked as he was finishing the bandaging, getting a curious look from Huston. "Did you ever ask about this friend of yours?" "I-I-" "You've said enough." Zenix cut him off, releasing him. "You didn't even ask once, so you gave up so easily. I will commend you for trying today, but what would happen if I didn't plan this and they won? Give up on seeing them again if they traveled to somewhere like Appleloosa? Some friend." Zenix turned away from him. "Look, I know I'm being harsh, but you deserve it for giving up when the news dropped. You got lucky this time, but next time it's up to you. I'll leave it at that." As Zenix walked away, Huston looked troubled, yet he also felt like something was lifted. "This farm, was it that one with that new hire? If it is, then I guess it's poetic that they fell to us as well."