//------------------------------// // Summerstart Rush // Story: The Sour Grapes Chronicles // by The Incredible Werekitty //------------------------------// Once Upon a time in Equestria... no not there. More over there. ... a litttle more. Yes, that's right. Right across from Sweet Apple Acres. Darned camera. Ahem, anyway. Once upon a time in Equestria, across from Sweet Apple Acres, there stood another farm. Unlike Sweet Apple Acres, and it's, well, acres of apple trees, this one had gently rolling hills, and wooden frames holding up a wide variety of very special grapes. This was, in fact, a vineyard, that provided quite a lot of the local wines. Its name was the Grapevine Hills Vineyard and Winery. It was well known. Well known enough to have attracted rich ponies from Canterlot to visit its grounds, and sample its wares... And leave behind one of their own, struck by the arrows of love, much to the dismay of her family, but you've already read that bit. While it is well known that the Apple family dabbled in making grape juice for the general consumption of ponies, their cousins, the Grapes family were very serious in the care and selection of their crop for the purpose of Wine making. Well most of their cousins, at least. Concord Grapes seemed intent upon cornering the grape juice, jelly and jam market, single-hoofedly. However, we're concentrating on Grapevine Hills, its wide variety of wine grapes, and the family that runs it... More specifically the daughter of the family that runs it. It was the beginning of Summerstart, that our story truly begins. It's a typical day at the vineyard, with the usual farm life early start. Up with the sun, quick shower, breakfast, then out to tend to the vines. Admittedly, Champagne Diamond-Grapes (called "Cham" to avoid confusion) had a slightly easier time of it, than her daughter Sour Grapes, or her husband, Champagne Grapes (Who went by the nickname "Champ"). "Looks like it's about that time again," Champ said with a satisfied smile at the harvest, this year. The earth pony was a sturdy fellow, not as massive as Big Macintosh but well muscled from life on a farm. His coat was dark brown, mane and tail burgundy, and his cutie mark a bunch of grapes, and a Champagne bottle. "It would seem so, love," Cham said with a nuzzle to her beloved's neck. Cham was a unicorn the color of, well, champagne. A golden color, that seemed to have a touch of brown in its mix, and her mane was a lighter shade of the same color. Cham's cutie mark was a set of four diamonds, the same color as her coat. Sour Grapes sighed, quietly, rolling her eyes. It was not like she hated this time of year... Okay, yes it was EXACTLY like she hated this time of year, but her father had promised to let her handle the temporary workers, this year. So it should be a BIT better. She can get rid of the chaff, more quickly, and NOT have to deal with her father's tendency to give 'second chances'. "It's time for lunch, anyway," Cham added, as they all clopped back to their farmhouse. "Love, how do you spell 'interim'?" Champ said, after lunch, as he sat at his desk, writing out this quarter's help wanted poster. "Eye, in, tea, ea, are, eye, em," Cham said, as she washed up the lunch dishes with her ponykenesis. Grapes looked on with a touch of jealousy but kept up her hoof-drying of the dishes, and putting them away. Champ wrote the word, then finished the poster, with a flourish. "Hey, raisenett, could you go and post this on the town hall's bulletin board? The sooner you get that up, the sooner you can start showing us your stuff," Champ said holding the poster up. "Sure, Dad. I'll head right over," she said fetching her saddlebag, and putting the poster into it. Sour Grapes was a unicorn filly just out of her teens, with a chocolate milk brown coat, and a mane the color of rich chocolate. A touch nearsighted, she wore gold rimmed glasses in front of her violet eyes. With the brown canvas saddlebags in place, she trotted out the door, heading to Ponyville. ======= After a brisk trot, Sour Grapes reached the Town Square, looking over the townsponies as she made her way to the bulletin board. There was that hyperactive pink mare with the curly mane bouncing around as usual. She stopped by an unfamiliar purple unicorn who had what looked like a dragon on her back. The dragon apparently was trying to get his unicorn friend to chat with the pink earth pony; when said earth pony gasped, then suddenly ran off. Sour Grapes rolled her eyes, and gazed up at Celestia's sun as if asking for divine assistance. Sour Grapes paused by the Carousel Boutique looked at the dresses there, and huffed a sigh, before moving on. "Load of fancy smancy crud that only a stuck-up git would love," Sour Grapes thought derisively, as she clip-clopped over to the Town Hall. She then snickered at a small secret she had observed, as she reached the board, then proceeded to hammer up the poster. Something she did in an earth pony manner, marehandling the sheet into place, and making use of a hoof-held hammer. She put the hammer into her mouth, backed up a bit, tossing the tool into her saddle bag before sitting back on her haunches to look over her work. "Why wasn't she using her levitation?" asked a rather immature male voice. "SPIKE!" came a very annoyed sounding feminine voice. "What?" "Don't you think that was a little bit rude?" the female uttered, sounding a touch annoyed. Sour Grapes sighed, as she levitated her saddle bag into place, and turned to discover the newcomer, and her draconian companion, right behind her. "I don't have fine motor control with my levitation ability," Sour Grapes explained with an air of having had to explain this, a LOT, in the past. "I can lift and carry large things, but more delicate jobs, I have to do with my hooves." "Oh," they both uttered. Despite her chastising her dragon, the purple unicorn had been, obviously, curious herself. "Well... Thank you for explaining. I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is Spike. A pleasure to meet you," the unicorn, called Twilight said with a nod. This was obviously a pleasantry, but Sour Grapes' eyebrows shot up in surprise all the same. "Really? Oh! Uhm... *ahem* I'm Sour Grapes," she uttered still sounding a touch startled. "Uhm... Welcome to Ponyville?" "Thank you," Twilight said with a smile then looked a bit uncertain. "Er... Do you, by any chance, know the way to Sweet Apple Acres? I've been sent from Canterlot to oversee the preparations for the Summer Sun Festival, and that's my first stop." "Sure. I live out that way. I can show you to the gate," Sour Grapes said gesturing with a hoof. "Follow me." ======= "Here we are. Take that path and you'll reach Sweet Apple Acres in no time," Grapes said, gesturing. "Though... Ah..." Here Sour Grapes seemed to be at a loss for words. She was rather fond of the Apples, they being her cousins, but she knew how they were. "Don't be surprised if you get an enthusiastic greeting." "What do you mean?" Twilight asked, as she was about to set hoof on the path. "Oh, you'll find out," Sour Grapes said with a chuckle. "You won't go away hungry, though." She then turned and went back to Grapevine Hills, obviously amused. Tomorrow was the Summer Sun Festival, so she'd better get to bed early, unlike most ponies, tonight. On the up side, the holiday gave her a day to prepare for the new hires. On the down side, she'd have to be in the town hall at the break of dawn. Most ponies stayed up all night before the Summer Sun Festival, but Sour Grapes wasn't one of them. With all the chores for the next few days written up and all the tools that would be needed cleaned and lined up in the work sheds Grapes felt as prepared as anything for her first 'solo' Summerstart. She glanced across to the far end of the property to where her father was busy speaking with a local contractor on the refurbishing of an old barn into a new warehouse for storing wine. He had deliberately given himself a large project that would keep him out of his daughter's mane until she was done... bless his heart. Allowing herself a smile and a feeling of pride at the confidence he had in her organizational abilities she closed the Shed door and came face to face with a smirking Applejack. It always was so FRUSTRATING how a Mare that strong could always sneak up on her like that. "Howdy Cuz." "Applejack, do you deliberately try to cause me to have a heart attack?" Sour Grapes asked with a huff. "Oh a good jolt is good fer ya. Keeps yer ticker in good shape. Guess it's that time again, huh? When's your dad got the helpin' hooves showin' up this year? Same as usual, one week from postin'?" the blonde mare asked with a smile. "I think so. May even have some day after tomorrow," Sour Grapes said with a shrug. "I'm prepared for everything, and I get to be equine resources, this season. Should be able to get rid of the slackers, before they get out of hoof. And, as usual, I'll be sure to warn you about the worst ones, before they wheedle a job out of Big Mac." "Well now. You're comin' up in the world, ain't cha? Uncle Champagne's trustin' ya with the lives of the temporary workers and all... Say that reminds me why I came to begin with. Y'all see the new pony in town? Purple gal with a dragon?" Applejack asked. "Yes, actually. Lead her to your gate, before she could make a wrong turn, and get herself lost in the Everfree Forest," the brown unicorn replied, nodding. "Said her name was Twilight Sparkle." "Ah like her. A little wordy but Ah can tell she's got a good heart. Turns out she's here on business from the Princess, checkin' up on us here for the Summer Sun festival tomorrow. Guess who found out about her, and wants to roll out the welcome wagon?" "Oh... no... Don't tell me Pinkie Pie is throwing a party for that poor filly... That explains why she gasped and went running off like a madmare," Sour Grapes uttered rubbing a hoof against her temple. "Yep. She's got an open invite to everypony in Ponyville to head to the new gal's place at the old Library. Ah know you're not the party-goin' type but Ah figured Ah'd ask while dropping by for a few refreshments. You know Ah hate goin' to a party empty-hoofed," Applejack replied with a grin. "Don't you have your famous Apple Family Cider to take?" Sour Grapes asked raising an eyebrow, a slight smile playing on her muzzle. "Or would that be too strong for a wordy unicorn who, apparently, is moving into the library?" "Hard to say. The gal can certainly pack away the pie, Ah'll give her that. So you comin' or do Ah gotta hogtie ya?" Grapes looked at Applejack through half-lidded eyes. "You're not giving me a choice, are you?" Sour Grapes uttered deadpan. In fact her pan was so dead it was mummified. "Well no offense, Sour, but you kinda need to get out a little more. No one says you gotta put a lampshade on your head and dance the Pony Pokey on the tables, just drop by have some cake, a drink, say good night and it's all good." "Oh all right," Sour Grapes said with a sigh. ======= After Sour Grapes grabbed a couple of bottles of light wine from the family's personal cellars; and telling her parents where she was headed to, much to their obvious relief, she and Applejack started toward Ponyville. "I'm not that antisocial," Sour Grapes grumbled, as she trotted after Applejack, her ears laid back in agitation. "It's just that grapes, especially wine grapes, take a lot of care." "EKS-AHctly!" Applejack agreed, although her cousin realized there had to be a catch in there. "...and that goes for 'SOUR' Grapes too. You're a hard worker, no doubt about that, and honest to boot but you gotta live a little or you're jest gonna wither on the vine." "All work, and no play, huh?" Sour Grapes uttered, with a smirk. "Yep. Now let's getalong before Pinkie eats all the good cupcakes," Applejack said speeding up to a light canter. "Oh... RIGHT! That bouncy pink superball bakes as well as she eats," Sour Grapes uttered, matching Applejack's turn of speed. They arrived at the Library well before the arrival of Twilight Sparkle, in keeping with Pinkie Pie's desire to have a surprise party. Sour Grapes added her wine to the refreshment table, then stopped to chat with Cheerilee, asking Golden Harvest about her vegetable crop, and even pausing to give her cousin Concord a brief mane-ruffle. "GRAPESIE!" squealed a high-pitched hyperactive voice, a pair of pink forelegs encircling the chocolate brown unicorn's neck. "'Grapesie'?" Sour Grapes asked, looking sidelong at the ever-random Pinkie Pie. "Duh! There's no way I'ma going to call you 'Sour'. That'd be mean! Just 'cause you LOOK sour all the time doesn't mean that you ARE!" "Oh... Kay..." Sour Grapes murmured, looking at Applejack who just shrugged. "I allus call her 'Sour' 'cause it's her name," the orange pony said. "I guess I could go by 'Grapes'. Would probably make it easier on everypony..." Grapes mused. "I'm really really REALLY glad you could make it, Grapesie! You're always working so very hard, and Applejack gets really worried about you, sometimes," Pinkie gleefully said, nuzzling the increasingly annoyed unicorn. "And then I get worried about you too, and decide to throw you a party, but Applejack tells me that your farm isn't a very good place to throw a party, especially since your Dad's refurbishing the barn. Now where WILL you hold parties?" "Uh... I don't know? We don't usually hold parties. Wine tastings, yes, but they're usually pretty sedate," Grapes answered sounding genuinely bewildered. "OH! She's going to be coming soon! I'm SURE she'll enjoy being surprised like this! WHEE!" Pinkie uttered, going off to do something else. "WHY was this such a good idea again?" Grapes asked, looking at Applejack with a very annoyed expression on her face. "Why Miss Sour Grapes. What a pleasant surprise!" came a familiar voice as a blindingly white figure pressed her way gently through the crowd. Rarity was smiling and sipping some greenish drink out of a tall glass as she approached. "You hardly ever leave your vineyard unless it's a professional matter, please say you're joining in on our little soiree out of an interest in the newcomer?" Grapes looked a touch pained. "That... could technically be true, yes... But I can't say that, honestly," Sour Grapes uttered, with a slightly queasy look on her face. "Applejack... strongly suggested I come to the party, one way or another, so I chose willingly, rather than being dragged along by lasso." "Ah yes. Dear Applejack isn't one to make idle threats as well." "You've got that right. I love my cousin, dearly, but she can be... direct," Grapes uttered, choosing her words carefully. "So... how did the fabric come out? I don't come to town that often, so I never got the chance to ask." "Oh it was SPLENDID! I know it was a waste of a perfectly good bottle of wine but once I found an ideal fabric to catch the look of the linen then I was able to duplicate the color in a true Dye and now I have a popular purple-red shade of cloth for my projects... and the young colt who wished for a tuxedo in that color is very happy." "You... bought a whole case, Rarity," Grapes uttered. "Well yes, of course. It was a good vintage, was it not? I wasn't about to begin such a project without a little extra inspiration. And of course it's simply good policy to keep some refreshments on hand for company," Rarity replied airily. "Oh, of COURSE," Grapes uttered, imitating Rarity's mode of speech for her personal amusement. Grapes first met Rarity when she dropped by their Vineyard, to compare fabric samples to their crops. She and a client had very different views as to what 'Grape Purple" should look like so rather than admit defeat she went straight to the source. Grapes herself had taken the unicorn on a personal tour, explaining the history of the vineyard, the many varieties of grapes followed by a modest wine tasting afterwards. When Rarity had spilled a glass of 'Chateau D'Chevelier' upon the white linen tablecloth she just about squealed with glee. Apparently it was JUST the shade of purple she was looking for and after buying a case of wine AND the tablecloth she rushed off home to experiment. "SHE'S COMING! SHE'S COMING!" Pinkie squealed. "Somepony HIT THE LIGHTS!" The lights went out, and for a brief moment, a yellow colored pegasus with a flowing pink make came flying in. "Poor thing," the pegasus said in a soft, sweet voice. "You simply must get into bed." "Yes yes. We'll get RIGHT on that," Twilight's voice said from the door. "Well goodnight!" With that final declaration, the door slammed. "Huh. Rude much?" Spike asked. "Sorry, Spike, but I have to convince the Princess that Nightmare Moon is coming and we're running out of time! I just need to be alone so I can study without a bunch of CRAZY ponies trying make friends all the time. Now where's the light?" With that obvious signal, the lights went on, and all present shouted "SURPRISE!" Sour Grapes was probably the only pony there that noticed that their new arrival was somewhat less than pleased with the party. "Suh-PRIIIIZE! Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for YOU! Were ya surprised? Were you, were you? Huh? Huh? Huh?" "VERY surprised. Libraries are supposed to be quiet," Twilight Sparkle uttered, that annoyed tone coming in again. "That's SILLY! What kind of welcome party would this be if it were quiet? I mean DUH! Boring!" Grapes watched the entire exchange, sympathizing with Twilight a bit, but only a bit. That was one pony who seriously needed to loosen up. And if Sour Grapes was thinking that, then it was a super serious case of being uptight. So Grapes watched Twilight grab a bottle of hot sauce instead of the bottle of Zinfandel that was beside it, pour it into a cup, and proceed to drink the condiment. The brown unicorn would have said something, but between Pinkie's torrent of words, and Grapes' own waning sympathy, she didn't get a word in edgewise. "And NOW you have lots and lots of FRIENDS!" Pinkie concluded, just as the heat of the sauce hit Twilight's tongue. The purple unicorn teared up, her face going a bright scarlet. "Are you alright, sugar-cube?" Applejack asked concerned. Soon after Applejack's question Twilight's mane and tail seemed to ignite on fire, before she went trotting up the stairs. "Hot sauce," Spike uttered, picking up the bottle. Pinkie ooh'ed, and poured some onto a cupcake, and munched it with obvious relish... But thankfully without the actual condiment. "What?" Pinkie uttered, around a mouthful of cupcake. "It's good." Grapes just stood to the side, chuckling at the whole scene, obviously enjoying the schadenfreude "Well, that was entertaining," Grapes chuckled. "Definitely worth the price of admission." "That was just a touch... mean-spirited, don't you think, darling?" Rarity asked raising an eyebrow at Grapes' comment. "I think so, yes. Maybe even more than a touch," Grapes replied with her usual uncompromising honesty. "However there are a multitude of things that I could have said that was much worse, and the entirety of them would not have reflected my actual opinion on the situation." "And what IS your opinion, dear?" Rarity inquired. "That Twilight Sparkle's even more uptight than I am... And that is saying quite a lot." Like many of Pinkie Pie's parties, it continued on full throttle, guest of honor present or not. Twillight must have had a flammable stomach because she didn't emerge from the librarian's quarters for as long as Grapes stayed. Still, her familiar... the little Dragon Spike, was quite the life of the party, even putting on the obligatory lampshade and dancing on a tabletop. Grapes assumed that SOMEONE had to do it and it was better Spike than someone who might too heavy for a table. Against her will she had a fairly good time, ate a little, drank a little and opening an ear easily caught up on the latest gossip. Apparently Twilight truly was Princess Celestia's representative and had apparently approved of all the preparations. And in just a few hours... Grapes had to admire that level of efficiency. As the time came for the start of the Summer Sun Festival, Grapes found herself joining her cousin, and the others, at the Town Hall. Grapes knew she was probably going to be regretting this all-nighter, but it had been fun. It was hard getting into town hall, the place was positively packed mane-to-tail. There must have been every pony in Ponyville here. She settled for a spot near the door and got comfortable. At least the high balcony had been chosen for Princess Celestia's grand appearance. EVERYpony could see it clearly. To be honest Grapes really couldn't give a sack of seeds about the Princess. It's not that she was anti-monarchist, it's just Celestia was the best KIND of monarch, one that stayed out of sight for the most part, letting Ponies get on with their daily ins and outs that kept things running. Out of sight out of mind, doing... well to be honest she wasn't entirely sure what Celestia did other than raise the sun and moon, but taxes were paid, roads were mended, hospitals funded, the Bit remained a stable form of currency and so somewhere this system was working. Then the fertilizer hit the fan. The sun did not come up, the Princess was gone, and in her place, appeared a frightening apparition! And through it all, it seemed that Twilight Sparkle was the only pony that knew what the hay was going on. She was jostled as the panic began to really hit the crowd. It was hard NOT to join on in as the fear spread but somehow she managed to keep her head.. and it was a good thing because she had to get the flank out of the way when that... living Nightmare transformed into a streak of purple and surged through the massive doors. "The Mare in the Moon?" Grapes asked, looking toward the moon, which still hung in the sky. Sure enough, the mare's silhouette was... gone. "But... wasn't that just an old legend?" "Ah don't rightly know. But it looks like Twilight's the only one who knows what's a goin' on," Applejack said, getting to her hooves. "Where are you going?" Grapes asked her cousin. "To see what she knows, an' to help her ifin' I can," Applejack replied. "All right. I'll... see what I can do, here, I guess. Good luck, Applejack. Do NOT get yourself killed," Grapes said adamantly. "Aw, shucks, Cuz, Ah didn't know you cared." "Well SOMEBODY'S got to keep me from becoming a total recluse!" Applejack gave her cousin a quick nuzzle, before galloping off, leaving Grapes to do what she could to help quell the panicked herd. To be honest Grapes awas hardly thrilled at the prospect at eternal night. Her first thought was 'All the crops in Equestria will die without sunlight... unless we start figuring out how to grow and harvest mushrooms on a mass scale in a hurry, everypony... and that was every earth pony, unicorn and pegasi... were gonna starve to death.' She and some other 'upstanding pillars of the community' put their heads together with the remaining Royal Guards and started getting everypony to start collecting lanterns all in the town square. At this moment light was comfort and if nothing else a lot of lanterns together would make an island of hope. It did give Grapes a slight warm feeling to know she was considered an 'upstanding pillar of the community.' She was feeling a bit more accepted, though she was still rather blunt in her dealings. It was a beautiful night... even if it was long past dawn. As she huddled there with the other ponies she could see constellations she had heard of in passing but never thought of looking for before. She tried not to think of the awareness of the kinds of trouble Ponyville and all of Equestria was in and more on the stars overhead when she felt a tug on her tail. Glancing down it was Applebloom looking up at her. "Auntie Sour Grapes? What do you see?" Grapes raised her eyebrows, then smiled down at the youngest Apple. She then began to point out the different constellations, telling their stories to the fascinated Applebloom. Soon enough they dozed off, snugged together, and napped there for quite a while. Even little Applebloom had an all nighter with her family, the eve of the Summer Sun Festival. But this time, there was no summer sun, to celebrate. Some ponies tried to get on with their daily routines... stores burning the midnight oil in the midday acted like beacons in the dark, adding to the town's attempt to stay in the light. Bread was baked, drinks were poured, customers served. Unlike the usual working day there was a morose quiet among the ponies... even when the unsaid was said it was usually as a weak joke. Nopony really could bring themselves to admit that the darkness truly could be eternal. The lamp store gave their lights away for free, charging only for the oil, and regular price as well. Something Grapes would have approved of if she had been awake... even at regular price the oil sales would make them recoup the hit they took from the freebies. Then, suddenly, it happened. The sun rose, warming the land, and waking up Sour Grapes and her little cousin Applebloom. "They... they must have did what-ever-it-was they needed to do," Grapes murmured, looking around, as the townsponies were gleefully blowing out the lanterns, and putting them away. Soon after Pinkie came galloping into town, and organized the biggest party that the town had ever seen. "Applejack is SO going to tell me what happened later," she uttered, as she decided to leave. She was tired of the crowds, and was not in the mood for another Pinkie Pie Party so soon on the heels of the previous one. Anyway, she had farmhooves to supervise, and grapes to harvest. The rest of Equestria, and Ponyville, could obviously take care of itself, now.