//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 Three mares and a jug of cider // Story: Spike the Knight // by vadram //------------------------------// Three mares and a jug of cider After a long day of battling ancient evils Twilight Sparkle and her friends decided to leave for their respective houses and hopefully get a good night’s rest. Fluttershy was the first to leave, excusing herself and saying that she had to go home and feed her animals friends. Twilight left soon after, she had to go home and start writing her letter to princess Celestia, informing her how they managed to deal with the threat. The rest of them - Applejack Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Rarity - looked tired, their appearances surprised no one who knew what kind of day they had. “Hey Applejack,” Rainbow Dash said, “you wouldn’t happen to have anymore... you know... cider, would you?” Applejack sighed. “Sure, c’mon, I’ll take some from ma personal stash. Rarity you want some?” “After a day today? There is nothing I would love more.” “Pinkie you’re coming... too...” Dash looked around for her pink friend, but she was nowhere to be found. “Did anyone see where she went?” Applejack and Rarity shrugged their shoulders. “Ah think somepony, somewhere, started making a pinkie promise,” Applejack said jokingly. They laugh for a bit before the exhaustion kicked in again. “C’mon you girls, time’s a-wastin.” The three slowly and painfully walked to down the path leading towards Sweet Apple Acres. The farm was not that far away from Ponyville, but they all were so tired that it took them a few hours to reach their destination. “I sure hope it is worth it,” Rainbow Dash said dragging her hooves as she walked next to Applejack. “Weren’t you the one who asked me if I still had any?” “Yeah, but I did not think it would be so far away.” The other two turned to looked at her. Upon reaching the red barn that was the Apple’s family home, they went in and Dash slammed the door behind them. “Shush,” Applejack told Rainbow. “Are you trying to wake everypony?” “Sorry,” she replied. The three of them went into the kitchen where Rarity and Rainbow Dash took a seat at the table, while Applejack went into the cellar to get them something to drink. She returned shortly with a large jug of cider on her back. “Hey Dash, there are some cups in the cupboard behind you. Get some will ya.” Applejack said after putting down the jug next to the table “Fine.” Dash was more than a little annoyed that she had to get up and walk some more, even if she just had to move a few feet from the table and back. She walked over to the wooden cabinet, before opening it she stopped to look at a apple pie stood on the counter underneath the cupboard. Finally she opened the cabinet’s door and pulled out three cups. Before returning to the table with the cups she got another good look at the pie. “Maybe later,” she told herself before returning to the table holding the cups with her wings. She placed one of them in front of her, pushed one in front of Rarity and the other in front of Applejack. Applejack poured cider in all of them and emptied hers in one sitting, filling it again. Rainbow also drank hers by the time Rarity even took a sip. “Ahh, that sure hit the spot,” Applejack told them after drinking her second cup. “Sure did,” Rainbow Dash said as she slammed her cup into the table before pushing it towards A.J. asking for a refill. “Another,” she demanded. She received a angry look from Applejack. “Please?” Rainbow added with an embarrassed look on her face. Rarity was taking her time with her drink and enjoying sweet cider. “Have you noticed that things have gotten worse lately?” Rainbow asked after she pushed her cup in front of Applejack, asking for a refill. “I sure have,” Applejack said as she poured the cider into Rainbow’s cup. “I have also noticed that,” Rarity added after she finished drinking her first cup she then politely asked for another. They sat in silence for a while drinking peacefully. Rarity just started on her third, while Applejack and Rainbow Dash have lost count how many they have. The opaque nature of the jug made it impossible for Applejack to tell how much the three of them drank, but from its weight she could guess that it was still enough for another hour, hour and a half of drinking. “I’m just saying that Equestria had a thousand years of peace, and then Nightmare Moon returned then it went all down there,” she restarted the conversation. “Y’all want to know what I reckon?” “Oh please, enlighten us,” Rainbow Dash replied after swallowing a large mouthful of cider. “I was a thinking that there needs to be balance.” “Balance?” Rarity asked, “Yah, balance,” Applejack finished another cup, Dash did the same. “Balance between good and evil.” “What are you talking about? For good and evil to be in balance there would need to be a lot more evil in the world,” Rainbow Dash said pushing her cup in front of Applejack. “Now think about it a bit,” Applejack replied looking at Dash. “Good became greater than evil when princess Cadence became an alicorn, then, a few years later Nightmare Moon returned.” “But we defeated Nightmare Moon using the elements.” Dash was looking back at Applejack. “And then there was more good than evil in the world. A heck of alot more good. Do you remember who we had to deal with next?” “Umm...” Rainbow Dash tried to remember what happened after they fought Nightmare Moon. “Trixie?” she asked. “Trixie?” Applejack could not believe her ears. “Trixie? You can’t be serious?” “What?” Rainbow Dash replied. “She did bring a ursa to town.” “Ah reckon you had a little too much cider.” “Nah.” Dash replied after finishing her drink. “Trixie did not bring the ursa to town. Heck, from what I heard she even tried to fight. She failed miserably but at least she tried. But never mind that, do you remember what big baddie we had to deal with after the whole Nightmare Moon thing?” “Uh, it was so long ago. I can barely remember.” Rainbow was rubbing her head, all this thinking and cider gave her a small headache. She intended to cure it with more cider. “Discord darling,” Rarity told Rainbow, “we fought Discord.” She was by far the most clear headed of the group. “Oh yeah, Discord. He was a hard one to beat.” Rainbow said still holding her cup out and almost begging for Applejack to fill it up with cider. “I reckon he was. If it wouldn’t have been for Twilight I would have still been a stinking liar,” Applejack said, “Rarity have probably married Tom and you...” she looked at Rainbow Dash, “you would have been more or less the same.” “Hey!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, “What is that supposed to mean?” “I thought we agreed we were never to talk about the whole Tom incident again,” Rarity added. Applejack rubbed the back of her head. “Sorry. But we barely won back then,” she tried changing the subject. “Then came Crystalis with her changeling army, then Sombra, each more dangerous than the last.” “But then Discord became good,” Dash mentioned while she looked at her empty cup. “That is debatable,” Rarity said annoyed. “Oh come on Rarity, you can still be mad when he turned all of us into stallions?” Applejack asked. “We are never talking about that. Never.” Rarity slammed her hoof into the table. “Come on, it wasn’t that bad.” “Yeah, I kind of like it,” Rainbow added. The other two looked at her and giggled. “You sure did,” Rarity had a wide smile on her face. “Of course I did, it felt so good, and my wings were so big and strong, and...” she paused and looked at Applejack and Rarity. Applejack was laughing her tail off, while Rarity was just smiling and enjoying herself. Rainbow Dash finally got why the two of them were so amused at her expense. “Hardy har har,” Rainbow said lowering her head onto her forelegs. “Very funny you two, you are such a pair of comedians, I am sure Pinkie would ask for lessons in no time.” “Anyway,” Applejack went on after managing to calm herself down a bit. “Then Twilight became an alicorn.” “And got those gorgeous wings., Rarity added. “And what has happened since then?” Applejack asked as she filled all their cups. “Uh,” Rainbow grunted. “It has been one fight after another.” Her mood lightened when she noticed the fresh cup of cider in front of her. “It sure was. Just look at us, barely a month would pass when we don’t have to use the elements.” “So what you are saying that things will be like this forever?” Rainbow asked after finishing her cup. “Well maybe not forever but for a while at least,” Applejack mentioned after finishing her own drink. “Uh... I think I am going to need another.” “Same here,” Rarity added. “Well bottoms up!” Applejack refilled their cups. “Cheers!” the other two replied. The three drank in silence for a little longer. At first Rarity was taking small sips, but after the other two passed out from exhaustion and a little more cider than they could handle, she pulled the jug in front of her and drank one after another, finally letting go of all the stress she build up across the day. After finishing the whole thing she ate the pie Rainbow was eyeing earlier and decided to join her friends, Applejack’s table never looked, or felt, so comfortable as it did then.