DAY 1: Deals with Dragons
The climb up the mountain was as difficult as the last time they went up to deal with the dragon. Rocks that’d fallen from rock slides were currently blocking several of the roads that they originally took and now they needed to find another way around. Rainbow Dash waited anxiously as everypony took their time climbing up the new path that they had found.
“Ugh! Seriously guys. Why don’t you just send me up and let me bring all the treasure down?” Rainbow asked, bored out of her mind.
“There are apparently more directions in the cave, so I’d like to read that before we start taking any treasure out,” Twilight responded. “Also, it’s our responsibility to help Mr. Donkey get up there safely.”
Twilight had recruited Cranky because of his background in being a carrier. He claimed that he could easily haul a thousand pounds given a wheelbarrow, five hundred if he was given large carrying sacks. Time was against them, so they’d need somepony who could carry a whole lot at once.
“Well why don’t I just lift the both of you up there then, huh?” Rainbow Dash went down to Cranky and placed her arms around his gut. She then tried to lift him up, but found that he wouldn’t budge. “What the hay?”
“You think I could carry all that weight without weighing something mighty heavy myself? Missy, read your physics books,” he berated her.
“Besides, we need to clear this path first before we have any ideas of bringing any treasure down. It’d be nearly impossible otherwise.” Twilight hoped that she was correct in choosing this route up the mountain. She used her magic to help smooth out the path they took up. Rainbow dash took the role of scouting ahead to locate where avalanches could occur and if possible get rid of them before anypony else came up. Fluttershy packed some healthy snacks for them on the trip while Pinkie Pie seemed to bring the pep. Rarity had the important task of appraising the worth of the treasure when they got to the top. She’d pick the items that would be the most valuable and then pack them. That way they’d be able to get their money’s worth for the trip and not become overburdened.
“Alright guys. It looks like we’ll be getting to the top just fine,” Rainbow Dash reported. “The path looks pretty smooth, except for this small part here.”
“What’s the problem? Anything scary?” Fluttershy asked.
“Nah. Just looks like you guys might have some trouble with the footing. Looks like the ground isn’t completely safe. It seems to shake on its own for some reason.” Rainbow Dash’s news was troubling. If the ground was shaking on its own, who else knew what would happen?
“Alright everypony, be careful when we get to where Rainbow Dash warned us about, okay? That means you should stop bouncing, Pinkie Pie.”
“Aww,” she moaned, stopping her bounce.
It was another fifteen minutes until they reached the spot that Rainbow Dash had warned them about. The ground started rumbling gently at first, but soon started rumbling and cracking. This didn’t look good to walk on.
“Well, I guess we’ll just have to be careful-“ Twilight said as she took a step forward. The rumbling ground suddenly cracked open, causing it to collapse right before their eyes. The path was still there, but was a good ten yards away. The only way they’d get there was with flying.
“Alright. We can do this. Rainbow Dash, you get Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy, you get Rarity. I’ll be able to teleport across, but at this distance I’d only be able to teleport myself there accurately. We’ll need to figure out something for Cranky later, but right now that’s what we’ve got.” Twilight hoped that she’d find something to solve Cranky’s dilemma soon, or else they’d be stuck without their most important carrier.
The five of them put their plan into action. Twilight teleported over to where the path was stable, making sure that it wouldn’t break for anypony else. Pinkie Pie was lifted over safely, pretending to fly while in the air. Rarity was a bit more nervous however, with Fluttershy dipping up and down. Now all they had to do was find a way to get Cranky across.
“Alright, I think I’ve developed a strategy that could get Cranky across. First, I’ll need to rewind time in a limited field of area. Hopefully I won’t rip apart a piece of reality in the process. Rainbow Dash, I’ll need you to fly as fast as you can while the rift is open, hopefully making you travel faster than light. In the meanwhile-“
“Um, Twilight? I don’t think that’ll be necessary.” Fluttershy pointed over to Cranky Doodle, amazing everypony by what they saw. It appeared that Cranky was walking on the steep mountainside. Twilight took out the protractor she always kept on her and measured the side of the mountain to be an eighty degree angle. Without a word, Cranky managed to reach the ponies and hopped down onto the path, surprising the lot of them.
“My cousin’s a mountain goat,” he explained before trotting on.
The rest of the trip up to the cave was relatively easy after that. Well, there was a scene where everypony almost starved because none of them had had any breakfast since they had been waiting in line all morning for cider and Fluttershy saved them all with her nutritious snacks, but that wasn’t interesting. They’d finally reached the cave and were relieved to see that it was empty.
“Heh, guess that dragon really did leave Equestria. Hope he doesn’t come back anytime soon, or I’ll have to give him the one-two,” said Rainbow Dash pretending to box. She hit her hoof against a rock and suddenly started yelping in pain.
“Huh, what’s that?” Rarity asked. A post appeared to be planted into the ground, some scribbles on it.
“Those must be the rest of the instructions!” Twilight rushed toward the post and tried to figure out the illegible writing. It just occurred to her that the dragon they’d met had claws bigger than a pony, so that was probably why it was probably so difficult for it to write legibly. She read out the instructions on the post before commenting, “Oh, boy.”
“What’s wrong, dear?” Rarity asked, dressed in gold, jewelry, and fine fabrics.
“Well, this post has certain directions for what to do if you take any treasure. Let me read it out.”
I have guy who come here monthly to check treasure. He tell me if any missing. If any missing, I burn down everything. If want to take treasure, take it all and pay with one thousand crysalids. Easier to just take all money and get that many crysalids than to worry about change of exchange rate and cost. However, if partial transactions-
She stopped reading there, her eyes killing her from the bad handwriting. Twilight rubbed her head, hoping to remember what proper spelling and grammar looked like.
“What’s a ‘crysalid’?” Pinkie Pie asked. “Is that some kind of crystal?”
“If it is, I’ve certainly never heard of it. If that’s the case, then it must certainly be rare.” Rarity was certainly concerned about this. “Twilight, have you ever heard of such a thing?”
“I feel like I have before, but all I remember about it is that it’s something dealing with biology. Don’t know what a dragon would want with something that you’d find in a biology book,” Twilight pondered.
“EEP!” Fluttershy yelled. “What if the dragon is asking for some kind of innocent fluffy creature for us to catch so it can eat?”
“I doubt a dragon would want furry creatures as payment for all this treasure. I mean, would that even be that filling?” Twilight told Fluttershy in an attempt to calm her down.
“Hey, I think I’ve heard of something like that before on my travels,” Cranky told the girls. “It was when I was visiting Baltimare and went into their Museum of Biology. It was quite a site. It looked like a giant black egg and was found near the southern border of Equestria. That’s all I can remember.”
“Wait a second,” Twilight found herself scratching her head, feeling as if she were on to something. “That’s it! I remember the details now! A crysalid is a Changeling egg that’s hatched! They’re commonly found in,” she stopped as she realized where this was going, finishing by telling them, “the badlands of the Changeling Hives.”
The group stared out into space as they knew what their next step in the journey would be. It looked like the six of them would be heading south to the fabled Land of Changelings.
“Well brother, this looks spacious, doesn’t it?” asked Flim as he and Flam were shown to their room.
“It sure does, brother. I think this’ll suit us just fine.”
“Glad you’re okay with it. Supper’s in five, so be ready by then, okay?” Applejack told them.
“Wait, you’re preparing us supper?” Flim and Flam asked, both surprised by this act of hospitality.
“Sure. We might not exactly like you fellas intruding in our homes an’ threatening to take it away, but for now you’re guests and we ‘ll treat you as such.” She left the two of them alone to help Granny Smith in the kitchen. The two brothers placed their suitcases on their beds and opened them up, placing their menial belongings in their proper places; toothbrushes in bathrooms, pillows on beds, and lastly a picture of their parents next to their beds.
After washing up, the two brothers went down to the kitchen to find Grannie Smith taking something out of the oven. It looked like apples that had just been baked. The scent of them was mixed with cinnamon and nuts that had been baked inside of them. Neither Flim nor Flam had ever wanted to taste something so badly. It would have to wait until after supper of course.
“Well, lookie who decided to show up,” Grannie Smith greeted the two. “Your spot is over there. Help yourselves. You’re the guests, after all.” On the table was steamed broccoli, diced tomatoes, chopped carrots, and freshly washed lettuce. The food looked absolutely wonderful to Flim and Flam, the two never able to enjoy a fresh looking meal like this while on the road. They knew not to take too much of each item, lest they appear greedy (or at least greedier) and passed the bowls to the right.
“I must say Granny, this looks absolutely scrumptious!” complimented Flam, taking a bite of the carrots. “Was this all produced on the farm?”
“It sure was. Most ponies only think we grow apples, but we actually do a whole lot more. Of course, we actually leave the harvesting of some other produce to the other families around here, but we’re the ones who actually own this property,” Grannie Smith told them.
“Well that’s good for us to know. After all, if Twilight doesn’t manage to get us that money she promised us, we should definitely know about what your current business deals with other businesses are,” Flim explained. The dinner table turned silent at the mention of the current dilemma the Apple Family was stuck in. Seeing that they were getting glares, Flam decided to change the subject.
“Say, what do you fellas usually do with the cider you haven’t sold at the end of the day?”
“We’ve never actually had to save any cider. We always sell out,” explained Applejack.
“Except for your cider!” Apple Bloom blurted out. “Remember when we used that stuff to ward off the Timberwolves with the smell?” The three other Apple Family members quietly smiled and blushed at what she was saying about their guests’ cider. Honestly, they weren’t surprised that something like that had happened. At least the stuff was put to good use.
“Anyway, we now need to figure out how we can keep the stuff from spoiling. WAY too much to let go to waste. It’ll go bad if it isn’t drunk in a couple of days,” Applejack told them. Flim and Flam both rubbed their chins thinking the situation over.
“Brother, are you thinking what I’m thinking?” asked Flim.
“I do believe I am,” replied Flam.
“What’re you two planning?” Applejack asked.
“My brother and I believe we have a solution to your cider preservation problem. If we start on it tonight, we should be finished by afternoon of tomorrow,” Flam told them.
“Well, can you at least tell us what it is? Don’t want you messing with the farm while we still own it,” Grannie Smith asked.
“Let’s just say that it’s a surprise,” Flim told them.
After supper the two brothers immediately went out to the Super Speedy Squeezy Cider 6000 and grabbed their toolboxes. They then went down into the cellar where all the cider was currently being stored and began their project.