Pony Life

by JetWave Wavewind

Ch. 5

"Rise and shine!"

Called the voice of Red Gala as she pushed me and Lemmy out of bed.

"Oof.." I said as Lemmy landed on top of me.

"Why didn't you just use the bell last time..?" I asked as I sat up, rubbing my head. "Didn't wanna wake the little one." She said, gesturing to Scootaloo. "Oh and Ivey, I think Washy wanted to show you something."

"Ok then." I said as I started heading downstairs. "So, did ya tell him?" I stopped in my tracks as I listened in on Red and Lemmy, wondering who was supposed to tell who what.

"No.. Well, yes.. er, kinda..You see-"

"Girl ya either told him or ya didn't so which is it?" Red said, trying to get a straight answer out of Lemmy.

"I did tell him, but I did it so fast that he didn't understand me.... So when he asked me what I said-"

"There ya are Ive!" I turned to see that Ciderwash had come upstairs to get me. "Hey Washy, what's up?" I asked, trying to hear the tail end of what they were talking about but they had stopped talking.

"Nothin' much, come with me." He said as he beckoned me with his hoof downstairs.

~<(^)>~

I followed him into the basement where we each took a seat at the bar. "So what did you want to show me?" I asked. "How to make cider!" He said enthusiastically. "We got a big order comein' up and Pappy wanted to be certain we had enough of the stuff. And who knows, this might actually getcha yer Cutie Mark!" He said, gesturing to my flank.

I hadn't ever given my Cutie Mark much thought before now, but when Washy said that I might get it in cider making it filled me with curiosity of what it could be. "I already went ahead and picked out the apples we're gonna be usin' and cut out the undesirables while y'all were sleepin'. Now we just gotta squish 'em down, add the yeast, get it all boiled up, and let it sit for a couple of weeks." He said, pointing to two large buckets behind me that were filled with apples. We both jumped into one of the buckets and started stomping them to a pulp. "Keep stompin' till they're all like applesauce!"

"Ok!" I said, already starting to feel some of my buckets contents reach that consistency. "Hey! How did you discover that you were a natural born cider maker?" I asked.

"Us Apples hold a competition every reunion to see who made the best cider that year, sometimes it would be the ones from Manehatten, other times it would be the ones from Sweet Apple Acres, and so on and so forth." He explained as the apples in both our buckets became more and more mushy. "Then one year, Pappy decided I was old enough to get in on it and started teachin' me the ins and outs of makein' the stuff.

"After quite a bit of trial and error, I finally got my recipe down pact! And every year since then when the reunion would come around, I would always have made the best cider! After I got my Cutie Mark fer it, they decided to make me a permanent judge of the contest. Partially because of my know how, but mostly to give the rest of the family a fightin' chance." He added with a chuckle.

After a few hours of stomping, the apples had reached applesauce consistency and we drained them out into buckets with special nozzles that only took the juice. We carried the buckets upstairs to the kitchen and poured them into a tall pot on the stove. "Go ahead and set that thing to a low heat while I get the yeast starter out of the fridge." He said as he walked over to the fridge. I set the stove to its lowest setting and Washy came back with what looked like a jar of apple cider.

"What's that?"

"That is the yeast starter I made last night, very important part of making hard cider." He said as he poured it into the pot. "Ah, so what now?" I asked. "Can you fly up there and get the brown sugar?" He asked, pointing up to a shelf above the stove. "Sure can!" I said as I flew up and grabbed the bag off the shelf. Oof, as soon as I get done helping Ciderwash; I need to go out and stretch my wings, they're starting to get stiff. "Thankya kindly." He said as I handed him the bag.

"Is it really ok to add that much?" I asked when he poured the whole bag in. "Of course, it's only a two pound bag and that's exactly the amount I need." Only two pounds?? Wow, I REALLY need to work out my wings. "Is there anything else we need to add to it?"

"Nope, just gotta let this simmer for a bit longer and then we'll get the rest of the bucket's down in the basement up here."

"Ok."

~<(^)>~

After a few more trips we made enough hard cider to fill five barrels and called it a day. "Not bad, Ive. This ain't nowhere near the amount I'll have to make to fill that order once y'all have gone down to Ponyville but I'll make sure to keep one of these here barrels off to the side to keep fer ya ifn ya ever head back fer a visit." He said as he sat down in at the table.

"Thanks Washy, maybe by then I'll be able to handle the hard stuff." I said, also taking a seat. "What time does the train station close?"

"'bout an hour, why?"

"I told Lemmy that we'd go by there today so we could figure out what we were going to do and where we were going to stay when we got to Ponyville."

"I'm sure the apples over at Sweet Apple Acres would let y'all stay with 'em. Even though they got a new foal."

"That would be nice, but I wouldn't want to impose on them when they're trying to raise a foal of their own by making them have to watch over two orphans and their foal." I said, causing him to smirk. "What's so funny?"

"Sorry, I shouldn't laugh, but you threes whole scenario is just a little funny."

"Heheh, I suppose it is kinda funny when you think about it." I said, starting to chuckle a bit myself. "Eeyoww!" We heard Apple Strudel cry out from upstairs. "Pappy?" Washy called as we jumped up and ran upstairs. "You alright? What happened?" He asked as went into the room he and Scootaloo were playing in.

"I'm fine, the lil filly jus' got me alil too hard there."

"Ivowy!" She said as she ran up and hugged my leg. "Pway! Ivowy! Pway!" She said as she looked up at me. "I think somepony missed ya while you were out buckin' apples yesterday." Ciderwash said with chuckle.

"Heheh, I think you're right." I said as I scooped Scootaloo up in my arms. "Okie dokie then Scoots, what do you wanna play?"

"Pwincess wescue!!"

"Pwincess-bah! I mean, Princess Rescue? Ok then princess, what are we gonna be rescuing you from?"

"Not me, silwy! I'm da bwave knight dat wescues da pwincess!"

"You're the brave knight eh?" I asked, which she gave a nod to. "Then who's the princess?"

"Hehe, you awe!" She said, pointing at me.

"Me?! Alright then, what are you going to be saving me from?"

"Da evil dwagon!" She said, pointing at Apple Strudel.

"That's me!" He said with a roar.

"Ok then," I said as I went behind the other side of the bed that Apple Strudel was on. "Oh no! A dragon! Save me Brave Knight Scootaloo!!"

"No! No! No! You gotta put on da pwincess hat!" She said, looking cross at me.

"The princess hat?" I asked. She pointed to a paper crown that was sitting on the nightstand beside me.

"Am I a pretty princess now?" I asked as I put the crown on. "Yes!" She said, Ciderwash giggling the whole time. "Ok then! ahem, Oh no! A dragon! Save me Brave Knight Scootaloo!!" I cried out as Apple Strudel let out a roar. "I need my twusty steed!" She called out, looking over at Ciderwash. "Who? Me?" He asked to no pony in particular.

"C'mon now 'trusty steed' you want to save the pretty princess don't you?" I asked in a mocking tone. He groaned and then whinnied as he threw his fore hooves in the air and kneeled down for Scootaloo to get on his back. "To battle!" She cried as Ciderwash kicked his hooves up and charged at Apple Strudel who roared in response.

~<(^)>~

We played like this for another two hours when Red and Lemmy got back from the market. "Well what do we have here?" Red said as she walked in to see what all of the commotion was upstairs. We had all traded rolls multiple times before they got back. Right now, I was the dragon, Scootaloo was the Princess, Ciderwash was the brave knight, and Apple Strudel was the trusty steed. "Wemmy!" Scootaloo cried when she saw Lemmy come up behind Red. She jumped off the bed and hugged Lemmy's leg. "Come pway! You can be da pwincess next! It was gonna be Ivowys tuwn to be da bwave knight next also." She tried to whisper but ended up just talking at normal volume.

This caused Lemmy to blush and Red to fall out laughing. "Go ahead Lemmy, let your brave knight rescue you." She said after she recovered from her laughing fit. "I-A-actually, i-isn't it about time for supper?!" She asked quickly, her blush growing all the while. "Awwww.." Scootaloo whined.

"I'll go ahead and get supper started. Washy, you come down and help me. The rest of y'all can keep playin' till it's ready." Apple Strudel said, causing both Scootaloo and Ciderwash to brighten up. "Ok Pappy!"

"Yaaay!" Scootaloo cheered as she put the princess hat on Lemmy. "You can be da evil dwagon!" She said, pointing to Red Gala. "Alrighty then!" She said as she roared and scooped Lemmy up on her back and jumped up on the bed. "Y'all'll never see yer pretty princess again!" She said with another roar. "EEEP! HELP! SAVE ME IVORY BLOSSOM!!" She cried.

"Do not worry fair maiden! I shall save thee! Come trusty steed Scootaloo!!" I cried. Scootaloo whinnied and jumped on my back. "Have at thee foul beast!" I cried as I jumped up on the bed also. Red let out a roar as Scootaloo jumped off my back and tackled her to the bed. I grabbed Lemmy and jumped over to the other bed that we were using as the safe castle. "You're safe now, milady."

"T-thank you, n-noble knight." She said with a blush. "No! If the brave knight kisses her, then his dragon slaying powers will transfer over to her and I will never be able to capture another princess again!!" Red cried out, causing me and Lemmy to blush. "Yeah! You have to kiss her bwave knight! You must kiss you'we pwincess!!" Scootaloo chimmed in, causing our blushes to grow brighter.

"Y-you don't have to, if you don't want to...." Lemmy said, almost in a whisper. "Yes he does!~" Red and Scootaloo chirped. "C'mon Ivowy, you gotta kiss her!" Scootaloo said as she started pushing us closer together. "I don't think she's going to relent anytime soon, you wanna go ahead and do it?" I asked. "O-ok.." She said, a bit of a smile coming to her face.

I put my hooves around her and she squeaked and closed her eyes. I could swear her blush was growing brighter and brighter as I got closer to her face. Just when our lips were about to meet, and Scootaloo and Red were watching us like little school girls from the other bed; Ciderwash burst in.

"Soups on!" We all turned and looked at him as he went back downstairs. "Yay!!" Scootaloo cried as she ran off to the kitchen. "Wait Scootaloo, don't run!" I called as I let go of Lemmy and flew after her. But something stopped me mid flight and I landed right before the doorway. I looked back to see that Lemmy was hanging her head and looking away from the door. "You ok?" I asked, as I walked back to her and put my hoof on her shoulder.

She squeaked and looked back up at me. "Y-yeah, I'm just.." She sighed. "Exhausted.."

"Well ya can't go to bed yet, you have to eat something to keep your strength up." I said as I hefted her onto my back, causing her to squeak again. Y'know, it's really kinda cute when she does that. "I'll carry you down there if I have to."

"N-no! I'm fine!! Really!" She said as she scrambled off my back, face as red as an apple. I chuckled as she walked by. "Go on down, I still have to wash up." Red Gala said as she got off the bed. I jumped when she spoke up, had I really forgotten she was there? She had been so quiet.. "R-right.." I said as I headed downstairs.

~<(^)>~

"'bout time ya got down here! Take a seat." Ciderwash said as I came downstairs. We were having hay bacon and apple muffins for supper tonight. "Breakfast for dinner?" I asked as I sat down by Lemmy, who had already gotten Scootaloo a plateful. "What's wrong with that?" Red Gala said as she came downstairs behind me. "Nothing really, just a bit odd I guess." I said as I grabbed a hoof full of hay and put it on my plate. "Oh! Did you fix that radiator?" I asked.

"Sure did, that thing shouldn't be breakin' anytime soon." She said proudly. "Good, we wouldn't want it breakin' again while our guests are here now would we." Apple Strudel said, shooting a look at Red Gala that she responded to with a weak chuckle and scratching the back of her head. "Was the radiator really that important?" I asked myself as I dug into my bacon.

We all finished around the same time and went to bed after we finished the dishes. I buried myself in the sheets of my big bed and quickly fell to sleep. Sometime in the night I thought I heard hoofsteps in my room but I was too tired to open my eyes to see who it was before they were gone and I dozed off again.

Author's Note:

Ladies and gentlecolts! Ivory Blossom's thick skull is finally starting to give way!! Will he finally see what is obviously going on in front of him?? Maybe. But at this rate, it may be awhile.