The Price of Cider

by StormLuna

A Larger Sweet Apple Acres

It was a calm day in Ponyville. The skies were sunny, the wind was calm and nothing was out of the ordinary. Over at Sweet Apple Acres Applejack and Big Mac were getting ready to start apple bucking as cider season was not too far away.

Applejack looked over at her brother and said, "You ready for another apple bucking season Big Mac?"

Big Mac replied, "Yep!"

Applejack said, "Well let's get to it!"

After about an hour Applejack saw a figure flying in from the west. She initially though ti was Celestia coming to town to see Twilight but she very quickly noticed that the figure was darker, that it was Princess Luna. She thought to herself, "Now what the hay would Luna be doing up at this time of day?"

Luna landed in front of her and asked, "Hello dear Applejack, how is your day treating you?"

Applejack replied, "Well it's going good. Just bucking apples to get ready for cider season. I want to make sure that we will have enough cider for everypony this year without having to engage in a cider making competition."

Luna asked, "Applejack, have you ever wished that you had a larger orchard?"

Applejack replied, "Well I never really thought about it."

Granny Smith saw the two talking and walked over to join the conversation. "Howdy Princess Luna!" said Granny Smith "So what brings you here today?"

Luna replied, "Well I am wondering if the Apple Family would be interested in expanding their borders and increasing the size of their orchard. You guys grow the best apples in Equestria and your cider is the best in Equestria."

Applejack said, "Well shucks your Majesty, I don't know if I would go that far."

Luna presented to them a proposal that would allow them to expand Sweet Apple Acres and increase the size of their orchard significantly. Granny Smith looked at Luna with an odd look and asked, "That seems nice your Majesty but how are we supposed to afford all that extra land? We aren't wealthy you know!"

Luna replied, "There is a lot of empty land off to the west of your farm, which is owned by the country and I am going to give it to you guys free of charge. I believe that with that much more room for orchards, not only would you have enough apples and cider for Ponyville, but all of Equestria could taste how good your apples and cider are."

Applejack asked, "Will there be any sort of extra taxes on this? Despite us being friends, Celestia does still make us pay property taxes. Speaking of Celestia, does she approve of you just giving us that land?"

Luna replied, "Celestia has been tied up in so many things and traveling abroad so much she probably wouldn't even notice. Oh, and regarding the taxes, I am designating Sweet Apple Acres as tax exempt. I think of you as a friend and a friend of royalty should not be paying taxes. So what do you think, would you want to increase the size of the farm free of charge?"

Applejack and Granny Smith huddled together to discuss things for a minute. Granny Smith said, "You know Applejack, this just sounds too good to be true. You don't think she is trying to set us up for anything do you?"

Applejack replied, "Granny, I know you get paranoid but I know Luna very well and she is the last pony that would try to stab us in the back."

Granny nodded and they walked up to Luna. Applejack replied, "Yes your Majesty, we would love to increase the size of the farm. It might be a couple of years until the seeds we plant will turn into apple trees that can produce fruit."

Luna smiled and said, "Don't worry Applejack, I know of a spell that will cause the trees to grow to full size immediately, all you have to do is plant the seeds and I can take care of things."

Granny Smith looked kind of suspicious as she did not trust magic being used in any part of the apple growing process but Applejack had a good feeling about this. She knew that if they could grow more apples and make more cider, that perhaps they could finally get Granny's hip fixed.

Applejack replied, "Alright your Majesty. I will gather the seeds and my brother and I will go out and plant the seeds."

Luna interrupted, "I can help you as well Applejack. Don't tell Twilight or any of the rest of your friends this, but out of all of you, you are my favorite because you have the strongest work ethic and are the most down to earth."

Applejack blushed and said, "Why thank you your Majesty. You are my favorite of all of Equestria's royalty as well."

That afternoon Applejack, Big Mac and Luna built the fence out to the property line of the increased farm and then planted two thousand seeds, which Luna used her magic to have grow into full grown apple trees with apples ready to harvest on them.

Applejack looked in amazement and said, "Thank you your Majesty but just one question, how the hay are Big Mac and I supposed to buck our way through this large of an orchard?"

Luna replied, "If you would not be opposed to it I will send my royal guard down here to help you harvest them or if you wish, I could levitate the apples off of the trees for you."

Applejack said, "Well I appreciate your offer to levitate them but I would prefer if you sent your royal guard down to help us out. I hope that won't inconvenience you any?"

Luna replied, "It won't convenience me one bit! I would not have offered them for apple bucking if it would have."

Before Luna headed back up to Canterlot Applejack asked, "Your Majesty, I am wondering, how are we going to be able to go around Equestria to sell that much cider? We don't even have enough barrels for that much of it."

Luna replied, "I have contacted the Equestrian Fruit Beverage Company already. I can provide plenty of extra barrels and the company will be paying you market value for each barrel of cider."

Applejack had an unsure look on her face and asked, "And what is the market value for a barrel of cider?"

Luna replied, "Right now it is 120 bits per barrel. The price does fluctuate because it is a commodity that trades on the Manehattan Commodities Exchange. Don't worry, the price of cider generally varies just within a 115-130 bits per barrel price so you shouldn't worry about losing money."

Applejack asked, "Alright your Majesty, when can we expect those barrels and when can we expect a visit from the head of the beverage company?"

Luna replied, "I will have 5,000 barrels shipped to Ponyville tomorrow on the freight train. Given the size of your orchard now, that should be enough for you to put all your cider in and you will have extra barrels after that. After you have your first batch shipped out, I will have more barrels shipped to you as I am not sure how long it will take you to get those barrels back after they have been washed out and ready to re-use."

Applejack said, "Wow your Majesty, you really have this planned out don't you?"

Luna replied, "Yes, I do. After all, I think everypony should be able to taste your apples and cider. I am heading back to Canterlot now. Within a few hours six of my royal guards should arrive to assist you in apple bucking. If you see bat ponies flying in, don't worry or be scared because my royal guard consists of bat ponies."

Applejack said, "Alright your Majesty and thanks again!"

Luna nodded and sped off towards Canterlot. Applejack said to Granny Smith, "Wow, I didn't know cider was that expensive of a commodity. We could have been making plenty of money a long time ago."

Granny replied, "Well as long as we don't sacrifice our cider's quality, I am fine with it. But if our quality starts to go down, we are going back to being a small farm, you got that Applejack?"

Applejack said, "Ok Granny, but you do know that if this works, we will be able to help our relatives make profits on their own farms as well."

Granny grunted but she knew that Applejack spoke the truth. What they didn't know is that two former foes of theirs would soon resurface and make life a nightmare for every cider maker in Equestria.

Comments

[Artist]

In the long description I see a few grammar mistakes.

And I’m not really sure about the pacing of this story, it’s a little bit fast and you are telling rather than showing us what’s going on.

Where are they?.

Are they at sweet apple acres?

Why is princess Luna there?

Also, using adjectives to describe a characters actions are important, I am learning about adjectives myself, so I can’t give you any help there, but maybe you could ask an editor to look over it again.