Evenfall

by Yinglung

Chapter 21 – Bittersweet Beverage

A lone figure was walking into the town of Ponyville. He was hauling a giant cart of assorted items and mementos. Each step of his was tired and labored, as if it carried every weight of his trotting across Equestria.

“Welcome to Ponyville, my friend!”

The gamboge-colored donkey slowly raised his head up. He saw a smiling pink pony right in front of him, directly in his path.

“I know why you’re here.” Pinkie Pie grinned mysteriously.

The donkey momentarily widened his eyes, but then huffed. “Take a hike, pink pony. You’re in my way.”

The pink pony sighed. “I see you don’t believe me. Matilda!”

A female dark amber donkey with a beautifully coiffed mane walked out from the alley. The donkeys both gasped at the sight of their long lost love.

“It’s really him! Thank you Pinkie!” Matilda said.

“You’re welcome. A friend in need is a friend indeed!” Pinkie Pie smiled, watching the donkeys embracing each other lovingly.

“Well, my job’s done. There’s no use with ol’ Pinkie being a fifth leg between our lovey-dovey donkeys.”

The pink mare turned, but she was stopped by a call from the male donkey.

“Wait… how do you know? And what’s your name?”

“I know everyone in the Ponyville, plus I’m smart and quick!” Pinkie Pie grinned. “I’m Pinkie Pie. If you and Matilda decided to tie the knot, remember to find me at the Sugarcube Corner. I’m the resident party specialist!”

The donkey blushed at the idea of marrying his love, and he quietly said. “I’m Cranky Doodle Donkey… Thank you.”

“Nito.”
“Welcome.”

Pinkie smilingly nodded, and then went on her way again.

“… What a strange pony.” Cranky Doodle Donkey muttered. “Did she know the Donkey tongue too?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised, Doodle.” Matilda smiled. “Pinkie does what Pinkie does.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pinkie Pie cantered across the flourishing town of Ponyville. The bright sun shone upon the new road paved with flat quarried sett stone, which replaced the previous mix of mud and cobblestone. The new express road now directly connected the south-east, where the fields of the Sweet Apple Acres sprawled at the other side of the Lower Saddle River, to the north-west, where the roads and rails to Canterlot were situated.

Ponyville was gradually transforming into a respectable mid-sized town, instead of the rural settlement that the lofty Canterlot ponies remembered from some years ago.

While the creeping mechanization brought discontent among the largely artisanal and nature-loving population, the Apples tried to mitigate it to the best they could by making a large part of their fund available for public projects and retraining. The city had also used the increased tax revenue generated by the influx of ponies to enact more public works.

All open sewers within city limits were covered, and more street lightings were added. The Mayor Mare even floated the idea of a street car system, but there was no taker so far. Twilight and her friends were simply way too busy with the projects on their hooves.

Pinkie Pie arrived at the bridge across the river, but it was folded up. A fleet of ships were sailing downstream, and all of them bore the distinctive logo of three azure diamonds arranged as a hexagon. However, they did not carry gems from the Raritan mine, but assorted metal ores, quarried stones and coals from other mines along the river.

The Apples had at least some initial assets, but Rarity started from much less. However, the white unicorn seemed to be the quintessential self-made mare, as she rapidly turned the initial capital from Twilight’s dividends into a variety of growing mining businesses, surpassing even the Apples in scale.

Gems were mainly transported towards the big cities, while metals were brought downstream to the metal foundry and steel mill at the outskirts of the town. All these fueled the heart of the expanding industry in Ponyville.

Strangely enough, fashion design seemed to have become Rarity’s side job, in between visits to factories and mines. She more than once stated her displeasure at losing time for designing clothes, but she also showed no sign of abandoning her new found sense of industry. She did try to foray into textile business, which was more aligned with her clothes-making passion. However, due to a lack of raw resources, she was forced to focus on gems and ores, which were readily available on the Saddle plains.

Pinkie Pie could still remember the time Rarity eagerly brought all of them to visit Raritan, which ballooned into existence that it had at least a fifth of Ponyville’s population. The settlement, however, remained unincorporated so far. This was probably because of some noble pony’s resistance regarding giving a charter to a township where a plurality of the population was non-ponies—the diamond dogs who were working in the mines.

Pinkie Pie lowered the bridge after the fleet had passed, then she crossed the bridge and passed through the house and workshop of the Flim Flam Brothers, where she and Twilight used to store and tinker with the larger machineries. Finally, she reached a newly built and smartly painted wooden building, where a number of ponies were already gathering.

“Pinkie, you finally come.” Fluttershy smiled.

“I—”

Photo Instant immediately snapped a shot of Pinkie, momentarily caused the pink pony to freeze.

Pinkie Pie broke into a hearty chuckle. “Heheh! I’m still not quite used to the concept of media attention! Fluttershy, I’m going to go inside and check it out first, and then we can do the press stuff?”

“Oh no.” Fluttershy said. “Honest Heart will be the one asking questions, if any. Since we know each other too well, it will be more neutral if she does it.”

“Okay!” Pinkie Pie nodded. She walked into the manufactory. At the entrance, she took and wore a white jacket and a pair of goggles, the she stepped inside the moderately-sized room, where there were a few big metal cylinders of churning liquids.

“Hey Pinkie, what take you so long?”

“Just went to reunite someone in love, Applejack.” Pinkie Pie grinned.

“Oho. So, how’s it goin’ in the new factory?” Applejack asked.

“Yeah,” Mr. Cake walked out from behind one of the giant metal cylinders. “How do all these giant metal tubes work? You’re the one setting them up.”

Pinkie Pie inhaled and then explained. “You see, the first tank stores the filtered water from the river nearby. The second tank stores apple juice from the Sweet Apple Acres. The third tank stores sugar syrup from Sugarcube Corner. The fourth tank stores the acid gas from Applejack’s wineries. And then they all mix together in the fifth tank!”

“Isn’t it great, Pinkie?” Mr. Cake smiled. “You finally have a business of your own.”

“Hey, you and Applejack own this factory too! I just run the place.” Pinkie Pie smiled. “Besides, I’d still help out in the Sugarcube Corner to earn my keep. Besides, I love all the sweets that I can eat!”

Mr. Cake laughed. But then, Fluttershy entered the manufactory and called to Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie, your spokes…minotaur has arrived.”

“Oh!” Pinkie Pie shot up. “We must go immediately then! He isn’t the type of minotaur who has a lot of patience. Kind of like me, hehe! Except I’m not a minotaur of course!”

They both walked to the entrance of the manufactory, and somepony had already put up a giant piece of ribbon across the front. With the raising of camera, Pinkie Pie took out a comically large scissor from somewhere and cut it with all her might, earning a round of applause.

Pinkie then walked to the arm-crossing minotaur at the side. “Hi, Mr. Iron Will! Thank you again for agreeing to represent our newest super-duper energy drink!”

“Iron Will salutes his puffy pink pony pal!” Iron Will boomed. “The name of Iron Will alone is going to electrify anyone who drinks your… uh.”

“Apple Nova.” Pinkie grinned.

“Yes! Apple Nova put zip into your head like Iron Will put backbone into your back!”

“Wow, do you think that up by yourself? It’s brilliant!” Pinkie Pie gasped aloud and praised.

“Of course! Iron Will is a professional speaker!” Iron Will proudly huffed.

“Oopsie!” Pinkie Pie looked at the waiting crowd. “It’s time for the press conference. Come!”

The duo moved onto the raised platform, where Applejack and Mr. Cake were already standing and waiting. After another round of photo taking, Iron Will stepped forth and began his usual forceful and powerful pitch for the new energy soft drink. Pinkie then continued with some congratulatory words of her own.

Just when Pinkie Pie thought the event was about to conclude, Honest Heart from the audience suddenly raised her hoof to indicate that she had questions.

“Yes? The lady with white coat.” Pinkie Pie smiled.

“I’m Honest Heart from the Ponyville Mirror. First, there has been accusations that the rapid industrial expansion led by you and your friends had disturbed the peace of Ponyville and polluted the environment. How do you respond to these accusations?”

Pinkie Pie widened her eyes and silently gasped, as the audience began to chatter. Wasn’t Ponyville Mirror sort of ‘on their side’? She knew that the staff had almost free rein in terms of journalistic freedom, but that kind of questioning was like biting the hooves that were feeding them.

Sensing Pinkie Pie’s astonishment and hesitation, Applejack walked forth to the podium. “Thank you for your question, Miss Honest Hearts. Ah like honest questions and honest ponies, so Ah’ll also be honest here. Ah don’t think we’re disturbin’ the peace in Ponyville. Rather, we’re bringin’ much needed progress to a town so close to the capital and yet remain sorely underdeveloped. I know somepony dislike the fracas caused by ponies comin’ and settlin’ here, but ain’t we all immigrants? They have a shot at a good life as much as we do.”

“More ponies mean more fun!” Pinkie Pie smilingly added.

“Right.” Applejack said. “As for impact on the environment, there ain’t no ponies more concerned with that than me. Our farms surround the town, and good delicious apples depend on good clean water. Now, what Ah said doesn’t represent Rarity or her company, and Ah’m not pointin’ hooves either. Mining does produce a lot of foul water, but as far as Ah know, Rarity had been puttin’ a great lot o’ what she earned into treatin’ them, an’ at least we at the downstream haven’t noticed anything wrong with the water yet. If you want to know more, you should ask Rarity herself.”

“Another question. Some other business owners in town have accused you and your friends of collusion and stifling competition. Do you think this is unfair and if so, why?”

This caused even more uproar in the audience. Applejack, however, remained composed. “This is a very serious accusation, but it’s completely false. It’s true that Ah and mah friends often have stakes in each other’s businesses, but we’ve never directly competed against any existin’ business in town. Also, we run businesses fair and square, and we never try to exploit ponies for benefits.”

“But according to record, apple price was once raised to five hundred bits during cider sales. And some witnesses claimed that you have used unfair supra-competitive price to force out the Flim Flam Brothers and coerce them into working for you. Is any of these true?”

“No, definitely not.” Applejack said. “Flim Flam Brothers once engaged in various unethical business practices, and had then been wanted by the sheriff in Appleloosa. We were intent on stoppin’ and rehabilitatin’ them. The price matter was just a way we showed ‘em the harm they caused to their victims by payin’ them back with their own coins. We’ve since then reached an agreement with the authorities and the brothers themselves to resolve the matters and pay back all the victims. Ah’m proud to say that Flim Flam Brothers are now two of the upright members of the Ponyville society.”

Applejack then deeply inhaled. “Ah think this might not be an appropriate place to keep discussin’ these, since this is after all the openin’ of Pinkie’s soft drink factory. We should continue the interview in an alternate venue if you wish.”

Pinkie Pie was simply amazed by the careful and meticulous answering that seemed to diffuse all the hard questions thrown forth by Honest Heart. The crowd seemed to be largely satisfied as well.

As the promotions continued on stage, Pinkie Pie stepped down and looked for Fluttershy, who was simply standing aside and observing.

Seeing Pinkie Pie’s questioning gaze, Fluttershy spoke up. “… I know what you want to ask.”

Pinkie Pie nodded. Fluttershy then said, “When I took up the job from Twilight, I want to be somepony who speak up for the weak, the needy and those who are without voice in this society. But I discovered that in order to do so, you need to stand strong and be not afraid. Now that you girls have become the town’s magnates, there’s more reason for us to challenge your conscience and help other ponies speak up if they find something disagreeable with you.”

“Even if those accusations are flimsy at best?” Pinkie Pie asked with doubt.

“We give the voiceless a platform, it’s just that.” Fluttershy said. “It’s very difficult, because all of you are such dear good friends. But especially because you’re my friends, I have more reason to hold firm when it comes to making a stand against you.”

Pinkie Pie remained silent for a while, and then lightly smiled. “… I see. Keep up the good work then.”

Fluttershy gasped and covered her mouth. She didn’t expect Pinkie Pie to accept her somewhat confrontational editorial approach that easily.

“Don’t be too surprised, Fluttershy.” Pinkie Pie chuckled. “We know we need that guiding light in our lives. Twilight needs that guiding light in her life. Or else we might get lost in our thoughts and ambition.”