The Great Cider Quest

by WriterWings

Chapter 2: For The Love Of Cider

“What in tarnation d’you mean it’s all gone?!?” Applejack practically screamed, as she frantically sped towards Sweet Apple Acres with her sister. “But we just started selling ‘em!”

“The cellar’s just… empty! Everything’s gone, barrels and all!” Apple Bloom yelled back in a panic. They took a left, turning into the pathway leading straight to their farm. “Come see for yourself!”

As they arrived at their cellar, they were greeted by their older brother Big McIntosh, who was pacing the floor in distress as he mumbled to himself in confusion. He noticed them, pointing a hoof at the barren cellar. “Eeeyup.”

“Land sakes!” Applejack rubbed her temples in bewilderment. “What in Equestria just happened?! Where’s all our cider?!” Then coming to a sudden realisation, her eyes widened into perfect circles.

“What in tarnation are we gonna do about the Cider Festival?!?”

She could see the nightmare happening right before her very eyes. Somepony, somehow… must’ve stolen all their cider. Customers would arrive at Sweet Apple Acres, ask for their cider… and when their demands were refused, they’d spread the word about it! The Cider Festival — without any cider? The Apple family would lose their sales, their reputation — they could even lose the whole of Sweet Apple Acres!

“Look, sis!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. She pointed to a trail of hoof prints leading out of the barn door. “Those must belong to the thief!”

Applejack inched closer to the trail. The hoof prints were unnaturally light for a pony; most would be heavily inset into the ground — perhaps they belonged to a foal. But what foal would be able to steal so much cider in one go? And why?

Apple Bloom huffed in disgust. “Why, I bet my boots it was Diamond Tiara who took the cider! I knew she was still against us Cutie Mark Crusaders!” She paced the ground in a fury, kicking up dust into the air. “I can’t wait to give her a piece of my — ”

“Now, now, sugarcube,” Applejack chided. “We can’t just accuse anypony just yet.” She clenched her teeth. “But whoever that somepony is…”

She grimaced. Whoever had stolen their cider was in for it. The Apples were Ponyville’s most dependable families. She wasn’t going to let anypony take that away from them.

Besides, nopony steals cider and gets away with it. “I’ll just have to track that thieving vermin down.” She had to do this. For the Apples. For Ponyville.

For the love of cider.

———————————————————————————————————————

“But nopony’s strong enough to carry 50 barrels of cider at once, let alone manage to do it sneakily!” Twilight exclaimed to a frustrated Applejack, who was pacing up and down the elegant crystalline hallways of the Castle of Friendship.

“But you must know somepony!” Applejack pleaded. “You’re Princess Twilight Sparkle. You know everything! You must have some clue as to who did it!”

“I’m sorry,” Twilight shook her head. “Perhaps we could ask the Mayor; she’s bound to know — ”

“NO! WE CAN’T!” Applejack yelled, a bit too loudly. Noticing Twilight’s shocked expression, she sighed. “Sorry, Twi. I just can’t let anypony else know that we don’t have any cider. Think of all the reputation Sweet Apple Acres would lose if anypony found out we couldn’t provide enough cider during the Cider Festival!”

“But I’m sure everypony would understand…” Twilight began, then decided otherwise. She knew how important Sweet Apple Acres was to her friend. “Okay, fine. But there simply isn’t anypony who could do that with just pure muscle.”

Then she paused. Her face lit up. “Wait. I’ve got it!”

“You have? Tell me!”

Twilight grinned in delight. “How did I not think of this before? It was so blatantly obvious!”

“Tell me then!”

“I can’t believe it took me so long! Anypony could have just — ”

“WHAT IN TARNATION IS IT?!?” Applejack bellowed, so loudly that behind her, a glass vase shattered into a million tiny shards.

Twilight ignored the broken vase, as her trusty assistant Spike hurried over to the mess to clear up the fragments. “Nopony could be strong enough to lift so many barrels of cider at once on their own. Not with just sheer strength. They’d have to use…”

Applejack quickly caught on, her face also lighting up. “Magic! Land sakes — our thief is a unicorn!”

“Precisely! Now all you have to do is find a particularly lightweight unicorn, perhaps a foal, or…”

Twilight paused again, realising she was talking to nopony. Applejack was way ahead of her, having already left the castle, leaving the castle doors wide open in her wake.

“A unicorn, huh?” Applejack repeated to herself under her breath. “As Celestia is my witness, I will find that cider-stealing pony — goodness knows who it could be!”

———————————————————————————————————————

Rainbow Dash sauntered merrily towards Sweet Apple Acres, tossing a bag of bits up and down in her hooves. “Oh, sweet, sweet, cider!” She sighed, licking her lips at the thought of the delicious drink. Surely her friend Applejack was sure to give her a good discount!

She rapped on the barn door excitedly, a cheesy smile on her face as Big McIntosh opened it slowly.

“Hey, Big Mac! Is Applejack home?”

“Nope.”

Rainbow’s heart sank ever so slightly. “I see. Any idea when she’ll be home?”

“Nope.”

“You really don’t talk much, do ya?”

“Nnnnnope.” Big Mac shook his head.

Rainbow sighed. “Well, could I at least have a mug of fresh cider? I’m parched.” Big McIntosh’s eyes widened to the size of apples.

“NOPE!” He shook his head even more vigorously. If the public found out there was no more cider during the Cider Festival… who knew what terrible things would ensue?

Rainbow Dash frowned. “Uh, Big Mac? It’s the annual Cider Festival. And I want my cider. I need my cider. What in Equestria is going on?” She stopped suddenly, her eyes widening slowly. “Y-you haven’t sold out already… have you?”

Big Mac groaned to himself. Applejack had better come back home soon, or he would have a mob on his hooves. But he couldn’t just stay quiet forever.

He sighed. “Eeeyup.”

[TO BE CONTINUED...]