Chapter 10 - October
It took a couple of weeks, but life in Equestria returned to normal. At this point cleaning up after a big villain incident had almost become routine. In this case though, the only real work that needed doing was repairing the damage to Canterlot Castle, which included the throne room being remodelled for the third time. I have to feel sorry for the architect of the first remodelling, it’s barely finished and gets smashed to bits during the Storm King’s attack, gets repaired, and then barely a year later the whole thing gets blown to smithereens. At least the original castle didn’t take too much damage, apart from Tirek melting a couple of windows. In any case, the castle was indeed repaired and the throne room rebuilt. They even added new stained glass windows depicting this latest triumph, showing all of Equestria nailing the villainous trio with a rainbow.
But while the repairs went well, the long awaited coronation was entirely another matter. Now, in case I haven’t made clear just how monumentally important this coronation was, allow me to reiterate. This was the first coronation Equestria had seen in over 1100 years. While there had been a ceremony to officially crown Luna as the Princess of the Night for a second time upon her return, since Celestia had taken the title following her banishment, it was a return to normalcy, not a voyage into the new. Equestria was once again transitioning into a monarchy, and more to the point, a new house was taking over things. This wasn’t a direct descendant of the reigning princesses after all, or even the next in the line of succession, which would be Cadence. It represented a fundamental shift in Equestrian politics and government, albeit one that was accepted by the masses.
The ceremony was intended to be this incredible, ornate affair. Taking place in the castle, the crowds would gather in the courtyard and gardens, and from their position on the throne room balcony, Celestia and Luna would jointly crown Twilight and Princess of Equestria. The Royal Guard would be turned out on full parade, the crowds would be huge, Dad even dug up and painstaking transcribed, with the help of several members from the Canterlot Symphony Orchestra, the sheet music for Zadok the Priest; the ancient coronation anthem that had crowned kings and queens of England since the time of George II. All in all, it was set to make anything else look mediocre beside it. But, as with everything in life, there were a few hiccups.
First of all, Twilight and the others arrived late, then you had the fact that half the special effects didn’t quite work, and then, of course, there was the one moment everypony who was there remembers; the moment Princess Twilight Sparkle overbalanced on the balcony and went tumbling to the earth below, before awkwardly reappearing, flapping her wings and returning to her proper place before an equally bemused Celestia.
In short, you could describe the entire affair as one big, unmitigated disaster, and a far cry from the elaborate and dignified ceremony that hundreds had spent months painstakingly planning. And, while I would have liked to see Twilight ascend to the throne with perhaps a little more decorum, I have to admit, it was memorable. It harkened back to her first time attending the Grand Galloping Gala, and the disaster that followed that, or her brother’s wedding, her niece's birth, and pretty much every other important event in her life going right back to being accepted into Celestia’s school.
And in a way, it was reassuring too. Whatever else might happen, it was clear that Twilight would still be Twilight. She was taking Celestia’s place, but she wasn’t becoming her if you see what I mean. I think that was what unsettled me most when I first heard the news. I didn’t want to lose that adorkable little unicorn I first met on a computer screen all those years ago.
And so, amidst all the havoc, we watched with no small amount of pride as Celestia and Luna removed their crowns, fused them together with magic, and crowned Twilight as princess. The crowds cheered as the two alicorns bowed to Equestria’s new ruler. I couldn’t help but wipe away the odd tear though as we all applauded.
But with the ceremony complete, the official celebrations could begin in earnest. As we had done a few weeks earlier in Ponyville, a huge street party had been set up in the courtyards and gardens of the castle. It was getting on for a little past lunch when the ceremonies concluded and the various restaurants of Canterlot, including the now very famous Tasty Treat, were on station to feed the hungry crowds. I found myself sitting with Applejack, who’d spent most of the celebrations with her friends. One of the many dishes on the menu happened to catch my eye and made me smile.
“Rainbow Stew?” I said to myself with a little surprise.
“Ooh, I ain’t had that for a while,” Applejack said earnestly.
“What is it?” I asked, now more curious. My thoughts briefly turned to a half remembered, deeply unsettling piece of fanfiction.
“Just a vegetable stew for the most part, but with a few spoonfuls of zap apple jam stirred in to give it that rainbow effect. You normally get it with a cool drink too, like lemonade or cider.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. Well, it seemed appropriate to have it, on today of all days.
“I guess I’ll have that then,” I said with a smile.
“What’s got you smilin’ all of a sudden, Bones?” AJ asked.
“Oh, just an old song from Earth,” I explained.
I was about to just let the conversation drift, when I felt something well up inside me. I’d felt it when the battle had ended and we’d all had a blast at the last party. This notion that evil was beaten, and that we would now move into bright sunlit uplands, and into a wonderful prosperous future of harmony without end. I’m not given to overt displays of emotion most of the time, I’m British, but this little humorous note, and the wonderful state of affairs we found ourselves in, prompted the magic of music to kick off in me. After all, the worldwide war was over and done, the dream of peace had come true, and here were, drinking free Bubble Up and eating Rainbow Stew.
Other ponies joined in as I reflected that with magic, we had found a way to burn water, the gasoline car was gone, aeroplanes flew without any fuel and a pony controlled sun warmed the world. The air was clear, and the sun shone through as yet more ponies joined in.
Yes, we could all now look forward to the future and think about what was in store. Ponies, and all other creatures were doing what they ought to, and there was no more disharmony. Heck, we even had a new princess who, unlike pretty much any other politician, would stick to her promises.
As the singing died down, I found that same feeling of happiness hadn’t left me. In fact, it seemed to have multiplied, and now everypony was feeling it. I’d had pretty much everypony up on their feet, even Mum and Dad, who usually don’t get too affected by musical numbers in Equestria. It had even attracted the attention of two very important ponies.
“That was a real nice song there, Bones,” Applejack said as she leaned over to hug me across the table.
“Indeed, Applejack,” a well recognised, motherly voice said. “It was certainly a fine way to sum up the wonderful new world we found ourselves in.” I spun around and quickly got to my feet.
“Princess Celestia!” I exclaimed, promptly bowing, which elicited more than a few giggles from the alicorn.
“Not quite, my little pony,” she said with a smile, tilting her head down slightly to make the absence of a crown more obvious. “I’m just Celestia now.”
Now that was going to take some getting used to. I couldn’t help but notice how strange she looked without her crown on. She was still wearing her horseshoes and regalia, but that tiara was now atop Twilight’s head.
“I think it will take more than a little time for ponies to grow accustomed to that, sister,” Luna said as she joined her.
She was right there. While I did think of Luna as a princess, I found it easier to think of her as a pony. Celestia in contrast, was so closely tied to Princess Celestia, that it was difficult to see her as anything else. It’s like...like meeting your old high school teacher a couple years after high school. I remember I ran into my old primary school headmaster and I still called him sir out of sheer habit.
“So what is next then for the two of you?” I asked curiously. “Do you plan to stay in Canterlot?” Celestia shook her head.
“My sister and I plan to live, for a while at least, at Silver Shoals. But if anything, I plan on going back to our roots and adventuring as we both did when we were fillies. While we may have done a fair bit of Pinkie Pie’s bucket list when we went on vacation, there’s still a great deal we’d both love to do in Equestria and beyond.”
“Fear not though, young Blade Star,” Luna added. “We shall still be on hoof to aid our new princess should she have need of us. And I shall continue to keep watch over the realm of dreams. If not only to protect ponies from nightmares, but to let me spend time with good friends.”
“Now that I am glad to hear, Luna,” I said, still feeling a little bold at addressing a princess so informally. “And I’m sure we’ll all be glad to know there are two alicorns out there keeping the odd monster at bay.”
Sadly, though, the two former rulers couldn’t hang around too long. Even in retirement, they had a few responsibilities to tie off, mainly involving a last few statements and political manoeuvrings with the nobility here in Canterlot. AJ went to rejoin her friends to spend a little more precious time with Twilight, and I went to hang around with my parents and Lizzie for a while.
But let’s move on from the coronation now, shall we? As happy a day as it was, it was also deeply bittersweet for all of us, and truth be told, I don’t like to let my mind linger on the memory too much. So instead, let’s go a little further into October. Just because the world nearly ended and Equestria underwent a massive political change didn’t mean life on the farm came to a grinding halt. In fact, we were now entering probably the second busiest time of the year, just behind Applebuck Season. It was time to make cider!
With October, came autumn proper. The apple trees now stood minus their fruit, and the once green leaves now turned into a million shades of red and gold. At the end of the month, the Running of the Leaves would once again strip them bare for the winter until the whole cycle began anew after Winter Wrap Up. The temperature began to drop, little by little, and sunny days became less frequent. It was the perfect time to enjoy a glass of good quality apple cider. And when the truly cold weather arrived, hard cider would do plenty to warm you up.
Just as the apples themselves are consistently regarded as some of the best in all Equestria, Sweet Apple Acres cider is second to none and every year we deal with massive demand that, even with the huge number of trees and apples available, outstrips our supply. The farm however, had slowly been expanding over the decades, and we were getting closer, little by little, to making enough for everypony. Of course, properly rationed, there was enough to give everypony a mug as it was. But given its popularity, ponies tended to buy as much as they could afford and then hoard it like water in the desert.
Hence perhaps the unusual scene I was confronted with a good three days before we started selling. In fact, we were only starting production today, building up a good backstop before opening sales. All along the road to the farm, stretching perhaps a quarter of a mile, ponies were camping out in preparation, hoping to keep their spot in the inevitable queue. At the front of said column, somewhat unsurprisingly, was the biggest fan of our cider; Equestria’s fastest flier, Rainbow Dash.
“You know, cider season doesn’t start for three days, Rainbow,” I said as I walked up to the mare, who was putting the finishing preparations on her tent, hammering one last peg into place.
“Exactly!” she exclaimed, with all the enthusiasm of someone who has mixed blue and yellow paint together for the first time and christened their new creation blellow. “This time I’m gonna get all the cider I can drink. I’m right by the gates to the farm, so nopony can get past me, and I’ve got plenty of bits.”
She produced a sizable sack of currency that, personally, I’d be a bit uneasy about taking out in public. Then again, Dash does have a fair bit of disposable income, at least if her house is anything to go by, never mind that cookie prank she pulled off that must have cost a fortune.
“Remind me to explain ‘The Tragedy of the Commons’ to you sometime,” I said, shaking my head. “And don’t you have weather work or Wonderbolt training to go to?” Dash shook her head.
“Nope,” she assured. “I always keep some leave time back for cider season, but Spitfire said this year I have to keep it under ten days.”
Now, I’m not saying Rainbow Dash has a problem when it comes to cider...
But she has a problem. I remember last year she only got a couple of mugs before we ran out. When a stray mug happened to spill onto the ground, she leapt at it, even growling aggressively at Winona, who had also come over to lick up the spill and intimidated the collie into backing off. That’s just not healthy.
Then again, if you want to list all of Rainbow psychological problems, we’d be here a while. At least she’s more or less functional and she had the forethought to request leave from her jobs before she came here.
“Just try not to hoard it so much that other ponies don’t get any, Dash,” I asked gently. “You know how disappointed you were when you didn’t get any cider.”
“Yeah, yeah, I will,” the pegasus replied noncommittally. “When are you starting anyway? I know you’ve finished harvesting all the apple trees.”
“Today,” I replied. “Well make as much as we can and then open up shop and keep on making fresh cider until we go through the apples. We should be able to get a little more done this year with the extra set of hooves.”
Ah yes, we did have some new help this year, and the farmhouse had gotten just a little bit fuller. Having been married just before the coronation, Big Mac and Sugar Belle had taken a week away from the farm in snowy Vanhoover skiing as their slightly delayed honeymoon. When the two had returned, Sugar Belle had moved in to live with her new husband. As a result, the farmhouse was beginning to feel a little cramped with Granny, AJ, myself, Apple Bloom, Mac and his new bride, plus Winona, of course. I’d been chatting with Mac on that front and we were toying with the idea of building an extension to the existing farmhouse to make some space, while still letting everypony live under the same roof.
Sugar Belle had settled into her new life pretty well. She’d helped us out before, of course, during the cattle drive in spring, and during Applebuck Season. She’d adapted to the farming life and now frequently helped Granny Smith with her culinary skills. The addition of her apple pie recipe to our market stall has made one Wonderbolt very happy. She was also set to help us out now with selling cider, taking some of the strain off Granny Smith.
Leaving Rainbow Dash to continue establishing her little base camp, I headed back towards the farmhouse, where I found Mac busy hauling the cider press out into the open air, holding one of the straps in his teeth to pull it.
“How’s she lookin’, Mac?” I called out, prompting him to let go.
“Not too bad, Bones,” he admitted. “I reckon those repairs I did are still holdin’. As long as we don’t push her as hard as we did with those Flim and Flam fellers, we should be fine.”
The cider press was a fairly simple contraption. It was essentially a treadmill which, through connection to a belt and flywheel, plus a few gears, turned a large stone press. You simply dumped the apples in, ran on the treadmill, and it pulverised the apples, with the resulting cider then being deposited through a small tap. It made for a fairly quick production, without too much labour.
Of course, it wasn’t perfect, and I know more than one pony has suggested we buy a magic operated or automatic press like that infernal contraption that Flim and Flam used. Plus, as Mac had said, it was something of a labour intensive machine, requiring frequent maintenance. Yes, the competition had out produced the Apples with only two idiots running it, but Sweet Apple Acres cider is known for quality. If we increased quantity by sacrificing quality, then we were just cutting off our nose to spite our face. Don’t get me wrong, it would be nice not to have to run on a treadmill all day long, but if it makes good quality cider, and that infernal contraption, when push came to shove, in contrast had spat out something closer to applesauce mixed with dirt, then I’ll stick with the traditional method.
Granny Smith took a more blunt approach when it came to buying such a machine or not. She told each and every one of us, if we ever bought a Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000, she would burn it. And if we replaced it with another one, she would burn that too. She did however, after helping Big Mac on the treadmill that year, change her tune a little. She said that now, if we ever bought one, she’d fully understand…
And then she’d burn it.
It’s your classic argument of modernisation. Yes it might make things more convenient and easy, but our cider is what it is because of the way it's made. You need only look at some much loved favourite products on Earth that, when they had their production methods slightly altered, dropped massively in quality. And of course, when it comes to ponies from the more urban areas, as on Earth, they do buy into that whole farm fresh deal. So, long story short, we’d be keeping our cider press, our pony powered cider press, for a good long while yet.
Seeing how Mac was struggling with the heavy contraption, I stepped in to lend a hoof. There were two straps for just such a reason. Activating my magic, I took a hold of the spare one and took up the strain.
“Argh!” I exclaimed at the heavy load. “Remind me when this is all over to fit wheels on this darn thing!”
“Ah just don’t get why we have to move it out so everypony can see it,” Mac complained. “We could do the same job in the barn, out of the sun, and just move fresh cider barrels by cart.”
As we continued to haul away at the heavy contraption, the load suddenly became a little lighter, as we were joined by an extra set of hooves.
“Because ponies like to see the cider being made while they’re waiting,” Sugar Belle explained as she helpfully pushed from behind. “Well that, and you running on the treadmill gives us mares something to look at.”
She tittered at that. Poor Mac. You’d have thought now that he’s married he wouldn’t have to put up with the whole female gaze issue. Then again, he once admitted to me that it was quite the nice ego boost to know he’d managed to catch the eye of so many mares, including, I might add, both the royal sisters. Still, his wife’s teasing made him blush.
“Thanks for lendin’ a hoof, Sugar Belle,” I said as we finally got the press into position.
“No problem, Blade Star,” she said, now it was my turn to chuckle.
“Sugar Belle, please, you’re part of the Apple family. The least ya can do is call me Bones like everypony else.” Sugar Belle smiled at that, turning her attention to the cider press.
“So this is what you use to make the cider then?” she asked.
“Eeyup,” Big Mac replied sagely. “I’ll keep the press turnin’ and Bones loads the apples into the press.”
“Doesn’t that just make apple sauce?” she asked.
Walking over to the other side of the press, where the fresh cider came out through a tap, I opened up the side and showed that it was a little more complex than that.
“Once it’s been turned into a puree,” I explained. “It all gets strained through these filters to get the cider. A bushel gets you about three gallons. It can either then be drunk as regular cider, or we can add a yeast mixture and use it to make hard cider.”
“Impressive,” Sugar Belle commented.
“Well, the way ponies line up every year, I reckon we must be doin’ somethin’ right,” agreed Big Mac
“So what do you do with all this then, Bones?” she asked me, gesturing to the press.
“Well,” I said, taking a moment to push my stetson back on my head as I leaned against the large machine. “Mac and I usually share the work. He’ll take a turn on the treadmill while I load up the apples, and then we swap to make sure neither of us gets too tired. Remember, if ya don’t keep the speed up with this thing, the puree will be too thick. Sometimes I help Applejack and Bloom with sellin’ the cider too. Celestia knows we sometimes need good crowd control. Ponies go ape for this stuff.”
“You don’t think I could lend a hoof, do you?” Sugar Belle asked, smiling at her husband. “I know I’m still learning the ropes, but I know you need all the ponies you can get this time of year. How about I help you out with the press. I may not be as strong as Mac, but I can still pull my weight.” Mac certainly seemed into the idea.
“With Sugar Belle helpin’ out, you could help Applejack instead, Bones,” he suggested. “With me and Sugar Belle on the treadmill, you could shuttle the cider barrels to the stall.” Now there was an idea.
So we all agreed. I certainly wouldn’t mind not having to run on that press this year. I think I did all my running for the year when that brushfire broke out back in June. Plus, it would give me a bit more time with Applejack, and it let Big Mac and Sugar Belle spend their day together.
We all spent that evening after dinner preparing for the start of work tomorrow. Since we wouldn’t be selling the cider just yet, we’d also have Applejack, Granny Smith, and Apple Bloom on hoof to help as well. Mac and Sugar Belle would man the treadmill, AJ and I would load the apples into the press, and Apple Bloom and Granny would serve as quality control, checking the apples before they went into the press. They had been given the once over beforehoof of course, but just to be safe, we always gave each bushel a thorough once over before tipping it into the press.
And so, over the next couple of days, we slowly built up our supply of cider. The barn, just as it was previously stocked to the gills with bushels of apples harvested in the last couple months, now slowly filled with barrel upon barrel of cider. This year, we were looking to produce more than ever, to try and hopefully come close to satisfying demand. The hardier trees born in the vampire fruit bat reservation had given more than their fair share of crops, and with the added help of Apple Bloom’s forays into potion making, we had far more apples available. But it was Sugar Belle’s simple suggestion that helped ensure everypony got a share.
“Ya know some ponies are gonna riot when we tell ‘em,” Applejack said as she and Sugar Belle watched Mac gallop along on the treadmill. “Limitin’ how much one pony can buy don’t exactly feel right.”
“But it’s so unfair how some ponies get here early, buy as much as they can afford, and then leave those who arrive a little later with nothing, after they’ve queued for hours. Plus it would stop that whole thing with ponies camping outside the farm a week ahead of us opening.”
“She’s right, Applejack,” I agreed. “Look at Rainbow. She’s taken over a week off of work just for some cider. I know this stuff is like liquid gold, but we need to change something. If we don’t then the ponies who never get any cider are gonna stop comin’ next year, and from there it could snowball. The cider may be good, but that doesn’t mean anything if you can’t get any.”
“Well,” AJ said, her ears splaying back a little. “I guess as long as it ain’t too harsh, say four or five mugs each, ponies should be alright with it.”
And so, the following day, Cider Season as it was known, officially opened. As dawn broke, ponies were lining up on the road to the farm, even before we had the stall set up. Dash managed to keep her rightfully won spot at the head of the queue, taking down her tent as the sun rose. It kind of reminded me of the butcher’s shop in the run up to Christmas. If you had any sense, like my mum, you’d reserve a bird with them back in mid-November, be given a chit, and then pick it up a few days before the big day. Other people though didn’t seem to have the same ability to think ahead, and would queue round the corner as far back as the top end of Ash Tree Road hoping to get something before they sold out.
Everypony though quickly took notice of the change in our usual routines. Big Mac and I had set up the stall, affixing to the front a large sign that read ‘five servings maximum per pony’. Dash didn’t take this too well as Applejack opened sales.
“Oh come on!” she exclaimed, hovering a foot or two off the ground. “I camp out here all night to get to the front and the most I can get is five?!”
“It’s a fair share, RD,” Applejack said staunchly. “Everypony should be able to get at least one mug considerin’ how long they queue for it.”
“But I need more!” the pegasus whined pitifully. “I can down five mugs of that stuff in ten seconds flat.”
“Maybe if you tried savouring it a little instead of necking it like cheap whiskey, you could appreciate it more,” I suggested as I pulled on the tap and filled up a mug.
She does too. Watching Rainbow with cider is like seeing anypony else down Yeager bombs, with similar effects. Our cider was a sipping drink. The apples were of the highest quality, specially picked to give the right balance between sweet and tart. Chugging it down robbed you of enjoying all that.
“But it’s so good!” Rainbow persisted.
“So enjoy it,” I said with a smile as I finished pouring. “Here, try this. But don’t chug it, just take a sip.”
Rainbow quickly grabbed the German style tankard out of my magic, and promptly started downing it as if it were a keg, and everypony around her was chanting ‘chug’. I quickly snatched it off her again, by which time she’d managed to get through most of it.
“You have no self control, do you?” I said rhetorically, tapping her on the head with the mug. Rainbow just chuckled awkwardly. “Now, try again, and actually enjoy it.”
This time, Rainbow did manage to restrain herself. Taking a still fairly generous sip, she paused and actually tasted what she was drinking. Unsurprisingly, she found the experience far superior to just necking it like cheap whiskey.
“See, Rainbow,” Applejack said. “If you actually stop to enjoy the experience, it lasts a whole lot longer. And you’ve still got four more mugs left.”
Now placated, Dash quickly bought her remaining four mugs and went to sit down at one of the many bench tables we’d set up. Other ponies soon joined her. Some, like her, bought their maximum allowance all at once, others opted to only get one or a couple at a time. As a result, the queue, while still large, moved fairly quickly and our supply of cider didn’t deplete at quite such an alarming pace. Not that Big Mac or Sugar Belle slowed down. The pair made a pretty good team on the press, and I have to admit I much preferred working the stall with AJ, backing her up and keeping an eye on the bits.
As the day wore on, we steadily worked our way through our stock, and come the early evening, the queue had all but dispersed completely. For once, everypony had gotten their fair share. And better yet, we found, contrary to what we thought, that our supply of apples was actually sufficient to have a bit of a reserve. Granny suggested talking with the old scoundrel Filthy Rich. Considering how ponies were willing to pay through the nose for this stuff, it would probably make him a nice little profit to sell it in his stores as a speciality, seasonal item. It would certainly help us make a little more money and give ponies another chance to get their hooves on some cider.
And that’s how we inadvertently introduced Black Friday to Equestria.
Luckily, after causing something of a riot at Barnyard Bargains, things soon calmed down. As soon as the cider was gone, the motivation went and ponies returned to their senses. Well, it wasn’t quite gone. Yes, we’d sold all of our stock, (over 48,000 mugs worth of cider). but the Apples do keep back a few barrels for themselves. The main reason for this is to make hard cider.
Now, I must be honest, as an Englishman, this is the only form of cider I know; the sweet, tangy gateway to alcoholism that you buy in what seems so much like a 2 litre bottle of cola. Back home, even before they turned eighteen, teens would be downing the stuff on a Friday night. Personally, I never much cared for it. But then again, I’m more of a social drinker, who’ll happily nurse a pint of stout for half an hour rather than a ‘drink until you vomit and urinate all over yourself, fight everyone, and then move your bowels when the ambulance comes’ type of guy.
Anyway, cider as most ponies knew it wasn’t really something you had back in Britain. In fact, if I remember rightly, Hasbro had to make some minor changes to that episode when it was broadcast, removing all mentions of the word ‘cider’, due to the alcoholic connotations. This was what the Apples were making now.
You see, as in most places, you need a special license to sell alcohol. You look in any pub and you’ll see their plate up somewhere, often near the door. Outside of pubs and bars, you needed something similar to sell booze too. The problem was that it cost a fair few bits, so, even if we did get it, it wasn’t really cost effective, compared to just selling regular cider. But there were no regulations about making hard cider for yourself, provided it wasn’t too strong. Fire water is still very much illegal in Equestria, but the law recognizes that even on farms with ice houses, unfermented cider has a very limited shelf life. There is the scurrilous rumor that a few folks leave barrels of hard cider outside on cold nights, freezing out the nonalcoholic liquids and making a form of homemade apple whiskey called “applejack”. But that would be wrong. Almost impossible to detect, but wrong.
So, as a little celebration following the hectic few weeks of Applebucking and cider making, we make up a few barrels of hard cider to treat ourselves. Once the winter sets in, served warm, it makes for a very soothing drink on cold nights. Hot mulled cider on Hearth’s Warming Eve is an earth pony tradition that predates Equestria.
We started out with a few barrels of cider that we’d kept back in the barn. From this, we took a little bit of fresh cider, and added yeast to it, to kick start its growth. That would take a day or so. That gave us time to get everything set up in the kitchens the following day. Granny was the expert, and we all deferred to her when it came to making good quality hard cider. We’d be making a few batches, simply because we didn’t have the kit to do much more, and because we were already pushing our luck when it came to making cider for our own use. We all gathered to watch her work over the stove. First, she emptied the cider into one of the largest pots we had, which had previously been used for making zap apple jam. Apparently, the fine residue gave the cider that little extra kick.
“It’s mighty important not to boil the cider,” she was saying as she heated the pot up to just below. “You want to make sure you get rid of any wild yeasts in the cider, or anythin’ else that might contaminate it. Otherwise who knows what it’ll taste like?”
She then proceeded to add a fair amount of brown sugar into the mix.
“Sugar?” I asked curiously. “Ain’t apple cider sweet enough already?” Granny smiled wryly.
“Ya said ya wanted a hard cider, didn’t ya, Bones?” she replied. “A good helpin’ of sugar and honey makes the cider that little bit harder. Now, we can leave that to simmer away. It’s high time we got started on the fermentation bucket.”
Said bucket was actually in the barn half of the house. So you had to go outside, through the kitchen door and round the farmhouse to the barn doors. And it was a fair bit larger than what you might think of as a bucket. It was a large, pottery drum, standing on four legs, and slightly taller than Big Mac was, giving it quite a narrow appearance, with a tap at the bottom for drawing the hard cider out.
At the moment, a step ladder was perched against one side, and Applejack was leaning over the edge, cleaning the inside of the vat. Not too long ago, the whole thing had been filled with a mixture of water and bleach to get rid of any contaminants. Now, for obvious reasons, it was being washed out.
“How’s it looking, Applejack?” Granny asked as the two of us walked in, having left Apple Bloom to watch the bubbling cider.
There was a groan that echoed off the vat as AJ pulled herself up and over the lip again. Taking a moment, to wipe the sweat off her brow, she climbed down the step ladder she’d been perched on.
“Clean as a whistle, Granny,” she reported. “Big Mac and I have washed it out four times to make sure there’s no trace of the bleach.”
“Doesn’t exactly help with the flavour,” Granny joked, making me chuckle.
“Where is Mac anyway?” I asked.
“He’s gone to fetch the yeast starter,” AJ explained. This concoction of yeast and cider had been bubbling away for a couple days now, and was ready to be mixed.
“Well in that case, you’d best go fetch the first batch of cider, Bones,” Granny told me.
Heading back to the kitchen, I arrived just as the timer dinged at the forty five minute mark, with Apple Bloom dutifully stirring away. Taking the pot off the head, I put the lid on for safety.
Returning to the barn, I used my magic to levitate the pot up to the top of the bucket and poured it out. Two more steaming pots soon followed, filling the vat almost to the top. We had to leave some room to stop it bubbling over as the yeast reacted and gave off carbon dioxide. The steaming mixture cooled as we all looked on. Big Mac arrived not long after with a modest saucepan that held the reacting yeast, our starter as Granny called it. Once the cider had cooled down a little; too hot after all would kill the yeast, we mixed it all together, before finally fastening the lid and sealing it up, except for airlock.
Now all we had to do was wait and watch out that the cider didn’t turn into vinegar.
We repeated the process several times over the next few days, filling up several fermentation buckets and vats with the mixture. By the end of the week the barn, which was previously stocked to the gills with apples from the harvest, was full of barrels of cider, slowly fermenting into hard cider. We actually had to be quite careful going in there, since the carbon dioxide given off by all the brewing could, given enough exposure, render a pony unconscious.
But in terms of actual work, there wasn’t much to do once it was all sealed away. There was no way to speed it up or hurry it along, it was just a simple matter of waiting it out and making sure that no air gets in (that will turn it into vinegar). Of course, we still had our own store of regular cider on hoof. Amongst other things, I’ve found that it gives my morning coffee quite the pleasant kick, and softens the impact of getting the caffeine full force when I have it black.
Beyond cider though, there was plenty going on in October to occupy my attention. It certainly wasn’t quiet outside of the farm. As the first month of Princess Twilight’s reign, the papers were regularly filled with stories about the transition. New ministers were being appointed here and there, although on the advice of Celestia, Twilight retained my Dad’s services, though he was getting close to retirement age now. Interestingly, the Royal Guard underwent a change too, with the long standing separation between the Royal Guard and the Lunar Guard coming to an end. With the departure of Princess Luna, who did, as Celestia had, retained a few trusted guards for security, the notion of a Lunar Guard seemed rather unnecessary, and there had for some time been calls for the two sections to be unified. Thus, in the paper that day, I read the account of the laying up of the Lunar Guard’s colours, as the regiment was officially disbanded and merged into the Royal Guard. Photos showed the thertral guards marching off the parade square, and into history.
The officers and men would, of course, be retained. While the regiment was disbanded, they were not being demobbed. They would just be integrated into the Royal Guard, which itself was born out of Celestia’s original Day Guard, following the Lunar Rebellion. The idea was to create a new Royal Guard, in order to reflect the unifying force of the new monarch. There were even calls now for the guard to accept applications from non-ponies, in light of the extra-Equestrian help rendered by our allies.
My attention however, was soon diverted from the riveting world of Equestrian politics when I heard a knock at the door.
“I’ll get it!” I called out, before shaking my head at my own foolishness. Big Mac and Sugar Belle were in town, AJ had a class, AB was at school, and Granny was minding the stall at the market, leaving just me to hold down the fort.
Throwing down the paper I’d been reading, I hauled myself off the sofa and trotted through into the kitchen. It was a fairly rare thing for us to have visitors. It was too late in the afternoon for it to be Derpy making her rounds. I wondered who it could be.
Well, there was only one way to find out. Opening the door, I was pleasantly surprised to find my little sister, Lizzie, on the other side. I hadn’t seen her since Twilight’s coronation, and then we’d only talked briefly. As much as she might try my patience at times, it was always good to see her.
“Lizzie!” I exclaimed as the pegasus pulled me into a hug with her wings. “What brings you here?”
“What?” she said as she released me. “I can’t say hi to my big brother?” I chuckled at that.
“Come on in,” I said, stepping back a little. The two of us were soon sitting down in the living room again. I was quick to catch up on what was going on in her little slice of Equestria. She had some pretty interesting news.
“The cottage has felt really small since Discord moved in,” she was saying.
“What? Full time?” Lizzie nodded.
“Yeah, it’s kinda funny really. The two of them are acting like a couple, but neither of them will admit to anything.”
“Kinda like how I was with Applejack,” I added.
“It’s almost painful to watch,” she went on. “Fluttershy’s too...well, shy to force the issue, and Discord won’t make a move either. Angel thinks it’s because he doesn’t want anypony to know that he’s in love. Honestly, he’s like a seven year old at times. Somepony really needs to tell him fillies don’t have cooties.
“But with him living there, and my and Fluttershy taking up both bedrooms, it’s getting pretty tight for space in there. I was talking with Dewdrop though, and he suggested I could move in with him.”
That got my attention. Dewdrop was Lizzie’s coltfriend. The two, like AJ and I, had been going steady for a while. They got on well, and having met him myself on several occasions, he seems like a decent guy and a good fit for my little sister. Frankly, I was surprised they hadn’t done this sooner.
“Well that’s good,” I said brightly. “You talk to Fluttershy about it?” Lizzie nodded.
“She’s pretty much all for it,” she said. “Not that she’s kicking me out or anything. But between the two of us, Angel, a horde of miscellaneous animals,and now Discord, the place is just getting too full.”
“Yeah, it’s been feeling a bit that way here too,” I agreed. “With Sugar Belle staying here now, that’s six ponies in one house.”
“Maybe Mac and Sugar Belle could move out,” Lizzie offered. I shook my head at that.
“No way,” I said quickly. “I don’t think Mac could ever bring himself to leave this place.”
“I’m not talking about leaving the farm,” Lizzie reiterated. “I just meant that he and Sugar Belle could maybe live somewhere in town. Mac could still come to the farm to help out. But it would free up some space. And Celestia knows it must be awkward for those two, having Granny Smith on one side and Applejack on the other. There’s things no family member wants to hear in their house at night.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” I agreed, having experienced the awkwardness myself first hoof.
The two of us chatted together a little while longer after that. I even, after making Lizzie Pinkie Promise not to tell anypony, let her have a mug of our reserve of cider. Her visit also gave me a fair bit to think about. It was certainly nice to hear that things were going well for her and Dewdrop, and Fluttershy and Discord, but her suggestion of our own love birds possibly flying the coop was what really got me thinking. She’d suggested that Big Mac and Sugar Belle could set up somewhere on their own.
Why not myself and Applejack?
A few weeks later, and the fermentation process was now almost complete. Granny said she would look in on the large vat in a few days time to check that bubbles were forming as the mixture gave off carbon dioxide. As for actually drinking the stuff, we were looking at a good two to three weeks. Granny would then bottle it up for us to drink. Well, I say we, but the cider being alcoholic, and us not being Prench, Apple Bloom wasn’t allowed any, not for a few years at any rate. Trust me, after seeing what one sip of coffee did to that filly, I do not want to see what a sip of strong liquor will do.
Besides, there were other things to take up our attention. While life on the farm was now starting the gradual process of winding down as we crept towards winter, there was one big event still left on the calendar, and that was Nightmare Night. While Luna had stepped down from her position, the holiday was based around her dark alter ego, and continued despite her decision to quit the throne. More to the point, since she now no longer had to tend to her royal duties, the former princess now had a great deal of free time on her hooves to spend with her former subjects. It is a well known fact that, ever since the first time she celebrated the holiday shortly after her return, she has always taken some time off every year to enjoy it. Each year, without fail, she would drop by as many towns as she could, playing the part of the terrifying Nightmare Moon. The foals loved it. In a way, I suppose it was quite therapeutic for her too; being able to turn the most disturbing part of her psyche into a more positive aspect of herself and bringing joy, instead of spreading fear.
I must confess that I loved the holiday too. Halloween never really caught on in Britain, not in the same way it did in America. At best, you had a few parties and a few houses would get egged. Honestly, more often than not, it was more trouble than it was worth, and too many kids seemed to use it as an excuse to become vandals. That and, being so close to Bonfire Night, it was overshadowed by all the fireworks a scant six days later.
Here in Equestria though, it is very much the American interpretation, minus the trick or treating. Rather than a candy based protection racket, Nightmare Night is all about ponies desperately disguising themselves to hide from a terrifying physical goddess, and frantically going house to house to beg for candy to placate her so she doesn’t consume you.
Yeah, most holidays are pretty disturbing when you stop and think about it. Christmas is just a creepy old man watching all the kids in the world, constantly (not creepy at all), judging them all, then breaking into their houses in the middle of the night and leaving presents made by his midget slaves.
Disturbing implication aside though, it is a fun holiday. The only question was what I should pick for my costume this year. The fair in town over Nightmare Night was always a fun night out for Applejack and I, while Big Mac would run the hayride around the farm, and give candy to any of the foals who came knocking, and Granny Smith would keep watch over Apple Bloom and her friends as they went house to house for candy and go with them to the Nightmare Moon statue along with Zecora. This year however, there was going to be a bit of a change.
“What do you mean I’ve gotta say home?” I demanded, sitting bolt upright on the sofa, and slightly knocking my marefriend, who had been resting her head on my shoulder, off balance.
“I know it’s not what ya wanted to hear, Bones,” Applejack said placatingly. “But stayin’ up so late and lookin’ after all of them foals is just gettin’ too much for Granny Smith. So Big Macintosh is gonna take care of Apple Bloom this year. That means somepony’s gotta stay behind to hold down the fort. I’m not askin’ ya to run the hayrides or nothin’; Mooriel’s volunteered to do that for us. You’ve just gotta hand out candy to the foals is all. Now, I’m happy to stay right along with ya.”
I smiled at that. I might have been annoyed about this turn of events, but I wasn’t about to let Applejack spend the whole night in too.
“Nah,” I said, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “You go and have fun with your friends.”
“It sure is gonna be weird not havin’ Twilight around. But she’s tied up with the festival up in Canterlot.”
“You could head up there for the night instead?” I suggested. “Stay overnight and catch the train home in the morning.” Applejack shook her head.
“No,” she said. “We probably wouldn’t get to spend too much time with her, what will all the fancy frou frou ponies around. One of the downsides of bein’ a princess I suppose.”
“I don’t know. As I recall, Luna always had a fun time. Besides, it’s still early days yet. I’m sure that as soon as Twilight’s got everything runnin’ smoothly she’ll be able to come and see us.”
“I sure hope so,” Applejack agreed. “So, you sure you’re gonna be okay givin’ out candy all night?”
Were I Discord, a lightbulb would have appeared above my head at that moment.
“I’ll do more than that, AJ,” I said. “I’ll even make it.”
Okay, I might have been overestimating my abilities there. I can make sweets, to a degree. Back in my Sixth Form days when Breaking Bad was all the rage, I learned how to make the faux meth candy they used on the show. It actually made me quite a few quid back in the day, since I sneaked a bit in at lunch one day, and a few of the other kids tried it and loved it. So, like any good capitalist, I started charging for it. In the end, I had quite the successful not-drug empire going among the Year 7s, some of whom were dumb enough to grind the shards into powder and snort it.
Several students, who became my not-drug dealers, also got in trouble for having drugs on them, because the teachers refused to believe it wasn’t meth or taste test it, but that’s neither here nor there. Not long after, somebody else got a hold of the recipe and the school promptly banned the stuff wholesale, because that’s what schools do to enterprising young entrepreneurs. I made the better part of a hundred and twenty pounds before things got too hot.
Anyway, we wouldn’t encounter that problem here in Equestria. As far as I can make out, besides salt, there aren’t any restricted substances, and I rather intend to keep it that way. Still, there was no harm in making what was essentially just rock candy that you’d get at the seaside. And since, apart from Discord, who’d binge watched the whole series with my dad at his house, nopony knew what Breaking Bad was, I felt safe in the knowledge that nopony would have a go at me making the stuff again.
So, enlisting Apple Bloom, the Apple family’s budding chemist/potion maker, as my assistant, I set to work on making a few batches of the stuff. It isn’t really complicated. You just mix water, sugar and some light corn syrup in a 1:4:1.5 ratio, add some blue food colouring and flavourings, then heat it all up to around 300 degrees before leaving it to cool down, and once hardened, you smash it apart into shards. I have to admit, the batches we made turned out quite well, looking very much like Heisenberg’s famous blue sky product.
As for taste, well, that was a different kettle of fish altogether. At Apple Bloom’s suggestion, we tried a few different flavours, from the usual cotton candy, to blackcurrant, and naturally, apples. Though only God knows how deadly the stuff was to your teeth. Eat more than a bite or two, and you could actually feel your teeth dissolving. It certainly ought to placate Nightmare Moon at any rate. If not, hopefully she’d be too toothless to harm us.
Speaking of, well, after a fashion anyway, I was rather hopeful that Ponyville might have a guest again this Nightmare Night. While Luna had visited Ponyville a couple of times for the occasion, she also did the same with other towns and cities across Equestria, as part of her way of reconnecting with her subjects. It would certainly be nice to see her again, and in person was an even rarer treat. I actually hadn’t spoken to her in a while, my own dreams having been peaceful as of late.
Of course, even if she did stop by, having to hold down the fort as it were, it was unlikely that our paths would cross. It would still be a fun evening though, and I planned to while away the night star and moon gazing, and occasionally fobbing off kids with candy. On the plus side, staying in meant I didn’t need to get a costume this year. I’d actually been struggling to think of something as it was, plus costumes could get pretty pricey. So in a way, it was a good thing that I had the job this year.
Still, it would be a shame that I’d not see Luna if she stopped by. As it turned out though, I’d underestimated just how much free time Luna had on her hooves.
Nightmare Night was soon upon us. Foals all over Equestria were allowed to stay up long past their usual bedtime and wandered around in all sorts of costumes. The farmhouse and outbuildings were decked out with holiday decorations, with cobwebs hanging from the rafters, spooky fake tombstones set up on the lawn and even, at my suggestion, a jack-o'-lantern sat out on the porch, it’s unnerving smiling face shining out into the night.
The Apples too were all decked out to utterly befuddle Nightmare Moon with their costumes, and were sure to rake in a good haul of candy to placate her. I gave Apple Bloom, who had helped me cook the stuff, a bit of the candy we’d made, and wondered how long before either Mum or Dad got suspicious. The little filly, quite unaware of what the shards of blue candy were meant to represent, eagerly wolfed down a few pieces. If I strained my ears, I could probably have heard the sound of her enamel screaming.
She, along with Applejack and Big Mac, set off for Ponyville where, as ever, a little fair had been set up for foals and grown ups alike. I’d done something similar on the farm too. Given how out of the way we are, I figured a combination of top hole candy and a few games would be enough to tempt foals to come out all this way. In addition to all the spooky decorations, I’d set up a few games for the foals to play. The obvious choice was your classic apple bobbing, a game that to this day I don’t quite see the appeal of. Along with that though, with the help of Big Mac, I’d turned one of the more deserted barns into a haunted house, and thanks to Fluttershy and the vampire fruit bats, had a swarm of the flying rodents to dive bomb unsuspecting foals.
And Rainbow Dash. If I was going to do anything this Nightmare Night, it was going to be to get one over on her for that lightning strike gag she’s pulled on me every year. Not only is the prospect of 1.21 gigawatts of electricity striking the ground mere inches from you terrifying, but she also had the uncanny ability to catch you when you were most relaxed. I mean, I knew she was going to try it at some point, and every time, without fail, I’d scream like a filly and leap a foot in the air. This year though, I’d get her back.
With everypony except Granny Smith gone, and the matriarch herself fast asleep, I was left alone. And despite being a pony who’d grown well beyond childhood with a rational mind, I soon found myself feeling just a tad unsettled in the empty house. I all but jumped out of my skin when the first group of foals knocked on the door.
“Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give us something sweet to bite!” the little kids chanted adorably.
I found myself confronted by Dinky, Diamond Tiara, and Twist, with Derpy chaperoning them. The latter two had fairly typical costumes. Diamond Tiara, who is a lot nicer these days, but can still be a bit spoiled at times, was a ballerina, while Twist had a sort of Willy Wonka outfit. Dinky however took the cake, being covered in a very well made leather like costume that was quite clearly a Xenomorph from the Alien films. I never thought the universe’s most perfect killing machine could look adorable, but she somehow managed to pull it off.
“Alright, you three, you got me,” I said good naturedly as I powered up my magic and floated over a candy bowl for them and scooped a decent amount of my own candy, plus some store bought stuff into their bags.
“Thanks, Mr. Star,” Dinky said sweetly.
“You’re welcome, Dinky,” I replied with a smile. “Now, there’s plenty to do around the farm tonight. Mooriel is gonna be doing a hayride in a little bit. The barn over there is a haunted house, we’ve got apple bobbing, and a coconut shy just around the corner, and if you’re feelin’ really brave, you can venture through the vampire fruit bat reservation to try and find the hidden candy treasure.”
The foals quickly scattered to go exploring and were soon joined by others as more and more kids with their parents paraded up the farm track. Before too long, the farm was buzzing with activity. It was nice at least that I got to experience some of the fun of Nightmare Night. It was just a shame AJ and the others weren’t around too.
Having said that though, there were a few familiar faces acting as chaperones for the foals. Chief among these was one of the newest transplants to Ponyville, who was looking after the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who had evidently gotten away from Big Mac at some point. While we may have had to give up Twilight, we had gained something of a replacement egghead in the form of Sunburst. His duties as Royal Crystaller in the Crystal Empire being all but complete, he had taken up Starlight’s offer of a job as vice-headstallion at the school. I’d met him a while back on a visit to the Empire, and the two of us had become friendly acquaintances. But with his move down south to Ponyville, he and I have become pretty close. Truth be told, Sunburst reminds me a lot of me. Heck, he even looks a lot like I did as a human, aside from the goatee. His experience dealing with the at times terrifying Flurry Heart were evidently standing him in good stead with the Crusaders.
“Evening, Sunburst!” I called out as the three fillies disappeared inside the haunted house.
“Oh, hey, Blade Star,” he said, a little nervously.
Despite the fact that he’s technically my boss, he’s still a bit of a shy guy. He’d dressed up for tonight as well, and was disguised as, I think, an ancient Crystal Guard knight. The armour certainly reminded me of the set Dash and Fluttershy had worn at the Crystal Fair. Frankly, it was quite unusual to see him without his normal cape.
“I see the Cutie Mark Crusaders latched onto you,” I noted. “Is Big Macintosh okay?”
“Oh, yes,” Sunburst assured me. “He and Sugar Belle were going around some of the fairground games with the Crusaders and he asked if I could watch them while they got some time together. I let him know I was taking them up here. Apple Bloom was actually really insistent, something about some new candy you’d made.”
“Oh, right,” I said with a nod. “Yeah, I taught AB how to make some simple rock candy for tonight. The kids are really loving it.”
A little ways off, we heard the Crusaders and a few other foals let out an ear piercing scream and come barrelling out of the haunted house. Each one quickly glued themselves to their parents or guardian, meaning I got all but assaulted by Apple Bloom when she plastered herself to my leg. Of course, it didn’t take long for them to calm down, and it was the fun kind of scared. Before too long they were laughing with each other and preparing to go in again for another try, leaving me and Sunburst to chat some more.
“So how’s Starlight been anyway?”
I know for a fact that those two are in something of an early stage relationship. It seems like everypony is at this point; Applejack and me, Lizzie and Dewdrop, Maud and Mudbriar, Fluttershy and Discord. Even Sandbar and Yona at school. The list of couples just goes on.
“Oh, it’s been okay,” he replied. “It was really nice of Twilight to let me have a room at the castle when I moved here.”
“Must be a pretty sweet deal having access to Twilight’s old library,” I commented. Sunburst was after all, an academic, and far beyond an amateur like me when it came to the study of magic.
“Oh it is,” Sunburst agreed. “But...even since I moved in, Starlight has been acting...kinda weird.”
Ah yes, I’d seen it, and every mare in Ponyville had seen it too. Like Big Mac, with his shy, sensitive nature, to say nothing of being somewhat adorkable, Sunburst is actually quite the eligible bachelor. And when he first got here, a couple mares had tried to put the moves on him. This failed for two reasons. Firstly, Sunburst, like all males of any species, is utterly tone deaf when it comes to mares’ ‘hints’. And second, any mare who came within a hundred yards of him when Starlight was with him, got stared at until they left and never came back. She was just a tad possessive of him, with a few shades of yandere thrown in. And with Starlight’s less than stellar record when it comes to mental stability, I must confess I was a little concerned for Sunburst’s welfare. Remember, this was a mare who sought to remove the concept of cutie marks and almost undid all of time over him moving away. But who knows, maybe Sunburst could give her some stability; it has been some time since the last incident after all.
“Yeah, that’s Starlight for you,” I agreed. I considered saying something, but figured it was best to let things play out and the chips fall where they may. “Where is she tonight anyway?”
“Over at the school looking after the party there,” he explained. “She wanted me to stick around and go around the mini fair at the school, but she and Trixie had things under control, and I didn’t want to be a third wheel between them.”
Oh my sweet summer child. I may be an asexual, at times aromantic male, who is about as likely to spot romantic interest, as I am to find Hitler’s gold. But since it wasn’t me we were talking about, I guess I had a more dispassionate view of things. I dug a little to see if my suspicions were correct.
“Was Trixie with her as well?” I asked curiously. Sunburst shook his head.
“No,” he replied. “She was keeping an eye on the party in the main hall. The two of them are really good at...” I cut him off there.
“Sunburst, that’s a date,” I said plainly, bringing our conversation a screeching halt. The stallion looked at me in bewilderment, blinking a couple of times as he processed what I’d said.
“A..a what?” he said perplexedly.
“Starlight was asking you out on a date,” I said. “Mares either can’t or won’t say what they mean. Her asking you to go to the fair with her was a date.”
“What…?” was all he could repeat, now slightly alarmed.
There was a brief moment of silence before the already nervous stallion started panicking. He was actually pretty much in the same boat as me when it came to the fairer sex; totally inexperienced. At least though he hadn’t gone through that BS in high school of girls pretending to flirt with you or ask you out as a joke, causing you to question every interaction with a woman for the rest of your days. He thought Starlight was just being friendly with him, just as I had with Applejack, and as it turned out, she’d now tried a few times to make it plain, at least by her standards, that she was interested in him. Why women and mares can’t make the first move is beyond me. Anyway, he had absolutely no idea what to do, was worried that he’d upset her by seemingly coldly rebuffing her, and fearing for his life a little. This was Starlight after all.
“Look, look, calm down, Sunburst,” I said reassuringly. “Just head on back and take her out to the fair. It’s probably not too late. I’ll keep an eye on the Crusaders while they’re here, and I’m sure Mac will swing by before long.”
“Are you really sure about this?” the academic asked, still a little unsure. Just as I would he was now trying to rationalise and was letting his mind convince him that what he thought might be signs were just all in his head. “I mean, Starlight never really seemed interested in me before.”
“Sunburst,” I said with a smile. “That mare fought Twilight Sparkle to a standstill because you ‘left’ her as a foal. I think she likes you.”
That seemed to spur him to action, and with an excitable whinny, he took off in the direction of the school. I smiled to myself, wondering if Dad felt the same way when he did the same thing for me. I still laugh when I think about the rocky start to my own relationship. Just as Sunburst had, I’d managed to miss several obvious hints from AJ, and she was a lot more forward than Starlight. For goodness sake, she’d kissed me under the mistletoe at a Hearth's Warming Eve party at Golden Oaks library and I still couldn’t quite accept it. With any luck, Sunburst, as I had, would overcome his doubts and the childhood friends could become something more.
With Sunburst’s departure though, I was left alone again. A few foals came by every now and then for more of the candy, which was selling like hotcakes, and the odd parents would chat for a while. But I couldn’t help but feel a tad lonely holding down the fort like this. Before too long, Zecora came on the scene and announced that it was time for the foals to make their offerings to Nightmare Moon. She and Mayor Mare set up a rather nice one out near the Everfree each year for the occasion. Once they’d done that, things tended to start winding down for the night. So, as the foals all scampered off, I took a moment to indulge in a spot of stargazing. There was a lovely full moon out tonight too.
I know I’ve said it before, but to this day I cannot understand why or how ponies could just ignore the night sky to the point that it caused Luna to fall to darkness. While she might have only moved the moon, rather than all the stars in the sky (although her alter ego did quite cleverly use them to break free of her confinement), the end result of her contribution was something to behold. Just as a beautiful sunrise courtesy of Celestia was dependent on clouds, temperature, and an unbroken horizon, Luna’s night was enhanced by all sorts of factors, and it would be unfair for any judgement to detract any merit because she merely moved the moon and had no or limited control over other factors.
Ponies often thought the night to be a time of danger, with scary predators lurking about in unsettling shadows, ready to lunge out from the darkness. And tonight of all nights, those fears were magnified, albeit in a fun way that brought Luna much enjoyment. But standing as I was, alone on the open grassland of the farm, it was hard to evoke such a fear. The full moon gave plenty of light, casting silvery lunar shadows all around. The night air was cool, and you could hear little but the babbling of running water on the wind. And up above, in spite of the moonlight, stars glittered against the sky. I really fail to see how such things can be spooky. Okay, throw up some thick clouds and some storm clouds, then maybe. But the night itself wasn’t scary. In fact, it was the absence of things that made it so. You see people just as unsettled by an eclipse. It’s the absence that brings the fear; darkness, not night.
It was as I was pondering this, that dark clouds did indeed begin to swirl around the sky, blocking out the light of the moon. Lightning flashed for a moment, and I caught sight of a sleek looking chariot speeding through the sky.
If you’re going to say anything about Luna, it’s that the mare knows how to make an entrance. I must ask her some time how she made that hooded cape that turned into bats.
As the chariot, pulled by two intimidating looking thestrals, sailed over the woods where the Nightmare Moon statue was, I saw a winged figure leap gracefully off and swoop down towards the waiting foals. Against the flash of lightning, I could just make out the bat wings and elongated horn. On the wind, I even picked up the sound of an ominous evil cackle. I guess there are some things that you never forget, even as a reformed villain. Nightmare Moon had come back from the void one more time to terrify the ponies.
At least, the foals seemed to think so. Not too long later, I heard the gleeful, not in danger type screaming coming from the same place. I never could quite wrap my head around the whole enjoying being scared thing myself, but I was hardly going to take that away from them. As the storm clouds cleared, courtesy of Luna’s magic, I figured she would probably head to Ponyville proper to partake in the festivities. I was tempted to sneak away for a little while, just to say hello. But I ended up resisting the temptation. Somepony had to stay to keep an eye on things here. Mooriel was still pulling the hayride with a few kids on, and there were still plenty of foals playing around. It sucked, but it was hardly the end of the world. Perhaps I could do the obvious and write Luna, get a whole pen pal thing going. She might like that given her fascination with the postal service.
I found myself gazing up at the moon again as the clouds finished clearing.
“A beautiful night, Luna, as always,” I said to the natural satellite.
“Why thank you. It’s always nice to get compliments from stallions,” a voice said close at hoof.
I probably jumped a foot in the air in surprise at that. But of course, the voice was a familiar one. Turning around, I found myself face to face with a smiling Luna.
“Luna!” I exclaimed as I found myself pulled into a hug, courtesy of her wings. “What are you doing here?” The alicorn chuckled as she released me. It was still a little odd to see her with no crown, regalia or glass horseshoes.
“What?” she asked. “ Can I not visit a friend when I happen to be in the neighbourhood?”
“Well, of course,” I replied. “But I figured you’d want to spend your time in town with the foals and everything.”
“I was planning to,” she admitted. “Until I saw you were not there. Applejack and her friends explained why you were up here. And while it is kind of you to assist them by tending to this marvellous collection of fun and games, I did not think that that ought to exclude you from friendly company. After all, it has been far too long since we saw each other last. And, as you may have heard, I do rather make my own hours now.” I smiled at that.
“And of course,” she went on. “I was also told that you have a supply of good quality hard cider on the premises.”
Very true. We’d made up a couple barrels of the stuff earlier in the week. More to the point, both Luna and Celestia were very familiar with the stuff. Just as every year, as thanks for giving the Apple family this land all those years ago, we set a few jars of zap apple jam to the castle (Celestia has a sweet tooth, but she usually tries to have a little toast with her jam), we also always made sure to send a couple barrels of hard cider as well. And according to Dad, both princesses were quite fond of the stuff. And while they were now no longer princesses, I was hardly about to deny Luna. After all, who would say “no” to having a drink with her?
And so the two of us adjourned to the barn, where all the barrels were stored. There was one barrel already open, with cider on tap, and after grabbing and carefully filling a couple of mugs, the two of us went back outside into the cool night air. I could hardly leave the foals and Mooriel unsupervised after all. Cider was perfect for cool nights like this; the alcohol warms you right up, even if it was served cold.
“So, how have things been, Luna?” I asked as I nursed my cider. “How’s life as an ex-princess treating you?”
“It is strange, I must confess,” she admitted, doing the same. “Initially, I found it most unsettling to wake up and find myself with no work to do. While I am partly glad to no longer have to attend my court, or meeting with those infernal nobles, I do notice the absence of such things. Above all, it was most disconcerting to see the moon moving seemingly on its own, without my magic to guide it. Though having watched for a few nights now, I can see that Twilight Sparkle treats my former charge well.
“But at the same time, the peace is most welcome. Not having to worry or plan and to just be able to relax makes retirement feel like an extended holiday.”
I knew the feeling myself, sort of. While I was nowhere near retirement, I’d gone through a few bouts of unemployment. It’s the same thing, minus the cash. Initially, particularly coming from a stressful job, the lack of work was somewhat welcome, until the need to keep the lights on became more pressing at least. Luna of course, having quite the sizeable stash of personal savings, had no such worries.
“Have you made any long term plans yet?” I asked. “I know you prefer to relax compared to Celestia, which, truth be told, surprised the hay out of me. But surely you aren’t planning on spending the next millennia in Silver Shoals.” Luna shook her head.
“Indeed not, my dear Blade Star,” she replied assuringly. “I can’t imagine spending more than a few years there. Celestia and I plan to stick together though, getting the time together that being rulers so often deprived us of. Both of us are rather keen to see the realm and indeed beyond.” She leaned in and whispered conspiratorially.
“And you didn’t hear it from me,” she said in a hushed tone. “But my dear sister is even planning to go about the world incognito. Keep your eye out for a young white pegasus with a light pink mane. She wishes to get an experience of life for the average pony. Just because we have stepped away from centre stage does not mean we will not still take an interest in the lives of ponies. Between you and me, it has always been one of her greatest concerns that she would fall out of touch with the common pony.”
Now there was an interesting titbit of information. Celestia wandering the kingdom, disguised. What could possibly go wrong?
“And how about you, Luna?” I enquired. “You fancy playing King Henry and walking out amongst your troops too?”
“Why do you think I’ve come here tonight, my friend?” she asked. “ Although, unlike my sister, I have plenty of such experience. While she stayed up in Canterlot, I spent every night getting to know my subjects in their dreams. It’s a nice little bit of experience I get to hold over her head.”
We both chuckled at that. Luna took another sip of cider, relishing the taste.
“Hmm,” she said, carefully regarding her now quarter full mug. “An impressive concoction, although I must confess it doesn’t hold a candle to my own moonshine.”
“Moonshine?” I asked curiously. Luna chuckled.
“If you cast your mind back to our first meeting,” Luna said. “You’ll recall that the two of us shared a bottle.”
I grinned awkwardly at that as I remembered. Contrary to the name and the negative connotations associated with it on Earth, Luna’s variant of moonshine was a far less dangerous drink. Distilled from moonlight through a process I don’t fully understand, the drink was similar to Japanese sake, being a clear liquid, with a slight white sheen, reflecting the moonlight from which it was made. Luna had indeed given me a snifter of the stuff when we first met and fell into conversation in her tower.
“Oh I remember,” I reassured her. “And I also remember the hangover the stuff gave me the next morning.”
Just like sake, it is very easy to get drunk on moonshine. It is a very light, easygoing drink, and you can go through a few glasses of the stuff with no ill effects. Then, with little warning, the alcohol hits, and hits hard.
“You never told me how you made it either,” I went on. “And as I remember, Celestia had been hoarding the stuff for dignitaries and couldn’t make more herself. So how do you make it?”
“Like so,” Luna replied with a smile.
Casting her horn alight, I watched as the air in front of us began to shimmer. Slowly, it began to coalesce, going from transparent, seemingly empty, space, to a small sphere of white light. This steadily formed into something less ethereal, as if the light itself was somehow becoming liquid. Luna then carefully levitated an empty mug and held it underneath, allowing the strange apparition to drain into it, not unlike how a bar tap would. She then offered me the mug.
Taking it from her in my own magic, I examined her creation. At a first glance, you might mistake it for water, but the occasional flicker of white liquid light showed that it was something far stronger. It didn’t have any particular odour to it either, and there was no smell of ethanol to it. But a quick sip confirmed it to indeed be moonshine, with a taste similar to white wine, albeit a little sweet.
Luna soon made herself her own mug of the stuff and we got to comparing notes on cider and moonshine, as well as just catching up as friends who hadn’t seen each other in a while. From her, I also learned why moonshine had such an intoxicating effect on ponies.
“While your own cider relies on ethanol to induce its effects,” she explained. “My moonshine is quite different. In fact it is quite non-alcoholic. Hence why my sister was quite happy to serve it to the Saddle Arabian ambassadors, despite their aversion to such things. The effects of the...” she paused to giggle to herself, the effects already taking a toll on both of us. “Of the drink, are a result of lunacy. If you recall your Ponish lessons from school, my own name, while being that of the moon, is also associated with instability of the mind; lunacy, lunatic. Many cultures see the moon as having such an effect. And to an extent it is true. Moonlight can, at times, cause ponies to behave quite oddly. Even today, my guards used to insist that they encountered more bizarre incidents when the moon was full. Moonshine is made of that same moonlight, condensed to intensify the effect. Hence how, while both being quite sober, I think you would agree, we are both being quite merry.”
That was very true, since I had quite the pleasant buzz going right now. Her explanation though was quite interesting too. Dad had always said he got stranger clients as a solicitor when there was a full moon. Even teachers at school used to say kids would get more disruptive around that time. Luna’s comment linking her own name to the notion of insanity however intrigued me. Could her constant exposure, or innate connection to the moon have somehow played a role in her fall?
That was a topic for another time. Tonight, I was having a good time with an old friend. The two of us kept working our way through a mixture of cider and moonshine, as well as some of the leftover candy. By the time Applejack returned from town, along with Big Mac, everypony else had gone to bed, and the pair of them got to discover Luna and I both out like a light.
Turns out, mixing very strong cider with lunacy inducing moonshine wasn’t the best idea. Luckily, the two earth ponies were able to rouse us and get us inside. Luna was quite able to make her own way home, having a tolerance for such things, while I found myself hauled up to bed on my marefriend’s back. The other pony races have unfair magical advantages like heightened metabolism or enhanced endurance. Cattle have twice the body mass of ponies. Unicorns and sheep are the acknowledged lightweights of Equestria.
And that was how my Nightmare Night ended, out cold, surrounded by strong booze and what, to a human, appeared to be hard drugs, with a softly snoring alicorn leaning on me.
Who says I’m no fun?
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Great choice of music for the chapter, Bones. If I could, I would change one line in the song to make it completely appropriate.
That line is When the Princess goes through the Castle doors, does what she says she'll do...
Eagerly awaiting the next chapter.
I would love to see that conversation
10601126 If you think about it, we have found a way to burn water, or at least, hydrogen, whose only by-product is water. It could power electric, zero emission cars, without the need to charge up on the mains powered by oil and gas. Yet I understand the US government has banned all further research into hydrogen fuel cells due to the risk of explosions, despite some successful experiments by Honda. Thank goodness petrol never does that.
Petrol stations wouldn't even change that much, since you'd still use a pump, only pumping liquid hydrogen with an airtight seal. The EU refuses the try it due to the costs of retrofitting. Yet surely we'll have to at some point when it becomes unfeasible to use fossil fuels. Then again, the Germans still use coal in their power stations and refuse to use nuclear power. So instead we all use electric cars that take eighteen hours to charge, kill their batteries in five years, and still rely on fossil fuels for power.
10602338
I know about burning water- I do it all the time in the kitchen.
About H2 vehicles- I believe Iceland has done a lot of work in that field. Why do most places not do it? Established interests, of course.
Remember, common-sense logic does not work with tycoons. You have to use their logic, if you can think their way.
10602345 It's a strange system you Yanks have. A government of the people, by the people, and for the people, except when the oil lobby says otherwise.
The Cider Press got me thinking they should replace it. Not with a automatic or magical 8ne, but construct a replacement one. One that makes the cider like the old one does, but made entirely of modern parts and built to last so they don't have to constantly repair it ir treat it with kiddie gloves.
The part with Discord actually moving in with Fluttershy was a surprise though. If he's going to be with Fluttershy shouldn't he be a pegasus? It was quite some time ago but I remember it being a thing that you have to be a pegasus to be in a relationship with one.
going to point out that the cider-sqeezie did in fact serve quality at the start. when the sceptical granny tried their brew after hearing their claims, that was not a face of disgust , that was a face of 'oh, shit! ' that she pulled. she knew it was up to their claims and was in competition with them.
the competition was't about quality over quantity. it was modernization over 'mah traditions' that best background pony fixated on sometimes.