Dusk Shine in pursuit of Happiness II

by bigsnusnu

Chapter 9 - Synergy

Synergy

It was a quiet morning in Ponyville, although perhaps 'morning' was a bit subjective, since the sun hadn’t yet risen, and the sky was still dark. So, most ponies still had a few minutes before waking up and starting their daily jobs.

Among those ponies was Dusk Shine, who waited peacefully asleep for the first rays of the sun to arrive.

'KNOCK-KNOCK!'A knock on the window of his room made Dusk come out of the dream world and open one eye with an effort.

"What was that? A bird?" Dusk thought, still a bit sleepy. He decided to go back to sleep, since it wasn't dawn yet. "I hate woodpeckers that make noise so early..."

'KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!' Dusk heard the knocking on the window again, only this time, it was much more insistent.

Grouchily, Dusk rose from his bed and went to the bedroom window to shoo away the annoying early bird.

"WAAAH!" Dusk shouted when he saw that there wasn’t a bird tapping at the window of his room, but one of his dear friends, who had her face and cheeks pressed against the glass of the window, as if she wanted to force her way into the room. "Rainbow Dash?" Dusk asked, after calming down and recognizing his pegasus friend.

Without understanding why his friend was here so early, Dusk opened the window. As soon as he did, Rainbow Dash rushed in and landed in front of Dusk.

"What are you doing?! Why are you still in bed?! Don't you know what day it is today!?" Rainbow Dash asked impatiently, taking Dusk by his shoulders, and shaking him hard. "Today is cider season!"

"Cider season?" Dusk asked, still not understanding anything of what his friend was doing.

Not far from there, a loud snoring was heard which distracted both ponies. It was from Spike, who was still sleeping soundly in his little basket-bed.

"Wow, the little guy is a heavy sleeper." Rainbow Dash said. Surprising that the baby dragon was still sleeping despite all the fuss she had made.

"Yeah. Yesterday he ate a big gem cake Pinkie Pie baked for him. So I guess he'll be asleep on a full stomach for another long time." Dusk said with a thoughtful look. "I still don't know where Spike got all those gems from..."

"Hmm… Maybe it's for the best that he doesn't go with us. After all, Spike tends to get drunk very easily on cider." Rainbow Dash said with a thoughtful look. Then she grabbed Dusk by the hoof and spread her wings. "Hold on. We gotta hurry up!"

Without giving Dusk time to ask anything, Rainbow Dash took off quickly, flying out of the same window from which she had entered the library. Only this time, she had a passenger dangling from her hooves.

"W-What's going on? Why such a rush? It's not even dawn yet." Dusk said nervously, holding on to his friend's hooves while she was flying at full speed. And as if the sun had been waiting for Dusk's words, the first rays of morning began to illuminate the sky and its surroundings.

"I already told you, today is cider season. Cider from Sweet Apple Acres!" Rainbow Dash answered excitedly. "They only make it once a year, with the juiciest apples on the farm. It's the best cider in the world! You definitely have to taste it!"

"Uh... Well, I think I'm beginning to understand why you're so excited." Dusk said with a still confused look as he swayed in the air with each change of course his friend made while flying. "But I still don't understand why we're going so early."

"Pinkie Pie..." Rainbow Dash replied, narrowing her eyes. "She’s always the first in line. She drinks liters and liters of cider, and in the end when my turn comes, I only get to drink the last bits of the barrel. But not this year, I’ll anticipate her and I’ll be able to drink all the cider I want before her!"

"Oh... I see..." Dusk said, looking away, thinking that now that he had satisfied his curiosity, he could talk about something else with his friend. However, as much as he tried, something else was filling his head at that moment and preventing him from thinking about anything. The truth was that there was still an important issue to discuss between him and his friends which they hadn’t yet resolved.

"Dusk, have you been avoiding us?" Rainbow Dash suddenly asked as they kept flying. Without lowering her gaze to see Dusk, the mare kept it fixed on their destination as they got closer and closer to the Apple farm. "You haven't met any of us for two days."

At Rainbow Dash's question, Dusk was shocked, and then lowered his head in shame.

"It's not that I'm avoiding you. It's just… that I needed time to put my thoughts in order…" Dusk replied with a melancholy voice.

"Huff… You know, we already discussed it together. What you decide will be fine. I think I understand you a little. I felt like that too, not knowing what to feel when… well, you know, when… when I fell in love with you…" Rainbow Dash said blushing, while Dusk felt that she tightened her hooves in her grip, because of how nervous she was. "But finally, at the Grand Galloping Gala, I decided to stop thinking so much and just tell you my feelings. Maybe that's what you need to do, stop thinking so much and just impulsively follow your heart... Also, remember that this isn’t the end. No one is asking to marry you, it’s just a test run. And most importantly, whatever you decide, we’ll still be friends." Rainbow Dash added, looking down at Dusk and giving a big smile.

Seeing Rainbow Dash's confident smile, Dusk also smiled shyly. However, as soon as the pegasus looked up again, Dusk narrowed his eyes and put a guilty look.

"I'm as cowardly as ever..." Dusk thought, annoyed with himself. "Rainbow Dash and the others had the courage to openly confess their love to me, and I… I still wonder how to react."

"Oh, come on! Seriously!?" Rainbow Dash suddenly yelled, snapping Dusk out of his thoughts.

It was at that moment that Dusk realized that they had already arrived at Sweet Apple Acres. And the reason Rainbow Dash was so upset was that there was a huge line of ponies camping in their place. They were all waking up, ready to secure their place in line to be the first to buy the precious cider. And right in front was Pinkie Pie, who just at that moment came out of her tent next to a bunch of balloons, which apparently had served as a mattress.

"Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow Dash groaned and landed next to her happy pink friend. "Why is everyone camping here!?"

"Yesterday I got an idea to camp outside so that I could be first in line for cider. You know how there’s always a long line and I didn't want to be last, like you last year." Pinkie Pie answered cheerily, winking at Rainbow Dash while it seemed that the pegasus was going to pop a vein in her forehead. "It looks like word got out, and some ponies copied my idea."

"Some ponies? Almost the entire town is camping here!" Rainbow Dash yelled, pointing towards the huge line, so long that it seemed to disappear into the horizon. Then Rainbow Dash widened her eyes at a great idea that occurred to her. "Well, that doesn’t matter. Thank you for reserving us a place." Rainbow Dash said with a huge smile, quickly forming behind Pinkie Pie, pretending that everything had been planned.

As soon as Rainbow Dash slipped into line, all the ponies behind her began to complain about cutting.

"Easy, y’all. She’s my friend." Applejack said suddenly, finally appearing to calm her customers. She had approached a table that was next to Pinkie Pie, from which she would start selling the cider for the day.

"That's right. I’m friends with the owner of the farm." Rainbow Dash said, taunting the ponies who had called out her line cutting.

"…And since she's my friend, I know she'll line up just like everyone else." Applejack added, raising an eyebrow and looking seriously at her friend, much to Rainbow Dash's disappointment. The prismatic mare opened her mouth to try to say some excuse, but finally lowered her head in resignation, knowing that she could never convince her honest friend to help her cut in line.

"Don't worry, if you want I can give you some of the mugs of cider I'll buy." Pinkie Pie offered, showing off a whole sack of bits that she had been saving up all year just for this day.

Hearing Pinkie's proposal, Rainbow Dash's ears perked up in excitement. However, she looked at Pinkie Pie's huge smile and finally puffed out her cheeks in annoyance, full of frustration, and looked away.

"That would be like admitting my defeat against you again." Rainbow Dash huffed, turning around and slowly starting to walk to the end of the line. "I'll buy my own cider, so I can enjoy it when you have nothing left!"

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie Pie said with a big smile. "By the way, Hi Dusk!" Pinkie added, looking at Dusk for the first time since he had arrived.

"Uh... Umm. Hi..." Dusk replied, a bit surprised that none of his friends had paid attention to him since he had arrived. In fact, Applejack only gave him a quick hoof salute as she was so busy tidying up the counter behind which the cider sale would begin. "I... I’ll go to line up with Rainbow Dash." Then Dusk trotted to catch up with his blue friend.

After walking for a long time to the end of the line, where Rainbow Dash didn't stop growling and cursing how clever Pinkie Pie had been; Dusk and Rainbow Dash waited patiently in line. While it advanced slowly and Rainbow Dash continued muttering that the ponies bought too much cider and that it wouldn’t be enough for her.

While Rainbow Dash was still grumpy, only focused on waiting her turn to buy the prized cider, Dusk remained silent and lost in thought with a confused look.

"With what happened on the day of the comic convention, I thought the girls would be as or more nervous than me, but… they’re acting like nothing happened. The only one acting like a fool… is me." Dusk thought, again getting annoyed with himself. "Enough! If it had been a while ago, I would be convinced that they weren’t interested in the decision they asked me to make. But it’s not like that. I have grown and so have they, and I know what they really feel. They’re acting like this because they don't want to worry me; and most importantly… they trust me! That's right, I... I must stop acting like a nervous fool and go back to being the friend that I have always been."

The hours passed, and slowly the line was advancing. But as the wait grew longer, the voices of the impatient ponies that had waited for hours became more and more noticeable. And among all those boisterous voices, two particular ponies stood out. Two unicorn stallions with cream color coats and red-white manes, vociferously complaining about the slow service, adding every minute to more disgruntled ponies who still couldn't drink the delicious Apple cider.

"I've never seen those two unicorns in town… Are they brothers?" Dusk thought, raising an eyebrow curiously, seeing how similar those two instigating unicorns were.

Dusk didn’t want to join the demands of the ponies, who became increasingly frustrated as the minutes passed. Because it was his friend's business and Dusk had to support her. However, Dusk had to admit that those two stallions had a very good speech and could easily convince everyone with whom they talked to join their demands. Even Rainbow Dash also got carried away by the ponies’ claims, and she also turned up the volume of her voice as she complained about the slow service and lack of cider.

With the whole atmosphere heating up around them, Rainbow Dash and Dusk Shine finally arrived in front of Applejack's counter.

"Ten glasses of cider!" Rainbow Dash said quickly, placing a sack of bits on Applejack's counter.

"Coming right up!" Applejack replied. Then she pulled out a mug and pressed the faucet of the keg to release the cider, all while Rainbow Dash excitedly opened her eyes to see the cider fall. However, only a few drops fell from the barrel, leaving more air than cider. "Sorry, looks like the keg’s tapped out… Big Mac, Apple Bloom! Keg change!" Applejack yelled at her siblings.

"Grrr… Fine, I already waited for hours. I can wait a few more minutes…" Rainbow Dash grumbled in frustration, frowning. Meanwhile, seeing that the line was delayed, all the ponies behind Rainbow Dash, who had been claiming seconds before, turned up the volume again and protested louder.

"It seems that everypony is getting a little impatient with the sale of cider, hehe." Dusk said, a little worried about Applejack. He decided to take advantage of that moment to chat a bit while they waited.

"Yeah, every year is the same. Although it seems that this year everypony is a little more anxious than usual." Applejack replied with a shrug, determined to ignore those grumpy ponies.

"Maybe it would be easier if you sold in town. I even think more ponies would come and you could make more money." Dusk said with a thoughtful look.

"Hehe, trust me, we're doing well enough here." Applejack answered with confidence, showing Dusk the huge sacks full of bits that they had earned in just a few hours. "Also, last year we came to the center of town, and two annoying salesponies pestered me all day to sell them the recipe for our apple cider. So, I’d like to avoid meeting those two annoying ponies again." Applejack added, taking advantage of wiping the counter with a towel.

"Does the cider have a secret recipe?" Dusk asked.

"Of course not! I told those merchants: the only secret is our apples." Applejack said with a shrug. "Everyone comes to buy here because they know that our cider is the best, because it’s made with love and tegridy... I mean, integrity... hehe." Applejack added, finishing wiping the counter with the little blue towel.

Just at that moment, Apple Bloom arrived next to her sister.

"Sorry sis, the cider barrels are out for today." Apple Bloom said with a sad look.

"This is a joke, right!? Every year is the same!" Rainbow Dash yelled, annoyed to hear the little filly.

"Yeah! There is never enough cider!" Another stallion yelled from far behind. All the other ponies in line to also start screaming in anger. "Cider! Cider! Cider!" The same stallion began to yell, quickly causing all the other ponies to follow him in his chant as well. Then did Dusk realize that the stallion was one of the two stallions that had been instigating others to claim against Applejack since before.

"He certainly knows how to rile up the crowd to his side..." Dusk thought, a little surprised.

"Listen friends, I know you were all eager for cider, but we’re all out for today. There’s nothing I can do." Applejack said a little nervously, seeing herself surrounded by a lot of annoying ponies.

"Did someone say cider?" Suddenly a voice yelled from the other end of the road where everyone was.

Slowly, a huge and strange machine appeared on the road, much like the front of a small locomotive, only it used wagon wheels. It had several barrels and large glass tubes, some long exhaust pipes from which smoke came out, and a huge seat in front, where the stallion that had shouted sat quietly, moving the bizarre machine only with the force of his unicorn magic.

"Don’t be afraid! Here comes the solution to all your problems!" The stallion that had been heating up the atmosphere in line yelled, running to where the strange machine was and jumping on it and standing right next to the other stallion that had brought the machine there. "Meet: The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000!"

Upon finally seeing both stallions side by side, it was very obvious for Dusk that both unicorns were brothers. They were identical, down to the same vests and hats. The only thing that differentiated one from the other was that one of them had a mustache.

"You... You’re those two pesky merchants from last year!" Applejack accused, recognizing both stallions.

"What is the super-speedy-whatever?" Rainbow Dash asked, approaching to look at that strange machine.

"I'm glad you asked, miss." Said one of the salesponies, winking at Rainbow Dash and ignoring Applejack.

Then both brothers jumped out of the machine and began to sing a very catchy song, to which most of the ponies present joining in the singing and dancing while both brothers explained who they were and what they were doing there. And although most of the ponies present sang and were delighted with the funny musical number, Applejack and her family stayed away, looking suspiciously at the two stallions.

"If you allow me, the time has come to clear up all doubts and demonstrate what our particular gadget does." The stallion who introduced himself as Flim in the song said. While his mustached brother, Flam, began to use his magic to make their machine work. "Dear Applejack, I would be honored if you would allow us a few of your delicious and appetizing apples. So that all of our friends can see the wonders the future brings for all of us." Flim added, using his cunning silver tongue so that everyone was attentive to his request and that Applejack couldn't refuse.

With great distrust, Applejack accepted. Flim levitated several apples, which were quickly sucked into the suction hose of the machine. Then the barrels of the machine began to rotate, the pipes spewed more smoke, a huge light bulb was filled with magical electricity, and two large tubes were they began to fill rapidly with cider.

"Wooow... it even has a selector module." Dusk said with intrigue, approaching the Cider Squeezy. The colt could help but be fascinated with how the machine used magic and engineering in total harmony to perform such mechanisms. Unfortunately, that same intrigue distracted him from the fact that he was supposed to be suspicion of the stallions that his country friend had ire for.

"What do you say, Granny Smith? Do you want to taste?" Flam said, offering Granny Smith the first glass of cider the machine made.

"Of course I'll taste it!" Granny Smith said in a bad mood, realizing that those two ruffians wanted to take away their lucrative cider business and swiped the glass to her.

"Granny, no!" Applejack pleaded.

"Relax, I assure you that these ruffians can’t match the quality of our cider." Granny Smith said, sipping from the glass of cider. Then, to her surprise, she couldn't help but open her eyes wide and lick her mouth over the delicious beverage she had just drank, identical to the cider that her family sold. Then she realized that everyone was looking at her and looked away in embarrassment.

"The Apple family cider has no secrets. It's just her delicious apples. Anyone who has these apples can make delicious cider out of them." Flam said, smiling victoriously at the grandmother's reaction.

"And with our Cider Squeezy, we not only assure you top-quality cider, but we assure you that we’ll have it in half the time of what Granny Smith and her family currently take!" Flim yelled, causing all the surrounding ponies to scream with excitement, including Rainbow Dash, seeing that now they could finally drink the precious cider.

As the ponies applauded, Applejack realized her grave mistake. Last year, she had admitted to these two unscrupulous merchants that her cider had no secrets, only the seasonal apples from her farm. And now somehow, those two had come back and found a way to match their cider, and they could even do it faster. Now their entire cider business could collapse because of her.

"Well, without our apples you won't be able to make any more cider. And I'm not going to sell you a single apple just to have you steal our business from us!" Granny Smith countered, taking a sack of apples that was near Flim and Flam and putting it behind her.

"Come now, Granny Smith. Don't be a curmudgeon." Flim said with a friendly smile, looking at the rest of the ponies present. "All we want is to help quench the thirst of these thirsty ponies. Providing quality cider for a small fee. We’re even willing to split the profits, if you provide us with the apples. Let's say… seventy percent for us, thirty percent for you."

"That’s a bunch of hornswoggling hogwash if I’ve ever heard some!" Granny Smith screamed. Big Mac and Apple Bloom stood by their grandmother when they finally realized how unscrupulous those two twins had.

"So, are you going to leave all these ponies without a drop of cider just because you want to monopolize the business?" Flam asked with a sarcastic smile.

"Of course not!" Applejack yelled with all her might, determined to end this absurd discussion. "Tomorrow we’ll have much more cider and it’ll be enough for everypony! That’s the honest truth! I swear!" Applejack added, turning to look seriously at all the other ponies, especially Rainbow Dash, who had been one of the most annoyed about the lack of cider.

Seeing her friend's firm and honest gaze, Rainbow Dash bit her lip and looked away with embarrassment, realizing how she had exaggerated and how that had complicated her friend and her family. Then the other ponies also felt similar guilt to see the always honest Applejack putting her word at stake. And although most were still upset that they hadn’t managed to drink cider, they slowly withdrew, determined to trust the country mare's word.

"So you’ll have more cider tomorrow. That’s a relief." Flim whispered, moving closer to his machine when he saw that the other ponies had calmed down and there was no point in shaking things up anymore, at least for the moment. "Still, I wonder... Will it be enough for everypony?" Flim added with a smug smile. The stallion then got onto his machine with his brother and drove off from the farm.

"I didn't think things would get so tense..." Dusk Shine muttered, who had been left aside in that discussion.

"This ain’t over. I just know it." Applejack said, eyeing Flim and Flam's machine suspiciously as it drove away. "Family meeting!"

Big Mac, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith quickly rushed over and huddled up with the orange mare. Seeing that this was more of a family matter, Dusk decided to leave along with the rest of ponies present. However, as he was leaving, Dusk couldn't help but give Applejack one last look, noticing that, even if she tried to hide it, it seemed that his friend was extremely nervous and worried about what was to come.

---

The next day, Dusk arrived at Sweet Apple Acres just before dawn, all to taste some of the Apple family's legendary cider. However, to his surprise, even with how early it was in the morning, there was already a line of ponies waiting to be served. Fortunately, this line was a little shorter than the one he had had to do the day before.

Approaching the end of the line, Dusk smiled when he saw that Fluttershy and Rarity had just arrived there as well. Both mares smiled kindly when the lavender colt joined them. And just as with Pinkie, Rainbow and Applejack, neither of the mares appeared to be nervous to be around him. That made Dusk breathe deeply again, and he forced himself to be just as calm as his friends were.

"It’s nice to see you again, ladies.” He greeted with a smile. He looked around their surroundings and then towards the front of the line. "Huh… I thought Rainbow Dash would already be here."

Fluttershy and Rarity looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"Darling, if Rainbow Dash woke up early yesterday to come here, it's impossible for her to be here now." Rarity giggled.

"Rainbow Dash… well... it’s impossible for her to get up early two days in a row." Fluttershy said, also smiling in amusement. "Before coming here, I tried to wake her up, but she sleeps like a log." Fluttershy added, looking at Dusk with a shy smile.

Dusk thought about going himself to try to wake up his friend. However, if what his friends said was true, even he would find it difficult to wake the blue pegasus from her heavy sleep. In addition, the ponies were beginning to arrive and were already forming behind Dusk, so he would lose his position if he left. Maybe if he stayed, he could give his place to Rainbow Dash, although then Dusk remembered what happened the day before and that his friend would probably not accept that as she considered it a defeat.

After half an hour, Dusk and his friends finally recognized Rainbow Dash's voice in the distance, who had finally managed to wake up. Only to discover that again the line to buy cider was already huge, and again she was a long way from achieving her long-awaited goal. Although the pegasus was in the back of the line, Dusk and the mares could have sworn that they could here the swear words that she was muttering in frustration.

To everyone's surprise, it seemed that the line was moving much faster that day than the day before. So it wasn’t long for Dusk and his friends to wait before it was their turn.

"It seems you have everything under control today." Dusk said once he arrived next to Applejack, relieved to see that those two annoying merchants seemed not to have come that day.

"Yeah, we worked overtime yesterday to make more cider kegs. And we’ve organized ourselves better to serve customers faster." The country mare proudly gestured the rest of her family, who indeed moved in a much faster and more efficient way to count the money, serve the glasses of cider and change the kegs. Dusk couldn’t help but notice the dark circles under Applejack’s eyes, clearly showing the effort she put herself through for the sake of satisfying her customers. “Anyway, here’s your cider, y’all!” Applejack added, giving a mug of cider to Fluttershy, Rarity, and Dusk respectively.

Slowly Dusk took the mug of cider, sniffed it a bit to verify that it seemed to be a simple cider. However, as soon as he tasted it, he immediately understood what all the fuss was about. It was a very tasty and sweet beverage beyond measure, which Dusk thoroughly enjoyed drop by drop while he drank it. Applejack eagerly watched Dusk’s expression and couldn't help but put on a huge smile and blush a little when she saw how her beloved Dusk enjoyed the cider of her family and the fruit of her work.

After enjoying the delicious cider, Dusk was tempted to buy more. But he held back as he remembered that he had to do his part to make that there was enough cider for everyone, especially his friend Rainbow Dash. Who was still lined up in line, slowly approaching, eager to finally taste her long-awaited cider.

It was at that moment, as Dusk watched Rainbow Dash approach, that he noticed that in front of his pegasus friend was Flam, waiting for his turn in line.

Finally it was Flam's turn, and as a precautionary measure, Dusk decided to stay with Applejack to avoid a conflict again. Applejack simply narrowed her eyes and wrinkled her muzzle in disgust at the sight of the unscrupulous merchant.

"What's wrong dear Applejack? Don't you want to sell me your delicious cider? Isn't my money worth the same as everyone else's?" Flam said in a very theatrical way, so that all the ponies behind him would hear him.

"Hmm... No problem..." Applejack said slowly, knowing that the merchant was planning something. "How many mugs of cider are you going to want?"

"No mugs, miss. Kegs." Flam said with an arrogant smile. Then he reached down and levitated a huge, heavy sack full of bits over Applejack's counter. "All the kegs of cider you have left."

Immediately all the ponies behind him, including Rainbow Dash, who was right behind Flam, began to furiously complain about running out of cider again.

"Friends, relax, there is nothing to worry about." Flam said in a calm voice as always, making great use of his ability to control to the masses. "It would be impossible for me to just drink all that cider. I'm buying it as a gift to the good ponies in Ponyville who haven't had any cider yet." Flam added, to the surprise of Applejack and Dusk, who had prepared for everything but that.

All the ponies still in line screamed with joy and began to chant Flam's name, thanking him for his noble gesture.

"I can't bear to see these thirsty ponies in this exhausting line. I prefer to make a little financial sacrifice to give them a little happiness. Happiness that was taken away by the Apple family's inept and slow cider service." Flam said, again feigning disinterest and giving Applejack a fleeting, almost imperceptible look of mockery. The mare only pressed her lips tightly as Flam passed behind the counter to approach the cider kegs.

Just as Flam was passing Applejack's side, he pretended to stumble and he hit the stacked cider kegs hard, causing them all to fall and all the precious and delicious cider to fall to the ground.

"Nooooo….!" Rainbow Dash screamed in horror, leaping towards the kegs, trying in vain to catch some of the cider that had already been sucked into the ground. She was only able to her mouth only with a bitter apple-flavored mud, which made her eyes fill with helpless tears.

"You... You tripped me!" Flam yelled, still lying on the ground after hitting the kegs and pointing at Applejack and yelling loudly in anger, for all to hear. "This disloyal salespony made me fall on purpose so as not to sell cider to these good ponies! Just because she wants to strangle the cider monopoly in Ponyville. I've never seen a salespony use such dirty tricks just to wipe out the competition!"

All the surrounding ponies began to whisper among themselves, all arguing if what Flam was saying was possible. Even if they trusted Applejack, they all really believed they saw that Applejack had tripped him. And slowly Flam's great mass suggestion technique began to eat away at the trust the other ponies had in the Apple family.

"Stop there! That can’t be true! The honest and trustworthy Applejack would never do that!" A voice suddenly yelled from another side. A voice that made Applejack feel relieved for a second, thinking that there were still ponies who didn't question her integrity. However, that relief disappeared instantly when she saw that who had said that had been none other than Flim, Flam's brother. The stallion was riding his huge Cider Squeezy machine. "What shame! How can all you distrust Applejack and her family?" Flim added, glaring scolding at the other ponies in front of him. That made the other ponies feel a bit embarrassed for actually having thought ill of Applejack.

"Uh... T-Thanks..." Applejack said with embarrassment, deciding to make amends with the twins, after Flim helped so that the others didn't mistrust her. "I appreciate it, I-"

"There is nothing to be thankful for, honest Applejack." Flim interrupted, speaking out loud for all to hear. "And don't be panicked! Because I promise all you that in less than an hour, we can recover all those kegs of lost cider. So everyone can finally drink the delicious cider of ‘Apple Family & Flim and Flam Associates’!!" Flim shouted, lighting the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy with his magic, causing all the ponies to scream with excitement, seeing that they could enjoy their delicious cider.

"Apple Family & Flim and Flam Associates!?" Applejack thought with a mixture of confusion, fear and anger. This had all been an elaborate plan by those two filthy merchants to leave her family without supplies and win over all their customers in the process.

"You won't be making cider with our apples!" Applejack screamed, furious at having been tricked. "There are no Flim and Flam Associates ciders or anything like that! There’s only the cider of the Apple Family! The same cider that my family has prepared for years! And no liar, with a crazy weird machine, will make us change our mind."

"Yeah!!" The rest of the Apple family yelled in support, gathering together to confront the two merchants.

"I can't believe my ears! Can you only think of yourself!? What about all these poor ponies who haven't been able to enjoy a single drop of cider!?" Flim responded to the country mare while facing the audience theatrically to sway their opinion. "Perhaps you did in fact tripped my brother on purpose! What a shame!" Flim added, as Flam suddenly remembered his 'sore hoof' and made a fake pained face.

Just as Applejack feared, all the ponies fell for Flim's honeyed false words. Everyone began to complain against the Apple Family, for not letting the brothers make cider, for the bad service, for the lack of cider, and for having hurt poor Flam just so that he didn't give them free cider.

"Applejack... maybe you should give in." Dusk whispered to Applejack, seeing that the atmosphere was heating up and the ponies were getting more and more annoyed, all while Flim and Flam smiled triumphantly and enjoyed the show. "Let them make some cider for the others to calm down."

"You don’t understand. The sale of cider is an important part of the earnings for the year. If we give in now, those two will take advantage and we’ll never make up for what we lost." Applejack said, trying to hide her nervousness, as she watched those two unicorns use their magic to activate the machine.

When Flim and Flam saw that, despite having all their customers against them, the Apple family was still adamant about not giving out their apples so they could make their own cider, the twins decided to push even harder.

"Dear Granny Smith, a refined and beautiful lady like you shouldn't be working so hard in a farm." Flim said, approaching the elderly mare and gently patting her hoof in an act of gallantry and chivalry. "With our Cider Squeezy, these beautiful hooves would never have to work in the farm again. That way, you would have more time to go out and meet someone special. To a stallion that saw you as beautiful as I know you are." Flim added, using all his charm, winking at Granny Smith.

"Hehehe, I think I'm too old for you, darling." Granny Smith laughed, pulling back the hoof that Flim was holding. "Age and hard work give experience. Such as being able to recognize when somepony is giving you false flattery." Granny Smith added, easily discovering Flim's true intentions.

"That's it, Granny! Show him that we’re no silly country ponies and that we’ll not be fooled by their silly tricks!" Applejack thought in that instant. Proud that her grandmother hadn’t fallen into such a trap.

Seeing that the charm technique hadn't worked on Granny Smith, Flim looked away in disappointment, but immediately put on a thoughtful look and came up with another way to sway Granny. If charms and false flattery weren't working to win her favor, perhaps he could do the opposite and still achieve his goal.

"I can't believe you don't want to give us a few apples to make our cider." Flim said out loud, speaking to Granny Smith, but looking at the rest of the ponies as if they were his audience. "You know Granny, I’m beginning to think that you’re afraid to compete against our machine." Flim added, glancing at his brother. Who, for his part, immediately understood what his brother was planning, smiled mischievously and walked away from there. "To me, Granny Smith is just a ‘CHICKEN’."

"What did you call me, sonny?" Granny Smith said immediately, glaring at Flim.

"No, no, no, no!" Applejack thought terrified, knowing what that word did to Granny.

"Nopony calls me a chicken!" Granny Smith said, coming face to face with Flim, looking at him menacingly. Meanwhile, Flim smirked, knowing that he had gotten Granny to take the bait.

"If you’re so sure that our machine can’t exceed your cider production, then give us a few apples to test. We could even make a small bet." The stallion with a false thoughtful look, because the truth was that all that was part of his plan.

"You can take all the apples you want! But you still won’t be able to beat the work and love that our family puts in our cider!" Granny Smith answered furiously. "That's something I can bet!"

"Great! Your whole family against our Super Speedy Cider Squeezy." Flim said, looking at Granny defiantly and speaking out loud for all to hear. "Whoever produces more kegs of top-quality cider will recieve the exclusive right to sell cider in Ponyville."

"Fine by me!" Granny Smith yelled furiously, immediately accepting the challenge.

"Granny, no!" Applejack screamed in terror.

"No backsies! We have a witness." Flam suddenly said, who had left and returned with Mayor Mare, who had been in line to drink cider, and who had wanted to stay out of that discussion. But Flam, knowing what his brother was planning, brought the mayor to the center of the discussion to serve as a judge.

"Mayor! This is crazy!" Applejack said, full of fear.

"I-I understand that. But if Granny Smith accepted the challenge…" Mayor Mare said, feeling uncomfortable in this situation.

"Of course I accepted! Right here! Right now!" Granny Smith added, much to Applejack's horror.

As Flim and Flam smiled victoriously, Applejack looked everywhere in terror. Then she saw Dusk, who seemed just as shocked as she was by this sudden challenge.

"Dusk, you... what would you do!?" Applejack thought, feeling a sense of dread as she understood more than anyone what her family was really risking in the challenge. She had a yearning to rush over to Dusk and ask if he could use that clever mind of his to come up with a solution.

However, that wasn’t necessary. Because as she thought about what her clever crush would do in this situation, Applejack came up with a brilliant idea.

"Tomorrow." Applejack said trying to calm down and looking seriously at Flim and Flam. "We accept the challenge, but it’ll be tomorrow."

"Let's do it right now, deary." Granny Smith said, looking at her granddaughter. "Let's show these dirty ruffians that we’re not cowards and that we can beat them at their own game."

"Granny, trust me. It’ll be better if we do it tomorrow." Applejack said, staring at her grandmother, so that by looking at her she would understand that she had a plan.

Before Granny Smith could guess that her granddaughter had a hidden plan, it was the cunning minds of Flim and Flam that realized that Applejack seemed to be planning something. With the years of experience being seasoned scammers, the twins quickly sensed that the young orange mare was planning something that could harm their schemes.

"Granny Smith said here and now, and we're willing to do so. Why put it off for a day? Is your intention to cheat? Isn't the word given by Granny Smith trustworthy?" Flam said, speaking as usual to all the other ponies present, to manipulate the public into thinking what he wanted them to think, and thus turn them in his favor.

"Of course my word is to be trusted! I already said I accept!" Granny Smith countered, shaking Flim’s hoof to close the deal while he smiled victoriously.

"Why aren’t you listening to me, Granny!?" Applejack screamed angrily, who saw her plan fall apart.

The plan that Applejack had thought was that, exactly the next day some of her relatives would come to visit her. Together with her cousins ​​and uncles, she might be able to convince Granny Smith that the bet they were making was crazy. But now, that whole plan had gone down the drain. However, Applejack quickly thought of another desperate exit in order to avoid the trouble that was coming.

"I...I refuse to partake in this tomfoolery!" Applejack said with a furious look. "The deal was that you guys would compete against our entire family. If I refuse to participate, then you can’t compete." Applejack spat at the despicable twins. She hated looking like a coward, but if it was to save her family, she was willing to sacrifice her pride.

"So, you’re admitting that you’re a chicken like your grandmother?" Flim said, smiling maliciously, trying to provoke Applejack.

"Say whatever the heck you want." Applejack answered through clenched teeth.. "Come on, Granny." Applejack added, turning around and pushing her grandma away from the twins.

As Applejack pushed the elderly away, and the rest of the ponies present were disappointed, realizing that the expected challenge seemed not to be carried out. Flim and Flam looked at each other, realizing that their chance to fool the Apple family was fading. Then they both smiled maliciously, deciding to take the provocation to the next level, all in order to achieve their goal.

"So, Applejack wants to be absent from the competition. It's a shame, isn't it brother?" Flim said, this time speaking at a low volume so the other ponies wouldn't hear him, except for Applejack, who was still within reach of his voice.

"Yeah. 'Absent', what an ugly word. I guess it runs in the family." Flam argeed.

"Yeah, it seems that she wants to be absent just like her parents." Flim added, grinning wickedly.

As soon as Applejack heard that, she froze. Her vision clouded completely, feeling a fury that she had never felt before. She lost her mind to the fury she felt and her body moved only guided by anger. She fiercely turned around and landed a sharp blow straight to Flim's face.

"No!" Dusk Shine yelled. The lavender colt saw that Applejack lunged to hit Flim and he pounced and got in the way. His friend to hit him with all her might in the face instead of Flim, causing him to fall hard against the ground.

Seeing that she had hit Dusk instead of Flim, Applejack was able to get out of that state of blind rage she had been in and gawked at Dusk lying on the ground before her.

"Dusk! What did you do!?" Applejack yelled with concern, immediately crouching down to help Dusk up.

"D-Don’t worry... I-I'm fine..." Dusk said with one eye closed in pain. He didn’t want to worry her friend, even if the blow really hurt. Then, after Applejack helped him up, he stared at her. "Don't let them provoke you. If you hit them, they’ll make you and your family look like violent ponies." Dusk explained, trying to calm his friend.

Dusk's words were not necessary to calm Applejack, as it had only been enough for her to see Dusk lying on the ground in pain to quell her anger with concern. However, now that she saw that Dusk was fine, she glared at the merchant twins. Then she closed her eyes tightly and forced herself to calm down and follow Dusk's words, even though deep down she wanted to beat those two ruffians for what they had said.

"Thank you, noble knight! You’ve saved this humble merchant from the brutal beating that vulgar country mare wanted to give me." Flim said theatrically for all to hear, hugging Dusk between his hooves.

Flim's hug only lasted a second, as he immediately had to release Dusk from his hooves when he felt a strong electric shock. Then, after the fright, he saw that Dusk was furious and had sparks popping off from his horn.

"Do NOT touch me! If you make fun of my friend or her family like that again, I swear you'll regret it!" Dusk said with a fleeting red glow of anger in his eyes. So much was Dusk's anger that his horn couldn't help but shoot sparks and light electric rays when he contained his magic.

For the first time Flim was speechless and took a step back, swallowing hard and scared at the threat. Meanwhile, without Dusk noticing, those magical rays of anger that his horn released reached the Cider Squeezy. Electricity ran through one of the glass tubes, overcharging it with energy and caused it to explode. That replaced all of Dusk's fury with astonishment and horror at what he had unintentionally caused.

"This isn’t the first time… Why is it so difficult for me to control my magic when I get angry?" Dusk thought, terrified when he saw the glass tube explode.

"Woooh! Did you see that?! They’re sabotaging us! They want to break our Super Cider Squeezy so we can't have a challenge!" Flam yelled, immediately taking advantage of the accident to continue to have the support of the ponies around them.

The other ponies that were waiting for the cider hadn’t understood anything of what had happened. The only thing everyone saw was that for some reason Applejack hit Dusk and then Dusk used his magic to break the glass tubes of the Cider Squeezy. That, with the enormous persuasiveness of Flim and Flam's speeches, convinced the vast majority of the ponies present to believe what Flam was proposing to them.

"But don't worry, friends! Even with those dirty tricks that the Apple family and their friends make, I assure you that our machine, at half capacity, could still compete and beat the Apple family." Flam added, continuing the pressure for the challenge to take place.

As the audience slowly shouted and exerted their pressure again, Applejack's mind ignored the others and only looked at Dusk, who was still looking stupidly at the machine, realizing his clumsy mistake. However, Applejack smiled fondly, realizing that he had saved her from making a serious mistake.

"Sis, are you okay?" Apple Bloom said, who, along with Big Mac and Granny Smith, approached Applejack, knowing that there must be a reason for her to have reacted that way.

"I-I'm fine, don't worry." Applejack said with a nervous little smile, bviously lying to try not to worry her family.

"I don't know what those ruffians told you, but we need to teach them a lesson!" Granny Smith said, gently touching her granddaughter and looking at her confidently. "Applejack, let's show them how strong our family is."

"Yeah! We can beat them!" Apple Bloom shouted confidently.

"E....Eeyup." The ever-talkative Big Mac added.

Even though Applejack was already calm and she saw the security and trust in her family's eyes, she couldn't have that same look. Every time she thought about the possibility that she and her family could beat those two unicorns and their machine, the memory of her competition against Sunset Shimmer returned to her mind, and how the dastardly mare had shown her that a unicorn could beat her by harvesting apples.

"We can't beat them..." Applejack said, with a look full of fear.

"Of course we will!" The other three Apples answered together, looking determinedly at Applejack.

Applejack squeezed her eyes shut, slowly lowered her head, took a deep breath, and finally decided to believe in her family. Even if it was one chance in a hundred, she would believe in her family.

"Okay..." Applejack finally relented, hoping she wasn't making the biggest mistake of her life.

To Applejack's surprise, the weak words sounded far louder than she thought. Then she looked to her side and saw that Flim had put a bullhorn next to her.

"You heard it, friends! The cider challenge will take place!" Flim yelled in excitement, causing all the other ponies present to scream happily as well, knowing that with that challenge they would soon be able to drink the delicious cider that either team made.

"Oh! What a coincidence! Looks like we had a reserve tube." Flam said from the other end, feigning surprise and swapping the broken Cider Squeezy tube for a new one. "Now our machine will be able to compete at full power." He added, glaring at the Apple family.

After a few preparations, Flim and Flam settled down with their Super Cider Squeezy on one side of the orchard. While in the opposite side, the Apple family settled with all their rudimentary machinery to harvest and manufacture cider. In the middle of both teams was Mayor Mare, next to a brown stallion that had carried a huge hourglass with him. And finally, the rest of the ponies were behind a fence, an audience eager to see that interesting competition. Dusk and the other Applejack’s friends were in the front row, including Rainbow Dash, who had a sad look, full of guilt for having been part of the group that started the revolt against her friend.

"Well ponies, we're about to start this improvised competition that will determine who will have the exclusive rights to sell cider in Ponyville." Mayor Mare said as the brown stallion next to her, named Dr. Hooves, did all the paperwork. In addition to being the town scientist, the brown stallion was the notary, and he loved to sign all kinds of documents. "As will be recorded in the minutes, whoever makes the most kegs of the highest quality cider in one hour will be the winner. Do both parties agree?"

"We accept." Flim said, signing the paper that Dr. Hooves had brought before him.

"W-We accept..." Applejack replied, still unsure of participating and signed the paper.

"Let the challenge begin!" Mayor Mare yelled, flipping the hourglass to start the countdown. Everyone in the audience to scream with excitement.

On the part of the Apple family, the process began with Applejack hitting the apple trees and caused the apples to fall. Then Apple Bloom followed with a basket and caught the apples before they fell to the ground and carried them to her grandma. Granny Smith had the job of sorting, where she saw and smelled each apple, discarding the bad ones and dumping the good ones down a gutter. Finally, Big Mac ran on a makeshift treadmill to run a small artisanal mill, which turned a large wheel that squeezed the apples and caused the cider to flow out of one side.

Seeing the great teamwork they did, most of the ponies in the audience began to support the Apple family in their speed and skill to carry out that heavy work. However, there was a small group of ponies who immediately noticed that not everything worked as well as everyone believed.

"Is it me or is something wrong with Applejack?" Rarity said, saying what all her friends thought.

The experience of seeing her country friend harvesting so many times had led Rarity and the others to realize that Applejack was being slightly slower than usual.

"It's like something distracted her." Fluttershy added worriedly.

"We already have a keg!" Apple Bloom yelled excitedly, having completed the first keg of cider.

"We’ve never filled a keg so fast." Applejack thought with a slight hope growing in her heart. However, that hope was instantly dashed as she looked up and saw that in front of her, was her competition. Just as Apple Bloom yelled that they had completed their first keg, they had also completed a keg, but it was their third!

The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 was an impressive machine. While Flim and Flam rested peacefully on the seat of their machine, all they had to do was continually activate their magic, then the machine did the rest. With a huge hose, the machine sucked much of the apples from the trees from the air, then the apples went through an automatic selection cycle, removing all the bad apples, and finally the barrels of apples spun at full speed until creating the cider, automatically sealing the kegs and stacking them accurately.

Just as Applejack had feared, her family was at a disadvantage against unicorn magic. For every keg their family worked hard to make, the unicorn twins effortlessly made three kegs. The country mare was once again reminded of her duel against Sunset and how she had been overwhelmingly beaten. Applejack couldn’t fully concentrate from doubt and nervousness, and now, seeing the potential of Flim and Flam's super cider squeezy, she was becoming more and more imprecise at hitting and harvesting apples.

"Don't give up Applejack! You can win this! You're the best!" Rainbow Dash screamed at the top of her lungs, causing Applejack to snap out of her dark insecurities and look out over the audience.

There was her great friend and eternal rival, who was supporting her with all her might. The blue pegasus no longer cared about getting any cider or not, all she wanted was for her friend to win. Like her other friends, who also started screaming with all their might to encourage her. Then Applejack couldn't help but smile, regaining the confidence that for a moment she had begun to lose.

As she looked at her friends, Applejack instinctively scanned for one particular pony, the stallion that had so often helped and encouraged her. However, she was surprised to see that, unlike her other friends, Dusk Shine wasn’t supporting her from the audience. In fact, Dusk Shine wasn't even there, he had turned around and ran out of there.

"Dusk is leaving?" Applejack thought with a confused and concerned look. However, she quickly erased that look and returned to a look of total concentration. "No, focus, gal! The old Applejack would have believed that Dusk is leaving because he knows we can’t win. But he would never do something like that! I know that if he’s leaving, it’s because something very important happened. I… I trust Dusk with all my heart!!" Applejack thought, smiling confidently and regaining all the motivation that she lacked.

Time passed quickly; thirty minutes had passed and only half the time remained. And although the competition was as intense as at the beginning, the remarkable advantage of one of the teams was already more than evident. While the Apple family looked exhausted making four kegs, neither Flim and Flam had a drop of sweat on them, while their machine was had stacked twelve kegs of cider.

Right at that moment, Dusk Shine finally returned to the competition venue. Wasting no time, he jumped the fence that divided the audience from those participating in the challenge and headed to the side of the field. But curiously, instead of going to where his friend and her family were, Dusk went straight to where Flim and Flam were, still sitting comfortably in the seat of their machine.

"Excuse me, I would like to ask you a question." Dusk said, looking kindly at the merchant twins, holding a batch of papers with his magic. "Are honorary family members allowed to help in the competition?"

At Dusk's question, both Flim and Flam looked at the young lavender stallion in surprise. Then they immediately noticed his horn and narrowed their eyes, remembering the magical strength it seemed to possess.

"Of course… NOT! We won't risk you using your magic to help those simple country ponies. Who do you take us for? The deal is done! It's ONLY the Apple family against our machine." Flim replied, grinning wickedly. He couldn’t give the Apple family any chance of winning.

"Okay, I thought so." Dusk said, smiling victoriously. He then ran off as Flim and Flam looked at him in confusion.

Fully concentrated on her task of hitting the apple trees, Applejack barely realized that Dusk had reached her.

"Whatever you have to say... You better say it later..." Applejack said grunted, fully focusing on her task of bucking the tree.

"Applejack, marry me!"

The shock that those three words caused made the country mare lose all of her concentration and bucked the air, causing her to fall to the ground.

"W-W-W... What did you say?" Applejack asked with a hot blush, shaking her head as she thought she had misheard. There was no other answer, she definitely must have heard wrong!

"We’re running out of time!" Dusk said hurriedly, taking Applejack's hoof and making it marked as a signature on one of the papers he had brought with him. "Hurry, come with me." Dusk added, taking Applejack by the hoof to accompany him. The orange mare simply let him lead her, reeling from the extreme confusion she felt.

Quickly, Dusk pulled on Applejack until they both arrived in front of Mayor Mare. Then Dusk showed the batch of papers that he had brought with him.

"Mayor, you can marry us, can't you?" Dusk asked, looking at the mayor with a serious and determined look.

"M-Marry!? W-Well yes, I have the authority to perform weddings, but…" Mayor Mare replied, very confused and surprised. Applejack was absolutely flabbergasted by the lavender colt’s wild declarations.

"Marry me... That's what he said... Marry me..." Applejack repeated in her mind in the vain attempt to understand.

"We just need a notary, right?" Dusk said, smiling victoriously. "And we just have-"

"I’m a notary!" Dr. Hooves exclaimed. The stallion was fascinated with the batch of papers that Dusk had brought, beginning to read them quickly, signing them without even being asked.

"T-This is too hasty… And we're in the middle of a competition!" Mayor Mare tried to reason.

"That is precisely why we need this done now!" Dusk said, looking nervously at the huge hourglass.

"What... What do you mean?" Applejack asked slowly, finally managing to partly come out of her daze.

"If we get married, I’ll officially be part of your family, and I’ll be able to help you in the competition!" Dusk explained, looking excitedly at his friend. "We can get married to make it official and then we can just annul the marriage afterward!"

"That... That's abusing the system..." Mayor Mare muttered, annoyed that the colt was using something so sacred as marriage for something so crazy.

"I accept that it’s extreme, but desperate times call for desperate measures." Dusk said, smiling full of confidence. "We’re not doing anything illegal, right?"

"Hnng... Hmm... No... I guess not..." Mayor Mare replied reluctantly. Then she glanced off into the distance, where Granny Smith was still examining the apples she had, still struggling not to lose the challenge. The mayor knew that if they lost the right to sell their cider in town, it could mean that they would lose their precious farm. "Well… I'll accept it. But I insist again that it’s not correct."

"That's enough for me." Dusk smiled, satisfied to have convinced the mayor.

"Dusk, wait." Applejack said, taking Dusk by the shoulders and looking at him seriously. "Okay, I get what you’re saying. I accept that in your mind this must seem like a brilliant idea, BUT THIS IS CRAZY!"

"I know, but it's the only way you can compete fairly against those dirty twins." Dusk said, also looking seriously at his friend.

Applejack couldn't help but look towards where the Super Cider Squeezy was and saw the enormous number of kegs of cider it had produced. Even with Dusk's help, it was very likely that they wouldn't even manage to before them. And before putting her pride and her common sense before her, Applejack, as always, put her family before her.

"Huff… O-Okay. I accept." Applejack finally answered, blushing and dropping her head.

"Perfect! Now let me get the rest of the girls." Dusk said, calling with his hoof to his other friends. The mares had been attentive after seeing that something strange happened in the competition with Dusk, Applejack and Mayor Mare, immediately ran to where they were.

"What’s wrong? Why’s Applejack not bucking those trees like no tomorrow?" Pinkie Pie asked upon arrival, along with the rest of her friends.

"Um, Dusk." Mayor Mare said. "These types of...informal marriages only require documentation. We don’t need any witnesses."

"Oh, they’re not witnesses." Dusk said, levitating another stack of papers and showing them to the mayor with a huge smile. "I’m also marrying them."

A long and ominous silence was felt around, hearing only the sand of the huge clock falling through the glass. Both the Apple family and the merchant brothers had been trying to pay attention to what was happening with the Mayor, Dusk and the mares. And the only thing they could hear was the surprising and ridiculous phrase that Dusk said at that moment. A phrase that left everypony stunned and open-mouthed for a few seconds.

"HOW SHAMELESS CAN YOU BE!?" Rainbow Dash and Mayor Mare yelled at the same time. The blushing pegasus couldn’t stop herself from from bonking the unicorn on the head.

"Ouch…! Don't you understand? It's the only solution, so we can all be part of the family and can help Applejack!" Dusk said, rubbing his head from the blow he received.

While Dusk tried to explain his 'brilliant idea', and his friends and the Mayor were arguing with him about the extreme of his plan, Flim and Flam were thinking with very serious looks. Now that they understood what Dusk was trying to do, they realized that it was actually a big problem. If the Mayor agreed, not only Dusk and his friends could enter the competition, but also any other pony in the public could. Then, both twins made some mental calculations and realized that if Dusk managed to convince most of the ponies in the audience to accept that temporary marriage, they could be in trouble.

Both twins looked at each other, knowing they had come to the same conclusion. Then they both got closer and started whispering to each other.

"Madam Mayor! Please, we must stop this madness. In the name of true love. We can’t allow such a sacred institution as marriage to become dirty." Flim said, sweetening his words. “I’ve chatted with my brother, and we’ve decided that if no one marries, we’ll allow those five ponies to help the Apple family." Flim added, indicating contemptuously with his hoof to Dusk and his friends.

"But only with two conditions! One: Only they join and no one else is asked to join." Flam said, knowing that even with five extra ponies, the Apple family would be unable to beat them. "And two… Let none of the unicorns that help them use magic." He concluded, smiling wickedly with his brother. As long as they could use magic and their competition couldn't, their victory was assured.

"Done!" Dusk said immediately, smiling victoriously. Then he threw all the papers he had brought into the air, while Dr. Hooves ran to catch them and order them correctly, even if they were no longer useful.

"Well. Now, I suggest you go back to the competition." Flim said as he and his brother reactivated their magic in their Cider Squeezy. "It's not like you're going to win, but at least it’ll be fun to watch you try." Flim added, grinning evilly just like his brother.

"Let's go!" Dusk yelled, running for his friends to follow him and go back to the apple trees.

"Wait... this was your plan from the beginning?" Applejack asked, running to Dusk's side.

"Of course not." Dusk said, looking at his friend as he ran with a blushing smile. "It wouldn't have been so bad if we had gotten married, right?" Dusk added. For the first time, Dusk was actually comfortable talking on the subject of love without feeling awkward.

At that smile, Applejack couldn't help but blush and lower her embarrassed gaze.

"Well listen, Applejack and her family have to focus on their tasks, and each of us will help them with something." Dusk instructed, stopping in front of the Apple family and his friends. "I'll help Applejack with harvesting. Pinkie Pie will help collect apples with Apple Bloom. Rarity will help Granny Smith in the selection stage. Rainbow Dash will help Big Mac in the runner. And Fluttershy will seal the barrels and change them. Now let’s go! There is no time to lose!"

Without questioning Dusk's orders for a second, each of his friends went directly to their position. None of the five mares had questioned the gift that Dusk had for organization. And slowly they were surprised to understand how quick Dusk had been to designate the right mare for the right task. Pinkie Pie's jumps made her perfect for easily catching falling apples; Rarity's great aesthetic sense made her perfect for instinctively sorting a good apple from a bad one; Rainbow Dash's speed was perfect to help on the treadmill; and Fluttershy could add a new stage, making the process continuous and non-stop.

In just two minutes, the Apple family was surprised to see how fast the entire process had become. With the help of Applejack's five friends, their speed had tripled. Minute by minute, their production was accelerating more and more. It wasn't just more hooves in the process, now it seemed that the stress of the competition had disappeared and each pony enjoyed the work they did, causing better and fasters results.

One of those who was most surprised by all this was Granny Smith, who never, even in her best days, had seen that job of making cider done so quickly. And while her eyes were proud of all her grandchildren, she couldn't help but stop her gaze on one granddaughter in particular.

Harvesting with all her energy with a huge smile, was Applejack. And next to her equally happy, was Dusk Shine. Both of them kicking in perfect sync, with Dusk applying all the knowledge he had learned from Applejack. Neither of them spoke, it was as if both were a mirror of the other, they just smiled at each other and harvested apple tree after apple tree, enjoying the rustic but fun work. But more importantly they were enjoying each other's company.

Granny Smith saw the beautiful sight and couldn't help but remember her strong but tender son, when he picked apples with his beloved wife. At that precise moment, Applejack and Dusk were the spitting image of Bright Mac and Pear Butter, and Granny couldn't help but release a tear of happiness at the fond memories.

There were less than ten minutes to go, and Flim and Flam hadn't paid much attention to the competition. They had only seen them work the first round and quickly calculated that the Apple family wouldn’t make it. However, neither of them took into account the enormous synergy of the group of nine ponies had, and how their teamwork grew and grew until they finally surpassed them. It was only when Flam was yawning that he glanced at his rivals and realized how many kegs of cider they had made in just a few minutes.

"The two teams are tied!" Dr. Hooves shouted just at that moment, who was the one who was carefully keeping the score keg by keg.

That announcement made the audience scream with excitement, while Flim and Flam, for the first time in the competition, felt a chill and saw in their minds a possibility that they really could lose. Then the twins looked at each other and nodded, putting on serious glances. Instantly, Flim and Flam maximized the strength of their magic, and the Super Cider Squeezy began to move faster, converting many more apples to cider.

The minutes passed and quickly Flim and Flam realized that, although the Super Cider Squeezy was working at twice the speed, they were still tied with the Apple Family.

"Why isn’t it working faster!?" Flim yelled, starting to get nervous.

"Hmm… I got it! It's the selection process!" Flam said, moving closer to see the glass behind which the machine sorted the apples. Even though the Cider Squeezy had more apples, the selection process followed the same rhythm that couldn’t be changed.

"Stop it!" Flim shouted, jumping up and shutting down the selector module on the Super Cider Squeezy.

"What are they doing?" Dusk thought curiously, watching from afar how the twins seemed to be nervous and had been adjusting the machine. "Are they adjusting it to make it go faster!?" Dusk realized.

Just as Dusk feared, the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 began churning out kegs of cider at an impressive speed, tripling its output in just a few minutes. About that, it seemed that only Dusk noticed, since all the other members of his team were absolutely focused on their tasks.

"Don't get distracted!" Dusk thought, shaking his head to calm himself.

"Dusk, hurry up! We gotta-" Applejack yelled before being cut off.

"Time up!" Mayor Mare yelled, just as the last grain of sand fell from the hourglass, thus ending the competition.

With the Mayor's announcement, all the ponies in the audience screamed with excitement and ran to the mayor, eager to find out who had won the intense and disputed competition. As the competitors also approached, Flim and Flam smiled arrogantly, while the Apple family smiled kindly, thanking Applejack's friends for their help. Meanwhile, Dusk and Applejack couldn't help but put on tense looks as Dr. Hooves finished counting both teams' kegs of cider.

"By a difference of three kegs... Flim and Flam win the competition!" Dr. Hooves finally yelled.

With the announcement of the winner, all the ponies in the audience happily applauded the winners, as they bowed appreciatively and smiled modestly. Although deep down, both twins were smiling wickedly in their minds. They knew that by taking away the cider business from the Apple family, they could easily buy all of Sweet Apple Acres and get all that great business. Meanwhile, the Apple family, Dusk and his friends, were left desolate. They had lost the competition by just three kegs! They had given their all, but finally they had lost against those wicked and sneaky merchants.

"We lost..." Applejack whispered, knowing, as did the twins, that without the sale of cider, her family couldn’t keep their farm and expenses afloat.

"It's not fair! It's not fair! It's not fair!" Apple Bloom began to yell, crying helplessly after losing by only three kegs.

As Fluttershy and Granny Smith approached the filly to comfort her, Dusk thought that he would also have liked to approach her to calm her down. But the truth was that Dusk felt the same as Apple Bloom. After all the dirty tricks the twins had used, was it fair that Applejack and her family lost their business to them!?

"It’s not fair." Dusk thought, with a serious look, convinced that justice must exist somewhere.

At that moment, Dusk looked towards the twins' Super Cider Squeezy, which no longer produced cider, but was still on, even with a bit of the magic charge that the twins had used on it. Dusk's eyes widened when he saw that, although the machine was still on, the light on the sorting belt was off. The day before, he had come very close to the machine, to admire that impressive achievement of magic and engineering, and precisely one of the parts that had most attracted Dusk's attention had been the machine's selector module.

"Cheaters never win." Dusk whispered, finally understanding how the twins had made their machine work faster.

"What are you talking about?" Applejack asked, who was next to Dusk and was surprised to see him smile. Then Dusk whispered in her ear what he had discovered. With that, Applejack also started to smile slowly, realizing the twins' mistake. Then she and Dusk looked at each other confidently and nodded, both knowing what they had to do.

"Thank you, thank you! We did everything for you. Just to bring you the best cider in Equestria." Flim said with a fake smile of modesty to all of the ponies.

"I have to take off my hat to you two. Even if I don't like it, I have to accept that y’all won fair and square. Congratulations." Applejack said suddenly, pushing her way through the other ponies to get to where Flim and Flam were. "If you don't mind, I’d like to make a small toast together with everyone present to your victory. After all, I think we all want to taste the winning cider, right?" Applejack added, looking over at the other ponies and holding up an empty mug.

At Applejack's gesture, the other ponies present also raised their empty mugs, eager not only to share the victory with the twins, but also to taste as soon as possible the delicious cider they had been waiting for all day. For their part, Flim and Flam narrowed their eyes and looked suspiciously at Applejack, who was now looking away.

"Who do you think you are talking to? You’re a terrible liar!" Flim thought, immediately guessing what Applejack was up to. "You realized that we made the last kegs without selecting the apples, didn't you? Do you think we'll do a toast with one of the last kegs? You really are a simple country mare!"

"Of course! I'd be delighted for everyone to taste the cider that Granny Smith herself approved!" Flim said, smiling kindly, contrary to all the bad thoughts that were circulating in his head at the time.

Having unmasked Applejack's true intentions, Flim asked his brother to bring one of the kegs. Then Flam pushed his way through the surrounding ponies to where the kegs of cider his Super Cider Squeezy had produced were, and with a smile of victory, pulled out one of the first kegs of the lot. Then he opened it and generously poured the mugs of all the ponies present with the precious cider.

"Cheers!" Flim said, raising his mug alongside those of the other ponies and drinking the glorious cider of victory. "Haah... This really is the best cider in Equestria, isn't it?" Flim added, smiling after drinking and verifying that there was nothing wrong with his cider.

However, as soon as Flim and Flam saw the rest of the ponies, they saw with amazement and fear that the ponies present had faces of confusion, and even disappointment, after having drunk from their mugs.

"This cider isn’t bad, but..." A mare said with a confused look.

"Yeah... it doesn't look like the Apple family cider at all." Another mare added, with a somewhat disgusted look. "I didn't wait all day for some ordinary cider."

"W-What are you talking about? It's the same cider from the Apple family! It’s their very apples! That is their only secret!" Flim said with panic.

"You didn't even realize it when you drank it. That’s because you’re just a merchant who doesn’t know what he’s selling." Applejack said with a victorious smile. "It’s true that there’s no secret in our way of making cider, but what we do without fail is to make the cider only with the best apples from our farm. The selection process is very important to have true top-quality cider, and that is something that you guys skipped just to win the competition."

"That's right, this isn’t Apple cider!"

"It’s a fraud!"

Quickly, all the ponies present started yelling at Flim and Flam, who this time had no sweet words to win over a crowd that no longer trusted them.

"That’s impossible! I made sure to get one of the first kegs out." Flam said nervously, turning to see where the cider kegs were.

Looking up at the kegs, Flam was surprised to see that they were stacked differently than they had been when he went to get the keg. Then, in front of his eyes, the kegs glowed with a magical aura and again they changed places again, as if it were a gambling game in which someone hides something in a glass and turns the other glasses to hide it.

Before Flim and Flam could react, Dusk appeared next to the kegs, walking with a big smile, showing that he had been the one who had rearranged the kegs. Now Flim and Flam hadn’t only shown the entire town that they had cheated to make more kegs of cider in the last few minutes, but now they had no idea which were the kegs with good cider and which were the ones with mixed apples that hadn't passed the quality filter.

"M-My dear friends... I think we had a little quality control problem." Flim said with a nervous smile, looking at the town ponies. "But if you give us a couple of hours, I'm sure we can-"

"We don't want to wait any longer!" All the ponies shouted angrily, who had already waited too long for a good glass of cider.

"The challenge was who made the most kegs of 'highest quality' cider." Mayor Mare said, walking over to Applejack, along with Granny Smith and the rest of the Apple family. "And under the consideration that the quality of Apple cider has never been questioned in all these years, I award the challenge to the Apple family!"

The air was quickly filled with cheers, congratulating the Apple family. The applause and shouts that were heard much louder than when they congratulated the twins, because the truth was that deep down, everyone in town wanted Applejack and her family to win. Meanwhile, the Apple family embraced excitedly, happy to be recognized by the ponies and not to lose the important part of their business.

For their part, Flim and Flam quickly got on their Super Cider Squeezy while everypony was distracted activated it with their magic to quickly leave. The twins were scared of the thought of the Apply family demanding some type of reward for winning the competition. Something very far from the truth, because the only thing Applejack thanked and wished in compensation was to see those two unicorns out of her sight.

---

"HAAAAHHH…. This is what I've been waiting for so long!!" Rainbow Dash yelled happily after she finally drank a mug of cider. She was so eager that she gulped down the whole mug in one swig. "Another, please!" She asked, smiling with delight.

"Coming right up!" Applejack replied, looking back and seeing that thanks to the competition, they now had kegs to spare to sell much more cider than they had planned.

After the madness of the competition ended, Applejack and her family immediately began to sell the cider they had again, and for the first time in years, it didn't run out in the morning and were able to sell all afternoon with some kegs left to spare.

The first ones to be offered cider were Dusk and his friends, for having helped the family. However, Rainbow Dash refused and said that she would only drink after they served everyone else. It was a kind of self-imposed punishment that the blue pegasus did as a penance for being part of the cause of all that trouble with the twins. So, when all the other ponies in town were satisfied and returned to their homes, it was the moment that Rainbow Dash was finally able to savor her dose of cider, causing her to cry with happiness.

As dusk fell, Granny Smith chatted with the mayor while Big Mac and Apple Bloom began to tidy up and bring their entire sales and cider-making equipment back to the barn. Thus, the Apple family let Applejack rest with her friends, as a thank you for the great help they had given them.

With the six friends sitting under a tree, enjoying the best cider in Equestria, everypony rested and laughed at everything that happened today. Including how exhausting and fun it was to make cider, how funny it was to see the freaked out faces of Flim and Flam after they found out they had lost; and most of all, what brought the most laughs was when everyone remembered the Dusk's ridiculous plan to marry them all. That made the lavender stallion blush as much as he could, but it also made him laugh with his friends. Although there was still a pending romantic issue between all of them, there wasn't at all that much romantic tension that Dusk thought and feared that could exist.

"I suppose this happens when you have a friendship as strong as ours." Dusk pondered. He then thought about everything that he and his friends had to go through so that finally everyone could be this calm despite their strong feelings of mutual love.

"That reminds me, I think I still have to apologize to the mayor." Dusk said and got up. Then his friends looked at each other and decided to accompany their friend.

When Dusk approached the mayor, she was laughing along with Granny Smith. Apparently they were remembering something that had happened years ago with Applejack's parents.

"Uh... Excuse me, Mayor." Dusk said as Mayor Mare turned and looked at him seriously. "I… I wanted to apologize for the marriage thing. It's just that I knew those twins were scammers, and the only way to beat them was by following their own rules."

"I understand, you don't have to apologize." Mayor Mare said, bending down and picking up some papers, which curiously were the same ones that Dusk had thrown in full competition. "Besides, the marriage is still valid. At least one of them."

"Uh?" Dusk and his five friends said at the same time as they thought that they all misheard her.

"Your marriage with Applejack is totally valid." Mayor Mare said, showing the marriage certificates signed by Dusk and Applejack with their hooves. "Unlike the other documents, you both signed and both said 'I accept' in front of me, who was sponsoring as a minister. Also, it appears that Dr. Hooves signed as a notary. So everything is valid!"

A long and uncomfortable silence hung in the air, with the mayor looking seriously at Dusk as he, like his friends, had been left in complete shock. The only one who seemed amused was Granny Smith, who seemed to be holding back her laughter.

Then, after finally understanding that the mayor seemed to be serious, Dusk and Applejack snapped out of their initial shock and looked at each other, both with faces of fear and confusion.

"L-Listen Applejack..." Dusk muttered. "I... It's not that I don't feel something for you, but..."

"Just ask for the annulment!" Applejack quickly interrupted, with the same face of shame and fear that Dusk had. She understood that Dusk wanted to apologize earlier, but that wasn't necessary! They both felt that it was ridiculous for the two of them to marry like this!

"If Dusk marries me one day, it’ll be because he decided to, not because of some silly confusion." Applejack thought, red with embarrassment.

"Mayor, you must annul that marriage." Dusk said, relieved that his friend thought the same as him.

"I will... in one month." Mayor Mare said, coming closer to Dusk. "Just to make sure that you learn the value of a marriage!" She added, showing that she was still annoyed by the simplistic attitude that Dusk took towards the marriage. She then got closer and whispered in his ear. “Hope you enjoy your honeymoon, handsome.”

The mayor then said goodbye to Granny Smith and left without saying anything else. Meanwhile, Dusk and his friends froze, and the most perplexed of all were Dusk Shine and Applejack, who seemed to have lost the color of their faces.

"Well, I think it's about time for me to retire too! It's already getting dark." Granny Smith said smiling, approaching Dusk and gently pinching his cheeks. "Welcome to the family, hehehe..." Granny Smith added, laughing as she left.

While Dusk and Applejack were still perplexed, their other friends were the first to react. All of them felt a great mixture of feelings, such as confusion, sadness, envy, annoyance, so much more that they didn't know how to express them. Finally, the four of them looked at each other, and they all nodded slowly, with looks that tried to hide their sadness.

"W-Well... I-I guess that makes that clear..." Rainbow Dash said, breaking the silence, scratching her head as she smiled awkwardly. "Looks like Applejack will be Dusk's first marefriend."

"I-I guess... hehehe..." Pinkie Pie said, forcing a smile.

Upon listening to their friends, both Applejack and Dusk were able to get out of their state of shock and could see the clear disappointed in their faces.

"I... I didn't plan this." Dusk stuttered, fearing that he had hurt his friends from his actions.

"Maybe... you did want it and you hadn't realized it." Fluttershy said with a sad smile that looked like it would fall apart at any moment.

"No... I..." Dusk said nervously.

"Dusk, please, stop.." Rarity said, who seemed to be the most affected of all, as she was the only one who couldn’t manage to put on a fake smile. "You… You said you loved all of us, right? A-Are you saying you don't love Applejack at all? Were your words false?"

At Rarity's words, Dusk glanced at Applejack, who also did the same to him. When their gazes met, they both looked away and blushed.

"It's okay Dusk. We knew this would happen." Pinkie Pie said, gently touching Dusk to calm him down, smiling tenderly at him. "Remember that we’ll have to be doing this five more times, and if we want to know if our friendship is strong enough to support a romance, so this will be our first test."

"Yeah, the same goes for you." Rainbow Dash said, smiling at Applejack so she wouldn't feel guilty. "This is just the beginning. Remember, you’ll only be the first. But behind the scenes, the four of us will continue to fight to win Dusk's heart in our own way." The pegasus added, forcing a smile.

"We hadn't decided how long it would be, but I think a month is fine." Fluttershy said, slowly coming out of her sadness. She was determined to prove that their friendship would be stronger than a wounded heart.

"Yeah, it’ll be a long month, but we’ll get through it." Rainbow Dash said before turning around and spreading her wings. "Let's go, girls. Time to leave the lovebirds alone, hehe." The pegasus added, forcing one last big smile before taking off and flying away.

Just like Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy also gave their congratulations to the 'happy couple' and began to retire to their respective homes, determined not to show their sadness and disappointment in front of Dusk and Applejack. Finally, the last one to leave was Rarity, who was only able to say 'luck' before retiring back to the boutique, still disappointed that she wasn’t chosen.

"None of them have realized it yet… How important it was to be Dusk's first choice!" Rarity thought worriedly as she walked off. Having noticed a great detail that none of her other friends had noticed yet.

With Rarity gone, only Dusk Shine and Applejack remained in the middle of the field. Both were motionless and silent, lost in their own thoughts as the sun finished setting behind the great mountains.

"Hey! What are you two doing standing there?" Big Mac suddenly yelled from the home, bringing Dusk and Applejack out of their perplexity. "It's getting dark. Take that last table to the barn."

After Big Mac entered the house, Dusk and Applejack slowly turned their heads and looked at each other. Instantly, they both turned redder than ever and looked away again.

"L-Let's hurry to put this table away, i-it's already getting dark." Applejack stammered, hurrying to grab the remaining table from one end. Then Dusk quickly took the other end of the table and they both walked slowly to the barn.

The distance from where they were both to the barn wasn’t long, but it was long enough for both of them to realize the awkward silence between them now. They both wanted to say something to break that silence and go back to talking like they always did, but their minds were totally blocked by nerves.

"Wait...I could have just levitated the table with my magic! Ugh, idiot!!" Dusk thought upon reaching the barn, realizing that he was so nervous that he hadn't even been able to think of something so obvious.

After putting the table in the barn, both ponies remained silent, pretending they were looking at something else so as not to look at each other's faces. As nervous as they were, they would both turn red with embarrassment if they only met their gaze again.

"I-It's already night… I think I should go home and see if Spike is okay." Dusk said, scratching his head nervously.

"Y-Yeah, sure... I also have to see if Apple Bloom’s already in bed..." Applejack said, lowering her head to avoid looking at Dusk, walking quickly to go home. "See you tomorrow."

"’See you tomorrow’? I sound like I’m desperate to see him!" Applejack thought immediately, turning red with embarrassment, regretting her choice of words.

"Sure, it's a date." Dusk replied, also walking away quickly.

"’It’s a date’!? What's the matter with me!? She'll think I’m asking her out for something romantic too fast!" Dusk chastised himself at his choice of words.

After what seemed like an eternity of walking with a million thoughts swarming in his head, Dusk eventually made back to the library and went inside.

"Hi Dusk." Spike said, who was sitting in the living room, reading a comic. "How was the cider sale at Applejack's farm?"

"Itwasgood-I'msleepy-goodnight!" Dusk said quickly with no pauses in his words. He galloped straight to his room, reached his bed, and threw himself on top of it, covering his red face with the sheets.

After several minutes, Dusk was finally able to partially calm his mind and his heart and lowered the sheets from his face to stare at the ceiling, still red from the nerves and shame he felt.

"Applejack... Applejack is my marefriend..." Dusk whispered, still unable to believe that this was really true. He felt a mixture of excitement, happiness and a little fear of what would happen from then on. Despite all of that, however, the lavender colt couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

Unbeknownst to him, at exactly that moment in Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack was lying in the same position as Dusk. She was staring up at the ceiling with her blushed face and a strange smile of disbelief.

"Dusk... Dusk Shine is my coltfriend..." Applejack whispered, feeling the same emotions that Dusk felt. And just like him, every time she repeated those words, she couldn't help but smile.

End of chapter 9

Author's Note:

Many thanks to 'Scribe of the Nightwings' for his help

Comments

[Doctor_Den]

It would be funny if, during a wedding document check, it turned out that Applejack and Dusk were married long before that day, and that that holiday comic is still canonical.

[MLPMekarm]

and things will go south from here. 10>1 says the bros will be back before the crazy 'placebo' stunt they'll pull.

[cornholio4]

Dusk has really outdid himself with crazy schemes this time
now we are missing Dusk's parents and Cadance demanding to know why they weren't invited

[hellblader]

What about a herd

[BrawnyBold]

My thoughts on this chapter:
- The way the Flim and Flam brothers persuaded the crowd reminds me of how Trixie made Ponyville turn on Dusk.
- Wow, bold move with the marriage idea, Dusk.
- Dusk and Applejack are now more of a married couple than coltfriend and marefriend.
- Looks like Mayor Mare is learning to be a troll like Celestia.
- Lyra will probably get super busy with her next issues of her comic.
- Can’t wait to read Celestia’s reaction when she hears about Dusk’s instant marriage!

[New Rebellion]

Well....This complicates things. But I wholly approve of this. I think I can see where you're going with this. Have Dusk experience a brief marriage with each of his mares to give him more perspective on how his life could change when/if such an event takes place. However, I do have to wonder just what Rarity is so heartbroken over. Is she of the opinion that because Applejack will have been his 'first wife' that he'll be naturally predisposed towards choosing her to truly marry and settle down when the time comes? I hope she's wrong!

Oh, and before I go, I have to express me deepest appreciation and respect for you. For continuing to write this story series even after Gen 5 has come out. I know that Gen 5 is going to be the new hotness from now on, but it's nice to know that you'll hopefully still be writing this until the end. Thank you VERY much for this.

[Darth Arcaneus]

11009522
I'm more interested in LUNA'S reaction!

[Greenhorn]

11009519
Sooner or later somepony would make a discussion out of that said law (if such law exist).

[spectre203]

"I will... in one month." Mayor Mare said, coming closer to Dusk. "Just to make sure that you learn the value of a marriage!" She added, showing that she was still annoyed by the simplistic attitude that Dusk took towards the marriage. She then got closer and whispered in his ear. “Hope you enjoy your honeymoon, handsome.”

That's gotta be a hint that she either flirty with him or just trolling him. Maybe both!.

Marry them all huh?. Well I'm ok with it but only one marriage was considered valid dang it!.

Cheers for the happy couple!. I will bring a tequila fire extinguisher.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8j42Cemv3tg

[Linkonpark100]

First kiss, first marriage. It was inevitable.

I find it humorous that Dr. Hooves is the only one enthusiastic about polygamous marriages.

[Jackblack47]

I never laughed so hard in my life this coming from book. The comics strip made me laugh a little bit but the half way at end with the mayor and granny Smith where dusk and apple jack screwed up by hoof singing the marriage docoment that made me laugh like crazy OMG. Coltfriend and marefreind YEAH RIGHT MORE LIKE HUSBAND AND AND WIFE HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
oh I can't breathe

Note. for you snu thanks for lols first time laughed on a book can't wait for next month chapter

[FictionPony21]

A legendary level chapter! It has been impressive and quite funny, in the future, Cadance is going to feel proud of Dusk's daring, although I must say that in the series I did not like this chapter because the entire population of Poniville left the Apple quite sold, I I liked much more how you represented it in this chapter, a great and creative plot, good work;)

[bigsnusnu]

11009421
haha yeah, although it would still be just a legal marriage in Las Pegasus haha

[bigsnusnu]

11009431
we'll have to wait to see what happens in the future

[bigsnusnu]

11009484
haha of course, maybe there is more than one surprised with the surprising marriage
thanks for comment

[MLPMekarm]

11010697
as big mac would say 'eyup'.

[bigsnusnu]

11009522
of course, here characters like Trixie, Sunset, Flim and Flam are much more cunning
And about Celestia, of course, she'll definitely be very surprised about the marriage, and she'll definitely not be the only princess shocked

[bigsnusnu]

11009548
yeah, Rarity was worried about something. Soon we'll see what it was about
and for the support, thank you very much I really like the show and I really enjoy writing and drawing your supportive comments are all I need so thanks for commenting

[bigsnusnu]

11009731
now it will be up to Applejack to see how she takes advantage of this great opportunity that she won by sheer luck haha

[bigsnusnu]

11009982
I think he's more excited about signing, stamping, and using his notary skills on any paperwork haha or yeah, he might be in favor of those kinds of relationships too haha

[bigsnusnu]

11010125
haha I'm glad you liked the chapter and I'll do my best to write the next chapter soon
Thank you very much for commenting

[bigsnusnu]

11010198
I'm glad you liked the way I developed this episode of the show I hope to finish the next chapter soon
thanks for following the story and for commenting

[cornholio4]

11010700
Your welcome

[Sonicfury01]

11010745
As Joseph Joestar would say

"NICE"

[Doctor_Den]

11010683
but if that had happened, the reaction of the other four Dusk girlfriends to this marriage would have been very different.

[JDAF]

I have one question: How many chapters for season 2? I expect that the second season might take around 1 or 2 years, right?

[Doctor_Den]

11010731
I wonder what would happen if the Doctor would be accused of falsifying documents if he used Psychic paper, which is actively used by the one to whom the Doctor is referring, while sometimes creating funny and ambiguous situations?

[bigsnusnu]

11011866
No idea, as I was telling you, I'm not too familiar with doctor who but with the description you gave me in the link, of course, it would be a big problem

[bigsnusnu]

11011862
someone asked me that question recently, so I must answer you the same :

"About the length of the story. It's hard to say, also I don't want to scare anyone with the number of chapters left haha.
I have a file of notes, where I've written what important character or event will happen, when and how it connects to the main story. And counting those, at least 20~30 chapters remain, but several of those chapters will be long and they'll actually be 2 or 3 chapters (for example, initially I thought the Sunset and Discord chapters would be 2 chapters, and it ended up being 6; or the Golden Feather chapters, I thought it would be 1 and it ended up being 2 chapters, that's why I'm telling you, it's very relative)
So there is still a lot left
I like to take my time to slowly build the story until reaching a great climax"

[Doctor_Den]

11012099
I was just trying to explain the humor of a possible situation like this:

Flim and Flam: Who are you?
D: I'm your worst nightmare (shows fake psycho paper ID)
Flim and Flam: OH NO! just not a tax inspector!

or...

guard: Sorry sir, we cannot allow unauthorized persons to enter this area.
D: I am your supreme authority, let me go. (shows fake psycho paper ID)
guard: Seriously? do you really think we'll check that this ID is real?
guard: and even if that were true, you don't look like Princess Celestia at all.

[spectre203]

"Do NOT touch me! If you make fun of my friend or her family like that again, I swear you'll regret it!" Dusk said with a fleeting red glow of anger in his eyes. So much was Dusk's anger that his horn couldn't help but shoot sparks and light electric rays when he contained his magic.

Is this supposed to be a hint for r63 midnight sparkle?.

[bigsnusnu]

11016074
who knows, maybe it's just anger, or a clue about something, only time will tell

[Darth_krayt]

That was hilarious I'll marry them to have you no shame is there any chance that Queen Chrysalis poopy huge fan of the comic series especially towards Dusk Shine

[bigsnusnu]

11016324
Who knows, we'll have to wait to see if a certain changelling queen appears soon or not. And see what attitude she'll have in this universe
thanks for comment

[DavisSentoV5]

I have a couple things to say, 1. Is that I hate those twins so much for what they said about AJ's parents

2. I hate myself again for reading this super late, especially since I saw on deviantART the next part is up in Spanish.

3. Ignore that you might get another notification have a comment I posted, I accidentally posted a link to a YouTube video about Kingdom Hearts.

And 4. Reading Dusk saying...

"Oh, they’re not witnesses." Dusk said, levitating another stack of papers and showing them to the mayor with a huge smile. "I’m also marrying them."

I am very happy to say, that my boy is a pimp

You did a great job with this chapter and I promise to try to read the next one sooner if not on the next day it comes out... Also about Mayor Mare and her comment...

“Hope you enjoy your honeymoon, handsome.”

Is that her way of teasing him for rushing into this marriage for a competition or for a different reason but I wouldn't mind if it happened... Alright, this comment is long enough, I'll see you later.

[Sonicfury01]

Been waiting for almost a month now.... I am so excited!

[bigsnusnu]

11035878
the next chapter is ready it's already translated and only the revision is missing so I hope to be able to post it soon

[bigsnusnu]

11032582
haha don't worry, it doesn't matter that you delay in reading, the important thing is that you read it and that you could comment on it I value it a lot
I'm glad you liked this chapter, and I hope to publish the next one very soon
as always thanks for commenting

[Gambling_Sam]

I don't know what's worse, the fact Dusk almost married all of the girls, or that Dr. Whoever was fully supportive of it and seemed excited at bring a part of it

[bigsnusnu]

11158232
haha yeah, I think in this universe Dr. Hooves really likes paperwork

[TheVirtuousOne]

I don't know if anyone has said this yet, but your chapter title has a typo.

Chapter 9 - Synery

Supposed to be synergy
With that said this is a great story and I have basically binge read this over the past two days. Continuing on....

[bigsnusnu]

11294522
fixed, thanks for letting me know
Also, I'm glad you like the story I hope you like what follows too

[MrIrrelevant]

While Dusk tried to explain his 'brilliant idea', and his friends and the Mayor were arguing with him about the extreme of his plan

Oh come on girls, don't act like being married to Dusk isn't what you've been wanting this whole time

[bigsnusnu]

11562251
The girls definitely thought about marrying Dusk, but they didn't expect 'that' kind of marriage proposal haha

[f0st3r21]

Dear Princess Celestia,

I’d like to get ahead of any rumors about me. I did not get married five times today. That is all.

-Dusk Shine
***
Celestia: That’s… very specific…