Notes: A story hiatus is coming after this update due to severe rewrites, edits, and cleanups being done to the story. If you want a hand in making this story great, Private Message me because, 1: I'm going to need help reading over my earlier works to spot things that don't make sense, contribute much, or even sound awkward by the show's standards and characterizations. 2: Having a co-writer or second opinion for the rewrites will be great and what's even better is an Editor for the rewrites. 3: Every bit counts. If you feel like helping, even a little bit in any ways such as just Chapter 2.4 or such, go ahead. 4: I really, REALLY want help with spotting plot-holes and things that don't contribute much. This is point 1, except MUCH more important; this is for non-story oriented things. Say, the scene where Rainbow is in Sugar Cube Corner, helping the Cakes and Pinkie Pie; does it do much for the story? Or does it feel out of place, or the scenes in Applejack's bedroom.

I apologize for the longass note/request, especially at the beginning, but this NEEDS to be addressed while you guys are excited for this update. Private Message me if you want to help.

Thanks, Mr. Masato/Arby Works.

Chapter 3:5: Fair VS. Flair

Applejack cocked her head to the side while shooting Rainbow a look of confusion.

"Ain't this like, th' third time you've said something like this?" Applejack chuckled.

Rainbow scoffed. "Darn it, doesn't matter. Ponies eat this sappy stuff up and I'm trying to be better. My point still stands, and now, I want to stop being a whiny sappy sore-loser. We both have our strong points where the other doesn't, and arguing when we know the answer won't do much other than piss us off." Rainbow looked around the fields around them.

Applejack shook her head, mouth slightly agape. "Rainbow! Watch yer language!" she scolded.

Rainbow snorted before giving Applejack a nudge on the shoulder. They locked eyes and both smiled before laughing.

"Sorry, I'm just getting excited. Heat of the moment, and all that jazz," Rainbow said with a chuckle.

Applejack smirked with a shrug, and looked back over to Big Macintosh. She studied him for a moment while he examined the apple trees and looked back at Rainbow. She had a face resembling a pout with her eyes shining with a certain glee. Far from an actual pout yet it made Applejack feel almost guilty for reasons unknown. She chortled once more, and then Rainbow puffed out her cheeks while going googly-eyed. Applejack snorted in a failing attempt to hold her laughter before she had burst into laughter. Rainbow stopped her funny face, pumping a hoof into the air in victory.

"'kay, ya have made me all chuckly 'n stuff fer th' rest o' my inspection. Thanks Rainbow," Applejack spoke with glee radiating from her smile.

"No problem." She looked back over at Big Macintosh, just as he turned towards the two mares. She couldn't tell if he was merely staring or glaring at them but she sheepishly smiled. "I'll, uh, let you get back to work. It's not fair to leave Big Macintosh alone. I've taken enough of your time, so, I'll see you later." She gave Applejack a nudge on the shoulder.

Applejack nodded and turned away. "See ya later, sugarcube," Applejack said before trotting away.

Rainbow waved a hoof before taking to the skies once more, flying towards the Market Harvest lobby. She landed outside the doors and prepared to open it, but a familiar smell invaded her nose. Freshly peeled apples, washed and ready to be devoured. The very scent drove Rainbow on edge due to the familiarity of this. This scent was stronger than normal. It was only this strong at one certain time of the year. Cider Season at Sweet Apple Acres. A familiar voice sang out into the air sending Rainbow's nerves on edge.

"Well look at what we've got here, brother of mi-"

Rainbow let out a shriek known only to her friends as the one of confusion. I love the thought of cider but I'm supposed to support Sweet Apple Acres, not these no good con-men song-based mother f... wait, I can't get angry over this stuff, Rainbow thought with a lip-bite.

She turned to see the two Flim Flam brothers standing behind her with the same smirk directed at her. Both brothers had two saddle-baskets on their backs with apples in both. Her gut told her that the apples probably tasted bad and frowned at the sight of the mockery to apples. The two brothers chuckled when she did.

"Don't bother me. I have things to do," Rainbow said coarsely before turning away with a flick of her tail.

"Well well well, what ruffled your feathers up, my fine flying filly?" Flim swiftly stepped next to the door, leaning on the edge.

Rainbow glared over at Flim, taking in his smirk of lies before looking the other way. Stupid grin, she thought. Quickly after, Flam took a position symmetrical to Flim on the other side of the door. Stupid moustache, she bit her lip.

"Get outta the way, chump," Rainbow said with as much venom as possible in her voice.

She shoved the double doors open, stuck with listening to the creaky hinges and the laughter of idiots. She grit her teeth, remembering how they acted towards the Apple Family in Ponyville.

Huh, when they did come to Ponyville, I pretty much welcomed them if it meant cider... I guess I've just grown a little more attached to the family. New found respect and all that. She allowed the doors to swing shut, remembering they swung both ways. A brief second of creaky silence before listening to the laughter as it started to die out. And I was so quick to accept them. To think I supported them instead of Sweet Apple Acres all for some cider. Rainbow sighed before trotting over to the front desk to sign out.

[*][*][*]

Applejack and Big Macintosh prodded the trees on their field, checking the health of the trees. Big Macintosh counted all the apples, checking for new ones or ones that went missing. Applejack pulled out a magnifying glass and closely looked at the bark itself, checking for any defects or indents possibly made. Both were hard at work before their focus was shattered.

A faint whistling reminiscent of a musical they heard before had broken all semblance of hard work and they both raised their heads into the air, ears perked up to pick it up. Silence took over when they did and they shrugged it off, starting to work again. The whistling started again and was slightly louder breaking their focus once more. They looked around past the fence to Sweet Apple Acre and saw a few others far off, too far off to make an audible whistle. Applejack frowned when she started to remember where she heard it. The whistling didn't get any louder, but it kept going on. After a few seconds, it stopped allowing Applejack to circle the tree once, looking around the area. Nothing. She sighed coarsely and Big Macintosh shook his head. Both ponies went back to work. Then the painstakingly familiar voice boomed out in song.

"Well look at what we've got here, brother of mine, it's the same in every tow-"

Applejack stomped a hoof on the ground, and Big Macintosh did the same. Both ponies shouted in annoyance, dropping their clipboards. The source of the singing voice was just outside their fence, behind a tree. Big Macintosh and Applejack galloped around it, leaped into the air, and slammed their front hooves down on the fence startling the brothers.

"For the love of CELESTIA, KEEP IT DOWN Y'ALL BEFORE AH THUMP YER SKULL!" Big Macintosh roared out.

Flim and Flam remained startled for a second before smirking.

"Every time, y'all come by 'n whistle, distractin' others. The manager has told ya numerous times to not disturb us, and each time you come by, what do you not do? Listen to th' rules. Fer Celestia's sake, grow up an' respect th' competition's wishes by not disturbin' th' competition," Applejack spat out in a fuss.

Both brothers chuckled after the other two siblings let loose some steam. However, they did not reply and only smirked at the two, allowing silence to reign supreme. Big Macintosh took his forehooves off the fence and set them on the ground, keeping his stoic expression while Applejack took her forehooves off with a raspy grunt.

"Ah'm sorry, Ah jus' had some aggression pent up 'n Ah jus' let loose on th' first pony t' annoy me," Applejack said with an exhausted breath.

Both brothers chuckled once more.

"Any time, Apple. We're glad that we could help a fellow competitor relieve some stress," Flim said with gusto in his voice.

"No matter the events of the past, we must forgive and forget. Except for Fullbody, arrogance like his that surpasses ours is just overkill." Flam and Flim both nodded at the same time.

Applejack's ears twitched for a second before she shook her head.

"So, um, why're ya actin' so friendly? Last time we saw each other, y'all were dead set on gettin' th' farm from us," Applejack said with clear suspicion in her voice.

Big Macintosh nodded, looked back to the tree and shrugged. He tapped Applejack's shoulder with a hoof gently before turning back to the trees to finish inspection.

Applejack stared down the Flim Flam brothers before Flim stepped forward while clearing his throat.

"Well, m'dear, after our little tidbit with the Ponyvillians, we had to move town. We may have won the competition fair and square, but your town decided it did not like our cider. We won the battle but not the war, and we will not be sore about it," Flim said with a lack of emotion in his voice.

Applejack turned her head away skeptically, and allowed her eyes to look around the area. There was nopony there to listen to them, so there was no gain from boasting or trying to con them and Sweet Apple Acres. It seemed genuine.

"Well a'ight, but don' you try nothin', or else ya'll be regrettin' that ya ever entered this competition," Applejack responded with brutal honesty.

Flim and Flam both shook their heads. "Wouldn't think of it, Miss Jack. As a matter of fact, we're more worried about sabotage. Who knows what ponies like Fullbody have access to when the going gets rough." Flim turned away along with Flam. Flam turned back to Applejack and waved a hoof.

"Best of luck to you, Sweet Apple Acres."

Applejack watched as the two ponies trotted towards their lot: a factory located near the back of the contest grounds. Smaller with a minor apple orchard located in a greenhouse. Applejack always shook her head at the thought of trees in a greenhouse, preferring the open-aired nature of walking the grounds whilst basking in the sun in working up a hard day's sweat. A true symbol of a hard worker. It lets Applejack know she worked hard. Although the Flim Flam brothers were entered into this competition, all they had to do was grow the apple trees. The cider itself they produced required little effort.

"Then again, it is a competition with plenty o' creativity t' be had. Each team does it how they want, why should Ah think worse o' them?" She sighed. "Pro'lly still sore," Applejack said while thinking back to their bet.

She shook her head while looking back towards their acre of apple trees. She saw Big Macintosh continue to the next trees, knocking Applejack to reality. We've got work to do, so lets go, she thought.

[*][*][*]

Flim and Flam trotted through the double doors swinging into their cider factory, directly into the room where the cider is actually made and bottled. There was little mess from when they decided to test out their new machine. Both brothers sighed in slight exhaustion before they trotted over to a table and levitated their saddle-baskets onto the surface. The light in the room was just above dim, allowing them to see but not allowing them to do actual work.

"I say, we have yet to test the endurance of the Super Quality Cider Commodity 8,000. One of these days, we should before we go tooting our own horn again lest we fumble up in the Market Harvest as we did in Ponyville," Flim said with a careful observation of a larger contraption in the room.

It was barely illuminated due to little sunlight entering through the blinds of the factory room. Their new invention, Super Quality Cider Commodity 8,000, was much larger than their automated machine used in Ponyville by five times without the mobility. It produced cider at the same rate as the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6,000 when full of power, and it was able to quality control better, enabling them to create the best cider. It took up 1/4th of the room and 1/8th of the factory, but the amount of cider it could produce would keep anypony full until rapture.

"Dear brother, I do believe we should have much more faith in our contraption. It survived the tests, and has an excellent production rate, we should run into problems no more," Flam replied with full confidence.

Flim thought for a second before nodding. "Right, confidence is the best key, and this is our biz. I say, the Apple Family's cider stands no chance against ours now," he spoke with a chuckle.

"Anypony can make toilet water, but it takes real boneheads to make it sound devious," a prissy yet masculine voice rang out in the empty factory floor.

Flim and Flam's attention turned up immediately due to the echo of the voice. They looked around with no luck finding the newcomer, and then lit their horns up. Lights came on in the room, and they stopped using their magic only to find the voice came from a pony standing by the door. The prissy, arrogant stallion himself, Fullbody Moneybags, stood leaning against the door frame while levitating a wine glass to his lips full of a red liquid.

"Cider is but a poor pony's drink. If a quality drink is what the kids ask for, they can have some of Fullbody's grape juice while us grown ups can enjoy this fine wine," he said with a chuckle before sipping from the glass.

Flim and Flam put on faces of disapproval before taking a step forward.

"What are you doing here, Moneybags? Besides to gloat, that is," Flim demanded.

Fullbody levitated the glass away from his lips and allowed himself to savour the taste of the wine before swallowing it down. He looked up towards the sky while allowing the liquid to run down his throat before waving the glass around in the air.

"Magnificent as always. It sure beats the toilet water you lower class call a drink." Fullbody smirked. Flim and Flam's expression never changed. "Nonetheless, I am here on professional business. I'd say discuss, but after hearing my proposition, what would there be to discuss?"

Fullbody pushed himself to a properly standing position and slowly, elegantly trotted over to the Flim Flam brothers who still didn't move or change their expressions.

"You have entered our factory grounds without our permission both breaking the law of illegal, non-permitted entry as well as the rules of the competition. I suggest you leave, dear boy, before we are forced to take the issue to a higher power. Who knows? You may be removed from the competition."

It was now Flim's turn to take a step forward with his brother behind him. Oddly enough, Fullbody's smirk never left, causing Flim to make a quick mental note of some caution.

"What's say we make a collaboration? You create your 'toilet water' in the cheapest way possible which, Celestia forbid, is 'better' than Sweet Apple Acres while promoting my product subtly and I will share some of my prize money with you when I win, maybe even hire you into my company," Fullbody said with no faltering in his voice.

Flim and Flam stopped in their tracks with a raised eyebrow. Fullbody merely took another sip and patiently waited for a response from the two. Flam stepped forward and shook his head.

"We are here to compete, and win, not sell-out to arrogance for a little profit. What good is there to making a product if you profit so little? Your taste in beverages is bland, and we shall have no part in your ego boosting parade of harassment," Flam replied with zero aggression in his voice, if possible, more smug.

Fullbody shook his head. "Tsk tsk tsk, business is a harsh task, but who am I to deny the foals what they want? If you shall not submit, I will simply have to run you into the ground so hard that nopony will have thought you stood a chance. Maybe I shall open my own cider factory?" Fullbody responded, examining the room they stood in as well as the machine.

Flim's horn lit up and the lights went out, ending Fullbody's gaze around the factory floor. Fullbody looked back over to the brothers and snorted.

"You create your garbage with a garbage machine. Of course, I am the foal who has not realized it until now. If you so wish to deny me your cooperation, I have no choice but to win this at any means necessary," Fullbody replied before spinning around.

He took another sip of the wine, once more savouring it to the disgust of the Flim Flam brothers and levitated the glass away from his mouth. He looked at the contents and levitated it away from his face to the center of the space between him and the Flim Flam brothers and poured the last drops of the wine onto the floor. Flim and Flam watched the liquid drop with anger starting to bubble in their minds, but not show itself on their faces. Fullbody, as a final act of true arrogance, dropped the glass on the floor. He trotted out smirking, only hearing the shatter of the glass and the snorting of the two brothers.

[*][*][*]

Spike sat atop of a bench near a pony-made lake with a clear view of the desert just a kilometre or two away, with Rarity next to him. It was a mesmerizing view due to the heat waves creating reflections of the sky on the ground. An overhang shielded them from the harsh rays of the sun while Rarity, with the camera out, took photos of the view. She did it every time she saw how the reflections changed from the clouds. Spike wondered how the camera could make so many pictures.

"Spike, would you be a dear, and fetch me the extra film from the camera carrying case, please?" she asked with one final snap of the camera's lens.

Spike shook his head from the coincidence, and hopped off the bench to the small box next to Rarity's bags. He undid the clips and opened it up before reaching inside and pulling out a small canister of film. He jogged over to Rarity a few feet away, and handed her the film. She levitated the used one out, replacing it with the one Spike handed her. Spike was given the film and nodded. He jogged back over to the case and set it in a proper canister.

"We need to locate something before we return to the Market Harvest grounds, Spike. Specifically, a spot where we can access the inside of a train from the northern nation, Great Caulk," Rarity said while looking north.

Spike nodded. "Anything for you, Rarity."

UP NEXT: Stuff. No, a hiatus with rewrites. Read the AN at the beginning. I want help. o_o