Hey, everypony. Sorry it's been a while since I posted another chapter of My Little Pony: Short Stories. School is starting tomorrow so I have been at a rush. I hope you understand. I'll go ahead and tell you that this chapter is about Applejack and partially about Rainbow Dash. Hope you enjoy it! –PP

Applejack's Apple Cider Blowout!

"*huff**huff**pant**pant*" Applejack gasped as she busked the apple tree with her hind legs.

"Honey, can you take them here apples down to the cellar for juicin' later?" Granny Smith asked.

"Sure thing, Gran-gran!" said Applejack, bucking off of the tree. After she was done she walked through the barn with the two baskets of apples. She walked passed Applebloom, toddling around with the 'CutieMark Crusaders'. They were jumping into haystacks, causing hay to fly about in the barn. She opened the cellar door and headed down the stone steps.

"Su-sure is creepy down here…" Applejack said nervously. "*burr*" She shivered. "It's sure cold, too." She bit down on a lantern and lit the wick of the candle inside. She waved it around into the shadows. "Good, no one's down here." She said, still a little skeptical. She turned a corner into the cider room.

"Ahhhhh!" She screamed, coming face to face with an unknown pony. She tripped backwards and apples went flying everywhere. One of the baskets fell on to her head. She couldn't see anything. The mysterious figure lifted the basket out of her eyes. "Oh! Oh, Big Mac, it's just you…" she said, blushing in embarrassment.

"Yep." He said. He helped her up and they gathered up the apples for pressing. Afterwards, he motioned for her to go upstairs. He followed closely behind. She headed happily to bed.

The Next Day…

Applejack woke to Applebloom's shriek.

"Oh no!" the filly screamed. "The cider's gone! It's all gone…" Applejack raced downstairs to the cellar. She gasped, eyes widening.

"No…!" she screamed. "Wh-why would anyone steal our cider?!" She started to tear up. All the hard work… gone to waste… Granny Smith rushed to the aid. She put her arm around Applejack and led her away. Two hundred barrels of cider… gone! Eight hundred apple trees, all of the apples stripped from them, just gone! "Why would anyone steal our cider?" Applejack thought. She broke away from Granny Smith and rushed into town. She knew one person that might have something to do with it.

"Rainbow Dash, there you are! Do you know anything about our stolen cider?" she asked.

"What!? Stolen cider?! But- but what about my drink of the day?! I didn't have one yesterday… I just need one today!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she shook Applejack's shoulder. Applejack slowly took her hands off.

"Whoa, there. Calm yourself…! We're going to catch whoever did this. And we need to do it soon… like, tonight, because there is a huge demand fur some cider." She said.

"Well, duh there's a huge demand for cider… From me!" Rainbow Dash yelled, pointing to herself.

"Well, it's settled then. We set out to catch the Cider Stealer tonight." And with that they prepared.

Later That Night…

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were all suited up, wearing the darkest clothes they could find to creep through the night. They were to catch the Cider Napper! That's what Dash called it, at least. Applejack had other names for him like, "That no good fricca-frassin cider snatchin' weirdo…!" and a few other names or remarks that she had to keep to herself. They strapped flashlights to their heads and set out into the forest. Applejack began to worry.

"Oh, this is freakin' me out… What if we don't find this here 'Cider Napper'? What if he starts to steal other ponies' stuff l-like… Fluttershy's flowers… Er Pinkie's balloons… er-" Rainbow Dash cut her off.

"I ain't worried about nothin'. He ain't gonna steal anything on my watch." Rainbow Dash said, pounding her fist into her hoof.

"But we ain't in Ponyville. We're out in the forest. What if he steals your protective wing covers while we're gone?" She asked. Rainbow Dash gulped at the thought.

"Well, we got to find him and if he does take our stuff, we'll take it back." Rainbow Dash said, grinning. They heard a rustle from the bushes.

"Show yourself, Cider Napper!" Applejack shouted. A tall figure walked out of the bushes, its mane glistening in the moonlight. The lengthy zebra appeared out of the brush.

"Zecora?!" Rainbow Dash and Applejack shouted in unison.

"No 'Cider Napper' am I, I left a note to buy, I'm sorry I took you by surprise, but I have nothing left to hide." She said. She whipped her mane out of her eyes. "I can read your aura, since I am the witch, Zecora, I needed the cider for auras and illusions, please forgive me for my intrusions." Zecora explained. Afterwards she explained with every detail possible of how she had needed the cider that night so had gone down into Applejack's cellar and took the barrels to her home. On her last trip to leave the money and note, she noticed one barrel that she had not gotten. As she was picking it up, she hit her head on the shelf and dropped the barrel, causing the top to fall off and wash away her letter. In a hurry she had no time to clean it up and did not notice that the letter had washed under the shelf. She paid the full fee for the cider since the other money had most obviously been ruined.

"Thank you so much for the money, Miss Zecora, but how am I gonna get all that cider ready for all them ponies in town? I mean, that's at least 5 months to get half the cellar full… and we'll need the whole town to get all the apples by winter…" Applejack asked, very worried.
"I think I have the solution for this confusion." Said Zecora, smiling. "Now run along, get to bed. You have a long day ahead." The ponies hadn't even noticed that that they were already back at the barn. They eagerly headed to the hay loft and had a long, restful sleep.

The Next Day…

Rainbow Dash woke up to clapping, chanting, and interesting sounder gargling noises.

"Applejack…" she paused to yawn. "Wake up, dude." She said sleepily.

"Nnnnn…" Applejack moaned. She yawned too. "What's that sound?" she finally asked.

"I don't know… let's check it out." Rainbow Dash said, flying out the window. Applejack followed down the staircase. They walked outside to find Zecora and a bunch of other ponies, Granny Smith, Big Mac, and The CutieMark Crusaders among them. They walked to them. Just as they reached the crowd, a large cauldron shot up from the ground and began pouring a substance all over the trees. Suddenly, the whole orchard was filled with red as apples started filling the trees. The entire trees! Invisible hands of some sort started putting them in baskets and taking them down to the cellar for squeezing. Then, the full barrels started flying out of the cellar and being stacked onto eachother in a gigantic pyramid. It had to be 50 feet tall! Once all the trees were growing normally, the stacking stopped.

` "Oh! My! Gosh! I have never seen so much cider in my LIFE!" Rainbow Dash said, flying up to the top barrel and popping a nozzle in it. She let cider drizzle into her mouth. Applejack turned to Zecora.

"Thank you." She said.

"You are very welcome, Applejack. Did you know you have a full cellar stacked?" Zecora asked, a big smile on her face. Applejack smiled back.