The cock crowed, signaling the beginning of the busy day. The sun hadn’t risen yet, but that didn’t matter to the proud and productive members of the Apple family. Applejack and her family got up from their beds and got ready for the rush of customers that they would soon have to deal with. After all, today was the day they sold their famous Apple Family Apple Cider.

“Alrighty boy an’ girls! Today is the day that we’ve all been waiting for. This is the biggest day in the entire year fer us. We earn the lion’s share of money to keep the farm running today, so let’s make a good show of this, okay?”

“Yes mam!” The family saluted the elder mare and went out to the barn to fetch supplies.

Big Mac got into position on the mill and waited for his two sisters to get the apples. These apples weren’t just any apples, but had been specifically aged for cider. This was the secret to getting the cider just right and was also the reason why they almost always ran out of their special cider since they sometimes had to get rid of apples that rotted instead of aging. It might seem like a waste, but it was worth it to get that precious juice.

“Here ya go bro!” Apple Bloom said cheerfully as she dumped her tiny basket of apples into the mill. Big Mac smiled as he saw his little sis helping out with the cider. Seeing everypony pitch in was his personal favorite part of the cider making. He kept on smiling as he kept the mill running.

“Keep up the pace! We’ll need all the cider we can squeeze out. Applejack, make sure Apple Bloom doesn’t drop any apples. I’ll be busy bottling it up.” Grannie Smith rolled out the barrels and put one near the spigot to fill it up. She turned the knob, letting the golden juice pour out into the barrel and fill it up. She buckled it shut and rolled it outside to where the stall was set up, ready to give the thirsty ponies some of their delectable cider. This continued for several hours until the sun rose up.

When the Apple Family had finished preparing the rest of the cider, they went outside and looked at the endless line of ponies gathered outside for their special concoction. As always, Pinkie Pie was at the front of the line with her tent, waiting to get the freshest cider possible.

“Nooo!” was heard from what seemed like a mile away. Applejack could tell that it was the cry of Rainbow Dash trying to get in line early only to find herself at the far end. Hopefully she’d manage to get a pint before they all ran out.

“Hope we can do as well as last year!” Apple Bloom told her family as they got the stall set up to give ponies their cider. The four of them remembered the strange events of last year’s cider sale with the arrival of the Flim Flam Brothers. They had challenged the Apple Family to a cider making contest and had somehow managed to win. Too bad for them that nopony liked the cider that they rushed to make. They ended up leaving town and the contest resulted in the Apple Family producing the most cider they’d ever made. It wasn’t cider using the aged apples, but nopony seemed to notice and the Apple family managed to give everypony at least a pint, even Rainbow Dash.

“Doesn’t matter how much we make, but how well the cider is,” replied Grannie Smith. She was the only pony who disagreed with the rest about how should make the cider this year. Big Mac had suggested that since the cider they sold using fresh apples tasted just like the cider using aged apples that they should do that instead so they could produce more and make a greater profit. Applejack and Apple Bloom agreed with the plan, but Grannie Smith was stubborn and said that it was tradition and that it “just wouldn’t be the same”. Sadly they wouldn’t make anything near the amount they produced last year.

“Well, I know we always make the best cider around. That’s for certain. Let’s open up for business!” Applejack cheered with the rest of her family as they opened up the stall for business. The very second the sign said ‘Open’, Pinkie Pie burst out of her tent, carrying a small chest with her.

“Hello everypony! I’d like whatever this amount will buy,” she said as she opened up the chest to reveal a shining mound of bits.

“Sorry Pinkie Pie, but we actually set a limit on a maximum of three pints per pony,” Applejack told her friend. She started to get scared when she witnessed the strange contortion on Pinkie Pie’s face.

“WHAT?! But I got all these bits just for cider!”

“Yeah, well, ya usually buy so much that other ponies end up missing out on getting just one pint. You’ll be fine with just three.” It was hard to tell Pinkie Pie that she couldn’t have as many sweets as she wanted. The look on her face was that of severe disappointment.

“OH! If it’s so other ponies can try it, then I’ll be fine with just three.” Pinkie Pie’s sudden mood swings were enough to keep anypony on guard, but at least it was for the better.

“Alrighty!” Applejack took three pints worth of bits from the chest and placed it in the safe under the stall. Grannie Smith took out three mugs and filled them up, the fresh foam exciting the ponies who were waiting for their chance to drink the golden elixir. Pinkie Pie grabbed her mugs, tears in her eyes, and began thanking the Apple Family.

“Thank you so much,” Pinkie Pie said to Grannie and Applejack. She grabbed the two of them and started to hug them. They were okay with this at first, but then the hug went over a minute and started to creep them out. She soon let go of them as she remembered the cider in her hooves.

The golden drink was still warm and fresh, ready to be tasted with the greatest of anticipation. The aroma was sweet and exhilarating, sending the mare’s nostrils flaring. The mug was slowly being tilted toward her, the drink coming closer and closer. This was going to be perfect.

“DO NOT DRINK THE CIDER!” a voice roared out over a megaphone. Pinkie Pie’s trance was suddenly interrupted by this loud demand, taking her out of the moment. Everypony else was wondering where the order had come from until they saw a strange sight approach them.

Over the horizon was a mechanical barge that approached them. There was a puttering sound that was heard, but as it got closer it started to resemble a quieter version of a train. As it got closer, two shadowy figures hanging on the sides of the strange contraption were identified to be near-identical minotaurs with white coats wearing black suits. One of them carried a briefcase while the other had the megaphone in hand. They stopped right in front of the stand, nudging it just a little as it came to a halt.

“What in the Sam Hay is going on?” Applejack demanded of the two. The well-dressed minotaurs leapt off the machine they had just arrived on, but one of them used a pinky to push it back several inches so it wasn’t nudging the stall anymore.

“Are you the Apple Family?” the one on the right asked.

“Yeah, and who might you be?” Applejack didn’t take too kindly to these strangers. They had arrived in the same manner as the Flim Flam Brothers had just one year ago with their mechanical barge. She had a sneaking suspicion that these two were related to them in some manner.

“That’ll be all for now, boys. We’ll be having a little conversation with these fine farmers first before deciding if we need your help or not,” one of the two familiar voices she heard said.

“I agree brother. Sometimes the most complicated issues on life can be solved through a simple talk. Hopefully this can be a simple and truthful conversation before it becomes something simple and hurtful,” the second voice said.

The hood of the traveling locomotive popped open to confirm the fears of the Apple Family; the Flim Flam Brothers had returned.

“Well look here brother of mine. It’s the entire Apple Family! This brings back memories,” said either Flim or Flam. Everypony kept on getting the two confused to the point they made a song just to tell you who is who.

“Yes indeed. Sweet, sweet memories. I can already taste the money we’ll be swimming in thanks to this place,” the other brother added.

“Alright, I’m gonna be straight with you fellas,” Applejack told them, trying to get their attention. “I have no idea which of you is which, so I’m gonna need to tell me straight up who’s who.”

“Why that’s very simple, dear. I’m Flim, as you can tell that by my bare upper lip, and over there is Flam with his wonderfully groomed mustache. I’d put it in song, but we really don’t have the time.”

“Agreed. We’ll be to the point; we’ve come to stop you from selling your cider.” Applejack heard what Flam said and nearly lost her temper.

“What in the hay y’all talking about? Ya can’t just barge in saying what we can and can’t sell!” Applejack was getting more and more furious and was only held back by her brother.

“Actually, mam, it’s in their full jurisdiction for them to demand that you stop serving cider to residents of this town. They own the rights to sell here after all,” one of the minotaurs told her.

“Yes. We were just about to explain,” Flim interrupted. “Remember the contest we held last year in order to determine who would have the rights to sell cider to the good residents of Ponyville? As you may recall, we were the ones who won the competition and the rights. While we did leave due to the fact that nopony here wanted to buy some of the rushed cider we produced, that doesn’t change the fact that we are the only ones allowed to sell in this town.”

“What’s going on here?” Twilight asked. She and the rest of her friends had come over to see the commotion. Several other ponies had left their spot in line to see what was holding up the cider as well.

“Flim and Flam here say that my family doesn’t have the rights to sell cider in Ponyville! I’m telling them that it’s just crazy talk.” Applejack was raging still while her family members dealt with it in different ways. Big Mac was stoic and calm, no expressions on his face. Grannie Smith was giving the two brothers her Evil Eye, veins clearly visible and all. Apple Bloom tried to do the same, but found that it was a whole lot more painful than expected.

“Come now, dear. It was all official and everything! Why, we even had a state official oversee the entire ordeal and give a final verdict on who won, remember?” Everypony heard what Flam had said and all eyes appeared to land on the mayor. Her eyes shifted nervously around when she noticed she was the center of attention. Negative attention. The kind of attention a politician gets after making a decision that comes to bite them in the future.

“Well, I did declare them to be the winners of the competition, so, um, yeah. Those two are…actually correct,” the mayor said, sad at the realization she could no longer purchase any Apple Family Cider.

“Yeah, well don’t expect any of us to buy your nasty cider,” Pinkie Pie told them, disgusted at the thought of drinking any other cider than the one the Apple Family produced.

The two brothers started chuckling, but soon they started bellowing out laughter, each hanging onto the other for support. Everypony looked at them in confusion, not knowing how this news was funny.

“Oh dear, you really think we’ll try to sell any cider here after that disaster? Good heavens no! Why, we’d lose so much money trying to sell anything to this town. Not only that, but we’d still need to purchase the apples from the Apple Family, and I doubt they’d be so willing to help us out,” Flim said, trying to catch his breath. “Really, the important thing for us is that you can’t sell your cider.”

“Now wait just a moment you whippersnappers!” Grannie Smith finally spoke up, pointing her hoof in their faces. “I get wanting to be a competitor and all. I even know that you’d love having no competition whatsoever. What I don’t get is being the only one with the right to sell something and not selling anything! Whatcha boys playing at?”

“Well, Grannie, one of the most important things about business isn’t focusing on exactly how much an item is actually worth, but how much somepony is willing to pay in order to buy it. To us, a bill giving us the rights to sell cider in a town that doesn’t even want our cider wouldn’t be worth much, but let’s say that hypothetically there was a family that kept its livelihood alive by selling the stuff. If they don’t have the Bill of Rights to sell their products on the land and that’s all they would be able to do, surely it’d be worth the equivalence or their livelihood, wouldn’t you say?” Flam’s smirk turned into an evil smile when he finished telling them this. His brother shared the same expression on his face as well. For a moment, it seemed as if these two brothers were the single greatest force of evil on the planet.

“Why you yellow bellied, snake oil selling, two timing-“ Grannie continued on her string of insults until she could barely say anymore. The rest of the ponies were just silent the entire time, trying to figure out what she was trying to say in the first place.

“The fact of the matter is that your family cannot afford to keep Apple Family Acres running without the money you gain today from your cider. Since you cannot sell the cider anymore, you cannot live on Apple Family Acres anymore, correct?” Flim asked the ponies rhetorically. He didn’t get any responses, except for the scowls they gave him, including Big Mac.

“The point my brother is trying to make is that we’re looking to sell it to you folks for a price we feel is not only fair, but a bargain,” Flam explained to the Apple Family. Seeing as there didn’t seem to be any other way, the four of them shared a collective sigh and decided to bargain with them.

“What’s yer price,” Grannie Smith asked.

“Well, from what our lawyers tell us, the value of the right to sell cider in Ponyville is actually very valuable, seeing as there is no competition and always a paying populace. We also took into consideration how important this particular source of income is for you to keep your farm and property and came up with an appropriate price for such. We wish to become the full owners of Apple Family Acres.” The four of them gasped at the audacity of such a proposal.

“Y’all are crazy!” Apple Bloom finally told them. The rest of the family quietly agreed with the youngest member’s statement.

“Apple Bloom’s right. The farm itself is worth way more than the right to sell cider. Ain’t no way we’d pay that much. Not only that, but wouldn’t giving you guys the farm end up defeating the purpose of getting the rights in the first place?” Applejack asked them.

“Think of it this way,” started Flam. “If you don’t have the rights to sell your cider, then you won’t end up earning enough to keep the farm. HOWEVER, if you give us the rights to your farm, you’ll be able to sell enough cider to keep the place in operation. We’ll own the name to the place, of course, but we’ll allow you to continue living where you always have. We’ll mainly have control of how products are used and such.”

“Products? They’re just apples. How many uses can apples have?” Rarity asked the brothers.

“We’ve got one particular product in mind. Using the apples on our new farm, we’ll be able to eliminate the Middle Mare and rake in the profits from across Equestria. Presenting the newest delectable taste that everypony will want more of,” A drumroll seemed to come out of nowhere, interrupting Flim as he was about to reveal his new product. Even the two brothers seemed confused by the sudden fanfare. They simply accepted it and continued on. “Flim-Flam Brother’s Apple Family Style Cider! You townsfolk might not like our product, but who’s to say how other markets would react. I believe they may even go for it and we’ll make a pretty penny from this new business venture.”

“You dunderheads can’t sell cider fer squat! The kind that you make is from those contraptions of yours. It takes hard work an’ sacrifice to make a high quality product ya lazy goobs,” Grannie told them off. The two brothers grimaced while she told them this, trying to keep composure.

“Well, your family should probably think about your options. You could either give us the farm and work for us, or you could lose the farm and be forced out of your home. I think the choice is pretty obvious.” The four of them knew that Flim was right. None of them had any chance of being able to purchase the rights for the town, and anything else would result in them losing the farm. This seemed like their only choice.

“Hold it right there!” Twilight yelled out, hoping that the Apple Family hadn’t lost hope. “We’re not letting you take over the farm just yet. We’ll find some way to get you guys your license back. Please, Mr. Flim and Mr. Flam, give us an hour to find something we can do to change your minds.”

The two brothers laughed at her plea, but then mulled over her proposal.

“You know what kid? Sure! Have an hour. I doubt you’ll find something we like by that point, however. If you do, it better be pretty good. But only you can go. We remember what happened the last time your friends joined in and helped you out.” Twilight was hoping to fulfill Flam’s hopes and find something that would be worth enough to keep the brothers from buying the farm.

“Spike. No time. Need to find something valuable, quick!” Twilight used her magic to lift up anything that could be hiding something of extreme value. Spike was just getting up from his bed and had no idea what all the commotion was about.

“Twi, why do you need to find something expensive? Did you make bets and owe the mob?” Spike said, rubbing his eyes.

“Don’t be ridiculous. The Flim Flam Brothers have returned and apparently have the rights to sell cider and the Apple Family doesn’t. They’re saying they’ll give it to them if there’s something valuable enough for them to consider it.” Twilight frantically shook her head around, looking at anything she had. For a split second she considered checking out any valuable books she had before realizing the insanity of such an idea.

“So how much are the rights to sell cider here?” Spike asked, still tired.

“A WHOLE lot apparently. It’s worth more since that’s the thing that keeps Apple Acres operational. The only thing is that even if we were to give them a fair price I doubt they’d budge. This is a personal thing for them, and they even have their own business plans ready for when they take over.” The magic stopped as Twilight fell down on her hooves, feeling the hopelessness of the situation crush down on her.

“Who am I even kidding? How would I even have something that valuable in a library of all places? If only there was some kind of treasure we’d come across that’d be worth a fortune.”

“Well, there is that dragon’s treasure,” Spike said casually as he prepared his morning tea. Twilight suddenly stood to attention upon hearing what sounded like their last hope.

“Treasure? Spike, what dragon treasure are you talking about?” Twi hoped that this would be as promising as it sounded.

“Remember that giant red dragon that threated to destroy Equestria with his smoke? He actually came by here before leaving and left me a note about it. You probably don’t remember since you were really into learning dental hygiene while he visited.” Twilight reminisced about her times reading about tooth decay and cavities. Those were good times. “I think I have the letter still. Let me check my stuff,” Spike said as he rustled around in his pile. He grabbed a piece of charred paper and began to read it out loud.

“Spike. You’re the only dragon around. Guard my stuff while I’m gone. More info at the cave.”

Twilight expected more, but that’s all there was apparently. Turns out that dragons aren’t too worried about being wordy. It appeared that there were more directions at the cave. Before Spike put the note away however, she noticed a number on the back.

“Hey, what’s that on the back?” she asked.

“Huh. Never saw that. I think it’s listing the actual worth of his horde,” Spike said as he tried to make out the scribbled number. “Twi, can you figure out what this number is?”

“Let’s see,” she said as she looked over the number. It was scribbled messily it seemed at first, but then Twilight realized that the numbers were actually squished together. When she realized the total amount, her eyes popped open and she nearly fell back from what she read. “Spike, we need to go, NOW!”

“Huh? Alright,” Spike said, quickly gulping down his tea and getting on Twilight’s back. They trotted off, hoping to save the farm with their new information.

“Well, your friend seems to be running behind schedule,” Flim announced to the crowd of ponies who were anxiously waiting.

The Apple Family was nervously sitting around, hoping that Twilight would come back with something of value soon. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash managed to somehow look like they were the saddest ponies there, even compared to the Apple Family. This was because Pinkie Pie was legally forbidden to drink her cider, meaning it was just sitting in front of her. Rainbow Dash felt as if she could hear the call of the drink beckon her, wanting to be sipped while she lay down on a cloud.

Rarity and Fluttershy seemed to be handling the situation calmly. Fluttershy was attempting to coax the brothers by asking them to give them the rights “pretty pretty please” while Rarity decided to go over her own funds. As an up-and-coming fashion designer, she was sure that she had plenty of money she could spend and thought it might just be possible for her to pay for the rights. Of course, she’d like Applejack to thank her by always reserving her first in line for cider every year. That would only be fair, after all.

“So, should we call it?” Flam asked.

“Let’s give it a couple more seconds,” Flim replied. They could barely hold in their excitement as the hourglass trickled down further and further. Soon, Apple Family Acres would be theirs, and they could begin their new business venture. They were about to think about which location they’d sell to first until they saw the purple pony coming back.

“Stop the deal!” Twilight yelled, hoping that she’d made it on time. “I’ve got something!”

“Really?” the two brothers asked.

“Eeyup! I first need to ask you two a quick question; how much is the farm, including the rights to selling the cider worth?” Twilight had remembered a long time ago that her father had told her a story about an evil pony slaver who’d once captured a brave stallion’s wife and how he’d never bother to sell any of his less expensive slaves because dealing with such matters with such little money seemed too trivial. The stallion knew he could never take the slaver head on, so what he did is that he eventually earned his own fortune and bought the entire collection of slaves, including his wife, from him. After all, there’d be no way that the slaver would refuse such an amount. Actually, Twilight remembered that sometimes her father would change the way the story ended and have the stallion and his companion be found out and a huge battle ensuing that would result in the slaver’s castle being blown up by dynamite. Her mother didn’t approve of that ending.

“Well, considering all the money we could make off of this deal, plus the current worth of the farm and the value of the rights itself, our lawyers give us a rough estimate of,” Flim giggled as he knew just how large the number was, “two million bits.” Everypony’s jaw dropped at the mention of that number. Rarity just stopped looking through her books and just tossed them aside. If only she’d known how much an apple orchard could be worth, she’d have found some way to make it elegant for her tastes. Twilight didn’t look fazed however. In fact, she looked pleased.

“Oh, really?” she replied, smirking.

“Absatively posilutely! And even if you had that amount, I doubt we’d consider it still.” Flim was hoping that that would be enough to convince them to give up hopes. The pony’s expression didn’t change however.

“Well, if that’s the case, I think I have a number that’ll interest you and your brother. You say that you wouldn’t sell the farm, even for two million bits. I actually have several reasons for why you reconsider that idea.” Twilight was REALLY trying to look cool and had been practicing what she’d say in her head. “Actually I have about ten million good reasons why you should reconsider.” If there hadn’t been anypony whose jaw had dropped yet, they certainly had then. Even the Flim Flam Brothers, so confident that there wasn’t any amount that could change their thoughts, were now paying close attention.

“Mam, I believe that any argument with that much backing it up is worth listening to. Please, continue,” Flam said in his most cordial tone.

“I currently know the location of a large sum of money and will be going to retrieve it. I’ll need my friends and somepony else to help me out though. I also request a week at most to make certain that it’s the exact amount promised, if you’re willing to accept said amount.” Twilight felt like a boss at that moment, sounding awesome with her catch-phrases and making deals involving obscene amounts of money. The only thing that would make this moment more awesome was, well, she actually couldn’t think of anything. That’s how cool it was.

“Well,” Flim started talking, taking off his hat, “we do have one thing to say; we will allow all that you ask for, except that Applejack and any other members of the Apple Family will have to stay here at the farm. Also, since you’ll be requiring some time to get the funds, we also request that we stay with the Apple Family during that time. That way we not only do we have collateral for the time wasted, but also we can get acquainted with the property. Does that sound fair?” Twilight looked over to Applejack to see if this was something that she was comfortable doing. She gave a nod of head to give the all-clear.

“Deal,” she said. The two bumped hooves against each other in agreement with the lawyers acting as witnesses.

“Alright everypony! It looks like no cider fer now. Don’t fret though; we’ll be selling within a week!” Grannie Smith announced to the cheers of the townsfolk. It seems as if they were saved.

“Alright girls, just listen to my plan and we’ll have the money in no time. You got it?” Twilight asked her friends.

“Yep!” they responded.

“Alright, but first we should say goodbye to the Apple Family. Let them know that we’ll be back as quickly as possible.” Twilight went over to Applejack and her family and tried to figure out the best way to assure them that they’d get the money on time. “Don’t worry guys. We’ll have that money as soon as possible. All we ask is that you guys have some cider reserved for us when we get back, okay?”

“Hay, I’ll save a barrel just for you girls. Don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay you Twi,” Applejack told her friend.

“Hey, that’s what friends do. Alright girls, let’s go!”

“YEAH!” they cheered as they went off, ready to save the Apple Family Farm.

Author's Notes:

The adventure has begun! Will our ponies reach the treasure in time to save the farm? Are Flim and Flam going to be horrifically annoying on the farm? Check the next chapter out, Day 1: Deals with Dragons

Cover pictures:
Applejack outline: http://stormthetigerdemon.deviantart.com/art/Applejack-Lineless-Black-and-White-309376026
Original poster: http://www.openexchange.org/Images/AMJ10/capitalism.jpg