"So what's your cutie mark mean?" Apple Bloom asked Matt as Applejack came over and shuffled through her apple basket.

"Uh…" Matt hesitated, a half-frown on his face. "Using swords and magic," he answered after a full minute of silence.

"How'd you get it?" Apple Bloom continued, her inquiry causing the Fantasian stallion to immediately stiffen.

"Long story," Natalie chimed in with a frown on her muzzle, shooting the Mythonian filly a quick glance. "You'd probably be bored to tears hearing it. And it's the same with my cutie mark, too."

"They talked for three days, and I slept a lot as they babbled on and on. Seriously, I thought there was no end to it," Katie added off-handedly, her remark causing Apple Bloom to sigh and roll her eyes before turning to Applejack as she pulled away from the basket.

"Alright everypony, listen up," Applejack began, drawing the attention of the assembled Fantasians to herself. "I'll show you to the zap apple patch of the orchard. Big Mac and Apple Bloom will take the baskets to the apple grinder. Y'all have done good enough with the regular apples—let's stop lollygagging." And with that, she trotted onwards past some trees, with the unicorns and disguised wraith immediately falling in step behind her.

In moments, the filly and stallion who stayed behind vanished with distance. A few more moments thereafter, the group found an expansive patch of apple trees spaced widely apart, separated from the rest of the orchard by a simple wooden fence that stretched for a good distance.

The apple trees that were kept inside the fence boasted brilliantly-colored fruit looking as if painted in seven colors, with vibrant green leaves and stems shaped like lightning bolts. The leaves that weren't attached to the apple stems were dark purple-red, and the trees a deep maroonish-violet respectively. They also had three to four baskets at their trunks, and to one side of the patch in an open spot stood a two-wheeled wagon with a harness attached.

"These apples will disappear early this evening if they aren't picked. Oh, and don't buck the trees," Applejack warned, garnering a few vexed glances. After a minute, she groaned, "I'll show y'all why you don't buck these trees."

With that, she trotted to a tree, turned around, and bucked it as hard as she could. The tree did not yield fruit; rather, it crackled with blue electric sparks that enveloped her body and sent a good jolt through her system. This resulted in her returning to all fours and staggering a bit, her limbs refusing to bend at the joints as she moved. To top this off, her mane and tail were singed and standing on end.

"Oh… so, we're dealing with magic trees," Katie murmured, a faint buzzing sound echoing through the air around her as she spoke. The illusion broke from her form in a flurry of fading gold dust, and her wings beat rapidly and lifted her from the ground. She flew to the tree Applejack kicked at, and went straight to the fruit. "So... " she paused, glancing down at the earth pony, "just pluck and put in the baskets?"

Applejack nodded after taking a minute to shake off the tingling sensation that her act of self-electrocution had wrought. "Yep. Just drop like crazy; zap apples don't bruise easy," she replied. "Fill at least fifteen baskets. We gotta make a lot of jam, and there's a little over forty or so trees."

"Fifteen?" Anna repeated, going wide-eyed.

Applejack turned to the archer and nodded again. "Yep. Normally, we'd do twelve 'round here if it's just me and Mac and Apple Bloom, but the extra three is for you guys," she answered. The unicorns nodded back and let their magic get to work, lifting themselves up and floating in the air to meet up with Katie.

Applejack watched them as the group tugged the ripe apples with ease and dropped them into baskets that waited below, noting that they seemed to operate on some sort of unspoken signal. Anna and Natalie kept to the middle of the tree's branches, and Matt scoured the top, leaving Katie to pluck what they missed at the bottom of the branches.

In a little over two minutes, three baskets below had been filled with ripe, rainbow apples. The earth pony whistled lowly at the sight and turned to the airborne Fantasians. "Now that is teamwork!" she remarked.

The three unicorns grinned at her, and Katie waved a hoof as she exclaimed, "That was as easy as twitching my ear!" She darted over to the next tree and wasted no time in plucking the apples. She was followed in short order by the magically-aloft trio who made quick work of cleaning the branches of every single fruit they could find—which wasn't hard, considering the prismatic colors the apples boasted. Applejack couldn't help but smile at her otherworldly hired help, and in that moment a thought hit her.

"Hey, could one of y'all lift me up? I'd like to help pluck, instead of standing here stranded because I forgot a ladder," Applejack piped up, right as the Fantasians cleaned the second tree. Natalie obliged the earth pony, using magic to carefully lift her up and deposit her in a third tree before she and her friends darted to another fruit-laden wooden monolith next to hers.

"Thanks a bunch," she chirped, and made to pluck a few apples when she heard a faint sound of flapping pegasus wings. She looked up as a very pale blue form whizzed overhead and stopped, hovering next to the tree.

"Who's he?" Anna asked as Katie hid in the branches, noticing the rather sudden presence of a blue-maned pegasus stallion she didn't recognize.

"Soarin! What're you doing here?" Applejack questioned the stallion who had come to the harvest unannounced.

"I saw you plucking the zap apples without your family overhead, and thought I could lend a hoof. I don't see anything wrong about that," Soarin replied, a grin on his face. He turned to the Fantasians and added, "Wait, wasn't there four of you two seconds ago? I could've sworn I saw pale and red pony."

"Drat! I've been caught!" Katie groaned, still staying in the cover of the branches.

Applejack pointed at another tree with her hoof, and Soarin followed it. "In that case, you might as well start over there," she said. Soarin nodded and flew three trees over, using his hooves to pluck as many zap apples as he could possibly hold. The Fantasians shrugged and returned to plucking out their tree, hopping over to the next and doing the same to it once they were done. Applejack was slower; it took her over five minutes to scour every branch of the tree she claimed, and she took another minute to deftly hop from one tree to the next with either some magical aid or Soarin's hooves carrying her.

A little over two hours dragged on, and a few near-misses happened—Soarin nearly crashed into Matt one time, Applejack almost fell from a branch too thin to support her weight, and Katie accidentally bucked a tree and got knocked out of the air for a bit when it electrocuted her. The group was able to get their act together and finish plucking, though as they reached the last seven trees, Big Mac joined the fray to lend a helping hoof too late. The trees still laden with fruit crackled with blue sparks, and in those sparks their unpicked apples vanished in seconds.

"Huh. Well, at least we got most of the fruit," Natalie remarked with a shrug, garnering a nod from the earth mare and pegasus stallion.

"And that means lots of zap apple jam," Soarin chimed, a small grin on his muzzle.

Big Mac sighed and turned to Applejack as she prepared the two-wheeled wagon, which was quickly loaded with all of the baskets. The pile stacked higher than the nearest tree was tall, and the Fantasian unicorns used their magic to hold it steady. "I take it it's all said and done?" he asked, garnering a nod from Applejack.

"Granny was right," Applejack chirped, a smile on her face as Soarin helped her slip into the harness. "How was the cider-making?" she asked, turning to Big Mac after the harness was fitted onto her midsection.

"Made a few dozen barrels, and Granny sent me to check up on y'all," Big Mac answered with a nod. He turned to Soarin and asked, "I assume you helped?"

"Of course," Soarin replied, his grin widening. He turned to Katie, right as Matt cast another illusion spell on her, and frowned immediately. "I'm worried about her," he added.

Natalie waved a hoof at Soarin, and rather dismissively at that. "We are, too, but all we can do is hide her condition with illusions," she said simply. "We're still trying to work out how to… uh, yeah."

Katie sighed and clambered onto Anna's back. "I'm impressed I was even able to pluck those apples. They're bigger than my hip bones, I swear!" she exclaimed, garnering a roll of the eyes from the unicorn she started riding on.

"So, who's up for some cider?" Big Mac asked, garnering looks from the others.

Matt's muzzle broke out into a smile. "I'm parched," he answered. His smile fell as Apple Bloom hit the scene galloping, and the filly skid to a halt so fast she almost careened into Soarin's legs, though a bit of magic from Anna grabbed her and helped her slow down before she could crash.

"Big Mac, Applejack, the cider line's already forming!" Apple Bloom shrieked, panting between words and causing the two ponies she addressed to sigh. "Y'all gotta come, right now!"

~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~

By the time the group reached the farm gate with the zap apples in tow, where Granny Smith had a few barrels, a massive grinding wheel with a treadmill and spigot attached, and a booth with another spigot set up, a long line of waiting ponies had already formed. Matt let off a low whistle at the sight, and noted that the line seemed to go on for a good length, spanning at least two hillsides marked with a white fence that stretched for just as long. In the distance, barely visible because said hillsides blocked most of it from sight, were the straw roofs of Ponyville's houses jutting up.

"Is cider that popular around here?" Anna asked, turning to Applejack with a vexed frown on her face.

"It's like this every cider season," Applejack replied in a solemn tone, using a hoof to gesture to the waiting line. "And we usually run out before everypony gets one mug's worth." A smile crossed her face, and she added, "Though, I could get my honorary family members to help press cider and make enough for the town this time. I won't pester y'all no more, since you already helped with picking the zap apples."

The Fantasians nodded, and so did Soarin, and they watched as Apple Bloom and Big Mac rushed over to meet with Granny Smith. "Granny, I'm gonna take the zap apples to the barn," she called out. Her cry wound up causing the elderly green-coated mare to turn to her as a pony placed two gold coins on an open box that stood the counter and left with a mug of cider after it was filled by Apple Bloom.

"I'm coming with you to start on the jam," Granny called back, and made to leave the stand when a hoof reached over the booth and tapped her on the withers. She turned to find that the next-in-line pony who poked her was Pinkie Pie, who was backed by Rarity, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash.

"Maybe we could use the apple grinder to make more for everypony?" Pinkie suggested, garnering a wide-eyed look from Granny.

"Well, it seems the number of barrels this season is… lacking, to say the least," Rarity commented, looking at the few dozen barrels already set up and sighing despondently.

Katie hopped off Anna's back and trotted over to the ivory mare, tapping at her front leg with a hoof to get her attention as soon as she reached her. "Applejack was busy with the zap apples," she stated.

"Yes, I know that. How could I not, when she's standing right there with a massive quantity of baskets looming over her?" Rarity retorted, frowning.

"Granny Smith, would you like some more help this year?" Twilight asked, trotting to stand at Pinkie's side. "It seems you and the rest of the family will be pretty… occupied."

"Feel free to do just that," Granny replied, nodding her head. She then turned to Big Mac and addressed him, "I'd much appreciate it if you manage the booth for me while Applejack and I are dealing with the zap apples in the barn, so please keep the ponies who want cider happy while I'm away. If you sell good, you'll get extra zap apple pie slices."

The red stallion nodded to her, and Apple Bloom piped up, "Can I get an extra slice of zap apple pie?" Granny turned to the filly and nodded, lifting a hoof and ruffling her mane a bit. With that, she hobbled past the two at a slow gait. She paused when she made it in front of the orange mare, turning her head to find her grandfoal's companions jumping the fence and getting to work.

Rainbow manned the grinder, Fluttershy flew into the trees' branches fast enough to shake the fruit from them, Pinkie collected the produce with a basket, and Twilight started stacking barrels with her magic. Granny nodded and turned back to Applejack, and noticed the impressive mound of baskets she and her help had managed to accrue. "Whoo wee! Looks like there's gonna be more than just zap apple jam tonight—there's enough for a small army right here!" she remarked, her utterance causing the three Fantasian unicorns to grin sheepishly.

Katie rushed over to the bunch and, again, climbed on Anna's back. "So, now what?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

Anna shrugged, and she turned to Applejack and Granny as the two started trotting over to the barn. "May as well help them put the baskets down before we see Shining Armor again," she replied. She and the other two unicorns followed the wagon laden with baskets piled high, horns still glowing and magic keeping the looming stack steady.

Upon reaching the barn, the baskets were lifted up in groups of three and carefully put on the hay-covered floor of the first room. What's more, they were placed next to the walls so that there wasn't any obstruction to a door at the back of this room. By the time the wagon was emptied, there were three rows of baskets on either side, give or take a few. Applejack slipped out of her harness and trotted to the door at the back, followed shortly by Granny Smith. Natalie was about to set hoof into the barn when a pale blue hoof stopped her, and she turned to Soarin to find that the hoof in question was his.

"You guys did good. I haven't seen one unicorn self-levitate like that, let alone three of them at once," Soarin stated, grinning as he lowered his appendage. "How'd you do that?"

"Self-levitation's easy for us. Heck, we could probably do it blindfolded," Anna replied with a shrug. Soarin muttered something about fire, nodded and spread his wings before flapping them and taking off, though he paused to give the Fantasians a brief salute that they did not fail to return. With that, he flew away, leaving the quartet to their own devices yet again. Natalie trotted to the door at the back and opened it to peer inside, spotting Applejack in a kitchen beyond the frame.

"Could you please save a barrel of cider for us? Me and the others are gonna meet up with Shining soon," she stated.

Applejack turned to the unicorn and nodded. "If I have to, I'll stick a piece of paper on a barrel with words scribbled on it so my sister and brother don't sneak off with it for themselves," she replied. "The zap apple jam should be done by the time y'all get back."

Natalie nodded in understanding, and sent the earth mare a serene smile. "Thanks a bunch," she chirped.

Applejack smiled back. "It was no problem. Thank you for helping me with the zap apples," she said.

~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~

Shining, Zecora, Spike, and the rest of the Fantasians stood at a train station with a simple overhang arcing over them, in addition to a currently-empty set of tracks and an equally-deserted ticket booth with a simple pane of glass and a wooden desk behind that. This station was sitting on the bare outskirts of Ponyville, and the Captain pointed his hoof at the assembled bunch and counted to himself.

Using his magic to procure a simple, sterling silver pocket watch with a chain after he finished counting, he flipped the lid once the thing finished materializing and checked the time. Noticing both hands on the two of the small clock face, which itself had its gears exposed and a smaller circle with an additional hand ticking down the seconds that passed by, his face immediately hardened.

"How long does it take for them to finish? General Boltwing, your unicorns and second changeling should've been here by now," he grumbled, a frown on his muzzle.

Lance sighed and shook his head, taking a moment to let a hoof connect with the bridge of his muzzle. "Damned if I know; I manage an army, not an apple farm," he retorted.

Shining nodded in understanding and made the pocket watch vanish in a flash of light. "Point taken," he agreed tersely.

Lance made to speak again, and set his hoof down after sliding it along the bridge of his muzzle when his head became embraced by a brief green aura that faded as fast as it had come. "They're on their way; just told me they passed a bakery called Sugarcube Corner after asking for directions," he stated after a moment.

Shining's visage eased up a bit. "Alright," he said, a small smile spreading on his face. His ears twitched when he heard hoofsteps, and he whirled around to find a blue stallion sporting a black mustache and a train conductor's uniform trotting around the booth before the sound of a door opening hit his ears. In seconds, the same stallion stood in the booth and positioned himself behind the pane of glass and wooden desk proper.

"Apologies. Had to get some of the quality apple cider," the stallion stated in a thick accent, with an innocent grin spreading on his muzzle. Shining chuckled and rolled his eyes at the pony, who then asked, "So… how many of you are hitching a ride, and to where?"

"Twelve of us, and to the Crystal Empire… right now, we're four short, and waiting for some stragglers to show up," Shining answered. The mustachioed stallion nodded and fumbled behind the pane a bit, before ducking beneath the desk and vanishing from sight. A minute later, during which time the group heard the sound of paper being tampered with, he resurfaced with a roll of tickets in his hooves.

"Ten bits per ticket… except for him, he gets a seven-bit discount," the stallion said, setting the roll down before pointing a hoof at the Captain for emphasis when 'seven-bit discount' left his mouth.

"I'll pay the extra seven bits for my ticket," Shining stated, smiling as he heard more hoofsteps that sounded distant at first. In seconds, though, the noise picked up, and he could make out a heavy set of hooves in addition to two more sets of soft-hitting ones. He turned to the entrance of the station and found the Fantasian unicorns arriving, with the disguised wraith on Anna's back. "What took you?" he asked once they skid to a halt and panted for breath.

"Applejack had to test us to see if we were good enough for zap apple trees," Katie responded curtly.

"That, and we told her to spare us a barrel before we left. We had to dodge the longest line we've ever laid eyes on after that," Natalie added, gasping between words and ears flattening against her head as she spoke.

Shining blinked for a moment and sighed. "Pretty hectic, I take it?" he asked, garnering hasty nods from the four Fantasians he stared at. "I see."

"He was getting pretty impatient," Lance piped up, getting a look from Shining almost immediately. He looked back at the Captain and added, "What? I have witnesses."

"Captain got a little mad," Maria said, using a claw to gesture to Shining.

"I can vouch for that," Sarah chimed in with a nod.

"He frowned like he was gonna hit something," Spike added off-handedly.

Shining chuckled in response. "It is true I did get a teensy-weensy bit agitated," he replied in a mock-joy tone. He trotted over to the ticket booth and conjured a bag of bits, counting the money within before passing it under a hole in the glass and to the mustachioed stallion behind it.

Then said stallion counted the money and nodded, and ripped twelve tickets from the roll he'd fetched earlier before reaching under the desk and producing a sparkling blue pen. He marked each ticket with a bold snowflake sigil prior to forking them to the Captain, who then distributed tickets to the otherworlders, Spike, and Zecora.

"What's this sparkly thing?" Maria asked, using a claw to gesture to the symbol on her ticket as soon as it was handed to her.

Fenrir looked at the filly and immediately gasped. "Child, you've spent at least five years in Frostbite, and you still know not what a snowflake is?" he asked, his voice an octave higher than usual, and disbelief evident in his eyes.

Alexander rolled his eyes and frowned. "I blame the bearded elder of that accursed town," he scoffed.

"You've ever seen snow fall?" Shining asked, getting a nod from Maria. "The individual bits of snow are snowflakes. And a snowflake's the symbol of the Crystal Empire," he stated.

"So, how long's the train gonna be before it gets here?" Anna asked, shifting to sit on her haunches. In doing so, she let Katie slide off of her back and land on her tail. As soon as she finished speaking, a low, echoing whistle pierced the air from afar. The group looked around before pausing as they turned southward, and a train with a magenta caboose adorned with yellow hearts came into view, hooked up to many cars of varying designs and colors that trailed behind it. "Is that our train?"

"Yep. The Friendship Express is our ride, and it works overtime," Shining answered with a nod.

The train came closer, and as it crossed a good distance and crystallized into view a little more, the sound of screeching brakes hit the ears of the waiting bunch and caused them to flinch as the locomotive slowed down considerably. When it stopped entirely, the caboose passed the station, letting the cab behind it land smack-dab next to an open platform as its door opened. Another stallion with a red scarf and striped hat, this one sporting a yellowish coat and a brown mane, emerged from the cab and shot a glance at the pony in the ticket booth.

"All aboard now," the pony in the booth cried out in a loud voice, and instantly the assembled group trotted up to the yellow-coated stallion.

"Tickets, please," the yellow pony stated. He inspected each ticket as it was handed to him, and nodded before stepping aside and letting Shining, Zecora, Spike, and their guests step inside the cab, which they found empty. He waited until each and every one went inside prior to going into the cab himself and closing the door afterwards, using a hoof to point at a southernmost door that lead to another one of the train's many cars.

"A few cabs down, there are beds you can use. I'd advise you sleep while you're riding the Friendship Express; it'll take a good twelve hours from here to your destination at least." With that, he trotted to a door at the end of the cab and opened it, going into the room beyond and shutting the wooden frame behind himself. As soon as he left, the group opened the southern door and went to the next cab. Upon doing so, the Fantasians stilled, their eyes widening.

"Have you guys ever rode a train before?" Spike asked, and when he got no answer, he turned to look at the otherworlders. He immediately noticed that they were busy eyeballing this cab's interior.

It was quaint; the floor was made of birch wood and the walls were painted beige, with the addition of simplistic grey-pink flower designs. Some cushioned seats sporting green translucent dividers with swirls reminiscent of wind blowing lined either side of the cab. The windows of the cab had their blinds pulled down, and sported orange trimming along their edges. Lamps with knob switches on their undersides were bolted between the windows, and a few were turned on to provide a little bit of lighting.

"Closest to this would be the Valkyrie back home," Natalie answered, trotting over to a seat and sitting on it.

"The what?" Shining asked, turning to Natalie with a brow quirked.

"A massive tank with drills they left on Fantasia," Spike replied, moving his claws behind his head as he stretched his arms. "I've seen it personally, and it's about as big as the balloon of the Lavender Spirit airship. They called that behemoth the Valkyrie."

"Lavender Spirit? You mean that airship with the fish insignia?" Anna asked, to which Spike nodded. "Huh. I called it the SS Leviathan after I first saw it…"

Shining contemplated this information for a moment and nodded. He opened his mouth to speak when Maria climbed on another cushioned seat and started jumping on in. "It's so soft," Maria remarked, a giddy grin on her face.

"Don't jump too much; you might fall and land on your head, and that would be bad," Sarah stated in a firm but gentle voice. The filly stopped jumping and nodded in understanding.

Zecora chuckled at the display and went to claim a seat opposite of Maria's. "Oh, do let the foal have her fun. After all, some play is better than none," she stated.

"Eh, you both have a point," Katie agreed, moving to sit next to Zecora and behind a divider. "Foals are gonna want to do foalish things, but jumping on a cushion seems like a terrible idea," she added. "I kinda envy her, to be honest," she muttered under her breath, and in a way that Zecora couldn't tell that her mouth had moved.

Armin, who wore his pegasus disguise, idly flapped his wings and shed a few faux feathers before he took a seat. "This is… comfy," he murmured, prodding at the cushion with a hoof while a new patch of faux feathers grew on his wings. "I think this'll be good for a while."

Matt trotted over to Natalie, but rather than take a seat, he sat on the floor next to her. "Hopefully the bed won't eat me when I hit the hay tonight," he sighed, frowning.

Shining turned to Matt, blinking rather absentmindedly. "Beds… eat you?" he asked.

"Only if they're small enough," Matt replied, nostrils briefly flaring as he snorted. "Trust me, it's nothing short of aggravating."

Fenrir leaned against a wall, his stature slightly hunched to avoid letting the top of his head collide with the lamp above. "I know the feeling all too well, sadly," he stated.

"Hey, if a bed's too small, I could make comfy half-cocoons for you both," Armin chirped, garnering looks from the diamond dog and half-Clydesdale the instant he spoke.

"I guess we could try it," Matt stated with a hoof rising to rub his chin.

Fenrir slowly nodded. "If it comes to it, I'd be very willing to attempt to sleep in a half-chrysalis," he murmured.

"Hopefully, it won't be that bad. Just relax and take it easy for a while," Shining piped up, smiling faintly as he too went to claim a seat.

"Truth be told, this is the first time that I have rode on a train," Zecora began, shifting to lay down on the seat she perched on, "and I appreciate the cushion I have claimed."

Sarah stretched her good wing for a bit before claiming a seat next to Fenrir. "I have a feeling…" she murmured.

"About what?" Fenrir asked, turning to hippogryph mare with his ears perked.

"I can't put my claw on it; I'm just feeling that… something's off," she replied, turning to a window and raising a talon to grip at the bottom of the blind. She pulled once and let go, watching as it rolled itself up on its own and revealed to her a hillside that was stationary. She made to speak further, but a shrill and low whistle cut her off before the cab jerked slightly and the thundering stampede of metallic wheels filled the air. In seconds, the hillside eased to one side and out of the limited view the window had offered.

"I was wondering what took them this long to start the train," Spike remarked as, slowly, the locomotive turned its wheels and went onward.

"Maybe they just stalled a bit," Matt sighed with a shrug. "I'm not an engineer. How should I know why the train delayed?"

"Perhaps there were other passengers who needed to get off," Alexander pointed out, his tail swishing as he spoke.