“It’s not stopping!” Flam frantically calls as he mashes the red button. While his efforts are not totally in vain - the gray hose does stop sucking in new apples and gradually retracts as the apples already inside flow through - it does not stop the bulge from passing into the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000.

“What!?” Flim exclaims, rushing to the window. He peers inside as far as he can with the hope of seeing the squeezed Apple, but only the garden variety tumble along the conveyor belt. A series of rapid dings signals more apples being accepted and smashed to pieces, the juices filling yet another barrel. He looks to the right of the window at a lever on the outside, his hoof raising and then hovering. Would disabling the sensor actually help matters? Would there be a greater chance of survival being burned or crushed? He calls up to Flam, “Should we accelerate the operation?”

“I thought it was going faster!” Flam returns, pressing the button one last time. For a moment it seems it works: the rush of air stills, the seemingly relentless series of dings ceases, and only the unhappy rumbling of the stalled vehicle remains. He slumps over with a great exhale, staring up at the sky. He can’t stop his hoof from shaking, glad the rest of the car hides his relief; it wouldn’t do to let everypony know this isn’t part of an act.

“There!” Flim proudly announces to the crowd, the lever untouched. He spins around, standing to best block the window as he spreads his widest, best grin. “As you can see, the Flim Flam Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 is perfectly safe! No need to worry, folks! Now, if you’ll just head this way, there is plenty of delectable cider just waiting for you to imbibe! Who wants a mug on me?”

A few reluctant ponies in the back seem persuaded by his announcement, low whispers and mutters as they try to make their way to the front of the line. Applejack and Doug, meanwhile, press forward, glaring at Flim. Yet he remains unblinking, unperturbed by their aggressive advancement, even as the colt stuck inside whimpers to the sounds of apples squishing and sloshing.

“If you don’t get him out of there right now,” Applejack threatens, cracking her neck as her right back off raises, “I’m going to bust him out myself.”

Behind them, Twilight’s attention turns to the rest of the vehicle. She frowns as the unhappy rumbling gets louder, whole sections heaving as if containing a vast pressure. “Um,” she warns while inspecting closer. “I don’t think it’s supposed to-”

With a great shudder, almost a belch, a mess of broken and mashed apples spray out of the stuck tunnel. The first few are rejected and dropped down while the next few are more pristine, their fate sealed with a cheery ding.

The brown colt flops onto the conveyor belt. Apple juice stains his coat, his sopping red and green mane plastered against shielding hooves. Yet his eyes remain wide-open, frenetically scanning every direction as he leaves the dark and cramped tube. He spares the staring ponies outside the briefest of glances before he fixates on the mechanism in front of him. The rotating pillar does a fabulous job of pulping the previously approved apples without even the slightest hint of effort, chewing through fruit and core alike and ravenously awaiting. Amber juice sluices off into a rapidly spinning barrel while the spent pomace brushes off the side, purged to make room for more.

He nearly follows the crushed cores by leaping off the conveyor belt, his hooves dipping down and off the side, until he registers the unnatural red glow coming from the furnace below. And how the thick gruel seems to vaporize the moment it touches the outer barrier. He scurries backward as the belt comes to a stop, his chest heaving as he lets out soft whimpers.

A moment later and a loud ding rings out, the belt spiriting him to the crusher with as little fanfare as it gave the rest of the apples.

“Huh,” Flim muses as Applejack gasps and races up to the window. “I guess he was a good apple after all.”

With a loud, piercing shriek Pomarbo takes off, barely able to outpace the speeding conveyor belt as it beeps a second time. He knocks off the newly entering apples as they flow through, but this only makes things worse: without anything to evaluate the machine spins on, the furnace consuming more and more apples to keep itself going. And yet, if he didn’t, any broken piece might be rejected, dumping him down to a fiery fate.

“Hold on!” Applejack shouts, spinning around. She goes to line up a buck, the same as she’s used on her trees for a dozen years. “Ah’m comin’!”

“No!” Flim pleads, interposing himself between Applejack and the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000. He raises his hooves as if he might possibly be able to block her. “Don’t hurt it!”

“What the!” Applejack exclaims, catching herself before she sends the stallion straight through his machine, fitting as that might be. And she still might. “Get outta mah way!”

“If you do that,” Flam answers from above, “the whole thing might explode!”

“Damn it, Twilight!” Doug shouts as Twilight stares at the colt slowly losing the race against the conveyor belt. He glances back at the other two alicorns present; Celestia has a look of grim resolve, her horn unlit, while Luna sports a cold grimace as she follows Celestia’s lead. He turns back to Twilight. “Help him!”

“Bu-bu-bu,” Twilight stammers. Her breath comes in short spurts, her eyes widening as she calculates the effects of either outcome. Saying it isn’t good would be a drastic understatement, and-

“Pick him up!”

-She can detect the magical lines criss-crossing inside, how they continuously try to scan the colt’s racing legs but fail every time he pushes ahead, however-

“Do something!”

-Briefly. It’s a fascinating pattern, and if enough - well, in this case, all - of them judge him adequately they send him along to a pulverizing demise. But if he fails any of them then it’s off to fuel the continued operation. And with his low innate resistance, it wouldn’t take long before-

Doug slaps her face, the harsh hit breaking her out of her stupor.

“Thanks,” Twilight returns icily, rubbing the spot as she shakes any afterthoughts of the foal’s demise from her mind. “But I can’t get a good enough lock!” She concentrates harder, brushing aside extraneous information and focusing on navigating through the complex spellwork surrounding the machine. The raspberry shine of her horn becomes almost blinding. “There’s too much interference!”

Pomarbo falters momentarily, slipping backward for a brief moment before taking off again. His legs burn, his endurance never as good as his sisters, and very soon the loud ding of an accepted apple rings through the orchard. When he fails to move out of the scanner it dings again, his tail whipping dangerously close to the whirling mechanism that would remorselessly drag the rest of him in.

Flim spins, slamming the lever down and disabling the assortment of assessment magics.

Twilight’s horn flares brighter, an identical glow surrounding Pomarbo. With a loud pop that rattles the window he disappears from inside, reappearing with a flash beside Applejack. His legs keep going, propelling him straight into his dam.

“You’re safe!” Applejack shouts to the heavens. She drops down to embrace her colt, tighter than she ever has, tight enough to mimic the cider press as his eyes bulge.

“Dam,” Pomarbo groans after a moment to catch his breath, attempting to fend her off with weak, half-hearted pushes. He doesn’t want her embarrassing him in front of everypony, but especially Diamond Tiara! “It’s okay!”

Applejack chuckles, not about to let him go so easily. She dips down to lick off the apple juice in his mane before too much more seeps into her coat. Diamond Tiara can’t help but giggle as she approaches; Applejack gives her a wary look, almost growling, before allowing the young mare to nuzzle her colt.

Doug walks over to Twilight, his stomps hidden by the cheers of the other ponies. He wants to shout at her, let loose the terror he felt at his child nearly dying, but stops when he sees her remorse. She breathes heavily, staring at a muddy patch of dirt where some cider sprayed off Pomarbo. He kneels down, his arm going around her neck, and any thoughts of admonishing her go away as he feels her shudder.

“I-I nearly failed,” Twilight ekes out in a whisper, her eyes staring to bead with tears. She glances back; with the interference gone the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 continues sorting the rest of the apples as if nothing happened. She peers up at her stallion with a loud sniffle. “T-that’s what you’re going to say, right? That I should have done better. Been faster, more decisive, less foalish.”

Doug takes a deep breath, stalling for a moment. “In a way,” he says softly, stroking her mane. She relaxes, if just a fraction, allowing her head to rest against his chest. His mouth purses to a thin line. “Why didn’t you just levitate him?”

Twilight’s mind goes blank for a brief moment. Why didn’t she levitate him? It’s orders of magnitude easier! She can levitate two dozen ponies, if not more, without breaking a sweat, while teleporting four leaves her panting. Was it like the remorse she felt after she defeated Sombra? She wanted to save the ponies of the Crystal Empire, all of the ponies, and much to her dismay found that included the black-hearted king. She might not have a perfect record, but that doesn’t stop her from trying her hardest to avoid any other mistakes.

Doug waits patiently, letting her work through her answer. He might not voice it, but it certainly doesn’t help being the powerless one surrounded by ponies fully capable of rending apart the machine with their bare hooves while he would be stuck searching for some sort of latch. He glances at Celestia. He knows what she would say, about allowing Twilight the chance to save the day, and how any interference on her part would amount to robbing Twilight of the opportunity and ultimately end up crippling her when future problems arise. He wishes he could have the same confidence in the former student. But it’s his foal, dammit!

“I think,” Twilight starts, finally letting out the breath she is holding. “I think it’s because that would only be temporary. I was intent on finding a solution that solved the problem.”

The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 finishes mashing the last of the apples, good and bad. It then goes into a self-cleaning mode, the entire inside blazing in a bright and cheerful inferno that leaves it sparkling.

“Also, that would happen,” Twilight says with a light smirk, pointing at the glowing window. Doug’s breath catches in his throat; he grips Twilight tighter. “Maybe the whole world won’t burn if I fail to solve a problem in time.” She watches Flim and Flam as Rainbow Dash swoops down. “Then again…”

“Maybe,” the irate pegasus spits out, her concern over cider production gone, “the two of you outta find out what it’s like going through that death trap of yours!”

Next Chapter: Ch. 62 - Cheap Construction, Part Eight Estimated time remaining: 22 Hours, 3 Minutes