Hippo

Boulder Dash greeted the fillies and turned a shy complexion. Fluttershy only responded with a smile, looked at the girls and then turned back towards Boulder and his family to begin singing. The company of Rarity and now a filly who might be shy herself encouraged her to not be overly nervous, and her joy of the season once again countered her fear of attention. As she sang, a squirrel that was digging for nuts that it had saved in the fall noticed the pegasus' charm and scampered to her side to join in enjoying the ensemble. ♫ Silent night, starry night All is calm, all is bright 'Round the forest, Parents and young Gentle creatures everyone Home in burrows deep Home in burrows deep ♫ Silent night, starry night (Oooooo....) Snowfall makes the meadows white (Oooooo....) Ponies, pegasi, unicorns (Oooooo....) Circle 'round a hearth that is warm (Oooooo....) Now the day is done (Oooooo....) Now that the day is done (Oooooo....) ♫ Silent night, starry night (Silent night, starry night) Leaves are still and the moon's in sight (Ahhhh...mmmmm) Dreams are born as their eyes fall closed (Ahhhh...mmmmm) Tomorrow's gift is that nobody knows (Ahhhh...mmmmm) Sleep in beautiful peace (Sleep... beautiful peace) Sleep in beautiful peace ♫ Oh-whoa (Sleep in beautiful peace) Oh-whoa-oh-oh (Sleep in beautiful peace) Oh-whoa-oh-oh (Sleep in beautiful peace) Oh-whoa (Sleep in beautiful peace) Sleep in beautiful peace ♫ Sleep in beautiful peace ♫

"Oh yes. If you've ever had a tomato or anything from a tomato, chances are it came from the Boulder family farm." Fluttershy started leading the way to the small path that led to the edge of Ponyville. Now that Fluttershy got a song under her belt for the night, and it didn't go horribly, she felt a little more confident in singing again. But like all things that Fluttershy had to improve in, it was at the pace of tiny baby bunny steps. "So I have a song booklet with me, but me and Rarity already know most of the songs by hearts. So, if you would like to follow along a song you don't know well, you can still sing it with us." Fluttershy slipped to Diamond Tiara a small paper booklet with several holiday songs and Hearth's Warming hymns. "I know you're a great singer, too. I remember when you sang in the Kirin of the Opera musical play the school put on. You were wonderful!" Fluttershy paused though when she wondered about which song to sing. "I'm not sure which song we should sing next. Let me think while we walk to the farm." Along the way to the next door, Fluttershy couldn't help but look at all the places in the field around the grass now covered in snow where she knew were sleeping animals keeping warm for the winter. One small hill in particular, she remembered helping the same porcupine family set up their winter burrow a few years ago, and they still use the same one today. She loved her animal friends and would miss the ones that hibernate until they return for the spring, but always felt good about being able to help them cope with the harsher temperatures the wind and snow brought. For now, her winter-adapted critters would keep her company on the long nights of Ponyville winter. Also, ponies. "I can't believe how much it snowed earlier. I can barely see any patches of dirt or grass. But even though it's so cold and snowy, I just know my little cute animal friends are all tucked away warm in their cozy homes." Fluttershy squeaked with the excitement in her nurturing attitude. "I know what song we should sing. We should sing 'Silent Night'. I can sing the main parts, and you two can sing the backup vocals. This song is so lovely when it has a choir, even a small one, to back it up." Fluttershy smiled at Rarity and Diamond. "Do you know that one, Diamond Tiara?"

Fluttershy had a short moment looking at Rarity when the filly asked to join, and when Filthy asked for the mare's permission for turning the duo into a trio. And she would agree with Rarity. "Oh, of course! The more the merrier. We will need to go soon so we can visit as many houses before it gets too late. So grab your most comfy jacket and we'll be going." The short wait for Diamond to get her clothes gave Fluttershy a minute to think about where to go to next. They could go next door, but it occurred to her that some of the outskirts of Ponyville would be too far out of the way to save for last, so it would be best to attempt to visit some of the farmlands first. "Hey, Rarity, let's go to Boulder Tomato Ranch next. I bet them wont be expecting us out there."

Fluttershy sung the last few notes while closing her eyes, and she kept them closed as the rhythm of the song ended. Afraid to open them for fear of embarrassment, she ended the streak once a few seconds of awkward silence promoted her to speak. "Oh, um. Happy Hearth's Warming! We wish you, your friends, and your family all the joy and love the holiday brings. May your fireplace, and our friendship, keep you forever warm." Fluttershy smiled at Filthy with glee. Her kind instinct was overwhelming her flaw of fret from showing for the time being.

Fluttershy's good friend did the best she could diverting attention away from the kind pony's fears to the chic fashion choices of the unicorn. "Oh, it looks lovely." Fluttershy said thoughtfully. "I think others will love how you look, it certainly will put on a good impression to the ponies we surprise." Fluttershy was a little dressed down from Rarity, but she never considered it an issue with how it made her feel about her own attire. Rarity was likely going to be more fabulous no matter what. And besides, this was Fluttershy's favorite holiday sweater, ever since Angel ripped a whole in her old one. The two approached Filthy Rich's house and with a slight hesitation, Fluttershy raised her hoof to attempt the knock. She winced and looked away, but caught the eye of Rarity's supportive nod. "Okay." She whispered. "Here we go." *Knock*Knock*Knock* @Bellosh @RainbowFoxxy

Fluttershy and Rarity had been out of the singing game for quite some time. Though Rarity would continue to exercise her hobby of being a talented soprano for the Ponytones, Fluttershy would usually only sing to her animal friends, and once at a private show for her friends to see. She wanted to do something nice for the citizens of her town but was persuaded by Rarity to do the traditional thing during Hearth's Warming Fluttershy never looked forward to doing. Sure, Fluttershy could sing songs casually in public, but the moment she took notice that others took notice of her, it struck irrational fear in the yellow pegasus' spine. It was too bad, too. She was a very talented singer in her own right who did it for the right reasons. She enjoyed it. But deciding to go with Rarity on a carolling trip with just the two of them ended up being something she would agree to attempt. And maybe after one slightly uncomfortable holiday evening bellowing out her songs in the first snowfalls of winter in Ponyville, she would be closer to be less afraid of being heard singing. "Thanks for suggesting this idea to go carolling throughout Ponyville, Rarity. It was a good idea." Fluttershy hesitated. "Even though I may not be too excited about singing in front of other ponies." She smirked a nervous smile. Fluttershy was walking away with Rarity from the unicorn's boutique and into the direction of the residential zones of Ponyville proper. The sun had already set and Ponyville's street lamps speckled a friendly constellation along the pathways. Fluttershy was wearing a cozy sweater and a pair of earmuffs with pink flower designs on them. If the paths were clear of the light snow that fell earlier in the day, she would have no problem keeping warm through the evening.

Silverstream was shocked at the spectacle that was Luna's magic emanating a bright flash everyone at the farm could see. Though harmless, Silverstream could see Gallus flinch at her magical beam that would result in only a simple sanitation spell. "Whoa." Silverstream stated. She hovered in place at the flash but then landed when Luna appeared clear of the pie debris with a bit of a smirk. "That was so awesome!" At the treadmills, Applejack saw the shadows that the bright flash created and then stood up to look behind her to see what was going on. What she assumed was an amusement spell that didn't cause any damage or injuries, she could see the level of commotion increase among the impatient ponies. An empty pie tin rattled and rolled towards Applejack and stopped its aimless wheeling at her feet. "Alright ya'll. That's enough! We need everyone to please leave the front area of the farm and please mind your space. We're out of cider today, so take yer free samples and leave for the day. I don' want anypony gettin' hurt all because of the excitement. Tomorrow morning, same as before, we will have more cider." As Applejack stepped back towards the treadmills and continued sorting parts, many customers reluctantly dispersed the from the front of the cider stand, the cart with apples and pies completely emptied by the agitated patrons. Distracted with royalty and Gallus' antics, Silverstream was just now realizing that cider was out again. "They're out again!? Gallus, lets get to where my tent is and make sure no one moves it." She flew quickly to where her tent was where it was dirty with dirt picked up from the road, but otherwise undamaged and unmoved. She was faced with the dilemma of packing up and giving up an early spot, or continuing to camp out yet again in order to try and guarantee Gallus and herself a spot at the theoretical front of the line. She would talk to Gallus about the possibilities as the day grew older. __________________________________________________ Day 3 Third time's a charm. It was the morning of yet another day in the beautiful autumn sun, and another day of cider drinking. Everyone would have the pleasure of doing one of those things, but it was yet to be determined who would enjoy them both. Applejack had worked into the night working on the third treadmill that was not yet operational. With the help of Taira's continued pace, and the additional help of a pop star unknown to Applejack, cider production seemed promising for the next day's customers. It was clear that more cider than either of the first two days would be available for serving. However, while filling the barrels, they encountered a small problem. Many of the barrels used for cider storage were not fit to contain the cider. Over the years, many of them had been reused as they were in good conditional to be used for many seasons. But some of them finally bit the dust, and no extra materials were had to create new barrels in time for morning. So, instead of stopping production, Applejack decided to store the surplus cider in a juice vat. It was cleaned and filled with cider, with a valve at the bottom giving flow to the next empty barrel available. As barrels are emptied, the vat will be used to fill the barrels and continue a hefty supply of cider. There was more cider, but it was harder to get an accurate estimate of how many barrels of cider were left. It wasn't perfect, but the extra cider made Applejack rest a lot easier. Except she didn't rest at all. Applejack worked so late into the night trying to put together the third mill that she failed to use any of the night to get sleep. This was mostly evident by the massive bags under her eyes walking up to the cider stand as the sun rose. "hhhHHHHHaaaaaauuwww." She yawned and cracked a smile. "Today will be a good day, I just know it." She stepped up on top of the cider stand, but lost her footing and slipped off it. "Whoops." She carefully stood back on top of it and aimed herself at the line of patrons, who almost in the same color order as the day before had their tents lined up. "Today is the third day of cider season. It's gonna be a hhhhhhHHHHHaaaauuhhhuhhhwhh. Good day. We have more cider today than we did yesterday." She hesitated to speak. "That means more cider than yesterday, so." Applejack blinked hard and thought for a minute. "And more than the day before that." She jumped off the counter and in front of the line. "So let's get to it!" Applejack gave Apple Bloom the go-ahead nod, and then walked back to the treadmill which still had not been completely fixed and attempted to finish the assembly of the machine so that cider production could be optimal. Current fresh cider supply: ???% Cider press #3 repair: 78%

Zap uncomfortably picked himself up on the rugged landed surface. His breathing pattern indicated that he was favoring a part of himself, but once he stood up and corrected his posture, he seemed in good health and his breathing was normal. Foal bones sometimes seemed like they were made of jello. "I'm okay, Dashie." Zap's left front leg had several bruises, but was adorned with a pretty significant scrape that Zap didn't fuss about. The redness from the marks stuck out on his already fairly reddish hue. Instead of suggesting rest, Zap's mind was still filled with possibilities of what he could do at this giant adult playground, and he wanted to explore more. "Can I do some tricks or something. Is there an ob-obsta... obstagol course?"

"Dashieeeeeeeeeeeeeee..." Zap whined. He had learned that using exaggerated inflections on his mother's name was a good tactic in persuasion, but there was no telling how effective it would be today. Zap continued to pout, murmuring to himself but also out loud, displaying an outward emotion of feeling suppressed and being treated unfairly. Because it was unfair! His parents get to have fun all day doing Twilight-knows-what without him involved? No way! "It's not fair!" Zap stomped on the soft clouded floor towards the front door where Rainbow Dash was getting ready to leave. He started to reach for the door as if he had decided it was up to him that he would go with his mothers. As far as he was concerned, Gallus was the new housemaid his mother hired to clean up after them while the three of them had a fun day.

Noticing the chagrins coming from the magic ponies gifted with telekinesis and the like, Applejack could see these impromptu volunteers not appreciating the idea of not using magic. It would be like asking a pegasus to not use her wings, or an earth pony to not use her legs. But she had to reassure and convey her view of it, because since becoming friends with several magical creatures like a magical wolf, a student changeling, and a mood-swinging kirin, not to mention the bona fide princess of friendship alicorn, Applejack had come to terms with the idea of magic being a part of her life through many different ways, despite how stubborn she had been all the years before. During traditional events like the annual winter wrap up, or physical competitions like the running of the leaves or the iron pony, magic would of course be viewed as a disgrace, but Applejack no longer sticks her nose up at a friendly unicorn pony levitating an apple in front of her face. "Look, ya'll. I'm not saying you can't use magic. Just be moderate about it. If you have to glow your horn for more than a few seconds, then you're probably abusing your powers a lil' bit." Applejack started reaching around the scatter parts of the treadmill on a clue for where to start. "Hey pass me that mallet over there in mah box," she said to no one in particular. "I may have to work a few hours to get this fixed, but just organizing all these parts by shape and size will probably save me the most amount of time." Applejack started separating the pieces into different piles. One pile had small wooden screws, another had large planks. Anything made of metal had it's own pile, and broken pieces were stashed out of the way. Applejack chuckled at the idea of a batpony generation having a boom all because of the Princess Luna's reconciliation with her ruling sister. "Heh heh. The magic of friendship causes all sortsa ripples in everypony's lives, don't it?" As the day grew longer, Applejack hoped to see many customers return again for a third day. With any luck and some hard work, cider production might be at its maximum. If Applejack gets a third treadmill to work, she might grind on it all night if her body allows. Current fresh cider supply: 0% ((The day will reset in 2 days, on December 1st 12:00am UTC))

Zap took the mask and took a good look at it while holding it up. "Whoa!" After a few moments of trying to figure out how to put the thing on, he snapped the mask on around his neck and shimmied the eye holes to where his eyes are. His mane was not placed through the top correctly and was covering one of his eyes partially. "I'm a Wonderbolt now! Woooooooooo!" Zap took off running and started flapping his wings. He successfully flew at a relatively rapid pace for several strides before losing his wing balance and tumbling down onto the tarmac. He rolled several times before stopping, much like he did earlier on the ground. When he sat up, he was noticeably dizzy and disoriented.

Applejack was tinkering away at a broken hoof-powered cider press. This one was operational yesterday but had jammed up before they could get enough progress on pressing cider to make plenty of the raging crowds of ponies. She first looked at the large stone pressing wheel. Giving it a long reluctant look, she feared that if the stone press was damaged that it might be out of commission until she can get another fabricated stone wheel from the Pie rock farm. Taking her wrench in her mouth, she twisted a few different wooden bolts and slightly tapped different parts of the wheel. She sighed. After a slow examination of the stone wheel, she knew that it wasn't the culprit for the jam. She next looked inside the transfer cogs, seeing if any of the sister threads were stripped of their torque. Mostly being made of wood made it easy to fix but it failed often based on how worn out the soft wooden fixtures would be after a long season of pressing. And there it was. One of the wooden cogs was completely dislodged and dropped itself in the housing of the wheel. She wished she had looked at this last night, but when the sun set she didn't want to try and fix a broken piece of machinery in the dark without knowing how long it would take to fix. Applejack oiled up the cog and slipped it back in place where it belongs. A couple tightenings with her trusty wrench and once she pulled the safety lever, the treadmill was once again completely responsive to the wheel. "Whew!" Having fixed one of the two broken treadmills, she felt motivated to try and fix the one remaining idle and unworked. But before she could carry her tools to it, she was interrupted by Princess Bluebelle and Bellissima. They wanted to help, indicating that magic would aid the attempt to fix the mechanical machines. She smiled, the oil and dirt on her face curving to the shape of her glee. "You want to help?" Applejack was strangely hesitant at first, but remembering how successful cider seasons of the past had been if she allowed her friends to help would convince her quickly that she should accept the offer. "Huh, well, unicorn magic is a no go." She said plainly. "Magic on the farm ain't necessarily prohibited. But I can't accept the constant use of magic to help solve a problem we can solve with our hooves. The reason our cider is so special is because of the hard work that goes into it." In past years, the magic from Rarity and Twilight Sparkle helped in carry supplies and moving small materials around in order to complete the task, but the treadmill was always hoof-powered, and the apples were always physically removed from the trees. "But I tell ya what, I just fixed this here treadmill and it seems to be working just fine. Once we get her loaded up with good apples, I need somepony to power it with some good ol' fashioned trottin'." Applejack noticed how magnificent the Princess was looking today, so instead looked to her companion who Applejack had not met yet, a pink unicorn with a very stylish mane and a music-related cutie mark. "Would you like to run on it for me, miss? You don't need to go very fast, just keep a nice consistent pace. And no magic." "Isn't that right, Taira!?" Applejack yelled back at her farm aide Taira who was still huffing and puffing on the treadmill that had been running all day. She hadn't forgotten about him, and he was doing good work. She would have to pay him a fair wage in due time. "And the rest of you can maybe help me fix the other treadmill." Applejack walked over to the third treadmill, the one that still needed to be fixed. To put it lightly, the treadmill was in complete disarray. Pieces were missing, the stone wheel had a crack in it, and the belts that transferred energy to the wheel were twisted and jammed into the machinery. "To be honest, I don't think we've used this heap in a few moons. And unfortunately, it got neglected." Applejack put her tools down and looked around at the few ponies who seemed interested in the technological failure. "What do you guys think? Would you like to take this thing apart with me so we can try and fix it?" Applejack grabbed the wrench with her mouth and started loosening the few bolts on the treadmill that were still intact. One by one, parts of the treadmill came off and the broken treadmill turned into a large pile of individual parts. She wiped the sweat off her brow, and looked around while taking a breather. She noticed something about her surroundings and failed to withhold her current thought. "Why in the hay are there so many bat ponies here?" As the aerion Silverstream met yesterday passed both Luna and herself with a bow, Silverstream gave her patented goofy response. "I'm not a Princess, silly!" When Luna graciously responded to Silverstream, she was elated to have finally had a conversation with one of the rulers of Equestria. But Gallus was missing, what horrible timing. She wondered where he was. He was missing this very rare occasion where he could converse with the legendary dreamscape protector herself. She began to nervously look around her. "Well, Princess Luna, you must have heard of Gallus, then. He was right around here a second ago." Silverstream looked puzzled and tried to discern where Gallus had gone to. "He's a griffin with so much spunk, you wont believe it!" And just as she was talking Gallus up, she finally got line of sight of the young blue griffon, but it was accompanied by two apple pies being accidentally hurled in their direction. Silverstream did not have enough time to react and one of the pies hit Silverstream squarely it the face, the weight of the pie and tin knocking her off her hooves and talons and falling back-first onto the ground. Current fresh cider supply: 0% ((The day will reset in 5 days, on December 1st 12:00am UTC))

I would like to suggest a new reaction option from the 'like' menu. I present to you hoofsies! (This is a serious suggestion and not a joke.)

Despite Applejack making a cheap joke about elevators, she decided not to interrupt her friend's willingness to show her how the cargo elevator works. Applejack was always a good host to visitors to the farm and she loved to show and tell everything in as much time as being cordial would allow, and she always got a kick out of it, too. She figured it was the same for Ra-Ra. Besides, the cargo elevator was surprisingly roomy. Applejack tilted her head around as she peaked into the different corridors and rooms, taking mental note of the areas as Ra-Ra explained them, and imagined what was in the rooms that were not mentioned. Once they reached what Applejack would claim her bedroom, she finished detailing the general amenities and said work would not start today. Applejack received the hug lovingly. As the countess gave time for settling in, Applejack could not help but want to explore some of the rooms Coloratura likely mused in when writing her songs. So she set her guitar down on the bed, dropped her suitcase on the ground unopened, and took off her saddlebags and put them on a chair in the bedroom. Now that Applejack was lightened from her travel attire, she walked out of her bedroom to see how she could navigate what seemed like a mansion. She saw the stairs to where she knew Coloratura's bedroom was. She looked down the hallway where several doors splintered off into other rooms. Walking down the hallway, she looked inside one that seemed to be some kind of guest study or private library. In it, there were a few bookshelves, but many of the archives were not books, but vinyl records. As she explored the room, she saw that it was recently used and the record player that center-pieced the room had the look of being a muse station. Applejack figured this might be an area where inspiration was sprung, without the cords and clutter of the recording studio equipment that was likely in the other rooms. "Wonder what kinds of music a music star like Ra-Ra listens to when she's not recording. Certainly she listens to other music that's not her own." Applejack thought out loud to herself. She could see some of the labels on the records. Some were country themes, others were more pop and jazz. There were several varieties. But there was a record already on the player with no way to discern what it was visually. "Hm. I wonder what she listened to last." Applejack wound up the player and picked up the needle to feed it into a grove on the record. Shocked by the loudness an intensity of the music, Applejack quickly took the needle off the record. "Okay then!" Applejack shook her head to gain some sense and possibly her hearing back. "Ah guess she takes inspiration from wherever she can find it." she chuckled to herself. She walked out of the room and into another. This new room was a bedroom, but was also adorned with several hundred pictures all over the walls from Coloratura's past performances and accolades. In place of wallpaper were signed photographs from other musicians, newspaper clippings of concerts from yesteryear, and several shiny awards decorating the mare's musical career. It was quite the arrangement, and showed just how active Coloratura's short career had been. She was on pace for music hall of fame status, no question. Applejack walked into a third room. This one was much less interesting. It seemed to be a utility room for supplies and tools for maids and the like. Applejack wondered if at one point Coloratura had a butler. She walked out of the room and into the hallway to make it back to her bedroom. Wait, was that her bedroom? No, that's a bathroom. Maybe it was the other across the hall? Dead end. Her room was right by the stairs, but where were the stairs? Applejack walked around a little in order to gain understanding of her surroundings, but the more she cantered through the halls, the less sure she was that she was still in the same wing of the ranch. She found a window, but when she looked outside of it, all she saw was an overhead view of the garden Ra-Ra had talked about. Applejack turned around and looked deep into the never-ending hallway, and sat down. She spoke loudly. "Um, Ra-Ra? Can you hear me?" She spoke a smiling chuckle. "I seem to be lost."

Spitfire. Spitfire... Zap had remembered the name, but he wasn't good at the memory of other stories unless he visualized them himself in his limitless imagination. He didn't picture Spitfire as a slick light-colored mare, but rather a larger figure that towered over other ponies because of the way Rainbow Dash described her with Zap listening to the descriptions. Zap knew Spitfire not for her ability or leadership skills, but by the fact that she is his mother's boss or teacher. Sometimes it seemed every time Spitfire's name was mentioned to Zap, it was when Rainbow Dash was explaining she had to go to work instead of spend time teaching him to fly. So Zap was not too mindful of Spitfire's purpose, only that she was a road block for Zap's playtime with mom. That is at least until now, offering him the status of honorary Wonderbolt of which he only so much understanding of how cool that might be. "Honorary Wonderbolt!?" Zap fluttered in place. "Oh yeah! I want to be one!" Zap stopped his fluttering and switched to a pensive frown. His emotion was free wielding, but his filter was absent. "But I don't want you to yell orders at me or tell me to go places I don't want to go." Zap sounded pouty, practically blaming this yellow pegasus for all the times Rainbow Dash couldn't glide with him. And being a little colt who loves using his words with as many descriptors as possible, he added the sensation and evidence of his findings. "Dashie says when you give her orders, you sound like a hungry bugbear who forgot to take a nap."

Applejack followed Coloratura into the doorway. The place was big, bigger than Applejack had imagined. She would figure herself out after a while and she had no problems making herself at home. But she had no idea where to even start. "Okay, which room do you think I should take. You know I'm not picky. Maybe I can just have to one closest to yours. Which floor is that on?" Applejack looked down all the hallways that connected the foyer. A few swift swipes of her neck and she would ask, "Ya'll don't have an elevator do ya?" She smirked.

Applejack looked at the rate of cider serving and realized she had to think quick before too many fuses would begin to burn. There would be out of cider soon, and much sooner than yesterday. She regretted not putting more effort in trying to fix one of the treadmills. She ran to the barn and came back to the cider stand with a cart of apples and a half dozen apple pies. "Apple Bloom," She whispered behind her sister. "When you run out, just give out these pies and apples as free samples." She hoped that this would be enough to keep the crowd tame, but she was realistic with the idea that many would be disgruntled for having to wait another day with nothing to taste for it. She then ran back to the barn, grabbed a small toolbox, and took it to the treadmill that broke the night before. She began tinkering with the treadmill parts and attempted to ascertain why it broke and if a new wooden part would need to be fabricated in order to get it working efficiently again. "I think so." Silverstream noticed the Princesses, too. One was Princess Luna, of course. The other looked like she was related to the Archancellor possibly. "I've never had a chance to meet any of the princess before. Except for Headmare Twilight. Should we go over an introduce ourselves while we wait in line?" Without getting a response from Gallus, Silverstream zipped her way to Princess Luna, who had been trying to get noticed by the Apple ponies who were too busy pretending they had plenty of apple cider. "Princess Luna! I'm Silverstream! Queen Novo has told me so much about you, but I've never had the privilege to meet you. What are you doing so far from Canterlot today?" Current fresh cider supply: 0% ((The day will reset in 14 days, on December 1st 12:00am UTC))

Silver finished her plate of food by suspending the food in the water and swimming into the snacks, mouth first. She chewed fast and swallowed. "It's this way, let's go!" Silverstream as glad that her brother meeting Gallus seemed to go off without a hitch, even though Gallus was acting super strange. But Gallus' strangeness was always a feature he carried with him from time to time, and she never considered it a flaw she had to take notice of during social functions. If anything, the awkwardness would only add to Silverstream's amusement which was typically coupled with her inability to keep to herself saying how someone was acting strange. Silverstream wasn't the most observant little fin, but whatever she did see she was sure to tell you. Silverstream led the other two in an updraft above the trench's entertainment towards a crowd of seaponies who seemed to be in some sort of queue. In front of the line was a seapony with a security cap on. He held his fins up to stop anyone from entering the accessible lane into the current. It wasn't immediately obvious why it was being held up, but after a few moments, a giant whale different from the one that was seen earlier by the music stage, swam through the current which broke it momentarily before the current increased in speed again to its normal accelerated state. As the whale swam away, it sang a loud underwater tone. Everyfin within a short distance responded in kind to the giant friend, as did Silverstream. "Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaa." She sang before a short chuckle. Once the whale passed, the seapony who seemed in charge of entry to the flow started letting seaponies continue through it, and one by one, seaponies were taken by the flow at incredible speed. Silverstream was in front of Gallus and Terramar, and when she got to the front, she swam towards the flow looking back at Gallus. "It's easy, Gallus, just slowly swim forward and let the flow take... youuuuuu!" As Silverstream drifted backwards into the flow, it started to grab her tail fin and began pulling her away from the others. As she accelerated through the current, she laughed infectiously.

"A griffon?" Zap curiously questioned. Zap had seen flashes of griffons before and he saw them as very interesting-looking creatures. He loved their wings but was intimidated by the lack of hooves. One day he encountered Gabby in Ponyville, his first impression of griffons was one of excitement and energy. But he had always wondered why there weren't as many of them, and hadn't gotten a good explanation as to why. Gallus entered the home and stooped down to Zap Apple to give his salutations. With a talon stretched out, Zap was not eager to place his hoof in his grasp, but was all-too interested in the creature anyway. He only paused and stared at him, for longer than would normally be appropriate. "You're a griffon? Where did you come from?" Zap asked him, while looking at Gallus' unusual features like his feline hind quarters and his tipped feathers on his head. In the corner of his eye, he could see Rainbow Dash preparing to leave. "No, I wanna go with you, I don't want to be watched by Gallus. He smells funny."

Zap was enamored of the stranger pegasi that greeted him as they approached the grassy plateau. They all seemed really proficient in flying, more so than other pegasus ponies Zap had seen around Ponyville, like Fluttershy or Derpy Hooves. Rainbow Dash guided Zap to the surface and once they got close enough, Zap fluttered himself to a landing with only as much of a half step of re-balancing and not falling over as he would sometimes do. His eyes glistened as he looked at all the features of the headquarters. "Whoa!" Zap turned and looked at Rainbow Dash with excitement. He knew that for whatever reason, he was not necessarily allowed to be here, but today was the day he finally got to see the place for himself. "Am I going to become a Wonderbolt today?" Zap's understanding of what it meant to be a Wonderbolt was limited. He hadn't even been to or heard of regular pegasus pony flight camp, something he would probably experience at some point in the next few years. But he knew that his mother was cool enough to be a Wonderbolt. As so he wanted to be one, too.

A long night of the two students bonding resulted in sleeping in too long and losing their spot in line for cider. Silverstream was laying awkwardly inside her tent in seapony form. There was no rhyme or reason to the way her blankets or pillows inside the tent were oriented, and her tail fin sprawled across her sleeping bag diagonally. Silverstream flopped up as Gallus ripped himself into her tent opening to alert her to wake. She was immediately embarrassed that she was in seapony form, a common habit she fell into when sleeping. Sometimes she would either be dreaming about transforming her body or she would inadvertently take hold of the pearl shard, causing her to transform in the middle of the night. To avoid this, she would often take off the shard necklace before sleeping, but her normal nightly routine was absent on account of the camp out in front of Sweet Apple Acres. "Ah! Oh." Silverstream screamed unintelligibly at Gallus, and then quickly changed back into a hippogriff, resulting in her laying on her back in a very uncomfortable way. Transforming was never all that embarrassing, but in this circumstance it made Silverstream cover herself as if Gallus had just seen her dressing. "OK, I'm up, I'll be out in a second." Silverstream flew out of her tent and stood next to Gallus to get a better look at the commotion. "How did we sleep in? We must have stayed up too late roasting marshmallows and talking." Silverstream had regret in her voice, and her facial expression was one of disappointment. But in truth, nothing about the previous night was anything she would ever want to take back.

Applejack exhaled a sigh. "To be honest, I jus' don't like being away from home for an extended period of time." She cracked a disciplined smile. "I'm sure once I get settled in though, I will be less anxious about the whole thing." The whole thing, of course, was the fact that this may very well be the last chance Applejack had to express her musical talent in a way that could possibly be fruitful for anypony willing to listen to it. Who knows how much affair was left on the table on account of her rejecting the big music life for the one she knew and loved with family on the farm. And associating with the countess of music herself was probably the most advantageous part of the whole ordeal. Apple Bloom was right. Applejack would be a fool if she didn't at least give her performance the ol' country whirl. "Did you say third floor?" In truth, when Coloratura had written about her ranch in letters, Applejack had envisioned a more rustic cabin feel that would be offered by township more similar to Appleloosa. She hadn't even considered the possibility that the space she had to work with was reflective of her level of success. "How big is this place? I've had my share of large barns myself, but I ain't never heard of a ranch with three floors." Applejack chuckled. At least it wasn't a small loft in the crowded city of Manehatten. After Applejack got any kind of response from her rhetorical questions and her normal confident posture took over, she decided to ask more specifically about her expectations of the weeks to come. "So, I kind of understand what you were asking for. You wanted me to share with you a few pointers and such about the style of music you may or may not have heard from a little gal known as Apple Chord. But I'm not sure if she can really be much use for what you might remember. I'm sure several years of practice since that time, her style of speakin' with the guitar is probably a lot different now. Remind me again what you're wanting to do for your next project and why you think she can help." Applejack walked along with Coloratura, wherever she was leading her. Applejack had no sense of where she was physically, but she was more concerned about making sure her mentality was where it should be in case any miscommunication caused the music mare's imagination to get the best of herself. In truth, Applejack was being modest. She had a wealth of life experience and story-telling to help Coloratura in her music creating. But Applejack was not confident of how much of her involvement it would really impact the new style of music Coloratura was seeking after.