Starburst remembered from Applejack that the Golden Apple Harvest was expected to be crowded with ponies, whether they came in from Ponyville or throughout Equestria. There were far too many to count, but every stand was getting business left and right. All the stands look tempting to visit the more ponies had stopped to check them out. It was hard choosing the longer the mare kept staring out into the crowd.
"Mornin, Star!" The orange mare greeted, trotting up to her. "I told ya this place would be crowded!"
"Morning, Applejack," she smiled. "You weren't kidding! Ponies would do anything for the best deals at this time of year, huh?"
"Prices will be at their lowest, and it's the best time to move old and even new, but limited inventory! With the money we've collected from the vendors, the family probably wouldn't mind getting a few things during our walkthrough. You have plans on checkin out Zestar and SweeTango's stand, right?"
"Definitely! I'm headed that way now."
"Here."
Applejack passes her a small, brown sack.
"This is in case you're interested in anythin."
The white mare opened the sack and her eyes widened to the quantity of bits inside.
"No way," she looks back at her. "This is so much! I shouldn't accept this…"
"It's all yours," the orange pony smiled. "Consider it from helping the Apple family and I with the Golden Apple Harvest. You've earned it!"
She couldn't help but go to hug her.
"Thank you, Applejack! I'm so grateful for this. Well, I'm headed over there!"
"Have fun!"
Zestar and SweeTango were one of the last vendors to arrive, so their stand was stationed near the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres. The closer she got to their stand, the more crowded it became with ponies. Trying her best to peek over the herds, she was surprised to see majority of the ponies were in front of the very stand she had been heading to. For now, she was interested in showing support for the stand. She could only hope none of the ponies minded her moving past them just so she could make her greetings. But it was strange, only Zestar was there tending to the customers.
"Hey, Zestar!" She shouted at him.
"Ah, Starburst!" He smiled. "Good morning!"
"You seem pretty busy this morning! Do you need help?"
"I might! My newest items seemed to be catching everypony's eye!"
"Where's SweeTango?"
"Unfortunately she's been out cold...But I know her well enough to not wake her while she's asleep. She could get pretty wild! Kudos if you're able to wake her!"
He points towards the caravan, which granted her the permission to enter. He was right, however; she appeared completely conked out. It was as if her mane suffered from a hurricane.
"SweeTango? SweeTango!" She began nudging her repeatedly. "It's morning and Zestar is starting to get slammed!"
She wasn't getting a response from her. The mare still hasn't stirred. Is she really a hard sleeper? Had she had a long night or was too excited that she couldn't sleep? Either way, she wasn't coming to at this rate. She looked around inside the caravan only to find a jar purposefully stashed behind a wooden crate. It was the gummies she tried yesterday. A light bulb flipped on in her head: Zestar did mention that these could wake up ponies instantly since they provide a small amount of energy. She began opening the jar to take one and mechanically had the orange mare chew till her eyes slowly opened.
"SweeTango! You're awake!" The white pony smiled.
"Huh..? Is it morning already?" The confused mare asked.
"It's just past that. Zestar needs your help out there! The stand was already crowded when I arrived!"
"What!? We're in a rush!?"
She flings herself up and stopped herself from flying out of the caravan after seeing her messy mane in a travel mirror. As she was fixing it she picked up on remnants of the gummy Starburst put in her mouth.
"Did I just eat one of my energizer gummies?"
"I did that. You were sleeping like a log when I came in to wake you. It's a good thing I found them in the caravan."
"Wait...You mean they're not on display...?" After fixing her mane, she picks up the jar of gummies. "...But why?"
"That's what I'd like to know. Didn't you tell me yesterday that they'd hope to be your best seller?"
There was a long pause in the caravan. All Starburst could hear was the sound of SweeTango applying pressure to the jar.
"...I have to go break down the line." She said, putting the jar down. "Can you help me?"
"Sure. Just tell me what I need to do!"
After exiting the caravan the orange pony asked Starburst to organize the line while she worked her marketing charms to boost even more sales. When inventory was running low, she had Zestar break away to begin making more pastries. Just before noon the rush had depleted. This was the best opportunity to put up a temporary 'Closed' sign so the store could restock.