Chapter 3.2 (Apple Harvesting Day)
Espie awoke early in the morning before the sun rose and got her bag, rushing out for another day of adventure.
Upon reaching the Sweet Apple Acres, she was greeted by Applejack. "Howdy Espie! Ye came at the right time! It's harvest day for our apples, ya wanna join us to pick apples?"she suggested to Espie.
"Awesome! Yes, I'd love to help. Where should we start, Applejack?"
"Over here, past the fence gates. Here's my family's farm, but before I let ya, I will demonstrate how ya do it."
She led her into the apple plantation and they moved towards one of the trees. "This is how I normally harvest apples. Turn back-faced towards the tree and kick with your hind legs but not too hard. That should only make the apples fall down for harvest and not the whole tree." She instructed Espie, demonstrating using her hind hooves to kick the tree, knocking down many apples at once.
"Um... Applejack, I don't think I can kick like you. Furthermore, I don't have hooves and I'm not physically strong. Could I be of assistance to any other steps of the harvest?"
"Sure. You can assist me by sorting out spoilt apples from the good ones after I knock them down and place them in the tubs. It's that okay for ya?" She pointed at one of the tubs with her hooves, showing her to one of the many wooden apple tubs. Espie nodded, committing herself to the task.
Applejack started to kick down apples from adjacent trees while Espie started to select apples that were up to her standards. However, one of the apples mushed into a gooey brown slime when she held it in her paws, freaking her out and making Applejack chuckle. "Heh heh… Ye got a nasty one there. That's spoilt. It reminds me of the time Fluttershy turned into a vampire. It goes somethin' like this…"
She began to narrate the story of 'Flutterbat' to Espie, making her a little frightened. "Yep! She sucked dry all the juice from the most of the apples which made them turn to mush like this. Anyway, we're done harvestin' for today. Time to make some apple cider! Do ya mind helpin' to move the tubs of apples to the Big Macintosh's wagon to get 'em transported to the barn?"
She nodded, accepting the request.
Big Mac was lugging a big wagon towards them. Applejack waved to him and signalled him to go to them.
They started to lift up tubs of apples one at a time onto the wagon while Espie used her magic to lift three at a time.
"Applejack, why do we need to move them to the barn?"
"It's for storage of some apples and for juice pressin'. For today, we would be pressin' most of these apples into cider and sellin' them at the front stall from noon to dusk."
After helping to load all the tubs of apples onto the wagon, the three of them headed towards the barn.
Stopping in the barn, Applejack introduced her to the treadmill press, explaining to her about the traditional pony contraption powered by walking or running continuously on the treadmill, pressing the apples into cider in the process.
"Espie, I will get busy filling these barrels with cider while you start supplying the presser with apples in this hopper. Big Mac, ye ready to run?"
"Hyeeup!"
While he was running on the treadmill, Espie fed the machine with apples, the machine pressing them into cider which flowed out of a metallic tube like a waterfall, filling up each barrel quickly. Applejack was frantically running from side to side to pre-empt barrels to reduce the amount of spillage.
Finishing up on the pressing process for cider, Big Mac was panting and was already drenched in sweat.
"Big Mac, just take a breather before we continue. Espie, help me in loading the barrels onto the wagon. We've got cider to sell today and it's nearly noon. The ponies should be arriving here in an hour or so… "
When Big Mac was ready to proceed, he heaved the full wagon of barrels all the way to a wooden stand where Apple Bloom was already prepared with many glass mugs and a box to collect money from ponies who purchase the cider.
"Hey Apple Bloom! Nice to see you again!"
"Hi Espie, I'm goin' help today by fillin' these mugs with cider to serve to the oncoming ponies. What'cha doin' here today? Weren't ya injured the day before?"
"Oh, I'm just helping Applejack with her tasks today. I recovered yesterday so I'm kinda fine today, so I came to spend time with her."
"Well, you've came at the right time where the apples are ripe for harvest. Anyway, I sorta settin' stuff up some stuff for the stall now… Talk to you later?"
"Okay!"
Apple Bloom continued to organise items neatly and continue preparing the glass mugs to make sure that they are clean.
"Hey, before we start sellin', why doncha try a mug of apple cider? Ye totally deserve to have some for helping us today." Applejack recommended.
Espie received a mug of cider from her, holding it in her paws, hesitant to drink it.
"C'mon! Try it! It'll do ye great! It's our Apples' specialty!"
Espie started to sip before she gradually gulped down the delicious mug of frothing cider. "Mmm! Sweet and appetizing!" Espie exclaimed excitedly.
Noticing a beeline of ponies who wanted cider coming towards them, Apple Bloom started to prepare mugs for them. "Here they come!"
Applejack started to collect money from ponies who bought the ciders from them, while Espie tapped barrels after barrels of cider into mugs, being served swiftly by Apple Bloom to each of the pony customers.
Halfway through the line, Rainbow Dash approached the counter and paid for a mug of cider, receiving it and swilling it down.
"Ooh, cider! I LOVE CIDER! WOW Applejack, your ciders taste great every time!" She declared, feeling delighted after quaffing the moreish cider down.
Not feeling contented enough, she continued to buy two more mugs of cider for her satisfaction.
The crowd of ponies drank until evening returning the mugs and dispersing back to their homes. Applejack, Apple Bloom and Espie packed up the stall, putting everything in Big Mac's wagon before he dragged it into the barn.
"Thank you for lending a helping paw to me, Espie! Ya should get going. Today was exhausting but fun with you. See ye another time!" Applejack thanked her. Both she and Apple Bloom returned back to the Apples' house to rest for the day.
Seeing them return, she too, returned back to Fluttershy's cottage.
"It's all in a day's work..." She said to herself while on her way to the cottage and turning in early for the night.
Pondering in bed who to visit next, she decided to visit Rarity the next day.