The Apple Sleep Experiment

Chapter 1: A Dept Unpaid

A Debt Unpaid
Applejack wiped the sweat from her brow as she and her brother, Big Macintosh, hauled their last cart of apples towards the barn. It had been an unbearably hot afternoon in Sweet Apple Acres and Applejack wished for nothing more than to put her hooves up and enjoy a cold mug of cider.
"Can ya get that last bushel to the other end of the barn, Big Mac?" Applejack asked. On any other day she might not have let on that she needed help; but today was different. She was far too hot and sore to worry about her pride.
"Eeeyup," came his short reply. Big Mac was also drenched with sweat, but somehow maintained his goofish grin and calm demeanor.
"Woo-eee, that's some weather we've been having aint it? Ah sure hope it's a might different when the zap-apples get here. Not sure they could stand this kinda heat." Applejack said, breathing a sigh of relief when she was finally able to release the harness of the apple cart she was carrying.
"Eeeyup." Big Mac replied.
"See you inside." Applejack said, already out the barn door as she bade him farewell.
Applejack's thoughts drifted as she imagined all the possibilities she could enjoy now that the work was done. However, when she rounded the corner towards the house something peculiar caught her eye. It was a familiar-looking carriage with an iconic dollar symbol on the side. Two earth ponies harnessed to the carriage nodded in her direction as an informal greeting and Applejack warily nodded in return. She wondered why Filthy Rich would be visiting on a day like this. There really was no business to attend to with his family until after they had made the zap-apple jam, right?
Applejack trotted up to the front door and saw it was slightly ajar. She peered inside suspiciously and found Filthy Rich talking to Granny. Granny was sitting in the corner looking timid and frail, curled up on her rocker with a tremble in her hooves. It didn't take long for Applejack to realize this was not a pleasant visit.
"You owe a great deal more than that, Granny Smith, and I for one would hate to see you lose this farm." Filthy Rich said; all manner of pleasantry was gone from his tone. Granny Smith looked up at him with wide and pleading eyes, but before she could answer Applejack stepped in to the rescue.
"What in tarnation are ya goin' on about?" Applejack asked sternly, she narrowed her eyes and glared at Filthy Rich, those protective instincts taking over. No pony talks to Granny Smith like that and gets away with it.
"Your Granny Smith here is in quite some debt with me, young filly, and it's high time I'm paid my money." Filthy demanded.
"What are you talkin' about? The Apple family hasn't borrowed money from you in ages!" Applejack protested, stomping towards him with a growl.
"Now hold on there, Applejack, that aint quite true youngin'." Granny admitted softly.
Applejack broke her glare to look at Granny in confusion.
"Whaddya mean, Granny?" Applejack asked, stunned.
"Well... Ah didn't want to worry you none but this season hasn't been too kind on Sweet Apple Acres and we've been needing an extra bit or two just to keep up with demand. It's just a bad weather spell is all, it'll pass." Granny admitted.
"That may be so, but what WON'T pass is my deadline and it's high time you pay me what I'm owed. What with interest and everything I'd say you'd owe about a half of your farm's worth by now." Filthy said with no inclination of mercy in his tone.
"Half of the farm?! Granny why didn't you tell me we were hurtin' for money?!" Applejack asked in horror.
"Now now Applejack, this here is my business, don't you worry none." Granny said. "You're a reasonable pony, Filthy, can't we work something out?"
"I believe I may know just the thing." Filthy said, calming his speech a little and straightening his necktie. "I think I could overlook this little debt of yours if you gave me twice the amount of zap-apple jam this year."
"But you already take half." Applejack pointed out.
"Precisely." Filthy Rich said, smugly.
"Wait a minute, you want our entire supply of zap-apple jam this year?! We need that money along with the sales of cider just to keep this family going in the winter time!" Applejack protested.
"Well, the way I see it, you don't have much of a choice now do ya missy?" Filthy Rich said, his patience growing thin.
"You can't actually be considerin' this, can you Granny?" Applejack asked.
"Well..." Granny stammered.
"I'll be by in two weeks for my product." Filthy Rich said, having already considered this a done deal. "And I'll be countin' them jars too, don't you go thinking you can hold out on ole Filthy Rich. I get every last jar or this farm goes into foreclosure, you hear?"
Applejack was stunned into silence and didn't move out of the doorway when Filthy Rich attempted to leave. He cleared his throat a couple times until she snapped out of her trance and realized she was blocking his exit. With his head held high, Filthy Rich left the farmhouse with a sarcastic 'Good day.' Applejack waited until he had gotten in his carriage and was out of hearing range before she confronted Granny again.
"What are we going to do if we don't get those zap-apple jam earnings this year? We can't pay off a debt if it means we'll be hurtin' for money again in the winter months." Applejack said.
"Your Granny Smith always thinks of something, Applejack. You just worry about harvesting those zap-apples and leave the rest to me, ya hear?" Granny said, offering her an apologetic smile.
Applejack didn't reply. Instead, she looked back outside the open door to see the blistering heat beating down on their apple trees. She figured Filthy Rich's sour mood came from the unforgiving weather. It seemed as if all of Ponyville was trapped in this blistering heat with equally blistering tempers. She also recalled that most of the apples she'd bucked that day had rot in the sun, but she didn't have the heart to tell Granny about it now. If this weather didn't let up soon she feared their troubles were only going to get worse.