The surgery on V’s wounds went fairly well, and he was out of sedation after only half a day. He was in fact only struck twice by the bullets, one entering just inside his left armpit and exiting cleanly through his back, just missing his shoulder blade. The only real surgery he had to have was to remove the bullet that had impacted his left collarbone and lodged underneath it. Luckily the bullet hadn’t struck it solidly enough to shatter it, but the fracture it left behind would take several months to fully heal even with physical therapy
Laying there three days after the surgery, eating that otherwise horrid hospital food that somehow always tastes like top shelf cooking when one has an IV in their arm, he was met by one of the small town’s police investigators who introduced himself as Greg Faust (V chuckled inwardly at the irony of his last name, given the situation). By the time the investigator paid him his visit, his department had already apprehended the young man that had been squatting in the old house for some time.
“We just needed a suitable reason to warrant the manpower to go after him,” Faust explained with a rather sheepish scratch of the back of his head.
“And it took someone being shot to necessitate that sort of action,” V said rather bitterly.
“I should feel so lucky to have that honor-ow!” he winced as he rolled over to avoid looking directly at the officer in case his face betrayed even a minor amount of disgust. He studied the stucco patterns on the recovery room wall as he calmed himself.
“Please don’t misunderstand us, sir,” the officer said after a moment of awkward silence.
“The department budget is tight nowadays and…I know it may seem like a really crappy excuse but”-
“That’s because it is,” V cut him off with a sigh.
“I know what it’s like to work under a tight budget, officer…but sometimes you’ve gotta get your priorities in order to make better use of that budget," V paused and sighed before continuing.
"Is there a court date set? Does he even have an attorney?”
“No and yes. No court date set, but he does have an attorney already assigned to him by the state; he's got no support to afford one himself," Faust explained with a frown.
“Officer, how old is he,” V asked with a tinge of concern in his voice. He didn’t wanna ruin this kid’s life on his first day back in town, despite what had just happened to himself.
“He just turned 17 a few months ago.”
“So he’s not even an adult yet?” V inquired of the wall.
“No, but in this state, armed assailants are treated as such by age 16,” Faust replied, a bit of disappointment in his voice as well; whether at the harshness of the law or just the overall situation, V couldn’t ascertain.
“Tell you what, Mr. Faust,” V rolled back over and nodded towards his own wounds with some effort.
“I’m in no real condition to go to court right now, nor do I have any intention of ruining this young man’s future by sending him to prison so early. So…” he leaned up and hitched in a breath before forcing a half-smile.
“Please tell his attorney that I intend to press no charges against him. I was young and dumb once too, though not to this extent.”
“But he was also in the process of the creation of a controlled substance, and the state can’t overlook that,” Faust objected slightly to which V nodded.
“True, true. Just…tell them if they absolutely have to press charges in that regard that I request they not throw the book at him. Beyond that, I don’t think I have any further bearing on this decision.”
V leaned up and pressed the CALL button above his bed.
“Nurse! How long till I can leave here?”
“But sir, you’re still recovering from surgery.”
“Begging your pardon ma’am; not that I don’t enjoy the intimacy of these little paper gowns and the isolation of this room, but I feel like stretching my legs and getting back to the reason why I traveled over 500 miles down here in the first place.”
“I see sir…I’ll notify the staff and get your release papers ready.”
“Thank you ma’am,” V released the call button and fell back to the bed with a slight groan before sitting back up and slinging his feet over the edge of the bed and onto the cold floor to the surprise of Officer Faust.
“But…you said you were in no condition to go to court!”
“That’s right; I’m not really feeling up to sitting indoors for a few more days, officer,” V stated as he made his way to the bathroom, dragging the rolling IV cart along with him.
“But don’t you want to at least meet the man who attacked you”- Faust started again before V turned and cut him off with a rather severe look.
“No, I think once is plenty, Mr. Faust.”
“Not even his name?” the officer pressed, even more weakly this time. This just seemed so far out of protocol for him.
“…would it really make any difference if I knew one more thing about him to add to my future nightmares, officer Faust?”
“What if he does it again when he gets out?” Faust offered, to which V sighed.
“Hopefully he accepts this second chance as the gift that it is, learns from it, and never does anything of the sort again. But if he does…well, I suppose you can always say ‘I told you so,’ right?”
When officer Faust replied with a look that was halfway between a nod and a shake of his head, V gave him a terse smile and turned back to the bathroom.
“So that settles it. Thanks for your help and attention to detail, officer; but unless you want to hear me whizzing out all the IV fluids these folks have pumped me full of, I suggest you take my decision to the young man’s attorney.”
By the time V flushed the toilet, officer Faust was halfway to the hospital lobby in the elevator. He’d never relished the opportunity to say “I told you so” in situations like this and with a bit of luck he wouldn’t get a chance to.
V pulled on his boxer shorts and grimaced as he tossed the paper gown in the trash when he saw himself in the mirror. The dual bullet wounds burned an angry purple on his upper left chest, painfully standing out on his overly white skin; too long sheltered by fluorescent lights and air conditioned rooms. V gritted his teeth as he tried to shrug his shoulders before giving up for the time being; it was WAY too early for that.
“Heh, well, this is certainly going to slow things down a bit,” V said to himself as he thoughtfully ran a finger over the exit wound in his back.
“But at least I’m alive; that’s certainly a positive.”
He then thought back to the teenager that had shot him without warning in his own garage. It wasn’t the surprise of it all or the impact of the bullets or even the excruciating pain that V remembered the most. No, it was the look of fear on the teenaged man’s face; as if he could see all the young man’s hopes and dreams flash through his mind before being flushed down the crapper in a hail of gunfire.
No…no, V wouldn’t be responsible for ruining that man’s future. He’d seen it happen too many times in the city and had thought nothing about it for years. But he liked to think he was a different person than what he had been…he wasn’t about to join that club, even as a victim.
Even in a situation like this, one lesson rang truer and louder than anything else in his gut, or in his heart.
He almost laughed at himself at the source of it, but it was the honest truth: if there was something else MLP:FiM had taught him…it was Love and Tolerance.
Small note: things will get moving fairly well next chapter, promise ^^
“Thanks for the hospitality, nurse,” V chuckled at his pun as he limped out the circular doors at the front of the hospital lobby, dragging his wheeled suitcase behind him with his good arm, the left one in a sling. Walking out of the cool hospital and into the sweltering Texas spring was like running into a hot brick wall. But he pushed forward and out towards the parking lot where he was surprised to see Officer Faust waiting there in his squad car.
“Ugh, I thought I said to get going to that kid’s attorney, officer!”
“He’s out of the office today,” the officer smiled as he opened the passenger door of the car and motioned for V to hop on in.
“Is this some sorta weird police joke?” V laughed sarcastically as Officer Faust shook his head.
“No, actually it seems in our haste to get you to the hospital and catch the perp, we neglected to bring your car up here; mainly because you had the keys in your pocket the whole time. So, I’ll be your ride back to your home, Mr. V.” Officer Faust gave him an authentic smile as V conceded and got in the car before they drove off.
“Heh, well I do have one favor to ask of you, officer,” V glanced back at the hospital momentarily.
“Hrm?” Faust enquired as they turned onto the main thoroughfare and headed towards V’s residence.
“Don’t call me Mr. V. It’s not my last name and it just makes me feel old.”
“Boy, I know the feeling!” the middle-aged officer chuckled.
“Every time I hear Mr. Faust, I think ‘man, where’d the time fly to, eh?’”
Faust quieted down after noticing that V was deep in thought; totally reasonable given what he’d been through in the past 72 hours.
“Listen, V,” he said after a few minutes’ worth of quiet driving.
“I don’t want you to get the wrong idea or anything, but, well…how long have you been upstate?”
“Twelve years,” V replied.
“Jeez, twelve years?! Well, it may come as a surprise to you V, but this place has kinda taken a turn for the worst over the past decade or so.” The officer eyed the pieces of loose trash caught in the fencing lining the road as well as the shoddy looking houses that had sprung up where older, nicer houses had fallen in or been bulldozed.
“Lord willing, I and others like me won’t let it completely go to the dogs, but I just thought you’d wanna know that it’s not likely as great as you remember from way back when.”
“Officer, compared to what’s up there in the Dallas area,” V turned to look him with a grimace at the movement in his injured shoulder as well as the memories of the inner city.
“This is practically paradise.”
“Well, thank God I’m a country boy, then,” Faust shuddered perhaps a bit dramatically as he shook the thoughts of something worse than this town away.
“They got drug-runners up there too?”
“Worse; from what I could gather, a lot of the drug gangs are so tough the local law won’t even tangle with them. So if the worst you’ve got down here is some kids cooking up meth in a garage or two, I think you’ve got it made,” V gave a sickly smile.
“I may not be able to get completely away from life’s vices; that’s impossible…but I think the chances of suffering from them less are a bit better here than back up there.”
“For your sake, I hope so,” Faust nodded gruffly as they pulled up in front of V’s home.
“Well, at least your car is still there,” he observed as V popped the squad vehicle door open. As he grabbed his bag to leave, Faust spoke up again.
“Hey V…I know we met under some pretty bad circumstances, but I just wanted to let you know that I admire your resolve in this matter.”
“Thanks,” V replied, honestly not expecting the officer to say something like that. He looked up at the inviting shade of the front porch of the ranch-style home and then back at Faust, really just wanting to get away from the heat of the day for a bit.
“Anyways,” the officer broke the silence.
“I was just gonna say that if you needed anything, don’t hesitate to drop me a line. ‘To Protect and To Serve’ and all that, right?” Faust fondly patted the side of the police car.
“Again, thanks officer. Really,” V gave him a quick smile and a nod and then walked up the driveway, giving his car a cursory glance before heading into the shade of the front porch. He looked back to see Faust was still idling there in the street and wearing a look of concern.
“Um, Officer, I think you can go now; I’m pretty sure I can manage unlocking the front door without getting shot again if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“Oh, right, right! Just…not used to having decent folks like you around and I’m just looking out for you, V!” He put the car in gear and looked back once more.
“Good luck!” he called with a blip of the horn.
As the squad car drove around the corner and out of the neighborhood, V gave a short sigh of relief. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate the company and protection, but he figured anyone would get just a touch nervous if they basically had a cop shadowing them everywhere. He then turned his attention to the front door.
“Well, guess it’s the moment of truth,” he said aloud as he unlocked the door and slowly pushed it open with a creak.
“….you’ve gotta be frickin’ kidding me…”
The place was an absolute disaster! True, the house had only been up for sale for less than two years, but that was apparently plenty of time to totally trash the place. Hell, it might have been neglected the whole twelve years he’d been away, by the looks of it! Everywhere V turned, that pit in his stomach grew just a bit larger. It wasn’t a feeling of regret, but more of anger at how his childhood home had come to be so…wrecked wasn’t even quite the word; ravaged was more appropriate!
The living room carpet had peeled back, revealing the decades-old floor pad. What little carpet that was still attached to the floor looked to be completely threadbare and filthy, as if someone had simply given up on that room and used what they could as a floormat to clean their feet with. The rest of the old carpet was hacked up into large squares and stacked in the corners of the room or rolled up and piled against the wall. The smell of mold was everywhere! If V hadn’t already smelled worse in both the city and in the ranch pasture of his youth, he might have lost his hospital food lunch right there.
“Jeez…” he groaned, contemplating leaving his suitcase on the cleaner front porch before deciding against it and setting it down on a stack of carpet pieces with a squish. It wasn’t until he saw the small swarm of silverfish come running out of the carpet that he yanked his bag up off the floor and sat it on a sagging end table.
“Good gawd, what the hell happened here, man?!”
He briefly considered calling Officer Faust back to help him before realizing that he probably had more pressing matters than assisting in pest control. Nope, he was on his own in this hellish little endeavor.
He made his way into the dining room to find it significantly less disgusting, if only because the floors were made of tile instead of rotting carpet. But that of course was balanced by the fist-sized hole in the hardwood wall paneling just above the ancient dining room table. V had a feeling that the words ‘what’, ‘how’, and ‘hell’ were going to be overused today…
V made his way down the hall adjoining the dining room and quickly inspected the master bedroom. It actually wasn’t all that bad, although the front window was boarded up and there was thick dust EVERYWHERE, even on the bed sheets! It was obvious the room hadn’t been used in a long time. He about-faced and peeked in the bathroom, half-expecting a disaster area, but instead finding the small room stocked with clean toilet paper and with a relatively clean floor and walls.
“Hrm, maybe this isn’t gonna as bad as I thought…”
He made his way down to the bedroom branching off the middle of the hallway to find it completely empty except for the carpet which bore the same thread-bare look as the living room, albeit there wasn’t any floor pad showing through yet.
V was about to continue on to his old room at the back of the house when he passed the second hallway door that led back out to the den. Across the room stood the sliding glass door that led out to the backyard and the ranchland that filled most of it. Curiosity about how the yard had held up got the better of him as he exited the hall and stood before the door.
“I think I’ll save my room for last…”
The heavy window curtains were drawn over the rest of the glass wall that faced the yard, and as he unlocked and slid the door aside, he nearly fell over at the sight.
“Well shit…at least this place was cheap…”
The 14 acres of ranchland his property sat on looked like a jungle of long brown prairie grass and thorn bushes; an innumerable number of shallow holes had been slashed into the ground like a pack of wild hogs had come rooting through the place. The fence had fallen down in several places or leaned to and fro as the wind brushed against it. His heart sank as he beheld all the tree stumps of the huge oak trees that had used to fill the yard near the house with shade. V stepped out onto the back patio and picked up a dirt clod from the edge of the yard; without those trees’ shade, the thick carpet grass had long since died and the ground was dried and parched. The clod crumbled to dust in his hand and blew away in the hot wind.
“Just…why?” V said aloud as made his way to the back of the house. Even the concrete basketball court had been defaced, with pieces of the slab broken off and tossed willy-nilly around the yard, as if some coked-up nut with a jackhammer had just gotten insanely bored. The basketball goal itself looked to have been hacksawed off about a foot above the ground, leaving a rusting stump of a post to match those of the dead trees everywhere.
“I guess someone needed a 9 foot basketball hoop,” V mused in disgust as he kicked a small piece of concrete out into the brush. Within seconds he was greeted with the familiar rasp of a rattlesnake’s warning sounding from the flotsam of the yard.
“Oh, well that’s just really great,” V shook his head despairingly before a large structure halfway out in the yard drew his eye. He couldn’t believe it as he jogged along the worn dirt path that cut through the grass towards the faded red building.
“Well all things considered, I really can’t believe this thing is still standing!” V beamingly declared as he beheld the two-storied barn before him. His grandpa had built the thing decades before V was even born to store supplies for their small ranch, but it had obviously fallen out of use since then. Even so, it still looked to be in fairly good shape. But it wasn’t the defying soundness of the structure that surprised him the most as he neared the large front double doors.
“You know we can’t jus’ give up without a fight for our farm!” a female voice with a heavy country accent hissed from inside the barn.
“It’s our well-bein’ and if’n them brothers take it, what’ll we do then?!”
What in the world…
V leaned his head closer to the door, wary of more possible squatters on the property.
Shoulda asked Faust for a bullet proof vest or something.
“Ah know, Ah know, but they’ve run off everyone else with their machines; even if we work our flanks off, we can’t keep up with them!” a male voice replied with a worried tone that belied the deepness of it.
“Ah say we go out an’ bust their stuff up at night; that’ll show’em!” a third voice much higher then the other two practically squeaked in a southern accent that would have been adorable to V if he wasn’t concerned about who exactly the voices belonged to…and why did they sound so familiar?!
“No we can’t stoop to their level of back-stabbin’ dishonesty, sugarcube,” the first voice replied.
Sugarcube…no way…!
“Ya know that ain’t how the Apple family does things!”
“Aww AJ, ya sure we can’t just at least put holes in their tires an”-
AJ?!
V recoiled slightly from the door in shock before leaning back in, eyes as wide as half-dollars.
“Ah said NO and Ah mean NO, Applebloom!” the first voice said with a stomp on the ground that disturbed the dirt around V’s feet even outside the barn.
“Ugh this is just a real pain in the flank. Makes me wonder what Granny Smith’d do if she was still here…”
The first voiced wavered a bit at the end of the statement.
“Aww don’t you worry AJ; we’ll get it figured out an”-
The deep voice suddenly halted and was replaced by a snuffling noise and a few quiet whispers that V couldn’t make out. He was still in disbelief at who the voices sounded like, but he couldn’t bring himself to fully believe it as he reached for the right side door handle with his good arm.
V the heat’s getting to your head! There’s no way or reason for them to be here!
Thoughts like that were just insane…right?
V found his voice as he grabbed the handle and prepared to yank the door open.
“Alright! I dunno who’s in there, but this is my barn, and you’re trespassing in it! I’ll give you one chance to leave before I call the cops!”
For a split second V wished he’d brought some sort of weapon with him, but that thought was whisked away as he pulled the door open, a splash of sunlight cutting into the dark and dusty structure.
“Hello? Who’s in here?” V tried to sound tough, but his voice wavered audibly as he realized just how dumb a decision he’d made walking from a bright exterior into a dark building-he was effectively blind.
“What in tarnation is that!?” the female voice cried out as something pounded the ground towards him.
“Get back, AJ! YAAAAAAAAH!!”
V held his good arm out before him in a lame defense as a large dark red shape hit him full speed and sent him flying backwards and crashing up against the closed door. He looked up to see teeth and an angry-looking muzzle snorting in his face.
“What are ya doin’ in our barn, huh?!”
“Y-your barn?” V coughed, trying to focus, but it was no use.
“This isn’t your barn…ugh”-
V slid to the ground and slowly blacked out as a blurry orange shape appeared out of the shadows and began berating the red shape; her voice was a distant muffled yell, but he recognized who it was…he still couldn’t believe it.
…Applejack …
Small note: The house described here is as close to my own actual childhood home as I could remember as well as the recent photos I saw from it...it's seriously in that bad a shape now! But now we need an explanation as to what the hay AJ and her family are doing in V's barn, methinks! Again, feedback is appreciated! ^^
“Ahhh, boy howdy, that was some crazy dream,” Applejack yawned as she stretched in her bed. Rolling her shoulders, she popped the tightness from her joints before hopping out of bed and trotting out the door of her room. It was just past dawn and there was work to be done. Big Macintosh was already downstairs in the kitchen and had breakfast on the way; wheat flapjacks by the smell of it!
“Well, someone’s up bright an’ early!” Applejack exclaimed as she yawned loudly.
“Eeeyup!” The large red pony grinned, flipping the flat cakes onto a plate before setting them at the kitchen table.
“So Ah heard ya say somethin’ about a dream of yours,” he inquired in his distinctive deep drawl.
“Oh yeah, it was weird as all get out!” Applejack began as she crammed half a flapjack in her mouth. Big Mac waited for a few moments as she chewed and finally swallowed it with a sheepish look.
“Heh, took more’n mah fair share that time!”
“Ya mean about every time?” Big Mac gave her a knowing look.
“Oh, ta heck with you-URP!” the orange pony burped loudly before blushing.
“’Scuse me!”
“You were sayin’?” Big Mac twirled his hoof beckoningly.
“Oh, right! Ah dreamed them ol’ Flim Flam brothers kept buggin’ us about wantin’ to buy up Sweet Apple Acres over and over until we gave in an’ sold tha place to’em,” Applejack gently hit the table top with her hoof.
“But that ain’t gonna happen on mah watch! Why, if Granny Smith were still around, what’d she think if we gave inta somethin’ like that? Anyways…crazy-sounding dream, eh?”
TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP!!
Applejack and Big Mac looked up at the nearly frantic knocking on the front door of the house only to see two unfortunately familiar silhouettes outlined in the window.
“Maybe not so crazy as you think, AJ,” Big Mac snorted and pushed his plate away. He couldn’t finish his breakfast at a time like this, but he did accompany his sister to the door. She yanked the door open with an exasperated sigh.
“Ugh, you two again?!” Sure enough, Flim and Flam stood there on the front porch bouncing slightly on their hooves as if gearing themselves up to sing. But Applejack raised a hoof in warning.
“Ah swear if ya sing another dern song, Ah’ll make ya eat your own hats!”
“Oh, no, no, no dear Applejack,” said Flim, the one with a moustache.
“We’re merely here to proposition you!”
“Uhhh…Ah’m not looking ta do any of that this time o’ mornin’, and definitely not with you two,” Applejack made a disgusted face as Big Mac facehoofed.
“I think that moustache is pulling blood from my brother’s brain,” Flam broke in with an overly large smile.
“What he meant to say was a business proposition! I say, a deal of sorts!”
“This number again?” the orange earth pony sighed.
“Ya know, for near on tha past month, ya’ll’ve been practically loiterin’ round here and pesterin’ me about wanting to buy this farm. It’s gotten to the point where Ah’m getting’ dreams about you two; an’ it ain’t the purdy kind!”
“Oh, you sure there’s not a few good ones in there?” Flim waggled his eyebrows but was met by an expression on Applejack’s face that would rival a Cockatrice in petrifaction potential. Flim was bumped to the side by a still widely grinning Flam.
“We’ve merely been asking you so much because the primary deed-holder of the property died last month, and”- Flam was halted by Applejack’s snorting muzzle thrust right into his own.
“If Ah EVER catch ya talkin’ so lightly about mah Granny Smith like that, you’re gonna experience the extreme opposite o’ country hospitality!” The earth pony normally had a long fuse, but ever since their Granny had passed on, she had been particularly edgy. And these brothers constantly on her case weren’t helping the situation!
“Come on AJ, don’t stoop lower’n ya hafta,” Big Mac nudged her into the house before standing in front of the brothers, easily dwarfing the two unicorns as he filled a sizeable piece of the doorway.
“Now look here you two. We know why ya’ll keep botherin’ us, and it’s cuz ya wanna control all tha apple business round these parts with your “new an’ improved” machines, right?” Big Mac “air quoted” with his hooves, something fairly difficult for a pony his size to do without sitting down first.
“Precisely!” the brothers answered in unison before Flam stepped forward.
“So, now that we have an understanding, and since our new machines can easily out-strip your own efforts as well as the fact that the one loud voice against our progress is now silent,” Flam sweated a bit as Applejack peeped her head over Big Mac’s shoulders and gave the unicorn the evil eye.
“Er, resting peacefully is what I meant to say…do we take it you’re ready to sign?”
With a green flash, Flam produced a Deed of Sale title transfer and quill and hovered them in front of Big Mac.
“Don’t you dare, Macintosh!” Applejack hissed; he knew his sister only used his name like that when she was really riled and he wasn’t about to risk his own safety even by hesitating.
“Heh, well, uh…seems cookin’ breakfast has cramped up mah writin’ hoof,” Big Mac waved it for emphasis.
“Speakin’ of which, them flapjacks are callin’ mah name.”
“Oh, do you suppose we could have some?” Flim asked with a grin, his brother nodding enthusiastically.
“Perhaps we can better discuss this deal over those wonderful-smelling cakes of yours!”
“…Nnnope!”
Big Mac slammed the door shut, nearly impaling both Flim and Flam’s horns in the wood before about-facing and trotting back to his food with a smug grin in his sister’s direction.
“What, ya didn’t think Ah’d skip breakfast ta sign over tha farm, AJ?”
Applejack swatted him with her hat and laughed.
“For a minute there, Ah didn’t know what ta think, but ya sure showed’em what fer!”
She looked up at a creak on the staircase to see Applebloom wandering down to the kitchen, rubbing her eyes sleepily with her hoof.
“What in tarnation was that yellin’ and slammin’ about?” Applebloom said with a yawn as Applejack gave her a stern look from under the brim of her hat.
“What? You say that all tha time, AJ!”
“That’s cuz Ah’m not a lil’ filly anymore, unlike yerself,” she poked Applebloom on the nose.
“So until ya get ta be mah age, Ah don’t wanna hear any cursin’ from ya, understand?”
“But…” Applebloom thought for a moment.
“Ya’ll always be older’n me!” she declared, to which AJ cracked a grin.
“Well then you’ll always have ta control that language while Ah’m around,” she patted her younger sister on the head in a loving way before nudging her to the table.
“Now let’s get that foul mouth o’ yours to work on somethin’ productive; breakfast!”
“Oooh, what is it?” the smaller pony practically hopped to the table.
“Flapjacks!” she beamed and dug in.
Big Mac nodded approvingly as they all munched on their food in relative silence for a moment, just enjoying the peace of the morning.
“Sooo…” Applebloom spoke up again.
“What was all that fuss about?”
Applejack looked up at her sister then to her brother who nodded after a moment of thought.
“Well, yer part o’ this family an Ah suppose ya shouldn’t be outta tha loop anymore, sugarcube.” Applebloom looked up intently, breakfast forgotten at Applejack’s serious change in tone.
“Ever since Granny passed on, them FlimFlam Brothers have been after us for the title of tha farm so they can control all the business around Ponyville.”
“But that ain’t fair!” Applebloom squeaked; even at a young age, she somehow knew that a monopoly like that was just wrong.
“What about them shops in town?”
Applejack sighed heavily and took her hat off. She never did that unless things were really bad…
“Sugarcube…haven’t ya wondered why ya haven’t seen Twilight or Rarity lately?”
“Hmm, come ta think of it…Ah haven’t seen ‘em in weeks! Ya don’t think them brothers had somethin’ ta do with it, do ya?!” she gasped in fright.
“Heh, nothin’ so bad as that. They ain’t ethical, but they ain’t killers neither. Naw, them brothers used their money and bought up or started businesses that competed with Twi and Rarity and then undercut ‘em on prices.”
At Applebloom’s confused look, Big Mac spoke up.
“The brothers put their prices so low Twilight and Rarity couldn’t compete and had to close up shop.”
“B-but…where’d they go?!” Applebloom looked to be on the verge of tears.
“They’re ok, sugarcube. They both moved back to Canterlot an’ are doin’ pretty well there. Ah miss’em somethin’ fierce though,” Applejack sniffled a bit before wiping her face with her hoof.
“What about Pinkie Pie?” Applebloom spoke up after a moment.
“Ah still see her around town! She looks as happy as ever!”
“Heh, that’s just Pinkie bein’ Pinkie. Plus, Ah don’t think them brothers can run her out just yet cuz we supply a lot of Pinkie’s raw goods for her cakes; that’s another reason we can’t let’em buy us out. An’ Ah ain’t gonna see mah friend run outta town by them two if it’s tha last thing Ah do!”
She pounded the table again, much harder this time.
“…What about Dash and Fluttershy?” the youngest pony said after some thought.
“How could them brothers ruin their business?”
Applejack laughed loudly at that for a bit.
“Heh, them brothers can huff an puff an jig their way through lotsa business deals, but Ah doubt even they could control tha weather round here,” Applejack chuckled at the absurdity of the thought.
“Although Ah bet if they could, they would…as fer Fluttershy…well…Ah don’t think she’s really ever been in tha business o’ anythin’ else besides takin’ care o’ her critters. Tha only way fer them FlimFlam Brothers to run her off would be ta burn tha Everfree Forest down er somethin’…which Ah seriously doubt they got tha guts ta do! Besides, ya know what happens with Fluttershy when her animals get hurt.” Applejack gave her sister a one-eyed squint.
“F-Flutterrage,” Applebloom shuddered.
“An Tha Stare!” She popped her eyes open wide and made an “ooooooh” sound with her mouth before giggling.
“Heck, Ah’m one o’ her best friends an’ Ah wouldn’t wanna be on tha wrong side o’ that!” Applejack laughed again before returning to the matter at hand.
“So…now ya know what’s goin on, Applebloom an’ why we can’t sell this farm ta them brothers no matter what they throw at us!”
TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP!
“…ya gotta be kiddin’ me…” AJ jerked up and looked at the door wide-eyed.
“Even another crazy song an’ dance?” Big Mac drawled with a glare at the door.
“Ah don’t think they ever left.”
“How very perceptive of you!” One of the brothers’ called out through the mail slot.
“This is getting’ ridiculous!” Applejack hissed to Big Mac who nodded in reply.
“They’re listenin’ in on us everywhere!”
“Ah know where they probably won’t think ta listen to ya’ll at!” Applebloom whispered.
“Tha old hay barn out back! They’d have ta jump tha back fence to get there an spy on us!”
“Applebloom, yor a lil genius,” Applejack patted her on the back.
“Ah gotta be sure ta give mah regards ta Ms Cherilee for makin’ ya so smart.”
“Hey, Ah was smart like that waaaay before Ah got in her class,” Applebloom smiled smugly and headed towards the back door.
“Welp, Ah’m gonna head back upstairs an’ make tha beds up!” Big Mac practically shouted, making his sisters wince.
“Play along an’ we’ll throw’em off,” he whispered with a wink.
“Aha, gotcha. Yep, Ah think Ah’ll just go an’ sleep these here delicious flapjacks off,” Applejack trotted towards the backdoor before adding:
“Hoo-wee, Ah ate’em all!”
She chuckled at the cry of despair from the front porch.
“Yep, as fer me, Ah’m gonna go dust tha ceiling in mah room er somethin’ else borin’ like that!” Applebloom hollered as Big Mac and Applejack face-hoofed.
“Remind me ta teach ya tha art o’ subtlety one o’ these days, sugarcube,” Applejack winced as they headed out the backdoor and quickly made for the faded red barn. With a quick peek around to make sure Flim and Flam hadn’t followed them, Applejack shut the door behind them, closing them up in the building. It was dark and dusty but at least it was private.
“Ok, so now what?” Applebloom asked of her brother and sister as she collapsed into a pile of hay with a giggle.
“Hey, we eat that, Applebloom!” her older sister scolded her before pulling her out of the pile and plunking her down by a support beam.
“Let’s get serious here. Big Mac, what are we gonna do if’n they keep harassin’ us like this?”
“Well, Ah can think of a few things, but they’ll probably end in me goin’ to the pokey for a while,” Big Mac said with a sly grin.
“I say dear brother of mine,” Flam said as he peeked through the mail slot.
“I don’t see those country bumpkins anywhere at all!”
“They said something about going upstairs to make beds and dust their ceilings,” Flim replied, trying to peep through the window blinds.
“I heard that, but do you hear any sounds of bed-making or ceiling dusting in there?” Flam asked, looking back up at his brother.
“What exactly does ceiling dusting sound like, Flim?”
“I don’t have any idea, but I’m almost certain it makes more noise than what I’m hearing in there!”
Flam leaned in and opened the mail slot, his ear pricked for a few moments before nodding.
“Yes yes, I see, or rather, I don’t hear; haha! So, where do you suppose they went?”
“Backyard, I’ll warrant,” Flim sniffed and headed around the side of the house to the fence gate.
“That’s trespassing, though!” Flam observed as his brother unlatched the gate with a green flash of his horn.
“And highly unethical!”
“Not like that’s ever stopped us before,” Flim grinned.
“Heh-heh, true, true, true!” Flam returned the smile with a curt nod and bowed to his brother.
“After you,” He nodded at the gateway.
“Oh no, no, no; beauty before age!” Flim returned the bow.
“Ha! Age before beauty! Your name is first in the company, so you go first!”
“That’s only because it sounds better than Flam-Flim; you know that!”
“Oh, I suppose,” Flam tapped his chin with his hoof for a moment before conceding and walking through the gate, Flim following right behind him and closing the gate to avoid arousing suspicion.
“So, where do you suppose they went?” Flim inquired, looking about the yard and noting the array of farming plows, rolls of fencing, and small out-buildings scattered about as well as the acres of apple trees stretching into the distance. He whistled softly through his moustache as his mind processed the apples into bits upon bits hanging from the trees.
“There’s quite a lot of places to secretly meet out here.”
“Why, just follow that pancake-loving nose of yours, dear Flim,” Flam laughed, nudging his brother with an elbow.
“I’m sure it’ll lead straight to them!”
“What am I; some sort of bloodhound?”
“More like a pancake-pooch, haha!”
“Oh alright,” Flim sniffed the air and caught a whiff of Big Mac’s cooking. He followed his nose right to the old hay barn within a few moments. Listening carefully, he could hear the voices of the Apple family in heated debate about what to do about the two brothers.
“Well, by the sound of things, they don’t seem to be willing to accept our generous offer, Flam.”
“Well then,” Flam thought for a moment before his eyes practically lit up.
“I suppose we could further persuade them.”
“Oh, how’s that?”
“Offer them a vacation they can’t refuse,” Flam grinned evilly.
“Ah yes…a very long vacation,” Flim snickered.
“And while the Apple Family is away”-
“The Flim Flam Brothers will play!”
Flam’s horn glowed green.
“You remember the spell, brother?”
“Heh, we only just learned it a few weeks ago; why wouldn’t I?” Flim replied, his own horn lighting up.
“Good bye competition!”
“Ready Flim?”
“Ready Flam!”
Their horns’ glows blossomed into a bright green flash that they fired at the barn in unison.
“Bing Bang Zam!”
“No Big Mac, they ain’t stooped ta anythin’ illegal yet, so neither should we,” Applejack replied, tapping her hoof on her forehead, her eyes shut tight in concentration as were Big Mac’s.
“That thought shouldn’t even be enterin’ our heads, an”-
“Hey AJ,” Applebloom tugged on her sister’s leg.
“Why’d the sun get brighter all of a sudden?”
“Oh heck, Dash is probably foolin’ with the clouds overhead again,” Applejack patted her on the head.
“No! It got bright and GREEN!” Applebloom said more urgently, looking up at the barn loft windows.
“Green eh,” she looked up as well. Sure enough, the light outside did have a slight green tinge to it.
“Big Mac…what exactly was in them flapjacks?”
“Huh?” Big Mac opened an eye.
“Nothin’ Ah don’t usually put in ‘em, why?”
“You notice anythin’…funny about tha light outside?” She squinted suspiciously at her brother who had more than once “accidentally” added a secret ingredient to his cooking to “take the edge off” as he put it.
The red pony looked up at the windows; all he saw was blue sky.
“Nnnope!”
“What?” she snapped her vision back up; the light was back to normal!
“What in tha hay…” She shrugged and looked back down at Applebloom.
“Ah swear Ah saw green light outside, AJ! Honest!”
“Yeah that’s tha weird thing…Ah thought Ah did too…ugh, it’s probably just the stress of this whole situation playin’ tricks with our heads er somethin,” she shook her head and turned back to Big Mac.
“Anyways, back to tha problem!”
“Two problems,” Mac corrected with a grim nod.
“All Ah know is at this rate, they’ll undercut us on price and production, and then we’ll have no choice but to”-
“No, Macintosh!” Applejack’s ears lowered and she pawed the earth angrily.
“You know we can’t jus’ give up without a fight for our farm! It’s our well-bein’ and if’n them brothers take it, what’ll we do then?!”
“Ah know, Ah know, but they’ve run off everyone else with their machines; even if we work our flanks off, we can’t keep up with them!” the large red pony’s head dipped a bit.
Applebloom raised her hoof in the air as if she were in Ms Cherilee’s classroom. Applejack chuckled at the sight before nodding in her direction.
“Ah say we go out an’ bust their stuff up at night; that’ll show’em!”
“No we can’t stoop to their level of back-stabbin’ dishonesty, sugarcube. Ya know that ain’t how the Apple family does things!”
“Aww AJ, ya sure we can’t just at least put holes in their tires an”- but Applejack cut her sister off with a glare.
“Ah said NO and Ah mean NO, Applebloom!” She stomped the ground in emphasis but sighed inwardly; as much as she wanted to remain honest and forthright about all this, it was getting more and more apparent that they might have to do something drastic to send a real message to Flim and Flam that they weren’t about to be harassed any further. But if it had to come to that, she wasn’t about to let her sister take the fall for it!
“Ugh this is just a real pain in the flank. Makes me wonder what Granny Smith’d do if she was still here…” she felt the tears well up before she could stop them, and the barn interior blurred in her vision as she hitched a short breath.
Big Macintosh nuzzled his sister comfortingly as Applebloom hugged her leg.
“Aww don’t you worry AJ; we’ll get it figured out an”-
He stopped talking as his ear pricked forward and he sniffed the air. He then saw the shadow move across one of the cracks in the barn wall towards the front double doors.
“AJ…someone’s out there.”
“Them brothers, ya think?” she hissed back, moving away from the door and pulling Applebloom protectively with her.
“Ah don’t think so,” the large red pony sniffed the air again.
“Don’t smell like’em and that shadow is the wrong shape…but whatever it is…it’s got us cornered in here.” He looked back at AJ, who nudged Applebloom away and hid her behind some crates before peeking back around the corner. She was a brave pony, but the brim of her hat that protruded around the crate trembled visibly all the same.
Her brother bravely pawed the ground and snorted, ready for just about anything that might come through that door. But what he heard next took even Big Mac by surprise.
“Alright!” a voice shouted from outside the building. It had a slight country twang to but not nearly as heavy as the ponies’ accents.
“I dunno who’s in there, but this is my barn, and you’re trespassing in it! I’ll give you one chance to leave before I call the cops!”
Big Mac looked back at Applejack who merely shrugged. She had no idea who it was but it certainly wasn’t the Flim Flam Brothers.
The barn door creaked open, splashing light across the floor just in front of Big Mac. What he saw stepping into the barn shocked him for a moment. It walked on two legs and stood upright, pulling the door with a single arm on its right, the left arm tucked in close to its body.
“Hello? Who’s in here?” the creature called out, taking a tentative step inside. By its actions, Big Mac could tell its eyes hadn’t adjusted to the dark building yet. He might never get a better chance…
“What in tarnation is that?!” Applejack suddenly cried as she got a glimpse of the strange tall creature. That cry snapped Big Mac into action. Mac was a normally peaceful stallion, but when it came to protecting his family, he became a no-nonsense sort of pony. He charged at the blinded intruder!
“Get back AJ!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!” Big Mac saw the creature raise its right arm in defense, but he merely ducked his head under the arm and hit him squarely in the chest with his heavy forehead, flinging the creature back against the latched left barn door. The air left the thing’s body in a wheezing cry upon impact, leaving it stunned and sitting up against the door, blinking in the darkness in confusion.
Within an instant, Big Mac was upon it, his teeth bared and muzzle snorting threateningly right in its face.
“What are ya doin’ in our barn, huh?!”
“Y-your barn?” the creature coughed, continuing to blink heavily.
“This isn’t your barn…ugh…” The strange intruder then slipped to the ground, revealing the sling on its left arm.
“Con-sarnit Macintosh!” Applejack ran forward as she too spotted the creature’s injured arm.
“Why’d ya do that? Can’t ya see it was already hurt?!” The creature’s eyes rolled up in its head and fluttered shut as she looked down at it.
Applebloom ran forward and sniffed the fallen being tentatively; it was nothing like the young pony had ever smelled before. It smelled almost too clean, like it really shouldn’t have been in a barn in the first place.
“Big Mac…did ya kill ‘im?”
The red pony gasped. He was tough, but had a big heart and never really meant to hurt him that bad!
“Ah-Ah didn’t hit ‘im that hard! He’s not really dead is he!?”
Applejack leaned over the biped and sniffed him, noticing the rise and fall of his chest. His lips were moving as well, mouthing a word…her name.
How in tarnation does he know my name?!
“Naw, he’s still breathin, luckily.” She turned back to her brother.
“You’re lucky ya didn’t do him in, ya big idjit!” she scowled before turning back towards the fallen creature. She took her hat off and fanned its face gently while speaking softly to it.
“Come on there…come on, yer alright,” she smiled as she saw him groan and his eyes start to open. He stared back at her for a groggy moment before his eyes snapped wide open and he pushed himself up to a sitting position and back up against the wall, almost as if he were frightened of her, despite him being over twice her size.
“Now, now, calm down; we ain’t gonna hurtcha!” Applejack smiled comfortingly, reflexively patting him on the hand. But he pulled it back and examined it in disbelief before staring back at Applejack for a very long moment.
“A-are you really here?” came the most unexpected question out of his mouth that Applejack could have thought of.
“Uh, yep, Ah’m really here; so are they,” she gestured back at her brother and sister. Big Mac scuffed the ground, avoiding his gaze while Applebloom gave him a small wave of her hoof.
“The bigger questions are: why are you here an…well, what are ya?”
“You can call me V; I’m a human,” he replied, shaking his head again, still trying to grasp the situation. For some reason, he thought he would be a bit more panicky in circumstances like this. I mean, AJ was practically his role model and there she was talking to him! But he supposed that Big Mac running him over like that worked like a massive slap to the face, deadening his reaction to it all.
“I’m here cause this is my barn.”
“There ya go about that again,” Applejack shook her head.
“Ya sure ya didn’t hit yer noggin too bad when mah brother whacked ya like that?”
“Heh, sorry pardner,” the red pony said awkwardly, his ears drooped.
“Jus’ lookin’ out fer mah family and when ya walked through that there door Ah just…Ah shoulda looked before Ah leaped…sorry…”
“I suppose I can’t fault you for wanting to protect your family, Big Mac,” V nodded and rubbed his injured arm. That impact against the door certainly didn’t help matters in that regard.
Applejack looked at him closely again.
Yet again, he knew one of their names without us ever knowing him!
“So, why do ya keep sayin’ this here is your barn? Don’tcha know where ya are, V?” Applejack asked, still convinced he must be lost and out of sorts in his mind.
While she was sitting there with V, Big Mac wandered past them and approached the barn door, making sure nothing else was out there waiting to jump them or something. The door had been blown shut by the wind, and as Mac nudged the door open, he froze in his tracks.
“Can we keep’im?” Applebloom squeaked as she smiled up at her sister and this human who called himself V. She wasn’t even sure what a human was or why he had such a weird name, but he seemed like a pretty nice feller.
“He can stay out here in tha barn an everythin’!”
“Heh, Ah don’t think he’d be too fond of that, sugarcube,” Applejack chuckled and looked back at V, who was shaking his head and smiling. She then looked back at her brother who had been standing nearly motionless in the doorway for some time now.
“Big Mac, what’s your deal eh?” She nudged his back leg with a hoof, but all she got in reply was some very quiet murmurs.
Grumbling, the orange earth pony trotted up and nudged her brother more forcefully.
“Hey? What’s eatin ya now?” Again, she only got some more stuttering mumbles in response. With an exasperated growl, she pushed her way past Big Mac and looked outside…and froze. After a moment, her hat fell from her hoof and hit the ground in silence.
“A-a-a-a-a J-j-j-aaaaaayyy…” Big Mac trailed off in shock, his chin hanging nearly halfway to his hyperventilating chest; a sight that would have been almost laughable for a stallion of his size in any other situation.
“Ah-Ah see it…b-but Ah ain’t believin’ it!” Applejack declared. She looked back at V with eyes as wide as green apples and spoke very slowly.
“V…w-why do ya keep sayin’ we’re in your barn?”
Flim and Flam stared at the barn in shock…except it was an insult to even call the ancient wrecked hulk that had emerged from the bright green flash a barn anymore!
“F-Flim?” Flam said after he got his jaw working again.
“Y-yes Flam?”
“…what exactly was that spell supposed to do again?” Flam asked as he approached the burned out building on shaky hooves, his eyes wider than his brother had ever seen.
“It was supposed to teleport those country bumpkins away so we could have our way with their property…” Flim replied slowly as he grasped the barn door handle to pull it open…but it promptly fell off its rusty hinges to reveal the inside of the barn…there was nothing there but rotting hay and pieces of broken and burned wood. It looked like it hadn’t been entered in years!
“I er…” Flam searched for the right words, absolutely confused as to what had just happened.
“I think we did it a little too well…”
“Yes, so it seems,” Flim dropped the broken door handle he was still holding in his hoof.
“Methinks we should leave before we’re implicated here.”
“…good idea, brother!” Flam cried as they high-tailed it for the backyard gate.
As they fled out through it and down the road, they failed to notice the pink-maned pony hopping up the street; she watched in amusement as they galloped down the road in the opposite direction in a near-panic.
“Hmm…those guys were running like they needed to take care of a bad cupcake they ate or something…,” Pinkie Pie pondered as she made her way towards the front of the farm house; she’d been originally looking to ask Applejack to help her bake a few things at Sugarcube Corner, but now her curiosity had been piqued.
“Maybe AJ knows what’s goin’ on!” she quipped as she hopped up the front walk, cheerfully whistling a tune.
Meanwhile, back at the ruined barn, a piece of faded lumber that might have once been a bright white fell from above the door. Carved into it were words and a date:
CONSTRUCTED AND EST - TX - 1971
“Big Mac…” the orange earth pony said as she beheld the yard full of brown grass and thorn bushes; the unfamilar heat beat down on her and the un-Ponyville-like dirty air assaulted her nostrils.
“Ah don’t think we’re in Equestria anymore…”
Small note: writing as the Flim Flam Brothers is a pain in the flank! @.@
As always, feedback is appreciated!
