Prologue
Like any other day in Ponyville, all is bright and warm with not a single cloud in the sky, courtesy of Rainbow Dash’s hard work. The time is eight o’ clock and a large group of ponies have gathered around a station wagon that is positioned in front of City Hall. Meanwhile at the Sugar Cube Corner, Applejack is seen exiting the building with her saddlebag on her back and immediately noticing the large congregation down the road. Wondering what is going on, she walks over to investigate the phenomenon.
Approaching the crowd, Applejack begins to hear two familiar voices that can only be matched to two ponies that she knows. Hoping that she incorrectly identified who they are, she begins maneuvering through the horde while catching glimpses of what looks like two unicorns dressed in blue and white striped suits. Nearing the front, Applejack feels a huge bump on her backside and, in summer salt fashion, she billows out into the open gap between the crowd and the sale-ponies. While covered in dirt and lying on her back, she looks up and confirms who she thought they are.
For they are the world-famous Flim-Flam Brothers…
They’re back...
Fizzle Pop
As Applejack struggles to get back up on here hind legs, she looks over at the old station wagon and sees a sign that reads “FLIM-FLAM’S AMAZING FIZZLE POP,” and in small letters below, “Guaranteed to be the fizziest pop drink in all of Equestria!” Then suddenly, Applejack turns her attention to Flim as he announces to the crowd, “Well if it isn’t the town’s own Applejack!”
Flam responds, “Applejack?”
“Why yes, Applejack!” Flim replies, “For you see, she has bravely stepped forward to try out our brand new sugary drink!”
Applejack, now fully standing, retorts, “And why in tarnation would I do that?”
Flam answers, “Why I’m glad you asked my little Applejack, for you see…”
The brothers then break out into a carny style song that explains the entire origin of their new drink to not only Applejack, but the entire crowd around them. While Flim and Flam simultaneously exchange verses, they both tell the story about how their past mistakes have left them nearly poor and desperate to make a new repetition as honest sale-ponies. Out of that desperation, they, along with some help from an unknown brewery company, created a new drink to sell in Equestria to those willing to buy. However when they traveled to cities and towns in an attempt to sell the drink, they were often chased out due to ponies knowing who they are. So in a last ditch effort, they came to Ponyville hoping that they can sell it at the Sugar Cube Corner.
After the song was over, Applejack was presented an offer to, at the very least, take a sip of the new soda. However with her history of Flim and Flam burning in the back her head, she refuses to believe that they changed and politely, but sternly, denies taking a sip.
“But Applejack!” Flim replies, “Why don’t I sweeten the deal for ya?”
Flam comes in, “Take a sip and we, Flim and Flam, will never bother you or your family again!”
Becoming hesitant with the offer, Applejack thinks to herself about the peace of mind of not having to worry about Flim and Flam messing with her or her family again.
“So what do you say?” Flim asks.
“We guarantee that this drink will be the bee’s knees,” Flam contrives as he floats a white cup full of Fizzle Pop in front of Applejack.
Complying with the offer, Applejack says with uneasiness in her voice, “Well alright, for the sake of a piece of mind.”
She takes a sip of the drink and experiences the sweet and sugary taste of sassafras root, caramel, and sugarcane all mixed together. Moments later, Applejack, after fully opening her eyes in delight, scarfs down the whole drink while Flim and Flam smile at the joy of Applejack liking there new beverage.
As Applejack helps set down the white cup, in a gleeful, yet calm, manner she expresses her satisfaction by saying, “Well, this ain’t half bad!”
Flim and Flam go back and forth exchanging dialogue,
“Why thank you Applejack! For you see,”
“We told you that you would like it!”
“And in fact, for the trouble we caused in the past,”
“We Flim and Flam, will give you this twelve pack,”
“Free and out of our hoofs!”
Applejack then responds with gratitude, “Why thank you very, very much,” while Flam floats a cardboard carrier containing twelve Fizzle Pops in front of Applejack.
Taking the twelve pack, Applejack places it on her back and starts to leave. Meanwhile the crowd around them, after witnessing Applejack’s tasting of the drink, begins to approach the brothers, wanting to try it out for themselves. Within seconds, cups full of Fizzle Pop are seen floating around to samplers and that anyone who tried the drink intently became in love with it. Flim and Flam’s business “booms” as they start selling their drinks left and right while Applejack continues to walk back to Sweet Apple Acres.
Excited for Applejack’s return, her sister, Apple Bloom, jumps and down while shouting that Applejack is back from her trip into town. Surprisingly, Twilight Sparkle was also there as she, Granny Smith, and Big Mac immerge from the barn upon hearing Apple Bloom’s shouting. They go to greet Applejack and help her unload her saddlebag full of groceries.
Upon unloading the cardboard carrier, Apple Boom asks, “Now what’s in this sis?”
“Why inside there is twelve Fizzle Pops!”
“Fizzle Pop?” Twilight asks while inspecting the drinks.
Applejack replies, “Yes Fizzle Pop! The finest drink I have ever tasted! Besides our cider of course.”
“Well where did you get it?” Twilight wonders.
Applejack reminisces, “From the Flim-Flam brothers. They were in town tryin to sell this and they had me try it! While I was skeptical at first, the taste of this sure proved me wrong.”
Granny Smith immediately shouts, “Now hold it right there Applejack! Why on Earth would you taste anything from those no-good brothers in the first place?”
Applejack responds, “Because, Granny Smith, they promised to leave us alone and not ever bother us again if I tried their new thing out. And a promise is a promise. Right Big Mac?”
“Eeyup!”
“Besides, it ain’t bad at all!” Applejack grabs out a couple of Fizzle Pops, “Try it for yourself Granny Smith.”
She slides Granny Smith a bottle, but Granny Smith refuses to drink it since it was created by the Flim-Flam brothers. Therefore, Applejack pushes the bottle over to Twilight and politely asks her to take a sip while telling her that the town’s ponies seemed to like it as well. Upon hearing that information, Twilight decides to un-pop the cap and sample the drink. Experiencing the same sugary mix just like Applejack did, Twilight instantly falls in love with it as well.
As Twilight finishes her bottle, Big Mac grabs one and downs the drink while expressing pleasure from its good taste. Apple Bloom then tries to take one, but Applejack stops her.
“Now Sis, your just too young to have any of this,” Applejack remarks.
Immediately expressing sadness, accompanied by her puppy-dog eyes, Apple Bloom responds, “BUT SISTER!” while intensifying her facial expression. Acting upon her outcry, Applejack pulls out of her saddle bag some orange juice and slides it to her. While Apple Bloom enjoys her juice, Applejack turns to Twilight and asks what she is doing at Sweet Apple Acres.
“Oh, um…well… I was… reading a book about vegetation magic and I came here today to ask you, Granny Smith, and Big Mac if I could try this new spell out on one of your smaller apple trees.” Twilight points in the direction towards the orchard.
“Well, what does the spell do?” Applejack asks.
“Well, it should help with the growth and production of your apple trees without the need to mix any potions to do so.” Twilight begs, “So can I try it? Please, Please, Please, Pleaaassseee!”
Applejack looks towards her family to see them nod with approval. Looking back at Twilight, Applejack says, “Well alright Twilight. But you can only use the spell on one tree since the Apple Family prides itself on not using any spells or potions to grow them.”
Twilight happily rejoices, “Oh thank you Applejack! I can’t wait to try it!”
Walking over to an apple tree that has yet to produce any apples, Twilight prepares her spell by slightly lowering her head while concentrating on casting the spell. As an aurora of purple light begins to glow around her horn, Twilight aims at the little tree and shoots a purple beam of light from her horn. Hitting the tree at its trunk, it begins to grow a huge bulge around the center of where Twilight’s spell hit the tree. Hoping it works, Twilight and the rest of the company wait with agonizing patience while the bulge grows bigger and bigger. Eventually, the pressure inside the bulge excessed the tree’s limits and an explosion of wood, leaves, and smoke ensues.
As the dust clears, all that was left was falling leaves and a burnt crater around where the tree once stood. After expressing a look of shock on her face, Twilight nervously grins while slowly turning her head towards the Apple Family to only to confirm her expectations. With a look of defeat, Twilight slumps her head down at the sight of Applejack and the rest of the family not being happy with the results of her spell except for Apple Bloom.
“That was amazing Twilight! Can you do it again?”
Applejack immediately scolds her sister, “Apple Bloom! Didn’t I say to never insult people?”
Twilight intervenes, “No, no, it’s ok Apple Bloom. Besides Applejack, we all need to laugh at our own mistakes.” Twilight giggles, but then states in a more serious tone, “but I am very sorry for causing one of your trees to explode.”
Upon hearing those words, Applejack and the rest of the family forgave Twilight while reassuring themselves that they can afford to lose one tree. However still in remorse, Twilight decides that her time at Sweet Apple Acres was done for now and that she needed to be heading back home. Saying her goodbyes while expressing that fact that she will help replace the tree, Twilight flies home while the sun begins to set in the evening sky.
Upon landing on the crystal balcony, she is greeted by Spike and they soon walk into the castle while talking about the earlier event.
“Well I just don’t understand Spike, I practiced the spell all last week and nothing went wrong with the plants I used. But when I applied it to one of Applejack’s trees, it just went ka-plu-e,” Twilight remarks.
Spike then asks, “Well did you do the spell right, Twilight?”
“Huh, yeah… I did it correctly and it should have worked fine on a tree.”
“Well maybe the spell isn’t meant for trees,” Spike adds.
“Oh Spike!” Twilight giggles, “All vegetation spells work on plants regardless of what they are,” Twilight’s face then strains with confusion, “but somehow, my spell must have been over-charged which resulted in the tree exploding.”
“Huh…” Spike questions, “Well did you do something while casting the spell to cause it to explode?”
“Nope, and again Spike. I did everything according to the book. See!”
Twilight waves a book entitled Vegetation for Spell Ponies in front of Spike. As she sets the book down to Spike’s reading level, Twilight uses her magic to manipulate the book’s pages and turns it to a chapter entitled “Growth.” On the next page, the description at the top of it reads “Giving a Plant a Healthy Spell-tacular Boost,” which is then followed by specific instructions on how to cast a perfect growth spell for any type of plant.
As Twilight explains in detail that she did every step to perfection, from lowering head to concentrating on her aim, Spike then questions what happened before she casted the spell.
“Well?” Spike implies.
Twilight then remembers that she drank Fizzle Pop before casting the spell. Putting the events together, she realizes, with a painful smile, that it is the cause of the spell’s disaster. Seeing Twilight’s painful smile, Spike repeats his question.
“Did you do anything before casting the spell Twilight?”
Twilight responds, “Well… yes. You see, Applejack had me tryout this new drink she got from the Flim-Flam brothers called Fizzle Pop. And I guess when I drank it, whatever ingredients inside the drink must have enhanced my magical abilities without me knowing. Therefore when I performed the spell, the discharge must have so powerful that it sadly resulted with an innocent tree exploding.”
Summarizing Twilight’s statement, Spike scratches his head, “So what you’re basically saying is that this drink was the cause of the catastrophe?”
“Exactly!” Twilight replies.
After the conversation, Twilight begins her research on what ingredient or ingredients might have caused Twilight’s boost in magical abilities. Starting with a book about brewing, Twilight remembers the love potion that gave Big Mac plenty of strength to drag a house. However Twilight realizes that if the love potion, found in the book, was in the drink, she would have fell in love with the first stallion she saw. Therefore she wonders if the tonic might have been toned down to only a minor affection for the drink while also giving the pony who drank it a magical stat boost.
A week passes by and after hours of casual research, while also maintaining her studies and finding out that Flim and Flam don’t reveal their drink’s recipe, Twilight uses an alchemy set to successfully run an experiment that exactly recreates the same flavor and effects of Fizzle Pop.
With excitement in her voice, Twilight shouts, “Eureka! I have figured it out!” Twilight then spins around looking for Spike, “Spike? Spike! Where are you? Come here… quick!”
Spike echoes out, “I’m coming! I’m coming,” while running into the castle’s crystal library. Upon his arrival he is out of breath. However with effort in his voice, he manages to get out the words, “What… did you… figure… out?
Twilight floats two books in the air, “You know that drink I’ve been researching about?”
Spike raises his right eyebrow while still panting, “You mean… the Fizzle Pop?”
“Yes!” Twilight then sets the two books down in front of Spike and opens up one of them to a picture of a plant and points at it, “You see this ingredient here?”
“Um… Is that Heart’s Desire?” Spike asks.
“Yes it is! You see after running my experiment, I have come to a conclusion about the drink and that it involves this plant.”
“Well that’s fantastic Twilight!” Spike becomes egger to know more, “Please tell me!”
Twilight states, “Well… After running my experiment, I have come to support the theory that this drink is a combination between a love mixture, which is why I experienced a minor affection towards the drink after I tasted it, Heart’s Desire, for a boost in taste, and other sugars. So in other words, it is a drink that can act like a love potion, a talent enhancer…” Twilight’s vocal tone then sags as she pronounces the words, “and one more thing.”
Twilight opens up the second book that laid in front of Spike, entitled Pony Health 113, and turns it to a chapter called “Dealing with an Upset Stomach.” Using the information from the chapter, Twilight explains that the drink is mixed to ensure that any pony will become addicted to it if they drink it for far too long.
“And if any pony becomes addicted to the drink and consumes too much, then they will get a pelvic flexure impaction as seen here in this book!” Twilight wing’s fold outward and start flapping.
As she unintentionally flies upwards, she continues nervously rambling, “And if they get a pelvic flexure impanation from the consuming too much, then they will be sick! And if their sick, then they will need to see a doctor. But if the doctor is not in town, then they will need to care for themselves while running the risk of only further making themselves more even more SICK! AHH!!” She then stops on that thought as her forehead hits the roof, leaving a sore red mark atop her head.
“Umm, Twilight? You do know there’s a ceiling there, right?” Spike asks.
Sarcastically, Twilight responds, “Thank you Spike! Ugg!” She then rubs her sore while proclaiming, “Anyway, I will be off. For I need to go warn Applejack about what I discovered. After all, she was the one that introduced me to the drink.”
“Good Luck!” Spike shouts.
Twilight then leaves the castle and runs across Ponyville to Sweet Apple Acres. Upon her arrival, the sun has set and the moon was only beginning to rise. All was dark and the only things that could be heard are the chirping of the crickets and a faint sound of thunder since a scheduled storm was rolling in. Accompanied by the cold howling wind and wet leaves being blown everywhere, Twilight remained determined to tell Applejack about her resent discovery.
As she walked up to the front step of the Apple’s home, someone from within the darkness opens the front door. They grab Twilight and urgently pull her inside the house. After lighting a candle, the figure that was shrouded in mystery turned out to be Applejack. Straight away, she questions Twilight’s intentions by shouting, “NOW WHAT IN SWEET, SWEET CELESTIA WER YOU DOING OUT THERE TWILIGHT?”
A bit shaken up from the grab, Twilight answers in a stern tone, “Trying to come and warn you about the dangers of that new soda.”
Applejack instantly becomes befuddled by this explanation while thinking about the mental state of Twilight. Coming to her senses, she responds, “Wait… You mean the Fizzle Pop?”
“Yeah! And apparently according to my research, it can cause a pony to become overly…” A bolt of lightning strikes outside the house.
Both ponies urgently cuddle up next to each other. While cowering in fear of the storm that is now raging outside, Twilight says with a nervous high pitch, “attached to it,” while looking out the window. With Applejack still in her arms, they both see the heavy downfall of rain and they both instantly knew that they were stuck inside the house for the night.
Pushing Twilight off herself, Applejack replies, “Now Twilight… that is just preposterous,” then quietly chuckles, “I mean, there can be no way that drink can cause those effects. Besides I’m more worried about you. Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” with slight frustration in Twilight’s voice, “It’s just that now I’m stuck here for the night.”
“Well then,” and without any delay in Applejack’s voice, “I’ll go get-ya a blanket and a pillow and you can make self a bed tonight on the couch tonight. Is that alright with ya Twi?”
With slight disheartened speech, Twilight tells Applejack, “Sure... um… I mean, yes.”
“Well alrighty then, just please don’t go into the kitchen,” Applejack replies.
After Twilight agrees, Applejack walks away from Twilight and heads into the kitchen. As soon as Applejack left the room, Twilight walks over the couch and lies down upon it. While thinking about the fact that she can tell Applejack that Fizzle Pop has addicting effects in the morning, she feels a large lump bumping up-under her flank that immediately causes Twilight discomfort. Wanting to fix the problem, Twilight removes herself from the couch and strips the large cushion off it. Right as she does that, a flash of lighting brightens the room to reveal to a sight that shocks Twilight. Hidden underneath the couch was a large stockpile of unconsumed Fizzle Pop.
Running into the kitchen, Twilight becomes baffled as another flash of lighting reveals the whole kitchen to be jam-packed full of Fizzle Pop carriers.
“Why I…”
Applejack studiers, “Tw, Twi, Twilight, What, What are you do’n in here? Get out, Get out… Now!”
“No! No I won’t,” Twilight declares while pointing her hoof at Applejack, “You have an addiction problem.”
Smacking her hoof, Applejack yells, “No I don’t!”
“Yes… You do!” and as Twilight points outward, “And it is the drink that is causing it! I mean, can’t you see all these bottles?”
Lying, Applejack hastily responds, “Well they aren’t mine!”
Twilight in incredulity, “Well then who are they for?”
“There for, uh, uh.” Applejack heads for the kitchen’s exit while swiftly saying, “Big Macintosh!”
“Uuuuggggg,” Twilight grumbles.
Chasing Applejack, Twilight runs upstairs and tries to stop Applejack from closing the wooden door on her. In the process, the commotion caused by Twilight slamming into Applejack’s bedroom door wakes up Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, and Apple Bloom. As they all open up their bedchamber doors, they see Twilight banging on Applejack’s while screaming, “OPEN UP THIS DOOR THIS INSTANT!”
Muffled by the door, Applejack could be heard saying, “No!”
“Did I say this was a request?”
Applejack screams, “Well I still say NO!” as a crack of thunder lights up the hallway.
“NOW WHAT IN TAR-NATION IS GOING ON HERE?” Granny Smith shouts.
“Its Applejack,” Twilight answers, “She is addicted to Fizzle Pop!”
In unison, Granny Smith, Big Mac, and Apple Bloom shout, “WHAT!”
“Yeah,” Twilight breathing heavily, “And she has stockpiles of it down in the kitchen.”
“Oh no she better not!” said Granny Smith.
She walks downstairs and discovers the kitchen in the same condition Twilight saw earlier. Walking back up the stairs, Granny Smith tells Twilight that she speculates that Applejack must have bought all of those Fizzle Pops while she, Big Mac, and Apple Bloom were away on a trip to Fillydelphia for a visit with family. She also states that Applejack and her had an earlier confrontation about the drink, due to the fact that she keep seeing Applejack consuming it all the time, before they left on the trip. From this discussion, Granny Smith now knows that Applejack must have lied to her about not being addicted to it and that it was the reason why she refused to go on the trip.
“But why did she put all the drinks in the kitchen?” Twilight wonders.
“Well, I don’t know,” as Granny Smith looks at Applejack’s door, “But we will find out… Applejack! Open this door this instant!”
Applejack still continued to refuse, “No!”
Two minutes pass by and as Granny Smith and Twilight continue to command Applejack to open the door, Big Mac decides to walk towards the end of the hall. There Big Mac gets ready to charge at the door, unaware that Twilight casted a spell to unpick the lock. Lowering his head and closing his eyes, Big Mac takes off at a full gallop while the door slowly opens. Passing through the open door, he accidently collides into Applejack and pins her down on the floor. Afterwards, Granny Smith and Twilight both stroll into the room while denying Apple Bloom from entering. Instead they tell her to go back to bed.
Upon seeing that Apple Bloom has closed her bedroom door, Twilight closes and locks Applejack’s. Twilight then asks Big Mac to get off Applejack, but it resorts in Applejack running over to her bed, lying face down, and clinching her face together while curled up and away from the group. Twilight then knew to signal Granny Smith and have her start the intervention.
With concern in her old southern voice, Granny Smith asks, “Now why in the whole world would ye go behind by back like this Applejack? Don’t you respect me anymore?”
A moment of silence goes by as the thunder and rain continued to be heard softly outside.
Granny Smith asks again, “Well don’t cha?”
Nothing comes out of Applejack except for silence. However about two seconds later, Applejack begins sobbing to herself as Granny Smith walks over to her, pats her back, and says with loving comfort, “Now look here sugercube, I might be old but I know a thing-or-two about these addicting habits. And the first step into getting rid of it is always admitting to it. Isn’t that right Big Mac and Twilight?”
“Eeyup,” they both reply.
Immediately bursting out with tears, Applejack turns towards everyone and pleads with heartache, “I SO SORRY YA’LL!”
Applejack then starts apologizing to everyone for causing too much trouble than what she intended. She then truthfully admits that she has fell for the drink’s addicting mixture and that she was only temporarily holding them in the kitchen when Twilight showed up.
“So that is why you guys never saw them when you came back from Fillydelphia tonight,” Applejack easily replies, “They were in the barn the whole time, but I had to quietly move them back into the kitchen since the chickens kept trying to peak at it.”
Applejack pauses, then continues, “I mean… My original intentions were to try and have them gone by the morning, but as soon as I saw Twilight outside the window I knew I had to tend to her needs. Therefore I quickly stashed the drinks I had left in the living room underneath the couch,” and with alleviation Applejack adds, “and I guess that was best decision I made tonight… Look guys, I am very, very sorry. Will you ever forgive me?”
“Of course we will Applejack,” Twilight responds while hugging Granny Smith and Big Mac.
“Add I will make a promise that if I or any of y’all ever have an addiction, that we should communicate immediately and be more honest about it,” Applejack replies.
“Agreed,” everyone nods.
Applejack gets out of her bed and hugs Twilight, Granny Smith, and Big Mac. She then walks over to her cupboard and pulls the drawer open. Applejack reveals a quill and paper and proceeds to walk over to her wooden desk that is stationed by a large glass pane window. Applejack then pulls up her wooden chair and sits down. She then begins to write a letter to Princess Celestia. As Applejack rolls up the finished message, inside it reads:
Dear Princess Celestia,
While it may seem hard to admit, some addictions aren’t just anything to cover up. In fact, trying to hide them from your friends and family can only lead yourself down a road of dishonesty, hardship, and suffering. Therefore, be open about it and always know that there is some-pony out there that is willing to help.
Your humble subject,
Applejack
Aftermath
As Applejack gives Twilight the finished letter, so that Twilight can give it to Spike and have him send it off, Twilight realizes that Applejack must not be the only pony in the Ponyville that was or is experiencing the drink’s effects. Therefore in an effort to help all other ponies out, Twilight takes a piece of paper from Applejack and begins writing a warning to Princess Celestia about the dangers of the drink. A few weeks pass by and Twilight receives a letter from Princess Celestia that declares she has banned the drink, or any drink with a similar addicting effect, from being sold in Equestria. As a result of this ban, the Flim-Flam brothers, whom had a spot setup near Sugar Cube Corner, were forced to move out of Ponyville and be sent down the road with a destination that is unknown.
