Unusable Story Husk

by Yip

Rating: teen
Tags: Comedy, Adventure
Length: 5584

Unusable Story Husk

Unusable Story Husk

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-06-19 20:55:47 UTC

Road Trip!

For another year, it was cider season for the citizens of Ponyville. This time, nopony was left out since Applejack's family and her friends were helping out. The citizens were happy, the Apple family was making good money and it looked like it'd be another successful season.

It didn't help that the 6 friends working the cider couldn't bear to keep working for another day, exhausted out of their wits.

"Applejack, this is getting really tedious!" Rainbow Dash complained. "Every day since the season started, we've been working extra hard so that everypony gets plenty of cider. What about us? Shouldn't we have some fun?"

Sighing, Applejack nodded her head, just as exhausted as her friends.

"The day is almost over, we can at least make it past today. If we persevere, I think we can make it past tomorrow too. I'm sure we could all take a trip to Manehattan or somethin' as a vacation after that," Applejack replied.

The other 5 ponies grumbled at 'Manehattan'. They had gone to cities like Fillydelphia, Manehattan and Canterlot so many times that it was often more fun to leave.

"Well, what'd ya'll expect? The only other direction to go is over by th' long road, but nopony goes that way. We'd be exhausted from the journey before we make ten miles, let alone see somethin' interesting."

More grumbles and sighs all around with the realization that the one interesting, new thing they could experience is an impossibility.

As the second last day of cider season ended, the 6 friends collapsed on the ground, too exhausted to walk to their respective homes. Even Applejack, who was a few hundred feet from her house, couldn't move a muscle as she stayed the night on the grass with her friends.

***************************************************************************************************************

        Waking up in the morning while you’re still tired is one thing, but seeing the face of an old rival while waking up tired is another. The colt standing over Applejack didn’t seem in the right place though, since his brother wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

        “Well, good day to you, Applejack! Haven’t seen you in a year!” the colt said, still hovering over Applejack.

        In a flash, Applejack bolted up and crossed face to face with the familiar face. It wasn’t a heartwarming reunion.

        “Flim, what in tarnation are you doing here? I thought you two lost the contest- wait just one second, where is your brother? Aren’t you two inseperable?” Applejack interrogated.

        Flim’s eyes shifted to a nearby tree, avoiding any eye contact with Applejack.

        “Well, we were doing a demonstration with our cider machine, and he was giving a few words to the ponies around. He was getting so into it with movements and whatnot, that he didn’t see himself approaching the apple intake...”

        By now, all of Applejack’s friends were up and awake, shocked at the latest piece of news. It was some time before Twilight took the nerve to break the silence.

        “I’m... I’m so sorry, Flim. It must’ve been horrible dealing with your loss. Is there anything we can do to help?”

        Flim turned to face the 6 ponies, renewing his feeling of happiness.

        “It’s not a big deal now, it happened almost a year ago, just after we left this town. But that’s not why I’m here. You see, we’re - er, I’m running a little low on funds and judging by the success of last year’s cider season, I wanted to ask if I could spend just today here selling some cider. I would only need a couple barrels of your apples, I already have plenty of stock,” Flim explained.

        It was understandable to see and sympathize with Flim’s situation, but that didn’t change Applejack’s mind.

        “I’m mighty sorry, but the funds we’ve already collected are the funds for my family that we need, and today we need to sell more cider so that we can have some vacation time. It’s not easy doing this, especially now that we’ve increased our production so much!”

        “But Applejack, we don’t want to go somewhere that will end up costing us money, like Fillydelphia! It’s so boring! The only place we want to go to is on that road, and-” Rainbow began.

        “Well, why didn’t you say so? I don’t need the vehicle me and my brother made if I stay here for the day, so why don’t you borrow it and go on the road? I’ve been there once, and it was one of the best experiences of my life!” Flim interrupted.

Rainbow couldn’t contain her excitement- there was finally a way to travel on the road with her friends. Sure, she could fly her way over, but it’d be so tiring in the heat, and she wouldn’t have anypony with her.

“I’m all for it, how about you, Apple-”

“Hold on just one second, Rainbow. Flim’s not telling us the whole story. Care to tell us everything, Flim?” Applejack questioned.

        Keeping himself professional and business-like, Flim went to go drive his vehicle over to Applejack.

        “Here’s the whole scenario. You all allow me to take a few of your apples, and to spend the day selling my cider for my own profit, and I will lend you this vehicle- without The Super Speedy Cider Squeezer 6000 of course- fully stocked with food and water so you can spend the day and night travelling on the road. I assure you, the road has a very special end to it, and the journey there will be fun. You won’t need to sell cider today for your vacation because I’ll essentially be funding the entire thing!” Flim explained.

        Anypony still half asleep was up and happy, glad to hear they could finally take a vacation somewhere they wanted. Even Applejack seemed convinced, as she hopped inside the vehicle to get a feel for it.

        “So, you’ll take care of the customers if we leave? And we can just go right now?”

        “Yes, everything is already prepared,” Flim replied. “I had originally come here to try and start another bet, but I found this way that benefits everypony!”

        “How does this thingy run, anyway?” Rainbow inquired. “I’d love to see how it works, sometimes flying does get tiring!”

        Flim gleamed a bright smile, filling with pride as he bragged about his vehicle.

        “Manufactured by me and my brother, but mostly myself. Basically, it’s already full of fuel, so all you have to do is pull this knob downwards. After that, you press your hoof against this pedal and move this circle thing, a wheel if you will, to steer where you’re going. This vehicle goes at a pretty decent speed, about as fast as an Ursa Minor at top speed, even though all you’ve seen is it’s slowest setting like we used last year. We needed to keep it stable for The Super Speedy-”

        “Yes, we all know about your cider maker. Now, let us go, everything’s already! Come on everypony!” Rainbow exclaimed excitedly.

        A few of the friends hopped inside the vehicle, not pausing to ask any more questions. If they were any less tired of making cider, there might be more hesitation, but this was their time to have some fun.

        “I guess I’ll try driving... I hope I don’t... hey, this is pretty easy!” Fluttershy said as she started the car, going at the insane speed of Tank at his fastest speed.

        Rainbow couldn’t take the snail-like speed Fluttershy was so eager to drive at, and took control of the wheel. Before she could hoof it on the gas, Twilight blocked her way with her hoof.

        “Wait, where is Rarity and Pinkie?”

        Out in the distance, the 4 in the vehicle saw Pinkie hunched over Rarity behind a tree, slobbering incessantly on each other’s mouths in a tight embrace. They had no idea everypony was watching.

        “Oh Celestia, that is just wrong in public. Could somepony go get them?” Twilight said, sighing heavily.

        “There’s no way I’m doing that,” Rainbow declined.

        “Nor am I,” Applejack responded.

        “Um... I really don’t want to...” Fluttershy said quietly.

        “I’m going to go make cider, but I wouldn’t do it anyway,” Flim said, to everypony’s surprise. It was assumed that he already left.

        “Ugh, fine! I’ll do it,” Twilight said, giving up.

        She hopped out of the vehicle, thinking of a way to split the two apart without making things awkward. A light, brilliant raspberry colour surrounded a branch above the two lovers, cracking and creaking until it snapped off, smashing down in between them and seperating them.

        “Hey, what’s the big idea, Twilight?” the two said in unison.

        “You two need to either get a room or get in the... car? Vehicle? Whatever Flim said, you guys need to get in it.”

        Pinkie and Rarity reluctantly agreed, cursing at Twilight under their breath.

        As the three ponies entered the car, Rainbow pushed Fluttershy away from the wheel again to gain control.

        “All right! Everypony’s here! Is everypony ready?” Rainbow called out.

        With cheers of excitement, it was clear that this trip was long overdue. With her hoof slamming against the pedal, Rainbow called out the one thing on everypony’s mind.

        “Road trip!"

Road Trip?

        Things were far from smooth sailing in Flim’s “car”. Considering that not a single one of the vehicle’s occupants have ever even been inside one, driving it was another story.

        It’s not that Rainbow’s steering was terrible. It’s that it wasn’t perfect while she drove through Ponyville.

        “Sweet Celestia, Rainbow! What in tarnation are you thinking?!” Applejack yelled. “Why didn’t you just go around? At this speed, you’re going to seriously hurt somepony!”

        Rainbow couldn’t hear a word Applejack said - nopony could. The loud noise the engine made was far too strong.

        “How on earth did Flim make something that can go so fast seem so weak? It looked more like a lumbering train beforehand,” Twilight mentioned. Again, the words were on deaf ears.

        On a stroke of luck, the vehicle faced no damage and caused no injury or deaths to other ponies, reaching the beginning of the mysterious road. An ominous feeling crept up inside the 6 friends, as the road led on seemingly into nowhere. As Rainbow stopped the car for everypony to think, a curious, dark coloured sight came into the distance.

        “A batpony? This might be dangerous. Why is there even a road here, doesn’t it seem a little too suspicious to drive on it? Especially with, you know, batponies?” Applejack cautioned.

        “Oh, come on Applejack! Batponies aren’t all dangerous, and we won’t stop there anyway! It’s good just to go on an adventure we aren’t even sure about!” Rainbow said.

        It sounded convincing enough for the other ponies, who nodded in agreement with Rainbow. That is, every pony except Rarity and Pinkie, who were hiding underneath the back seat making curious sounds away from prying eyes.

        “Well, at least most of us are interested in doing something other than slobber on each other. Hey, Twilight, are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Rainbow said.

        A devilish smile appeared on Twilight’s face as a symbol of agreement.

        “Then hold tight, everypony!”

        “What?” Rarity and Pinkie called out in unison, but it was too late. The vehicle was speeding down the road, buckling them everywhere under the seat. There wasn’t any metal or sharp edges, but they were bruised enough to want to return to their seats shamefully.

        Satisfied with the lack of crude noises, Twilight focused hard on the gas pedal. Enveloping it with an aura of brilliant raspberry, the pedal was forcefully loosened. Rainbow did not seem amused.

        “Rainbow, we’re just going to take a look at the provisions Flim provided us. We don’t need to teach Pinkie and Rarity a lesson anymore, even if you like going fast. Speaking of which... Rarity, switch with Fluttershy. It’d put me more at ease if one of you two went in the front,” Twilight explained.

        Growling for different reasons, Rainbow, Pinkie and Rarity all nodded sullenly as Pinkie and Fluttershy switched places and Rainbow loosened pressure on the pedal. As the speed of the vehicle slowed down to a regular pace, Applejack reached underneath the front seats, dragging out a fairly large briefcase with her hoof.

        “Wait just a second... aren’t things like food not found in briefcases? I see a bag of food underneath your seat, Rainbow, if you’ll care to open it. I’m curious as to what’s in here... drat, it’s locked!” Applejack said, revealing a long black case.

        Rainbow agreed, reaching down herself to drag out a large paper bag of food. Inside, there wasn’t too much variety, but it’d do for a night’s journey.

        “Some bread, apples, a couple containers of cupcakes, a jug of water... not too bad,” Rainbow revealed.

        “Rainbow, why are you looking in the bag?! You should be driving!”

        Rainbow dropped the bag in a hurry, worried at what she’d see outside the vehicle. To her surprise, it wasn’t too far off the road, but everypony was still shocked and gasped at where they were.

        There were resting batponies waking up all around them.

        “We can’t stop here! This is batpony country!” Pinkie pointed out.

“No kidding, Pinkie?” Rainbow said sarcastically. “Don’t worry guys, I’ll just back out of here slowly...”

        Before she was able to drive 2 feet, the batponies were awake and aware of the intruders. Rainbow hoofed the gas pedal in an attempt to escape, but the batponies now in hot pursuit were just as fast as the vehicle.

        “Don’t look back, Rainbow! Just go! I can’t possibly deal with those monstrously horrid things!” Rarity complained. "Pinkie, come and shield me from these creatures!"

"Will you shut up, Rarity? This is no time to be using Pinkie Pie for your own selfish reasons!" Applejack scolded Rarity.

Despite the predicament they put themselves in, Rarity grunted in dissatisfaction to the scolding.

Several batponies were all lined up, chasing after the vehicle in frustration. It’s not a great thing to awaken and find a loud machine disturbing your sleep. But there was something more disturbing the ponies could use…

"…I know how to get them off our tail!" Twilight exclaimed.

With another focused attempt to cast magic, Pinkie was enveloped in Twilight's aura and levitated over to Rarity.

"Kiss, you two! Make it juicy, and position yourselves so the batponies see you!"

Ecstatic with Twilight's acceptance of their love, Rarity and Pinkie shamelessly embraced each other close, tying their tongues together. The line of batponies saw the disturbing event and slowed down, preparing to retreat from the horrid sight.

"Yes! It's working! Keep it up, you two!"

Just when they were about to quit, Pinkie broke out of the passionate kissing.

"I'm sick of this, Rarity. I know you just use me for your own selfish needs!" Pinkie called out angrily.

"What? Me? There's no way I'd do such a thing! Now shield me from those beasts, will you?" Rarity replied.

Twilight sighed as she noticed the swooping noises coming from the line. They had seen that the two lovers had stopped and the batponies resumed their chase.

That is, until a gaping hole shot through the one in the middle scared them all off with a loud bang.

"Holy Celestia! Where did that come from?" Twilight called out.

Looking to the front, Applejack wielded a curious device smoking from the end. It had two long tunnels attached to a handle Applejack had fastened to her shoulder, hoof close to a push lever near the center of the object. Her expression was just as shocked as anypony else's.

"What… what is that, Applejack?" Fluttershy asked, a slight bit scared.

"Well, that briefcase I had needed a key to open it, which turned out to be taped at the bottom. I unlocked the case and discovered this peculiar thing, so I read this sheet while we were amongst the batponies over back there. It seems to be written instructions by Flim, I'll read them out to you."

Hey Darius,

Hopefully you got this gun if I forgot to hand it to you. It's my newest creation, featuring two barrels where I load in shells I've supplied in the case. Once they're loaded, all you have to do is aim through the circle I attached to the front, and push the lever. It'll shoot the shells at a quick speed, going through most things in it's path. I call it the "shellgun". It works, I assure you. I "tested" it on my brother a while back, and it was a success! Just remember to pay me the next time you go through Fillydelphia or Ponyville.

Thanks,

Flim

Silence.

"…Well, I guess he's a little more sinister than we thought."

"You said it, Applejack," Rarity agreed.

"Yeah, what a jerk!" Pinkie joined in.

"Uh… you want to go back and fight him? He probably has his own stuff to attack ponies with. We might as well wait until tomorrow when he'll be gone," Fluttershy suggested.

"Nah, he said it's new. I bet he can't make them that quickly. I'm all for going, this trip is looking pretty dull so far anyway, as long as- oh wait, let's stop here for a second!" Rainbow said, pointing her hoof at a small building on the side of the road.

It wasn't anything fancy. The windows were cracked, the door was loose, and the gray colt sitting on the porch had a bitter look to his face.

"Hey, stranger! Do you need a ride out of this place?" Twilight called out to the colt.

Whispering, Rainbow pulled Twilight's head down and took her hoof off the pedal.

"What are you thinking? He must be some sort of criminal, preying on helpless travellers that may come this way! How else could he survive out here? I see nothing but empty fields of dead grass out here!"

"We need to let him come with us, he might know something about this curious road and can provide some info for mapping or building purposes! Think, Dash!" Twilight replied.

Rainbow grumbled obnoxiously, but didn't stop Twilight from appraoching the colt.

The others soon followed, taking cautious steps. The owner of the house didn't seem like the friendly kind that would be happy with a disturbance. Applejack had similar suspicions with Rainbow to the colt's purpose here, putting the shellgun inside the food bag and bringing it over with her.

"Who goes there? Are you ponies friends with Fl-"

"Hello, stranger. We noticed you seemed stuck out here, and we wanted to offer you a ride back to Ponyville to help you on your way!" Twilight explained.

The colt was not amused, having been interrupted by a mare he had never met before. Despite this, he worked out a few things in his mind before speaking again.

"Alright. This place is a dump, and that jerk Flim dropped me off here when I had witnessed him murdering his brother," the colt explained.

Everypony but Twilight was suspicious of the situation, considering Flim hasn't killed him yet.

"It's probably so he doesn't waste those 'shell' things, guys," Twilight whispered to her friends.

"Here, me an' Rainbow Dash here will get your bags for you if ya'll want. They're inside, right?" Applejack inquired.

"Yeah. Not sure why you folks are helping me out, but it's a kind favour you're doing for me. I'll hop in the front if you ponies want," the colt said.

Twilight nodded in agreement, allowing him to take her spot while she hopped in the back, pressed against Rarity and Fluttershy. Pinkie hopped in the front, leaving Rainbow's spot as driver open and Applejack's spot in the back.

"While Rainbow and Applejack are off getting whatevr possessions you have, I would like to ask you a few questions about Flim. First-" Twilight started.

"Yeah, yeah. I don't care," the colt responded.

He shoved Pinkie against the door to the vehicle, starting the car himself and pressing hard against the gas pedal.

Applejack and Rainbow stood outside the house with a few bags, mouths gaping wide at the retreating vehicle. The other 4 in the vehicle were just as shocked, going too fast to safely hop out of the car.

"So long, losers! I'll keep these 4 ponies for now, Flim might want them. Name's Darius, by the way!" Darius called out, driving away down the road.

Rainbow and Applejack dropped the bags in shock, a little too exhausted from being awake all day to chase after the vehicle.

There was only one word somepony could think about in a situation like this.

Buck.

Road Trip...

        “Well, Rainbow?”

        “Yes, Applejack?”

        “Why didn’t we see this coming?”

        “I don’t know, Applejack.”

        Rainbow and Applejack stared out onto the road, seeing the marks left by the vehicle before it left. It wasn’t very clear from the distance, but it appeared that the other four ponies were still inside the vehicle, alive at the very least.

        “There’s no way we can outrun that thing in our current condition, so I suppose we’re going to just have to hope and follow along at our own pace," Applejack mentioned.

Rainbow bitterly nodded her head, antsy for a chase or a fight.

"If I wasn't tired, I'd show him a thing or two! And Flim too!" Rainbow yelled out. "It's pretty lucky you brought that bag of food, otherwise we'd be finished!"

Applejack gave a reassuring smile, opening her bag and revealing the stowed object included.

"Wow, you brought the gun? Good thinking! Now that jerk won't be able to use it!"

Applejack didnt seem as happy.

"Well, that's nice an' all, but I'm feeling kind of bad. When I used that 'gun' thingy, I fired it at one of them batponies. It hit his wing, and I'd imagine that'd be mighty painful."

Rainbow winced at 'his wing', bringing her own wings close to her body carefully.

"So I want to help out the batpony, if he's still on the road. It wasn't too long ago," Applejack said.

"Wait a second, what about our friends? Our first goal should be-"

"Hold on, sugarcube. The batponies aren't necessarily tired-"

"We woke them up-"

"Stop interrupting me, Dash!"

"Fine, I wi-"

"Alright, so, they might not be very tired, but if we help one of their own, we might seem friendly. They could give us a ride over on their backs, I'm sure we arent that heavy!" Applejack finished.

Rainbow groaned at more than her three consecutively interrupted sentences.

"It seems a little odd to be asking monsters about this. They weren't friendl-"

"Rainbow, we just didn't give them a chance, that's all. Come on, let's go! Bring the 'shellgun' thingy too!"

Another grunt, and Rainbow wielded the shellgun herself with Applejack by her side.

They didn't have to wait long until the fallen batpony came into view, surrounded by it's fellow batponies. They seemed to take no notice of the ponies, focusing on the center of the circle instead.

It wasn't until Rainbow lowered the gun, banging around the shells inside, that they turned to see them.

"Hrm? AH, BRETHEREN, THE DEMON HAS RETURNED!" a batpony called out.

In an instant, they all fled the scene, cursing the gun in Rainbow's hand as they revealed the fallen batpony's condition.

"Well, that was odd. I guess I didn't make a good impression earlier- wait, that batpony isn't moving! It's the one we shot in the wing earlier- no, wait- it was his chest…" Applejack said solemnly, realizing what she had done.

"Relax, Applejack. It's all in self defense, he would've ripped you to shreds or something if he got to you along with the rest of us. Just look at is as though you saved us!" Rainbow assured Applejack.

"I know… but I still ended somepony's life…"

"What we should be worrying about is how we will get to Flim without transportation. It doesn't look good," Rainbow said, face cast down in failure.

"Well, I suppose it was in self defense for ya'll. I'm just disappointed, because it'll all be for nothing. Flim will have them by now."

As Applejack finished, a roaring sound came onto the scene, bearing colours of yellow, pink, purple and white.

Surely enough, it was the determined faces of Fluttershy, Pinkie, Twilight and Rarity in Flim's vehicle. Coming to a stop next to two bewildered faces, the ponies hopped out to greet them.

"Hey, you two! Why the confused faces?" Twilight questioned.

"Bu… but you… beat him?" Applejack stammered.

"Of course we did, silly! He's in the trunk all tied up! You didn't think he could take on four ponies, did you?" Pinkie joined in.

"I can see why you'd be confused. He had planned on the gun you seem to have brought with you being in the car, allowing him an easy kill. As soon as he left, he reached down to find it, but discovered it was gone. So we simply overcame him- except for Fluttershy, that is- and took control!" Twilight explained. "Stop gawking at us, you two, and get in! We have to deal with Flim!"

Applejack and Rainbow could barely move as they slowly headed to the vehicle, attempting to process what had happened.

"So we made all those plans for noth-"

"Of course they weren't for nothing. We tried to do them, Applejack, and they didn't work," Rainbow interrupted, smirking.

"Alright, Pinkie, step on the- wait, why is that batpony lying there… oh dear, Applejack, did you kill him?" Fluttershy inquired, a little scared.

"I don't want to talk about it. It was to defend everypony."

Showing concern, Fluttershy nodded her head and took a seat in the back.

Pinkie, oblivious to anypony arguing or talking, slammed her hoof down on the pedal. Anypony not ready was flown back into the back seat, bunching up with each other in the process.

Anypony who was talking was silenced by the deafening noise combination of the engine and wind, drowning out any sense of reasoning they might have wanted to give to Pinkie to slow down. The speed itself pressed the ponies' hooves against the seats, preventing any physical interactions, romantic or otherwise.

This was all Pinkie, now.

Rainbow hadn't told Pinkie anything about driving, and the buildup of dents and scratches from the reckless driving showed it. As the vehicle got smaller and smaller from the doors getting slammed against the ground, Ponyville began to become a clear figure.

"Pinkie, slow down! We're almost there!" Twilight attempted to remind Pinkie, forgetting the complete sound vaccuum the vehicle presented.

Pinkie didn't seem to be aware of Ponyville or her excitedness got the best of her as she entered the town, smashing benches and buildings before slamming against a tree, shooting Darius out of the trunk.

"Mmph! MMPH!" Darius called out, mouth completely roped closed.

Flim, standing on his cider machine, watched the scene in awe.

"Ugh! What is going on? What have you done to my car?" Flim said, innocently.

The ponies in the car were too dazed and confused to react for the most part, save Rainbow, who had fled the vehicle after Pinkie began crashing into buildings.

"You know perfectly well what happened. We have the letter you wanted to give to Darius, and we know you killed your brother. Why?"

Flim glanced away briefly, taking care not to seem flustered.

"I would never kill my brother! I've already told you what happened, and I'd rather not discuss it. I think what we need to focus on is your friends' current state and how we'll make it better," Flim replied.

"Stop stalling, tell me the truth!"

Flim glaced behind Rainbow, turning his innocence into a devilish smile spread out on his face.

"Now that Darius is back, I think we can get started!"

Flim gestured behind a puzzled Rainbow, who looked behind herself only to meet the end of a barrel leading up to Darius' bruised face. It was useless to approach him even without the gun, what with the apple cider intake seperating the two, inviting a brutal death to any who enters.

"Good thing your little friend stowed me in the trunk. The bush broke my fall, so I decided to help out my old friend Flim in dispoing of you," Darius said, smirking. "Without your friends being in a proper mental state, it was far too easy to simply reach over and grab the shellgun. Oh, and Flim, I'll get you the money for it after we're finished here."

Rainbow shifted her eyes to Flim, straightening her thoughts to escape the predicament she put herself in.

"Excellent, thank you Darius. Now, it's always good fun to end other ponies' lives, but I feel like explaining a few things to you before dashing you and your friends away," Flim taunted.

"You see, me and my brother weren't too successful in our cider ventured after you all defeated us last year, and money was slim. We had enough money to live decently enough alone, but together, we went hungry often. So why not change the equation from us to alone? I decided to test my latest invention on him, the shellgun, blaming the apple intake in the process."

Grinding her teeth, Rainbow looked at Flim with disgust.

"Oh, I dont care what others think. You can quit that disgusted look. Anyway, I wanted more money than I provided for myself afterwards, so I decided to find a way to come back here and sell. Cider is very popular here, but I needed to dispose the one problem inhibiting me- you annoying ponies. You'd have stopped me from making the money I wanted. So I simply decided to let you borrow my vehicle so I could initiate a plan to get Darius, who was at a station on that road, to end you with the gun I had stashed in the vehicle and return the vehicle, leaving Ponyville all to myself. It was much more convincing when I proposed you'd take a vacation."

"The thing is, none of this would be happening if I hadn't forgotten to give Darius the key to the gun. I'm guessing you got the key from the casing, as I had left it, correct?"

Rainbow nodded bitterly, planting her hooves on the cider machine in preparation for attack.

"It's funny how you think that you can beat me without Darius shooting you first-"

Rainbow lowered her body preparing to pounce, before hearing a loud bang behind her. Soon after, screaming from behind her and cries of pain from Flim became clear.

"What just… wow," Rainbow gasped, looking behind her at the remains of Darius, scattered amongst the teeth of the apple intake. Through the grinding noises of the intake, Rainbow could make out curses coming from behind her.

Flim was clutching his chest, heaving in pain as his blood began to flow out.

"That… that idiot! I didn't mean… argh… shoot the gun! Now that idiot recoiled back and tripped into the apple intake! Guess he… *cough* got what's coming to him…" Flim cursed, falling down on the machine's metal cover.

"Seems like he isn't the only one who got what's coming to him, Flim," Rainbow said, pinning him down to the metal surrounding the cider machine.

"No… I just wanted to make myself happy. Looks like the good guys always win, huh? I never… *cough* considered myself to be a bad guy. Just a guy with a purpose. You don't know what it's like to be poor, you all live so *cough* so nicely in this rotted town."

"Not when people like you are terrorizing us," Rainbow finished, watching Flim take his last breaths.

"This was a really crummy way to die. It's almost… comical. Guess I had a 'flim' chance of winning anyway…" Flim laughed, closing his eyes for the last time.

Before Rainbow could do anything, her friends, still a little dazed, surrounded her, staring at the curious situation. Even though he had attempted to kill them and take everything Applejack worked for, it wasn't the happiest of times for the six friends.

"So he was evil? And this whole thing is done now that Flim is dead?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, Darius tried to shoot me, but I had ducked, so he ended up in the apple intake and Flim was shot. Hey, I wonder what came out of Darius when he got chopped up…"

Looking over, they could see a cup of red filling up by the unloading station, where a light blue pony picked it up, unable to see the horrifying scene behind the contraption's protruding tubes and whatnot.

"Wow, they went with tomato juice instead of cider? I should go share this with Bon-Bon!" the pony said excitedly.

"Lyra, don't!" the 6 ponies yelled in unision.

Lyra didn't seem to hear them, but instead took a sip as she trotted away into Ponyville, seemingly content with the beverage's taste.

Silence surrounded the six friends, staring in disbelief.

It wasn't for a few minutes that sompony spoke up.

"Well, that's weird! This is all weird! We need a vacation from this weirdness, what do you think, Rainbow?" Pinkie said.

Rainbow looked at the scene they were in and took a glance at the vehicle, putting on a smile the other ponies knew all too well.

"You know what I think we should do, Applejack?" Rainbow inquired.

"Yes, Rainbo-"

"ROAD TRIP!"