Bloody Addiction

"The most pathological effects of pollution are extremely delayed and indirect." ~Rene Dubos

One might wonder why there is a Flim Flam Factory on the outskirts of Pony City. Well, the "outskirts" are what's left of Sweet Apple Acres. 50 years ago or so, the two brothers promised a 75-25 partnership between themselves and the Apple Family, but when the family found out they're not the ones getting the 75, they refused. The two brothers then challenged the family for ownership of the land and apples, and despite the attempts of the Mane 6, Sweet Apple Acres was torn down and Flim Flam Fields was born. In terms of productivity, machine can apparently beat woman. Despite being reduced to employees, the Apple family were soon replaced with machinery. While Big Mac once pulled heavy Flim Flam Field loads, a self driving Tractor-Bot now does that for him with no need for pay. The late Granny Smith used to judge apples with her sense of smell, whereas an advanced Super Cider Squeezy 6000 does that 100 times faster than she ever could. The only route left for the siblings was getting jobs at Sugarcube Corner, making sweets that weren't entirely apple-related, which was a shame. Things seemed to be looking up for them until the two sisters, Applejack and Applebloom, heard their big brother had an "accident" near Flim Flam Fields and died. While the Flim Flam brothers could've done it, they were let go by the judge due to "lack of evidence" *cough* They paid the witnesses to lie *cough*

Having lost half of her family, Applejack accepted the symbiote, which helped her and her sister break into the Flim Flam factory and kill off the founders 30 years ago. Flam's daughter, Flammy, is the sole heir to the business and has continued to control it ever since. Applebloom initially told AJ not to go Pollutant on her as there's been enough bloodshed already on their former land. Bloom was one of the few that knew the Mane 6's secret. But recently, history seems to have repeated itself. Applejack got word from the police her sister was found dead on the dirt road passing through Flim Flam Fields and while she immediately accused Flammy of being the possible killer, the court maintained lack of evidence. This time, if the authorities aren't going to bring her siblings' killer to justice, then she will.

Unlike RD who died in the hospital that evening - Applejack did pay her a visit though - AJ did get her letter of the emergency meeting at Twilight's castle. She couldn't go though as tonight was the night she would finally destroy Flim Flam Fields and reclaim her family's land once and for all. Avenging her family was a greater priority than avenging her friends. They might say to her that killing is wrong, but so was the Flim-Flam Family killing them. And she remembers the old rule: An eye for an eye, and a bloodbath for a bloodbath. Nah, blood's too noticeable, she thought. She'll just do what she did last time. Turn into Pollutant and pump in the poisonous gas that killed off Flammy's father and uncle. Then she'll simply swing out of there and be happy when the newspapers say the heir of Flim Flam Fields died and the land is now up for auction.

Day became night for Flammy. While her robotic workers toiled away, she simply sighed and looked at the picture frame that rested on her desk. In it, she was a baby being cradled by her father and uncle. She never really knew her mother, nor did she ever spend her childhood with her remaining parents. She's all alone now, surrounded by their machinery, not knowing how to honor their legacy properly besides being there. While many in Pre-Pony City considered them to be arrogant assholes who seemed to care about polluting the environment for their greedy purposes, she knew they were never like that. They had plans to create machines that would coexist with the soil, not tamper it. In a world currently so dependent on technology, it's hard to stand out compared to other companies who rely on nonrenewable resources. Or at least not adhere to the norm, irresponsibly dumping waste. Her time trying to teach herself adult duties has already cost her several fingers, requiring some metal replacements. One might even say she's as lost as her digits.

Hearing a long bang from the front door to her office, she sees it open to reveal her robotic butler, back to serve her 10,000th cup of coffee. She puts the sugarcubes on her tray into the mug, picks it up by the handle and gulps it all down. She then hands back the tray, which the butler took as an automated response to go back to the kitchen down several floors to refill it. It bowed to her and left. She looks up at the ceiling light of her room and laments:

"I know I'm supposed to be your legacy, father. It's just that you were taken away from me when I was so young that I don't know what to do. My life has been spent on being raised by your robots and being given everything. In reality, I don't know how to cook, I don't know how to build, I don't even know how to make friends. Your butler's nice, but he's an automaton. His schedule's merely programmed and his soul's manufactured, if he even has a soul. I bet you would simply laugh and say he doesn't as you preferred using machines for everything over paying real workers. I do understand the benefits of that, but you just left me so utterly confused on what to do. I can't even fire these robotic workers as they're stuck on their tedious schedules since they don't follow my voice. They come by with trays of coffee and snacks for me alongside today's profits, but it's been YEARS since I heard a single person come up to me and say 'Hello'. The last time I heard it was from this officer named Nightstick who knocked on my door and revealed you and Uncle Flim died. They just left me here as they assumed the robots could take care of me. They have for over 23 years, but they're not alive. It's just driving me nuts. And bolts. No sorry, I'm not a robot. Or maybe I am." She pulls off her white gloves to reveal her organic and robotic fingers.

"I look at these hands and I don't see the hands of a creator. I see something I'm not. Maybe I should focus on becoming like your workers. Heartless, incredibly obedient, and THEN I might be able to interact with them. I look in the mirror and I want to see you behind me but all I see is myself and the desk behind me instead. Oh, what am I doing? I'm just talking to a fucking lightbulb and not my real FATHER!" She then slams her fist onto her desk, creating a crack on it. Or rather the 15th crack on it as she has taken out her anger on it several times. She then simply put her gloves back on and cried rivers.

Meanwhile, Applejack, having finished her shift in Sugarcube Corner, went up to the roof where she turned into Pollutant. She fired her gooey rope at a nearby building and began swinging her way to the roof of Flim Flam Field Factory. She was going to go through the front door but that would be too easy and she bet Flammy put her father and uncle's robots to Anti-Apple Family mode. Instead, she decides she's going to break in through the glass window on the top floor where the CEO office is. Good thing Flammy surrounded herself by robots and no actual witnesses. However, AJ still shouldn't leave evidence behind for the police. She arrived to the pane and peered in to see Flammy talking to herself.

"Bet she's bragging on about how her fun her life was killing off my sister and continuing her father's work ever since she was a child," Applejack thought as she listened in on Flammy:

"And Father, do you know how long it's been since I even saw a person? And I don't mean the family album I have of you and Uncle Flim, which has several pages empty. It was of someone I also couldn't save. Two days ago, I was simply going outside as I rarely do to see how much the world has evolved ever since my isolation. Well, Ponyville has become Pony City, so that must be a good thing, right? No. I look back here and realize how empty this place is. I then heard a blaring noise and turned around to see it was coming from one of your Tractor-Bots. It spotted a little yellow girl with red hair 'trespassing' on Flim Flam Fields as she made her way through the dirt path that you or Uncle didn't own. And guess what happened? Did I tell her to scram? No. Your Tractor-Bot literally ran her over but when I told it to stop, it simply looked at me and replied, 'Scanning subject. Subject name: Flammy Flam. Going back to automated duties.' That girl's limbs were crushed by the Tractor's wheels, yet she was still alive. Pony City was too far away and when I ran back to your factory, I couldn't find a phone or anything. So I simply went to her and said, 'I'm sorry. I don't know how to help you.' She replied, 'It's ok, it wasn't your fault. It was mine....' and then she died. It took until the sun went down and the moon to go up for someone to FINALLY find her and call the police. Despite the fact the patterns on the girl's limbs matched the one on the tires of the Tractor Bots, the companies you partnered up with told me to shut up and let them pay their way to not have me arrested and have your company keep on going. They may say I'm not the killer, but I am. I just feel so stupid and blind to everything you left behind for me. I don't know what button to press, what tone of voice to say to these robots and I'm overall alone. It was MY fault! It was mine..." She then lies on the ground and cries again.

"So Flammy didn't kill her? She just couldn't save her?" Applejack said as tears formed within Pollutant's face. She had to pull back from the ledge near the window out of sight to tear off her mask and wipe away them. She decided to look again and say, "I'm sorry Flammy. I'm sorry for leaving you like this. I guess I never knew your father well."

"Apologize to her face, Pollutant," she heard a voice near her say before a strong force made her break through the window and land in front of Flammy's desk, mask still not regenerated. She got up just to see Flammy get up too and said, "Um... hello, Flammy."

Flammy's first instinct was to press herself against the wall behind her, stuttering, "Y-you're P-Pollutant? THE Pollutant f-from the S-Symbiotic Six?"

Applejack knew it was too late now to hide it so she sighed and answered, "Yes Flammy. I am Pollutant. It's just that this symbiote felt so awesome. When I become HER, I feel invincible. I feel unstoppable. I feel like nothing could hurt me, so I went ahead and hurt others. I just now feel stupid for what I've done."

Flammy was confused. She asked, "What do you mean, stupid? You killed a lot but you-" she gasped once she connected the dots. "YOU, YOU KILLED MY FATHER?! MY UNCLE!?"

Applejack tried to calm her down by saying, "Please Flammy. Let me explain..."

Flammy was too scared to listen, so she shouted, "YOU EXPLAINED QUITE ENOUGH, POLLUTANT! SECURITY!" She pressed the dusty old red button on her desk which set off a blaring alarm to make the butler storm back in. It scanned Applejack's face before it used its built in flamethrower to set her on fire, burning the symbiote and then her. She tried to roll over and put it out, but she screamed at the top of her lungs as she stopped flailing around and eventually died.

"I finally got justice for my family's murderers. I hope you rot in Hell for this." Flammy declared.

She then got hit by what felt like a sharp tip from the back of her head and when she turned around, it's revealed to simply be a paper airplane. She looked up and saw a figure at the window, the very one that pushed Pollutant to Flammy's office. It simply told her:

"I helped you get your vengeance. Now do what I say and read the letter."

Flammy then opens the paper up and reads what it says out loud: "Four down, two to go. What does that mean?"

The figure simply answered, "Check the news tomorrow. I have to go now."

Flammy simply replied, "Go then. Do what you have to do," as the factory returned to its lonesome state. The robot butler then presented her latest meal. Recognizing the "trash" left in the middle of the office, the butler then shoves AJ's body in a trash bag to further incinerate it. Pleased with her butler's service, she finally smiled and took a sip of her 10,001th coffee.