The Good, the Bad and the Unfriendly

The richest men in Equestria were not what one would call “old money”. They had made their fortune themselves in their own lifetime and skyrocketed past everyone else. Guns, guns, and more guns flooded Equestria thanks to the Flim Flam Brothers. There had been a high demand and they had met it and then some. Improved designs, efficient manufacturing, selling, and shipping, all of these things led to the weapons made by the Flim Flam brothers and their subsidiaries to become pretty much the most common thing one would find in the entire country. Thanks to how violent and unsafe things had gotten in recent years, business was even better for them. And you can bet they didn’t discriminate who they sold to. After all, despite becoming richer than anyone else, they didn’t see why they shouldn’t try and become even more rich.

Greed drove Flim and Flam and they didn’t particularly care in the slightest what was done with the guns they made. To them, they weren’t even partially responsible for the uptick in violence in Equestria. After all, all they had done was meet a demand. If something bad was happening then why not get some good out of it and have some people get rich and happy off it?

Because of that some liked to say that the Flim Flam brothers were the true rulers of Equestria, since they certainly had the most impact and influence on it. And they certainly weren’t stopping anytime soon. They and their associates were always looking to make better guns and weapons of war (and personal protection). You don’t fix what isn’t broken but that doesn’t mean you can’t make it better either. That was their goal, releasing new versions and models and guns every now and then that were just slightly incrementally better than the last. So people had to buy them if they wanted to keep up with their enemies.

And Governor Mare had to keep her law enforcement well-equipped thanks to the wonderful contracts Flim and Flam had gotten her to sign.

Flim and Flam were sometimes respected, sometimes even loved, but more often than not, hated by the people of Equestria. That was all water off a duck’s back to them though, they didn’t enter this business (or any damn business for that matter) to be liked. It was all about the money and their own personal pride.

Of course they were smart too, and they knew they had a target on their backs thanks to many, many, many different things. That’s why whenever they traveled outside of their well-protected city and factories they always did it one of two ways: with lots and lots of bodyguards or totally incognito with no one knowing they had even left. Most would’ve been too afraid to try to do anything to them in the first place because they knew how powerful they were and what the fallout from their deaths or kidnapping would be anyways. So Flim and Flam were always relaxed and confident on any trip they took.

They probably should’ve paid more attention to the news though instead of thinking they were above the petty trifles of most Equestrians though.

They would’ve taken more caution when it came to Sunny Flare and the Shadowbolt Gang.

“Well, brother of mine, I do believe we have gotten ourselves into quite the pickle,” Flim said as he stroked his chin, looking out the window of the luxury stagecoach he and his brother were traveling in.

“I’d say that’s an astute observation, brother of mine,” Flam said as he looked out the window on the other side.

The brothers had been traveling as part of a group of other wagons, stagecoaches, and horseriders, to Manehatten. They had important business there. Secret business. And that’s why they had chosen to travel like this instead of with a big entourage of guards and other associates. That decision looked like it may be coming back to bite them as their group had been ambushed by the infamous Sunny Flare and her gang. She had already set fire to the lead wagons and killed most of the defenders of the group, while only a few scattered gunshots now rang out on the prairie. Those sounds died out every second, replaced by screams. Now the members of her gang ran roughshod through every wagon they could find and soon enough they’d be on the very conspicuous and very expensive looking stagecoach Flim and Flam were in.

“Perhaps we should rethink traveling incognito in the future?” Flim suggested. “Nothing seems like it can outweigh the benefits of having a hundred armed guards on horseback around us.”

“That may very well be the right way to do things. Providing we have a future,” Flam said.

“Oh I’m sure we’ll find a way out of this. We’ve been in bad spots before and we’ve always managed alright,” Flim looked at his brother and winked.

Flam chuckled. “Hehe, you do have a point there. After all, our mouths are more dangerous than any gun.”

“This Sunny Flare girl does have a few screws loose from what I’ve heard of her though. Just tossing some money her way or trying to talk our way out of things might end up with us getting a bullet a piece in the head,” Flim said.

“I’ve heard the same things, brother,” Flam said as he sat back on the same long velvety couch cushion in the back of the stagecoach with his brother. The two of them folded their arms over their chests and furrowed their brows, pretty much exactly mimicking each other’s movements. “We’ll have to be a little more creative this time. We’ll have to give a real sales pitch for this one.”

“One for the angels, ay?” Flim raised and eyebrow and smirked at his brother.

“Possibly the best of our lives,” Flam winked.

“I just hope we don’t get shot by one of her trigger-happy cohorts before we get the chance to speak.”

“Oh I’m sure when they see our stagecoach they’ll at least pause for a second or two before lighting it on fire.”

“Oh I sincerely hope so. Not just for us but for our important luggage.”

As Flam finished the both of them looked up at a suitcase resting on an overhang for luggage in the back of the stagecoach. There were some rather important documents in there, the reason they happened to be on this trip in the first place. Losing those would almost be worse than death. Well, not really, but they’d potentially lose a lot of money, and that was pretty bad too. They hoped that Sunny Flare either wouldn’t find out about the luggage or wouldn’t have any interest in it even if she did.

Bad for business. Bad for their reputation.

So getting out of here with their lives and their suitcase intact was the goal for the Flim Flam brothers. They were likely going to have to rely on their silver tongues to have a chance in hell for that, but boy howdy did they have a lot of practice with using those. Nobody, nowhere, could talk themselves out of a pickle better than Flim and Flam. It’s how they had had so few problems with the law despite certain unsavory business practices of theirs. It’s how they always came out on top no matter what and it’s how they were both sure they’d get through things today too.

Flim glanced out the window of the stagecoach on his side, making sure to not actually stick his head out so he could get shot, to see what was going on.

“See anything now?” Flam asked.

“There are about thirty of them on horseback riding around out there. I’m pretty sure they’ve seen our stagecoach,” Flim said.

“How’s our driver?”

“Dead.”

“Mm, well, we’ll send a care package to his family.”

“Chocolates?”

“The best kind!”

Flim was about to respond when the sound of horses galloping became louder. He peered his eyes out and saw a large group coming towards their stagecoach. All the other wagons and coaches were completely ignored, they were definitely coming to Flim and Flam’s vehicle.

“Well, looks like we’re about to get some greetings.”

“Better than a torch thrown through the window at least.”

Flim leaned back and the two brothers calmly sat inside until they heard the horses come to a stop in front of their wagon, waiting for what would come next. Not a drop of sweat rolled down their faces, they were playing it cool. If these criminals wanted something from them then they were going to have to be the ones to start it. Flim and Flam knew all about power dynamics and how to start strong. You had to keep the upper hand in any sort of negotiation or confrontation. That was the same with something like this.

They didn’t have to wait long as a loud, angry, and female voice soon yelled at their stagecoach.

“Whoever the hell is inside that shit wagon, come out right now. And don’t be thinking of doing anything stupid, we’ve got you outnumbered and outgunned!”

“Probably with our own guns,” Flim said under his breath and smiled to his brother.

“Indeed,” Flam smiled back before gesturing to the door. “Well? We shouldn’t keep our accosters waiting, now should we?”

“No we should not,” Flim agreed and got up off his seat, reaching for the door to the stagecoach and opening it up.

The two brothers stepped off the gilded steps that led into the coach and hopped onto the dirty ground. Their polished black shoes glimmered in the bright light of noon, the shoes alone were probably worth hundreds. Not even counting the rest of their top of the line clothes. The rarest white wool pants, white and blue silk shirts, and leopard print ascots around their necks. Gaudy, but a show that they could afford whatever they wanted for whatever purpose. The stagecoach even had a spare of everything just in case. They were carrying more wealth just on their bodies than most of the criminals looking at them right now could imagine.

Except for the very appraising eye of Sunny Flare.

She knew a thing or two about high class clothes. Thanks in part to all the time she used to spend with her old friend, Rarity. But even if she didn’t know how expensive those clothes were, she and her inner circle still recognized just who the two nearly twin brothers were.

“Well now isn’t this a pleasant surprise,” Sunny Flare grinned from atop her horse.

Flim grinned his old salesman grin. “We do aim to please after all, isn’t that right, brother of mine?” He playfully elbowed Flam in the ribs.

“That’s exactly right, brother of mine!” Flam elbowed him right back.

“Shut up, you morons,” Sour Sweet growled, Flim and Flam recognized her voice as the one who shouted at them earlier.

“Oh my, looks like one of the lady gang members has a bit of a temper problem,” Flim said. “Poor girl, you’ll get wrinkles if you keep scowling like that.”

It was a calculated risk to so flippantly insult and annoy one of their captors like that. They were trying to play themselves off like harmless jokesters, and making someone laugh often made it harder for them to kill you. They were rewarded by most of the other girls around Sunny Flare laughing or smirking in amusement at Sour Sweet—who was now red in the face. A lot of the other gang members just looked frightened and worried that Sour Sweet was going to start shooting. But most importantly of all, a slight grin tugged up Sunny Flare’s lips.

While Sour Sweet was in the middle of pulling out her pistol, Sunny Flare threw an arm across her chest and stopped her.

“Calm down, Sour. I’m not about to let you shoot the two richest men in Equestria. Not yet at least. You have to recognize them don’t you?” Sunny Flare hopped off her horse and took a few steps towards the stagecoach. “Flim and Flam, not sure which is which actually, the founders and owners of the largest gun manufacturing business in the country.”

“At your service,” Flim and Flam said and bowed together.

“Now what are you two doing out on the road all alone?” Sunny Flare raised an eyebrow at the brothers.

“Oh well I think we’re just traveling, isn’t that so?” Flim said and looked to Flam.

“Yep, that’s all it is, just a nice bit of traveling,” Flam “confirmed”, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

Sunny Flare smiled and nodded her head a couple of times. “Oh I see, you’re just taking a nice little vacation? Just felt like checking out the Equestrian countryside?”

“You have it right, my dear,” Flim said.

“Right,” Sunny Flare’s grin turned vicious and before the two entrepreneurs could react she had pulled out her pistol and shot the ground right between their legs.

The two brothers froze up, their easygoing smiles temporarily wiped off their faces.

Sunny Flare continued to grin at them. “You can put a stop to the bullshit now. Or keep going and see what it gets you. Your choice.” Then she frowned and waved the gun between the two of them. “And which one of you is Flim and which one is Flam?”

“I have the honor of being Flim,” the mustache-less brother said, taking a slight bow.

“And I have the honor of being Flam,” the mustachioed brother said, also bowing.

“And together we’re the Flim Flam Brothers! Entrepreneurs extraordinaire!” They said together, holding their arms out wide.

Sunny Flare and most of the others were a bit flummoxed but she still couldn’t help but grin a little. “Feels like you’re trying to give a sales pitch.”

“Life is a sales pitch, Sunny Flare my dear,” Flim said and winked at her.

“Yeah? And what are you two trying to sell right now then?” An unimpressed Sunny Flare put her hands on her hips.

Flam grinned and took a step towards her, fearlessly despite the others still having a lot of guns out. “Why we’re trying to sell you on the choice to not kill us of course! A sale we dearly hope to make, after all, wouldn’t the world be so much sadder without the jolly Flim Flam brothers around?”

“I think there are a lot who would celebrate actually,” Sunny Flare snarked.

“Well then let us live to disappoint them instead,” Flam quickly wheeled around. “After all you’re well known for your vicious and unforgiving ways, so wouldn’t you want as many people unhappy as possible?”

“Hahahahaha!” Sunny Flare couldn’t help but double over from laughter at the audacity of what the two were saying. “Okay, okay...” she recovered, brushing a tear from her eye. “The two of you are certainly amusing, I’ll give you that. But I still really want to shoot you both now just because of how assured you are that you can convince me to let you live.”

She cocked the hammer on her gun and tapped the barrel to her head in a brazen display. “So instead of you trying to change the subject again, how about answering my original question of what you’re doing out here. And for real this time.”

“Well of course as you so obviously astutely and intelligently guessed, we’re out on the road on business,” Flim said, still without an ounce of fear in his voice or on his face despite Sunny’s more threatening behavior. It seemed it was just their nature to act and talk in such a way.

Sugarcoat and Lemon Zest traded worried looks with each other while Sour Sweet still bristled and Indigo Zap looked on with a bored expression. To them all it was pretty much a certainty that the two brothers would end up pumped full of lead. It just depended on how long it took for Sunny Flare to either pull the trigger herself or give the order. That was kind of the inevitability of being in the Shadowbolt Gang. It’s how pretty much every encounter between Sunny Flare and someone else ended up. And to Sunny Flare’s underlings, Flim and Flam weren’t really doing themselves any favors.

“What business?” Sunny Flare asked, sharply.

“Important business!” Flam raised a finger. “Naturally you know what we do, it involves the next level in weapon technology. Something that will change the landscape of Equestria.”

“Which is another reason why you most definitely should not shoot us, since that’s something that pertains heavily to you,” Flim added.

Sunny Flare smiled. “Well, you have a point there. And if it wasn’t for all the weapons you two flooded Equestria with I just don’t know where I’d be.”

“Exactly,” Flim winked. “In a way, I would say you owe us, dear. Especially since I doubt you paid for most of those weapons yourself.”

“Got me there,” Sunny Flare shrugged.

“So I’d say there’s ample reason to not kill us. Gratitude being first and foremost,” Flim said.

The members of the Shadowbolt Gang watching this whole exchange had their jaws drop at the absolutely brazen statement. It was beyond courageous and was going into outright stupidity. They were poking the hornet’s nest and they didn’t even care. In fact they seemed to relish in it.

“You know you’re absolutely right,” Sunny Flare agreed but then swiftly held a finger up to her lips. “However. You’re also forgetting something very important.”

Both Flim and Flam shared a brief glance and then raised their eyebrows at the murderer. “And what would that be?”

“The fact that I’m a criminal. So even if I do owe someone I don’t particularly care. I’ll take what I want and do what I want anyways,” Sunny Flare said and narrowed her eyes. “Now on the upside for you two… I’m still deciding whether or not things would be more fun in Equestria with you alive or with you dead. Right now I could go either way. But if you tell me all about this new weapon then maybe I really will be grateful enough to let you live. Just maybe.”

“Well the idea for it is just up in our two exemplary heads,” Flam said. “We don’t have any plans or schematics drawn up for it just yet. That’s actually why we were traveling in the first place, to meet with someone who would help us with that.”

Sunny Flare flatly stared back at him. “Sugarcoat. Indigo. Search the stagecoach.”

For the first time, Flim and Flam shared a slightly worried glance as Sunny Flare wasn’t buying what they were selling. It’s not like the suitcase with their important documents were hidden or anything either. Whoever went into that stagecoach would see it almost immediately. They had tried saying they didn’t have anything physical on it because that meant killing them would make this new weapon lost forever. Obviously Sunny Flare did not believe that to be the case.

Both Sugarcoat and Indigo Zap hopped off their horses and made their way to the stagecoach, shooting smug glares at the Flim Flam brothers as they walked past them. Flim and Flam to their credit still played it mostly cool and didn’t sweat. They’d been in the hot seat before. And would probably find themselves back in it many more times in their lives if they survived the day.

The two girls went up the steps into the back of the stagecoach and began looking around that small compartment. There were a couple of small drawers that contained things like meager spending money, drinks, etc. but obviously nothing that had to do with this supposed new weapon. But of course, Indigo Zap’s eyes soon fell over the suitcase that had been sitting over Flim and Flam’s seat. If there was anything important in this stagecoach then that was probably it. She reached up and pulled it down before moving over to the open door.

“Found something!” She said and hopped down to the ground, Sugarcoat following right after her with a pilfered bag of gold coins in her hand.

“All in your heads, huh?” Sunny Flare grinned as Indigo walked up and handed the suitcase off to her. “So I suppose there isn’t anything important in here then?”

“Well that suitcase is certainly unfamiliar to me so I’m not sure what may be inside it. What about you, brother?” Flim said, stroking his chin.

“Beats me,” Flam shrugged. “I’ve never seen that suitcase before in my life either.”

“I’m sure you haven’t,” Sunny Flare snorted as she temporarily holstered his pistol and unlatched the metal clasps of the suitcase. Thankfully for her it wasn’t very big so she could easily hold it open and see the papers inside. “Oh?” She grabbed the various papers and dropped the suitcase onto the ground with a thud. Now, Sunny Flare wasn’t stupid when it came to weapons but she wasn’t exactly an expert in their construction either. And the plans she now held in her hands were quite wordy and technical. She didn’t want to admit she couldn’t make heads or tails of them in front of her gang but…

Sunny Flare raised an eyebrow at the brothers. “Explain what this is. What is this new weapon?”

“May I?” Flim asked and reached his hand forward.

Sunny Flare scowled but handed him the documents all the same. Flim and Flam smiled and looked over them together, as if they were seeing them for the first time. Everyone here knew they most certainly weren’t but they certainly did a good job acting like it. They nodded along, hm’d, sent each other surprised looks as if something on the papers was especially interesting, all the while giving their faux-appraisal of whatever it was.

“Well?” Sunny Flare asked, impatiently. “What is it? Tell me.”

“Well these very detailed plans were certainly made by some very impressive minds I can tell you that much at least,” Flim said.

“Yes, and what’s on them measures up almost exactly with what we have in our brilliant heads,” Flam nodded.

“Oh yes, what a coincidence, isn’t it?” Flim agreed.

“This will certainly revolutionize warfare and defense of trains and large wagon trains. No doubt about it. The average roaming gang or tribe of Buffalo Men won’t be a threat at all anymore when these get out on the market,” Flam said.

Sunny Flare pulled out her pistol and aimed it right at Flam’s head. “You’re not helping your case.”

Flam held up his hands and smiled at the gang leader. “My dear, that’s only if they get out onto the market. Now with you here it doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen. Or of course… no, no, I shouldn’t say it.”

“Shouldn’t say what?” Sunny Flare growled.

“Well of course… you could always sell such plans to a competitor, or threaten someone to make the new weapon for yourself and have a monopoly on it for a time. You’d be quite unstoppable,” Flam said.

Sunny Flare bit her lip. The idea was definitely intriguing. She was already pretty much untouchable but she had lost some of her gang recently. She didn’t want to even potentially lose some control or be put in danger, things were going way too well for her. “Alright… so what is this weapon then? Why would it be such a game changer?”

“Well by the looks of these plans-” Flim started. “It’s a rapid-fire, multi-barrel, rotary machine gun.”

“A weapon meant to be either mounted on a stand or given wheels like a cannon that can fire multiple high-velocity rounds at a target far faster than even a platoon working together could. Such a thing could decimate an entire advancing line of cavalry from a distance, or tear a gang of outlaws to shreds,” Flam added.

“So what? It’s like a better version of my repeater rifle?” Lemon Zest asked from where she was on her horse.

“Oh yes, dear. Much better. The rate of fire can’t even be compared,” Flim said.

“And that’s also because of the way the ammo is fed into the gun,” Flam said. “Looking at these plans you have exceptionally large cartridges that hold hundreds of bullets fed into the top of the gun. No single person could match the firepower or rate of fire.”

“One of these on every train, and the rails would be safe for the days to come,” Flim smirked.

“One of them with every trail boss, and the roads will be safe as well,” Flam clapped his brother on the shoulder.

“And that sounds bad for my business,” Sunny Flare finished.

“Only potentially. After all if you had one of them yourself you could certainly even the playing field, or give yourself an even bigger advantage on your lawbreaking adventures by getting one before anyone else,” Flim said.

“Oh I suppose that’s true,” Sunny Flare smiled and tapped a finger to her chin before her expression became dark. “But wouldn’t it be better if I just killed you two right here and now, burned these papers, and make sure nothing like this is ever built in the first place?”

But Flim and Flam just smiled.

“No dear, it would not be,” Flim said.

The smile dropped off of Sunny Flare’s face. “And why is that?”

“Because my dear there is something in this world called ingenuity,” Flam said. “While this machine gun is the first of its type it was not created in a vacuum, it is not solely the product of a pair of ingenious and creative minds, there were others who put their vision and hardwork into it, no doubt. So even if the two most responsible for its creation, whoever they may be, died, well eventually at some point the weapon would still be made. The world is always turning and weapons are getting better and better, someone else somewhere would make their own machine gun. And they’d start selling it.”

“If you were to get rid of those plans you’d give up any chance you have of having one of those weapons before they start to flood the market and anyone can just go out and but them. And if you were to kill the two of us, aside from it just being a terribly sad crime against this droll world, you’d lose the opportunity for us to exclusively provide you with one of those weapons,” Flim said.

Now Sunny Flare was all ears for once. “Oh? Keep talking.”

“Well even if you say—kept the plans but killed us—what would you do with them? Sure you could sell them, or force a manufacturer to make one. But could you really get all the supplies needed, the bullets, deal with the time needed to make it? And do you even really know who to go to in the first place for something like that?” Flam shrugged his shoulders.

Flim took over. “We’re wagering no. So here’s the real sales pitch, Miss Sunny Flare. You can keep those plans so you know no one else can build one anytime soon, and you also keep us alive so we can expressly build one just for you. You have leverage with the fact you have our, at the moment, irreplaceable plans, and we have some leverage in that we’re the only business that can and will discreetly build one of the weapons for you without any hassle.”

“And we wouldn’t dare go back on such a deal due to you having those plans in your possession. After all, if you came to our town and we suddenly pretended not to know you, you could just sell the plans to someone else, or rat us out to the governor. I’m sure you’d figure out something to do, being quite the devious and intelligent criminal you are,” Flam finished.

Sunny Flare silently folded her arms over her chest, staring down the two brothers with a frown on her face. Behind her the rest of the gang either stood or stayed on their horses, unsure now what was going to happen or what was on Sunny Flare’s mind. Just a few short minutes ago they were waiting for her to shoot these two but now… they thought that maybe Flim and Flam actually had miraculously talked their way out of death. Sour Sweet and her other close friends in particular were amazed that Sunny hadn’t just shot them already. Trigger happy was too nice of a term to describe Sunny Flare with.

“I still really want to shoot the two of you,” Sunny Flare finally said after a moment of consideration.

“Well we’re certainly not proud enough where we’d refuse to get on our knees and beg if that would convince you not to shoot us?” Flim said, simply shrugging and not showing near as much fear as you’d expect someone in his situation to show.

“Oh yes, blubbering, crying, begging, we’ll do it all if that’s what you want to see,” Flam nodded along. The way they talked about begging for mercy just made it sound like part of a performance from them.

“But-” Sunny Flare continued, a new smirk working its way up her face. “I also get a real kick out of having power over the two richest men in Equestria. That’s quite enjoyable too. Having dirt on you two and knowing you have to do something for me? Knowing I have these precious plans for your new weapon? Oh yes, that’s the kind of excitement that makes me positively giddy. It’s different than the same old same old of shooting everyone I come across, that’s for sure.” Her grin widened and she grabbed the plans back out of Flim’s hands. “I can certainly see how the two of you made it so far in life.”

Flim’s eyes lit up at her words and he smiled. “So it’s a deal then?”

Sunny Flare snorted and clicked her tongue, in disbelief herself at how this conversation had gone. “Yeah, it’s a deal. I’ll let you two live. But that’s all I’m gonna do. You’re on your own when it comes to getting back home or going to wherever it was you were going.”

“Well a resourceful couple of chaps like ourselves have no problem with that. I’m sure we’ll do fine out on the trail,” Flam said, throwing an arm over Flim’s shoulders.

“I bet you will,” Sunny Flare laughed and shook her head, turning around and going back to her horse.

Sour Sweet scowled at the two brothers. “Are we really just-”

“Shut up, Sour. It’s my decision,” Sunny cut her off with a glare.

Sour Sweet wisely shut up but still pouted and narrowed her eyes at Flim and Flam. Who to her great annoyance just cheekily smiled right back at her as if they didn’t know what was going on. The rest all got ready and Sunny Flare hopped back onto her horse, putting the plans for the revolutionary machine gun in her saddlebag. She had hit it big today. Maybe even bigger than if she had found a big bag of gold.

“Let’s ride!” Sunny Flare shouted and rode off away from the trail, the rest of the Shadowbolt Gang following her.

A few of them gave angry or outright disbelieving looks to Flim and Flam, but none of them did anything.

Flim and Flam watched them go. They even waved. It would’ve been an almost comical situation to any outsider. The two of them had talked their way out of being killed by Sunny Flare in the most outlandish and stupidly brave way possible. When the last horse was gone over the horizon, the two brothers stopped waving and took a small sigh of relief.

“Well that went even better than expected!” Flam said.

“Indeed it did!” Flim agreed.

“It’s a shame she has those plans that we worked so hard on forging to look like the real deal. So much work went into those,” Flam shook his head.

“Ah, but that was their purpose after all! You still have the real plans for the machine gun, don’t you?”

“But of course!” Flam reached into the back of his trousers and pulled up a tightly wound wad of papers that he had kept hidden on his person. “Poor Sunny Flare, never going to know she’s got the plans to a dud. Any machine gun someone attempted to make from those plans would fall apart and breakdown immediately.”

“Rather clever us to switch things up, ey brother of mine?” Flim ribbed him.

“Very clever,” Flam ribbed him right back.

“I suppose we should get back on the way to Manehattan. We have a business partner to meet with after all.”

“That we do brother, that we do.”

Arms over each other’s shoulders, the richest brothers in Equestria went walking away together.