Grinding an Apple's Gears

by BBeee

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Flim and Flam
Length: 18246

Applejack encounters Flim & Flam again under totally different circumstances...

After the events of "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000", things go from bad to worse for the FlimFlam Brothers. In a time of desperation, they turn to the only pony they can think of for help, but differing views on how to go about apple farming causes friction...

Published 2012-10-20 16:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-10-20 16:50:01 UTC

Grinding an Apple's Gears

Grinding an Apple’s Gears

by Brightwel

Storms. Storms could be both a blessing and a curse for an apple farmer, a double-edged sword if ever there was one. On the one hoof, it ensured all the orchards would be well watered which naturally led to better produce and it helped shake some of the less clingy fruits from their homes in the branches, making them easy pickings for collection the next day. On the other, thunder and lightning were never good for a pony trying her very hardest to get to sleep and not mumble profusely about “darn weather schedules.”

Applejack was one such pony, and despite being amongst the most hard-working, dependable and all-round reliable citizens of the town of Ponyville, her best simply wasn’t good enough to defeat her then-nemesis; the inability to drift off to dreams of golden apples. She twisted and turned and wrestled harder with her sheets than she did with Rainbow Dash in a contest of who was Ponyville’s best wrestler. Were the farmer’s efforts that night pitted against such a meagre foe as that prismatic pegasus, than Applejack would have surely walked away with a blue ribbon and a new title with which to captivate the fillies with. Alas, insomnia was much too stalwart a challenger for even the mighty Applejack, one that downright refused to yield.

“…Ah, hay bales…” she grumbled, finally admitting defeat to herself and withdrawing from the field of battle: her bed.

Taking a lantern in her teeth, the noble earth pony dragged her tired, aching self to the kitchen of the Apple’s farmhouse. Along the way, she fixed each of her family’s bedroom doors with a piercing stare of envy as the sound of carefree snoring rang tauntingly around her drooping ears. How any of them slept with rain pelting the windows and the crack and hiss of lightning howling every other minute, she did not know, but dearly wished she did. Setting the lantern down on the kitchen table, she sat, head on hoof, and stared accusingly at the far wall, as if it had somehow called forth the terrible storm that lashed across Sweet Apple Acres and held Applejack so cruelly in the world of the waking. Everyone of her muscles sagged, and her eyes refused to focus. She felt almost as bad as she had last Applebucking season.

“…I bet everything is right as rain over at the Carrots farm…” Of course, that was simply her frustration speaking and Applejack knew it.

She needed something to do. Something to tire herself out with, mentally and not just physically. Something that would force herself to sleep, regardless of noise. Ironically, an idea came as fast as one of the bolts of lightning that aided her sleeplessness: cider! Cider season was long over, but Applejack always kept a small, extra matured personal store for celebrations and the like. Or “special” occasions, such as the one she was in. Of course, in order to get at that sweet nectar, she would have to dash outside and into the basement, though by that point, it was the early hours of the morning and she was getting desperate for anything that would act as a catalyst for sleep.

Pushing her trusty Stetson down firmly on her head, Applejack marched to the house door, a rekindled fire in her eyes. She was ready to do battle once more! She raised a hoof, steeled herself, and pulled open the door.

And instantly regretted doing so.

The storm was even greater than she anticipated and mercilessly punched at the earth pony, threatening to throw her off her hooves. Regret quickly transformed into determination however; nopony, and that meant nopony, hit Applejack with a sucker punch and got away with it without getting a fine taste of Apple family justice. It didn’t matter if the princesses’ themselves took a hoof to the farmer’s face, they would get what was coming to them. Pushing her hat even further down on her head, the farmer took another deep breath and pushed onward into the maelstrom, being sure to secure the door behind her.

It was an incredible challenge to be sure, but Applejack did not relent, not again. With steely determination, she forced herself through the harsh wind and stinging rain and finally found the cellar doors in front of her. With a loud grunt, she yanked the doors open, threw herself below the threshold and went to pull the wooden slabs closed once more. Yet she didn’t quite manage it, not immediately. Something had caught her eye, over by the barn; two hooded figures, she was sure of it! Squinting against the lashing rain, Applejack tried to spot the two outlines again, but they had vanished. The farmer blinked and looked back and forth between the cellar depths and the barn. She could go and investigate; after all, it simply wouldn’t do to have thieves prowling around the farm. Or she could save herself the awful effort of running around in a king of storms chasing shadows that were probably just her eyes playing tricks in the fierce weather, and instead drink herself to sleep on the finest cider to ever pass anypony’s lips. Being the Element of Honesty, she had learned to also be honest with herself, to trust her heart. And her heart was telling her to get down the cellar steps, crack open a keg and ultimately get some much needed rest. So that’s exactly what she did.

****

“…Perhaps we should wake her…”

“…You want to wake a pony almost guaranteedto buck us all the way back to Fillydelphia this early in the morning? …”

“…Well, dear brother, if you have any other ideas, I’m all ears! …”

“…Uhh… sweet Celestia… my head…”

“…She’s waking up! Hide? …”

“…Hide!…”

For a pony that had drunk as much as she had, Applejack’s hangover was not as bad as one might expect, though it still felt as though that year’s Running of the Leaves was being held within the confines of her skull. She was tempted to swear never to drink again, though that was an oath even Applejack was unlikely to be able to keep. With considerable effort, the orange earth pony managed to hold open her eyelids and concentrate on what had awoken her: voices. Familiar voices, but ones she couldn’t quite put a hoof on.

“…Who’s there? Big Mac? Applebloom? Granny?”

Silence. A smack to the forehead with her own hoof to clear her vision showed there was not another soul in the cellar with her except for a spider quietly minding its own business in the corner.

“…What in tarnation… Must be twirling a fork in my ear…”

With yet more monumental effort, Applejack managed to pick herself up off the cellar floor, muscles and joints groaning and creaking all the way. Carefully, she put one leg down in front of the other, and then repeated the movement. She had learned years ago that it was always best to test how well one could walk after a night of heavy drinking, lest one potentially become uncomfortably aquatinted with the floor.

Confidence growing every moment, the farmer scaled the cellar steps with ease and poked her head out into the open air. It was at this moment that she was struck by two odd things. The first was the fact that she was able to look out at the dawn on the horizon at all, because even though her memory was certainly blurry, she was positive she had shut the cellar doors behind her the night before. And yet, they hung open, letting a cool early morning breeze filter down into the somewhat musty basement. The second odd thing, and most prominent, was the two cloaked figures diving into the barn across the yard. Memories began flashing back; the very same two figures she thought she saw the night before! They were thieves!

“Oh, you two seed swipers got it coming to y’all now!”

Hangover forgotten, Applejack burst into a gallop towards the barn. Much in the same way nopony hit an Apple; nopony stole from an Apple either.

“Get back here, you lowlife apple rustlers! I know you’re in there!” she yelled, if her thundering hooves weren’t enough to signify her approach and her anger.

Within moments, the farmer was at the barn. It didn’t matter that her body still felt most of the fatigue of the night before, there wasn’t a pony alive she would let steal from her farm. Rather than take the subtle approach, Applejack naturally decided on a direct course of action, and promptly crashed through the barn doors at considerable speed, Bucky McGillycuddy and Kicks McGee set and ready to dish out some retribution.

Rather than finding herself in an all out brawl with a pair of no-good bandits, the sight before her took Applejack somewhat off-guard; the two hooded ponies were huddling and quaking in fear before her.

“Mercy, Applejack! Mercy!”

“We’re both too young, devilishly clever and handsome to die!”

The hoods fell back, and the farmer audibly gasped at who sat shivering in terror. It was worse than any bandit.

The sight of two cream-coloured ponies with white-streaked red hair and the ruined remains of striped waistcoats under their cloaks greeted her.

“…Flim & Flam!? Oh, no! No, no, no! I reckon you two have a good five seconds to tell me why I shouldn’t use you both for dragon bait! Why for the sake of all that’s good in Equestria are you two snakes back here!? Go on, out with it!”

The brother shared a look of pure dread… then fell to their knees and bowed before her.

“We need jobs!”

“Employment of any kind!”

The orange mare had been about to introduce both Flim and Flam to a beating they would never forget, certain their answer would not satisfy her. Instead, the farmer simply gawped in confusion.

“…‘scuse me?”

“Jobs, dear Applejack, jobs! We’ve nothing! Not a bit in our pockets! Not even pockets! Why, I can’t remember the last time we had a hot meal!”

Applejack stared at Flim, or possibly Flam, she wasn’t entirely certain. Though since her brain had mentioned it, she did notice that neither of the two were clean shaven. In fact, the brothers looked incredibly rough: both had scraggly beards, both were even thinner than they once were, their coats seemed paler than they once had been and their eyes were slightly sunken into their skulls.

“…Now just hold up one darn tootin’ minute! What in Tartarus are you two yappin’ on about? What happened? And why are you needing jobs, from me of all ponies?”

Once again, the brother exchanged looks and sighed in perfect synchronisation.

“Our luck took a turn for the worst, is what happened. After we left this sweet town of yours, we just couldn’t seem to find a buyer for any of our top-quality products-”

Applejack rolled her eyes and forced some air past her teeth at the mention of “top quality,” but otherwise didn’t comment.

“-And, long story short, we ended up in what one may call… a high stakes sort of game…”

The farmer herself sighed and put a hoof to her forehead, clearly not impressed. She did, though, feel just the tiniest pang of guilt, since she herself had, on occasion, played exactly the type of game the brothers had.

“…Where we, to our incredible dismay, ended up having to part with our beloved Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000,” Flim ended, before wiping a tear from his eye. Flam was the only one to show sympathy.

“So you see, Applejack, we’ve simply no where else to turn!” Flam said, taking over from his distraught brother.

“There’s plenty of work out there, you know, away from here. Farmwork or not.”

“Oh, but we tried, but it just never works out! Apples are in our blood! They’re all we know!” the twins cried while twisting their flanks in Applejack’s direction. Sure enough, their cutie marks still displayed the same incomplete apple on one, and the missing slice on the other. “And, well… our reputation is no better here than it is elsewhere…”

Sceptical would be an understatement to how Applejack looked. “So you’re telling me… not only did you go and lose that ridiculous pile of bolts on wheels in a card game… there ain’t any other job you don’t mess up… and you don’t have any friends or family who’d put you up till you got back on your hooves? I call cow droppings! This’ll just be another one of your crazy schemes to get Sweet Apple Acres!”

The brother’s eye widened in horror as they watched their one last lifeline slip away, and did what any desperate pony would have done in their position. They threw themselves to the farmer’s hooves. They were already caked in enough dirt for the gesture to make little difference to the state of their coats.

“That simply isn’t true, App- Ms. Applejack!” Flim corrected himself before trying to plant a servant’s kiss on his mistress’ leg.

Flam quickly followed his brother’s initiative and adopted the cat’s art of gaining favour, by rubbing his cheek back and forth across Applejack’s coat. “Please! We beg you! Anything, a job- nay, a chance! A single chance to prove ourselves!”

The farmer could not quite believe what was happening before her. The FlimFlam Brothers, literally grovelling at her hooves. And yet, though she could barely conceive the idea of her former nemeses worshipping her in hopes of finding paid employment, she simply was unable to detect a single hint of deceit in their words. Element of Honesty or not, Applejack had always possessed a keen eye and ear for picking out the liars from the truthful. She herself hoped with all her heart that the two would slip up, make just a single error, anything. All they had to do was so much as look at her wrong, and she’d root out their treacherous intents faster than Twilight could recite the periodic table. But, to her growing distress, they didn’t; no matter how she repeated everything they had said and done over in her head, she couldn’t pick up the slightest sign that either Flim or Flam were lying to her, or even bending the truth in any way, shape or form. They genuinely did need her help. And had it been any other pony, she would have offered it without a moment’s hesitation. But it wasn’t, and Applejack had no idea what she should do.

A small, quiet, vulnerable whimpering sound dragged her from her thoughts, and dragged her vision back down to the floor. “…So…? …Please?”

Much as it made her uncomfortable, the mare couldn’t break contact with those two sets of begging, downtrodden eyes. She wanted to disbelieve them, to throw them back to wherever they had crawled from. In Applejack’s mind her conscious was at brutal war with itself and neither her hatred for the pair that had almost destroyed her very livelihood or her simple good-natured self was willing to back down.

“…Gah… Y’all can stay in this barn!”

The FlimFlam brothers exploded into a tear-soaked dance of unrelenting joy. They hugged each other and started laughing uncontrollably, such was their relief.

“Oh, thank you Applejack! You have no idea what this means to us!” Flim managed through choking sobs.

“We’re saved dear brother, saved!”

“I know, dear brother! I know!”

“Now just hold it.”

And hold it they did. In fact, the siblings froze in absolute stillness and locked gaze with their proclaimed saviour.

“Yes… Applejack?”

“I said you could stay in this here barn, for now. Not that I was giving out a single of my hard-earned bits. I need time and a few other heads thinking on this. You got that?”

Their heads nodded at a speed normally only achievable by Pinkie Pie.

“I’m warning you two now; step one hoof out of line, and by Celestia’s horn you are gone.” Applejack strode up to the two, her face the definition of severity and almost touched eyes with them. “You get that into those noggin’s of yours? Give me one reason to think you’re up to no good again, and I will personally make sure you both end up a mighty lot worse than how you were before you got here.”

Neither Flim nor Flam moved, but it was clear that stepping over the firmly-established line was the last thing they wanted to do.

“For now, don’t go past those barn doors. I’ll be back later.” Without another word exchanged between any of them, Applejack stormed out of the barn, slamming the heavy doors loudly behind her.

****

Applejack’s first thought was to inform the rest of her family about the rather bizarre turn of events, but her pace towards the farm house gradually slowed until she had stopped entirely. While it seemed the logical thing to do, the more Applejack pondered it, the clearer it became that without seeing the same display of pure and utter desperation she had seen, the rest of the Apple’s would be very difficult to convince to even hear Flim & Flam’s version of events, let alone employing the brother’s in any capacity. She could actually imagine their responses:

“Get me my broom and I’ll shoo those darn-cottin’ scoundrels myself! They got another thing coming if they think they can just waltz back here after everything they put us through!”

“They almost took the farm, sis! We gotta get them back for all the mean things they did, we just gotta!”

“Eeyup.”

No, confronting her family was a fruit best left for ripening. Especially when she herself was so unsure on what to do about the whole thing. Of course, she soon hoped to change that, and she could come up with no better solution to her “friendship” problem than to go and see one particular unicorn for advice.

So it was that Applejack found herself knocking on Ponyville’s library door. It was still early, and she saw few other ponies on her way into town, but she hoped that Twilight Sparkle might have woken up already. From what Applejack knew, the bookish unicorn wasn’t much of a late-riser and should at the very least be in the process of getting up. Much to the farmer’s dismay, nopony seemed to want to answer her fervent knocking.

Eventually, just as Applejack was about to turn away, the door creaked open to reveal air. Looking down, she noticed Twilight’s number one assistant, the purple baby dragon Spike whose mouth was occupied in yawning loudly. “Hey Applejack… you mind coming back later? We’re still kinda getting ready…” Another yawn forced open his tiny maw to emphasise his point.

“Spike! It’s Applejack you’re talking to! Remember, a friend?” a familiar voice called from within the giant tree, clearly listening in the conversation at the door.

“What!? It is still morning. Whatever, come on in Applejack. What’s brought you here so early anyway?” the dragon asked with only mild interest as he pulled open the door to let Applejack through into the library.

Normally, the farmer would have taken off her hat, at least temporarily, when entering another’s home, though manners were the least of her concerns at that moment. “Well, I guess you could say I’ve got a bit of a crisis on my hooves.”

Spike sniggered to himself and waddled off in the direction of the kitchen to fix them all some coffee and food. “Gee, good thing you came them. Twilight’s always looking for an excuse to write to the princess these days.”

The pony in question was just making her way down the steps from her bedroom, mane still twisted and tangled from sleep, when the comment was made and proceeded to give her assistant a sharp look. “I am not. The princess said to write when I learn lessons on friendship, and that’s what I’m going to do! Anyway…” Comeback given, Twilight turned her attention to Applejack while simultaneously levitating a brush through her dishevelled locks. “So, Applejack. What’s troubling you?”

To business. Applejack sighed and started pacing. “It’s the FlimFlam brothers. They’ve come-a slithering back from wherever it was they hightailed it too.”

Twilight’s eyebrow proceeded to rise to incredible heights on her forehead. “Wait, you mean the FlimFlam brothers? The twins that tried, and technically succeeded, at evicting you from Sweet Apple Acres and gaining a monopoly on all cider sales in and around Ponyville?”

The farmer had stopped her pacing to listen to her friend, and then slowly nodded her own eyebrow reaching considerable heights. “Uhh… yeah. The FlimFlam brothers.”

With the source of Applejack’s woes accurately identified, Twilight eyes narrowed in suspicion and she began stroking her chin. “Great, what do they want? Whatever it is, don’t you worry about a thing Applejack, you know me and all the other girls will help out in anyway we can!”

“I know that, I know… but here’s the thing Twi; they ain’t out to get Sweet Apple Acres. They came to me looking for jobs. I dunno exactly how it happened, and I don’t wanna, but somewhere along the line, those two hit rock bottom harder than Big Mac can hit the fields. They’re desperate Twilight, and I just don’t know what to do!”

Throughout the orange mare’s tale, Twilight eyes had softened and widened in concern for her friend. It was certainly no ordinary friendship problem. “…Are you sure Applejack? The last time I saw them, the FlimFlam brothers would go as far as it took to get the rights to sell in Ponyville. They weren’t just merchants; they wanted to see your entire livelihood destroyed. Are you sure you can trust them?”

Applejack shook her hoofs in the air and dragged them down her face. “I know! But you didn’t see ‘em Twilight, they were begging me. I wanted it to be a lie, really, I did! I wanted them to be talking through their teeth so much, so then I could knock ‘em out! But they weren’t. I tried and tried to see the signs, find some clue that they was pulling my tail, but they weren’t. They just weren’t.” The farmer snorted loudly and fell to her flank, her hooves crossed tightly. “And what am I supposed to do, huh? I can’t just turn my back on a starving pony; I don’t know a soul who could. But it’s Flim & Flam! You said yourself they wanted to see my entire life smashed to little itty bitty pieces.”

Twilight’s expression suddenly lightened and she wore the same smile she did whenever she was going to give insightful advice. “Well Applejack, if the FlimFlam brothers really do want to try and make up for their past mistakes, I don’t think you have a choice but to let them try.”

The farmer’s stern gaze collapsed. “…You really think so?”

“Absolutely! It’s easy to hold a grudge, but a much greater challenge to find it in yourself to forgive. I just know that’s what Princess Celestia would think.”

Decision made, Applejack breathed deeply and readjusted her hat, eyes sparkling with renewed determination. “…A’ight then. I’ll give them a chance. I sure hope you’re right about this sugar.”

The unicorn waved her hoof in Applejack’s direction, a suitably smug grin playing on her lips. “Oh Applejack, I do study the magic of friendship, remember? I’m positive that forgiveness is the right cause of action in this scenario!”

“Yep, whatever you say Twilight, I’m mighty grateful. Catch y’all later.” Before her lavender friend could rope her into some additional lessons on friendship, or worse, the application of advanced mathematics in agriculture, Applejack beat a hasty departure. As much as she appreciated the gesture, she was in no mood for numbers and funny symbols and had for more concerning matters, namely the rest of her family. By that point, it was well and truly mid-morning and Big Macintosh at least should have risen to start work. She could only hope none of them had reason to go to the barn.

“But Applejack, wai- Oh…” Twilight had been eager to discuss the issue some more and possibly even make a first draft of a friendship report for the princess, but it would have to wait. She pouted just as Spike returned holding tray of mugs and toasted hay.

“Guess she just left?” the small dragon asked.

“Yes Spike. Sorry you wasted time making things for three ponies.”

“Wasted? Just means more for me!” he happily proclaimed as his tongue went to scoop up a sizeable portion.

Twilight rolled her eyes at his antics, but her gaze soon strayed to the libraries door. She was adamant that forgiveness was the right path. That didn’t mean things still couldn’t get messy.

****

Applejack’s fears were realised as she galloped back to Sweet Apple Acres and to the barn in particular. Crashing, banging, shrieks of terror and some distinct Apple family cussing.

“But Applejack said-”

“Don’t you varmin try that one again! I ain’t falling for none of that hooey!”

“But she did Granny Smith, she did!”

Once Applejack thought about it, the barn had probably not been the best place to keep the brothers and nor had it been a wise course of action to not give her family any prior warning or notice. Regardless, the sight that beheld itself to her when she reached the open door of the barn wasn’t as wince-worthy or gruesome as it potentially could have been.

Flim & Flam had somehow ended up swinging gently back and forth on a length of rope tied to the ceiling and it was clear they were holding on for dear life. Granny Smith was waving a broom at the two menacingly and each pass they made of the furious old mare forced them to pull their rear hooves and flanks up higher lest they get swatted. Applebloom was taking pot shots from a basket of rotten apples and Big Mac was calmly filing his back hooves, presumably for when the two finally came down.

“Applejack! Applejack, help!”

All eyes turned to the new comer. As much as she would love nothing more than to join her family in scarring the brothers for life, she had agreed to give them a chance.

“…Put those down you three. We gotta talk. About them,” she motioned to the pair of shark-bait on a fishing line. “Don’t go hurting them yet.”

While the brothers let out great breaths of relief and seemed to want to pray, the Apples exchanged somewhat confused glances between one another. Applejack was afraid they would ignore her and continue their witch-hunt, but they all knew that tone of voice too well and threw their assortment of improvised weapons to the ground. The next few minutes, Applejack thought, would be difficult.

****

“…So we’re going to give them a chance, and give them so work to do,” Applejack concluded. It had taken her quite a lot of time to explain the situation to the rest of the Apples, and it was met with no small amount of critical looks, comments and counter-arguments, many of which were aimed directly at the brothers who had since gotten down from the rope and were quietly wincing and rubbing their hooves together nervously in the corner. “I don’t like it any more than you do, trust me. But it wouldn’t matter if Nightmare Moon herself came knocking on our door; if she was as starving and out of luck as those two, we’d have to help her. It ain’t our way to just turn our noses up at a pony in need, no matter who it is. All in agreement?”

There was a chorus of muttering and grumbling, but Granny, Applebloom and Big Mac all nodded their heads slowly.

The orange mare managed a weak smile. “Good. I know all too well how much y’all must want to smack them upside the head, and so you should, but they’re working for Sweet Apple Acres now, just until they can get some bits together to make their own way. Now go on, I’ll sort this mess out.”

“You’d best know what you’re doing Applejack. And you-” Granny Smith turned and stomped up to the twins as best as her frail self could manage. “I swear on my son’s grave, you pull any of that again, and- and…!”

“Woah, nelly! Calm down there Granny Smith! Just… just go take a nap, for me? I promise that I’ll sort this whole thing out.”

The Apple matriarch did finally contain her rage and she let herself be pulled away. She gave the wide-eyed brothers one last glare before following Big Mac and Applebloom, who took another quick shot at them, out of the barn.

Applejack watched them go, and then sighed before turning her attention to the twins. “Okay. Here’s how it’s going to work; you can sleep here in the barn, do everything we tell you to do and I’ll pay you the usual rate for help. Don’t go in the house, don’t use any of the tools without permission and if you ain’t sure about something, ask. Got it?”

With the war-mongers gone, both brother’s voices became noticeably less shrill. “Of course Applejack, of course!”

“When it comes to apples, you can trust us. We are, after all, the world famous Flim & Flam, apple entrepreneurs extraordinaire!”

An apathetic snort rippled from Applejack’s nostrils. “Yeah, I’ve just decided on another rule: none of that kind of talk. You got a looong way to go before you can start throwing fancy-smansy titles around like everypony respects you. A long way.”

The two deflated slightly and pouted like a pair of school colts. “Aye aye, Ms. Applejack,” they droned in unison.

Applejack’s smirk could just possibly be mistaken as a friendly one. “Now that’s a tune what I like to hear. You can start in our east field, nice and simple basics; just gather as many apples as you can and bring ‘em back to the yard. Go on then, to work with you!”

The twins stopped their pouting to listen to their new employer’s instructions, saluted upon receiving their orders then dashed off to complete the task at hoof. “We won’t disappoint!”

“We’ll have those apples gathered lickety-split!”

Applejack just managed a smile as she watched them go.

****

“You know what Twilight? I think you was absolutely right about those two. You really hit the nail on the head on this one.”

It had been close to a week since the FlimFlam brothers had accepted themselves as Apple family employees and since Applejack had become their employer. Though at first she had been wary on how well the wiry ponies would perform, and whether tensions between the two and the rest of the family would subside or grow, the twins had worked admirably and obeyed every rule that had been laid down. She was surprised to hear herself admit it, but the two were actually proving to be a true help. So much so in fact, that Applejack had allowed herself a rare day off, which she had at first spent getting the best night sleep she had had in possibly weeks, and then relaxing away another few hours with her friends at the spa.

“There’s good in everypony Applejack, you’ve just got to help them find it and bring it to the surface!”

“It’s so wonderful to hear that you’ve become friends. I think it’s just awful when you meet somepony you consider an enemy,” said Fluttershy while soaking herself happily in the sauna.

“Well, I dunno if you could call me and Flim & Flam ‘friends’ yet Fluttershy. That might be jumping the barrel a might bit early.”

“Oh, nonsense Applejack! Those two are total gentlecolts and I’d be surprised if your relationship with one of them wasn’t on the fast track to something… more.”

The farmer’s mouth hung slightly agape at Rarity’s comment and her cheeks were tinged with just the slightest red. “N-Now just hold on one darn minute! There ain’t no chance in all of Equestria that I’d… get together with either of those smooth-talking, eye-winking, self-loving music boxes! No matter how much sweat and tears they put into making up for what they did! Besides, I can’t even remember which one is which half the time!”

While the others simply laughed, Rarity couldn’t help but swoon. “Oh, darling, you’ve no idea what you’re missing! Haven’t you seen that moustache? I know they tried to steal Sweet Apple Acres, which was incredibly rude of them, but they’re still high up there on the charm scale with even dear Fancy Pants! And if they’ve turned over a new leaf, made amends for what they did… well…” The seamstress managed to only sigh dreamily and sink deeper into her mud bath.

“A-And t-that m-mach-chine o-of th-theirs w-was a-awe-s-some!” Pinkie at least attempted to say through the vibrations of the hooves pounding her back.

“I dunno AJ, I’d still keep an eye on them,” said Rainbow Dash while lying back on a lounger.

“Rainbow, we all know what Flim & Flam tried to do, but you heard Applejack; they’ve been working really hard. I think they really want to redeem themselves,” Twilight replied.

“She’s right Dash, I couldn’t believe it either at first, but those two have been busting their buckers- Well, horns, I guess… Anyway, point is, Flim & Flam both have been pushing themselves near nonstop. I honestly think I was wrong if I was ever suspicious.”

“And I think that you’re both being too forgiving. They tried to take Applejack’s farm! Her entire livelihood! Over cider!” the pegasus yelled with increasing frustration, causing Fluttershy to shrink just ever so slightly.

A flash of doubt crossed Applejack’s face for a split second, but was quickly dispelled to whatever dark depth it had came from. “I ain’t saying they ain’t done some awful things, they have. But they’re doing some good things now, they’re doing right not just by me, but to my whole family. You know how good I am at picking out lies when I hear them, and I swear to Celestia those two are as clean as my mother’s whistle.”

Rainbow Dash merely shrugged and lay down to enjoy the spa treatment. “Well if they turn out to be up to something, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Dash, I have every confidence that none of those two will give me any reason to doubt them. You’ll see.”

****

The spa certainly did its job well, and Applejack left feeling refreshed and re-energised. The cool afternoon breeze did nothing but encourage the skip in her step. In fact, the earth pony was feeling in such an elevated mood that she had decided to let Flim & Flam have the rest of the day off, paid. They had earned it, without doubt. As she neared her farm and home, she veered off towards the southern most orchards where she had set them to work earlier, the very same orchards where the two families had once clashed and where Sweet Apple Acres had come so close to becoming FlimFlam Fields.

She shuddered and forced the bad memory down, preferring to smother it with more recent, happier ones. They wouldn’t double cross her, they had no intention to. Heck, their work ethic and willingness to please had practically won over even Granny Smith and the rest of her family. And Applejack knew from experience just how difficult it was for somepony to get in Granny’s good books after calling the old mare chicken. The two had seemed especially cheeryand ready for work that morning, too.

As she passed through the thicket of juicy fruit bearing trees she heard their voices in the distance. It sounded like they had made their biggest harvest to date and their overjoyed squeals of delight drew Applejack ever quicker to where they were working. She began to frown however as another sound made its way into her ears, a soft chugging noise.

“Flim! Flam! Where you both at? I gotta little surprise for y’all! Guess who’s getting the afternoon off! Heck, guess who’s going be dining in the house toni-” Applejack didn’t finish her sentence. Or rather, she did, but not with the words she had wanted to say. Instead, a high-pitched gasp, some may even say scream, tore its way up her throat and out of her mouth, leaving her vocal chords paralysed and her mouth locked open.

“Applejack! We were just about to come find you! We wanted to surprise you, but well… Isn’t it marvellous? A true feat of FlimFlam ingenuity!” Flim called from atop the thing.

“It may not perform exactly the same function, but this makes the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 look like an outdated pile of, dare I say? scrap!” Flam pointed out with no small level of pride from by an open panel on the thing.

The thing in question held Applejack’s wide-eyed gaze in a firm, metallic grip. It was a machine. It was certainly not as imposing as the brother’s previous construct, being perhaps only half the size and having the appearance of a oversized red, metallic barrel on wheels covered with the same assortment of knobs, dials, lights, coils, switches and buttons, but it was still a machine. A machine like that mechanical monster that had come within a single hair’s width of destroying everything, of taking Applejack’s, nay, the Apple family’s reality and grinding it all to dust.

A volcano began to violently bubble inside Applejack at the mere sight of it.

“Oh, I can only agree brother of mine! But we need a name, something with a real FlimFlam ring to it!”

“Ahh, yes! The name! Such an important part… Any ideas Flim?”

Genius hit the moustache-less one of the pair. “…How about the ‘Super Easy Apple Freezy 6100’?”

“Brilliant! Stupendous!”

Flim leapt down from the machine and embraced Flam around the shoulder with a single leg, and was likewise embraced in return. They beamed at Applejack with such grins and then burst into their cringe-worthy laugh. It was the last straw.

“WHAT THE BUCK DO YOU TWO THINK YOU’RE DOING!?”

The engineering pair were visibly taken aback at seeing their employer explode. For several seconds they could only listen to the echo of Applejack’s thunder. “…It’s… It’s a gift… T-To help around the farm!” Flim finally managed to stutter while tightening his grip around his brother in a vain effort to prop up his quickly diminishing morale.

Applejack snorted loudly. The brother’s were certain they saw some flames coming from her nostrils. “A gift? Not something that’ll let you boys have another go at our farm? Explain. Now. Before I roll that thing into Ghastly Gorge with you two riding first class.”

Like a salesman whose pitch had gone horribly, horribly wrong, Flam began to stammer in an attempt to salvage what he could. “No! We built it for you Applejack, for you! I-It’s a refrigeration device! You can pull it with you while collecting, or hook it up to any storage unit, and it’ll keep all your apples cool, fresh and ripe for much, much longer! G-Guaranteed!”

“And listen! It’s just so quiet! Plusit even has an advanced quality control mechanism! No more hours of sniffing apples for dear old Granny Smith!” Flim added, receiving a rapid succession of approving nods from Flam.

The farmer was not impressed. “You swear, body and soul, that thing don’t mean me or my family no harm?”

The look of horror at such a thought on both twin’s faces struck something in the orange mare. “Applejack… You’ve done so much for us when nopony would! We just wanted to repay the kindness! Flim & Flam always pay their debts!” Flim said with such a straight, sorrowful face that caused the same odd feeling of doubt at her accusations to pang deep in her chest. She wanted to stay angry, she really did, but she could feel her raging fury dissolving slowly into nothingness. But there was one part of the whole affair her heart would not budge on.

Applejack breathed heavily and looked to the soil for a moment. It was almost exactly like when she had found them; every fibre in her mind screamed at her that the pair were lying, that they were pulling her hat down over her eyes, but she knew in her soul that the words they fed into her ear were clean, nothing but the honest truth. “…A’ight, I can’t hardly believe I’m saying this, but I trust you on this.”

Relief flooded the twins and they rushed forward to hug their gracious, merciful employer, but were stopped short by a sudden glare, tinged with that fearful anger.

“But that don’t mean I’m accepting that as a gift. I want it off my land, in pieces if it has to be. That ain’t how we do things here, ain’t how we’ve ever done things here and ain’t how we’re ever going to do things here. You get that?”

The brothers looked as if they were being asked to give up a firstborn child. “But… Applejack…” Flim started.

“We did the math! This device could help preserve your harvest by forty. Eight. Percent!” finished Flam.

Applejack was having none of it however and she stamped a hoof on the ground to show it, leaving a very deep and clear imprint. “I couldn’t give a rotten orange about your fancy mathematics or that darn device! Either take it someplace else far away from my farm, take it apart or take yourselves out of your jobs, choice is yours! How’d you even afford to build something like this? I swear if you’ve touched a bit of Sweet Apple Acre money…”

“We dipped into some of our own earnings…”

“All of our earnings actually, brother,” Flam corrected.

Once again, Applejack’s chest tightened just slightly. What was it? Sympathy? Guilt? Whatever it was, she didn’t like it and tried her best to ignore it. She sighed. “Look, I’ve a good mind to boot y’all back onto the streets-” The twins eyes widened. “…But I ain’t going to. You pulled a stunt like this when you first got here and I don’t think I’d say the same, but I gotta admit that you ain’t done too badly so far. So, s’long as that doo-hickey ain’t standing around by tomorrow, I’ll let this one slide. I believe you when you said that you don’t mean to hurt us, just… don’t go behind my back like this again, a’ight? Crazy gadgets ain’t how we do things here on Sweet Apple Acres, and it’s staying that way.”

The twins were the face of disappointment and dejection, but did not voice any argument. Instead, the both meekly nodded. “Yes Applejack,” they said in synch, heads held low.

“Good… Forget about the apples for now, I just want you to focus on taking that apart. I’ll… see y’all later.”

Without another word, the twins each turned and levitated their tools to them and quietly set to work dismantling their latest creation. Applejack tried to leave then and there, but her hooves refused to budge, forcing her to awkwardly watch two ponies she had saved from oblivion destroy their gift to her. The ear-piercing screech of a metal panel being torn away broke the paralysis rooting her in place and she practically ran from the scene.

She did not see Flim or Flam again at all that day. She may have had a morning of rest, but the intensely good disposition Applejack had been in was gone and irritation had filled the void in its place, prompting her to find some odd task to do around the farm so as to focus her thoughts on something productive. The frustration plagued even her work however, but she begrudgingly pushed on with it until a number of clumsy mishaps caused her to angrily throw in the towel. It was almost instantly clear to the rest of her family that something had her extremely agitated, but Applejack herself couldn’t find the words to describe the hazy storm of emotions inside her even if she did want to talk about them. Instead, she went to bed refusing to discuss or so much acknowledge the issue.

****

Applejack did not sleep well, despite her efforts to the contrary. It was like the night she had gone drinking and first caught a glimpse of the FlimFlam brothers skulking around her farm all over again. No matter what position she put herself in, sleep floated just out of reach, no doubt laughing and mocking her with sadistic glee as even her incredible strength failed to grip and wrap her tired mind in respite’s sweet embrace. That same sanity-tearing itch inside her refused to take its business elsewhere and would not tolerate being ignored. Suffice to say, the farmer dragged herself out of bed in no mood for farming.

Although the orange mare was normally an incredibly diligent worker, Ponyville’s finest perhaps, the willpower that let her get up at the crack of dawn to start work, the willpower she had taken for granted as just a part of her personality, was gone. A disappearance she could not stand.

Rather than sit and gripe over how much her encounter with the brothers and their machine had bothered her, the farmer instead decided on a walk to clear her head. Quietly, she snuck as best as she was able out of the farm house and the borders of the orchards, keen to avoid her family and any tough conversations it may bring. In the past few days, she had developed a habit of making a quick stop at the barn in the morning to rouse the twins and give them a little breakfast, at first just some oats but as the days went by, a bit of pie or strudel perhaps. That day however she only gave the building a fleeting, annoyed glance. When she reached the roads crisscrossing around her farm and the nearby town she set her eyes straight forward, into space, took a deep breath and started walking. It was a gloomy day to be certain, dark clouds blotted the sun and a light drizzle was already forming small puddles along the path. The weather wasn’t a part of Applejack’s concern however.

“Thinking time,” she said aloud. She was going to find the root of her agitation and rip it all out into plain view. Applejack had never had any particular fondness for things that grew underground and out of sight, but this was one vegetable she was determined to get between her teeth.

Did she feel guilty for making the FlimFlam brothers take apart their device, even after all the hard-work, and bits, they had poured into it? It was obvious from the looks on their faces that what they could do with a wrench was a passion for them. Perhaps she did feel a bit bad for making them dismantle it. But wait, that was silly! They should have known from their last encounter that complex gizmos weren’t the Sweet Apple way. Besides, they must have used at least some of the tools laying about the farm in order to build that contraption of theirs, even though she had specifically warned the brothers not to use them without first getting permission. She had no reason to feel guilty; they had broken the rules and so had to face the consequences. No, it couldn’t have been guilt, she must just be angry. That sounded far more sensible, it was rare after all that anypony betrayed Applejack’s trust, snuck around behind her back to construct some wholly unnecessary gadget she wouldn’t want to throw a carrot cake at, let alone use. That was it, she was just mad at how they had ignored her feelings and been so inconsiderate, how they had betrayed her. She’d get over it, surely, if they kept up their previous record.

Eventually, Applejack found herself in Ponyville itself, with an inability to recall precisely when she had wandered into the village. She hadn’t been aware she was thinking so hard, and she made a note not to make a habit of it. Much like when she had come seeking Twilight’s advice, it was still early and only a small number of folk were out.

Applejack still felt odd inside, but the conclusion she had arrived at had eased her brain somewhat and she felt confident enough that she would be able to do some work and face her family, and perhaps even Flim & Flam. Before she could set off back through the town’s streets however, a distinctly feminine voice called over what few ponies there were. “Yohoo! Applejack!”

The orange mare’s ears poked up to better catch the call and her head swivelled to try and spot the voice’s origin. It didn’t take her eye’s long to locate that origin, as the rapidly approaching glossy purple mane and shiny white coat stood out in the virtually empty street.

“Oh, howdy there Rarity. Didn’t expect to see you about this early,” Applejack said, managing a small smile.

“Or me you, Applejack! I don’t suppose you’re here for Diamond Heart’s sale too? He’s got some simply lush rubies and I just know I’m not going to be the only mare in town who wants them!”

Applejack didn’t even know who Diamond Heart was. “Uhh… no. I just need to clear my head is all. Flim & Flam messed up big time and I’m a might bit peeved at ‘em is all.”

“Oh, that’s terrible!” Rarity gasped. “What did they do this time? Don’t tell me they’ve went back to their old ways?” she asked in a shocked tone.

“…Not exactly. They went and thought that they’d sneak around without me knowing, surprise me by making me one of their darn machines to help around the farm with. I mean, sure, they was good intentions, but using my tools and building stuff on my farm right under my nose just ain’t on, especially when they’re using it to put together something like… that. So I got them to take it right back apart,” Applejack explained, certain of her justification.

Rarity nodded in understanding. “Oh, I think I completely understand. Sometimes I simply cannot stand the racket some machines make. Even if it does help, sometimes the noise can drive a lady up the wall!”

The farmer’s smile fell just a notch. “Uhh… actually, it was pretty quiet…”

Rarity blinked. “Oh,” she uttered before regaining her composure. “I assume it was the smoke then? A big, industrial thing like that must have been belching the horrid stuff everywhere. And it would be especially bad for your apples I can only imagine.”

Once again, Applejack’s smile took a very slight dive. “No… wasn’t that either.”

Rarity pulled an awkward face. “…Oh! They used your money for it! Dreadful, one really should ask before doing something like that, even if it is to help.”

“No… They actually used there own… all of it apparently…”

“…It would be more trouble than it was worth?”

“Well, actually sounded like it would be pretty darn helpful…”

“…It was…It was…” the seamtress struggled. “…it was ugly?”

Applejack scratched the back of her neck with a hoof. “No uglier than their previous machine…”

Rarity blinked once more and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry Applejack, but I’m failing to see the problem.”

Applejack wrinkled her face in frustration. “I just told you the problem! They didn’t tell me nothing about it! They built it all in secret, right behind my back! And they probably used some of my tools when I said they couldn’t!”

“Oh, darling, you said yourself they wanted to surprise you. With a gift! Yes they probably should have said something, but it’s hardly a reason to hold a grudge. And ‘probably,’ Applejack? You mean you don’t know they used your things?”

Despite the damp and the cold weather, Applejack started to sweat. “Well, I, uhh… no, I don’t know. But how else would they have built it, huh? With their bare hooves?” The argument was sounding less and less convincing even to Applejack. When she thought about it, she hadn’t noticed any of her tools or equipment misplaced, temporarily or not, and she hadn’t heard Big Mac or Granny Smith complain about such a problem either. Neither had she noticed any of Apple family tools when she had confronted the two with their device.

Rarity was equally sceptical of the evidence. “Applejack, to my knowledge there are several stores in Ponyville that would have what they needed. Now come on, what has really got you so distressed?”

Applejack couldn’t think of any other ways in which to incriminate to brothers, and so blurted out the only thing left. “It just ain’t our way, Rarity! Sweet Apple Acres has done just fine without any kind of fancy new gadgets, and it’ll keep on doing just fine without them! We don’t need nothing those two can cook up!” The farmer rested her case and looked sternly at her friend, awaiting her response.

Rarity simply seemed to analyse Applejack for a moment, then started into a light chuckle. “Oh, Applejack, now I see! You’re… oh, what would Twilight say…” she pursed her lip in thought. “Oh, that’s it! You’ve got yourself a case of technophobia!”

The farmer raised an eyebrow. “Mind repeating that in Equestrian sugar?”

“Applejack, I think that you are afraid of technology!”

It was clear to Rarity that Applejack took immediate offence at the suggestion. “Afraid? You’re a few beams short of a barn! I ain’t afraid of that… thing…” she trailed off, confidence falling.

The smugness gushing from Rarity’s every pore sent a few twitches of annoyance through the orange mare. “Oh, come along now Applejack, everypony has something they just can’t stand. Why, surely you must all know mine by now…”

She did. The memory of Rarity’s various dramatics was enough make Applejack’s eyes roll automatically.

“Anyway, it would only make sense for you to have a… fervent dislike, we shall say, for anything with parts that move by themselves after Flim & Flam won that competition with their… Oh, what was it called? Something quite catch-”

“The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000.”

Rarity took a second to stare at her friend. “Err… yes, that. My point is, is that machine beat you so badly at your own game that you must have gotten a phobia for everything mechanical! Seeing whatever it was that the brothers put together this time must have dredged up all those dreadful thoughts and feelings. I’m quite certain Twilight would agree with me on this.”

Applejack didn’t seem entirely convinced and took to rubbing the back of her neck. “I dunno Rarity… Besides, what good is knowing that gonna do us? I’m still not gonna like them, even if I was ‘afraid’ of them. Which I ain’t.”

Rarity laughed and gave the farmer a playful nudge on the snout. “Oh, Applejack, how silly you can be sometimes. Tell you what, come over to the boutique later and we’ll see what we can do. We can have a little phobia session!”

“Sounds just up my avenue,” she deadpanned. “Shouldn’t we ask Twilight for help on this one though? Smarts and brains and science-y stuff is her thing.”

“Don’t be so negative! I’ve not a doubt in my mind that we won’t be able to help you overcome this, you’ll see! And let’s be honest about Twilight here, dear, she’d spend hours combing through her books and asking you all manner of questions about your childhood. As much as I love her, you and I both know Twilight has a rather poor habit of sometimes overcomplicating even the simplest matters. No, I think it best we simply deal with this issue ourselves, for now.”

“I guess you’re right. I really don’t want to kick up a stampede on this one, you know? As little fuss as possible?” hinted Applejack, looking to Rarity expectantly.

“I swear on my fire rubies we’ll keep it short and sweet! Anyway, I should really dash before Diamond Heart gives his merchandise to somepony who doesn’t have the talent to use them. Ta ta!” With a swoosh of her mane and a blown kiss, Rarity sauntered away, leaving Applejack alone in the street a lot less sure of herself than she had been when they’d first started talking.

“Yeah, catch you later Rarity…”

Applejack doubted Rarity’s phobia theory, but the seamstress had succeeded quite easily in tearing apart all of her arguments. Could she really just be afraid of anything resembling a modern contraption? It couldn’t be right, she was, after all, completely fine with riding Equestria’s various trains and she didn’t flinch at the sight of the blinking equipment kept in Twilight’s basement. No, Rarity must be wrong. Still, Applejack agreed to humour her. She wasn’t sure she was ready to face Flim & Flam again that day anyway.

****

The time dragged and it felt as if hours had passed while Applejack was waiting for Rarity to return to Carousel Boutique. Eventually, her purple mane appeared on the horizon, her horn glowing and carrying for more than just simple gemstones.

“Sorry to wait you waiting, Applejack, but there was some simply divine fabrics on offer… and teas… Oh, and some furniture, as you can see.”

“Uh-huh, can we just get this thing over and done with?” Applejack intoned impatiently.

Rarity gave a quick nod in response and unlocked the Boutique door, then spent several minutes trying to fit all of her most recent purchases through the frame. Some oil and a great deal of swearing later and the two successfully flopped to the floor inside the shop, panting and sweating.

“A’ight, enough of this messing around, can we please do whatever it was you were wanting us to do?” Applejack asked after regaining her breath.

“Well, I’d be far more comfortable taking a bath first-”

“Rarity!”

“Oh, fine, yes, we’ll see if we can’t help with your phobias first!” relented Rarity.

“If that’s what it is. Which I don’t think for one second,” retorted the farmer. “So what we gonna do anyway? Strap my head in a cage full of little squeaking gears?”

Rarity chuckled and sat herself down at one of several sewing machines she owned. “Of course we’re not going to do something as ghastly as that. No, we’re just going to have a sort of ‘lesson,’ to try and get you to change your opinion on all things technological. Now, what is this?” She gestured to a sewing machine in front of her.

“One of them stitching doo’hickeys. And as you can plainly see, I ain’t quivering under the nearest cart. I’m telling you Rarity, I don’t have no phobia!” Applejack insisted once more.

Rarity ignored her pleas however and turned the machine on while levitating some of the fabric she had just bought to her. “It’s called a sewing machine, but yes, you’re absolutely right. And what does a sewing machine do?”

Applejack sighed impatiently. “What it says right there in the name. It stitches things together for you. Where you going with this Rarity?”

The fashionista held up a hoof to silence her protests while feeding the fabric into the device. “That’s right, it stitches things for me. Can I stitch by myself?”

The orange mare’s annoyance was becoming increasingly apparent. “What kind of dumb question is that? ‘course you can stitch! You do it all the time!”

Rarity nodded, keeping calm and collected in the face of Applejack’s growing agitation. “Right again. I can stitch very well, in fact. But, Applejack darling, could I stitch two hundred dresses, with my bare hooves, in a single day?”

The farmer was taken back by the question, in part because she didn’t actually know the answer. She suspected that it was ‘no,’ two hundred dresses sounding like an awful lot for a single pony to stitch with her hooves and horn alone, but she had no idea exactly how long it would take to do a single dress. “Uhh… that’s a lot of dresses, right? No?”

Rarity clapped her hooves together, signifying Applejack’s success at answering the question. “Precisely, Applejack, precisely! There is simply no way I could hoof-stitch two hundred dresses by myself in a single day. With the sewing machine however, I at least have a chance. I would still have to work non-stop, so I suppose it’s not the greatest example, but you see my point. Sometimes, there are tasks which a lady just can’t do by herself, why, there are some tasks ponies simply can’t do.”

Applejack rolled her eyes and breathed heavily in frustration. “I know machines can help Rarity, heck, I know that sometimes they’re necessary. But that just ain’t the case down on Sweet Apple Acres. We don’t need machines like what the FlimFlam brothers make. We get along just fine.”

Rarity’s critical eye was just slightly unnerving. “Really, Applejack? You really never have a single problem?”

The farmer snorted and stood her ground with pride. “That’s what I’m saying!”

“Applejack, dear, you might not realise it, but that simply isn’t true.”

“You calling me a liar!?”

Rarity sighed. “No, but think about it darling. Last Applebuck season, it was proven quite clearly that you couldn’t handle an entire harvest by yourself. Last cider season, every cider season in fact, you ran out before even half the town got some, something Rainbow Dash will attest to I’m sure.”

“They’re busy times, what y’all expect!? Besides, we did make enough cider for everpony last time and we got the whole harvest in last Applebuck season! All we needed was a little help from our friends, from you! There ain’t no way you can tell me we need a machine!” she snapped in response. Applejack wasn’t sure how much more she could take of Rarity’s attempts to turn her.

“But it isn’t just the busy times; you’re normally up at the very crack of dawn and don’t stop working until the late evening, everyday! It can’t be good for you, so why not let something take a bit of the burden?”

“So you want me to just sit back and let a bunch of steamers do everything, huh? I like my work, Rarity, naw, it’s even more than that, I love my work. Apples, and everything that comes with them, are my life and there ain’t nothing in the whole wide-world that make me give them up!”

The unicorn pulled the most sympathetic of smiles. “Oh Applejack, all of us are afraid of being replaced, but that’s not what I’m suggesting at all! With the FlimFlam brother’s help, you could give yourself some breathing space, let a little weight off your shoulders! Making a machine do everything is no way to go at all, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with letting them help.”

The farmer took a deep, calming breath before her temper got the better of her. “Look, I appreciate what you’re trying to do here, Rarity, but I just ain’t convinced. I don’t think machines have any place on my farm, okay?”

The cogs of Rarity’s own mind could almost be heard reeling and a deep frown appeared on her face. “I knew you were stubborn Applejack, but I still can’t believe you aren’t even considering it! Are you sure there was nothing else about what Flim & Flam built for you? There has to be something you’re not telling me, even you aren’t this resistant to a bit of change.”

The seamtress was certain that, for a brief second, a mournful grimace set itself on Applejack’s muzzle, but the farmer turned away before she could properly see. “I gotta get back to the farm, I’ll see you some other time,” she suddenly blurted and began heading for the door.

“Applejack, wait! If you just-” Rarity called after her, but to little avail.

“I don’t wanna hear it. Bye,” she bluntly remarked before letting herself out, leaving Rarity with whatever, no doubt silly, ideas she had. Neither Applejack nor Sweet Apple Acres needed mechanical aid. And she was determined to keep it that way.

Yet, for all the determination Applejack could muster on the subject, she could not stop a rebellious little voice from whispering support and agreement for Rarity in the very back of her mind. “Listen to her, she’s your friend!” “It’s just your pride talking!” “You really could use the help!” it would say. Applejack tried gritting and grinding her teeth. It didn’t work. She tried shaking her head back and forth and hitting herself in the forehead to try and dislodge the traitorous thoughts. That did not work either. The voice droned on and on endlessly and unrelenting. At first it held a pleading tone, begging Applejack to heed Rarity’s advice and open her heart to the idea of automating, of giving herself a break from all the hardship and responsibility her job came with. But the more she tried to resist it, the more sinister it grew. “You truly are afraid!” “Just a silly little filly who doesn’t know when she’s not needed!” it began to sneer, laugh at her. Then it grew into more into more than just a voice, into images. Sweet Apple Acres, covered in whirring, smoke-belching devices while Applebloom and Big Macintosh lay about as fat and lazy versions of themselves. And then, of Flim & Flam’s faces cackling in that awful, smug way while they ran the farm.

“I. DON’T. NEED. NO. MACHINE!” the orange mare screamed to the heavens above. She panted heavily and looked up to find scores of faces staring wide-eyed at her. Everypony had stopped what they were doing to look blankly at the seemingly crazy mare shrieking at herself.

Applejack could only blush and mumble some incomprehensible excuse before making a hasty exit back to her farm. She didn’t go to the house, but instead ran as fast as her hooves would carry her to one of the orchards, where she found a thick collection of trees she would be able to hide in. With a long-drawn out groan she collapsed back first onto one of the trunks and simply sat. She was exhausted, but at the very least the voice had stopped.

“Gosh darn it… this ain’t me…” she said, speaking only to herself. Perhaps she really was going crazy? Applejack could always have a bit of a temper when something got her peeved, this she knew, but to lose it like that in public? She couldn’t recall ever having such an outburst. Tentatively, she took off her most beloved hat and looked at it in her lap. She could still remember the day her mother had given it to her, the day she had promised to keep the Apple legacy strong. Not because her parents wanted her to, but because she wanted to. Ever since Granny Smith had helped found it in her youth, Sweet Apple Acres had always done things the same way, by hoof and hard work. Why should that change with her? She had seen what machines like the FlimFlam brother’s inventions did, they tore lives apart, almost tore her life apart. An age seemed to pass. Finally, she let her head swing back into the wood, so she faced the crisp sky. “Ma… Pa… what do I do?” she asked the empty air above her.

“Just give them a chance. Please?”

Applejack yelled and jumped in fright at the response. Her eyes darted from tree to tree until they finally came to rest on a purple unicorn standing close by with her trademark awkward grin. “Twilight! By the Great Golden Harvest, what you doing sneaking around? You almost scared the freckles off of me!”

“Sorry Applejack, but I saw what happened in the market, so… I decided to follow you. I’m worried about you. Rarity gave me the rundown of this whole business with Flim & Flam building machines for you and it’s really starting to have an adverse effect; I’ve never seen you so stressed! I think you need to just give them a chance, like you did when they first approached you.” Twilight kept her hopeful smile strong as she waited for an answer.

Applejack groaned and rubbed her eyes. “Aw, shucks, not you too Twi! Look, I went over this with Rarity already and I don’t want another argument, so listen good-”

“No Applejack, you have to listen,” interrupted Twilight, the volume of her voice rising to a rare peak. “This can’t go on. If Flim & Flam are to continue living and working here, you’re going to have to become a little more open to how they do things. Otherwise, the same thing is going to happen over and over until it drives you crazy, or you boot them out of Ponyville, and I know you don’t want to do that.”

Applejack made a quick note to secure her hat back on her head. “You’re right about that, I don’t. But so long as they don’t go do something like this again, then everything’ll be just dandy.”

Twilight facehoofed. “Why are you being so stubborn about this Applejack? They just want to help. I thought you had learned your lesson about letting ponies lend you a hoof?” she asked with growing confusion.

“I did, and I always make sure to remember it. But they ain’t just wanting to lend a hoof. They want to lend a… gear, or a… piston? I don’t know, point is, accepting help from a blood and bone pony is totally different to accepting the help of some faceless crank box,” the farmer defiantly replied.

“But- It isn’t- How can you- Gah!” Twilight sputtered back in return, her forelegs flailing to try and find a more convincing argument. “There isn’t any difference!”

Applejack sighed with some small hint of victory and rose to her hoofs so as to glide past Twilight. “I don’t mind if y’all don’t understand my reasoning, just so long as you respect them. Sweet Apple Acres ain’t having any steam-belcher, no matter what shape, size or function it comes in. Now, if you’ll be so kind, I got work to do.”

“…I suppose you won’t want to look at these schematics then…” a thoroughly deflated voice sounded from just beyond the thicket where Applejack and Twilight stood.

The orange mare’s face fell into a scowl, but she stopped and turned to address the two skulking ponies nonetheless. “What is it you want now? Don’t you have something else to do?”

Flim & Flam scuttled out into clear view like a pair of scolded fillies, a large rolled up piece of paper held under one’s leg. “We were just wondering… if maybe you’d like to have a look over a new design we thought of?” Flam cautiously uttered. They were still at the mercy of Applejack, and they clearly knew it.

“We went and had a little think about the… accident, and clearly we got just a tad eager and jumped the barrel, hmm? So, this time, we decided to go through it with you right from the start! We promise this one will bedazzle you!” Flim added with growing confidence.

“Astound you!”

“You’ll never want to look at a different method of farming again!”

“And we’ll even whip you up a set of mana-voltaic batteries, easily recharged by any local unicorn, to power it!”

“So what do you say, Applejack?” they both asked with unwavering self-assurance.

“No.”

“Applejack!” Twilight hissed. “This is exactly what I was talking about. Can’t you see they mean well? Just give them a chance!”

Flim & Flam were crestfallen once more, like a pair of colts whose offer for a date had been rejected for the second time.

Applejack sighed with exasperation. “I don’t know how many times I’m going to have to tell y’all; I ain’t gonna have any machines on my farm! And that’s final! Now leave me alone, please!” With that, she ran off through the orchards, her heavy hooffalls rattling several apples from their stalks. It was a performance that could have well earned her a place in the Running of the Leaves record book.

“Applejack…” Twilight knew it was pointless to try and chase after her. Beside the fact that Applejack was a true athlete and Twilight was not, simply asking to give the brother’s inventions a chance was clearly not enough to convince her. No, it was obvious that even the word of her friends wasn’t enough to drag Applejack’s heart from its vigilant position. But there was only a handful of ponies Twilight could think of that Applejack would listen to when it came to the matter of apples.

****

Applejack was tired. The entire day had been little better than the last. As much as she loved and respected her friends, and loved and respected their advice, she couldn’t appreciate it in this particular scenario. It only muddied things and helped drag the problem up again even after she had thought she had buried it. She needed a diversion and she also hadn’t properly spoken to her family in too long. She could buck two trees with one leg.

Of course, being a week day, Big Macintosh was likely out in one of the many fields or orchards and Applebloom would be in school. Obviously, she didn’t want to disturb either and neither would she have to, since Granny Smith would still be doodling around the house no doubt.

“Granny? Granny! You in here?”

“Ohh, Applejack, I thought you was in the south field?” Granny Smith inquired once Applejack had finally found her idly rolling dough in the kitchen.

“I should be, I know, but I’m going to be straight with you Granny; I need to talk,” the orange mare confessed in earnest while removing her hat.

Though Granny Smith was known to most in town as an eccentric old hag, which she clearly was at times, she could in fact possess a perfectly rational and understanding mind when the need arose, often when it involved her family as was the case. “Finally! We’ve all been worrying what’s got your tail in a twist. C’mon then, out with it.”

“It’s about Flim & Flam…” she reluctantly began.

“Flem & Flom? Why, what they gone and done? I thought they’s was working harder than a rancher with a hundred strong stampede! ‘specially after all they did to us last cider season. Guess it was only so long before they tripped up, huh?”

“It’s Flim & Flam. Anyways, it ain’t quite that simple, Granny. They didn’t do nothing I can buck them to the moon for… Well, I don’t think they meant to do nothing anyhow. It’s just…” she paused and scrunched her face in thought, thinking on how best to explain to Granny. “Well, in basic Equestrian, they went and built one of their great big machines again-”

Granny Smith’s earth-shattering reaction may have caused confusion as to how old she really was in those who didn’t know her. “Those snakes! Those worms! Out to get Sweet Apple Acres again, huh? Why, I oughta let Big Mac use ‘em as plows, I oughta throw ‘em to the timber wolves, I oughta-”

“Calm down, Granny! Like I said, it ain’t all that simple!” Applejack cried while trying to keep the aged mare from escaping the kitchen and committing untold horrors against the unsuspecting pair. “Like I said, they didn’t mean no harm by it. They put it together for us, to help on the farm.”

The raging pony calmed down almost instantly. “Oh. So what did you do with it?”

“I got them to take it apart. Not just to keep all our produce how it should be, quality, but to preserve Sweet Apple tradition too. You know, how Ma and Pa did it, how we always done it! But now everypony is saying I shouldn’t have, and that we should just try using them! Just throw away years of doing things, not to mention all the love and care we put into our crop. That ain’t right, right Granny?” She laughed nervously before continuing. “What did their cider taste like anyway? Far as I recall, you’re the only one of us who got a taste of it.”

To Applejack’s utter disbelief, Granny Smith began to fidget. “Oh. It was… It was, well, how’d you think, huh? It was… bad! Yeah! Bad!”

The farmer felt like she had been hit by the Canterlot Express. It was the right answer, the answer she had wanted to hear, but there was something wrong with it, something so terrifyingly wrong with it her stomach churned and she wanted to be sick. It was a lie. Granny Smith had told her a lie, the first she could remember. For a moment, Applejack doubted her own sense’s creditability. First the FlimFlam brothers telling the truth, then her own grandmother lying to her. But she knew that her nose for deceit had never been wrong before, and really, it wasn’t then either.

“…Did it really taste bad, Granny?” It took all her willpower to ask. She didn’t want to know, but she knew that if she didn’t find out it would gnaw away at her for months to come.

The old nag looked almost ready to cry, as if she had been filled with air and was straining to hold it in. Honesty however, ran in the family. “…Naw. It didn’t taste bad. It was good, Applejack, delicious even. I hate to admit it, but those boys’s rig could put out some mighty fine cider, cider just as good as ours.”

A chink appeared in Applejack’s armour. “I- But- No… No, that don’t matter! It don’t matter at all! S-So what if their cider was good? We gotta think about tradition, about preserving the family name for honest, hard work! How Ma and Pa would have done it. Right!?”

Granny Smith took a long, hard look at her grandchild, then sighed and settled into a rocking chair nearby. “I think we best have a chat, Applejack.”

“Aw, no, no, no! You can’t possibly agree with them Granny! You of all ponies know how Sweet Apple Acres is run; you’ve been there from the very beginning when the whole farm was just a bunch of seeds!”

“That’s true, I sure have,” Granny confirmed.

“So, that means you’re with me, right?” she asked again.

Granny Smith sighed again and pulled a small locket out from within the creased folds of her aged neck-scarf. Despite the traces of grime and rust that lined the trinket’s edges, it still popped open easily in the old mare’s grip. Applejack couldn’t see the contents of the locket, though she didn’t need to because she had one just like it in her bedside drawer. And she wasn’t sure she liked what the implications the presence of the locket meant. “You remember how your ma and pa died, don’t ya?”

Applejack felt strangely insulted by the question. “Of course I do! How could I forget? They got sick, right after Applebloom was born. But what’s that got to do with anything?”

“You know why they got sick?”

The question set a frown on Applejack’s face which she levelled at her grandmother for a moment. “Why…? Ponies get sick. It happens. Is that some kind of trick question?”

“Nah, it ain’t no trick. There’s certainly a reason why your ma and pa got as sick as they did, why they passed on before their time. They was both a lot like you and Big Mac, you know? Hard workers, the both of ‘em,” commented Granny.

Applejack kept a suspicious gaze locked on the other mare. “…Where you going with this?”

Granny Smith ignored both the farmer and the scrutinising stare she was being given. “Yep, two mighty fine farmers. Too good. Just like you and Big Mac, they’d spend their days in those orchards, making sure they could provide for their family. And you know what they did to themselves, Applejack? They went and worked themselves to an early grave, same as my folks did before them.” It was only then that the elderly Apple took her eyes away from the locket, looked up and met her granddaughter in the eyes.

Applejack looked how she felt; completely unsure of what to make of Granny Smith’s words. Her expression was an interesting blend of disbelief and horror and her brain was clearly having a hard time in deciding which one was more appropriate. “So…”

“I can’t find the words to tell you how proud I am for you respecting your ma and pa’s efforts like that, but they only did them ‘cause there weren’t no other way. Only thing they ever had to rely on was their own hooves and let me tell you, that’s a sure-fire way to wear a pony out. Now I ain’t gonna tell you or Big Mac how to run things, but I sure don’t want to see you go the way my own son and his wife did, bless their souls. And if that means getting a few of those weird piles of nuts and bolts, then so be it!” she ended with a passionate nod.

Applejack’s mind exploded. There simply wasn’t anything she could support her argument with anymore and it came crumbling down in a cascade of broken glass, shattering ever more until individual fragments could no longer be seen. Her body slumped in defeat. What could she do? The idea still felt wrong, the mere thought of asking Flim & Flam for one of their machines still made her want to squirm in discomfort, but there simply wasn’t anything, no reason or line of thinking, she could defend her fervent dislike of the automated with. On the contrary, the scales had broken under the sheer weight of the factors in favour of why she should embrace mechanical aid. And yet, she began to feel a strange calm. She reached the eye of her personal hurricane and felt an immense pressure lift itself from her heart to be scattered by the winds. Everything was so clear: she was being offered help. There weren’t any strings or catches or dire consequences to accepting it. It was just there, a pure, simple offer to help. The sort of offer a friend would make. True, she didn’t feel like she absolutely needed it. But it would be nice to have.

A new resolution burned in her eyes and she firmly readjusted her hat on her head. She admitted defeat; she would give Flim & Flam’s machines a chance. “…If I go through with this, Granny… If I let those two cook up whatever it is they want to… You sure you’ll be alright with that?”

Granny Smith could only smile. “Watcha’ asking a crazy old crone like me for, eh? This here is your farm Applejack, you do with it what you want.”

Applejack returned the gesture sympathetically. “Aw, come on Granny, you know Sweet Apple Acres is just as much yours as it is mine and the rest of the family’s. You sure you won’t mind it getting a little more lively?”

“Well, ehh…” A sheepish grin crawled across her lips, a rare phenomenon for the aged mare. “I gotta admit, that last contraption of theirs was pretty darn impressive.”

Applejack chuckled and made her way to the door. “Yeah, I guess it was.”

****

There was one port of call to be made before finding the brothers, and that was Applejack’s own brother: Big Macintosh. Though he rarely showed any interest in managing Sweet Apple Acre’s affairs, it simply wouldn’t be right to go ahead with such a radical change without first getting his consent. Luckily for Applejack, he was usually not hard to find; Big Mac may have had a quiet personality, but the sound of his apple bucking was notoriously easy to follow. Such was the strength of Big Mac’s legs that the noise of him harvesting was, on the odd occasion, followed by the sound of a falling tree.

“Big Macintosh?”

“Eeyup?”

“You busy?”

“Nnope.”

“Can I talk to you for a sec’ then?”

“Eeyup.”

“I’m going to have to blunt with you, brother. What’d you think of Flim & Flam?”

Big Mac stopped what he was doing and looked to his little sister. It was one of those questions that demanded a more detailed answer than a “yes” or “no”. He chewed on his hay stalk thoughtfully for several seconds while Applejack looked on patiently. “I’d say they had it rough as colts. The way they came at us so aggressively, business wise anyhow, makes me think they’ve had to fight, metaphorically speaking, to get what they need. Bit of a shame, deep down, they’re probably just two ponies who think the world is out to get ‘im, and that they can only rely on each other.”

“I meant in-general,” Applejack deadpanned.

“Don’t much think we’ll ever be great pals, but I reckon they’ve made up for what they did,” the stallion answered with absolutely no regard to his previous analysis.

Applejack nodded slowly as she listened. Next came the big, important question. “A’ight… And how’d you feel if we got them to make us a few gear-grinders to help around the farm?” Big Mac stared at his sister ponderously, simultaneously succeeding at making her fidget in discomfort. “Well?”

The stalk twirled around in his mouth again. “Be different, for sure.” He shrugged and turned back to positioning a bucket under a tree. “And it sure would be nice to have some more help around the busy times. Don’t much think I’d want to be outta a job though.” He shrugged again and delivered a trunk-shattering kick to the nearest tree, causing a cascade of apples to fall neatly into the pre-prepared buckets.

“I’m with you on that one, but I don’t rightly think it’ll come to that. Besides, not like a bunch of brainless whirring doohickeys could run a farm. Nah, we’ll just see how it goes for a few weeks, a’ight?”

“Eeyup.”

Applejack smiled and gave him a pat on the back. Really, she ought to have spoken to Big Mac first. She knew better than most just how intelligent and rational her brother could be. Then again, he had tried to convince her last Apple-Bucking season without much success, more on account of her own stubbornness then his lack of diplomacy.

With Bag Mac onboard, there were only two more ponies to see: Flim & Flam. Applebloom would be in school so Applejack thought it best she did not disturb her. That, and if she was honest, she didn’t much suspect that the youngest Apple would have any great problem with a few machines around the farm, especially given how favourably she had reacted during Flim & Flam’s very first entrance.

Nodding again with unwavering resolve, she set off for the orchard Flim & Flam were scheduled to be working. She just hoped she could actually do it; actually ask them to build her a machine. To use on the farm. Permanently. Her stomach tied itself into a knot. She could see reason; understand how much it would help the farm, the family and herself. But it still felt strange, her every nerve squirmed at the thought of it. Normally, Applejack would listen to her body’s natural instincts, that it was somehow still wrong. Normally however, her heart and her body weren’t so completely divided on a problem. It would be an interesting conversation for sure.

****

For what felt like the hundredth time, Flim watched as yet another basket was filled with the finest apples this side of Equestria, after he had magically pulled them from the tree where they had hung. Both he and Flam had been at it for sometime and while the work was always physically exhausting, it had come with an incredible mental fatigue as well after the bitter encounter they had had with their employer. Applejack’s friend, the unicorn Twilight Sparkle had tried to comfort them, and had even showed some genuine interest in the rough blueprints they had drawn up, but had soon excused herself and left.

“Perhaps we should turn to the good citizens of Ponyville. They’d surely buy our fine merchandise,” remarked Flam. It was a feeble attempt at conversation, and they both knew it.

“After what happened last time? I think our reputation in Ponyville is spoiled through and through, brother. It’ll take sometime before they’ll by anything of the sort from us,” Flim corrected sombrely. “Besides, we simply don’t have the funds! We spent every last bit on the Super Easy Apple Freezy 6100.”

Flam sighed and filled another bucket. “You’re right brother, you’re right. Do you think we should maybe just move on to the next town once we’ve saved up enough?”

Flim rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I can’t think of any other towns we’d be welcome in…”

The two sighed in unison and went back to their work. Things had been looking up for them, and then they had seemingly blown it yet again. There wasn’t much choice but to keep their heads down, work as hard as they could and perhaps beg for forgiveness every so often.

“Flim. Flam.”

“Oh, brother! Now I’m hearing voices of all those we’re wronged!”

“I hear them too, Flam, I hear them too! Does our torment know no bounds!?”

“What in the hay are you two yapping on about?”

The twins blinked and followed their ears rather than their hysteria and found one orange mare frowning at them. Eye contact remained for several seconds before Flim & Flam suddenly ducked their heads and carried on their work at a furious rate.

“What’s wrong with you two?” she asked.

“Nothing!” they sang in response.

“Good, I guess. I need to talk to you both.”

The unicorns froze. Images of hellish torture flashed through Flim & Flam’s mind as punishment for the countless sins they had unwittingly committed against the Apple family. They had no idea what it was they had done to warrant Applejack’s need for a “talk” but they regretted it wholeheartedly. Alas, neither could conceive of any possible way they could escape the unimaginable pain they were no doubt about to fall victim to. From what they knew of her, Applejack could not be reasoned or negotiated with. They knew for a certainty they would not be able to outrun or overpower her. There was nothing to do except face their fate and hope to the princesses whatever lay in store for them was not a severe as their imaginations suggested.

They turned to look their employer and potential executioner in the eye once more. And it was then that they noticed that it was an awkward, fidgeting figure that stood before them, not the sadistic, wrathful being they had partially expected.

A wind whistled through the trees as each party lacked the courage to speak.

“…Y-Yes, Applejack?” Flim finally managed to splutter.

His words shook Applejack from her uncomfortable stupor. “Ah, a’ight…” She took a deep breath and steeled herself. “I don’t mind if you wanna build one or two of your… thingies.Gadgets or what have you…” she mumbled quietly.

The brother’s ears pricked but couldn’t quite understand their employer. “Sorry, could you repeat that?” Flam requested as humbly as he could.

“You know… your things…”

They looked even more perplexed.

“You machines! Your gizmos! Contraptions!” she yelled. “Whatever you want to call them! I just… I’ve been doing some- Well, a lot of thinking, and I’ve been talking to my friends and the family and… What I’m saying is this; if you wanna make a few things to help around the farm, then I guess we could try it and see how it works out, a’ight?”

The brother’s looked they had been sprayed in the face with several mugs worth of cider. Was it a trick? Had the honest and trustworthy Applejack turned to trickery in order to trip them up and throw them back down to an impoverished doom? It was absolutely imperative, they thought, to choose their next words cautiously.

“So…” Flim began. “You want us to make a FlimFlam apple-related device?”

“Something like the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000?” Flam added.

“No! Nothing like that! Nothing that does absolutely everything, understand? Just maybe something like, I dunno, the freezing thing you was working on…” she replied with growing guilt. She was after all, referring to the very same machine she had made them dismantle.

“The Super Easy Apple Freezy 6100?”

“Uh, yeah, that one. And… Well, I should apologise for making you take it apart like I did.”

Both unicorns seemed, for a moment, to want to jump for joy, they were so relieved. They managed to contain themselves however, and they settled on grins that threatened to make their cheeks ache. Flam coughed upon recalling who was with him and inspected a hoof casually for some non-existent dirt. “Oh, there’s no need really. It was after all… just a prototype. Too many… faults… to put into service.”

“I can only agree with dear Flam here. The… umm… cryo coil was riddled with all kinds of bugs. It simply wouldn’t do to have such a badly crafted machine working on such a high-quality farm,” Flim confirmed all the while avoiding Applejack’s eye.

The farmer gave the two a grateful smile. “Y’all don’t have to fib for my sake. I let my fears get the best of me, plain and simple. And I want to make it you up to you by giving it a chance.” Applejack took a deep breath. “So… here goes… Would you two please build me one of your machines?” she managed to say, just barely stopping herself from wincing.

The twins grins returned and they bowed their heads so as to hide their eyes under the tip of their still-tattered straw hats. “You feel that, brother? An opportunity?”

“Right here in this community?”

From nowhere, Flim & Flam drew forth a full set of tools with their magic and let them hover around them as they each put a hoof to their heart and once again met Applejack’s gaze. “Don’t you fret, Applejack! You’ve got yourself a FlimFlam guarantee! Ready Flam?”

“Ready Flim!”

The two went to speed away, but were halted by an imposing voice they were all too familiar with. “Now hold up!”

Slowly they craned their necks, glee draining from their cheeks. “Yes… Applejack?”

“Nothing that takes all the work outta work, remember?” she reminded them sternly.

“Oh, of course!” They saluted in response but were stopped once more.

“And, uhh… thanks. I appreciate this. I think,” she mumbled while rubbing her neck for the umpteenth time.

What could only be described as look of genuine joy overrode the brother’s control of their expressions for a brief moment before they wrestled their usual smug and confident salesman smiles back into place. Without further ado, they rushed off, leaving Applejack wondering just how they expected to build anything without first buying materials with money they didn’t even have. Like a tidal wave, the thoughts of further betrayal crashed at the fringes of her mind, that they would steal Apple family money to continue their devious scheme to run Applejack out of a job, but she pushed them back quickly. They couldn’t betray her, not after what had happened between them. The wave froze into tiny icicles that pricked and poked her, but still she refused to acknowledge them as anything more than paranoia. She had to give them a chance. Just a chance to prove her friends and her family right. She was still in control; the farm’s fate was still in her hooves.

Applejack watched, worry-stricken at the fading silhouette of Flim & Flam through the trees.

****

After having hearing their employer’s request and disappearing for several hours, Flim & Flam had retreated into the barn that had been their residence and did not leave. Every few hours Applejack would knock on the heavy doors over the sound of banging metal, twisting screws and buzzing magical energy. She would ask if Flim & Flam were alright, and if they needed anything. Every time they would shout politely back a request for some food and water to be left outside for them. Doubt still crept through Applejack whenever she set eyes on the barn, but she stayed resolute in giving them a chance and found her normal work and duties bearable again.

It was the third day after the twin’s had sealed themselves away that Twilight Sparkle came to visit the farm.

“So how are Flim & Flam? Still locked up?” she asked after the two had exchanged usual greetings.

“‘fraid so, tighter than a dragon’s hoard. I guess they might come out if we asked them, but we ain’t bothered trying. Not sure I want to see whatever kind of mess they’re making in there anyway. Can’t help but see similarities with you when you get your hooves on some fancy book, mind.” Applejack nodded coolly in Twilight’s direction as they walked gently to the farmhouse.

The unicorn blushed and chuckled. “That’s only happened once.”

“Twice,” the farmer corrected.

“Okay, twice! But you’ve no idea just how good that book it was!” objected Twilight with a friendly grin.

Applejack returned the smile and pushed open the front door of her house to let Twilight in. “You’re right, I sure don’t. Still, what brings out to these parts? Our next social ain’t until the end of the week, and I’m pretty darn certain you’re not that concerned with the well-being of my… guests.”

“Well, I did want to check up on them, but I mostly came here to see how you were doing. I know you still not entirely comfortable with this whole ‘industrialisation’ thing and you’ve been through enough stress as it is.”

“D’aww, gee Twi, that’s awful kind of you,” said Applejack before letting out a tired sigh. “Gotta admit though, you hit the mark about me being uncomfortable. I still don’t know what to think of all this, I mean, things are going to change so much if I let them, you know what I mean?”

The unicorn was all sympathy. “I know exactly what you mean Applejack. Change is always scary; I was a nervous wreck after being accepted into Celestia’s school, even though I had been looking forward to it almost all my life. I can only imagine how scary it must be for you, especially after what Flim & Flam did to you in the past. You’ve just got to have the courage to embrace change, though.”

Applejack cast a surprised glance to her friend as she cut slices of apple pie for the both of them “You were? I thought getting accepted to a fancy-pancy place like that would you running on the walls.”

The two began to dig into their treats as Twilight giggled at her fright-filled memories of her first days at Celestia’s school. “At first I was! But when I actually got there, surrounded by so many other talented unicorns, it was terrifying!”

They both laughed while they munched on their treats, but the impromptu lunch break was suddenly interrupted but a loud, drawn out wheezing followed by a muffled, far-off chugging.

“Success!” a voice called enthusiastically.

“We’ve done it again Flim!” another voice, obviously Flam, called in response.

The noise had brought Twilight and Applejack to the window, trying to catch what was going on, though the barn doors were still sealed shut and hid the source of whatever commotion was brewing. They both exchanged dubious looks before rushing out to join the growing crowd of Apples.

“What in tarnation’s all this racket!? Is it the timberwolves? Manticore? Somepony get my broom!” ranted Granny as her aged and tired limbs struggled to drag her body at anything faster than a painfully slow shuffle.

“Is it ready? Is it done!?” Applebloom probed excitedly, trying her best to find a crack or hole in the barn through which to peep at the wonders inside.

Naturally, Big Mac decided not to comment and simply stared at the barn with reserved judgement.

After calming down the still confused granny Smith, Applejack and Twilight stood at the forefront of the small gathering and watched with a mixture of excitement and apprehension at the barn. Slowly, the doors creaked open. Shadowy outlines danced and hid their faces from the encroaching light while sitting atop

“You’re one hundred percent right, little Applebloom!” the higher pitched of the figures called.

“Redesigned and remade!” the other quickly added.

“So now, the FlimFlam brothers present…” they both began in unison. With a flash of emerald magic, a sleek, smooth marvel of orange iron slid from the confines of the barn-turned-workshop to stand proud in the limelight of an entranced audience. It was, overall, very similar to the device that the farmer had discovered being built in secret out in the orchards, but unlike the last, whose surface had been covered in all sorts of mechanical decoration, the latest, improved model had far less detail and even chugged and putted with less volume.

“The Super Easy Apple Freezy 7000! Impressive, wouldn’t you say?” The two began to chuckle to themselves quietly.

But impressive it was. Applejack had been bracing herself for the surge of anger or disgust that she had expected on seeing whatever it was that had been going to roll out of her barn, yet no such eruption rushed to smother all other thought. The small niggling anxiety of having it, or indeed any such device, out in the fields was still there, but it did nothing to encourage a sense of fury towards the contraption that sat before her. She, just like everypony gathered, was curious.

With wide eyes Applejack began to realise that the question had been primarily directed at her, and that both the brothers and the rest of the crowd were expecting an answer. She fumbled her words while trying to formulate a suitable response. “Uh, yeah,” she blurted. It was a woefully inadequate summary of her feelings, but the only one she could distil from them.

“Then let’s put it to the test! Come along everypony, why don’t we all gather in say… the northern field?” There were no objections to Flam’s suggestion, and the excited mob hastily made its way towards one of the many orchards.

Applejack stood still however. “Y’all go on ahead. I wanna word with Flim & Flam here. In private,” she said with a steely expression. A great amount of blinking and arched brows greeted her from the crowd, though they were entirely ignored. The same nervous fear Applejack had seen several times since Flim & Flam’s arrival on the farm returned, and they pulled at the collars of their shirts to show it. Much to their dismay however, nopony refused the request and they continued on their way, leaving employer and employees alone in the yard, with only the gentle whirring of gears to fill in the silence.

“So… Applejack… What, uh… what…” Flim tried and failed to ask.

The farmer slowly swept her solid gaze over the brother’s handiwork before finally letting it come to rest on the brother’s themselves. “I just wanna make a few things clear. Firstly, how’d you even make this thing? Last I knew, you didn’t have no bits left.”

The brother’s both grinned slyly. “We most certainly didn’t, but rather than… dispose of all the spare parts from the 6100, we made sure to store them somewhere safe.”

“Off the farm, of course.”

Suspicion pricked at Applejack, but she accepted the explanation and nodded slowly. “Okay… Anyway, I’ll give this doohickey a chance, but that ain’t no guarantee I’ll let it stay, or let anything else you wanna build stay,” she bluntly explained.

“Well, naturally… This is your farm after all…” Flam replied in a thoroughly tamed tone.

“Darn right it is. But that ain’t all I wanted to say. I want to be honest with you two… Honest with myself as well, maybe. I hope… I…” She scrunched her eyes while trying to force the words out. “…I honestly hope it stays.”

The twin’s eyes bulged.

“Rarity was right. Twilight was right. Granny Smith was right. They were all absolutely, one hundred per-cent right. There ain’t a single good reason why I can’t take on a little mechanical help. I was just afraid, afraid of losing my farm and my work, afraid of things changing… afraid of letting Ma and Pa down. Heck, maybe I was even a little afraid of you two,” she chuckled lightly. “But I shouldn’t need to be afraid of any of that. I know our relationship didn’t get off to the best start, but you’ve shown me you ain’t all bad. You two… you even went and built this whole thing, even after what I made you do to the last one. And, well… guess I just wanna say that I’m sorry, and that I want to than-” The mare was cut off by two hooves suddenly blocking her mouth.

“You don’t need to say anything more, Applejack,” said Flim.

“You’ve already done more for us than any other pony ever has. As far as we’re concerned, we still owe you,” added Flam.

“Besides, seems to me that you’re starting to ramble. Wouldn’t you say Flam?” Flim asked with considerable perk.

“Perhaps just a little, Flim. So what do you say, Applejack? Why don’t we show you and everypony why we’re the world famous FlimFlam brothers?” replied Flam with a slightly cheeky grin.

Applejack could not stop her mouth mirroring the smile. With a relaxed sigh, she raised her hoof. “Sounds like a mighty fine plan. I think we’ve got a deal, partners.”

****

Applejack woke up, stretched and then frowned. She was feeling oddly good. Refreshed didn’t do the feeling justice. It was if every ache, pain, worry and doubt had been thoroughly washed from her mind and body. She couldn’t recall the last time she had slept so well.

Practically leaping from her bed, she peered out her bedroom window and gawked in surprise. The glass panes were covered in droplets of water, and the earth below was still clearly damp and saturated with moisture. In the distance, she could see many apples lying all over the orchard, having been flung from their wooden nests with considerable force. They were all telltale signs of a big storm, and she had slept through it all without so much as stirring. Quite the different result to the storm that had plagued her sleep several weeks before.

“Heh, well I’ll be,” Applejack said to herself before bursting into a short laugh. Carefully, she opened the window to its widest and poked through the frame, resting her head on her hooves. Over by the barn, a large, metallic barrel-like construct chugged quietly as it pumped refrigerated air through a hose into the apple cellar. In the corn fields over yonder, puffs of steam floated carefree into the air from another, similar contraption as Big Macintosh poured a cart’s worth of cobs into its receiving end. And then, over the orchards, a balloon-lifted machine drifted along slowly, dispensing carefully measured amounts of fertilizer onto the trees and ground below.

She smiled at the sight, and then looked to the small desk in the corner of her room where a sheet of parchment, inkwell and quill lay. Still smiling, Applejack sat herself down in front of the desk and tentatively picked up the quill while her tongue poked at the inside of her cheeks as she thought of the right words. Eventually, inspiration struck, and she put pen to paper.

Dear Princess Celestia

It’s been a long time since I last wrote, maybe too long, but I wanted to share with you what I’ve learned these past few weeks, and I actually have learned something this time!

Sometimes in life it’s real easy to get comfortable in doing something you love, so comfortable you’ll get far too attached and fight tooth and hoof to protect it, even against things that are just trying to help. Everything can change, even ponies who you thought were the rottenest apples of the bunch, and you’ve got to have the bravery to face that change and at least give it a chance. Sometimes things change all by themselves, other times it’s just that another pony has a different way of going about it. Everypony has ways they like to approach life, sometimes they’re better, sometimes they’re worse, but you’ve got to open up your heart to the idea of doing something different, maybe even do something’s the way a former enemy would, and not let your fear of losing what you love stand in the way of what’s good for you and your friends.

Yours Truly
Applejack