Chapters "It's the right thing to do," Big Macintosh said, voice low and firm. Applejack scowled, stealing a glance over her shoulder before looking up at her brother.
"After what happened last time they came around? Them two're vultures in ponies' hides an' you know it!"
Big Mac heaved a heavy sigh, shaking his head.
"Not this time, sis. Look at 'em."
"Don't want to," Applejack said huffily. She was being childish, she knew, but the very idea of old enemies on her farm made her pelt bristle. Big Mac only gazed solemnly down at her a moment before looking pointedly at the ponies behind her; Applejack willed herself to not follow his gaze.
She knew what he was trying to do - if she looked at the sad-sacked, disheveled, too-thin ponies longer than necessary her resolve would crack.
Letting them lie on the beds they'd made was the right thing to do. Couldn't Big Mac see that?
Her brother, always a pony of few words, simply looked at her again and she scowled.
It was the right thing to do, the sensible thing to do, so why did his patient, solemn gaze make her feel wrong?
"They've got nothin' on their minds but takin' us for every bit we got."
"They want to work. Just to get back on their hooves."
"They've never rested on their own hooves in their lives! Just standin' on other ponies' backs!"
"Then we'll show 'em how."
She ground her teeth, hooves scuffing the wood floor.
"They'll... they... they ain't been nothin' but strife to us, an'...."
"So be the better pony." Big Mac chanced another glance at their unwanted guests before looking at Applejack again. "Be the better pony, and maybe you'll find out you're wrong."
"And if I'm right?"
"Then you'll be right and get to chase 'em off our farm." Big Mac took a breath. "But it is our farm. Not just mine, not just yours, and havin' 'em here affects everything. So if you really think tossin' 'em on their tails is the right thing... well, I'm sure all of Ponyville will agree with you."
She nodded at that, unable to meet his gaze any longer. She was right, wasn't she? Let those ponies reap their own harvest! It was just, it was right, extending a hoof would only reward their behavior!
Applejack took a breath, doffing her hat and peering into it until her eyes rested on her father's name stitched inside.
The right thing isn't always the easy or popular thing, Applejack. It might not even seem like a good idea at the time. But you have to try, look at it from all sides, and do what you think is the honest best.
"Big Mac. I don't want 'em here. They're trouble through an' through. You cut them ponies an' they'll bleed snake oil. An' if I'm gonna be honest with myself - an' I pride myself on honesty! - th'right thing is pretty clear to me."
She put her hat back on and marched toward their visitors, steps steady and a scowl on her freckled face. She stared at the nervous ponies a long moment before taking a deep breath.
"All right, you two. What y'said earlier, 'bout us not owin' you a dadgum thing? That's plain truth. No arguin', no way around it. An' I don't think a single soul in Ponyville ever wanted or expected t'see your faces again. You ain't earned no handouts an' y'don't deserve 'em. We clear?"
They exchanged a glance before nodding in miserable unison. Applejack nodded in satisfaction before speaking again.
"Good, we understand each other. So we all know y'all are gonna earn your keep. No shirkin', no slackin', no... doin' what you do, just good, hard work. You're good at sellin', so let's see you sell an 'honest pony' act." She paused as they looked up, wide-eyed, and she managed an approximation of a smile.
"Y'all can sleep in the barn. Supper'll be th'last free thing you get here - you start earnin' your meals bright an' early tomorrow. Are we clear?"
The twin unicorns exchanged another glance, surprise still clear on their faces. Then the cleanshaven one managed a sprightly hop despite his obvious exhaustion, both ponies sweeping off tattered straw hats.
"Abso-lute -ly clear as the fine springs of this lovely little burg, madam, clear as Celestia's magnificent dawn and Luna's crisp starlight, bright and shining like the very apples of this orchard!" Flim announced, bowing theatrically. "My brother and I will not disappoint!"
"Farm ponies ourselves, I must say," Flam said, a bit calmer and more stately as he too bowed. "You've done the right thing, Apples."
Applejack grumbled, pushing her hat down over her eyes so she wouldn't see Big Mac's approving smile or the unicorns prancing toward her beautiful barn in matched step.
"Horseapples. It better be right."
Applejack had, however reluctantly, agreed to host the Flim Flam Brothers on her farm until the unicorn twins got back on their hooves - or until they once again proved themselves charlatans, which she was certain would come first.
Still, to her vague, irrational frustration, the two had proved solid workers - strong for unicorns despite their lanky builds, clearly knowing their way around a farm, and more than willing to work even if there had been one shaky moment when Flim had managed to goad Rainbow Dash into doing half the pest control work in his section on a ‘speed challenge’.
If Applejack were honest - and she was! - she had to admit the look on Rainbow’s face when she realized she’d been had was pretty funny. And she had to admit that the extra help was welcome.
Being honest didn’t mean she had to like it, though. More to the point, it didn’t mean she wanted Apple Bloom hanging around the brothers.
Which was unfortunate, as that was exactly what Apple Bloom seemed to want.
Applejack could see it happening even now. Flim, who had taken an apparently genuine liking to the foal, was hard at work repairing an irrigation pump with Apple Bloom’s full attention; Applejack couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it looked as if Flim was walking her through the process and even going so far as to eschew magic so Apple Bloom could repeat the steps later.
That this was awfully kind of the unicorn - unusually so, in her opinion - was beside the point, especially once they finished the chore and, instead of going off to separate activities, simply kept talking.
Worse when Flam trotted up and joined the conversation.
Apple Bloom was sitting on the fence now, the brothers on either side of her with forelegs draped over the rail, laughing and chattering like old friends. The more animated Flim was gesturing broadly with one forehoof; Flam, as usual, spoke comparatively little and seemed to be mainly asking questions and listening to Apple Bloom’s responses.
Once, Flim made a sweeping gesture toward the orchards. Apple Bloom nodded fervently. Applejack fumed.
What in the name of Celestia were they doing, pointing at her fields while questioning her baby sister?
It was a trick! It had to be!
Applejack waffled, caught between how very wrong eavesdropping was (she didn’t allow herself to think about how spying was hardly better) and the need to protect farm and family from a pair of obvious scoundrels. Apple Bloom didn’t look suspicious - she had, in fact, started laughing so hard she fell off the fence and Applejack had to make herself not notice how the brothers scrambled to catch her - but she had been impressed with those two from the moment they rolled in on that crazy machine.
She’d thought Apple Bloom had learned her lesson, but then - how many times had her baby sister had to relearn the Cutie Mark Lesson?
Apple Bloom was excited about something, bouncing around Flim and Flam like a lamb. After a moment Flim gave in to her enthusiasm and started following her at a similar gait, at one point leaping over his brother; Apple Bloom tried to follow and ended up draped across Flam’s back.
Applejack realized she was smiling and groaned, wiping a hoof over her face.
They’d calmed down now, still chattering, Apple Bloom still draped over Flam. Applejack looked at their laughing faces and grumbled, arranging her features into a sterner expression as she trotted down toward them.
Might be best to have a word with Apple Bloom. Even so, she found herself struggling not to smile as her sister wiggled down and galloped toward her, still bright-eyed and high spirited.
Whatever they’d been talking about, those brothers sure had a way of making a pony excited.
Applejack was definitely going to have to keep an eye on this.
Author's Note
Written for Thirty Minute Pony Prompt: A conversation that a pony can see, but not hear....
"You know, madam, we really can't thank you enough for this opportunity."
Applejack grimaced at Flam's choice of words before turning to the unicorn, expression straddling the line between neutral and skeptical. He was scruffy from a long day in the fields - creamy coat smudged with dirt, branches tangled in his mane and tail, straw hat (rewoven now to be broader to offer more protection from the sun) dark with accumulated sweat - and he was also smiling with contentment as he looked over the orchards.
Contentment she felt at the end of every workday, and tried to ignore in him.
"Uh... it's just Applejack."
He smiled, bowing slightly before bucking one of the few fruit-laden trees still left in the area. He wasn't as precise as she was; still, no apple struck the ground, caught in his magic to be placed neatly in baskets without a single bruise.
"As you like, my dear."
"And don't call me that , either." She scowled. "Anyhow, I... well, any good pony'd give you a little work if y'asked honest-like. This ain't nothin' special."
"Oh, but it is." He gathered up the baskets, still smiling faintly as he looked to where Flim and Apple Bloom seemed to be having some kind of watering hose war. "Takes us back, y'know. Been absolute years ."
She blinked, then nodded slowly.
"Right... y'said somethin' about bein' farm ponies." She cast a discreet look to his sliced-apple cutie mark. "Apple farm?"
"Oh yes. Grew up on one, y'see. Not just apples, mind. Oranges. Some pears. Plum and apricot. Mother had a little strawberry garden - honeysuckles too." His voice was a bit wistful; Applejack cleared her throat, shrugging a little.
"Sounds mighty fine. Why'd you leave to... well, t'do what y'do?"
He shrugged as well.
"Sometimes the rhythm of a land changes. I think living close to Everfree, where weather does as it likes, keeps it more stable here. Seems strange, but the chaos there means something to pull from. Wasn't so where we lived, though. Sometimes land reaches a point where it's tired. Gets harder to get the rain you want. Not the pegasus ponies' fault, mind; they did their best til they had no choice but to leave." He bucked a tree with a bit more force than necessary; Applejack winced at the suddeness of it, and Flam's cheeks colored. "My apologies. Anyway, our father thought it'd change if we stuck it out a bit longer, instead of taking saplings and small plants and moving on."
"And he was wrong." Applejack sighed, moving to buck another tree. "Well that's... that's... a real shame." The words felt inadequate, and she grimaced. "I mean uh... Apple Family. Y'know, we ain't been here since Equestria began. Used t'be a wanderin' family. Lookin' for a place t'set down our roots, plant our seeds. Don't rightly know why we roamed, though." She moved toward the last tree. "Same reason, maybe."
"A linked past, then." He smiled a bit, bitter and wistful at once. "Linked, but a different fate for the family that made the right decision."
"Ain't yer fault," she mumbled after a moment. "Losin' that farm I mean."
"I suppose not." Flam sighed, catching a few stray apples as Applejack bucked the last tree. "Still interesting. A linked past, and now a link back to our own. It is lovely to be back on a farm."
"Well uh... welcome to it, long as y'both keep workin' like y'have been." She glanced at his cutie mark again. "Anyhow them apples on yer flanks point right to it."
"Hm?" He glanced at her, head tilting, and then smiled. "Ah, no - that's ot what our cutie marks mean, not exactly." He chuckled, putting the last few baskets with the last. "We'll tell you about that some other time - I think your sister might enjoy a cutie mark story from what I gather."
"Well, yeah." Applejack shook a stern hoof at the unicorn. "Just don't go puttin' no ideas in that filly's head, or you can run after those dadgum Crusades a' hers and her friends."
Another laugh, and he nodded.
"I don't think she could replicate our story, mada--ah, Applejack. But deal."
He looked out over the fields then, at the low-hanging sun glowing gold through green leaves, and sighed.
"This place really is something. A jewel you can see for miles before you really realize Ponyville is even here."
Applejack frowned, looking at him closely.
You scallawag! You two had your eyes on this place the second you rolled up, before you even realized the cider situation!
"It sure is," she said instead. "And part a' that 'somethin' is finishin' up chores an' keepin' th'place in one piece. So let's get these apples in an' put a stop t'yer brother an' my sister b'fore they flood us out."
Flam laughed, helping her lift baskets onto a waiting wagon.
"Yes ma'am! Can't have Cutie Mark Crusaders Orchard Surfers this late in the day!"
She laughed in spite of herself, and with the apples loaded they trotted down toward the barnyard together.
Author's Note
For the Thirty Minute Ponies prompt 'A Link To The Past'.
Another Cutie Mark Chronicle
Flim and Flam were standing by the barn with Applejack, the unicorn twins listening to Applejack's plans for the north orchard when Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle came charging up.
"Hey y'all!" Apple Bloom sang as she slid to a stop. "Are ya busy?"
"Don't think so," Applejack said before either brother could reply. "I think that just about covers it, boys. But we're gonna be busy right soon, so get it out now."
"We always have a moment to spare for our favorite little appleseed," Flim said with a grin as he and his brother turned in unison. "What can we do for you, little missy?"
"Weeeell, we had another Cutie Mark experiment today," Scootaloo said. "Turns out Cutie Mark Crusader Ferret Herders didn't really work out."
"So we were wondering," Sweetie Belle said. "We've asked everypony how they got their cutie marks so we can get ideas, and Apple Bloom reminded us that we've never asked you!"
The brothers exchanged a brief look before Flam shrugged slightly.
"Well, Miss Belle, I don't think you can get your marks the way we got ours."
"Don't think you'd want to, really," Flim added. They both nodded at that, and the three fillies groaned.
"Aww, now y'all are just makin' it mysterious." Apple Bloom plopped on her haunches, giving them the biggest, dewiest eyes she could muster. "C'mon, please? Y'never know after all."
"No, I suppose not," Flam said after a moment. He waited politely while the Crusaders bounced in place in cheery cacophany, clearing his throat gently once they started to calm down. Instantly they all lined up, gazing expectantly up at the two unicorns.
"Well, ladies," Flim began, "as my brother here has told the illustrious Applejack, we once had a farm of our very own, back when we were wee young ponies like yourselves. Nothing so spectacular as the Acres here, I'm afraid. In fact I'm afraid our farm was well past its prime!"
"And everyone knew it," Flam said. "Almost, at any rate. You see, most ponies had cleared out. Sometimes, land gets tired and even Earth ponies can't do much about it except try to wait it out. Our father was an Earth pony, y'know, and he was one to wait. Stubborn, you understand. So stubborn he didn't see it even when the three of us were the only ones left - at least not until he lost the farm altogether."
"The farm, the house, the whole caboodle," Flim added. "But... well, that wasn't the worst of us. Old Dad wanted us to go to other family members until he got back on his hooves."
"And unfortunately, no one could take two colts."
"So... y'all got split up?" Apple Bloom stepped close to Applejack, eyes wide as the two unicorns nodded.
"I'm afraid so, little miss," Flam said quietly. "Oh, we tried to keep in touch. Letters, cards. But we ended up getting passed from pony to pony."
"We lost touch," Flim elaborated.
"Almost seven years."
"Neither hide nor hair of each other." Flim paused at a sniffle from Sweetie, reaching out with one hoof to lift her chin. "But don't you worry even a bit! Because, as you can see, we did eventually find each other."
"It was fate, really," Flam said. "You see, we were just old enough to be out on our own, and deciding where we were going with our lives. I was at the train station in Canterlot...."
"...and I happened to look across the tracks...."
"...and there he was!" They finished in unison, grinning at the three fillies.
"I ran straight to the bridge over the tracks," Flim said, "and so did he."
"And when we met," Flam added, "well, it took a few minutes to notice, but that's when these appeared."
They both turned their sides to the fillies to show off their marks.
"It happens to be apples, which was what gave us the cider idea," Flim remarked.
"But really, it could have been anything," Flam said. "Oranges, pies, peas and a pod, pizza, anything that can fit the pattern. The point is, girls, sometimes a cutie mark is about where we belong."
"And we belong together - parts of the same whole!"
"Slices from the same apple."
"Apples from the same tree, you might say."
"A bit like your sister having three apples for three siblings," Flam concluded. "So that's how we got them."
Applejack and the Crusaders were quiet a moment; Applejack was the first to break the silence, looking warmer toward the brothers than she ever had.
"Well... shucks, fellas, that's... that's actually real nice."
"Yeah," Apple Bloom said happily; Sweetie nodded, though Scootaloo rolled her eyes.
"Another sappy story," she grumbled. "Why are they almost all like that?" Another moment, and her frown deepened. "And... and wait a second. Are you two saying you didn't get your cutie marks until you were grown-ups ?"
"That's right!" Flim said brightly. "One-hundred-percent genuine full-grown unicorn stallions!"
"Though I do believe we've gotten taller," Flam mused.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders spent a long moment staring at them; Applejack groaned and pushed her hat down over her eyes.
Then Sweetie Belle let out a wail worthy of Rarity, flopping in the dirt.
"Ohhh...! We're never gonna get our cutie marks...!"
The other two joined her with similar cries. Flim and Flam stared down at them in astonishment for several seconds; then, in unison, they turned to Applejack with identical quizzical expressions.
"Was it something we said?"
It was over, and Applejack didn’t feel nearly as satisfied as she’d always thought she would.
In fact, she realized as she stared up at the near-finished cider machine, it hurt. At some point, she’d stopped waiting for Flim and Flam’s good behavior to end. She’d stopped waiting to see their angle, their con.
She’d started seeing them as a part of the farm.
And then the good behavior was over. She’d come into the barn to call them to supper, and she’d seen them working on a new Super Speedy Cider Squeezy Whatever - planning to try competing next cider season she didn't doubt! - and it all came crashing down.
Flim had tried to interject, tried to answer her as she raged.
Flam had simply stood silent, letting her anger wash over him, ears tipping ever further back as she shouted over Flim.
And in the end she’d run both of those no-good, two-faced, flim-flamming conponies off her farm.
For good.
"Hey y’all, I brought…."
Apple Bloom trailed off as she entered the barn and saw Applejack standing in front of the machine. The filly had her saddlebags on, the pouches brimming with tools, and for a moment she stared wide-eyed at her sister.
"Aw, no!" she wailed at last. "Applejack! Y’done gone an’ spoiled th’surprise!"
"Surprise?" Applejack echoed. "Y’mean t’tell me ya knew about this?”
"Sure did! We’ve been workin’ on it for weeks!" Applebloom trotted forward, looking up at the machine with pride. "See, Flim an’ Flam pointed out how we really do run short on cider, an’ yer friends can’t take days off every fall t’help! So we were improvin’ their old design, so Big Mac can run it instead a’ magic, an’ we pick an’ sort th’ apples - Flam says the apple-sucker-thingy bruises too many anyhow - but it’ll still up our output lots! Just like th’contest only we don’t gotta call Twilight an’ th’others t’help!"
"That’s what they told ya, huh?" Applejack muttered hollowly. She looked up at the machine, absently reaching over to ruffle Applebloom’s mane.
Then she frowned, ears coming up as she looked the contraption over again.
Treadmill, just like Big Mac’s cider press.
No magic receptors.
No apple-sorting window.
Just the treadmill connected to a variety of gears leading to the press instead of directly to the press itself. A generator - she’d seen one before, including magical ones.
No magic here, though. Just pure horsepower.
An improved Earth-pony run press without a trace of magic needed.
Applejack made a low, choked sound and wheeled on her hindlegs, tearing out of the barn at full gallop as Apple Bloom called after her in puzzled plaintiveness.
What have I done?
***
She caught them a few miles out of Ponyville. The twin unicorns had been walking in resolute matched step, heads lowered; they looked up in unison as she ran out in front of them and then slid to a stop, dust floating about her as she turned to face them.
"Wait," she gasped out, flanks heaving from her run. "Wait, please."
They exchanged a glance but remained still, holding their silence as they waited for her to catch her breath.
"I… I… listen, boys. Bloom came into th’barn an’… an’ she set me right. I never… I shoulda… I shouldn’ta… I…."
She lowered her head, eyes burning as her hat slid over them.
"I’m sorry." A bare whisper. "I’m so sorry."
Another moment of silence.
Then Flim lifted her chin with a forehoof, his own voice a bare echo of its usual chipper tone.
"Why my dear - I wouldn’t have listened to me either!"
"And quite frankly, I wouldn’t have believed me if I had listened," Flam added, head tilting. Applejack smiled a little at that, swallowing hard.
"I… well that’s… I just… can y’all ever forgive me?"
"Weeeell, that depends," Flim drawled out, a cheeky glint returning to his eyes. "Can you ever forgive us for riding in uninvited, playing up the cider shortage, and trying to con you out of the Acres?"
Flam snorted; Applejack stared at them both a moment before snorting as well.
"I let y’all back on my farm, didn’t I?"
Both unicorns chortled, nodding.
"That you did," Flam said. "And really, Applejack - do you really need to ask?" He offered a hoof, Flim echoing the motion; after a moment Applejack nodded, rearing up so she could take both their hooves at once.
"I guess not. Friends?"
"Friends," the brothers replied in unison. Applejack smiled, and the three started a leisurely walk back to Sweet Apple Acres.
***
"Do y’all really have t’go?"
Apple Bloom pouted, offering the twins her biggest, saddest eyes. Flim and Flam took a full step back at the sight before chuckling nervously, both nodding as Flim spoke.
"I’m afraid we do, my little appleseed. Winter is wrapped up, spring has sprung, and the deal was until we were back on our hooves besides."
"Traveling’s the way for a pair of charlatans like us," Flam added.
"Besides - we’ve got farms to visit, wares to peddle, and our Fantastic Fruitjuicer to show off to orchards across Equestria."
"Fantastic Fruitjuicer?" Applejack asked.
"We’re still working on a name," Flim admitted.
"I see." Applejack nodded a little. "What about ‘Perfect Produce Presser’?"
Flim and Flam blinked, exchanging a glance.
"Say, that’s good," Flam said. "Perfect Produce Presser. That’s a winner!"
"Now then, no fretting, Apples," Flim said. "Our stay is ending, but - that just means the next one’ll come all the sooner, Miss Applejack allowing."
"If y’behave," Applejack said, giving them as stern a glare as she could muster. Both grinned at her, and she grinned back.
"And who knows?" Flam said. "We sell a few PPPs, and maybe we’ll buy our very own Flim Flam Fields for you to visit."
"All right," Apple Bloom said. "If y’promise."
"We promise," the brothers chorused.
A hug from Apple Bloom, an exchanged hat-tip with Applejack and nod with Big Macintosh, and a theatrical bow to Granny later, Flim and Flam hitched themselves to their new wagon and made their way out of Sweet Apple Acres.
"Ready for the next big road-trip adventure, Flam?"
"Ready, Flim."
"It was nice, though. We’ll have to go back sometime.”
"It'll be nice to be welcomed back somewhere, sometime.”
"Oh yes. But for now - we’ve got a world of ponies to show a world of perfect pressing! Now, about the problem with orange peels…."
Author's Note
And so we reach the end, this final chapter being written for the final prompt over at TMP. Thank you for reading!