Chapter 2: Making Amends and Ties Between Friends
Flam paused, as he reached his hoof out to open the gate to Sweet Apple Acres. Maybe I should just head back into town. This could turn out much rougher than I bargained for. I wouldn’t blame them for throwing me out hooves over tail either, especially after what I’ve pulled. He swallowed, took a deep breath, and then hardened his expression. No, I won’t go back now. I can’t turn away just because this is going to be hard. That’s something Flim would do. He pulled open the gate and stepped through.
As he made his way toward the homestead, he admired the apple trees. The orchard was healthy, well-tended, and producing well. He felt a tug of regret, as he saw one of the trees that the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 had damaged. He also noted the number bare spots left by the trees that had been lost. He felt sick that he had played a part in such meaningless waste. “Some things don’t heal very quickly,” he said to himself.
“Eeyup.”
Flam turned towards the deep voiced speaker. He had not seen the Apple for the apple trees. “Excuse me. I don’t know if you remember me. My name is Flam. My brother and I did your family a disservice during your cider producing season.” Flam extended his hoof. “I’ve come to make amends for my actions, if you would be as so kind as to give me the opportunity.”
Big Mac slowly moved the sprig of wheat he had been chewing from one side of his mouth to the other, as he regarded Flam. His expression did not change, but he extended his own hoof and shook Flam’s hoof. “Mighty big of ya to come back like this, most ponies would just show tail and keep goin’.”
Flam truthfully confessed, “I probably would have too, not too long ago.”
Big Mac motioned for Flam to follow, and the two made their way to the house. Granny Smith was sitting on the front knitting and rocking in her chair.
As they approached, Granny arthritically pointed a hoof at Flam and asked, “Young’un, who’s that with you?”
Flam stepped forward, took of his hat, and introduced himself. “The name’s Flam, we met a couple of weeks ago, mam. My brother and I held a cider-making contest with your family. Not a fair one either, I have to admit.”
Granny’s eyes lit with recognition. She smiled, “Land sakes, it is you. I didn’t recognize you without your mustache, the fancy mane cut, and the hat.” She leaned forward in her chair, causing it to creak, and gave Flam a proud smile and a wink. “We still whooped your fancy, city tail.”
Flam could not keep the grin from his face, as he marveled at the elder mare’s fighting spirit. “True enough mam. I’ve come to see if I could offer my services to make up for the trouble that my brother and I caused.”
“Why that’s mighty fine of ya, I’m sure we can think of somethin’ that you can help us with around here.” She leaned back and started rocking again. Over the resumed clack of her needles, she said, “Just give me minute to come up with an idea, and I’ll put you to work.”
Before Flam could offer his own thought, Applejack announced her presence with a question that sounded much like a snarl, “What’s this varmint doin’ on our farm again?!” She all but stomped towards Flam, as she berated him, “Haven’t you done enough harm?! Our cider season was almost ruined, our trees got mangled by your contraption, and you put me, my family, and my friends through Tartarus, just so you could make a few bits!”
Flam resignedly clutched his hat to his chest, closed his eyes, and waited for the blow he was sure was coming. After a couple of tense seconds, and no impact, he opened his eyes. Big Mac had put his foreleg out to stop Applejack. She still fumed, but she did not push past her brother.
Flam stepped forward, despite her clear distaste for him, and offered his hoof to her. “I’ve come back to try to make up for the grief I have caused you and yours.” He raised his hat slightly, indicating for her to look at it. “I’ve apologized to your friend Rarity. She was kind enough not to throw me out of her shop, and made this for me when I commissioned it. She also gave me an idea for what I can do for you and your family.” He extended his hoof a little more. “Please, let me do something for you to make up for the wrong I did.”
Applejack’s face twisted, as she contemplated her response. She made no move to take Flam’s hoof, and it seemed like she had made up her mind not to.
Granny scolded her granddaughter, “Child, I brought you up better than this. You take this stallion’s hoof right this instant. It took a heap of courage for him to come back here and say he’s sorry. I won’t have you treatin’ him so poorly when he’s offered to make things right by us.”
Applejack’s scowl held, but she shook his hoof briefly. “Just what were you aimin’ to do to help us?”
“Rarity told me that your cider making equipment was in need of repair.” With a flourish, Flam returned his hat to his head. He took a second to adjust his cap to just the right angle, before continuing, “I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but working with farm machines is a specialty of mine. I think it’s only fitting that I should repair your cider press, free of charge, since I am one of the main contributors to its current overused condition.”
“Nnope.” The other ponies turned to Big Mac in varying degrees of disbelief, and he insisted, “You’d put too much out in parts.”
Flam pointed toward the orchard, in the direction of the damaged and missing trees he had just recently passed. “I owe you for more than just being a jackass. I did property damage to your home and livelihood. I may not be the same kind of apple farmer as you and your family, but I know what kind of harm I did to your trees and your income.”
Flam reached back into his saddlebags, and pulled out a heavy pouch. The sound of bits rattling together told that its contents were a considerable sum. “I have the bits for parts. Trust me, I won’t miss them.” He shook the pouch for emphasis, and out of self-loathing. “Having bit’s doesn’t mean anything, if every time you go to spend them ponies spit at your hooves and refuse to do business with you. There are a couple of towns where that sort of thing happens every time I step into a store or walk up to a market stall.”
He turned back to Applejack and put the bag in her hooves. “These are yours to do with as you see fit.” He bowed his head slightly. “Please, take them and let me make the repairs to your equipment. I want to walk a new path, and I can’t think of a better to get started on it than making things right with you and your family.”
Applejack’s shocked expression spoke volumes. She looked over to Granny, and then to Big Mac, who both nodded. She gave Flam an unreadable look, but eventually agreed. “I guess I can’t say no to that.”
*****
Flam was greasy, hot, sweaty, covered in dirt, and he loved it. He hummed as he wrote down the name, size, and manufacturer of another part he would need. To avoid getting the grease from his hooves on the pencil or list, he used his mouth to write. Even the taste of the eraser brought back fond memories of when he used to work on equipment all the time.
The sound of three small sets of hooves entering the barn drew his attention. He looked towards the end of the cider press, just as Apple Bloom and two fillies he did not recognize rounded the machine. “Hello, what brings your three to see me?”
Apple Bloom put down the pitcher she had been carrying, and gave him a curious look. “Have you been hangin’ around Zecora?”
“I can’t say I even know the mare.” He nodded to the pegasus and unicorn fillies. “Just as I can’t say I’ve met you two young ladies.”
Sweetie Belle carefully put the stack of glasses she had been carrying down next to the pitcher. “I’m Sweetie Belle, and this is Scootaloo.”
“Pleasure to meet you both, I would shake your hooves but I don’t you would appreciate it.” He held out his hooves, displaying the grease and grime on them.
Scootaloo shrugged. “Beats tree sap.”
Apple Bloom poured each of them a glass of juice. “Applejack said you might be getting’ thirsty, so we came to give you a drink and watch you work for a spell.”
Applejack had guessed correctly. Flam downed the juice with one go. He wiped his mouth with his foreleg, after sighing contentedly. “Quite good, did you three make this?”
“Nope, Granny Smith all the way,” Scootaloo answered, still working on her own glass.
“Hey Mister, how did you get your cutie mark?” Sweetie asked, curious at his three quarters apple mark.
“No mister, just Flam, please. Mister would be my dad.” He gestured toward the cider press. “Working on farm equipment like this is what got me my cutie mark. One day I was helping my dad tune up one of his machines, and the next thing I knew this apple had shown up on my flank.”
Apple Bloom tilted her head. “Then why don’t you have a wrench or somethin’ like that for a cutie mark?”
“Good question. I think it has as much to do with why I was working with my dad, as it was what I was working on. He was trying to make adjustment to a new apple harvester that would cut down on the number of apples spoiling on the trees.” He patted the partially disassembled treadmill drive of the cider press. “I have knack for finding ways to get the most out of every apple, and I love fiddling with machines to get every possible ounce of production out of them.”
Scootaloo sat up smartly, as she thought she had come to understand what he was saying. “So your cutie mark reflects what your goal was, not what you were doing when you got it?”
Flam smiled at her enthusiasm. “You could look at it that way, I guess.”
With a flutter of wings, she leapt to her hooves. “I’ve got it girls! We just have focus really hard on what we’re trying to accomplish when we try to get our cutie marks. Let’s go figure out something to do, focus real hard on our goal while we do it, and see what happens!”
Sweetie sighed. “That means I might get a cutie mark about trying not to get covered in sap again.”
Apple Bloom laughed, and nudged Sweetie into action. The three fillies ran out the barn, eager to try once again to gain their marks.
Just as they left his sight, Applejack entered it. “That was right nice of ya, to tell them your cutie mark story.”
“I enjoyed it, and I enjoyed the drink, thank you.” He examined the pitcher, and found there was just enough juice left for half a glass. He offered, “Would you like to finish it off?”
“Nah, just had some myself. You go ahead.”
Flam needed no further prompting, and quickly drained what was left. “I don’t think your sister and her friends have the right idea about what a cutie mark actually represents.”
“My friends and I’ve tried explainin’ it to them every which way we can think of, but they won’t listen to what we’re tryin’ to tell them.” She smiled. “Doesn’t bother me much though, it’s kind of fun to see what wild scheme they come up with to try next.” She rubbed her forehead with a hoof, upon reflecting on a couple of their less thought out plans. “At least so long as they ain’t gettin’ hurt, or wreckin’ anything. Sometimes I spend more time fixin’ things they’ve managed to destroy than I get real work done.”
“Speaking of fixing things, I’ve made quite a bit of progress.” He pointed to a couple of reassembled components of the cider press. “I’ve cleaned what needed to be cleaned, and greased what needed grease. There are a couple of parts and some bearings that certainly need to be replaced, but overall the press is in great condition.”
Applejack tilted her hat back in concern, as she looked over the various pieces that Flam had laid out on his canvas work area. “All these need replacing?”
“Not at all, that is something I was going to talk with you about.” He pointed a couple of things out with the current set up for the press, and discussed with her how a couple of changes would make the press more efficient. “I could just fix it, and get it working as good as new. But, if it’s alright with you, I’d like the chance to try a couple of things that I think will make it work better than it ever has.”
“Shoot, give it a shot. I’m all for not lettin’ even one drop of juice go to waste.”
He scratched his chin with a hoof absentmindedly, leaving a greasy smear. “I can’t guarantee that not a drop will be lost, but I can say I think there is good chance I can up your production a bit.”
She smiled at his grease marked face, but chose not to say a word.
*****
Beat looked up from the book he was reading, as Flam entered the house. He laughed at Flam’s disheveled and filthy state. “What happened to you? You look like you got in a fight with a freshly greased cart axel and lost.”
Flam grinned, his teeth and eyes the only features of his face not colored with grease or dirt. “You’re not too far off. I’ve been helping the Apples with their cider press.”
Beat walked over to Flam, took the new hat from his friend’s head, and put it on a hook near the door. “Don’t want you getting grease on this. Go and shower, we’ve only got a few minutes before we’ve got to go.”
“I almost forgot about that, I’ll be right back.” Flam went to the bathroom to wash off, and Beat returned to his book. It was not long before Flam returned to the den, his appearance much more presentable. “Should we leave a little early, so you can get Bon-Bon some flowers?”
Beat placed a bookmark between the pages, and shut the book. “I think this is more a of a friends night out sort of thing. It would be kind of awkward for me and Bon-Bon to be on a date and you two not be together too.”
Flam thought about it for a moment, and voiced, “I wouldn’t be adverse to it. Lyra seems like a nice mare, and you know how I like two toned manes.”
“I have to warn you, my friend. If you really want to go down that route, she has a bit of a history in the romance department.”
Flam’s eyes showed his surprise at the unexpected warning. “She didn’t seem the type for that kind of thing.”
“I’m sorry, that didn’t come out quite right.” Beat got up from the couch. “It’s not really her, but her family has put a lot of pressure on her to marry up in the world in the past.”
Flam flinched. Being from Canterlot, he knew the kind of stress that families could put on mares and stallions both to enter into relationships they would never have sought on their own.
Beat patted him on the shoulder. “If there is anypony that can understand about bad family influences, it’s you.”
He gave Beat a thin smile in return. “You’re right about that.” His smiled gained a little more life, as he added, “It may be worth the risk though, we’ll just have to see.”
*****
Lyra watched as Bon-Bon scurried around the living area of the shop. She thought all of her friend’s fuss was humorous, and sat back on the couch to enjoy the show. Lyra snickered, as Bon-Bon compulsively checked her mane in the entryway mirror for at least the sixth time.
Bon-Bon quit fussing with her mane long enough to chide Lyra, “Would you please not sit like that, it makes my back hurt just looking at you.”
Lyra shifted her sitting position to accommodate her anxious friend. “How can you be so nervous about a night out? You’ve been with Beat for almost a year. He’s not going to dump you if your mane is not perfect tonight, trust me.”
Bon-Bon weakly smiled. “I know that here.” She tapped her forehead. “But there is another part of my brain that doesn’t.” She patted the back of her head. “I’ve got such a wonderful thing with Beat that it scares me. You know my luck with stallions.”
Before Lyra could respond, a knock came at the door.
Bon-Bon took a steadying breath, and then went to greet her guests.
Beat could tell that something had been bothering Bon-Bon, as soon as she opened the door. He gently pulled her into a hug before even asking what was wrong.
Lyra walked up to the pair. “Beat, you need to talk with your marefriend. She thinks you’re going to leave her, or something just as horrible, if her mane’s not perfect.”
Bon-Bon started to glare at Lyra, only to have her head gently turned by Beat’s hoof on her chin. She tried to play down her insecurities as best she could. “She’s exaggerating, I was just a little worked up from how busy it was in the shop today and…”
Beat’s lips on hers stopped Bon-Bon from saying anything more. After a long moment, he pulled away. “You’re lying and I can tell.”
Lyra smiled, knowing her friend was fussing over nothing. “You’re stuck with him Bon-Bon, whether you like it or not. I told you he’d fall for you hard, hopeless romantic that he is. I would be much more worried that you’d leave him and he’d wither away and die, but I know that’s not going to happen.”
Flam leaned around the hugging couple, and asked, “If you don’t mind my asking, how exactly do you know?” He gave Lyra a quick wink.
Lyra got his meaning, and replied, “Oh, she won’t leave him. It’s always, ‘Beat this’ and ‘Beat that.” She made a gagging motion with her hoof, before continuing, “It gets worse. She’s always telling me ‘He’s such a gentlecolt’ and ‘he always says such nice things about me’ and ‘he’s a great lay.’ It’s enough to make you leave the room.”
Bon-Bon’s mouth dropped open in indignant shock. “Lyra, I did not say he’s a great lay! That’s just crass!”
Flam asked teasingly, “You didn’t?”
Ears folded back in dejection, Beat asked, “I’m not?”
Bon-Bon, seeing the hurt in Beat’s eyes, quickly assured him, “That’s not at all what I meant.”
Lyra smugly nodded. “She’s quite satisfied with that aspect of your relationship.” She put a hoof to her chin, and put on an exaggerated thinking expression. “What were her exact words about your prowess?”
Before Lyra could quote her word for word, Bon-Bon covered Lyra’s mouth with a hoof. “That’s enough out of you. There is another pony in the room that does not need to hear what I said.”
Beat, ears still folded back and looking pitiful, asked, “Can I at least know?”
Bon-Bon smiled sympathetically at him. She gently pulled his head down, and whispered in his ear. Beat blushed bright red, and his eyes went wide. “You told her about that? With that much detail?”
Bon-Bon, her own cheeks touched with red, nodded. “You can ask her later to see if I’m telling the truth. She blackmailed me into telling her.”
“It wasn’t blackmail, I just pointed out that I set you two up. It’s my responsibility to know that you’re treating her right.” Lyra said with a grin.
Beat hugged Bon-Bon back to his chest and nuzzled her mane. “I’ve tried to do my best, it’s what she deserves.”
Bon-Bon hugged him tighter.
*****
Flam leaned back from the table. He rolled his head back and lightly groaned. “I will regret eating that much later, I’m sure, but that was good.”
Beat shook his head. “That was impressive.”
“That was almost repulsive,” Bon-Bon teased. “Where did you put it all?”
“I didn’t eat lunch, and I’ve been working and using magic all day. I had a lot of space I needed to fill up.” Flam patted his stomach.
Lyra poked his belly, causing him to jump. “You must have.” She waited for beat to finish taking a pull of his coffee, before asking him, “How do you two know each other?”
“We met while we were in school. The school’s pipe organ broke down and the two of us helped fix it.” Beat gestured towards Flam with his cup. “We became friends after that.”
Bon-Bon leaned on the table. “You studied music?”
Flam shook his head. “I’ve had no formal training or musical studies whatsoever. I was there to help repair one of the pressure regulators on the organ, nothing more. I got some extra credit for a course for the work, and it allowed me to work on something outside the farm equipment realm.”
Flam gave Lyra a mischievous look. “Alright, now you know our rather boring back story. I want to know how you came to be the mare that brought these two lovers together.”
“I’m afraid it’s rather boring too, actually.” Lyra squirmed a little, as if nervous at the rather bland question.
“Humor me.”
“Bon-Bon had a room to rent, when I was moving to Ponyville. I tried just making with just playing my lute at functions like those that in Canterlot.” She shrugged. Ponyville is so much smaller I couldn’t drum up enough business. She offered me a spot in the shop after Caramel changed jobs, again.”
Bon-Bon interjected, “I’m glad I did. She works like an Apple, and when there is not much to do around the shop she plays her lute and draws ponies into the shop.”
Flam gave Lyra an appreciative glance. “Ah, so you play the part of the lovely siren. That’s fitting.”
Beat rolled his eyes. “Smooth as always, Flam.”
Bon-Bon barely kept from laughing, and softly swatted Beat’s shoulder. “I thought it was sweet. Leave him alone.”
Lyra lightly blushed, and continued her story, “My lute needed some work done on it after a while, and I found out Beat’s shop was the only one in town that fit what I needed. I didn’t realize he was the pony that owned the shop. I hadn’t seen him since he used to work on the student’s instruments as part of his training back at school.”
Flam looked back and forth between Lyra and Beat, slightly confused. “I can see why you two would have had some kind of relationship, but how did Bon-Bon get mixed up with this rogue?”
“Just remember, you’re sleeping on this rogue’s couch,” Beat warned, in a friendly tone.
“Beat and I go back to when we were little. His folks worked on my parent’s instruments so our families knew each other, and we went to school together for a good while too. It would have been like dating a brother or cousin. No offense, Beat.”
“None taken, sis.” He mildly snarked, “This coming from the filly that pitched a fit till I gave her first kiss.”
Lyra bristled with embarrassment and indignation. “I was four! We were foals!”
Bon-Bon looked over at Lyra, with a barely suppressed smile. “Were there any other firsts I need to know about between you two?”
Lyra stated, with finality, “Absolutely none whatsoever.”
Flam chuckled. “While interesting to know he was the source of your first kiss, it still does not tell how you pulled these two together.”
“Bon-Bon and I were talking one night, like roommates do, and it came up that she hadn’t had a coltfriend in a while. I knew Beat’s personality and hers would fit together, and with a simple prompt for the two of them, ta-da!” She gestured towards the pair as if she had done a magic trick.
Bon-Bon snorted. “Simple prompt my tail, she convinced me that I needed to learn an instrument so I could drum up sales too. Lyra all but dragged me to Beat’s shop. I ended up buying a hang, and meeting this wonderful stallion.”
Flam looked at Lyra, confused yet again. “Hang, what’s a hang?”
“She’ll have to show it to you. It’s hard to describe, but think of it like a strange bongo. She plays it really well now. She even joins me and Noteworthy some evenings when we play under the gazebo in the park.”
Bon-Bon stirred a little more crème into her coffee, and then pointed the spoon at Flam. “Alright, since you know a little about our love lives, how about yours?”
Flam slumped. “I haven’t had one in a long time, sadly. I used to date this wonderful mare, Quick Fix, but she moved to Fillydelphia to take a job there. We ended it amiably before she left. I’ve lost track of her since then.”
“Flam, that was while we were in college.” Beat looked at his friend in disbelief. “You’re telling me you haven’t had a marefriend in four years?”
“No. Thanks to work, and all the traveling I did, I didn’t have time to find somepony special.” Flam tried to shrug as if it did not bother him.
“Now that you’re planning on staying here in Ponyville, we might have to do something about that.” Bon-Bon met his eyes, smiled, and glanced at Lyra, who was looking at him with a thoughtful expression.
Flam’s eyes went to Lyra automatically, and she glanced away. A cautious smile came to his lips. “We’ll just have to see. There is still a lot up in the air right now. If things work out, I wouldn’t be opposed to the idea.”
Lyra sipped her drink with a smile of her own.