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?"