Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale

by TheothersideofSunny968

Flim and Flam on the Farm

Sunny could barely sleep with all that had happened in the last 24 hours. In less then a day his entire world had been turned upside down. He sat there in bed staring up at the ceiling, thinking about the Flim Flam brothers. 'Of all the ponies in Equestria, why did 'they' have to be blood related?!....'

Sunny then turned over and looked out his window at the starry night sky. He sighed heavily again. 'Why couldn't it have been me?... Why couldn't we have found part of the Apple family tree that said I was an Apple?!'

Then an idea popped into Sunny's head. Flim and Flam had that old scroll with the Apple family on it, and maybe, just maybe, Sunny could sneak a peak at it and find somepony who looked enough like him who was an Apple family member. Maybe he could even go in search of them and confirm it! Sunny jumped up out of bed, full of gusto and a fire burning inside, rekindled by a possibility that his family, his real family, was the family he was already living with. Maybe he was an Apple after all!

Not wanting to wake anypony, Sunny crept out of his room slowly, and made his way out to the living room. Flim and Flam had to sleep in sleeping bags temporarily until more permanent arrangements could be made. And of course they had been spread out across the living room floor. Sunny shuttered at the thought. He didn't know them personally, but from what he read and the stories he's heard from Applejack about them, the Flim Flam brothers weren't ponies you could trust.

Sunny quietly made his way across the way to the hight of the stairs and began to defend down them. With each step he took, the wood of the stairs creaked and gowned, almost as if they were working against him. Sunny needed to be sneaky, not wanting Flim or Flam to wake up as he looked through their personal belongings. Once Sunny finally reached the bottom step and hopped quietly off the stairs, he breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

Before he could walk over to were Flim and Flam slept, he heard a rumbling noise coming from the kitchen. His sudden curiosity got the better of him, fearing the worst as he slowly approached the kitchen's opening, his back pressed up against the wall. Before he looked over and glanced at who was making such a racket in the kitchen, three different possibilities came to mind as to who it could be. Sunny thought the intruder would be king Sombra, the rouge pony puppet that ran off on nightmare night, or even just a burglar. With one last deep breath, he peered over the corner and got his answer.

Flim and Flam seemed to be up and fully awake, rummaging through the cabinets looking for something. Several books and sheets of paper lay scattered across the kitchen table and floor. 'What are those two trouble makers up to?'

Just as Sunny was about to pop out and confront the two trouble making twins, a familiar voice sprang out from behind him. "What in Zap apple season is going on in here?!"

The Flim Flam brothers and Sunny all jumped when Granny Smith appeared out of nowhere, still in her night gown, looking more sleepy then normal.

"We were just, ugh..." Flim began to explain, ignoring Sunny for the moment.

"Re-organizing the pantry for you, Granny" Flam swooped in for the save.

"Yes, that's it!" Flim declared.

"You know, to show how grateful we are that you took us it" Flam continued.

"Well ah wouldn't worry about that" Granny said with a wave of her hoof. "You three have some work to do. And since y'all are awake now, why don't cha hop to it?"

"Ugh, work?" Flim repeated, looking confused.

"What work?" Flam asked curiously.

"Well the day's work, silly!" Granny continued on innocently. "First you two will need to clean the pig pen, Sunny will work with the chickens. Then you all can hit the field that needs plowing. We'll start with that. After that, breakfast should be ready. Then the real work begins." Granny then let out a yawn and stretched a little. "While you strong, strapping stallions get to work, this old mare's going to get some more shit eye. Have fun."

With that Granny went back up stairs, entered her room, and casually locked the door behind her. A moment later, it looked like Flim and Flam were about to dive back into whatever they were really doing, but luckily Twilight taught Sunny a very handy spell. His horn glowed green as a similar magical aura was cast over all the books and papers the twin brothers had spread out across the kitchen. Immediately the papers came to life and moved back into place where they originally were before the two brothers got their hooves on them. The twins watched the mess clean itself up, then shot an angry glance over at the yellow unicorn who was now wearing his signature Stetson hat, smiling smugly at the two, then tipped his hat to them.

"Shall we get to work boys?" The Stetson wearing unicorn asked.

Sunny went right to work clearing out the chicken coop, collecting the eggs for the day as well as placing new straw in for the still sleeping chickens. He slightly envied them, wanting to get some more sleep himself now, feeling the full effects of his restless night. Every now and again he would stick his head out of the coop at the Flim Flam brothers, who were either trying to sneak away from the pig pen and get back to the farm house, or were pretending to actually do the job they were assigned to do. Once Sunny was done collecting he eggs and brought them inside, he met up with Flim and Flam who claimed they had finished with the pig pen. Sunny then directed them outside to the field that needed plowing.

"Oh brother of mine, do you know what Thought has crossed my mind?" Flim began to say as he leaned against the plow with a sly look on his face.

"Why, no. What is that, brother?" Flam asked as he stood on one side of Sunny.

"That this is a Two pony job" Flim answered.

"You're right, brother of mine. And it seems we have one pony too many with us" Flam commented, now both brothers looking over at Sunny, seemingly innocent smiles painted across their muzzles.

"Why don't you go and see if Granny needs anything else while my brother and I deal with..." Flim started to suggest.

"This messy business of plowing the field?" Flam finished his suggestion.

"Oh no you don't" Sunny put his hoof down. He looked between the two brothers who seemed to taken off guard by his reaction, then locked onto the one with the mustache. "Why don't 'you' go and see if Granny needs any help. 'I' will stay here and work with your brother."

Flim shrugged and turned to his brother "we best do what he says, brother."

"So true brother" Flam agreed. "After all, he has worked the farm mores hen either of us, and surely knows what he is doing."

"Indeed he must know more the either of us put together" Flim stated, then both of the brothers shot each other a quick wink to each other when Sunny wasn't looking.

And with that, Flam walked over to the farm house, leaving Sunny with his brother. Watching those two made Sunny sick. He knew they were up to something, but he didn't know what just yet. Until they made their move, he would keep an eye on them. And if they tried anything funny, he kept a few spell's up his sleeve that Twilight taught him incase of an emergency.

Sunny decided it was best to just do the work and keep an eye on the two as best he could, for now. While Flim helped push the plow, Sunny pulled it as best he could. Big Mac and him could do the job without much effort. Sunny was willing to bet that Flim was just barley pushing, which would explain why Sunny felt like he was doing the work of two ponies. Flam never came back until most of the work was done with the feild, in which he and his brother traded off. Claiming that they weren't used to the heavy labor yet, and wouldn't be able to pull the heavy plow.

"Granny said the next thing she wanted us to do was clear out the old straw in the barn and give the place a good dusting" Flam told the other two unicorns as he twirled his mustache.

"Alright" Sunny flatly said, knowing that that was actually a chore Applejack had planned for him while she was gone. It normally only required one or two ponies to do it, so three should really help get it done faster. If these two clowns would actually put forth an effort. Even if they didn't, the job wouldn't be too hard for Sunny to do alone. That, and in the barn, Sunny could keep a closer eye on the two. "Let's go and get this done."

"Granny also said that if we want, one of us can go inside and help her with the backing" Flam added, a toothy smile on his muzzle.

"Maybe you should go and take a break Sunny" Flim added. "You have been working awfully hard out here."

"Harder then the both of us put together" Flam admitted.

'Ain't that the truth' Sunny thought, but still didn't like the idea of leaving those two alone together. "It's alright. Flam, why don't you go help Granny?"

"Well alright, if you insist" Flam said, almost half heartedly. Then left his brother and Sunny in the field while he went to go help Granny in the kitchen.

Sunny didn't say much to Flim as they cleared the straw out of the barn. Well, it was more like Sunny cleared the straw out of the barn and Flim pretended to help. But Sunny caught small glances of the swindling unicorn as he worked. Flim was just casually whistling while trails of sweat ran down Sunny's face.

Not long after Sunny finished clearing out the straw and was about to tackle clearing out the cob webs and debris on the ceiling of the barn, did Flam show back up with two tall glasses of lemonade. To which, he shared with his brother, both of them downing the entire glass in one gulp. Sunny watched, dying a little inside as the refreshing, cool lemon aid disappeared before his very eyes.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, old fellow" Flam said with his sly grin. "Did you want some? Granny has more in the kitchen if you want to grab a glass."

Sunny was dying of thirst, and he felt exhausted from pulling more then his fair share of work. If the Flim Flam brothers were planning anything, surely it wouldn't involve a nearly empty barn, what trouble coils they cause out there? "That actually sounds good to me. Why don't you and your brother finish cleaning up the barn here. I'll be back before you even put the new straw down. Ok? "

"You got it!" Flim said, saluting with a pleased smile.

"As you wish!" Flam added, saluting and smiling like his brother.

Sunny still didn't like leaving them alone, but his throat felt like that pie Granny was backing this morning. And lemonade sounded like just what he needed to fix that. The yellow unicorn left the two trouble making twins in the barn as he made his way across the way to the farm house. Once he reached the kitchen, he found Granny happily making breakfast, humming to herself until she saw Sunny, who broke her concentration. She didn't mind though. She honestly forgot what song she was even humming. So she felt no real loss.

"Bout time ya took a break" Granny said, pouring Sunny a tall glass of fresh lemonade. "Was starting to think ah'd have ta drag ya away from work. Yer just like Aj and Big Mac, in that since."

Sunny's ears perked right up at the complement. He knew he had to work extra hard to be able to keep up with Applejack and Big Mac when it came to work in the farm, since unicorn bodies weren't really meant for hard labor. But to hear Granny complement him like that, was more rejuvenating then the lemonade itself.... But as the yellow stallion looked at the freshly made lemonade, he couldn't help but feel that it couldn't hurt to take just a sip. Or two. Don't want Granny's hard work to go to waste.

After Sunny downed the whole glass, Granny refilled it and watched the stallion get through half of his second glass before stoping, hesitating and looking out the window towards the barn.

"Granny, how can you trust those two?" Sunny tried to tread lightly, knowing they were still technically Apple family members. "You know they're up to something."

"Maybe" Granny said as she opened the oven and took a long wiff, smiling at the pleasant aroma. "But ya can't harvest an apple before its ripe. You know what you get if ya do?"

"Ugh... Terrible tasting apple pies?" Sunny guessed, kind of confused by the metaphor.

"More then that!" Granny began to explain. "Nothing good. You try and make a pie with apples that aren't ready, the pie will taste terrible. You try an' make apples sauce, terrible. Apple cobbler, terrible. Candy apples, terrible. Nothing good comes from jumping the gun."

Granny took a seat next to Sunny as she took a sip of lemonade to wet her own whistle. "Ya have ta give ponies a chance to do good. They might have done some bad things in th' past, but if they wanna make things better, ya need ta give them that chance. It's not easy findin' it within yerself ta give them another chance, and too many second chances makes ya a danged fool, but one more chance might just be what they need."

Sunny smiled at the elderly mare and nodded. "I think I see what you mean, Granny."

Just then the two brothers walked inside the dinning room, without a bead of sweat on them. Sunny glared at them, half guessing that they didn't really do anything with the barn , like they were instructed to do.

"Breakfast ready, Granny" Flim asked as he shot her a slick smile, sniffing the air.

"We worked quite the apatite up" Flam added, whipping imaginary sweat from his brow.

"Just about ready, boys" Granny replied. "Did ya finish the work with the barn?"

"Naturally" Flim answered, puffing out his chest and stretching.

"Easy work for any real Apple" Flam chimed in, standing beside his brother, mimicking his puffed out chest.

"We'll have a seat, then" Granny told them as she began putting the finishing touches on breakfast.

"Oh, there was something we wanted to talk to you about, Granny" Flim said as he took a seat between Granny and Sunny,his back blocking Sunny's view of her.

"Oh?" Granny replied with a smile as she pulled a quiche out of the oven and let it cool. "And what would that be?"

"You see, my brother and I couldn't help but noticed how long and difficult the work around the farm is." Flim continued.

"And we, being gifted both with magic and the know how to create, construct and build machines to help further the progress of pony advancement...." Flam joined in, supporting his brother.

"Would like to offer our hooves in creating new machines and ways of helping the Apple farm produce more, high quality Apple family products, so as to not only better our- I mean, your sales, but to also meet the high demands of Equestria!" Flim put a hoof around Granny as he spoke.

Flam mimicked Flim by also putting a hoof around her, now both brothers we on either side of Granny. "There are places all around Equeatia who would love to have Apple family products easily available to them, but live too far away to have such high quality, and delicious products."

"Well it does sound nice" Granny said, thinking it over in her head.

"We're glad you are taking this seriously" Flim smiled at her.

"Now, we've taken the liberty of drawing up a contract..." Flam began to say.

"A contract? For what?" Sunny finally spoke up, trying desperately to keep his mouth shut this whole time, but found he couldn't do it anymore.

Flim and Flam shot an annoyed look at the yellow unicorn, but Flim spoken first, putting on his signature sly grin. "Why, it's just legal documentation, you know giving us Granny's permission to build on Apple family land, and what not."

"In case any other Apple family members have a problem with it" Flam added. "Don't want any family disputes. And of course there's the raw materials we'll need from the farm to build the equipment.

"And a small sum of bits we'll need to barrow to jump start the objects, gotta spend money to make money, you know." Flim added, pulling out a rather long scroll.

"All of which will be payed back with interest, of course." Flam added as he levitated a quill from underneath his straw hat.

"So what do you say Granny?" Flim asked as he and his brother moved in closer to the elderly green mare.

"Well..." Granny trailed off, looking at the long scroll. "Ah say it's time for breakfast."

This broke the high tension between the ponies in the kitchen, Sunny feeling slightly relieved that Granny didn't do something she might regret later.

"B-but Granny" Flim began to say.

"We need to have this signed by the end of the day if we are going to start construction" Flam continued.

"Oh horse feathers" Granny said as she dished up 4 equally large sliced of queshe. "You boys can build later. Today we have a lot of work to do. Work that won't get done by any machines that aren't build in the next five minutes. So eat up and ah'll look over this long, wordy contract while you three work in the north orchard."

Flim and Flam shot each other worried looks, and gulped but put on forced smiles as they faced Granny. "Sounds like a plan" they both said at the same time.

Sunny took a few bites of his breakfast and looked over at Granny, who just smiled as she ate. 'Maybe she does now what she's doing...'