The Story of how the Flim-Flam brothers came to be, and how they ended up becoming both con-artists and their story.
"Well you've got opportunity in this very community! He's Flim, he's flam, and we're the world famous Flim-Flam Brothers! Traveling Sales-ponies NONPAREIL!
Before they were famous, did anypony ever wonder exactly how they ended up in that spot?
Where did they build the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000?
Why did they decide to sell cider?
And most of all, why did they learn to become Con-Artists?
Within the two small cradles of the Manehatten hospital, two young foals started to softly cry and squirm.
Both foals were a light tan, with a mix of red and white hair which clung to their bodies. Both had long legs for newborn foals, and had unicorn horns. They were twins, so the only difference between them was the patterns on their hair. However, they were wrapped up in blue blankets at the moment as they gently moaned and cried a bit.
They’d been born only three minute apart from the other, both passing smoothly and without incident. The doctors had left the room after they were safely wrapped up and in their cradles.
The mother, a light brown pony named Dusk Dancer, slowly picked one of them up. Dusk was a light brown pony with a small streak of light tan going down her back. Her hair was curled up into little braids, which was a dark black. She had sparkling yellow eyes, and upon her flank was a cutie mark of a pony dancing, which was, in fact, her special talent. She smiled with her motherly smile and lightly kissed the younger foal’s head, stroking his red and white mane.
The father, a pony named High Profit, smiled while he picked up the other. He was a soft maroon color with slightly gray hair, which he slicked backwards into a professional looking hairdo. He had three bits for a cutie mark, symbolizing his success as a business pony. He stroked the mane of the one he held, and then he looked to his wife.
“What should we name them, dear?” He asked, looking at the tan foal as he cried out.
The mother blinked and she looked at the small book of names they’d written down. However, their book had been based upon if they were two separate foals, who didn’t look similar. She wasn’t sure what to do since they’d come out twins.
Thinking, the mother decided she liked the idea of them being named similarly, so she looked over at her husband and she asked, “What if we named them after you?”
“What, High Profit?” He giggled and put the foal he was holding back down in Dusk Dancer’s hooves. He smiled and sat down by her, kissing her cheek gently, then the foal’s. His chest swelled with pride as he saw the little foals start to find the spot to suckle.
“No, I meant like based off the idea of profits,” She smiled, “What kind of name would suit them?”
The father thought about it slowly, turning around and looking down at the floor in thought. He thought about his business, his profits, everything he knew. He turned and looked at his three-bit cutie mark and started to try and imagine some names.
“Uh…Buyer and Seller?” He put forward, then he went red with how absurd that sounded.
Dusk Dancer laughed and she patted their heads, “Well maybe if they were going to be buiseness ponies! But I want them to have a name that, if you don’t look into it, than they can be anything they want to be!”
The father thought about words that the common pony wouldn’t know about buiseness. He imagined charts, diagrams, numbers, statistics, everything he could think of. The name just wouldn’t come to him and he started to give up when he suddenly thought of a possible solution.
“What about…Flim and flam?” He asked, taking their name from the term FlimFlam.
The mother nodded and she tapped the youngest one, “He’s Flim,” She giggled, then looked to the older one, “He’s Flam.”
Flim gave a little baby yawn and cuddled his head into the mother’s belly. The pony giggeld and stroked his head as Flam wrapped his tiny hooves around Flim and cuddled him.
“Awh!” She gasped, smiling widely, “They’re already getting along!” She stroked their hair again, causing them to squirm closer together for warmth and comfort.
“They’ll be successful ponies if they work together.” The father smiled, “Just imagine how they’ll work in business if they work together!”
Dusk Dancer looked at him and she gave a slight ‘cluck’ of her tongue, “Now honey, we agreed we wouldn’t try to force them into anything! They have to find what they’re good at together!”
High Profit sighed and nodded, sitting down and kissing each foal gently before he pulled the blanket up to their forehooves and let them cuddle.
“We have the best foals ever.” Dusk Dancer declared with a smile, “One day they’ll be the best of brothers ever.”
“And one day,” High Profit kissed her head again, “They’ll be unequalled. As we say in our business, they’ll be nonpareil~”
“Come on brother of mine, we got a show to put on!” Flim called down the tube of the megaphone he’d managed to get ahold of at their last stop in Manehatten.
Flam grumbled and started to slowly trot up next to his brother. He eyed him with a mix of both anger and annoyance as they were forced to put on yet another show. It felt like all they did these days was put on shows.
They were currently at a small town called Pennsalymare. The town was situated between Ponyville and Manehatten, but it was like a blend of the two tows together. While they retained the business-type atmosphere of Manehatten, the buildings and shops were more akin to that of Ponyville. The entire town wasn’t much larger than half the size of Ponyville.
Flim smiled a wide grin as he peeked an eye through the curtain. Yes, it was true that they’d have a full crowd here tonight. And, if he’d managed to predict the status of the time, they’d arrived right in the middle of a cider shortage.
“Let’s just get this one over with so we can fix up the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000.” Flam grumbled. He used his magic to levitate a brush over to smoothen his mustache.
Since their escapade in that little town, the machine had been working with a little…quirks here and there. The machine’s internal systems were clogged, causing it to not produce the high quality cider they used to. While it was still good cider, it wasn’t on par with that of Sweet Apple Acres anymore. That little thought along made Flam cringe as he thought of them being beaten out by a small cider business.
Slowly, Flim used his magic to dim the lights, making Flam instantly shut his mouth and pay attention to the front of the stage. He slowly took in a deep breath and he let it out, then he began to slowly, ever so slowly, draw the little crank to start the music for them.
It was time for another show.
“Well you’ve got opportunity in this very community!” Flim giggled, dashing over the stump of a log in their backyard.
Flam dashed by and he jumped on the log and bellowed, “He’s Flim and I’m Flam!”
Flim turned and he playfully giggled and hugged his brother, and the two fell down against the hard earth, laughing as they smiled and rolled away.
“And we’re gonna be world famous FlimFlam brothers!” Flim finished off, throwing a hoof around his brother and taking a few breaths from their little song.
The two were only foals, a few weeks old at the time. They could run and had learned to talk quickly, which was a surprise to their parents. Still, they’d wasted no time in starting up games, songs, and slowly devising a song to help their dad’s pitching slogans.
“I’m gonna be famous!” Flim yelled, jumping back on the stump of a tree that was cut down after a bolt of lightning took it down.
Flam growled playfully, “Hey, I wanna be famous too you know! I AM the older one!” He stopped his hoof, a look of indignation on his face.
“So what, you’re older by like, three seconds!” Flim argued, not relinquishing his spot on the stump.
“I am too older by WAY more than three seconds!” He argued back.
“Are too!”
“Am not and you know it!”
“Are too!”
“Am not!”
With that, Flam dashed and pushed Flim off the stump, securing his place and standing there, letting the tiny breeze ruffle his short mane and he turned, “I’m gonna be the famous one!”
Flim stood up and he looked at the house to make sure that their momma wasn’t going to get angry at them for playing what she called a ‘rough game’. He shook his head and ran at Flam, and instantly the two fell into a light tussling match.
Finally, both were exhausted and they laid down, panting while they looked at each other. There really was very little to tell them apart. The main thing was their voices: Flam’s was slightly less squeaky than Flim’s at the moment. Other than that, you’d have to look closely at the tail patterns, and even that was very small. In reality, they looked like twins.
“Okay…” Flim panted, turning to close his eyes and focus on his heavy breathing, “I…have a solution!”
Flam blinked at the unfamiliar word, but he nodded and asked, “What?”
“We can both be famous together!”
The two brothers smiled warmly at each other and gently hugged each other, slowly drifting to sleep in each other’s hooves under the lazy Manehatten sun.
“Well you’ve got oppurunity in this very community!”
“He’s Flim!”
“He’s Flam!”
“And we’re the world famous Flimflam brothers!”
“Traveling salesponies nonpareil!”
Flim and Flam stopped, twisting finally so they were leaning back against each other’s shoulder, panting and smiling at the crowd as their song finally came to a close. The music drifted down as the crowd began their usual response: clapping and cheering for them.
However, Flam knew this wasn’t the best reaction. In Ponyville, the ponies had begun singing along with them and starting to dance alongside them, even allowing them to chance to interact with them. Here, it was more of a stage performance than an inovled audience scenario.
Not that it mattered, so long as they sold their cider.
“Now each cup of cider is not but 6 bits!” Flam cheered, raising his mug up and chugging a gulp down.
“And if you buy it right now we’ll sweeten the deal: 3 for the price of 2!” Flim did likewise and then refilled the mug with the barrels from their machine, quickly getting behind their salesbooth.
Instantly, as usual, the ponies ran up to them and began to start to partake in the ritual buying and drinking of cider. Flam put on his smile as usual and he dished out cider after cider, throwing their bits into a lockable container for them. The lock was deisgned to also snap shut and be quick to pick up and easy to carry.
Flim felt his heart soar a bit at the line of ponies that came for their cider. He knew their machine did the work, but it was rewarding to see all the ponies out their buy their product. If you had to fudge a few details, that worked fine. If nopony caught it, what was wrong with it?
Midway through the lines, however, the two ponies noticed that their profits weren’t as high as they expected. They realized that the ponies were buying a cup and leaving, rather than getting back in line or bribing a pony to get them more. Unlike before the incident, they only dished out firsts, not seconds.
Quickly, the line finally drew to a complete stop and the ponies dispersed. Flim and Flam smiled and waved, calling out quickly, “Come back tomorrow! They’ll be plenty more for all of you!”
Flim shut the box and walked behind their portable stage, then sat on the couch of the machine. He sank into the soft cushions with a sigh of relief.
Flam narrowed his eyes, “Well? How much did we make?”
The pony sighed and quickly counted his bits. When he finished his face wasn’t as happy as it was just a few moments before.
“O-only a measly 546 bits!” He sighed, “It won’t even pay to fix the machine, brother! And that’s with the bits we’ve saved up!”
Flam sighed and he looked out towards the dying lights and the crowd moving away. Slowly, the lights of the city turned off and the machine was cast in a deep shadow. Turning on a single lantern, Flam laid down opposite of Flim and pulled the blanket from under the cushions.
“It’ll be fine.” He assured. It was not lost on Flim that his brother didn’t end off with ‘brother of mine’.
Flim stepped onto the stage for the next performance, his mane billowing in the breeze as it cut through the town. He shivered and turned to his brother, smiling widely.
“Come on brother, we’ve got to pick up the pace!” He smiled, then leapt onto the stage they’d erected to start the second day of cider selling.
Flam grumbled as Pennsalymare blew at them with a harsh gale. Apparently a cold front had come in the past night, and it made this morning particularly cold and freezing. The entire place felt like it’d been completely frozen overnight. Luckily they’d not lost the blanket to the freezing wind.
“It’s not even supposed to be cold today.” Flam grumbled, “Stupid Pegasi.”
The mustached stallion leapt up onto the stage, and they surveyed the crowd. While they were expecting a small audience, Flim could only count maybe 15 or 20 ponies in front of them. He felt his face go a little pale as he realized that this meant that they’d have even less bits to put into the fund to fix the machine. They’d have to sell it.
Flim stepped forward and he slowly prepped himself by tapping his hoof on the ground. He whispered under his breath, “A one…a two…a one two three!”
Flam used his magic to start the soft music coming from their machine as Flim yelled, “Welcome one and all to the best cider you’ll ever have in your entire life!”
Flam sighed and he walked forward, a false smile on his face and he quickly picked up the line, “The best cider you’ll ever drink in all of Equestria!”
Another show had begun.
High Profit had just returned from his work, Dusk Dancer was making dinner, and Flim was bored out of his mind.
The filly turned and he sighed, covering his face with his hoof as he tried to think of what to do to pass the time. Flam was asleep and he didn’t want to wake him up, but he was left without a buddy to play with because of it!
Flim gently crawled his way out of the tiny bed he and Flam shared, and began to edge his way out of the room. They lived in the same room and had two separate beds, but Flim didn’t want to leave his brother alone in his bed. Thye slept together in the same bed every night, usually cuddled together in each other’s tiny hooves.
The foal gently opened the door, wincing at how it squeaked. He turned and saw Flam stir, and he held his tiny breath. When the foal stayed asleep, he sighed and continued into the kitchen.
The brothers lived in a two story house, with their bedroom, the kitchen, living room, and bathroom downstairs. Upstairs was their parent’s bedroom, work room, and some other rooms that they weren’t usually allowed into. Right now, High Profit was upstairs, doing whatever it was he normally did when he got home.
Suddenly, a strange sound hit Flim’s ears as he continued to walk down the hallway. He turned his head in the direction of the sound, but it seemed to come from the hallway itself! He blinked and walked towards the end of it, passing by the bathroom as he inched his way up towards it.
The foal turned to see a phonograph playing a tune on the table, blaring music into the house as it rocked gently on the table. What surprised him more than that was the pony in the room.
Dusk Dancer had moved the furniture out of the way and made a tiny clearing in the middle of the room. In that space was the pony herself, dancing around and laughing to the beat, tapping her hooves and singing out the lyrics to the song as she danced:
And my dear old Stallion,
Don’t you fret tonight!
Because baby’s gonna be here,
To hold you tonight!
All that we need to make this whole,
To interlock,
Is a little push,
And a kiss all to the top!
Flim watched in awe as his mother continued to twirl and pose in her dancing style. Oddly, she seemed to rear up on her hind legs a lot, as though she was trying to walk on them. She had a little bit of cloth wrapped around her neck with she played with too, which was really weird to him.
However, Flim couldn’t help but marvel at the sight of his mother singing and dancing. He thought it looked rather interesting and kinda cool. He walked up to the display, and then he stopped, hiding behind the table, overcome with fear of interrupting her.
Slowly, he adjusted his position and watched her. He took note of her hooves, where they went, and how she used them. He also saw that she was using the cloth as a type of prop. She smiled the whole while, not once ever breaking a frown, even when sweat formed on her face.
Then, Flim realized the music had come to a close. He opened his eyes in awe as she spun, twirled, then stopped on her hind hooves, her front hooves up and posed so she looked like a model.
Flim jumped up and he accidently hit his head on the table top. He let out a squeak,
“Ow!” Before he quickly started clapping, “Woho! Mom that was awesome!”
Dusk Dancer stopped and turned to him, falling on her front hooves and blushing, “Flim! Were you…watching me darling?”
Flim nodded his head, “Yup! I thought it was soooooo cool!”
Dusk blushed harder and she said, “Y-you really liked it sweetie?”
Flim nodded, “Of course! You were all, WOOSH!” He jumped up, “then all WAA!” He tried to pose on his hind hooves, “Then you jumped and was all WOHO!” He tried to pose like her, and ended up flat on his back.
Dusk rushed over and put him on his hooves, smiling at him, “Well dear…I’m glad you liked it.”
Flim nodded, then he stood up, “What’s it called?”
“Dancing.” She smiled, “Oh, and what I was doing with my voice was singing.”
“Can you teach me!?!”
Dusk blinked and she looked over at the wall, then she looked at him, “Well…I guess I can teach you a few basic mooves….”
Flim jumped for joy and he dashed over to the center of the floor and he nodded, “Let’s get started!”
Later, Flim ran up to Flam as he woke up from his nap. He shook him repeatedly.
The foal groaned and he looked at his brother, “What is it Flim?”
“Brother, I gotta show you this awesome thing! It’s called Dancing! You’re gonna love it!”
Flim stood behind the station of their cider machine, smiling and dealing out cider with his magic as the bits fell into their chest with satisfying clinks.
“Don’t be shy!” He called out into the crowd, “We have all the cider you can ever DREAM of here!”
The ponies had a ripple of conversation go through the crowd, but sadly, neither brother saw any ponies get back in line. The ponies already in line got their cup of cider, then quickly went out of line and went back to business.
This disappointed Flam greatly. He was hoping for at least one more round of cider to sell before they called it a day. They’d been selling for almost an hour, and already the line had almost completely thinned out. In their business, that meant that they weren’t making any more profit after the last pony came through.
And, just as he predicted, the last pony of the day slowly walked towards them and tossed the bits into the chest, then took their cider and left. Within minutes, the area was deserted.
Flim shut the chest and lifted it telekinetically, “Another day, another cider, eh brother?”
Flam just grumbled and he spat out, “Just count the bits already Flim.”
The pony turned, a little startled. Ever since they’d started their business, they never addressed each other by name in that manor. Offstage they usually only called each other ‘brother’ or ‘partner.’ To hear Flam say that was a little unsettling to hear.
The ponies went back to the machine and Flim quickly began to magically count the bits by flashing them in front of his face. Flam sat down by the little podium and leaned against it, taking his hat off and rubbing his horn a bit.
Flim looked up finally and he said slowly, “Brother, you won’t like this.”
Flam looked angry and he spat, “For Celestia’s sake Flim just tell me the bits already!”
The salespony blinked and he looked down, “We made 314 bits today. We may have just enough to repair the barrel.”
Flam slammed his hoof down on the couch, “That’s unacceptable!” He seethed, “We should’ve already had more than enough bits to fix the machine three times over! How many bits do we even need?!?”
Flim took a step back and he said steadily, “2546 by my count….brother…”
Flam growled and he grabbed the blanket, “Let’s just fix the damned machine and be done with it already.” He sat down, “Why can’t you just fix it again?”
The other pony laid down opposite him and looked up at the evening sky, “It’s not the fixing, it’s the parts we need to fix them, remember brother?”
Flam yawned, “Yes, I do Flim. Goodnight.”
The action offset him and Flim laid down, feeling put off as he cuddled the blanket. As night dawned he couldn’t help but feel that he’d failed his brother somehow.
“Well you’ve all must see exactly what we can be!”
“He’s Flim, I’m Flam!”
“And we’re we’re here to sing for yyyyyyoooooouuuuu!”
“Here to show you what we can dooooooooo!!!!!”
Flim and Flam stopped on the school stage, panting and sweating as the talent show came to a close. They’d been the last to go, but, at their father’s suggestion, they’d tried harder than ever to make this performance as memorable as they could.
At this point, the brothers were still in filly school, at their 1st grade year. Almost two years had passed of their mother teaching them every style of dance she could. They’d both caught on like pros and quickly amassed a large and vast collection of dance moves and styles. They’d even managed to dance on their hind hooves without incident.
“Do you think they liked it?” Flam asked, shaking off the sweat: the routine had been long and tiring for two little foals to accomplish.
Flim nodded, “I really hope so! I so want to win!”
Dusk Dancer ran up behind the tiny stage and hugged them gently, “Oh you two were perfect! I’m so glad I taught two great dancers!”
High Profit soon followed, waving a pony off as he smiled at his two sons, “Yes, that was a good routine.” He smiled and added under his breath, “Especially with my lyrics.”
Dusk shot him a look and he instantly quieted. The two foals had quickly picked up dancing from their mother, but they couldn’t write lyrics the way that she could. Together, they couldn’t figure out how to rhyme or create a good song. So, their father had stepped in and helped them by using a little tip he’d learned from a brochure.
“Play to the audience.” He suggested, “Acknowledge….er….let them know that you’re there. And you always stare at them. As for lyrics, why don’t we try this…”
The song was only about a minute long, but the two had devised a particularly complex and fast dance scene to go along with it. The result had been a twirling and spinning show with the two singing quickly to music played offstage by their mother.
“You two gotta get up on stage!” Their mother shoved them a bit, “Go on, you gotta see what you got!”
The two nodded to her and they jumped up, racing each other without words to the stage. They dashed through the curtain just as the other contestants had lined up for the awards.
Their teacher, Ms.Study Book, smiled at the foals and she stood up, “Ladies and gentlecolts! Before we award the prizes, let us congratulate them for a job well done on all their parts!”
As the crowd cheered Flam leaned over, “Think we won?” He whispered.
Flim butted him right as the teacher turned and shot him a quick look that put Flam in silence.
“Third Place goes to our magic performance by Little Ripple and Night Light!”
Two little foals ran up to get their ribbons, marveling at them. Flam let out both a sigh of relief and nervousness. Flim gripped his brother’s hoof.
“Second place goes to….the art demonstration by Water Color!”
The foal ran up and took her little ribbon, and she smiled, bowed to the teacher, then moved back itno line. The brothers started to sweat a bit, getting even more nervous.
“And first place goes to……..”
Flim closed his eyes.
“ ‘The New Fillies’ by Flim and Flam!” She announced, and the crowd immediately clapped for them.
Flam squeaked, “We won, we won, we won!” Flim nodded quickly and the two dashed forward and took their ribbons, smiling as they wrapped them around their necks, smiling widely to each other.
As the crowd clapped, Flim flet something. He felt the joy of being appreciated. The feeling of doing something. He looked at Flam and the two shared a hug in front of the crowd.
Flam whispered in his ear quickly, “I told you we’d be famous someday!”
Flim nodded, “Well…we’re not exactly famous just yet brother…”
As the two stepped back the other fillies left the stage. The two slowly started to trot down to the smiling parents that awaited them.
Flam giggled, “Someday! Just you wait! And we have this to prove it!” He lifted his ribbon with a large smile.
It was their last day in Pennslymare. The crowds had diminished into just a few ponies walking up to them to buy a few cups of cider. This, combined with their low bit count, had Flam set in a foul mood that particular day.
Flim seemed as bright and cheery as ever as he slowly stepped onto the stage again, “Let’s go brother, last time’s the charm for us!”
Flam didn’t even say anything. With a look that chilled Flim, he stepped onto the stage and he grunted, “Just start the music already.”
Flim turned and looked at him. Never, not once in their entire cider selling career had he ever seen Flam act like this. Sure, they’d been angry and things had gone wrong, but it never ended up in Flam acting like he didn’t want to do it at all!
Thinking back, he realized this had begun right after their little adventure into Ponyville. Ever since that town, Flam hadn’t been the same. He no longer addressed Flim, and if at all it was by ‘Flim’ and not ‘brother,’ was constantly grumpy, and no longer spoke or addressed him directly. Ever since the Apple Family had shown them up with their higher quality cider, it seemed like the machine wasn’t the only thing that was broken that day.
Fortunately for the crowd, Flam was good at putting on a façade when he needed to. The mustached stallion quickly smoothed his mane and put on his hat, and he nodded to Flim to turn on the music.
Reluctantly, Flim turned the tune to start the music for them to perform.
As the two foals walked home with their parents, Flim noticed a little gray colt standing on the side of the path, jerking his hooves at a large stand of some sort of drink he’d put together. Flim had no idea what it was, but he found it intriguing to listen to.
“Come one, come all!” The gray pony announced to the passerbys, “And have a taste of a drink that even Celestia herself would have trouble turning down!”
Flim blinked and turned to his father, and he tugged on his hoof. High Profit turned and said, “Yes, Flim?”
Flim pointed at the gray colt, not sure exactly what to say. He asked, “Is the drink really as good as he says it is?”
High Profit shook his head and quickly tried to stand between him and the colt, “No son, it’s not. He’s conning people.”
“Cone-ing?” Flim tried pronouncing, unable to say the word right.
“C-on-ing.” High Profit corrected. He turned to look at the colt, “He’s telling them things that may or may not be true to sell a quick buck. He’ll probably be gone tomorrow.”
Flim blinked and he nodded, “But Daddy, he sounds really cool and…it does look like a good drink…and if Celestia herself`-“
High Profit suddenly shoved Flim a few paces in front of him, “Now listen here son: he’s probably never met Celestia. That’s a lie and he’s lying to sell his product. I sell things the right way: I make posters and adds to sell things. He’s lying.”
Flim blinked, “But-“
“No buts.” High Profit began to trot forward at a brisk pace, “Come on Flim!”
The foal turned and looked once more at the gray colt, mesmerized but forced to continue away from the strange con artist.
Flim quickly dished out another cup of cider. The performance hadn’t done them much good, but it had at least earned them a few measly ponies standing in line for their cider. It wasn’t much, but it was still bits to add to the fund to fix the machine.
Flam, however, wasn’t anywhere near as cheery. He’d hit his hoof twice during the quick little song, and it was starting to bruise. He groaned and quickly handed to Flim another cup, operating the barrels so he wouldn’t have to look his brother in the eye.
“Keep it coming!” Flim shouted, “There’s plenty of cider for all of you!”
Flam grumbled something and he started to hit the button when a very loud crash was heard from the inside of the machine. He jumped back as a tiny band of smoke began rolling out the side of the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000.
Flam yelped as the machine stopped its usual clanking and spurting, now instead making a horrible gridning noise. The barrel started shaking and the two glasses suddenly filled with rocks, filling to the brim until the glass burst, spewing half made cider and rocks in every direction.
The ponies in the crowd ran as the machine spewed the liquid at them. Flim started to tell them to stay, then he was hit with a wave of the cider and he spat, “Turn it off brother, turn it off!”
Flam was furiously hitting buttons, his horn glowing and sputtering as he tried to stop the machine. However, for all his abilities, he couldn’t stop it from continuing to burst, smoke, and spray them all at once.
“Turn it off!” Flim yelled, diving under the stage as the rocks started to burst at him.
“I’M TRYING FOR CELESTIA’S SAKE!” Flam screamed at him, then he finally was fed up with trying to turn it off. He went around the side of the machine and he twisted the little bar of metal that fed their magic into the machine. He growled and yanked it out of the position, immediately stopping all magic from going into the machine.
The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 finally stopped its obsessive rumbling and the entire contraption silenced. The brothers both sat there, staring at it with both anger and fear at the same time.
Flim was the first to speak, “Brother…”
Flam looked at him and he spat, “Shut up! Just shut up! JUST SHUT UP FLIM!” He walked over to the little couch and found it was ruined. He yelled and kicked it, then he walked off into the distance and he kicked something else.
Flim was left stunned, sitting there on his hooves with a face that would make even Maud Pie shed a tear. He slowly trotted over to the ruined couch and laid on it, ignoring the little squeaks of protest from it.
The salespony slowly curled his head up into his hooves and cried, letting his tears mix with the cider as the sun slowly slid down the horizon line.
Flim slowly trotted up towards the small end of the (now broken) Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000. As he did, he was levitating a small notepad in front of him, scribbling notes on exactly what parts they’d need in order to repair this machine. Without any proper care, he knew this could only get worse.
Not like it wasn’t already worse at the time. Already, the ponies in the town had seen Flam’s blow up at Flim and were outright avoiding them. At the show they staged this morning to send themselves off, not one pony even showed up. To add insult to injury, Flam had disappeared, without leaving a single trace as to where he went.
I just hope he comes back alright, Flim sighed to himself, propping open the side of the machine and removing the glass to the apple sorting compartment.
The entire conveyor belt was actually twisted and had wrapped twice around the gears, stretching it but not snapping it yet. Many random objects were strewn across the innards, mainly rocks, twigs, and apple mush. He sighed, writing down rubber onto the listen nad then noted next to it “and new conveyor belt”.
The machine did seem to be done in, fore nothing that he did to fix it worked. He tried to patch up the belts, rewire the magic conductors, even replaced the cider press with a brand new one he’d just finished crafting. Nothing worked, as the machine simply was rotted within.
This had all started from that silly competition they’d put on to drive the apples out of business. After their nerves bested them, the increase in pressure had sucked objects that the machine could not process, and they simply were either sucked into the cider or were jammed within the mechanisms.
Without the money from their failed expenditure, the two ponies had not the parts nor time to fix it. In fact, their sudden departure had damaged the gears that specifically helped to move along the suction tube. This also meant that, despite their efforts to repair it, apples had to be fed manually into the press.
Finally, the machine simply had rotted and a circuit had blown inside the machine, and fried it from the inside out. That left him exactly where he was now: penniless and without the means to fix the machine.
In fact, he recalled just why it was that he’d even begun to make cider. He sighed, but his brain was simply forcing him to drift backwards in time. He went before that fateful decision, back to a night when he was just a little filly…
“Psst! Flam, wake up!” Flim nudged his brother, trying to wake him up.
Flam groaned, not wanting to leave the warmth of the bed. He turned his head and stared right into Flim’s eyes, “wha…what’s wrong?”
Flim looked excited as the words came tumbling out of his mouth, “Well I saw this pony who was selling stuff and he looked really cool and I was kinda wanting to go andseeifIcouldfindhimandask-”
Flam turned and hefted a stuffed pony and smacked Flim’s head gently with it, “Slow down Flimmy…what’s….what is it?”
Flim took a few deep breaths, “I saw this pony today on the street side and I was going to go and talk to him!”
His brother shot up and he wrapped his hooves around Flim’s shoulders, “You can’t go! Don’t you realize how dangerous it is at night?”
The pony blinked, “If Princess Luna’s night is so deadly, then why is it that we still want to have it?”
Flam opened his lips, but nothing came out. Instead he sighed and laid down, “Fine brother, just don’t get caught.”
Blinking at how easy it was the win his brother over, he smiled and started to trot towards the window, “I’ll be back when I can, just don’t let them know where I’ve gone!”
Flam grumbled and nodded, falling back to sleep even as Flim opened the window and jumped out onto the grass. Without another thought, he began to slowly trot down the street towards where the colt he saw earlier resided.
As Flim reclined against the broken machine, he pulled his hat over his eyes and began to slowly sigh. He turned to the left of the little machine and blinked at the red metal, and he couldn’t help but remember when they’d first built it.
So many years ago, they’d both decided to sell cider and they’d made a decision to use their own skills and craft this machine. Back in those days, it was just the Cider Squeezy 100, named for the horsepower they could squeeze out of it. It was a simple machine, which actually required much more work than the current machine they had.
However, they’d eventually gotten it to the power it was today, thanks to a run in with a mechanic who helped them increase the watts per ounce of magic of the machine. With that little tidbit of information, they’d enhanced the machine and made it into the mechanical monstrosity it was today.
And now it was broken, without bits to fix it, and barely able to move its wheels to get them out of this town. Eventually, they’d have to most likely rent out transport and scrap the machine.
Flim hated that very thought. The machine was dear to him, and he knew that it was to Flam as well. It was something that, despite the terror and the constant run-ins they’d encountered, they both were able to hold constant to them. No matter what happened, the machine was the only constant they were ever able to say wouldn’t change.
But now they’d have to leave it behind. And Flim wasn’t ready for that just yet.
He grabbed a small preforming cane that he normally used and trotted over toward the back of the machine and inspected the wheels for damage, just as a hoof slapped his flank.
He yelped and turned his head around to see a rather drunken Flam, his eyes crossed and levitating a large bottle of half-dranken cider in his grip. He looked at Flim and he stammered, “What’cha worken on there, brother?”
Flim sighed, and then gently took the bottle and laid it down, “This is no time to be inebriated brother! We need all our wits about us if we’re going to get out of this mess!”
Flam burped and then stumbled his way to the front, leaning on the triangular bumper and bleching out, “I’m just taking…taking the chance to have some fun before all Tartarus comes down on us! Join me!”
Flim shook his head nad angrily snatched up the bottle from him, then sat down and closed his eyes as he rubbed his temples, “Brother, don’t make this any harder! We’re already barely making enough to even eat, we don’t need this!”
Flam growled and suddenly his tongue sharpened, “Well I never did say…say that I ever wanted this damn thing fixed in the first place!”
That comment struck Flim like a blast of magic. He turned his head away and said nothing, simply trotting away towards the little couch and reclining on it.
Flam didn’t even bother to get up on the machine, simply laying down on the podium and passing out in his state, leaving his brother to fend for himself.
With a little sob, Flim turned his head into the little pillows they still had and pulled the blanket over himself, falling asleep as the night sky drifted overhead.
“Mr.colt! Mr.colt!” Filly Flim called into the night, running down the same road that they’d come earlier.
He stopped at the intersection of two cobblestone roads, turning his head left and right as the tried to make out where the pony was. As he squinted, he noticed a pony trotting down the lane and ran after him.
“Mr.colt! Excuse me, I’m Flim and I-”
The pony turned around and he sighed, “Kid, I don’t know who you’re talking about but I’m a stallion! Go home!”
As Flim turned away, he started to realize he wasn’t on the right street. Avoiding the rude stallion, he began to make his way to a side alley, where a little light began to emanate.
He gasped in joy and ran into the little alley, seeing a little cart and large amounts of the product he’d adored. He ran over to it and began to eye it.
The cart was small and portable, with little doors that folded down and sealed the contents inside. Built into the bottom was a little lock and key where he guessed the money was kept. The cart sported little lights all over it, which glowed fiercely in the night.
Flim was astounded as the looked over the display, and he finally saw a name on the edge of the cart. He blinked as he read it.
“Silver Shill…”
“Whose over there?” A young voice called.
Flim yelped and he turned to see a gray pony start to trot towards him. He was small, but he looked to be just out of fillyhood. He realized that he wasn’t a colt, but a very young stallion. He blinked and looked at him, fear freezing his features.
“Ah, I see you probably wanted some of my product?” the pony walked over, and he waved a hoof, “Sorry, I’m closed.”
Flim blinked and he whispered, “A-are you the seller from earlier?”
The pony nodded and he sat down, “yep, that’s me! The brightest shill you’ll ever meet!”
Flim blinked and he sat down, looking him up and down, “wow…”
“Are you a colt?” He asked, blinking, “Why are you out here all alone?”
Flim shook his head, “Well yeah I’m young but I saw you and I had to talk to you!”
Shill chuckled and he smiled, “What do you want to know?”
Flim slowly activated his magic, turning the wheels of the machine as they began to painfully move them away from the failed town.
He’d moved Flam onto the couch as he was crouched over the podium, downcast as the began to move them out into the unknown.
With ever screech, they slowly followed the road. But as they went away, he couldn’t help but feel more than money was left behind.
The machine moved through the countryside, sputtering smoke into the air as it moved. The wheels would dangerously move around and jerk a little, causing them to almost be flung off it. Flim desperately tried to fix it on the move, yet he couldn’t realign the gears and fix the magic receptors without the proper parts.
As they moved in their dangerous contraption, Flam looked up with narrowed eyes. He hadn’t said much since they’d left, only made drunken slurs and groaned every so often. He wasn’t sure what was going through his mind, yet Flim knew it wouldn’t be pleasant to find out.
The machine came to stop at the bottom of the hill, allowing Flim to take a break and get a bite to eat. He opened the compartment behind the couch and pulled out on of the last bags of apples they had. They’d been saving them for cider, but at this point it was logical to eat them instead.
“Apples again?” Flam snarled bitterly, “I can feel my taste buds jumping at the prospect!”
Flim narrowed his eyes and tossed a green apple to him, “there, that should give you a little boost then, brother.”
Flam rolled his eyes and leaned back, biting into the apple. The taste was so familiar he was desensitized to it. He chewed up the apple and finished it, tossing the core into the grass by the machine and laying down.
In the meanwhile, the mostacheless pony hoped down and opened up the little sliding door to the gear mechanism. A cloud of black smoke came out, burning his eyes and mouth.
Flim coughed and he used his magic to dissipate it, taking a peak inside. He illuminated it, only to wish he hadn’t bothered in the first place.
The entire system was haywire, with wires hanging down and random bits of wood and rock scattered among it. The ropes that pulled the tires were frayed, almost to their breaking point. The complex machine lay leaking and ruined. The only thing holding the back wheels on at this point was a metal axle that looked ready to slip out.
Hurriedly, he righted the axle and sat down, sighing a little and walking up to the top. The machine wouldn’t be able to make cider for at least a month at this rate! That competition had ruined them.
“How’s the machine, brother?” Flam asked, taking a bit of the blanket and dabbing the corners of his mouth with it.
Flim groaned, “There’s no way we’ll be able to fix it in time to break even with the cost it’ll take to fix this! We’d be better off making the cider by hoof than paying to have the machine fixed!”
The ends of Flam’s mustache quivered, “you are supposed to be the one who knows how to fix it!”
“I do know how to fix it!” Flim shot back, “I just don’t have the parts nor the time to do so!”
“Selling this blasted cider with this machine was your bucking idea Flim!” Flam shouted, standing up and pushing the couch over, “You should know how to fix this!”
“WELL I DON’T!” Flim screamed at him, “IF I KNEW HOW I WOULD HAVE ALREADY FIXED IT BY NOW!”
“You just said you needed parts!” Flam shouted, “Stop lying to me already!”
Flim took a breath and he spat, “maybe if my brother was helping me rather than sitting here and spitting at me then we’d already be on our way and up in Trottingham!”
Flam picked up and apple and threw it square at Flim’s head. The apple was pierced by his horn and slid down to the hilt. A few strands of juice slid down his face.
“BROTHER!” He shouted, only to realize that Flam had walked to the back of the machine. From the way he was sitting, it was clear he wasn’t talking.
“Fine, be that way!” Flim shouted, “I’ll fix this damned machine myself! I never want to be around you again!”
Flim growled and he activated his magic, sending the machine rolling again. The inner mechanisms groaned and began to lurch them forward at a precarious pace.
The vehicle made its way up the hill, only to stop when it reached the top. Flim looked down and he saw bits of black smoke coming from the back.
“Great, just great! That it just what I needed at this exact moment in time!” Flim spat.
Pointing his horn at the glass receptors, he doubled the power his magic was putting into the machine. The sound of the horn doubled as the wheels started spinning faster.
“Let’s make some progress!” Flam shouted, knocking his hoof on the machine.
Unbeknownst to them, the machine wasn’t having it. The increase of magic caused the gear that spun the axle connecting the back wheels to spin faster. The spinning of the gear caused the axle to fall out, sending the back wheels with them.
The entire machine groaned and started to slide backwards. Flim shouted as he turned to see the two wheels and the axle roll down the hill and crash into a tree.
The force of the axle coming off sent the machine flipping onto its side. Glass, wood and metal all lurched as the entire contraption slid down the side of the hill. Flim was thrown backwards onto the floor, where he clutched onto it for dear life.
The protruded grill on the front of the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 caught on a tree and slung it in an arc. It bounced off a tree before the impact caused it to lean over and roll down the hill.
The machine flipped down the grassy slope and slid down into a tree. A loud crash sounded into the air as the world went dark for the con artist ponies. The last thing he remembered before it went dark was the smell of smoke as it engulfed the wreckage of the once proud machine.
~
Silver Shill sat down beside Flim and he laid a hoof on his shoulder, “So, you’re interested in seeing what I do for a living?”
Flim nodded, sitting down on a little crate that Shill pulled up for him. From what he could see, Shill couldn’t have been much older than him. In fact, he looked like he was probably only a year or so older.
Shill sat down and he pulled out a bottle, “this here is the Silver Shill’s Make-It-All Tonic!” He hoofed a bottle to Flim, “Read the label, little filly.”
He squinted and began to read the tiny font, “Make all your dreams come true, be it romance, promotions, weight loss, whatever you want!”
Flim gasped, “Whoa! How does it do all of that?!”
Shill smiled, “You have to believe in it, and it works!”
The filly walked over to the cart and gazed at them, “Whoa… so what exactly is all this for anyways? Are you giving them away?”
Shill gasped, “Never! I sell them to ponies!”
Flim turned and he asked innocently, “But mommy told me ponies will like you more if you give it to them for free, then they’ll come back and want more!”
“If a product can be given away for free, it isn’t’ a good product at all!” Shill exclaimed, “That’s what my mother taught me!”
“Where is your mommy?” Flim asked, “I don’t see her around her.”
The gray pony stopped up short and his face scrunched up. He muttered, “She… isn’t around these days.”
Not taking the hint, the filly pressed on, “did she leave you at home? I bet we can find her if we go and call the poli-“
“NO!” The filly was suddenly blown away by the ferocity of Shill’s voice, “We don’t be calling anypony! Nopony at all!”
Flim shook and he whispered, “o-okay s-sir I-I was just asking!”
Shill calmed down and he leaned into the alley wall, looking up at the stars, “So, filly, have you ever thought about doing business?”
Flim thought about it for a few seconds, “Yeah! When I’m old enough, I’m gonna take over daddy’s company!”
Shill looked at him with narrowed slits, “And give up the opportunity to see the world?”
That tripped the filly up, “Well….I thought helping out with the company would be really good! I mean, look at it! It’s huge! I bet you could see all of Equestria from there!”
Suddenly, Shill laid a hoof on Flim’s shoulder, “A bird’s eye view is as good as looking through a picture. You have the get out there and experience it to really understand.”
Flim took in what he was saying and he asked, “Well… I guess I don’t really know what I wanna do! I always thought I’d do business!”
“You don’t have to give up doing business!” Shill said quickly, “I just meant that you should do a traveling business! It’s much funner, better and you get to keep all the profits you make!”
Flim thought about it, “hmm… I guess you’re right! Thanks mister, it means a lot to me!”
Shill nodded and he stretched his back out, “Well, it’s getting late. I need to get ready for bed now. Take care… uh…”
“Flim!” The filly chirped, “I’ll talk to my daddy about maybe buying some of your stuff tomorrow!”
Shill smirked, “Thanks, that means a lot to me as well. Run along now!”
As Flim scampered away from the alley, Shill turned around and he sighed, “Fillies… they’ll believe what you say these days.”
~
“FFFFFFLLLLAAAAMMM!” The unicorn cried out, “WHERE ARE YOU?!”
The machine was a total wreckage. The main frame had shattered, causing bits of glass, metal and wood to scatter all around the site. Fire had broken out in some places, adding a layer of smoke to the air. The entire vehicle was completely and utterly trashed.
The pain of losing the machine was only seconded by the pain of realizing he couldn’t find Flam. He’d woken up on the edge of the wreckage with a hoof that felt funny and a pounding headache. He guessed he’d been flung off the machine when it crashed into the tree.
But where was Flam? He’d been sitting on the back of it, so he could have jumped. But Flim had already checked at the hill and around the crash site. There was no sign of him.
“FFFLLLAAAMMM!” He cried, “ARE YOU OKAY!?”
Something between a groan and a sob escaped from his lips. He collapsed and started to cry, shaking on the ground. Tears fell from his eyes as he realized Flam could very well be dead.
“FLAM!” He cried again, “PLEASE!”
There was nothing but the crackling of flames and the occasional burst of glass as it over heated.
The unicorn put both hooves on the ground. His world spun, swaying dangerous. Flam was gone. He was gone. His brother. The only other pony he’d trusted. He was gone. He wasn’t there. He was dead.
The last thing he’d said to him was that he didn’t want to be around him.
Ever again.
Fate had a cruel way of granting his wish.
“FFFFFFFFLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMM!” He screamed one last time, before his throat was wracked with sobs.
He fell to the ground in a heap and he cried, letting tears shamelessly slip down his form. He tore off his vest and buried his face in his hat.
