Sometimes you just need a friend to lean on. And sometimes, they need to lean on you.

Cover done by IrradiatedPirateBooty.

Thanks to PseudoBob Delightus for proofreading.

Thanks to Scriblits Talo for pre-reading.

shortdesc

In the blighted world of the Flim Flam timeline, Big Mac and Zephyr Breeze hold on to the remains of what they've lost.

note

written in one day for the May Pairings Contest 2023 and the 2023 Cyberpunk Equestria Story Contest.

this ended up being a lot of weird ideas about the Flim Flam timeline inspired by Paolo Bacigalupi's "The Calorie Man". the noun "calorie-mare" in this story is, of course, very directly inspired.

Flash Sentry struggles to adjust to life in Ponyville, after a tough break up with Braeburn.
An entry to the M/M shipping contest 2023.

Rarity will be there when Rainbow opens her eyes, she has to be.

Thanks to Scriblits Talo for making the cover, and helping with the writing.

Thanks to PseudoBob Delightus for proofreading.

Thanks to ThePeer for pre-reading.

Thanks to Meadowsys for pre-reading.

Despite losing her voice due to a sore throat, Trixie has to go to school today. It shouldn’t affect her daily life much.

Huge thanks to PseudoBob Delightus for proofreading this fic!

Pinkie and Twilight love each other, they just have different ways of revealing it to each other.

Thanks to PseudoBob Delightus for proofreading.

Thanks to 6-D Pegasus for pre-reading.

Thanks to Jymbroni for pre-reading.

Thanks to Visharo for pre-reading.

What does it mean to be a plush? What does it mean to be Pinkie Pie?

Thanks to PseudoBob Delightus for proofreading.

Thanks to Visharo for pre-reading.

Sometimes the perfect hiding spot isn't always so perfect.

Cover done by IrradiatedPirateBooty.

Thanks to PseudoBob Delightus for proofreading.

Thanks to Mockingbirb for partial proofreading.

Thanks to Scriblits Talo for pre-reading.

Thanks to MorganaTheNotCat for pre-reading.

Thanks to Visharo for pre-reading.

Thanks to Forcalor for pre-reading.

Thanks to Nebbie for pre-reading.

Applejack loses her ponytail and nopony recognizes her after.

Thanks to PseudoBob Delightus for proofreading.

Thanks to Forcalor for pre-reading.

Now with a reading done by Rainbow Infinity Readings.

Trixie gets her friend and frenemy stuck with her in a miniature avant-garde poem containing very few available letters.

Content Note: (1) A profane word starting with an "F" and a "U" used a few times although the only letters available to our protagonists do not include "K" or "C". (2) A profane word referring to excrement although only the final two letters are available to use. (3) A profane word in a "foreign" language. (4) Trixie makes a Freudian slip or an intentional allusion.... It's easily missed though, which is either a good thing for those with taste and decency, or it's the nucleus of a fun scavenger hunt.

Featured on 2022/05/19!
Winner of one of two Bronze Medal Awards in the "A Thousand Words" Contest's Experimental category

Trixie is Terrible Rating: She didn't want it to happen, but she's not helping make things better (3 Out of 10).

Experimental Entry in the Thousand Words Contest.
- It is so experimental that the word counter on the description page disagreed with the word counter on the editor page(!) [The editor shows it as 1010 words. The site description shows as 1000 words].

Image: All mine, although the words are a parodic reference to this link, which itself is a bit of a philosophical parody... and the image probably contains some other cultural references. For those who want to be spoiled: SPOILER The image indicates that the story is about more than the story. It's about Friendship and Language. But the primary intent is for the story to be enjoyable on an obvious level as an amusing romp.