//------------------------------//
// chapter four: The Flim Flam Foals! 
// Story: Guess Who's Back? 
// by Foal Star 
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The following day Flim and Flam were coming towards the Apple Family's house near the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres. Flim was leading the way as he asked, "So, brother, you think Granny Smith has something important to tell us in that message?"

Flam turned to his brother and shrugged, "I'm not worried; we only lost to their challenge before due to us being too cocky. We won't be making the same mistake again."

Flim, however, looked somewhat concerned as he replied, "Yes, brother, we should keep our guard up with this one. Though we are just dealing with the old mare, and she is rather bold. But as I said before, keep your guard up."

They eventually made it to the front of the house, where the two came face to face with Granny Smith, who was looking rather homely wearing an apron looking like your garden variety housewife. The green-coated mare looked down at the two with a charming grin, "Ah, yes, Mr. Flim and Mr. Flam, welcome. I guess you want to know how I got my youthful glow?"

Flim had a smirk on his face as he asked, "Alright, let's hear it!".

"Yes, please tell us," Flam added as well. 

The former old mare gave the two a sly smile and asked, "So that means you both know that means we all know your tonic is nothing but a scam?"

The two stallions both smirked at each other. Flim then turned to face Granny Smith; he had to think about what he would say next. They are about to reveal their hand, but at the same time, they will put her in a trap to reveal the secret of her youthful appearance. 

Flim then said, "Well, yes, of course, we do, but at the same time, you just gave up your hoof. Others would be curious how it happened if our tonic didn't give you your younger body."

"Precisely, Granny, you played yourself." Flam jeered, snickering behind a hoof. 

Granny Smith sighed deeply as she looked downward and now looked somewhat defeated. "Oh, dear, guess I'm not as bright as I thought I was," The two unicorn stallions were standing over her, snickering. 

The former old mare threw a hoof and replied, "Alright then, if I let you take a dip in the pool and even use it in your miracle tonic, I will be ok with that; now come on, I'll show you what made me younger."

The two stallions were a bit stunned at how easy this was. Flam himself was the most suspicious as this felt too easy, but they then followed Granny Smith through the depths of the Everfree Forest. The former old mare then led the two into the Everfree Forest to a small pool in the middle of the forest. The body of water was relatively small, but it looked rather beautiful, with the sun glinting off the surface, making the water sparkle and strongly smelt of flowers. 

Granny Smith threw a hoof and proclaimed, "Alright, boys, here it is, the hot springs I soaked in and where I transformed. I imagine all you two would need to do is soak for a minute to get some effect."

"Sure, I could use a dip, isn't that right, Flim?" Flam asked.

Flim was a bit hesitant to dip into the pool of water. He wasn't sure if this was some trick, so he then turned to face his brother and replied, "Yes, I also agree with you, brother! Let's take a dip and be the first to have the effects of the new and improved miracle tonic!"

The two stallions then went down to the pool and soaked in the hot, steaming water. The two both gave deep, relaxing sighs as they soaked their bodies in the hot, steaming water. Within only a few minutes, they were coming out of the water and looking over their bodies. 

Flam took a long look over his lean body and commented, "Huh, nothing has changed, dear brother." 

Flim walked over to the pool to gaze into his reflection. It was also somewhat concerned with the outcome seeing no changes except for his mane being soaked, and added, "Me neither, brother, maybe Granny Smith is trying to dupe us."

But then Flim noticed that signs of aging like stress lines and wrinkles disappeared, but his tall body was shrinking with fat bloated out over his body. He was freaking out as his mane and tail shrank in size, and his cutie mark disappeared on his rump. Flam went from a nearly thirty-year-old stallion into a school colt! He turned to his brother, who was also shrunk in age and was running around freaking out over his regressed body. 

Granny Smith gasped as she came over to the two colts and cried out in surprise, "Oh dear! The pool of life turned you much younger than I expected!"

Flim looked over at the former old mare, and the only thought in his mind was that she did this; he then cried out, "Y...you did this on purpose!" 

Flam was even angrier as he ran at Granny, started smacking her forehooves with his tiny limbs, and snapped, "Yeah, ya did tis on purpose! Change us back!"

"Sorry, I didn't know it would regress you to this age, but seeing how fast it happened, I'm lucky I didn't end up like you either." Granny Smith squeaked out.

The colts just slammed their hooves on the ground as they shouted in unison. "Turn us back to normal now!"

"I...I can't! Even now, I'm unsure what this pool is and how it works!" Granny Smith cried out once more, looking rather frantic. 

Flim whimpered under his breath, then growled, "You...you have to, or we'll sue you."

Flam pointed a hoof at Granny; he agreed with his brother and shouted, "Yeah, we're gonna sue ya for every last bit ya have!"

The former old mare shook her head, looking somewhat nervous, "Oh, dear, sue my family and me! I didn't mean for this to happen! H..how about I take care of you at my home free of charge while my friend Zecora looks for a cure?"

The two colts huddled with each other as they discussed the situation between the two. Flim turned to his brother, "Look, I don't trust this Granny, but I've heard of her friend Zecora. She's a zebra with a knack for making cures for strange curses."

"You're right, and it seems that this might just be an accident, but at least we know this pool is the real deal; once we're turned back to normal, we're going to be rich!" Flam squealed.

Flim was a bit unsure of this pool despite its magical properties now being verified. They were sporadic and unreliable in their results. "Yeah, but these waters need further testing; I rather not have clients turned into school foals or worse babies."

Flam then turned his attention to Granny Smith and growled, "So we gonna let her take us in for the night?"

"Sure, I don't see the problem, we can keep an eye on her, and nopony will see us like this," Flim added. 

The two colts then nodded and walked over to Granny, and Flam cleared his throat and said, "My brother and I accept your invitation to stay at your house until we're back to normal."

Granny Smith wiped her tears from her eyes and seemed to relax. "Alright then, but I do have some last-minute chores that need to be done. Would you mind helping out?"

Flam wanted to protest, but Flim raised a hoof, "That's fine."

"Thank you for being so accommodating considering the circumstances, youngins." Granny chirped as she led the two colts back to her home. 

As the two colts followed Granny Smith through the Everfree Forest, Flam asked his brother, "Why did you say yes to the chores?"

Flim turned to him and snapped, "That's better than being humiliated by going to school or being forced to play with other foals. Doing some chores will keep us out of sight and give us something to do, so please be quiet."

Flam was still rather disgruntled by this option, but he let his older brother take the lead. Flim himself knew something was off about all of this and wondered what Granny Smith's game was. Whatever it was, it doesn't matter; they have access to something that could make them rich beyond their wildest dreams.







The two colts were now standing next to Granny Smith, looking upward, gawking at the massive apple trees. The former old mare had a smile on her face looking at the two colts. "Now, the apple-bucking season is coming to a close, so we're just finishing up here, and I think it would be best if we just have you two trying to buck apples."

"But...but we're school colts!" Flam shouted rather angrily.

Granny Smith leaned against a tree with her four hooves crossed her chest. "Well, technically speaking, your school colts. Also, you two almost tried to take our farm a year ago. You think your silly machine could pick apples by itself?"

The colts looked at each other with unsure expressions; the two didn't think about this when they had their competition against the Apples. Flim then walked over to the apple tree and started slamming his hooves into the tree. Still, his little bucks did little to nothing against the tree, with no apples falling into the baskets below. Flam followed his older brother and started to buck alongside him. The two colts continued to smack their hooves against the tree while Granny Smith just sat back and watched the two snickering at their attempts to buck the apple trees. After some time, the two colts started slowing down, and they seemed tiring. Granny Smith saw that this was going nowhere, so she came over and asked. "Alright, that's enough; how about I buck the apples, and you two just help collect them."

"Fine," the two colts grumbled under their breaths. 

The former old mare then took one solid buck to the tree as the two colts gasped in awe, seeing almost every apple fall from the tree. She brushed her forehooves and turned to look down at the young colts. "There see, that's how ya buck an apple tree."

"Haha, you humiliated us, so what?" Flam grumbled angrily.

Granny shook her head as she thought about how these two were too stubborn and arrogant for their good. She replied, "no, that's not what this is about. If anything, I just wanted to show how hard it is to keep this farm running. So how about this, I'll buck the last few trees, and you two go about and collect the apples. Sounds good?" 

"Alright, fine," The two colts grumbled irritably. 

They then went about picking up the apples in their baskets as she continued to buck the trees. The two colts followed her as they continued to place apples in their baskets; after an hour of picking apples, they eventually plopped on the ground, completely exhausted.

Despite having many misgivings against the two scammers, she couldn't help but draw at the two adorable colts. She then took out two juice boxes full of ice-cold apple juice and gave them to Flim and Flam. "We barely got through a few trees, and you two thought that you were going to take our farm?"

Flam threw his juice box on the ground, "No way are we going to drink that!"

"Yeah, we may look like foals, but we won't be treated like foals!" Flim shouted after his brother. 

Granny approached the two, looking rather stern, "I don't care if you're three or thirty! You're going to drink that apple juice right now! I'm not having you two get dehydrated on me."

"Yes, ma’am!" The two colts cried out as they lowered their heads in shame and suckled on their juice boxes. Granny Smith couldn't help but chuckle watching them. She came over, hoisted the apples piled in the baskets onto her back, and said, "Alright, how about we go and sort these apples, store them, and call it a day."

Flam got up and helped his brother up, too, and growled, "Fine, but that better be the last of those chores."

After they got up, they went to the barn, where they placed their boxes of apples. She helped the two sort the apples, tossing the rotten or bruised ones and sorting the various apples from delicious reds, greens, and yellows. Granny Smith couldn't help but think of fond memories of teaching her son Bright Mac how to sort apples and then her grandson during the sorting. These thoughts also came with a pang of sadness and regret of how she reacted when she found out he was with Pear Butter. She almost wanted to tear up then and there but had to keep her emotions in check. Even though these two were now colts, she can't show weakness in front of them. For her plan to work, she needed to ensure she was in a place of power above them. After sorting the last of the apples, the three headed back to the kitchen. She took some of the apples and then got out eggs, milk, flour, sugar, salt, and various other small herbs and spices.

Flim and Flam eyed her and asked in unison, "What is going on here?"

"Oh, we're going to make an apple casserole and an apple pie, and you two will help me." Granny Smith chirped. 

Flam pointed a hoof at her and snapped, "That wasn't a part of the agreement!"

His brother chimed in as well, "Yeah, we're not making any stupid pies!"

Granny rolled her eyes  at these two brats and was now getting rather angry at the two and snapped, "Fine; you don't have to help; I just think having some extra hooves will make dinner and dessert."

The two colts pouted, looking at each other with unsure looks on their faces. This probably wouldn't work on them as adults, but as foals, they felt somewhat guilty and taken in by the Apples for the time being. That guilt seemed to have eaten at them as Flim replied, "Fine, we'll help."

"What!? But bi-" Flam cried out. 

The older brother then held up a hoof. "Hush, brother, we can help make dinner. It's not like we did this before as colts."

Flam reluctantly agreed, and they began helping Granny Smith make the food.







After the food was baked, they served a slice of casserole and apple pie to the rest of the Apple family; however, Granny Smith noticed that the rest of her family was glaring at the two colts. 

Applejack was gnashing her teeth while her hooves crossed her chest as she snapped, "What are these two doing here?"

Granny Smith looked over at them. She couldn't reveal her plans just yet; for now, she'll just give them a brief explanation, "Well, I had these two follow me to the pool that turned me younger; there they regressed to a younger age as for why? I'm not sure."

"Y...yeah! Like we would be here eating apple pie with you two!" Flim shouted.

Flam nodded and added, "Yeah, what my brother said."

Big Mac glared at the two colts, and Apple Bloom was chomping down on her apple pie but was watching the two. 

Granny realized the tension was growing around the table and cleared her throat before she continued. "Well, they won't be with us long; Zecora is whipping up a cure as we speak, so they should be back to normal by tomorrow."

Big Mac rose, seeming to have his fill of the two, "Doesn't mean we need to be around these two." He stomped off as Applejack snapped, "I'm with Big Mac; I'll be outside until they're asleep." She also walked off, following after her brother. 

The two colts seemed to be saddened by the two left, and Granny Smith sat across from them, "You two are regretting what you tried to take our farm?"

Flam pouted, "We didn't want to take your farm, we were going to split the earnings on selling your apple cider thirty seventy; that was fair!"

"Yeah! We didn't want to take your farm! You're the one who made that stupid bet with us!" Flim added.

Granny Smith's cheeks flushed, remembering she made that bet without considering the consequences. She then looked down at the foals, "Yes, I made that dumb bet, but you two were threatening our livelihood here, and besides, you actively wanted to take our farm without even realizing how hard it was to run?"

"Yeah…" Flam grumbled irritably as he finished his apple pie, and Flim did so as well. Granny Smith wiped their mouths and replied, "Look, that's all water under the bridge, at least for me, but it'll take more time for my grandkids to forgive you."

The two seemed to relax a little, and they continued to eat for some time. When they were about finished with their meal, Apple Bloom, being the last of the family at the table, spoke up, "Hey, they don't have to sleep with me, right? I'm not sharing my room with colts, let alone those two."

Flim and Flam glared at the filly, but the former old mark held up a hoof and snapped, "Oh, hush, Apple Bloom, they'll be sleeping in my bed; I'll bunk on the couch."

"Good, just making sure!" Apple Bloom chirped as she then bounced off, seeming not to be around the Flim Flam brothers either. 

After cleaning up, Granny then took the colts upstairs to her bedroom, where she tucked the two under the sheets. She ensured they were comfortable and kept an eye on the two until she could hear them snoring. As she walked downstairs, she thought more about her past, regretting her own decisions and how she was so against her son's marriage with Pear Butter. She caused so much pain and suffering within her own family. What right did she have to pass judgment on those two when she was feeling doubt within herself at the end of the day on seeing how close she was to ending up being worse than the Flim Flam brothers? She then went on the living room couch, looking upward at the wooden planks that made up the ceiling. She tossed and turned, seeming unable to go to sleep with these thoughts of regret invading her mind. Maybe she had a second chance to make up for her mistakes with this new body. She may need to visit the Pear family...but will she be able to do such a task? Would they be willing to accept her? Granny got up with sweat dripping from her forehead. All of these negative thoughts were making it impossible to fall asleep. She then headed off to the dinner table to see that Applejack and Big Mac were there.

Applejack looked over with a glare at her. "Alright, Granny, what's going on here? Why are the Flim Flam brothers foals?"

Granny Smith chuckled as she sat down at the table. She'll handle her regrets later; for now, she'll focus on the task at hand. She looked over at her grandkids, seeing that it was about time she filled them in on her plan. "Fine, I'll tell ya what's happening, but first…."

She took out a giant jug of liquor and slammed it on the table. "We're gonna get wasted!"