The players are set and our story has begun. Where will it lead. Well I know where it begins, up on a hill.
The sun was getting low in the sky and there was warm Spring breeze blowing threw the orchard. Big Mac was wandering out of the trees after finishing the last of his chores. He stared out across the way at the old, now new farm where the Flim Flam brother were hard at work. Flim looked up for a second, sensing eyes upon him and saw the red stallion walking out of the trees. He gave a little wave and saw Big Mac wave back. This made Flim smile.
"At least he likes us." He laughed and went back to work. Big Mac smiled and looked towards the hill where his sittin spot was. He took a step towards it when he heard the dinner bell being rung.
"Come and get you houligans!" Granny shouted from the kitchen window. Big Mac gave a huff and began wandering towards the farm house. On the table was a dish they call dragon hearts, beans, corn and potatoes that had been fried in a skillet all together. Big Mac was first to sit with Granny Smith at the table. "How was the farm today young'en?"
"Fine." He simply responded taking a scoop of the food.
"Who were you waving at?" Big Mac stopped dead for a second and tried to recover.
"Oh um the-" He was about to say the mail pony but then saw the mail sitting on the kitchen counter. "Ahem, just Applebloom, she was over with the pigs." He said giving the most innocent guilty smile he could muster. Granny side eyed him suspiciously and was about to say something when his sisters walked in.
"Hey y'all whats for supper?" Applejack took off her hat and set it down.
"Whew that ditch sure was a doozie to clear." Applebloom sighed as she sat down.
"Wait I thought you was-"
"Dragon hearts!" Big Mac quickly interjected before Granny Smith could finish her line of questioning. They all stared. making him realize he may have said it a little too loud.
"Wow Big Mac, I didn't know you like dragon hearts so much." Applebloom giggled. He gave a smile and looked down at his plate. Granny looked between the three siblings and decided to let it go.
"Well eat up y'all there's plenty." They began eating, but not long into the meal Applejack spoke up.
"Anyone else see the Flim Flam Brothers today?" This made Big Mac freeze yet again. Granny Smith and Applebloom nodded.
"Yeah they're put an awful lot of work into the front of that old farm. Makes me wonder what the back looks like."
"Probably like sod," Applejack rolled her eyes, "For those two, it's all presentation and no actual work." Big Mac's ear flicked as a sign of irritation though no one noticed.
"I could sneak back there and look," Applebloom looked back and forth between them all, "They'd probably never notice me."
"No way. I don't want you anywhere near those two." Applejack ate her food grumpily. Big Mac sat through dinner silently eating and listening to his family hack on the two brothers. It couldn't be over soon enough. When it did end he helped clean up and immediately left for his sittin spot.
The walk there helped calm his mind. There had been a lot of negativity on the farm the past few days and it was really wearing him down. Big Mac never said much partly because he was shy, but also he didn't want to contribute anything negative to the world. The air was cold as it usually is spring, but it had a pleasant feel to it. He reached the foot of the hill where his sittin spot was. The stallion took a deep breath already feeling better and began the climb. Focusing on each step relaxed him, feeling the grass, listening to wind and birds eased every bit of tension he carried up the hill.
Eventually he made it to his spot. He slowly lowered him self down, settled in and let out a big sigh. "What am I gonna do about them? I mean-" Big Mac was cut off by somepony gasping and the sounds of them scrambling and falling. The red stallion jumped up and peaked around the other side of the tree. There face down in the ground was Flim. Big Mac looked around unsure and then back to the pale yellow stallion. "Uh you ok Flim?" Flim quickly collected himself.
"Oh yes, uh thank you for your concern Big Mac." Flim gave Big Mac an embarrassed smile. Big Mac simply nodded and walked to the other side of the tree where Flim was. He took a seat and gestured for Flim to also sit. Slowly Flim came and sat beside him. They both faced down the hill towards the farms. The hill and tree were right in the middle of the two. "I was up here trying to figure out the border of our farm," He looked over to the Apple Family farm and his farm, "Guess this hill is the divider." He looked up at Big Mac.
"Yup." Flim chuckled and nodded. There was a period silence before Flim spoke up again.
"Oh thanks again for the pie. My brother and I really enjoyed it." Big Mac simply gave a smile to Flim and returned his attention forward. Flim did as well. Still staring out Big Mac asked.
"What brought y'all here?" He gestured to the brother's farm. Flim let a spiteful laugh leave his mouth.
"What indeed my friend." Flim paused for a second. He questioned why and if he would tell Big Mac. They had been rivals for so long yet, he wanted to tell him. "It's been hard Big Mac...my brother and I have tried and failed at so many ventures, most of them dishonest. I think it finally caught up to us. No pony wanted us in there town and we couldn't sell what little we had. We were just outside of Ponyville one day and we saw that farm for sale. It obviuosly needed a lot of work but that made it cheap. With what we had left, we bought the farm and promised to change our ways. We want to become good honest ponies. Like your family." A tear fell from Flim's face. He hadn't noticed but Big Mac was staring at him in shock. Big Mac couldn't believe that Flim just told him all of that, he didn't know what to say. After a few moments of silence Big Mac spoke up.
"You have a long way to go, but I think you've had a good start." He smiled at Flim. Flim looked back at Big Mac, dumbfounded by the words that he had spoken.
"You really think so?"
"Yup." They both smiled and looked out to the farms. They sat there for sometime before Big Mac stood up. "I've got work to do in the morning, but uh," Big Mac looked around him, "I'll be back up here tomorrow evening after supper, If'in you want to talk some more." Flim stood up.
"Uh yeah, Yeah! I think I will be here too." The two stallions smiled at each other. In the back of both of their minds was the urge to go home and get to bed to be well rested for the day coming. However, there was something else there, neither of them really wanted to leave. After the smile became a bit awkward Big Mac said "Goodnight." And turned to walk down the hill.
"Yes goodnight friend Big Mac," Flim waived and left.
Big Mac walked into the house where his sisters still were sitting in the living room.
"You're back later than usual." Applejack pointed out. Big Mac shrugged his shoulders and made his way up the stairs, saying his goodnights along the way. Over at the other farm Flim walked. His brother flam was reading a book on an old wooden chair.
"Well, that certainly to a while.' he said looking up from his book.
"It did indeed brother. Might take me a few more nights to map it all out but I'll get it done. Goodnight" Flim smiled and went off to his room.
That night something odd happened to the two stallions. They felt restless and giddy, excited for the day after, but why? Was it all the work that was ahead, or seeing each other up on the hill?