“Well, brother of mine, any other bright ideas?”
Two stallions stood on a makeshift stage, one glaring at the other. Both stallions were almost identical. A horn was perched on both of their heads. A white stripe ran through their red manes and tails, and they were clothed in a blue and white striped shirt and a hat. The difference between the two was that one had a moustache while the other didn’t and that one had a cutie mark of an apple with a missing slice while the other's was an apple slice. Based on their appearance, they could be mistaken for a barbershop quartet, or in this case a duet. At the moment though, they were painted head to hoof in tomatoes, courtesy to the stallions, mares, and foals that came to watch their performance. Their audience had left their show for a mare’s performance down the street who claimed to be one of the greatest magicians ever.
The stallion without facial hair, whom the question was being directed toward, brushed his shirt of the red fruit, cringing at the foul smell of a rotten tomato that had mixed in with the rest. “I don’t see you coming up with any better ideas, Flam,” he retorted.
The one known as Flam rolled his eyes. “Well, Flim, if I did have a plan to get us both rich, it wouldn’t involve something as ridiculous as a puppet show.”
Sitting between the two was a marionette no bigger than a hoof, which had miraculously stayed clean during the barrage of tomatoes. The wooden marionette resembled a small earth mare with strings attached to her hooves, head, and body. She was given a pale yellow coat of paint and a red and white mane. She could only stare at the nothingness in front of her with a smile fixed on her face as she lay on the ground motionless.
“Alright, so it was a dumb idea! What do you suggest we do?” asked Flim.
A sigh escaped from Flam. “Well, I guess it’s back to the drawing board.”
Flim and Flam began packing their things and loading it onto the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000. As they were loading, Flim shot a bolt of magic into the rods protruding from the vehicle, creating only a small spark within the glass bulb and nothing more.
Flim scrunched his brows and shot several more bolts at the rods, only to get the same result. “Oh great, what’s wrong with it now? The ‘Come to Life’ spell should have worked. Hey Flam! The darn thing’s broken again!” He detached the glass bulb and took a closer look at the conductors inside.
Flam looked up as he was about to pack up the marionette. “Again? That’s the fifth time this month! Let me have a look.”
He set the puppet down between the conductors before getting up on his hind legs and examining the conductors while Flim checked the wires. After fiddling around with the contraption and some wires here and there, the brothers stepped away from the vehicle until they were at a safe distance.
“Okay, it should work now. Ready Flim?”
“Ready Flam,” replied the brother.
They pointed their horns at the rods again and shot two beams of magic. The conductors instantly sparked to life as electricity crackled, arced, and jumped between the two metal rods, filling the air with the smell of ozone. Despite the flashy display, the contraption remained lifeless.
“It’s not working,” Flim said, straining to keep the “Come to Life” spell on the rods.
Beads of sweat became visible as Flam struggled to keep his spell up too. “It just needs a little more boost is all. Keep it up a little longer.”
Flim took a glance at the vehicle’s engine. His eyes trailed down the conductors, now fiery sparklers, before stopping at the object lying between the conductors. His eyes widened upon noticing the marionette in the center of the spectacle, its lifeless form shimmering in the glow of the spell as bolts of electricity danced around it.
“Uh, Flam, I think we should stop.”
“Why?” he grunted.
“I think I found the problem.”
Flam followed his brother’s gaze towards the marionette lying between the conductors where he had left it. Like a sponge, the marionette soaked up all that magic. The two stopped their spells, but it was too late. A green glow surrounded the lifeless mare as it levitated in the air with sparks arcing from its body. Flim and Flam weren’t ready for the burst of light that came from the marionette. They blindly stumbled around and into each other until they regained their vision.
Flim rubbed his eyes, trying to get the dark blots to leave his vision. “You idiot! You left the blasted puppet in the way of the spell!”
“Don’t pin this whole thing on me! It was your idea to buy the stupid thing!”
“Yeah, but I didn’t leave it in the engine and cause it to blow up!”
“You know what, you’re an insufferable—“ Flam never got to finish his insulting remark when he heard a sound coming from the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000.
Thump!
They turned their heads in the direction of the noise. Smoke surrounded the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000, now a smoking pile of scrap. In the smoke, they could see a small shadow of a figure moving around on the floor of the machine. Their first reaction was to help the pony who was most likely hurt from getting caught in the explosion. Though as they got closer, they slowed down when they noticed that the figure was much smaller than a pony, even for a foal. They took off their hats and fanned the smoke away and gaped at the sight in front of them.
The marionette that was lying between the conductors was now on the ground. What made the brothers’ jaws drop was the fact that the lifeless marionette was now moving her limbs lazily. Her movements were like a newborn learning to move its limbs. The puppet pawed at the ground and swiveled her head to stare at the two unicorns who stared back at her. They blinked. She blinked back. She steadily got onto her hooves, only to stumble forward and fall on her belly.
“Flim… Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Flam asked, still staring at the puppet who looked back at him with her emerald eyes.
“Do you mean the puppet that’s moving like it’s alive? Then yes.”
Flam got closer to the tiny wooden mare and craned his neck down so that the puppet was at his eye level. “By Celestia’s flank… Do you realize what we just did, Flim?” he said in a low whisper. “We just brought something to life.”
The wooden puppet took clumsy steps forward before clinging onto Flam’s muzzle for support. He wrapped her in his magic and placed her in front of Flim. She looked at him with a tilt of her head, while he looked closely at her like a foal does to a new toy. A grin crept its way onto his face.
“Flam, I feel another idea coming to me! And I assure you, it’s going to be better than the last.”
Flam grinned back. “Oh, I see where you’re going with this. And I like it.”
They both turned to the little mare who had been looking back and forth between the two brothers during their conversation.
“So,” said Flim, “how would you like to be a star, Marie?”
Flam arched a brow. “Marie?”
“Yes, Marie. It’s a nice name, don’t you think?” he replied to Flam before turning back to the tiny mare. “Well, what do you say, Marie?”
The puppet beamed at Flim before chirping, “Marie!”