Sugarcoat Interferes In Pony History

by Twinkletail


The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000

"Congratulations to y'all. The cider business in Ponyville is yours. C'mon, Apples. Let's go pack up our things."

Throughout the entire cider competition between the Apples and the Flim Flam Brothers, the ponies of Ponyville had been cheering for whoever happened to win. Their top concern had been getting the most cider they could, with no regard for who the winner would even be. Now that it looked like Applejack and her family would have to leave town, though, everything had changed. Save for Flim and Flam, there wasn't a dry eye in the field as the Apples prepared for their exile from their home.

"Fear not, everypony," Flim said, either completely oblivious to the reason behind the town's sadness or choosing to ignore it. "There's more than enough cider to go around." Flim and Flam began to laugh cruelly as the townsponies stood in silence.

"Go ahead everypony," the selfless Applejack said, looking away from the bunch to hide her tears. "Go on, y'all. It's okay." The silence was broken by a loudly-sobbing Pinkie Pie as Rainbow Dash attempted to comfort her. Unsurprisingly, Flim and Flam were unfazed by the sad scene. All that mattered to them was their sales, and with the elimination of their only competition, they would be rolling in bits before they knew it. The dastardly duo was quick to set their stand up, passing out mugs of cider to the ponies of Ponyville. The ponies looked at the offerings, finally noticing the chunks of tree and other debris that had ended up in the cider due to the brothers' hasty performance.

"Drink up, Ponyville!" Flam encouraged, grinning haughtily. "Down the hatch!" The three front most ponies eyed their ciders cautiously before picking their mugs up and drinking their contents. It only took a moment before all three spit their cider all over the shocked brothers' faces.

"I can't get the taste off my tongue!" Cherry Berry cried.

"Mine's got rocks in it!" Bon Bon moaned.

"I wouldn't pay one cent for this dreck!" Comet Tail shouted. Flim and Flam looked at each other in a mild panic.

"You wouldn't pay even one cent?" Flam asked. He knew the answer already, but hoped beyond hope that asking would somehow change it.

"No!" the crowd shouted in unison. The brothers mumbled to each other, trying to regroup and save themselves.

"How about two cups for one cent?" Flam asked nervously.

"No!" the crowd shouted again. The two conferenced another time before turning back to the crowd.

"Two bits for a barrel?" the brothers meekly offered.

"NO!" the crowd screamed back.

Applejack, meanwhile, was watching all of this with grim satisfaction. It wasn't like her to take pleasure in the suffering of others, but this was a different case. Those two had coerced her family into taking a bet that seemed completely unwinnable. Even the combined effort of her family and her five best friends couldn't produce as many barrels of cider as the Flim Flam brothers' machine had. Thankfully, their expedience was their downfall. If they had left the quality control on, they would have been outperformed by the Apples' efforts. Without it, they'd produced more barrels, but their product was unsellable. They had tried to run Applejack's family out of town, and seeing them dejected and about to leave themselves wasn't exactly something that she objected to.

"So you're just gonna stand here and let that mob throw them out like that? Some friend you are."

Applejack whirled around to face Sugarcoat. She wasn't sure if it was physically possible to glare any harder than she was right now.

"They ain't no friends of mine!" Applejack insisted.

"And they never will be if you treat them like this," Sugarcoat stated plainly.

Applejack was incensed, to say the least. After everything she'd just been put through, Sugarcoat had some nerve talking to her like that.

"Are you seriously taking their side?!" Applejack snorted.

"Oh, no way," Sugarcoat responded. "They were huge jerks. But if you don't go forgive them, you'll be a jerk too."

"Are you out of your consarned mind?" Applejack exclaimed. "I ain't got no reason to forgive them!"

"Except to be the bigger pony," Sugarcoat said. "Heck, maybe you could even be nice enough to cut them a deal."

"Cut them a deal?!" Applejack shouted back. "Did you even see what they tried to do? Ain't no way I can forgive them for that, let alone cut a deal! It's unforgivable!" She huffed, glaring daggers at Sugarcoat. Sugarcoat, though, was unfazed.

"I guess you're right," Sugarcoat responded. "I mean, it's not like they did something totally forgivable like trying to plunge the world into eternal night."

If Applejack's previous glare was hard enough to break stone, this one could cleave a diamond.

"Th-that was completely different!" Applejack said, although she found herself faltering.

"Yeah, it was," Sugarcoat agreed. "That was a jerk trying to doom your entire world and this is two idiots trying to make money at your expense. And you forgave the potential world-ruiner, but you can't forgive the overenthusiastic entrepreneurs? There's something seriously wrong with your morality."

Applejack sputtered, finding herself at a total loss. Try as she might, she couldn't find a response for that. Sure, it was a slightly different situation. Princess Luna wasn't exactly herself when she did what she did. The fact remained, though, that they were all willing and ready to forgive her for nearly causing a world-ending scenario.

"Besides," Sugarcoat continued. "If you strike a deal with them, you'll be able to get more work done faster. And since you've got the upper hoof, you can really get one over on them and make a lopsided deal." Visions of extra bits danced in Applejack's head, but she was able to ignore them with some effort.

"Nope," Applejack said simply. "If we're gonna make any kind of deal, it'll be a fair one. I ain't the type to cheat nopony." With that, she turned sharply towards the brothers. Sugarcoat rolled her eyes a bit before following the farmer.


"Hey Flim! Hey Flam!"

The two brothers were just about to abscond when they heard Applejack calling their names. The two gulped as they turned to face her, nervous about whatever she had in mind for them. They could tell that she was no pushover, and they weren't much for fighting. Flim found himself suddenly being pushed out ahead by his brother. He gave Flam a little glare, then turned to Applejack once more.

"Yes, Miss Applejack?" Flim asked. "I hope you're not here to gloat over your victory." Then he let out a small yelp as his brother elbowed him in the side.

"Yes, we do hope that!" Flam whispered. "It's better than dealing with her physically!"

"Oh, calm down, you two," Applejack said. "I ain't here to gloat. Detestable as your behavior was, I'm here to forgive you for it."

"Forgive us?" Flim and Flam said simultaneously.

"Eeyup," Applejack said. "Figure I'll be the bigger pony here. And seeing as we've got the apples you need and you've got the machine to help us make our cider faster, what do you say we make a deal? You make what we can't get done fast enough, and we'll split the profits, 65-35 in our favor. You can't do it without our apples and we can work without your machine, so I figure that's fair. Deal?"

Flim and Flam stared at each other. They certainly hadn't expected even the slightest bit of friendliness, let alone an offer for a deal. The two considered their options for a few moments before identical diabolical grins crossed their faces. If Applejack could come back from almost being forcibly evicted and try to make a deal with them, then she clearly was a pushover, too friendly and kind to avoid being walked all over. Flim smiled mane openly at the farmer.

"How generous of you, Miss Applejack!" Flim hissed. "But the way I see it, you'd never be able to get this level of work done this quickly without our technology."

"Our modern marvels make your olden ideals obsolete!" Flam added, coiling around to Applejack's other side.

"So we'll take that deal of yours," Flim said with a grin. "But I can't help but think we deserve the 65. What say you, dear brother?"

"Oh, I must concur, brother of mine!" Flam agreed.

"What say you, Miss Applejack?" Flim asked. "Will you be the bigger pony?"

Applejack turned to Sugarcoat, who wore an expression of disgust.

"Let's take care of them," Sugarcoat said.

Children would go on to insist for months afterwards that they had seen two skinny unicorns fly through the air that day, followed closely by what could only be described as a giant mechanical monstrosity. Ponies would refute that claim, but only those who were there could say for sure.

"You know, you're not that bad, Sugarcoat," Applejack said with a grin as the two began heading back towards the farmhouse.

"Yeah, you're right," Sugarcoat agreed.