Flim-Flam Fever

by EHAN

Chapter 6

The brothers went into a panic. This cider-crazed mob was going to ruin their business. The mob arrived after they began to notice that there often was not enough cider in the markets to satisfy their growing demand. Flim and Flam began to see just how unavoidable their predicament was.

Flim and Flam, not wanting to allow the raging ponies onto their property where they could cause massive damage, loudly called out to the crowd: "You're not getting in here and taking any cider! Not even if the princesses THEMSELVES demand it!" Ironically, at that moment, three alicorns stepped through the crowd. Their appearances were known by all in Equestria. The ponies were none other than the three princesses themselves: Celestia, Luna, and Cadance. Even they had fallen victim to the horrible scheme of the brothers. The cider had gotten so popular that it made it to royalty, and obviously, they drank so much that they too became addicted to it. Flim and Flam nervously retracted their previous statement, and ordered the employees to create enough cups of cider to keep them at bay for a little while, so that they could find time to come up with a better plan.

Within several minutes, the factory had produced about a thousand cups of cider, at the cost of a major portion of their apple supply. The factory workers then headed out to the gates to quell the rage of the cider-depraved ponies, hoping that giving it to them for free would aid in calming them down. The ponies in the mob pushed and shoved each other to get their own cup of cider. After each cup was passed out to the crowd, it took less than a minute for them to drink each cup, fight over the remaining drops that might have been left, and continue their rage, apparently not feeling satisfied enough.

The iron gates could not hold back the force of a thousand frantic ponies for much longer, and as they continued to push against it, the locks soon gave way, causing the gates to fly open. They had made it onto the factory grounds, much to the dismay of the brothers. They realized that they had no other choice but to hope that they leave by some miracle. Now pounding on the doors to the factory, the crowd was obviously making one thing perfectly clear. They wanted cider, they wanted it now, and if they didn't get what they wanted, they would take the factory by storm.

Realizing they would lose their entire profit if they agreed this time, Flim and Flam once again refused to please the crowds. The pounding on the doors continued, and eventually a loud crash indicated that they had gained access to the entire factory. They went straight for the apple cider production rooms, but four ponies had pushed through the crowds to search for the room where Flim and Flam had chosen to hide. Coming across it before the mob cared to search for it, they knocked on the door. The brothers heard the distinct, familiar voice of one of the ponies. It shouted, "Open the door, Flim and Flam! We four want a word with you!" Recognizing the voice, they knew they were facing off against their sworn enemies. Considering the situation they were soon going to be in, they realized they had no other choice and reluctantly let the four ponies step in.

Flim and Flam once again stood face to face with none other than Applejack, Apple Bloom, Big Mac, and Granny Smith.

Almost immediately the ponies began arguing with one another. Screaming and hollering, they began to blame one another for the troubles they had caused one another in the past.

"What were you two thinkin'," Granny Smith scolded the brothers, "makin' such a preposterous plan and not knowin' it was gonna backfire?"

"These ponies are absolutely insane! They're gonna take down this factory and take all of your cider! How could you not have prevented this earlier?" Apple Bloom shouted up to them.

Flim claimed, "Well, you all drove us to this point! Ever since that day- that competition- we have had nothing but failures! And now, we almost had something! And ONCE again, it's gonna be ruined!"

"This never would have happened if you four had just let us work in Ponyville initially!" Flam claimed.

Applejack replied, "This never would've HAPPENED if you two had just stayed out of Ponyville in the first place! This is ALL on you two, and you KNOW it!"

Just then, the room became almost entirely silent. The only noise heard was the clamorous crowd a few floors below them. Flim and Flam finally realized that it was futile to try to blame others for their own mistakes. They had created the company, they had created the cider. They alone were the sole cause of their own problems. And now they began to see a much bleaker future ahead of them than they had ever seen before.

Soon ponies everywhere would not only hate them, but just completely loathe them. If this entire mess were to ever be fixed, they knew that they would get the blame, they would get the fines for the damages caused, and they would get the pure infamy that comes with. But they also knew one thing: if they did not take the fall, the entire realm of Equestria would remain cider-crazed and eventually crumble due to the insane nature of the ponies. Sure, it might wear off, but how long would it take for every pony to just wage war on each other? There was no telling what would happen if they didn't act soon.