Half Hour Horses: Legacy Prompts

by HoofAndQuill

LP78: Flim Flam [AU, Slice of Life]

the prompt:

this too shall pass

or and he shall reign forever and ever (hard mode: no Sombra nor Discord)

The cafe was nice enough, all told. It wasn't really what Princess Twilight Sparkle was used to, but she was... well, getting used to seeing things she wasn't used to.

It wasn't bad, though. The cafe was sturdy looking at least, with concrete walls and a tin roof. Twilight wasn't about to argue that the wooden walls and thatched roofs she was used to were better in any real, tangible way. But they did seem more homey.

Applejack chuckled as she set down her cup of cider, and looked down a moment to fix her flannel shirt. "Heh. Yeah, I was guessin' you weren't exactly from around here, Miss Twilight. Not every day you see a pony all in th' natural, so to speak."

"The natural? Oh, you mean my clothes, or my lack of them. When-- I mean, where I come from, most ponies don't wear them." Twilight smiled, and glanced over to Spike. Spike seemed content to munch on the hayfries he'd ordered.

"You know, it was like that here, too, before Flim an' Flam got that automatic loom workin'. Nowdays just about anypony can afford to have clothes on all the time, an' I don't think anypony's complaining." Applejack's smile wavered just a moment, before she took another sip of cider. "Still not sure why you went and came lookin' for me though, Twilight. I'm just a cider delivery pony, nothin' special."

Twilight bought a moment of time by sipping her own drink. She couldn't quite stop herself from making a face at the taste. "Ugh. Well, could you tell me how all this happened?" At Applejack's look, Twilight blushed slightly. "I mean, Flim and Flam taking over."

"Takin' over? Well, I guess they did do that." Applejack, chuckled again, and took another drink. "Lessee here. I used to be a farmer, a few years back, if you can believe it. Worked th' orchard over thataways a bit. But that just about ended when Nightmare Moon came back."

Twilight nodded, glancing at Spike again. The baby dragon was at least paying attention now that his food was done.

"I'm sure y'all remember that. It was night for goin' on a week, and nopony knew how to fix anything. Now, way I heard it, Flim an' Flam found some book or another about some kind of mysterious elements or something. Now, they found 'em, and rigged them up to some contraption or another, and in no time sent Nightmare Moon right back to the moon."

"They build a machine for the Elements of Harmony?"

Applejack nodded. "That's the word I was lookin' for. Now, that left us without any princesses, seein' as both of 'em were up in the moon. But turns out those Elements kept on makin' that machine turn quick as you'd like, and before long, Flim and Flam had the sun an' moon going around again, too."

Applejack paused a moment, looking at her cider. "After that, I figured they'd just settle down an' rest on their money, but they sure didn't. They kept on buildin', one thing after another. First it was just lights an' stuff, but soon enough they had automatic apple-pickin' machines, and cider presses, and all kinds of other things. Nowadays there ain't nopony who wants for anythin'. I might miss my farm an' all, but I can't really go complainin' too much."

"But, you always loved bucking apples, and that kind of thing." Twilight sighed. "Besides, this cider is..."

Applejack chuckled again. "I know, it's not exactly Sweet Apple Acres vintage or anythin'. You know it ain't even cider, really? Most of the sugar comes from milled corn, an' it's just apple-flavored. Same with these houses. Now they're sturdy, warm in winter an' cool in summer, but the concrete's made by dredgin' up the countryside. Lot of good farmland is bein' ruined by the mining. But ponies do need places to live, an' Flim and Flam have kept the forest back, even after all those vines went crazy a year back."

Twilight looked around, as if for the first time. Ponyville looked nothing like she remembered, though it wasn't... bad exactly. The buildings were boring and square, but nopony's roof seemed in need of repair, all the ponies had clothes, and it seemed as though everypony had work. "So, that's why they're cutting down the Everfree Forest?"

"Sure is. Now, I don't mean to be rude, but my fifteen minute break's up, an' I can't stay an' chat all day. You an' your dragon feel free to stay in town though. I'm sure somepony can find work for you." Applejack smiled and stood up, putting down a few bits on the table as pay.

Twilight paused. "So, if you could change things back to the way the were before, would you?"

Applejack hesitated, and then spoke as she hooked the cider wagon up again. "I don't know, Twilight. I'm glad everypony's got so much nowadays, but... I do miss my farm."

Twilight watched as Applejack pulled the cart away. She shook her head quickly. "Come on, Spike. We've got to get back and stop Starlight."

Author's Note:

And that's it. We'd gotten down to three participants, and the number of responses a week was down below two.

So the next prompt was mine, and I bowed out after that one, and the group died instantly.

But it was fun while it lasted! Thanks for reading.