Chapter 146 - The Nightmare Night Arc
Applebloom was absolutely focused. Looking at each target and internally calculating what she had to do to hit them. All eyes were on her, could this platypus dressed little filly really manage it?
She takes a breath, readies herself, and throws the ball.
HIT! But nobody says a word, not even a gasp. She's given another ball. And once again throws it towards a target.
HIT! Her accuracy was amazing. She was hitting all the targets straight in the center. Each one falling, one by one...until there was one more.
Everyone held their breath. She throws the ball....IT HITS! Everyone cheers, including you. Nine of the ten targets are hit. The final target emerges. A rather crude cardboard cutout of Nightmare Moon sticking her tongue out forward. The target itself was in the far back. But was four times larger than the smaller night bat targets. Applebloom should be able to do this just fine.
"Remarkable" Flim claps.
"Inspiring! This little filly is the first to make the final target appear...." Flim said as he congratulated Applebloom
"Indeed, truly a remarkable feat. But remember, unless you can defeat Nightmare Moon. then there will be no prize. Good Luck to you young filly!" Flam said, neither of the brothers seemed worried.......that was suspicious.
Scootaloo started to chant "Applebloom, Applebloom, Applebloom!" As she chanted. others started to join in. You, the group, and even the crowd called her name. She was the hero in this story. And she was going to win.
Applebloom could feel the weight and the pressure press on her. She just had to throw the ball at the target. And victory would be hers. She readies herself. Pulls back her leg and.... She let's the ball fly. It rushes right towards Nightmare Moon and slams right into it. The ball smacks into the target and bounces off, landing on the ground and rolling just a few feet.
"Ah..AH..AH DID IT! DID YA'LL SEE!? I DID IT! I DID IT!" Applebloom was excited, she managed to win the game.
The crowd cheered, stomping on the ground was abound, smiling ponies everywhere. Truly, it was a sight to see. You could even see a tear coming from Applebloom's eyes as she waved to the crowd behind her as Scootaloo picked her up and hovered upwards.
"Truly a satisfying sight. Wouldn't you agree cousin?" Flim said as he looked upon the cheering crowd. Everyone, absolutely everyone was ecstatic over it.
"Indeed, a beautiful display. It brings a tear in my eye....that's why it burdens me with a heavy heart to say...." Flam looks to the crowd "That this brave and charming little filly.....lost the game"
"WHAT?!" The crowd gasped. It was seemingly such a huge blow that Scootaloo's wings started to give out and revert back to cardboard wings.
Applebloom landed on her hooves and immediately scrambled to the counter. She knew what she saw. "Whaddya talkin' about! Ah hit the target! everypony saw it!"
"Yeah, what gives. All she had to do was hit the target right?" Sweetie Belle also saw that the ball hit
"Hit...and knock down. And as you can see, Nightmare Moon still clearly stands. I'm sorry, but did you think it'd really be that simple?" Flim said, he gave a rather smarmy smirk as he pointed to the Nightmare Moon target.
"Now now cousin, don't be mean. I'm sure the little filly didn't think to put any power into that last throw. I'm sure she could manage it this time. Though, you still have to pay" Flam said, trying to be the kinder one of the two again.
Those assholes. But...fuck...you couldn't be sure if it was a con or not. The target was bigger...maybe....
....You'd need to make sure. Before anyone could say anything about it. You slam down yet another fifteen bits. "Go for it Applebloom, knock Nightmare Moon back to where she came from!"
Applebloom was looking unsure of herself. She didn't think she had the power to knock down the final target. she felt sure that final throw was one of her best ones. "Anon..ah dunno.."
"Oh please...Applebloom, you're going to lose hope now? After you came so close?" Diamond Tiara stepped up to her, looking at her with a snooty sneer. "Disgusting."
"Hey Diamond come on, don't do thi-"
But Diamond cuts you off. "HUSH!..." Diamond felt a little uncomfortable doing that to you, but she had a plan to motivate Applebloom. to give her the power she needs to knock out the final target.
"Ah didn't give up hope!" Applebloom exclaimed...looking firm until she realized she didn't have a reason to be. Not to her anyway. She was losing hope, and it was like a poison. You could see her feeling the pain of knowing she let everyone down. Diamond Tiara could see it too. And she had this urge...just this sudden urge...to help her out. To be a friend, and to take charge of the situation herself. "Ah just..." But Applebloom didn't know how to finish that
"Just what? So you didn't knock out the final target. Who cares? You know how to knock it down NOW! All you have to do is step up there, knock out the targets, win the candy and stop making Anon waste all his money!" Diamond Tiara pointed towards the ball. "You can do it!"
"B-but...what if ah don't throw it hard enough?"
Damn, it wasn't losing that got to Applebloom. It was the losing and letting everyone down that was really killing her.
"....Do you remember that one time I nearly ruined your relationship with your cousin and made you and your friends hate her into near oblivion?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"Yeah...why?" Applebloom found that...unrelated to the current situation. Why would Diamond bring that up?
"Imagine Nightmare Moon is me from that time. Imagine all the bad things I ever did to you." Diamond Tiara was practically demanding Applebloom to pull up energy from past hatred
"But we're friends now, we all know you we're like that because of yer mom" Applebloom just wasn't feeling it.
Diamond Tiara sighed and put her hoof to her face "...This would be easier if that didn't happen. Ok...how about this. Silver Spoon, come over here."
You realized what she was doing. And after doing so, thought maybe it was a good idea. But it didn't seem to be working. Applebloom just couldn't get into the mindset.
Silver Spoon stepped up, and stood at the ready. Willing to do anything Diamond asked of her. "What do you need?"
Diamond Tiara started to whisper something in her ear. Silver Spoon nodded a few times. and when it was over. They both turned to Applebloom and started chanting "Blank Flank, Blank Flank!"
Applebloom was now heavily confused "Err girls, ah don-"
"BLANK FLANK BLANK FLANK BLANK FLANK" They both chanted
"But, how does that...? ah alre-" Applebloom gets cut off
"BLANK FLANK BLANK FLANK BLANK FLANK BLANK FLANK"
The confusion was starting to anger her, how could they call her that after she had already gotten her mark? But that was the plan....it had to be. It was just to frustrate her.
"Ok, NOW YA'LL ARE-"
"BLANK FLANK BLANK FLANK BLANK FLANK BLANK FLANK!"
No matter how she tried to insist that their words didn't even make sense. They just wouldn't stop. They were, in a sense, trolling her on purpose to get her riled up. "THATS IT! AH DON'T KNOW WHAT GOT IN YOU TWO'S MINDS. BUT AH HAVE HALF AH MIND TO KNOCK SOME SENSE INTO BOTH OF YOU!" Applebloom bared her teeth at the both of them. She looked ready to tear them both apart.
Diamond Tiara raised her hoof to Silver Spoon to get her to stop. And then looked to Applebloom with an insidious smile. "Good. Now you're angry. Now, turn around, get in there, and win the candy already!"
But Applebloom wouldn't budge. She was still looking at them rather angrily. Sweetie Belle. Who also realized whats up. Walked up next to her. "Uhmmm, Applebloom. You know they only did that to get you riled up so you could hit the last target better, right?"
"They did?" Applebloom turned to her, still...confused..woah..that's some major cluelessness there.
Sweetie Belle nodded "Mhmm, now get in there. And win! We all believe in you!"
"Ok...but." Applebloom looked towards the faux malicious duo "ahm still angry at you two"
Diamond Tiara sighed "Well that's the point dummy. Now will you go win already? Or we'll miss going to Granny Smith's STUPID hedge maze of horrors....thing..."
Applebloom growled and went to the counter, and took to the game once more. Like before, she started knocking out targets one by one. In fact, she hit a target so hard it flew off it's stand. The crowd was really feeling it. And everyone started cheering for her once more. Applebloom's blood was boiling, using every ounce of anger to power her throws. And then finally, it came, the Nightmare Moon target rose up once again.
"YOU CAN DO IT APPLEBLOOM! KNOCK HER FREAKING HEAD OFF!" You cheer
Applebloom didn't see Nightmare Moon though. She saw Diamond Tiara..the old Diamond Tiara, mocking her and her friends. Laughing at her.
Applebloom pulled back her leg, ball in hoof, and roared as she tossed the ball straight at it.
Everyone held their breath, the ball sped right into the target at blinding speed. This would be it. THIS WAS IT!
But the moment it hit, everyone let out a horrified gasp. The ball..once again...bounced off the target. "Ooohhhhh, toooo bad. So very close" Flim said as he stifled a chuckle, picking up the ball and giving it a rub to clean it.
"....How heartbreaking. Even with all that power, you couldn't knock the target down. It pains me to say it, but little filly. This might not be the game for you" Flam said, reaching out to pat the utterly crushed Applebloom. But she retracted.
She looked down, disappointed with herself "...Ah put everything ah had into that..."
"Applebloom, hey..it'll be ok" Sweetie Belle tried to comfort her, but Applebloom moved away from her the moment she tried to give her a hug.
......Fuck this. You walk up to the booth, you felt genuine anger. Anger...and the want to protect that smile. "OK! WHAT THE HAY! SHE HIT THAT THING AND SHE HIT IT HARD! THIS GAME IS RIGGED! ADMIT IT!"
"Rigged?" Flim chuckled. "You're very VERY wrong. This is a legitimate game with a very very big prize. We couldn't allow it to be THAT simple. But children like you couldn't understand that. If we made it too easy, then there'd be no challenge. And we'd make no money. For the business side of things, we had to make it difficult to knock it down. But rest assured...it can be knocked down."
.......
"Then show me"
"But of course, but alas. I lack the kind of strength my brother has. As you can see, his mustache and beard are of the highest class of horsehair. A tip top physique of athleticism is he" Flim says as he passes a ball to Flam.
"You're too much cousin, I am but a simple stallion with a good tossing leg. Observe!" Flam tosses the ball at the nightmare moon target and knocks it down. "See? It can be done."
...Something still didn't seem right. They had to be cheating. That ball didn't move nearly as fast as Applebloom's. In fact....fuck it. You had a chaos cutie mark for a reason. You might as well live up to it. But how?...you didn't want to do this yourself. Poor Applebloom. She could really use a confidence boost.
...Even if you did do it yourself. They might find out that you're Discord's kid. They didn't seem to really know about you or your current going ons. So you had a sort of advantage. And if you did have Applebloom do it. You couldn't just up her strength. She'd know and feel like she cheated.
Then it hit you… Why not just manipulate the fabric of reality itself?....HAHA....yes, that'd be perfect. You slam down your entire saddle bag. "I bet everything"
That caught EVERYONE's attention.
"ANON! ARE YA NUTS! YA CAN'T DO IT! I CAN'T DO IT! NONE OF US CAN!" Applebloom tried to grab your bag, but the brothers nab it before her with their magic.
"Interesting, and you said "bet"? Well, I think we can arrange a bet. What are the terms?" Flim looks at the bag intently, he knew there had to be a shitton of bits in it.
"Anon, Applebloom is right. Don't do it. It's....really stupid." Sweetie Belle says bluntly.
But you ignore them.
"One more game, if Applebloom manages to get the win. I get ALL my bits back and the candy, you'll also return the bits to everypony you took them from."
"Most interesting, and we win your bag if she loses. That would be the terms, correct?" Flam says, opening the bag to take a peek inside. Met with a ton of golden coins.
"Yep....."
"ANON! ARE YA NUTS! AH CAN'T DO IT! YA JUST PUT A BET ON A-"
You look at her, and put your hoof on her foreleg shoulder. Giving her a look of absolute trust and certainty. "Applebloom, I know exactly what I did. just consider this a final push. incentive really. Everything I have is in that bag. That's how much I trust you."
Applebloom started to tear up. She knew she couldn't do it. "Anon..." She cringed, then looked down in absolute shame "Yer a real idiot....ah can't win. I already messed up twice."
“Anon...I actually have to agree. What are you thinking?! I was already going to compensate everything you lost. I don't think daddy would be willing to replace EVERYTHING you had! Are you insane!?" Diamond Tiara was having a bit of a freak out. She actually thought this was unlike you, and was too crazy, even for her. Betting everything on a no go? That was absolute lunacy.
You giggle, oohhh man. If only they knew. "I live with my Dad, remember? I already made the bet. So anything any of you have to say is moot. So if you don't play, I'll lose everything anyway."
"You're crazy Anon, ah think yer dad finally got to you...ah can't do it. ya-"
Well....she wasn't going to listen. So you pull out a last resort. and give her a kiss on the nose.
Applebloom steps back, blushing, unable to say anything as she stares at you. "a....ahm..."
You give her the softest, gentlest smile you could. Was it dumb to kiss her while DT was present?...maybe. But you knew AB still had to have some feelings for you. And that reaction proved it. You felt a little terrible exploiting it. But whatever works, works. "You can do it....I believe in you"
"...o-ok..b-but...mnn..." Applebloom shook her head, and tried to get her mind to be positive. "Ok...but..I hope ya know what yer d-doin...and don't kiss me again...that was w-weird.."
Applebloom went back to the booth. To once again try her hand at the game. You glance over to Diamond Tiara, who looked like she wanted to rip someone's throat open.
She couldn't even be patient. She walks up to you to find out what the fuck that was. "Anon.. ANON! Why did you do that?!" Diamond Tiara was red in the face. Angered beyond relief.
"Hey hey..relax. Ok? It was just to get her motivated."
"MOTIVATED! I SAW TONGUE!" Diamond Tiara was going nuclear.
.....Though..she was wrong...you didn't use tongue. "..Oh come on, it was a tiny kiss. You're both not supposed to be in love with me remember? But you both clearly are, especially you. Am I right or am I wrong?"
"YOU'RE WRO...ng...you're wrong." Diamond Tiara couldn't just admit it. In fact, as she looked around, she realized she was pretty much letting out her feelings in front of the whole crowd. Luckily, Applebloom was too focused on the game. She really REALLY wanted to win. "Ahrm...you're wrong. I don't love you, but I just don't want to see my good friend make any bad decisions. Both you and Applebloom. Applebloom could do a whole lot better than you...."
Oh shit, what?...that's fucking hilarious. "So you're saying I'm not good enough for you?"
"Yes...I MEAN.....ye-..n...SHUTUP!" Diamond Tiara was befuddled. She didn't want to admit anything. But she didn't want to give the impression you weren't good enough for her either.
You roll your eyes in a joking manner, and laugh.
"What's so funny!? HMM! HUH!" Diamond Tiara was turning red again. She was getting super pissed. And it was just adorable.
You give her a kiss on the nose. "There, now you got one too. Satisfied?"
Diamond Tiara's anger came to an immediate halt. "u-...uhuh...mmm..mmnnn..y-e.....mnnn"
God...you had to have a little more fun with this. This was adorable. The poor thing didn't know what to do anymore. So you look to Scootaloo. "Yo Scoots...want a kiss too?"
"WHAT?! NO..EWWWWW. Geez Anon, when did you get mushy!" Scootaloo gagged, there was no way she was gonna let you kiss her.
"Ooookkk" You smirk, and look to Sweetie Belle.
"Don't even think about it. I'm not getting caught up on whatever this is. Besides, we should be rooting for Applebloom. She's already on the eighth target" Sweetie Belle points to the focused filly.
...Right...time to prep.
Applebloom was a dynamo at this. in every attempt she made. She had managed to hit the nine targets. You had no doubts. You knew she'd hit that final target. And since you had a firm belief it was rigged. You'd make sure that ball utterly wrecks the final target.
The crowd still had hope in Applebloom yet. And cheered for her. They had hope that she would succeed. You just stood there, finalizing some final thoughts in your head. You knew what to do. As long as Applebloom's aim was as good as last time. You would create a tube of immense horizontal gravity. The ball would be thrown into it and be propelled right into the target with enough force to knock it down. You hoped anyway.
Applebloom hits the final target. Making Nightmare Moon once again appear.
"The final showdown once again,surely this time this filly will knock down Nightmare Moon" Flim says, his tone perpetuating no doubt. Even if it was a farce.
"Surely she will, somepony needs to end the tyrannical hold she has on all this delicious candy. Wouldn't you agree, cousin?" Flam says, looking to his brother with absolute smug
"I agree wholeheartedly, I can feel it in my very bones!" Flim exclaims with all his might. sitting on his rear to lift his forelegs in the air to empathize his false excitement.
.......Oh, yes...you could feel it in your bones too.
Everything fell silent. You could hear a pin drop at this point. Applebloom readied the ball. The Flim Flam Brothers showed no fear. They knew they had this in the bag. Of course, you'd make sure you were the one holding the bag all along.
As Applebloom musters all her strength, you cast the spell. Setting the invisible tube of gravity on her projected arc. She tosses the ball. The moment the ball hits the gravitational tube. It speeds up to a velocity faster than any bullet. And goes through the Nightmare Moon Target. Blowing the entire top half to tiny bits.... And yet, the target still stood. That was a cheat if you ever saw one.
Everyone was just staring. Applebloom, the group, the crowd, you, and the Flim Flam brothers.
".....hey....." Applebloom looked at her hoof closely. "Ah never knew I was that strong"
"HEY LOOK!" A stalwart, tall, wizard dressed pony called out. Pointing at the target. "IT'S STILL STANDING! WHAT GIVES!?"
It took a moment to register. But Flim and Flam just realized the huge problem with having a partly smashed target still standing would cause.
Flim jumped in front of the target in a hurry, to guard it from view "You all must be tired, it is quite a late night. She actually did manage to knock down the target...." The faint sound of wood hitting something can be heard. Flim steps out of the way. "See, c-completely knocked down." NOW it had fallen
"HEY LOOK, THAT DING GUY HAS HIS HOOF ON SOME SORT OF LEVER! I BET THAT’S WHAT REALLY KNOCKED THE TARGET DOWN!" Whoever this pony was....he was pretty observant.
"Preposterous, as my cousin has already told you..." Flam took his hoof off the lever to point at the pony "You're all tired from all the festivities, and to add on, used to seeing the target stand, so of course...." But then Flam hears it, the moment he took his hoof off the lever. The target stood back up. He dun goofed.
The moment Applebloom sees it. She fills both with rage and with pride. She knew she hit that target fair and square. And to get cheated like that...ooohhh noooope. "Ah knew ah hit the target right! Ah just knew it, ya'll a bunch of cheaters! You owe everypony everything you took from them!" Applebloom demands as she hops up on the counter.
"Of course, we are b-but simple cousins. Although we do take offense to being called cheaters. The target itself is merely tougher as we said. But, you did destroy it either way...so..." Flim pulls another lever. Detaching the candy bags stand from the main booth.
You step up to the counter, and look at them with the smugiest smug smirk you could muster. Oh, you were enjoying this so much. "And what about the cash? oh fine fellows of falsehoods." You say that in such a smug, jovial, and old timey way. There was no way you were losing this time.
"Yes!...right! Of course, Ding. Would you please prepare all the bits into a bag for these fine fellows?" Flim said as he edged himself to the left of the booth. The crowd was being patient, but they all looked like they wanted to tear them limb from limb.
"Of course cousin Ring" Flam pulled out a puffy looking purple bag. "The bits are right here. If you all will just take a moment to open it and count. You will see it's all there."
Flam gently put the bag on the counter. The bag was big to be sure. But it couldn't have had all the bits. And even still. They had yet to return your saddle bag.
"....what about my saddle bag?"
"Of course, allow me to fetch that for you" Flam said as he slowly backed away from the counter and magically hovered your bag up. He was moving it veeerryyyy slowly towards the counter.
Fucker probably just realized how much money he just lost. Shouldn't have cheated.
"Ah wonder how many bits really are in here." Applebloom slowly opened the purple bag. and the moment she did. a little spark flew up and blinded everyone with light, including you.
"NOW BROTHER! WE MUST FLEE!" Flam yells out to Flim. Flim quickly pulls another lever, opening and transforming the booth and launching Flim and Flam forward inside a carriage powered by an apparent steam engine for forward movement..
"Agh, what happened!? I can't see!" One of the ponies in the crowd yelled out.
"I think they used something in the bag! Are they still there! Somepony check!" Cried another.
Applebloom's eyes adjusted first. She was still on the counter. But all it was was a skeleton now as the entire interior was gone. The only thing left was the giant bag of candy. "oh no......."
"Applebloom? Can you see what's going on? I'm still blind!" Sweetie Belle yelled out as she continued to rub her eyes.
"T-they're gone.....and they took the bits with em'' Applebloom was crushed. Even with her winning. She was the one that opened the bag that let the brothers get away.
As your own eyes begin to adjust, you could see that they had managed to make an escape.
Applebloom looked to you, her expression...man...was it heartbreaking. "A-anon...ah...ahm really sorry...ah lost everypony's money." She then looked to the crowd "Ahm...really sorry everypony"
"That's ok, you didn't know what was in that bag" one of the crowd ponies say
"Yeah, we all fell for their trick. What matters is that you still beat them at their own game"
"Yeah, and did you see that throw! Because I sure didn't. The ball was just.....so fast"
The crowd was praising Applebloom. She managed to do what everyone else couldn't. Even if it was your magic that helped it along. The rest of the group grabbed Applebloom and held her up as a hero. Asking for a chant for Applebloom.
"Come on Everypony! At least we still have the candy! And we can all share it AND still have plenty for the offering to Nightmare Moon! Right Applebloom?" Scootaloo says with excitement and cheer.
"Ah course, there's gotta be enough candy for the whole town to share." Applebloom says
"Let's hear it for Applebloom!" Sweetie Belle cheers.
And so the crowd cheered. You gave a few cheers out yourself as you flew up to inspect the bag. You were glad to see Applebloom so happy even after what happened. You'd never tell her the truth of course. This was something you'd let her have. She deserved it.
....Those arrogant fucks. There really was candy inside. No doubt to make sure that if anyone actually did get a good look that they couldn't call shenanigans right there.
And speaking of shenanigans… You couldn't let those two just get away. So while the crowd was cheering Applebloom on, you slipped away and went after the brothers.
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murder and mayhem await
8624022
I hope they die no really if I went to equestria id kill them as soon as I see them I mean it fuck those two
did he let himself get robbed instead of trying to stop them or get them back with his horn of ultimate power and unlimited possibilities? If I understood it right he now has only the candy, they should seal them in tartarus too.
Favorite part of the story right there!
Kisses, get your kisses, any and all fillies and colts that arnt dumb little shits.
Get your kisses right here. Courtesy of Chaos Incorporated
...You blatantly stole this from despicable me, didnt you
8831955
Its actually a common carny trope. D
Woo close enough. Blasting it to bits. Didn't have to bet the saddlebag though.
8831980
It's not even a trope. It's one of the most common games.
These 2 chapters about F&F was very VEEERRRYYYY!! boring... I almost fell asleep. And the rest of the book is gorgeous! Incredible! And very funny) But this... Ah! Ehm... Anyway, thank ya. You made my day)
10315195
That happens, theres so many chapters, not all can be good