Sweet Tooth
Fragrant grasses scented the night as a soft breeze carried the delicate bouquet of autumn across open fields. The nights seemed darker this close to the Everfree Forest, but that didn't matter to the creature that drug itself noisily through the overgrown fields. There was only one sense driving it, and it had little to do with vision. Something in the distance called to it. Something it found impossible to resist. Something sweet. The nights were getting longer, getting colder. Two ponies had lit a small campfire for warmth and it's crackling light shone like a beacon in the distance.
"Do you hear that brother? Something's out in the fields," said one worriedly to the other.
"Relax brother, it's probably just some little woodland creature foraging for a bit of sustenance. Pay it no mind," said the other confidently.
Moving faster now, the creature flew across the face of the earth, moving swiftly towards the sound of voices. A low farmhouse stood, worn and ramshackle, just beyond the firelight. Only a few feet away from the ring of light the creature collapsed with a whimper.
"There it is again brother, closer this time," said the first voice, as nervously as before. "It sounds too big to be a little woodland critter. Don't you think we should make sure it's nothing too big to be foraging for, say, a pair of ponyfolk?"
"Suit yourself. If you want, I'll have a look," the second voice responded. "Care to make a wager? I'd be willing to bet it's nothing more than a teeny, tiny, bunny rabbit making all that ruckus." A sudden brilliant green glow sprung up from the owner of the second voice, the illumination emanating from the unicorn's horn. He began to walk into the fields and almost immediately stopped. Something lay among the grass, dark in the verdant light.
"I think I'd be willing to take that bet brother," said the first voice with a shade of triumph. "That doesn't look like any bunny rabbit I've ever seen!" A second green glow came to life as the other unicorn's illumination joined the first, his horn literally shedding a bit more light on the situation.
"Why I do believe it's a pony! A mare if I'm not mistaken, and a pegasus at that! She looks exhausted. Come closer brother so we can get a better look at her. I think she's trying to say something."
Indeed the pony was mumbling something under her breath. It sounded like, "Hungry...please....help me. I'm so hungry...give me something. Something..." The first unicorn, the older brother, leaned in to hear her better. "Give me something sweet to bite!" The pegasus lunged at the unicorn. Her teeth clipped empty air where his throat was but only a moment ago. Back-peddling as quickly as he could, the mare would've gotten the unicorn with her second bite, had it not been for a sudden mountain of muscle appearing almost miraculous to intercept her. A massive red stallion, the cutie mark of a green apple half adorning his flank, grimaced as the yellow pegasus dug her's teeth into the flesh of his shoulder.
"Back, back you ponyfolk! Those teeth of hers are no joke!" Another pony, this one with its features hidden beneath a brown cloak strode into the firelight. The brothers looked at one another, not sure what to do. "Unless you too want a painful bite, withdraw, fall back and move out of sight!." The unicorns backed away slowly from the earth ponies, making sure to keep them between themselves and the pegasus that had attacked. The stallion held her tightly as she struggled to break free. Without missing a beat, the shrouded figure moved swiftly toward the pair and withdrew a vial from the lining of her cloak. Unstopping the cork with her teeth, she slipped the end of the vial between the crazed mare's teeth and poured its glowing contents down her throat.
A scream pierced the night as the pony opened her mouth to gag and spit. The pegasus writhed in the earth, convulsing violently as she spat up wet, unidentifiable chunks of dark matter. As suddenly as the convulsions had started, they ceased, and the small yellow mare lay bloody mouthed in the dirt. The cloaked figure paid her no heed, however, moving quickly instead to the stallion's side. Using a pair of forceps and tweezers she operated swiftly, removing something from his wounds, before pausing to say, "This will only get worse. It is the night that brings out her curse. I think I can neutralize the shards with what's in my sack. Is that alright with you Big Mac?"
"Yup," was all the massive earth pony said as Zecora pulled back her hood and drew another vial from inside her saddle bag. This one seemed to burn like the sun, literally sizzling as it touched the wounds. Big Macintosh didn't even flinch as the concoction coated his shoulder, instead giving a quiet sigh. It seemed that, for the moment, a crisis had been averted. Zecora covered the wounds with a thick piece of gauze that made a hasty bandage. Only then did she turn to the unicorn brothers who had stood stock still as she had done her work. She seemed to look them over, searching for something. Making sure that they hadn't also been wounded perhaps?
"Well I don't know what to say. Thanks big guy!" said the older unicorn, a smile under his perfect mustache. This quickly faded under Big Mac's glare, "I think."
"What was that thing?" asked the younger unicorn, shaken. "It looks like a pony but..."
"She looks like a pony, because a pony she was. Her condition, a curse, the unfortunate cause. Fluttershy is that 'thing's' name. Shall I ask of the two of you the same?" responded Zecora brusquely.
"But of course, where are my manners! My mildly shaken brother here is Flim, and I am Flam," as if it was a long practiced reflex both brothers doffed their straw hats at the same time and took a bow. "We're the world famous Flim Flam Brothers, traveling ponies nonpareil. At your service miss...?"
"Zecora will be fine for you two. What exactly is it that you do?" She asked nonchalantly as she wiped the excess potion from Big Macs shoulder and dropped the cloth into her saddle bag.
"Well like my brother said we're traveling sales ponies, always looking for the next big score...er, town to help out with our amazing abilities, tricks, tonics, and appliances. We do it all!" cried Flim, opening a greasy carpet bag and displaying various bottles, gadgets, and knickknacks of varying sizes and states of repair. "We're known far and wide from Manehattan to Hoofboken."
"I'm afraid we're just a tiny bit lost. You see, we'd heard of this marvelous opportunity in a rather small community here about called Ponyville. You wouldn't happen to be able to give us directions, would you?" asked Flam.
"Nope," said Big Macintosh, his tail swishing in agitation.
"Beg pardon, sir?"
"What Big Mac means to say, is that Ponyville has gone away," said the zebra at last turning her attention to the pegasus in the dirt. She bent down to look over Fluttershy. As she wiped the blood from the pegasus mouth with a damp cloth, the flyer suddenly gasped and coughed. In moments her eyes fluttered open, and she gave a weak smile. "If you are wise, you will go too. This land is dangerous at night, it is true."
"I'm sorry, but I just don't get what's going on here!" cried Flim in exasperation, all friendly pretense swept aside. "This pegasus just comes out of the tall grass and nearly bites my brothers head off! You keep making cryptic statements in rhyme! And your big friend here is giving us the evil eye as if we said something untoward about his mother!"
"He just doesn't like squatters..." began Zecora.
"And now you're telling us that Ponyville, the town we've traveled for months to get to, is just gone!? Just like that!? Vanished into thin air I suppose!? Well!? What exactly is going on!?"
"Fire," said the crimson earth pony grimly, "Death," he continued as he clomped towards the two unicorns. In the light from their camp fire they could see that his right eye was missing, replaced with a ragged hole in a mass of scar tissue. Indeed, what parts of his body that weren't covered by a dark stained cloak, looked as though they had been burned,or cut to ribbons at some point in the recent past. Indeed, some of the wounds were fresher than the others, and in various states of healing, though these looked more like bite or claw marks. The brothers could only guess at what had caused them. His shaggy orange mane wafting in the breeze, Big Macintosh loomed over the unicorn brothers and spoke one final word with more contempt than the pair had ever heard in their lives, "Candy."
"Candy!?" asked the unicorn brothers in unison.
"Yes, candy, my incredulous friends. Though it is just a means to Her ends." Zecora carefully scraped up the bloody chunks that Fluttershy had coughed up earlier and showed the brothers. In the light form their horns they could see the sharp shards for what they truly were, jagged bits of hard candy. "Fluttershy will no longer do you harm, but these candies are still cause for alarm." The zebra tossed the sweets into the campfire where they started to melt, then burst into blue flames that twisted and howled, illuminating the fields as far as the eye could see.
"I'm s-sorry. I didn't mean to g-get loose Zecora," said Fluttershy weakly. "I thought I smelled something and then I-I heard voices. I thought they were f-f-familiar but I guess they weren't and..." She tried to stand, but instantly fell back into the dirt, her wings splayed awkwardly.
"Don't," said Big Mac, as he bent down and lifted the small pegasus onto his broad back. She squeaked a bit in protest, but was obviously still too weak to really resist the larger earth pony. Fluttershy's tail and mane were long enough that they drug in the dust as Big Mac turned and walked away from the farm, back towards the Everfree Forest. "Zecora's right. Y'all should leave. The sooner the better. And don't come back, ya hear?"
"That is the most I've heard him say to anypony else in a year. It is Big Mac's custom to speak with brevity without peer." Zecora pulled her hood back over her head and began to follow after the pair who were already disappearing into the tree line. "You should take his advice with respect and care. I say only on this night, in this place, beware! There are things lurking in the dark that you would not wish to meet. I bid you a good night, but also a hasty retreat."
After the trio had disappeared into the forest, the brothers took stock of their situation. "Do you think it's true brother? Are we out here in the middle of nowhere for nothing?"
"Well Flim, I have to admit, they were the first ponies we've seen in days. It's nothing but abandoned farm houses for miles around." Flam stroked his mustache thoughtfully. "But that doesn't mean that our trip was wasted. As I've always said, behind every set back is an opportunity. Whatever 'curse' that zebra was babbling about might be, this land is still prime and fertile. Why, with a little elbow grease and some creative paperwork, we could turn this entire area into Flim Flam Fields over night!"
"I think I see what you're getting at brother, but with nopony around to sell our produce to wouldn't it be a bad investment?" asked Flim. A thin, silvery mist drifted in from the fields, coiling through the stalks of dying grass.
"Details, brother, details! Once we have the supply we can create the demand in any market we want," Flam's eyes glazed over as he thought of the possibilities. Something rustled in the tall grass not far from the firelight. Flim turned and squinted into the darkness while his brother went on about 'factory farming', 'seed patents', and some malarkey about 'magically modified organisms'. It was growing harder and harder to see. The mist had coalesced into a thick fog. The campfire began to flicker and pop, the flames dipping lower and lower into the hot embers and coals as the fog grew thicker around the farmhouse. As his brother talked on and on Flim thought he heard somepony laugh just at the edge of his hearing.
"Shhh...do you hear that brother? I think there's somepony out in the fields," he hissed.
"Oh, this again? I'm sure it's just that weird zebra coming back to rhyme at us some more. Unraveling her gibberish is such a tiring chore." Flam realized what he had done and frowned, "Oh no Flim, now she has me doing it."
"I don't think it's the zebra Flam." The fire burned lower and lower, as if it was being smothered by the mist. With a final hiss the flames died altogether. Even the coals were little more than a deep cherry red, as though they had been cooling for hours. The green glow of the brothers horns seemed subdued in the sudden absence of the fires cheerful light, their magic surrounding the brothers in a hazy green nimbus. The laughter was still quiet, but it echoed through out the fog, twisting and turning. Quiet as it was, it seemed to be drawing closer. "I think it would be wise for us to make a strategic withdraw."
"I fear I must agree brother. Next town?"
"Next town."
As they turned to run they immediately skidded to a halt. Between them and the road was a single, tiny, filly sized pony. Each limb was bent and twisted, curled into cruel hooks where hooves should have been. In the pale moonlight, the pony glowed a ghostly white. Red stripes, almost black in the darkness, curled around her body from her muzzle down through her tail. As the brothers watched the thing twitched and twisted toward them. A pair of purple glasses, perched precariously on her nose, barely hid eyes that were swirled with candy striped madness. Her thick, curly red mane was a wild nimbus around a sharp smile that literally split the things face wide open. Instead of proper teeth, she had a wicked looking set of peppermint stick fangs, each ending in a sharpened point. The filly whispered, "...hungry..."
Both brothers turned and attempted to run for the Everfree Forest. An even larger impediment stood there, two massive blobs that just barely resembled ponies. One was dark and hunched, the smell of chocolate wafting from it, while the other glowed a florescent spearmint in the light from Flim and Flam's horns. These slithered grotesquely across the soil, their limbs stretching unnaturally towards the brothers like lengths of taffy. Other shapes, equally bizarre and horrible, began to lurch and slide out of the fields. They giggled madly as whispers of "hungry,""nightmare night," and "what a fright," rose in croaks and moans all around the unicorn's.
"This way brother!" shouted Flim as they ran for the only way not blocked, the abandoned farmhouse. Flim threw open the front door and ran in shortly after his brother, slamming and blocking the door with a nearby desk. As the brothers watched, a thick brown liquid began to ooze in through the cracks under the door. The moaning from outside grew louder as a steady pounding began to shake the house on all sides. The door began to splinter under the weight of whatever was on the other side. The brothers barely backed away in time as the door and desk shattered into splinters, which were themselves engulfed in chocolate and saltwater taffy as the two gooey creatures entered the house.
Flim and Flam bolted from the room, skidding through the kitchen. What seemed to be a meal, now rotted after months of going uneaten, buzzed with flies and maggots in the dining room. They had no time to ponder what this might mean as they tore down a nearby hallway and passed a dusty store room that seemed to be caked in congealed blood. They ducked into a darkened bedroom, flinging the bed against the door. Flim went to a nearby window and moved a chest of drawers in front of it, just as the glass panes began to rattle and shake from many hooves slamming against it. It was no time at all until the fierce pounding came to the bedroom door, only mildly muffled by the mattress. The door shattered, sending the mattress flying against the far wall, nearly taking Flam's head with it. The gooey monstrosities flooded the narrow hallway, squirming against each other to try and get through the door to the bedroom where the brothers stood, waiting. At last they were right where they wanted them.
The brothers locked eyes, grinned, and as one gave a nod. The magic of their horns flared as a sudden creaking and clanking shook the night. The backside of the house exploded as the Super Speedy Cider Squeezey 6000 roared and thundered through the wall and the candy ponies with an awesome crash and steam fueled chug. The old fashioned looking mass of machinery, animated by Flim and Flam's magic, was in fact a state of the art mechanism of the brothers own design. It was intended to make quick work of any orchard for the mass production of sweet, delicious cider, but now it's operators bent it to another use. It's pilot plow shredded through the house as easily as the monstrosities that got into it's path. Once it was free from the wreckage of the building an overhead vacuum began darting back and forth sucking up monsters one by one into the waiting cider press. Barrels of crushed and liquified candy began to launch one by one out of the other end of the machine, stacking in neat piles before the SSCS6K turned to sweep up or smash through more candy ponies. "That's one thing I never could stand about this part of Equestria brother. All the darned monsters!" said Flam nonchalantly as their machine continued to wreak havoc on the hordes of undead, the farmhouse crumbling into kindling behind the pair as they nonchalantly exited what was left of the bedroom through the giant hole in the wall.
"Indeed, I quite agree brother. Dragons, manticores, cockitrices, and now these candy coated ghouls? The state of this part of the country is just deplorable. Clearly those old mares in Canterlot haven't got the first clue how to adequately run a country. Why it's just like mother used to say-aarrghgh!!" Flim's words twisted into a scream as sharp peppermint hooks dug into his side and the candied filly from before buried it's fangs into his back, ripping out a chunk of bloody flesh. Flim bolted, bucking and stomping, trying to shake the tiny monstrosity off. The monsters hooks were in deep, and it only dug them deeper as it's prey panicked. The filly swallowed the hunk of flesh it had in it's mouth and buried it's face in the ragged wound it had opened, hungrily gulping down mouthfuls of gore with every sign of delight.
"Hold still brother, I'll take care of this!" Bringing their contraption around as quickly as he could, Flam directed the intake hose to where the tiny peppermint monster clung with such ferocity. It held tight, unwilling to let go of it's prize even as its curly mane and tail were pulled free by the powerful suction. Sweat beading his brow, Flam increased the power, determined to free his brother no matter the cost. To his horror, that was all it took for the machine to inhale the monster, his brother in tow, into its steaming bowels. "No!" Flam shouted in dismay, trying to cut the power, but it was already too late. Blood suddenly flooded the sticky tubes that jutted out here and there along the machine. A sickening, meaty smell overwhelmed the stench of candy as the sounds of popping bones mingled with grinding gears. At last, a final barrel was sent flying out the back of the SSCS6K as the power finally wound down and the locomotive came to a halt.
Flam rushed over to the barrel, its contents sloshing ominously as he quickly pried off the lid. What he saw when he looked inside made him gag, bringing tears to the unicorns eyes as he heaved into the dirt. "Oh...oh little brother...what have I done!?" He shouted, aghast. He tried to wipe the sickness from his mustache, tears steadily streaming from his eyes. Almost as an after thought he whispered, "What will mother say?" Anything else Flam might've said about his brothers unfortunate passing was suddenly silenced as something thick and dark wrapped around his throat.
All over his body, tendrils of red liquorice embraced him. He tried to squirm free, but the candy grip only tightened, turning his face blue as all the air was wrung from his lungs. As his eyes bulged he tried to get a look at what had caught him. Unsurprisingly, it was another candy pony, but this one seemed much larger than the others. Also, unlike them, instead of being made from only one confection she seemed to be made up of many. A riotous chaos of kaleidoscopic colors gleamed with sugar coated sparkles in only the vaguest shape of a pony. The tendrils, her liquorice hair, lifted him from the ground and drew his eyes level with a wide candy corn smile. "Don't worry brother," said the Candy Mare in Flim's voice. "We'll be together again soon." As he gasped, on the verge of blacking out already, the sugary monster lifted him high and slammed him down into the barrel that contained Flim's liquified remains. Before he could react, the lid slammed home, plunging him into darkness. His lungs burned for a breath of fresh air, and to his horror, he could feel his mouth reflexively opening and his nostrils flaring to accommodate that urge. The barrel bounced up and down as Flam struggled to escape, sparks leaping from the barrel as he fired off random bursts of magic, trying to break free. Either the wood was too strong, Flam was too weak, or the Candy Mare's tendrils held the barrel too well. It was only a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity to Flam as the muffled sounds of his thrashing faded away. It didn't take long for him to half drown, half suffocate in the uncomfortably warm, foul tasting slurry that was all that was left of Flim. "See brother..." whispered the Candy Mare, her voice shifting from Flim's to one of childish glee, "Together forever."
The Candy Mare's laughter was caught by the wind and sent echoing across the fields, spreading with the cold wisps of unnatural fog. Hearing it in the Everfree Forest, a trio moved that much more quickly towards home, already certain they'd never see the Flim Flam Brothers again.
Stats
Page generated in 0.021 seconds
Total duration
696 users online
1,029,800 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Awwww...Flim and Flam.... :(
I like this fic
Granny: Those son' bitches had it coming.
Aj: GRANNY
I'm impressed how you keep the ponies in character despite all the horror around them. I have to admit I was almost hoping the FF brothers would make their escape.
6699777
They deserve it. I mean they tried to ruined AJ AB BM and GS lifes
Nothing deserves to die like they did, no matter how evil.
(Well, maybe Tirek)
6569708 Me too.
Damn.
The Bros. where some crooks and cheats and yeah we all did hate them in the episode but their deaths made me a little sad.
BIG MAC BITCHES
also looks like the candy mare made a dude smoothie
"Relax brother, it's probably just some little woodland creature foraging for a bit of sustenance. Pay it no mind," said the other confidently." Multiply that by candy and huge and you would be spot on.
It’s nice reading this the week of halloween.
Damn!!!! She make smoothie out of the brothers ,
Okay, admittedly, the brothers actually got off a bit easier than most victims- just a bit. It’s just like the Thing where getting assimilated is the worst way to go.
Are you kidding me? I know people make snap decisions when stressed but this is just dumb. At then end of the day you have to remember these things are slow. I mean even the Candy Mare herself is super slow and weak being defeated by just a couple of unicorns. The main thing they have going for them is fear. So when you see a possessed baby blocking your way on the road don't run from it, run her over and stomp her head in. Out in the open you can outrun these things, why would you give it all up and make yourself trapped?
Holy crap! This was good, and I say that as I feel sick to the stomach to the ending of this chapter. Also I 100% agree with the term “sibling smoothie” is best way to describe the fate of the brothers.
UMMM...
This is a new level of gore.
Hehe!
Why did it describe caramel ponies at the farm i though Applebloom and Applejack were dead? Also the peppermint filly was Twist wasn’t it?
11578146
Applejack and Apple Bloom were dead - but if you haven’t noticed those that get killed by someone with the Candy Curse rarely stay that way for long. Both sisters came back as ‘caramel’ Apples.