Applejack stood in shock for a few moments… and then burst out laughing. “They put a spell to lock us in? On you?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty basic… I can get rid of this is no time. Just give me half a minute and I can undo it.”
“Heh… sounds good ta me. Them… them varmints… won’t know…”
The sound of Applejack hitting the floor was enough to break Twilight’s concentration. She looked over to her wife, now on her side with her eyes closed.
“Applejack? Applejack!” She ran over to her, carefully rolling her onto her back. Her cheek was a bit swollen from where she had been hit, but there wasn’t pain in her face, or at least it wasn’t the most noticeable emotion. Applejack looked like she had attempted another Applebuck season on her own.
“Mmm… soup’s on, ev’rypony…”
“Applejack, stay focused!”
“Mmm… I’m… sleepy…”
Twilight took a few deep breaths. Her mind raced for a few moments, until she hit the spell she needed.
Her horn lit up as she trailed it over Applejack’s body. “Come on, come on…”
Twilight had never performed this spell on an actual live pony before, and practicing it on a cadaver had been one of the most unpleasant bits of teaching Celestia had given her. But as bad as it was, seeing a pony’s insides while they were still moving was ten times worse. Still, her mind was focused enough on her duties that it found what it was looking for instantly.
The foreign substance. A lot of it, seeping in Applejack’s cardiovascular system, and going in and out of her lungs.
She stopped immediately. First she cast an air bubble over her own head, then did the same to Applejack. Then, she lit up her horn again. As she suspected, it was all over the room. A spell designed to put ponies to sleep, one that would take a while to somepony as magically inclined as Twilight, but would come easier to an Earth Pony, even one as strong as Applejack.
Gritting her teeth, she floated Applejack up and placed her on her back. She was a bit of a load, but she needed all her magic focused.
Ponies heard the explosion, of course, but with no noticeable damage anywhere they had no clue where to look. They all began panicking until a tall Unicorn reminded folks that a movie theatre was nearby, likely playing a movie a little too loud. Bystander syndrome set in quickly enough, and everypony returned to their duties.
Inside, Twilight walked through the now destroyed wall, carefully levitating Applejack off her back. After sweeping a counter clean she laid her wife on top of it. Almost immediately she began coughing. She opened her eyes.
“Twi? Wha happened? Did Pinkie slip us sleepin’ powder again?”
“No, Flim and Flam did,” she said. She lit up her horn. “Flim? Flam? Where are you two?” She trotted around the store. “You two are in a lot of trouble!”
As she spoke, a purple mist began to appear. It was simply there one moment, then was moving toward the door.
“Looks like they left… and thankfully, not too long ago. We can still catch them if we hurry. Are you okay to run?”
Grinning, Applejack rose to her hooves. “You know it, sugarcube.”
The Apple family dining room was looking like it did on Hearth’s Warming Day, at least in the number of tables. The main table was set up with Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash occupying Apple Bloom and Applejack’s usual spot, while the kids table was dragged out to make room for Spike and the five fillies, all of home were sporting bruises and blisters from the day’s activities, not that any of them seemed to mind.
As the group was deciding what to do tomorrow, the adults were chatting. Big Mac was glancing over at Pinkie every few minutes, but Pinkie seemed to have dropped her fancies… almost.
“See, now they’re at the relationship building part of the story, where they all become good friends and Spike sees something good in each of them so the final choice will be that much more difficult!”
…
“Pinkie, life isn’t a romance movie,” Rainbow Dash said in a flat tone.
“It’s sure looking like one lately,” Pinkie said.
Rainbow Dash opened her mouth… and then closed it. “Yeah, I guess.”
Granny couldn’t help but laugh. “And here I thought it’d be borin’ with Applejack outta town!”
Fluttershy giggled as she looked over at the children. “It’s nice to see Spike playing with ponies his own age. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that.”
“Yeah, Twilight does work him pretty hard,” Rainbow Dash said. Then she thought a bit. “How old is Spike anyway? I never see him in school.”
“I think Twilight said he was about twelve…” Fluttershy said, looking over at the group. “But he’s not even a year old in dragon years…”
“Ah, what’s dragon years matter here?” Granny Smith said. “Why, I betcha he don’t leave for…”
The conversation was cut off by Pinkie suddenly shaking all over, to the point where her chair rattled along with her, the legs hitting the floor in several little hops.
“Pinkie…”
“I…” Pinkie was actually speaking rather slowly, “my Pinkie Sense went off.”
“With what? A doozy?”
“Yeah, something’s about to happen…”
“Whatever it is, we can handle it,” Rainbow Dash said. She lifted her cider mug up and began to drink.
“Rainbow,” Fluttershy said, still looking at the other table, “how many foals do you think we should have?”
Luckily, Pinkie had an umbrella ready before Rainbow Dash spit all over her.
“Come on, hurry,” Flim said, cracking his whip. “Hurry, before they catch up!”
Silver Shill breathed heavily. “You know, we could go faster if one of you helped with the pulling…”
“We don’t pay you to complain,” Flim said from up in the carriage seat. “Just go!”
“Hold it, you two!”
The twins jumped and looked behind them. Twilight and Applejack were coming up to them fast.
“Quick, Shill, come on, faster!”
In a panic, Shill doubled his speed, pulling with all his might and vigor. It would have been impressive, if he wasn’t simply a small Earth Pony pulling a large carriage filled with Flim and Flam’s valuables.
“Okay, seriously?” Twilight said, barely trotting next to the carriage. “What were you expecting was going to happen? Did you really think you could trap me?”
The two brothers looked at each other.
“Well, you see... uh... smokescreen!”
The flash was down before anypony could do anything. However, that did not mean Twilight and Applejack were vexed for long. Twilight instantly summoned up the wind necessary to clear the area.
“Where’d those varmints…”
“There,” she said, pointing down the street. “Hurry!”
The pair ran off in their direction, shouting thief.
Silver Shill coughed up the last of the smoke that had entered his lungs. Then, he looked at the retreating figures in the distance.
He stood awkwardly for a few minutes. Then, he threw his yoke off and walked away.
Then he came back, grabbed two of the abandoned saddlebags full of bits that the pair had abandoned, and left for real.
“Stop them! Thieves!”
Twilight’s cries were heard, but largely fell victim to the bystander effect, as several ponies watched the scene in awe but didn’t intervene.
Flim and Flam, in their years of grifting and scamming, had acquired good endurance for running. Applejack could keep up, but Twilight, used to sitting in the library and quick sprints at best, was already running out of breath. Taking heavy gasps, she began to slow down.
“Twi?”
“Keep going…” she took a few breaths. “Just keep going. I’ll be fine.”
“Gotcha Twi,” she said, pulling out her second wind. Soon she was gone too.
Taking a deep breath, Twilight lit up her horn for a signal. If she couldn’t catch up, then calling backup was the next best thing.
Flim and Flam were at top speed when they found a cab to pile in. “Take us to the outskirts of town, and hurry,” Flim said.
Without another word, the cab took off. However, Applejack was still keeping speed. “Hold on! Hold on!” she yelled. She was fast, but she knew somepony who did nothing but pull ponies around was going to be faster. And indeed, it was just inching ahead.
Flim looked back, smiling as Applejack slowly got farther away. “We did it! We lost her!”
And then the cart stopped.
Flim and Flam blinked. “What the… why did we stop?” Flim said.
“Uh, red light?” the driver said, confused. “Like we usually get.”
“We’ll pay you double to ignore them.”
“Yeah, I don’t think so,” the driver said. “That’s not worth the risk to my job or my safety.”
“Triple your pay!”
“...Seriously? I’m not stupid.”
“How much money!”
“Uh, Flam, I think we left all our bits in the other carriage.”
Before they knew it, the twins were on the curb, the carriage going off, with Applejack right beside them.
“Alright, look you two,” Applejack said. “There ain’t anyway yer gettin’ outta this one. Just tell us what you know.”
“No way!” Flim said. “It’s us versus you! There’s no way…”
“Eh hem.”
The two brothers stopped. They turned to see Twilight with the two pegasus guards that she brought.
“…I think we can work something out,” Flim said.
Angel grinned as he nicked some of Fluttershy’s lipstick. He hopped up to wear Rainbow Dash’s flight suit was sitting.
<The old lipstick on the collar trick. This outta...>
He was stopped by Owlowiscious swooping in and snatching the tube from his paw. Over Angel’s indigent shout, he dropped it back on Fluttershy’s dresser.
<Look, even if I have to keep an eye on you all week, I’ll make sure you don’t ruin this for them.>
<What do you care? These ponies aren’t even your masters!>
<I have compassion for others even when it doesn’t benefit me.>
<…I don’t get it.>
<I know you don’t.> The owl rolled his eyes. <And you just have to face facts. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are a thing now, and nothing is going to change that.>
Since the Creator had a sense of humor, the door opened at that moment.
“Rainbow! Don’t you think having children would be good for us?”
“We already have Scootaloo! She already looks up to both of us, isn’t that enough?”
“Scootaloo’s not our foal. Come on, we could have a little one to mold into an upstanding pony.”
“No way! Do you know the things Twilight would have to do to let us make a foal? I’m not adding anything to my anatomy!”
“…What? Rainbow I was just thinking about adopting.”
“…Oh.”
"Why was something like that the first thing you thought of?"
"…All those Daring Do fanfictions… never mind, we don't really need kids."
"But I want kids! Are you saying you won't give them to me?"
"I… I hadn't really thought about it…"
"Why don't we go upstairs... we really need to talk about this."
“What? But... we just started dating? Do we really need to do this now?”
“Well, is there any point in us dating if we’re going to break up later?”
As the two Pegasi flew upstairs, Angel rubbed his paws together. <And life hands me my victory again.>
Owlowiscious groaned.
"So… you didn't actually commission those pictures?"
Flim and Flam hung their heads. They were finally in a police station, something half the authority figures in Equestria wanted to see, and there didn't look like any way out.
"They were delivered to us from an anonymous source," Flam said. "We don't know who took them or why they sent them. It just came with a note saying it thought we could use them."
"So why'd you try to run?" the guard asked.
"Well… we started getting photos of… of Twilight Sparkle in secret proceedings. Day Court and stuff like that. We knew those were illegal. We destroyed them, but since she came to question us we figured she was already suspicious."
As the guard wrote the answers in their notebooks, Twilight and Applejack watched on the other side of the one way mirror.
"This is great," Applejack said, stopping just short of a "yee-haw". "Flim and Flam aren't getting out of this one. They're ending up in jail for sure."
"Not for long, I'm afraid," one of the officers said.
The pair look at him. "Huh? Why not?"
"The charges against them are pretty weak. Mostly it's not reporting the photographs and resisting arrest. And given that they mostly resisted what amounts to a citizen's arrest, that's not much."
"Wha? But… they attacked us."
"Using non-lethal and relatively non-damaging means. Altogether, the most we can hold them is a year, and given how good they are in court it likely won't be that long."
"Wha? But… but…"
Applejack was silenced by Twilight putting a hoof on her shoulder. "Let it go, AJ. We have more important things to worry about."
"But… they're just gonna get out an' scam again."
"And there are people dedicated to stopping them. They can deal with them. Our time is better spent looking for the one behind the wedding. If they have all these resources then it's officially time to start worrying."
"I… I guess."
"Good. Now let's just get to the hotel room. I don't think he's going to tell us anything else."
Silver Shill smiled happily as he signed the final papers.
"Alright Mr. Shill, it's your lucky day. Everything's in tip top order," the mare behind the desk said. "The property is now yours."
Shill grinned as he looked over the caravan. Nothing particularly big or fancy, but it was his. He spent the money, and he still had enough for goods and to hire somepony to pull it. And with Flim and Flam already paranoid of guards, they'd never report the money missing.
He hitched up and began to trot away. He'd get everything in the next town. Flim and Flam had dealt with a lot, but there was one thing they weren't prepared for: honest competition.
I know the feel of having to rewrite a chapter until it fits your fancy, but your efforts paid off, great update!
Well, they were a little smarter than I thought, if they tried to put them to sleep like that. I'm glad Silver Shill got some payback. Pinkie. That is all. So, Fluttershy's question was the doozy? Let's hope Fluttershy and Rainbw can get past this new obstacle (as well as the old, bunny-shaped one). Too bad Flim and Flam won't be in jail for long, but hopefully whatever Silver Shill is doing will hurt them down the line.
I've gotta say, this has really lost its appeal for me. What started out as a great concept and focused narrative now has a ridiculous amount of side stories and is so convoluted that I was honestly lost this chapter, even with rereading the previous one. Not going to change my vote, but I've stuck it through this long and I simply can't remember half of the reasons behind the events in this chapter.
Best of luck in all of your stories.
I think Silver Shill just gave Flim and Flam more punishment than the legal system will - unless they screw up and perjure themselves or something, that is.
Leave it to Fluttershy to bring up kids when she hasn't even been dating for even a week or so.
I believe you meant "whom"
Wrong form of "where".
I haven't read it yet, but you have good timing - I just thought, that it wasn't updated for long time and wanted to ask about it.
all of whom
He hopped up to where
This feels awkward for some reason. I think changing the end to, and it didn't look like there was any way out would read more naturally.
Still enjoying this story. Please keep updating!
Good to see Twilight not be worfed for once, even if she's not an Alicorn at this point (which I had honestly forgotten).
Calling it right now, Twilight made the rings herself while she was drunk.
I love how Rainbow's first reaction to the suggestion of kids is "no magic futa".
Shouldn't the rings have not allowed AJ and Twilight to get as separated as they did here?
"As the group was deciding what to do tomorrow, the adults were chatting. Big Mac was glancing over at Pinkie every few minutes, but Pinkie seemed to have dropped her fancies… almost."
I am slightly confused by this sentence so is Pinkie still trying to pair the squares with Mac or not or is this unrelated to that?
5309496
I think they're able to get temporarily separated, but not sleep separately or intentionally try to stay apart for an extended period of time. I could be mistaken though, as it has been a while since I read the earlier chapters.
Should be 'where'.
5309720 I think he's got some ptsd when pinkie involved because of the whole "tying him down and painting him pink" thing
it must be my birthday cause all my favorite stories has been updating
Please correct me if I'm wrong but I seem to remember The Elements holding some sort of military ranking high enough for Rarity to get access to some level of classified documents in an earlier chapter. Making their ranks rather high. Add in the fact that the Elements are a group of ponies very critical to the safety of Equestria. Flim and Flam just assaulted high-ranking safety critical military personnel and it was not resisting a civilian arrest attempts. I wouldn't be surprised of treason charges at that point. That isn't something even Flim and Flam can weasel out of that easily.
Of the original case that spawned the 'bystander effect'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kitty_Genovese#Psychological_research
Yay! I'm so happy that this has an update, I actually almost forgot this story. I hope theverything next one isn't to far off!
I wonder if we have seen the beginning of a different path to the Key of Honesty? Meanwhile, I really think that AJ needs to work on her temper. She's really unforgiving and unrelenting when she wants to be!
5309258 That and he's offering them 'Honest' competition. That's gonna come back to bite them.
5311481 I'm considering that as the biggest part of their karmic "punishment" ... the fact that it was the Blunder Twins' own bits that funded it is simply the icing on the cake. Even if they get bailed out immediately, and the charges dismissed, they already got what they deserved.
Wiii, an update! Awesome!!! Flim and Flam in jail hi hi hi...
But damn Angel ¬¬
That ending: smile slowly grows
5309229
Actually, I can still follow along completely.
I just don't care enough to, anymore.
Nothing's been added to the plot, not really, since the rings were introduced. Pinkie is too goddamn meta. The pet sideplot is cute but, with all the other sideplots, just feels like an ungodly amount of padding...
It's gotten to the point where I don't even care how this ends anymore. That's not a good sign.
Well I have to say I still find this hilarious But I do admit that Mr. Numbers is slightly right you have so many subplots going that it is pulling away from what was the focal which is Applejack's and Twilight's drunken wedding Though I am enjoying the story but really need to have more Applejack and Twilight taking center stage I WANT MOAR SOON! If that is alright with you
I disagree with others, I really love the Blueblood and Spike side plots and hope to keep seeing them.
Good resolution with Flim and Flam, though I don't know if selling collectibles of a wedding is really a scam per se, I wouldn't be surprised if they fall back on one once they are out.
I like that despite their cautioning each other not to jump the gun again, they did exactly that. If Flim and Flam had just told the truth from the beginning, they would probably have gotten off with a slap on the wrist, but honesty is not exactly their default response.
I also love your development of Silver Shill. I wouldn't call stealing two bags of bits to go into business selling copies of your former employers' products "honest" competition, but then again maybe Silver Shill has learned more from Flim and Flam than he realizes. Either way it's a fascinating turn for his character.
Hilarious. And Most Excellent.
And there are people dedicated to stopping them.
i would have thought he'd say ""And there are ponies dedicated to stopping them.
otherwise, damn. you'd think they'd done enough to get far worse.
so, someone was sending them the photos. this is definitely worrying news.
but, at least with flim and flam dealt with, they can continue the search
5309481
Yeah, everyone kinda called that ages ago
Dammit Fluttershy, at least wait a few months.
That's oughta.
So the guards know that these two young men locked a couple of women in a closet and drugged them.
And they don't intend to do anything about this.
I think I've heard about this before...
hope more soon love this story
Finally caught up! I like where the story is headed. The investigation/mystery angle is really enjoyable. I look forward to more!
I've just read all of this tonight and I'm absolutely loving it, both the main plot and subplots. Keep up the good work!
This story is good. Please update soon
No, please don't tell me that you're going to break up Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy! Do you have any idea how devastating it is to a FlutterDash shipper to see that pairing break up? I'd never be able to look at the chapter where they revealed they were dating the same way again! If you do go the route of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy going splitsville, please tell me you're going to have Angel Bunny do a 'change of heart' and get them back together!
You know, I just realized something. If whoever gave Flim and Flam those pictures of the Mane Six was the one who put Twilight and Applejack through this, then it couldn't be Discord, seeing as how one of those pics was of him being freed.
Can you imagine how pissed off Shining Armor will be if he finds out somepony taken indecent pictures of his sister?!
6133017 He is the freakin embodiment of chaos. I think he could do that.