Camaraderie is Sorcery

by FireOfTheNorth

Chapter 4:20 - Trustworthiness

Chapter 4:20 – Trustworthiness

“Tiiiimbaaaaah!” Applejack called out as she dropped her axe.

With a great creaking and cracking, the felled tree toppled outward from the Everfree Forest. Branches, bark, and the remaining ice that hadn’t already been shaken during the chopping showered down in a hail of debris. Snow was thrown aside as limbs and branches snapped away upon impacting the ground until the trunk thudded to the earth. It was the winter solstice, and while a truce was being signed between the Kingdom of Fillidelfiyaa and the new Duchy of Haatroyaa, the Apples were hard at work. The family had rested from most of their labors over Hearth’s Warming, but now that the festive days were behind them, there was work to be done. For so long, the Everfree Forest had been an inviolable barrier to the east, and the Apples had acquired their wood elsewhere. Now, with the mass exodus of monsters from the ancient forest and the felling of trees to the south, the Apples had decided to get in on the action. The Everfree Forest, while claimed as part of the Kingdom of Cant’r Laht, technically belonged to nopony due to its historical impregnability, so the farmers needed to get no permission nor pay any fees to anypony to take the timber on the border of their lands. Even better, Applejack had consulted Twilight Sparkle, and the alicorn sorceress was confident that the Celestial charter granted the family that defined the bounds of their lands to the east as the Everfree Forest would mean any land they reclaimed from the forest would belong to them. Mayor Mare was also unlikely to dispute this, as she’d made similar claims to expand her own jurisdiction as the Everfree was cleared elsewhere.

Nearby, Apple Bloom stacked a sledge with branches broken into more manageable lengths. Applejack set to chopping off the branches from the newly fallen tree that the impact hadn’t dislodged while her younger sister did the less strenuous work of gathering. With each passing year, there was less reason for Apple Bloom to be treated so, but Applejack continued to think of her as her baby sister, despite the fact that she had already reached the age of sixteen. Under some ponies’ considerations, she’d already be treated as a mare, but her persistent lack of a cutie-mark made it easy to still treat her as a foal. She and her friends continued to try all manner of odd ways to earn their cutie-marks, but so far their “crusade” had been without success. Applejack was certain one day her sister would realize her place on the farm, but until then, she’d indulge her attempts so long as Apple Bloom also helped out the family.

When Big McIntosh returned, he assisted Applejack with trimming the freshly felled tree down. Once branches were lopped away, Apple Bloom further reduced them while her elder siblings worked to chop the trunk into shorter lengths. It was nearly midday by the time they finished their work on the tree, and Applejack and Big Mac hauled some of the trunk sections on sledges while Apple Bloom did the same with her branches, back to the farmstead. The fruits of the rest of their labor that day lay stacked at one end of the yard, and they added their latest felling to them before heading into the farmhouse for dinner.

Pottage awaited them for their midday meal, as it usually did, relatively fresh due to the stewpot’s recent renewal for Hearth’s Warming. Sore from their morning labors, the three siblings enjoyed the relative warmth of the farmhouse and their bowls of food, laughing and chatting amiably during the meal. Granny Smith sat with them, unusually awake and attentive, a sad and distant look in the ancient matriarch’s eyes.

“What’s th’ matter, Granny?” Apple Bloom asked as she noticed her despondency.

“Ach, ‘tis th’ burden o’ auld age,” Granny Smith said as she turned to the youngest of her descendants still living with her. “While th’ rest o’ ye gan aboot yer labors, ah must stand … or sit … alone. Ye still have yer youth, an’ it makes me look back on m’ own an’ wish ah still had that youthful vigor tae work th’ farm.”

“But Granny, y’ve given plenty t’ th’ farm an’ the family,” Apple Bloom protested. “An’ what’d we do now wi’out y’r guidance an’ wisdom?”

“Ah ken, but ‘tis nae th’ same. Ah still wish atimes tae help in other ways,” Granny Smith bemoaned her state.

“We’re planning t’ go int’ town this afternoon, Granny. Do y’ want t’ come along?” Applejack offered.

“It winnae make me feel any younger tae be carted ‘round,” Granny Smith sighed. “But aye, ah will come wi’ ye.”

***

While the Apples spent most of their time on the farm, occasionally a trip into Ponieville would be undertaken to obtain goods they couldn’t make themselves, to sell the products of their labors, or merely to socialize with their neighbors; something that Applejack had done far more in the past few years than she had in all the time preceding due to her newfound position in the Brave Companions. As the Ponieville Apples made their way to the growing town, Applejack pulled behind her an empty sledge to hold anything they needed to bring back to the farm while Big McIntosh pulled behind him another, this one laden with Granny Smith wrapped in so many blankets and shawls that little could be made out of her other than her face. Coming from the east, they passed through the rising wall on that bank of the Equestry Valley, under the arch that would soon hold a gate but was, for the moment, empty. Mayor Mare had not slowed her construction project after completing the wall on the western bank of the Equestry River—quite the opposite, in fact. With the help of the Saddle Arabians, the wall that would completely enclose Ponieville and the countryside that would one day be part of Ponieville was well on its way to completion by the end of the year.

Perhaps once that was done, Mayor Mare would put an end to the itinerant occupation of the land by non-townsponies, which was what seemed to be going on at the moment. A collection of tents had been erected on the eastern bank of the river, near to where a mill slowly churned the icy waters. They were not the tents of fresh Saddle Arabians come to the town at the news of refuge (though there were a few of those that remained in poor condition scattered around the Saddle Arabian settlement, abandoned swiftly to the elements once their residents were able to obtain more durable homes), but there were some similarities. They were brightly colored and a style not native to Equestria. At the center of the cluster (and almost all the tents were connected in various ways) was a very large tent whose equal had only been seen before in the sultana’s residence. The centerpiece tent was striped in red and white fabric, a pattern that stirred an uneasy feeling in Applejack. Judging by the noise as they neared the tents, there were many ponies inside.

“Well, let’s nae just stand oot here wonderin’. Let’s see hoot aw th’ hubbub is aboot,” Granny Smith said.

With Applejack still unable to dispel the strange uneasiness, the Apples made their way to the entrance of the tent complex. Leaving the sledges outside, Big McIntosh took Granny Smith upon his back to carry her bundled form into the tents. Though a chill still lingered in the entrance tent, as they passed deeper in and through progressive layers of curtains, the atmosphere grew warmer, due in no small part to the ponies gathered within. A few were still trickling in, but most looked like they’d been within the large tent for some time. Benches had been set up in part of the cavernous space, ponies seated upon them nursing mugs of beer that were for sale at a bar against one of the tent’s walls. A stage had been set up at one end of the tent, currently occupied solely by an ill-looking pony dozing in a chair. The stallion in the chair had an orange coat and brown mane as well as a prominently protruding underbite. Strapped to his forelegs were a set of crutches to help him with his apparently stymied locomotion, though there was no way to know that for sure with him seated. Lanterns strung throughout the tent extinguished themselves as the Apples neared the front of the crowd, darkening the space apart from the area around the stage, and a hush fell over the assembled ponies.

“Thank you, one and all, for your attention,” a magically-augmented voice spoke, and Applejack realized why the tent had made her so uneasy.

“Welcome, all newcomers …” another voice spoke.

“… and thanks to those who’ve remained from this morning to see the conclusion of our demonstration,” said the first voice again as its speaker revealed himself. A unicorn sorcerer in striped white and blue robes stepped onto the stage, followed shortly by his mustachioed brother from the other side.

“Flim an’ Flam?” Apple Bloom asked in surprise, realizing what Applejack already had without seeing them.

“I thought we chased ‘em outta town last time,” Applejack commented quietly to Big Mac, who nodded his agreement with a frown.

“Now, who all remembers our friend here?” Flam asked, slapping a hoof against the back of the chair of the other pony on stage, who’d awakened during the first exclamations of Flim, but looked started by the slap all the same.

Hooves went up throughout the crowd, many hoisting mugs of beer into the air. Several inarticulate calls replied to Flam’s question as well.

“Now, as everypony could see, you can’t walk without these crutches, can you?” Flim interrogated the crippled pony.

“N-no,” he replied nervously. “Leastways, not very far.”

“Well now, I’ll wager you don’t need them anymore,” Flam said as he removed the crutches from the stallion’s legs despite his protests.

“Go on,” Flim urged him. “Show everypony what they’ve been waiting for!”

The crippled stallion sat immobile, looking worried, until Flim tipped his chair forward and tossed him to the stageboards. It seemed a cruel joke at first, to tip the disadvantaged stallion to the ground, but slowly, hesitantly, he began to stand, his legs shaking, but quickly steadying. A look of profound surprise passed across his face as he took one step and then another, his delight growing as began to walk and then prance around the stage.

“It’s a miracle! A miracle!” he exclaimed, a cry repeated by several ponies in the crowd.

“Not just any miracle!” Flim proclaimed, drawing attention of many (but not all) in the crowd away from the gallivanting stallion back to the sorcerer.

“The Flim-Flam Miracle Curative Tonic!” Flam shouted as his brother produced from backstage a rolling table covered with crates and gently glowing bottles.

“It’s the miracle elixir to cure all your ailments!” Flim claimed.

“You’ve seen what it’s done for this poor, unfortunate pony,” Flam said.

“It can do the same for you!” Flim said as he pointed to the audience, which was fully caught up in the brothers’ sales pitch.

“Aches and pains!”

“Chills and croup!”

“Scrofula!”

“The plague!”

“Even the ravages of old age!”

“There’s nothing this miracle tonic can’t cure!”

Ponies mobbed the stage, eager to purchase the solution the salespony-sorcerers had praised far beyond credibility. Flim and Flam happily took the proffered coins in exchange for battles of tonic, passing them down to the waiting crowd.

“Can y’ believe this?” Applejack asked Big McIntosh before pausing. “Big Mac. Where’s Granny?”

Big McIntosh looked over his shoulder in surprise to see that the Apple matriarch was no longer resting upon his back. He and Applejack looked around frantically before spotting her within the press of ponies near the stage, Apple Bloom at her side. Flim grinned broadly as he traded the coins offered by Granny Smith for several bottles of the Flim-Flam Miracle Curative Tonic.

***

Given the Apples’ past encounter with the Neighopolitan sorcerers, it was natural for them to be wary of the duo. However, Apple Bloom had gotten swept up in their presentation, as had Granny whose recent bemoaning of her old age and infirmity had made her more susceptible to their pitch. It wasn’t a disaster for the Apples, like giving up their rights to the zap apple orchard would have been, but it still stung to know that Granny had spent their hard-earned coin on another scheme of the Brothers Tyrmynus. Big Mac and Applejack weren’t willing to directly rebuke somepony older than nearly everypony else in Equestria apart from the Regents of Cant’r Laht, but they did make their doubts about the tonic’s effectiveness known.

None of their naysaying seemed to have any effect on the Apple matriarch, who firmly believed that the Flim-Flam Miracle Curative Tonic could make her young again. As if to prove it, the following day she insisted on leaving the farmhouse and helping them with clearing the Everfree Forest. Though her distant descendants tried to stop her, it was to no avail. She was talked down at least from felling trees with Applejack and Big McIntosh and kept herself busy breaking and piling branches with Apple Bloom. To the great surprise of the elder two siblings, Granny Smith was able to keep up with the work, even allowing Apple Bloom to leave her to it while she helped Applejack and Big Mac with breaking the trunks into manageable lengths. Whenever the Apple matriarch began to feel fatigued, she’d take a draught of the tonic and be right back at her work.

Applejack began to wonder if she’d perhaps been too suspicious of Flim and Flam, but something just didn’t sit right. She decided to get the opinion of another sorceress before approaching the Neighopolitans directly, to see if their elixir really had the magical miraculous properties they claimed. Apple Bloom accompanied her to Golden Oak’s laboratory, where Twilight Sparkle examined a bottle of the tonic. The alicorn sorceress was preparing to leave for the North, to attend the birthday celebration for Grand Duchess Cadence planned by her subjects, so she didn’t have much time to investigate. However, she was able to confirm that sorcery had been used for something with the tonic, though it may only have been to add the luminescent effect. Alchemy was possible, though Twilight didn’t know much about the alchemical arts, especially when it came to healing potions. Hunters might know better, but their potions were very different from those used by normal ponies, and Rainbow Dash was away from Ponieville on a Hunt at the moment anyway.

With no other paths open to them, the sisters decided to go straight to the source and ask Flim and Flam about the tonic directly. Perhaps Applejack’s concern for Granny Smith or Apple Bloom’s still somewhat naïve wonder would convince them to explain how the elixir worked, but Applejack doubted it. If the tonic was fake, as she suspected, then they would have no explanation; but if it truly was a cure-all, they were likely to be similarly tight-lipped to protect their secrets. Applejack wasn’t sure where to go from either outcome, but she didn’t want Granny hurting herself because she thought she was a young mare again. She had to figure out the truth somehow.

Darkness was falling when they arrived at Flim and Flam’s complex of tents, and it seemed just as full as it had the day before. As they entered, a scene very much like the previous performance was playing out on stage. A stallion with a blue coat and white mane was being pointed to by the Brothers Tyrmynus with their odd style of alternating phrases as proof of their tonic’s effectiveness. Applejack and Apple Bloom gathered that this stallion had been deaf when he’d first come up on stage, but now was having no difficulty repeating back what Flim, Flam, or members of the crowd said to him. Applejack could swear she’d never seen him before, and yet he looked familiar. As ponies swarmed the stage eager to purchase phials of tonic, the farmmare kept her eyes on the recently cured pony as he stepped off the stage and, quickly forgotten, made his way into a side tent.

Applejack followed, her sister trailing behind her, picking up the pace as she realized she recognized the stallion not from his coat or mane color (which ponies so often used to identify each other) but from the shape of his face, particularly his pronounced underbite. The stallion turned around in shock as he realized he was being followed into part of the tent city that others weren’t supposed to be in and ran from the Apples. Giving a shout for him to stop, Applejack pursued, trying to keep track of where her quarry was going as he jumped through canvas flaps and juked around crates and trunks. They caught up to him as he reached a dead end, pawing at a long curtain before turning back with fear in his eyes.

“What do you want from me?” the earth pony demanded.

“Answers,” Applejack said firmly.

“Applejack, what’re we doin’? Who is this pony?” Apple Bloom asked.

As the cornered stallion gulped, his coat and mane suddenly shifted, changing color so that they were now a nearly white gray and a much darker gray respectively.

“He’s th’ same pony who was on stage yesterday, wi’ th’ crutches,” Applejack said, and the stallion gulped again. “Flim an’ Flam prob’ly used a spell t’ change his colors so nopony’d recognize ‘im. Who are y’?”

“S-Silver Shill,” the stallion replied nervously.

“Why’d they do that just t’ cure ‘im?” Apple Bloom asked, puzzled. “Th’ tonic worked for Granny. Why’d he need t’ be disguised to get cured o’ somethin’ else?”

“Because it’s all an act, innit?” Applejack said as she stared down Silver Shill. “Y’ never needed those crutches an y’ were ne’er deaf, were y’?”

“Well—I mean—not entirely. Leastways not before they used a spell to…” Silver Shill trailed off as he realized he was saying something he shouldn’t.

“Be honest: does th’ tonic actually do anythin’, or are y’ just takin’ ponies’ money for nothin’?” Applejack demanded.

“Well, I …” Silver Shill stammered before toppling the table next to him.

Phials on it filled with various colored liquids splashed and combined, and a cloud of steam went up. Applejack and Apple Bloom backed out of it, coughing, and when it’d dispelled, there was no sign of Silver Shill.

“We have t’ find him!” Applejack cried, and she and her sister searched the tent and the adjoining ones for a sign of where the stallion had gone.

Applejack hadn’t gone far when she decided to double back to see if he’d left any signs she’d missed before where they’d confronted him. Getting close to the ground, she saw that the curtain Silver Shill had been backed up against was secured to the floor, apart from a section where the pins had been pulled up, making a gap wide enough for a pony to squeeze through if they lifted it. Applejack pulled at the curtain with a hoof and picked up the murmur of voices from the other side. Lifting it the rest of the way, she squeezed herself through and found herself in a large tent filled with crates of tonic and empty bottles, buckets of berries and water, and Flim and Flim.

“Applejack,” Flim said, sounding unperturbed. “Good of you to join us.”

“I’m sorry, I tried not to lead them here,” Silver Shill pleaded, revealing himself from behind a stack of crates.

“Nonsense, m’boy, she was sure to find her way here eventually,” Flam replied before fixing Applejack with a pointed stare. “It’s what she does.”

“Y’re trickin’ ponies int’ thinkin’ y’r tonic really can work miracles!” Applejack accused them. “Granny Smith has been drinkin’ th’ stuff nonstop, an’ she’s been tryin’ t’ work th’ farm as if she’s a filly again!”

“That doesn’t sound so bad to me,” Flim said as he smoothed his kerchief with a hoof. “What’s wrong with that?”

“If she keeps it up, she’s liable t’ drop from exhaustion or hurt ‘erself!” Applejack fumed.

“Did she hurt herself today?” Flim asked innocently.

“Well, no,” Applejack admitted reluctantly. “But y’re deceivin’ ponies by disguisin’ Silver Shill t’ get ponies t’ think he’s been cured, when really y’r tonic does nothin’!”

“Now, now, that’s quite an accusation,” Flam replied. “Based on your own testimony, I’d say it does far from ‘nothing.’”

“But … let’s say it is true that our tonic has no medicinal effect on the body whatsoever…” Flim said in an oily tone.

“Hypothetically …” Flam cut in.

“Theoretically …” Flim added.

“Prior to today, what was your granddam doing on your farm?” Flam asked.

“Sittin’ inside by th’ fire. Stayin’ safe,” Applejack replied. “I guess … nothin’.”

“And yet you mentioned she was helping with your labors today,” Flim said.

“Well … yes,” Applejack admitted.

“Did she seem invigorated?” Flam asked.

“Like she has a fresh spark?” Flim added.

“As if she were young again?” Flim finished.

“Yes, but she’s not really young again,” Applejack said.

“But she feels young again, doesn’t she?” Flam challenged the mare.

“So, even if the tonic she’s been consuming is no more than water …” Flim posited.

“With some berry juice thrown in for flavor …”

“A touch of sorcery to give it a glow …”

“Hypothetically …”

“Theoretically …”

“It’s an indisputable fact—”

“From your own mouth!”

“—that Granny Smith is much happier now than she was before drinking our tonic.”

“I … suppose so,” Applejack admitted, feeling like she’d walked into a trap of some kind.

“Do you really want Granny Smith to find out the truth about the tonic?” Flim asked.

“Do you really want to take her happiness away for the sake of that?” Flam asked.

“I …” Applejack said, unsure.

“There y’ are!” Apple Bloom exclaimed as she barreled into the tent, nearly tangling herself up in the hanging partition dividing it from the next as she did so. “Applejack, did y’ find out ‘ow th’ tonic works?”

“I …” Applejack said, still unsure, “… guess it doesn’t matter how th’ tonic works, so long as it does work.”

“So … y’ don’t have any more doubts?” Apple Bloom asked quizzically.

“No, I don’t,” Applejack said untruthfully.

“Granny’ll be so happy t’ hear that,” Apple Bloom replied.

“Yeah, I guess she will,” Applejack said, forcing a smile and trying to convince herself she made the right choice.

***

Applejack had decided to silence her misgivings and keep what she’d learned a secret for Granny Smith’s sake, but she found it difficult to sit comfortably with the decision. But, Granny did seem happier, more lively, and all-around much less morose and shut-in than she had before they’d taken her to Ponieville. She still thought she was capable of monumental feats at times, and Applejack had to redirect her, but she couldn’t deny the fact that the Apple matriarch acted much heartier than she’d been assumed to be based on appearance and activity. Perhaps Granny Smith had always had this energy and ability to help on the farm; certainly she displayed an unusual vigor whenever there was a zap apple harvest. Maybe she’d just needed motivation to get up and out, and the Flim-Flam Miracle Curative Tonic provided that. Besides, how much harm was Applejack really doing by letting her believe in the tonic’s effectiveness? It had to be less than what it would do to Granny to admit the tonic hadn’t actually cured her of anything.

When the Apples next headed into town, Granny Smith insisted on coming along and walking on her own four hooves. Flim and Flam’s collection of tents was still set up along the bank of the river, but partially disassembled, the gigantic main tent already collapsed as the brothers prepared to move on before their ruse was discovered. Granny Smith was, naturally, very eager to purchase as much tonic as she could before Flim and Flam left and the supply dried up. The entrance to the tents was now occupied by Flim, Flam, and Silver Shill as they sold their supplies of tonic without presentation. Word of mouth had spread enough that hoodwinking customers with a grand display was no longer necessary. A small crowd had assembled to buy the tonic while a larger crowd looked on, still dubious, many of them Saddle Arabians from the nearby settlement who’d ventured out into the cold to see what all the fuss was about.

“Big Mac, th’ sledge!” Granny Smith ordered as the Apples reached the front of the crowd. “We’ll take twelve cases!”

Gasps erupted from the crowd at the announcement of the Apples’ intentions to buy so many bottles of tonic from the ponies assumed to be their greatest enemies (barring Mayor Mare).

“Do you mean … the tonic really works?” a mare with red-rimmed eyes bundled head to tail asked hopefully.

“Well …” Applejack said, put on the spot as many eyes were on her. “It certainly seems t’ work for Granny Smith.”

“I don’t know …” a Saddle Arabian stallion said dubiously.

“Nonsense!” the mare from before shot back. “If we can’t trust Applejack, who can we trust?”

Flim and Flim, grins plastered on their faces, were mobbed by the now greatly enlarged crowd seeking to buy their tonic, most of them Saddle Arabians desperate for any relief from the biting cold and the winter illnesses unfamiliar to them.

***

Applejack sat later on the bank of the Equestry River, staring out contemplatively at Ponieville’s homes and shops on the other side. The rest of the Apples were around somewhere, possibly still back at Flim and Flam’s camp not far away, but Applejack wanted to be alone. At least when she was alone, she didn’t have to worry about somepony asking her about the Flim-Flam Miracle Curative Tonic. At least then she wouldn’t have be evasive or straight up lie to them in order to spare Granny Smith. All this deception just didn’t fit her, even if it was for a greater good.

“Applejack?” Silver Shill asked as he trotted up behind her.

“Oh, what d’ y’ want?” Applejack asked as she craned her neck to look back at him.

“I just wanted to thank you,” the stallion said as he stepped forward to stand beside her.

“Thank me?” Applejack asked. “What for?”

“Well, things have been difficult for me, supporting myself,” he disclosed. “I needed work, so when Flim and Flam recruited me, I took the job without question. But … I didn’t feel right about it for a while. Deceiving ponies. Convincing them I’d been cured when there wasn’t anything wrong with me. Lying to them. It didn’t feel good.”

“And … I changed somethin’?” Applejack asked with a sinking feeling, fearing she knew where this was going.

“Yes, you showed me how lying can have a positive effect, that deceiving ponies isn’t necessarily bad. Sure, they might not thank me for it, or trust me ever again if they find out the truth, but they get to feel hope for a short time. Flim and Flam and I get paid, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“No!” Applejack said, jumping to her hooves, outraged and confused. “No, that’s not … I’m not …” What was I thinking? How did I let Flim and Flam convince me this was all right?

A crashing sound interrupted Applejack’s contemplation, followed by splashing of water and cries of injury. Downriver, she spotted the source of the noise as the new mill under construction there continued to fall apart and topple into the Equestry River as the bank gave way. Running past Silver Shill, she galloped toward the collapsing mill and cries for help. When she arrived, she saw among the tumbled beams a pony pinned and struggling to keep his head above the icy waters, blood reddening the river around him.

“Ah’ll save ye!” Granny Smith proclaimed as she pushed her way through the crowd of onlookers that had assembled, drawn from Flim and Flam’s tents by the collapse just as Applejack had.

Putting aside her own plans to save the struggling pony, Applejack hurried forward to save her relative from also putting herself in a deadly scenario.

“Granny, stop!” Applejack commanded as she grabbed Granny Smith and held her back from the riverbank and still-collapsing mill. “Y’ll be swept under or catch y’r death o’ cold or be crushed if y’ jump in there!”

“Dinnae talk mince!” Granny Smith objected as she pulled free of Applejack’s grip. “With this tonic, ah can survive anythin’!”

“Y’ can’t!” Applejack shot back.

“An’ why nae?” Granny Smith demanded, eyes narrowed as she produced a fresh bottle of tonic and gulped it down.

As she did so, light seemed to play off the glass and the luminous liquid, shimmering as it reflected into Applejack’s eyes. She briefly took in the crowd around them, a crowd of ponies who knew her by reputation and title. She was the bearer of the Element of Trustworthiness, and she’d deceived them all. If she told them the truth now, it would break their faith in her. However, if she continued lying to them, they’d have absolutely no legitimate reason to trust her. She had to be true to herself and true to them, whatever the consequences—they couldn’t be direr than whatever ponies would do by believing the tonic could make them invincible.

“Because … th’ tonic doesn’t do anythin’,” Applejack admitted. “It’s nothin’ more’n water an’ berries, an’ that certainly isn’t gonna cure y’.”

“But, you said before that it worked,” somepony in the crowd asked worriedly.

“I did,” Applejack said with a heavy heart.

“You … lied?” somepony said with disbelief.

“Yes,” Applejack admitted, which seemed to cause more of a disturbance than her revelation about the tonic had.

“Applejack, it cannae be a fake,” Granny Smith said, shaken. “It gave me such energy…”

“I think y’ already had that energy. Y’ just didn’t realize it, an’ th’ tonic gave y’ a reason t’ try. But it also made y’ try crazy things, things that are clearly beyond y’.”

“I’m terribly sorry, ev’rypony,” Applejack spoke to the crowd. “Seeing how happy th’ tonic made Granny Smith, I overlooked th’ danger it could cause an’ how wrong it was t’ lie t’ y’ about th’ tonic. I hope that, in time, I can rebuild th’ trust y’ all used to place in me, a trust I’ve no doubt torn down in much less time than it took t’ build it up.”

The crowd grumbled, upset at being tricked. Most of their anger wasn’t directed at Applejack, but rather at the ponies they’d given their money to for the worthless tonic. Flim and Flam, however, seemed to have conveniently disappeared.

***

A fire blazed in the hearth as the Apples sat around it, in a room decorated oddly to their eyes but perfectly normally for the Saddle Arabians who usually dwelt here. Big McIntosh sat closest, wrapped in blankets despite the great heat put off by the blaze, still recovering from his dive into the river to save the trapped pony while Applejack gave her speech. There was no way he was going to make it back to the Apples’ homestead, and a family of Saddle Arabians had kindly volunteered the room for the Apples to use until Big Mac had recovered. Granny Smith too was swaddled in blankets, though not nearly as many as she would usually be found in. The revelation that the tonic had done nothing for her had shaken the extremely elderly pony, but there was a positive discovery in it, that her limits weren’t what she’d thought they were. She needed to be careful in how she explored them, though.

“Come in,” Apple Bloom replied as a knock sounded on the door.

Silver Shill trotted into the room, and Big McIntosh shivered as a blast of cold air followed him from outside.

“There’s no sign of them … or the money,” Silver Shill said, referring to Flim and Flam.

“Just like last time they were here,” Applejack sighed. “Let’s hope we’ve seen th’ end o’ ‘em this time.”

“Applejack, I … didn’t just come her to let you know about that,” Silver Shill said. “I came because I wanted to thank you … again … and apologize for what I did, and for the other time I thanked you. I was just looking for something to justify what I was doing, but I didn’t have the bravery to come clean like you did. Not until after you’d revealed everything. Despite what you did, I think the ponies of this town still really respect you. I want other ponies to have as much trust in me as they clearly have in you. Here, I want you to have this.”

Silver Shill produced a silver coin and dropped it next to Applejack.

“What’s this for?” Applejack asked.

“Well, it’s not for anything,” Silver Shill replied, “It’s the first shilling I earned working for Flim and Flam. I held onto it, but it was earned dishonestly. With Flim and Flam and all the money they took from ponies gone, I’m going to stay in Ponieville and work hard until I’ve paid back everypony I helped trick, with honest labor. I’d like you to keep that shilling as a reminder of how you helped me and set me on the right path.”

“I’m sure I won’t forget, but thank you,” Applejack said as she looked at the shilling, which seemed to shimmer as the flames of the hearth danced in its reflective surface.