Chapter 16
Hearing was a precious thing, and Flicker was sad that his seemed to be messed up at the moment. It was sunny, a bit too warm for spring, he was used to cooler Canterlot climes, and the doctor had forbidden him from being out in the direct sunlight because half of him was bald. He stood on the deck of the Don’t Panic, feeling a bit petulant, and was having himself a foalish moment of bad temper.
Doctor Sterling, perhaps sensing an opportunity, was helping the two druids. Hennessy and Piper were sent to fetch alchemical ingredients, flowers, roots, certain types of bugs, all of which were indigenous to this area. Flicker was just a tiny bit jealous that they were allowed to work and he wasn’t. He was stuck on deck, waiting for the hour of departure.
The grey goop burned and itched in a most awful way, but it had closed his wounds and kept him from bleeding. More had been applied, a thick second layer had been slapped on this morning, and truth be told, Flicker would rather be dipped in a sewer than to have more goop slathered on.
It wasn’t often that a pony was truly naked like this, with no protection from their pelt. Flicker could feel every breeze, which was delightful, the burning touch of the sun, which wasn’t so delightful, and the painful bite of flies, which pissed him off and made him feel mean. In what he felt was a remarkable display of telekinesis, he had taken to pulling their teeny, tiny little wings off and then leaving them to walk the deck for a time, before he flicked them overboard.
According to his mother, he didn’t magic stuff, he flicked stuff. He could flick things with telekinesis and send them flying. Flicking a candle would set it alight, and as far back as he could remember, his parents used him as a living match to set things on fire, such as the fireplace, candles, autumn leaves, the kitchen stove, pretty much everything. Just a little flick and flames would appear.
And then one day, that fateful day, he had flicked a rat.
Heaving a forlorn sigh, Flicker Nicker missed his cutie marks. Both of them. He had a bare, bald backside. Even worse, it looked like he had a rat’s tail, as most of the hair was missing from his own tail. The explosion had done some peculiar damage to him, but he was alive. Next time, when he fought a rabid bear, one stick would do.
It had taken him a lot of thought and consideration, but he decided that he could expand his repertoire to include rabid bears and the like. There was no good, reliable cure for rabies, only magical healing, which was rare and not something that could be counted on. Rabies destroyed the brain, and once a pony got it, there wasn’t much that could be done.
The official policy on rabies was to put the victim down as an act of mercy. Rats carried rabies and the disease was a very real danger of his job. Getting bit was a real risk, which was why the protective gear they wore was rat-proofed as much as possible. Wasn’t bear proofed though, nope. Flicker had learned that lesson the hard way.
Turning around, Flicker was very surprised to see Doctor Sterling standing on the deck with him. He hadn’t heard the squeak of the lift. The doctor was smiling a bit, he seemed to be in a good mood, and his lips were moving.
“—can you hear anything at all, Mister Nicker?”
Flicker, relieved, could hear the doctor just a bit. He sounded very far away and his voice was faint, more like a distant whisper, but Flicker was glad to hear it. The colt smiled and nodded to let the doctor know that he could hear him.
“YOU DAFT LITTLE CRETIN!”
That didn’t sound good.
“YOU THICK-HEADED LITTLE SHIT! YOU NINCOMPOOP! THERE WILL BE WORDS LATER, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?”
Trying to swallow the lump that just appeared in his throat, Flicker nodded.
“THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THAT WICKED IS GOING TO KILL BOTH OF US BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED!”
Oh… that wasn’t good at all. Flicker’s moment of heroism wasn’t going quite as planned. The reality of his situation began to permeate his brain, and he didn’t like this new world he was living in, a world with an angry, pissed off Wicked. Whimpering, Flicker didn’t like this at all.
“What were you thinking?” Doctor Sterling demanded with a stomp of his hoof.
“My life for yours,” Flicker replied, his own voice sounding like a stranger’s in his messed up ears. He saw the doctor’s hard expression soften, his anger melted away, and he saw the doctor shaking his head.
“No, my boy, it doesn’t work that way.” The silver stallion shook his head. “My life for yours. If you had died out there, it would have been a failure that would have reflected poorly upon me. I am supposed to die for you, if necessary. If we are ever in such circumstances that death seems likely, well, it is a teacher’s job to die so that his student might live and go on, having learned a terrible lesson. Such is the natural order of things.”
Even though he had a hard time hearing, Flicker got most of it. He nodded, but he didn’t agree, not at all.
“If you ever disobey one of my direct orders ever again, it will fall upon me to have you flogged or otherwise punished. Please, please don’t ever do that to me. I couldn’t bear it.” The doctor’s eyes glazed over with tears, which he tried to blink away, but failed to do so. “I would find myself detestable should such a thing ever happen.”
“Forgive me, Doctor Sterling.”
“Flicker, you’re like my own son… I’m not in a position to have foals.” A very real look of pain crossed over the doctor’s face for but an instant, and then it was gone. “I have become very fond of you. I have very high expectations for you. But if you ever disobey me and my orders again, I will flog the willfulness out of you myself.”
Feeling a strange, terrible pain emanating from an unknown, unmentionable location, Flicker nodded. With the pain came a severe confusion, a sense of conflict, as he had expected a very different outcome from this situation. He stood rigid, stiff as a plank, and bowed his head to Doctor Sterling as bells continued to ring in his ears.
“Give me a chance to earn your forgiveness, Doctor Sterling.”
A look of raw, terrible cunning flashed in Doctor Sterling’s eyes. “Pass your candle exam, and I might consider the option of forgiveness.”
Oh, that… that was dreadful. Flicker’s rigidness gave way to fearful, worried squirming. So much was riding on his candle exam. His tension caused his stomach to start doing flip-flops and sweat just poured from his frogs. At a loss for words, Flicker couldn’t even say anything, for the fear of failure and the very real chance that he might make a mistake made it very difficult to make a promise that he would do well.
Defeated and half deaf, he hung his head and stared down at his two front hooves.
The little hamlet on the side of the river shrank in the distance, and Flicker watched as it became smaller and smaller. The Don’t Panic was a swift vessel, small and light, and its stem began to turn towards Canterlot. The coal burning engines built up a good head of steam, allowing the ship to go faster and faster.
As they gained altitude, it became considerably cooler, which was nice at first, but then Flicker began to shiver when the wind turned chilly. Piper and Hennessy pressed in against either side of him, mindful of his injuries, trying to keep him warm. For this, Flicker was grateful; friends made excellent barriers against the cold.
When they broke through the clouds, Doctor Sterling appeared on deck with a faded pea green woollen frock coat. He crossed over to where Flicker was, and in total silence, he helped the colt put the coat on. When the coat was on, he stepped back to survey his work, nodding his head in approval.
To Flicker, the coat was a little too big, he didn’t mind. It was warm, if a bit scratchy, but it was also dashing. He wished that he had a sword to go with it. In Canterlot, frock coats were still the height of fashion, and were in no way considered old or out of date. He mourned the loss of his blade, and had a nagging suspicion that Wicked was going to take the loss out of his hide.
“You look very handsome,” Piper remarked, and she gave Hennessy a kick in the leg. “He’s very handsome, isn’t he Mister Walker?”
Blushing, Hennessy nodded as he sidestepped away from Piper and her overenthusiastic kicks. “Ayup. The green is a good contrast with his blues.”
“Were you referring to his coat colour and his mane, or his bruises?” Doctor Sterling’s face was utterly unreadable as he looked Piper in the eye.
“The bruising and its location sort of make it look as though he’s been spanked by alicorns,” Piper said to Doctor Sterling, changing the subject, as she felt as though it was prudent. “I would imagine that an alicorn would give a body a good, thorough spanking with a terrific amount of force.”
Watchful for further kicks, Hennessy began to snigger.
“The two of you did very well for your first excursion.” Doctor Sterling’s words were flat and held no emotion, he spoke as if he was diagnosing something. “Miss Pie, Mister Walker, the two of you will get glowing praise in my report.” Pausing, a sour look crept over the doctor’s face. “However, you, Mister Nicker, it will go down upon your guild record that you deliberately and willfully disobeyed my orders.”
“He’s a little thick, isn’t he?” Piper asked.
Doctor Sterling’s hard expression softened. “It is very difficult to be angry with him. This is the very sort of self-sacrificing attitude that the guild wishes to cultivate. Mister Nicker… Flicker… he has the right attitude, but he needs to temper it with wisdom. If not wisdom, at least a predisposition to follow and obey orders.”
The air became thinner and everypony’s ears began popping. There were yawns, many yawns, as the group adjusted to the higher altitude and thinner air. Even with his frock coat on, Flicker began shivering hard enough to make his teeth clatter; he became the very figure of misery as his stoic mask melted away to reveal a very foalish expression of discomfort.
“Come, come inside with me, let us go belowdecks and we’ll begin our lessons. I have much to teach you.” The doctor gestured at the door. “Mister Nicker, once again, you are my First Mate. Please, do remember to follow my orders. Thank you.”
Many, many hours later…
The first streaks of rose, gold, and orange appeared in the eastern skies of Canterlot. They had made good time, flying high above a patch of storms and avoiding turbulence. The sky outside of the window was still very dark, and Princess Luna’s night still held dominion in the west. Spud, laying upon Piper’s bed, couldn’t be bothered to greet his returning roommates.
Still wearing the pea green frock coat, Flicker went straight to his bed and laid down. He curled up, pulled his pillow over his head, and then just lay there like a lump. Hennessy moved and stood beside the bed, then just stood there, staring at Flicker, not knowing what to say to comfort his friend.
“Surely Wicked will understand that you’ve suffered enough.” Piper’s words sounded as though she was trying to convince herself of their truth. “It feels good to be back, or it should, I’m having a hard time feeling enthusiastic about it though.”
“We’re not going to get much rack time,” Flicker mumbled from beneath his pillow. “Rest if you can, you’ll start training soon.”
“I’m exhausted and sore from our little adventure.” Piper’s voice was a somewhat annoying nasal whine. “I’m still rubbed raw all over my backside from having an accident inside of my suit and then walking around all day.” Pouting, her lower lip protruded and her slender hoof stomped upon the floor.
“If you show any signs of weakness, they’ll only push you harder for your own good. Expect to be broken, especially if they send you to the gymnasium.”
“Piper, what did we get ourselves into?” Hennessy asked.
“I am feeling a bit concerned, Henessy. I suspect that we’re going to find out how Flicker got his superpowers. Oh, this is going to suck mightily, my backside is so tender. I can’t even sit down without wanting to cry.”
“There is some parts of me that is sore, real sore, rubbed raw even.” Hennessy had himself a drawn out slow blink. “Parts of me that rubbed in the wrong way inside of that suit. Next time, I’m gonna be a lot more mindful about what I tuck and where I tuck it.”
“Well, it certainly isn’t much better if you are a filly… one might think it would be, but that is a very foolish assumption, as I have discovered.” Piper let out a wordless whine, and then looked at Flicker in his bunk. “Here we are, complaining about our discomfort, and Flicker is just lying there, looking miserable. This feels like it is going to be a bad day.”
There was a soft knock upon the door, which then opened, and Asterius, the minotaur butler stuck her head in. “Mister Nicker, you are wanted in Mister Chandler’s office right away. Miss Pie, Mister Walker, you are wanted in the gymnasium.”
“What about breakfast?” Hennessy asked.
The minotaur cow’s face scrunched up in a most unpleasant sort of way. “Oh no, you wouldn’t want to eat before going into the gymnasium… that would be foolish. You will be looking the grim spectre of death in the eye within the hour.”
Both Hennessy and Piper gulped as Flicker pulled himself out of bed.
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... But he did follow orders. Doctor Sterling said "run", and Flicker ran. The doctor just failed to specify a direction.
7756501
Yes. And sarcasm will certainly make everything better in this situation.
This is a very confusing statement. Not that I cant understand the wording but the underlying meaning feels muddled. Yes he disobeyed orders but this isn't the military. Militia yes but not military.
I don't know how to put it into words about how I feel about that. If your trying to get somebody to be self sacrificing you cant punish them for being that way since you instilled the value into him. I do hope that Chandler at least listens to Flickers explanation of his calculus of survival.
And Dr. Sterling is incorrect in his own calculus of survival. Yes he is responsible for his young charges, but I'd value a fully trained doctor with years of experience WAY over a trainee, even a gifted one. Unless Sterling has foreknowledge about Flickers destiny the most he can truly be is totally pissed off. Yes they still have to punish Flicker for being disobedient, but in a way that wont undercut his ability to free think when the time is needed.
Also they need to lay OFF Flickers training for a bit. Not just because he needs to heal. They are trying to make a gentleman of him but so far the culture they are trying to instill isn't affecting his worldview enough to get him to the wisdom stage of life since other than his job. They have to be noticing this and the unbalanced mental state he is in. He REALLY isn't appreciating anything else. Getting him interested in something other than rat killing sooner rather than later should really be a top priority since all work and no play isn't good for anyone.
7756538
In this instance, crawling through a sewer is the sort of self sacrifice in question. Living a very unpleasant life doing a very unpleasant job.
That is an immense amount of self sacrifice, and it can be very difficult to cultivate in people. (Or ponies)
For this, a much sillier force is at work. Chivalry. A code of conduct left over from hundreds of years ago. It comes down to a matter of honour. A knight protects his squire at all costs (or they should) because coming home minus one squire means coming home in shame. For Doctor Sterling, a member of the old order, he would rather die than come home in shame.
It doesn't need to make sense, it just is what it is.
As for this line of thought, certain ponies, who are aware of the situation, have taken steps to correct this issue. It is part of the reason why Piper was sent to Canterlot. Flicker had nopony his own age for a whole year. Now, he has Hennessy and Piper. Give him a little time.
I am so very eager to see where this is going, especially after reading 'The Weed'.
I might just check around what you've got hidden in that Weedverse of yours, I feel like there's tons of hidden little gems like what I've discovered here lately.
Here's to reading more of what's to come, cheers!
7756559 TLDR: Author has a plan, trust in the Author.
7756507
Sarcasm? What sarcasm? It's been explicitly stated that Flicker Nicker has no concept of humor.
Or maybe Flicker Nicker also refers to someone who keeps putting nicks in candles where there shouldn't be any.
7756697
It's like reading a Pink Floyd album, good times ahead.
7756783
Fun fact!
As a foal, Flicker Nicker was just Nicker.
Because he wouldn't stop nickering. He was a talkative, teeny, tiny horsie.
He is also responsible for naming his sister, inadvertently, because he walked around saying this mother brought a knick-knack home from the hospital. Other ponies just assumed that was her name. It stuck.
7756797
Fun facts indeed!
7756787
I'm not sure the line "Hey, Teacher, leave them kids alone!" Necessarily fits here...
7756858
That would be the wrong sentiment at the moment.
Well, I suppose that Flicker might develop a taste for fancy clothing, if there is something of culture that he might actually like other then his fieldwork it might actually by fashion, if it makes him feel more like his mentor.
So is it wrong for me to be grinding maniacally waiting for the next chapter and the living hell that these children will endure?
Or am I just not rested enough?
7756864
I can definitely say that Mr. Nicker would probably like to be comfortably numb.
7756559
Ah. So, a different kind of training, then: Social Interaction - Remedial.
7757044
You make an excellent point. Fashion can go with culture.
I do believe that the strange, terrible pain Flicker is trying to describe was his feels.... Doctor Stirling just delivered an emotional lashing so intence, even people reading about it generations from now, in far off universes, will feel a fraction of the sting! (Official entry in the Rat Catcher's Guild record book.)
Don't worry bud, I felt it too.
I couldn't help but feel like Darth Sidious during the last little bit..
Yesss...
Gooood.
7756787
Well, seeing as how Flicker is a budding little proto-fascist, waiting for the worms might be apropos.
7757106
This seemed Appropriate.
7757080
Grinning manically is perfectly acceptable. If you start to feel really guilty about it tho, feel free to join the rest of us guilty faces and put money in the monthly tithe box. It's the one over there labeled Patreon
Things currently running through my head for no particular reason of which I may or may not ever get resolutions for:
1) Am I wrong or is there some budding sense of a crush developing in Piper for Flicker? However, I'm thinking it's leaning a bit more towards 'hero worship' than romantic.
2) I wonder what color Hennessy will turn should he's asked to help slather more of that nasty healing stuff on Flicker's backside.
3) So, the Doc said "Run" and meant "run away". What exactly was the Doc's plan? Did he have one? How exactly was he going to deal with Mr. Froth and Bite exactly anyway?
4) At somepoint, somepony is going to do something towards Flicker in an intimate fashion (I'm guessing a peck on the cheek for a start). I'm expecting Mr. Nicker to more less lock up and think, "What the !@#@%!@#! was that!?" All I'm wondering is, will I have the popcorn available when that finally happens.
7757372
The good doctor is a skilled and capable wizard.
The doctor's plan was to get his charges what he felt was an acceptable distance away, surround the bear with a telekinetic bubble, and then crush it to death. Sure, humongous magic expenditure, leaving the doctor tired and weak, but everyone remains safe. Flicker, being the dope that he is, took a more physical approach.
He's not too bright.
7757381
"Flicker smash!"
7757361
Whatever floats your boat.
7757381
Well someone has to be a foil to Sumac.
>friends make excellent barriers against the cold
Literally the founding lesson of Equestria.
I like Piper's theories on alicorn spanking, it really would leave a mark.
Ouch from somebody who has had both chapped clam and rung bell BOTH suck mightily XD
7761424
for further information on this topic consult the previously mentioned "Alicorny Porny."