The eclipse had ended just about as soon as it had begun, but the feelings it’d brought everypony were far from ephemeral. Even now, in the middle of a park that was blooming with all sorts of summer plants, ponies sat on their blankets as if frozen in time. The light that’d come after the darkness brought an effortless, motionless sort of peace that spread to everypony around to see it.
Coco herself had only gotten up once throughout the event, so she could take a letter to Babs’ school and tell her where the two of them were. Other than that, the past few hours had been spent laying at Bambi’s side, filling her with all sorts of confessions until, eventually, Coco really did find herself feeling better about everything. Better yet, she’d even gotten a few of them out of Bambi herself—the other mare predictably omitted any Orange-related secrets that the two didn’t already know and talked more about her life after the cultish family instead. The way she’d felt after her first article was published, watching her younger sister be born, the sorts of things she would do with her mother before everything went to Tartarus.
The costume designer let out a quiet sigh of relief. All that seemed so far away now, even though she’d just interrogated somepony this week. It’d only been a month or so since the kidnapping, but ever since then, she felt like she’d finally moved straight out of Tartarus and into a better place. Now that she was finally managing to get control over her invasive thoughts, she was finally able to realize that.
Coco hadn’t even thought about him once today, except to tell Bambi about her weird residual feelings for him. And even then, she’d been able to shift onto the next topic just as easily without any lingering emotions. It almost felt like some sort of milestone to her, sad as it was to admit.
Even then, lying against the soft grass, she knew it couldn’t last, and their paths would have to cross again sometime soon. But after that, she promised herself, after the trial, Mosely would be gone forever, both from her mind and her life. For the time being, though, she could definitely afford another day without constantly prepping herself for battle.
At about four in the afternoon, when the conversation had lulled and Coco had begun to reach out for her sunglasses, though, the peace was shattered along with the eclipse. Strangely suspicious carnival music had begun to permeate the area, and the sound of hooves going by soon followed. However, as common as these sorts of odd events were in Manehattan, she figured nothing too bad would come of it, and the next time the noises came, she rolled over onto her side and closed her eyes.
Sure enough, the sounds had faded into background noise surprisingly quickly, and by the time Coco woke up, she wasn’t quite sure what time it was. All she did know was that the sun was still out in the sky—and that a familiar brown filly was poking her as fast as she could.
“Didn’t you hear what’s out there?” Babs asked, quickly moving onto outright shaking her sleeping mother. “You’re not gonna believe it!”
Now that Coco’s eyes had opened enough to see the world, she could tell that there was a strange mixture of excitement and fear in the filly’s eyes. However, the voice alone gave no such impressions—Babs was speaking as loud and fast as she could, as she often did when something was of particular interest to her. Still, Coco hadn’t seen her this excited about anything for several months—and perhaps that meant she was healing, as well.
“Applejack would kill me for wantin’ to do this,” Babs began, “but I saw them out there on my way from school! My uncles are a block away from here, and I may never get this chance again!”
Admittedly, it took Coco a few minutes to connect the odd calliope music to Babs’ family, and once she figured it out, all she could do was facehoof, both at herself and at the situation. Even with all the fuss about her daughter’s parentage, she’d still completely forgotten about her relation to the Flim Flam brothers. Granted, that detail was Mosely’s entire reason for living and messing up everypony else’s lives, but even with that, Coco had never particularly cared about the whole drama. So she was related to a couple of con ponies who had bad reviews a mile wide; didn’t everypony have a few black sheep in their family? She even had a couple of second cousins who were con artists—albeit a different kind of con artist—so really, she had no right to judge.
Judging from the way Bambi was looking at her sister, though, the feeling was mutual between the two older ponies. However, on Bambi’s end, it managed to be yet another strange mixture of sternness and utter confusion.
“I thought you said you were ashamed to be related to them,” she confessed, staring up the filly as oddly as she could.
“Only ‘cause I was afraid Applejack would kick me outta the family. Now that I know she’s not, there’s nothin’ wrong with gettin’ to know them a bit, right?”
However, even with her eagerness towards the situation, the other two mares still weren’t quite convinced, Coco especially. She still didn’t know that much about the two brothers, but the havoc she’d heard about them causing told her all she needed to know. Even if they were family, they certainly weren’t ponies anypony was looking forward to meeting.
But, then again, another part of her asked herself if she was really any different. After all, Coco herself had spent a fair share of time conning ponies into buying knockoffs, and she couldn’t help but wonder how she’d allowed herself to become so judgmental in her new life. As weirded out as Flim and Flam would likely be with some filly showing up and calling herself their niece, Babs had to get to know them eventually.
Bambi, on the other hoof, had no such optimism. She continued to stare skeptically at her sister, sizing up the situation in much the same way Coco had.
“Mom hasn’t even tried to talk to them in years, and there’s gotta be a reason for that,” she muttered, almost to herself. “The way I see it, they’ll either try to take advantage of the situation, or they just don’t care. You could end up getting abandoned again if you get too close, and that’s the last thing I’d want.”
While Bambi had been getting better about not letting herself retreat into her memories, Coco couldn’t help but feel she was having a few internal nightmares of her own. Rather than examining reasonable explanations for their disappearance from Babs’ life, Bambi had automatically gone to the worst-case scenario—and with the way the Oranges treated everypony, Coco couldn’t blame her.
But she could speak up, and she could reverse the situation.
“That’s true, but I think you should have the right to know everypony in your family,” she whispered, touching her filly on her head. “You don’t deserve to be kept from anypony anymore, and if it helps you uncover your past, I’m all for it.”
A tiny smile crossed Babs’ face, which had previously been covered by nerves from Bambi’s statement. Her sister had inadvertently brought up her worst fear, the one that would all too likely stay with her for years after what Mosely had done to her, one that Coco never felt she could fix. But now, she felt quiet power streaming through her, distinct from her bouts of courage in the best of ways. It was the feeling of never being alone or abandoned, and more than anything, her whole body ached to share it.
“And even if they do end up leaving in the end…you’ve still got us, right?”
For what felt like the first time—and for what could’ve very well been the first time—the three ponies gathered together in a hug and went onwards to their next quest.
****
Like sirens themselves, somehow the Flim Flam brothers always seemed to attract a crowd in spite of their reputation. The makeshift stage they’d constructed on one of Manehattan’s busiest street corners was surprisingly stage-quality, filled with bells, whistles, and the occasional explosions. The circus-like atmosphere was so overwhelming, Coco could barely even tell what it was that they were selling, but there was one thing she did know. An ornate blackboard said that their showcase ran hourly and that, in ten minutes’ time, they were due for a break.
It’d be a break they wouldn’t forget, if she had anything to do about it.
While sneaking in backstage and waiting until somepony moved would seem like the creepiest method possible to many ponies, Coco had enough knowledge of theatre-like settings to know that it would get the best results. As the three hid in plain sight, Bambi already appeared to be working on an alibi in case the con ponies didn’t appreciate being snuck up on.
“You’re going to lie about writing an article again?” Coco questioned as soon as Bambi had spelled out her plan. Thinking about the last time her roommate had done that—and the night she’d gotten the worst news of her entire life—was enough to make her forget that she was supposed to stay quiet.
“Don’t underestimate me,” scoffed Bambi. “This time, the article is real. A whole week-long, front page series, even. It goes out next week, though, so technically, it’s too late to include them in it…but Flim and Flam don’t need to know that, do they?”
Judging from the look Coco saw on Babs’ face, she was just as shocked as her mother was that Bambi was actually trying to outcon two of the most crooked ponies around. Judging from her insanely confident composure, though, Bambi either didn’t know or didn’t care, and considering the types of ponies she’d been raised around, Coco had a feeling it was the latter.
When Flim and Flam—whichever one was which, Coco thought to herself—entered the backstage area and noticed three unexpected visitors, they nearly had a heart attack, and she made a mental note to tell Applejack about their laughably dramatic faces later. However, by the time they’d approached the unfamiliar mares, Bambi was already launching into her typical newsmare spiel.
“I’m with the Manehattan Times,” she began, brandishing her ID card like a police badge. “And I think the two of you would be perfect for our next article.”
Coco wasn’t quite sure how intimidating them would get their plan across, but sure enough, the two stallions gave each other equally nervous looks. They even leaned up against each other in some sort of makeshift huddle, going over various ways they could keep the papers off their tails in the loudest whispers she’d ever heard. It only took a few seconds for Bambi to break their defensive stance and, therefore, leave them at her mercy. She was truly working her family’s magic, as much as she would’ve hated to admit it.
For perhaps the first time, Coco was grateful to have at least one Orange on her side.
Just when Flim and Flam were about to run off into the next town over, Bambi stopped them in their tracks and gave everypony else a knowing wink.
“It’s just a pony interest piece, really,” she continued. “Nothing accusatory at all. If anything, getting your name in lights like these might improve your reputation a bit. Imagine how many more of these things you could sell if you jumped onto the next big Equestrian trend?”
After yet another unnecessary huddle, the two brothers still looked at Bambi with mild skepticism, but anypony there could tell they were already beginning to ease up. Being the first to jump onto the next new fad had to be enviable to just about anypony, Coco figured from the looks on their faces.
“If I may ask,” one of them spoke up, “what exactly is this mysterious trend?”
For the sake of her sanity, Coco sincerely hoped both of them didn’t talk like that. As much as she would’ve liked to think she was over certain things in her life, smooth-talking stallions still gave her a certain level of pause, and this one had a melodic sound to his voice that seemed all too familiar. She took a deep breath, praying that the weird voices wouldn’t rope themselves into her head again, and kept listening.
“Genealogy. A lot of ponies these days are interested in looking at their family trees, but it seems some of the branches were lost years ago. Many ponies, for whatever reason, either aren’t listed in their family registries or were wiped from the records altogether. Anyway, we’ve been researching ancestry records for months, and it seems you have a lost relative in the area. I brought her here so you can meet up with her, and later you can come in for a—“
“There is no interview, is there?” another voice asked, one that was, unfortunately for Coco, almost exactly the same as his brother’s.
Sure enough, the two of them were already back to having the upper hoof of the situation, as Bambi’s shock instantly gave away her lie. To be precise, she both facepalmed and cursed under her breath as soon as she heard the mustached stallion’s accusation.
“I swear to Celestia, the one time I actually need Orange skills…”
She rubbed her forehead as if the whole incident itself was giving her a migraine. Judging by what the brothers were about to say, though, Coco wouldn’t have doubted that it actually was giving her one.
“So all the articles are true, brother of mine. The Oranges really are losing their touch.”
“Come to think of it,” the other chimed in, getting uncomfortably close to the newsmare, “I had a feeling you reminded me of somepony.”
Now, it seemed, it was everypony else’s cue to facehoof. And, for the ponies who knew Bambi best, to bunker down for the inevitable explosion that came with pressing the one button of somepony who didn’t have very many to begin with.
“If you’re about to say Mosely Orange, our deal is up, and I will buck you in the face. Both of you. Repeatedly. So hard you’ll need to start selling medical supplies.”
Then, with probably the most innocently creepy Orange grin Coco had ever seen, the other mare added, “But I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and let you meet your niece. After all, nice, upstanding ponies like you wouldn’t dare compare me to my monster of a father, would they?”
Coco was officially thanking the stars above that Bambi hadn’t crossed over to the Orange side a long time ago.
“It was just a slip of the tongue, really,” one brother piped in. “Don’t think anything of it, miss.”
“Except, if I may ask, how could we have a lost relative, anyway? The only pony I can think of who could have a kid…”
As easy as it was to think that the Skims lacked compassion of any kind, from the way the two hung their heads at roughly the same time, Flynn’s death still had to have at least some impact on them. Unfortunately, not even Cameo knew how close he’d been to his brothers, and judging from the way he’d gone off in his own direction, Coco had always wondered if they’d still resented him a bit. Yet none of that seemed to show in their expressions, and for a moment, they looked like two regular siblings mourning a loss.
Before the two ponies could get lost in their tears for too long, though, Bambi gestured for Babs to come out from behind her. Though her red mane was a little lighter, had a few less white streaks in it, and was far more unruly, it was nevertheless unmistakable. The filly looked to the brothers and back to herself and, for what could’ve been the first time in her life, felt like she belonged with a particular group of ponies.
“It’s a long story,” Bambi began, “and one that my father kept you from knowing for a long time. He may not be able to apologize to you now—and I know he never will anyway—but I can, at least. If either of you remember a mare named Cameo Citrus, I was her daughter, and so…I got to know your brother just about as well as anypony could have. And this filly, Babs Seed, is one of the few things he left on Equestria, and the greatest, if I have anything to say about it.”
Out of all the emotions Coco would have expected Flim and Flam would’ve felt, the one she was seeing was not one of them. Rather than dwelling on it for too long, the brothers stared at Babs and back at themselves…and instantly began to gloat.
“I knew that stallion was keeping something from us!” one of them said. “When your sister-in-law’s ex comes over and tells you your dead brother didn’t leave you anything, he’s almost always up to something. But I guess our grief ended up breaking our lying sense, didn’t it?”
The other twin—Coco still couldn’t tell them apart and, at this point, had stopped trying to—gave a quick nod of understanding, yet Bambi’s eyebrows raised to frightening levels as soon as she heard the exchange.
“Lying sense? Really?”
If anything, Coco was far more confused about why Mosely had visited Flim and Flam in the first place, since that would’ve made it all too easy for them to pick up his tracks. But, if Rarity’s friend Pinkie had a family full of “senses,” at least some of the day’s events would make more sense if the Skims had their own, too.
“Of course. If we come up with a scheme, and it doesn’t pass our lying sense, we know it’s too dumb to try. To be fair, we called your interview thing a mile away, but we figured we’d get something good out of it if we played along…and we did.”
Any illusion that the Skims were emotionless salesmen faded as soon as they laid eyes on Babs, who very well could’ve been the only family they had left. As quickly as they could, they took down their timing chart, closed the stand for the day, and whisked Babs off to who knows where to do whatever it was newly minted eccentric uncles did. It was then that both older mares realized that the scheme hadn’t been the wisest idea, but hey, at least the brothers had asked before taking the filly aside.
As the newly reunited family strode off into the sunset of a perfectly eclipsed day, Coco whispered to Bambi, “We’re still tailing them, though, right?”
Her roommate stared at her in satisfaction and maybe even a hint of love.
“Definitely.”
****
Meanwhile, on another side of Manehattan, Coco’s mailbox was barraged with various parcels, all waiting for her return. The mailpony had thought nothing of it when he brought them over, but this particular shipment would change the costume designer’s life. Three of them, in fact, were weapons enough to guarantee her relaxed days would be over for the time being.
Most of them were bills, invitations to parties, and all the other various things you would expect a rising star like herself to receive. But just as letters had caused her no end of strife in the past, the three most recent ones came from unusual sources. Two from Manehattan’s largest courthouse, and one from Manehattan’s prison.
By all means, none of them should have possibly made it to Coco’s residence, yet here they were. The complications that brought them into existence were impossible to comprehend, yet they could be denied no longer. And yet, contrary to expectations, the prison mail would have the least impact—it was little more than a Trottingham travel brochure. A plan that Coco already knew about, and had already foiled to the best of her ability.
However, the other two came as if they were formed from the eclipse itself, and if the light could not fully shine without darkness, these would be the last two desperate obstacles to its radiance.
The first document was simple and to the point—due to high public demand, Mosely Orange’s trial had been moved up five days. In just a week’s time, Coco would have to put her life and everything she knew on the line in her ultimate quest to conquer the pony she’d fought so many times already.
The second, though, had meddling written all over it. The threats, the moving, it would be nothing compared to the contents of that letter. The hardest part of her task, it seemed, would have to get even harder.
All hope was not lost. Rather, the one pony just about everypony in Equestria wanted to fall into despair had found it yet again. It was that hope, perhaps, that made him so dangerous.
It should have been a legal impossibility, something no reasonable pony would think of. But Mosely Orange had stopped being a reasonable pony a long time ago.
Coco Pommel had been called as a witness…for both the prosecution and the defendant.
CURTAIN
~end of Act Four~