By Darkryt Orbinautz
Eviler Than Thou
Chapter 2
Of Crushes and Brothers
At the notion of having escaped the Headless Horse, Trixie eyes remained wide and blank as a white egg. The machine they were riding hit a few bumps in the road, showing just how long it was taking for the dark blue pony's sense to return to her.
Soon, it did...along with something else. Now it was her turn to fall on her back in uproarious laughter. The Headless Horse? Everypony knew that was just a pony's tail, meant for scaring misbehaving little fillies and colts who wouldn't go to sleep, the terror of hearing the Headless Horse's description meant to change the 'wouldn't' to a 'can't'.
Trixie swept her hoof across her face in a effort to stifle her laughter and regain her composure. Having a few more weak laughs died their way out of her mouth. She had to ask these two something. "D-do you really think that the Headless Horse is real?"
Flam and Flim turned their heads towards each other, as if asking the other one the same question.
"Well," Flam said uncertainly, scraping a hoof at the vehicle's floor. "We did some business research before deciding to set up shop here. We found out that a lot of ponies that were trying to get to Trottingham late at night were attacked by an unseen unicorn that threw green fire at them..."
"Rumors are abound about it being the Headless Horse. Nothing's really come to support that particular theory..." Flim added shyly.
"But nothing to really contradict it either."
"Hmm." Trixie said, chancing a glance back at her cape and hat, gently billowing in a mock-wind by the movement of the vehicle. She pursed her lips, wondering why these two colts saved her. "Why did you two save Trixie?"
They both smiled and chuckled. "Well, both of us know that when you see a comatose mare floating on the water, the polite thing to do is pick her up and take her to the hospital."
"But, uh," Flim stuttered. "Since you're up and well, I imagine you can limp to Trottingham's hospital by yourself, then?
"NO!" Trixie yelled. The Flim Flam Brothers recoiled back at her sudden increase in volume. "Dah...what Trixie means is...er." Trixie tripped over her words. She didn't want to admit to them- or to herself, even- but she had been scared last night, and at the moment, the idea of company for her next attempt to get inside Trottingham seemed inviting. "Trixie would...ah, like escorts to Trottinham, if you two colts would be so kind?"
The Flim Flam Brothers exchanged leers at each other, no doubt trying to decide whether to be as such for Trixie.
Trixie, seeing their hesitance, panicked. She really didn't want to push her luck trying to go Trottingham alone. She tried to think of something to persuade them...persuade! There was her ticket!
"Please, sirs," Trixie pleaded, crisscrossing her front hooves fearfully and fluttering her eyelashes at them, trying to make her face as disarmingly cute as possible. "Trixie is ever so scared that the Headless Horse might attack her again." Her voice faltered at that admission. She was trying to say it in a cute manner, but as that was very much something she was actually afraid of, her fear showed through.
Flam regarded her curiously. Distrustfully, even. Trixie got the idea that he was familiar with the tactic she was employing. To her relief, though, Flim, on the other hoof, had his tail raised while a blush formed on his cheeks.
"Oh...I guess we can let you hang around with us for awhile."
Flam gave Flim a disapproving look. He didn't disagree with his brother often, but he had a bad feeling about the cute way the mare was carrying herself. He hooked his front leg around Flim's shoulders and smiled friendlily at Trixie. "Say, Trixie? Could you go to the back of the Super Speedy Cider Squeezey for a moment? I'd like to talk to my brother alone."
Trixie blinked in confusion. "The what?"
"That's the name of this beauty right here." Flim brushed his hoof against the floorboard affectionately.
"Oh, okay. Yeah, sure!" Trixie turned and galloped off the platform, landing on another one that was still part of the machine, but just the tiniest bit closer to the ground. She trotted over to the edge of this one and sat down there on her haunches.
Now with enough distance between them that Trixie couldn't hear them if they talked quietly, Flam rounded on his twin. "What are you thinking, Flim? This mare is obviously some sort of-of- scammer!"
"Takes one to know one." Flim said.
Flam narrowed his eyes. "Oh, you, of all ponies, cannot tell me that."
Flim looked down at floorboards and frowned. "Yeah, that's true...but, she said she was afraid of the Horse coming after her, so..."
"Didn't you see the way she was making her eyes look?" Flam questioned, crossing his front legs.
Flim raised an eyebrow at his twin. "Did you?" he shot back.
Flam gritted his teeth. "I mean it, Flim! I'm telling ya, this mare is bad news!"
Flim glared at Flam, uncertain what to do to quell his brother's temper. "Tell you what, Flam: We take her with us to Trottingham. Then, after we set up business, we part ways?"
Flam scratched his beard in thought. "That's a good plan, actually. I like it! Let's do that." he cleared his throat and turned around to yell. "You can come on back now, Trixie!"
Trixie got up off her seat and trudged back up besides them, using her magic to levitate her now-dried clothes off their lightbulb-hung line and clasping them back on their proper places on her neck and head. She walked up besides Flim and yawned.
"It seems...Trixie is more tired from her ordeal then she thought." Trixie slowly lowered herself to her belly with and curled up besides Flim. She looked adorable, curled up like that.
"Oooowh!" Flim cooed at the sight. He looked up at Flam. "Think you can keep driving the machine?"
Flam rolled his eyes, but nodded his head.
Flim lowered himself the same way Trixie had and wrapped his tail and head around her, burying his muzzle into her the cape on her neck.
Celestia's sun hung up overhead. When it's position had finally shifted enough for a mortal pony to notice, the Super Speedy Cider Squeezey was rolling smoothly down a gold brick road. Except it wasn't a gold brick road, it was regular bricks painted over in very dark yellow and glitter to make it look that way. Trottingham ponies were like that.
Flim kept curled around Trixie, his eyes closed in faux. He wasn't actually asleep just yet, but Flam knew he would be soon if left undisturbed. He pushed Flim on the shoulder, causing him to jostle, which caused Trixie to stir in turn.
Flim rubbed the sleep from his eyes while Trixie blinked twice in dawning. She yawned, putting her hoof to her mouth to be polite. "The Great and Powerful Trixie...demands...aaaaaawn."
"We're here, you two." Flam informed them. "Trottingham."
That caused both to become awake and alert. They scrambled to get up, Trixie accidentally smacking Flim in the belly as she got up.
There it was. Trottingham, the Super Speedy Cider Squeezey parked just outside an alleyway that led into the city. The bell tower was just as visible here as it was outside in the forest. Now in breathing distance of the city's air, Trixie felt something about it. It was a lot like Canterlot, but it was missing...something. Something that Canterlot was known for. It was missing it's...charm? No. Upperclass feeling? No...
Snobbishness, Trixie realized. It was lacking Canterlot's snobbishness.
"Well, brother of mine, shall we start our sales pitch?" Flim asked. Flam smiled devilishly and nodded. Flim started making some adjustments to the Sqeezey machine with his magic, then he raised a curious eyebrow at Trixie. "Say, Trixie, my dear? Would you be willing to participate in our little song and dance?"
Trixie gave a blank stare. "Um...explain to Trixie what you mean."
Flim started walking towards another section of the Sqeezey machine. "What I mean is, we're here to set up a cider shop. If we could you taste our cider in front of the townsfolk and tell them what you think?"
Trixie was about to answer yes when a problem with this plan made itself it clear to her. "What if Trixie does not like your cider?"
Flim chuckled, a mischievous gleam in his eye. "Why, it'll show we were honest enough ponies not to pay you off to compliment our cider!"
"And it'll show that our fine machine isn't working right." Flam added.
"Trixie...will do this thing you ask of her."
With a mutual cry of 'Great!" The Flim Flam Brothers blasted their machine with their magic. It started making loud, obnoxious noises that Trixie found irritating. Underneath those noises though, Trixie could wooden doors opening and closing. She looked up to see ponies coming out of their homes to investigate the source of the noise. Of course! Brilliant! The machine made those obnoxious sounds, ponies came out to investigate, then the Brothers showed off their wares.
"What the hay is going on?" An extremely dark blue, brown-maned earth pony with a constellation Cutie Mark swore.
"What's this?" A yellow unicorn with a blue mane exclaimed.
"How bizarre!" A pegasus that was pink in both mane and coat yelped.
The crowd quickly grew, but all of sudden they began parting, as if a Princess was walking down. It turned out there wasn't a princess, but a dark white earth pony with a curled grey mane in a white robe and small, round glasses on his noise came rushing through. "I say, I say, what is the commotion about?" Based on the glasses, posture, and the Cutie Mark like a book being flipped through, Trixie got the feeling he was the town minister.
The Flim Flam Brothers blasted the machine again, which made it shut up (to Trixie's relief). Then they turned around to face the minister, bowed and tipped their hats. "The Flim Flam Brothers would like to offer their services to the good folks of Trottingham!"
"Give me a break..." The dark blue earth pony grumbled. Trixie was starting to get the impression he was a very cranky colt.
The minister put a hoof to his chin. "Well, we actually haven't had a decent cider store around here for quite some time now..."
"So you'll give us a space to set up, then?" Flam asked teasingly.
"Not so fast there, sonny." The minister replied. "I said we hadn't had a decent cider store; is your cider decent?"
"A valid question!" Flim answered with a thin smile. "See this spellbinding mare with us on our fair machine?"
The crowd looked at Trixie and nodded. Flam gave Flim a dubious look.
Trixie, for her part, flushed and shook her hoof away. "Oh, stop! You flatter Trixie!"
"We found her out on the road." Flim explained. "and she has so generously agreed to taste our cider in front of you all."
"We'd like to take a second to tell you all that Trixie has never tasted our cider before AND has not, in any, been bribed to compliment our beverage! Her reaction will be one-hundred percent genuine!"
The crowed murmured, and the minister kept an eye on the Brothers.
The machine whirred to life, a series of pings and dings coming out of it, and when it was done, Flam levitated a mug filled with frothy cider out from an unseen compartment and levitated in front of Trixie, motioning for her to take it with her magic, who did so. Trixie nervously brought to her lip and tilted the mug upwards, taking a gentle sip.
She levitated it away, and saw the Trottingham ponies looking at her expectantly for her verdict. She took another, larger swig of the cider and smacked her lips, trying to decided how she felt about it.
"...Soothing." She said at last. The crowd murmured at the vague judgement, then a few curious mares stepped forward to try it themselves. Flam and Flim gave them each a mug, and they all reacted positively.
"I like it!"
"Seems legit."
"I wouldn't mind having this around the block..."
Flam rubbed his hooves together in anticipation. "So, does that mean you'll give us a space, then?"
"Not so fast!" The minister said suddenly and powerfully. "Bring one of those mugs here."
"With pleasure!" Flam said, pulling out another mug and levitating it to the minister's grasp. He grabbed it with his hoof, then he reached into his robe and pulled out some green powder.
"This powder will test whether this cider has unholy spirits." The minister explained.
Flim and Flam exchanged confused glances.
The minister dropped the green powder into the cider. At first, nothing happen, leading Trixie and the Brothers to suspect the powder didn't actually work. But then the cider started boiling, and a cloud of white smoke puffed out of it.
That was apparently a good thing, as the minister walked up and gave the mug back, pulled out a map out of his robe and forked it over. "The white spaces are blank spots. Set up at any one of them. I might ask you do so by the malt shop. Celestia knows they could split the rush in rush hour..."
The cranky colt sputtered and stammered. "Minister! You're just going to let these strange ponies in, just like that? What are you thinking?" The colt turned around and tromped off in a huff.
"What's his issue?" Trixie questioned.
The minister adjusted his glasses and apologized. "I'm sorry...you'll have to excuse Orion. Somepony rang the bell last night."
"Yes, Trixie heard." Trixie said, then decided to clarify. "The bell, I mean. I heard the bell."
"Pardon me for asking, minister, but what's so wrong about the bell being rung? That is what it's there for, right?" Flim asked.
The minister shook his head. "Indeed. But it's supposed to be rung in celebration, like a holiday or a wedding. No such thing was happening last night, and somepony rang the bell anyway. I would think that letting that rumor perpetuate would put a stop to this, but apparently not."
"Rumor?" The ponies on the machine asked in unison. "What rumor?"
"I don't believe it myself...but legend says that when the bell is rung without reason that it disturbs the slumber of the Headless Horse."
Flim, Flam, and Trixie's eyes all widened. "The Headless Horse?"
"Is that what I said? That's what I meant to say."
Flim, Flam, and Trixie looked at each other uncertainly, not sure whether to tell the minister about Trixie's encounter with the green fire. They all silently agreed with their eyes against it.
"Let me guess...you had an encounter with green fire that wouldn't go out, didn't you?"
Trixie and the Flim Flam Brothers looked at the minister in surprise.
"How did you-" Flim began.
"Know?" The minister finished. He chuckled. "You should be careful what you say with your eyes. Everypony can see them, after all." On that cryptic note, the minister turned around and walked off, presumably to go back to the church.
After he left, Flam turned to Trixie. "So, Great and Powerful Trixie, think you can be by yourself from here on out?"
Trixie nodded, swiveling her hat dramatically. "Of course! The Great and Powerful Trixie has no need of escorts once inside city walls!"
Flam scoffed at this, while Flim looked downtrodden. Trixie didn't know why, but seeing Flim with his head down like that bugged her slightly. She shook the feeling off and jumped down from the machine onto the Trottingham floor and went on her way.
Later that evening, Trixie headed to the nearest hotel she could find. She didn't know whether or not she'd be staying here yet, so she wasn't keen on the idea of having to pay full-rent for a part-time stay at the apartment. She gave the recepstinost some bits she thankfully had instead on her person, rather then her wagon.
Her thoughts began to drift...her wagon. Was it still there, out in the forest, burnt but intact? Or did the second time it ignited finish it off for good? Signing, she shook those thoughts from her head and climbed up the hotel stairs to her room. She didn't notice a pony make his way through the hotel entrance behind her, or if she did, she didn't care.
She came to the room with her number on it, put the card key in, and entered. It wasn't a bad room, entirely. The bed looked comfy and sturdy enough, the television was a decent size, and the bathroom smelled clean.
There was a knock on the door. Trixie got a bit worried and confused. Who did she know that would want to see her at this hour?...and how did they know what room she was in?
Quietly, she edged towards the door and put her ear to the door, thinking she might be able to hear something that would tell her who -or what- was outside her door.
Whoever it was, it knocked again, the acoustics of the impact hurting her ear.
"Aaagck!" She rubbed her ear sorely, the pain now replacing her fear with anger. Using her magic to make her cape billow, she started preparing to talk down whoever was on the other side of the door."Who dares-"
It was Flim.
"Oh, hello, Flim." Trixie said with boredom.
"Hello again, Great and Powerful Trixie." Flim greeted back in that suave, con-mare voice of his.
"What can I do for you?"
"Well, Flam and I have everything ready to start sales tomorrow, so I was thinking, maybe, if you wouldn't mind, perhaps, if you're not too busy-" Flim started making nervous hoof gestures.
"Trixie is not a fan of stalling in her conversation." Trixie snarled.
"Right, right..." Flim tried to puff out his chest proudly, but it deflated. He took in a very, very, deep breath and circled his hoof nervously. "Miss Great and Powerful Trixie..."
"Would you go out on a date with me?"