//------------------------------//
// Of Dates and Scares 
// Story: Eviler Than Thou 
// by Darkryt Orbinautz 
//------------------------------//

By Darkryt Orbinautz

Eviler Than Thou

Chapter 3

Of Dates and Scares




Trixie stood unblinkingly in the door, slumped against the door's support beams. She was unable to decide her answer to Flim's question. A gentle-let down? A harsh and biting rejection? A 'I'll get back to you on that?'

Trixie shifted her eyes away. What was she thinking? This stallion and his brother had helped her at no cost at all after she'd nearly drowned. Surely, a date could be the least she could do in repayment. Not that the Great and Powerful Trixie had any intention of showing this sentiment.

"Trixie believes a date with you would take her mind off...recent events."

Flim's shy demeanor dematerialized and gave way to elation. "Really? You will?"

"Trixie believes she just said that." Trixie irritably told him. How much did it take for this colt to forget something that was just said? "Where would Flim like to go?"

Flim eyes widened in realization. "Uh...to be honest, miss Trixie, Flim-I mean, I didn't think I get this far."

Trixie smacked her mouth together. This colt asks a beautiful mare to go out on a date with him, gets a yes in answer, and doesn't know what he wants to even do with her!? Signing in both body and mind, she mentally recomposed herself. Remember why you're doing this, Trixie. she thought to herself.

Trixie put her hoof under her chin. "Mmm...perhaps..." she tried to think of possibilities, but she was only familiar with a few places in Trottingham...the motel, which they were at right now, where ever the Flim Flam brothers had parked the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 3000, and...the bell tower. Investigating the pony who'd been ringing the bell sound more intimidating then relaxing to her, so that left the Squeezy by process of elimination.

"Er, perhaps you could take Trixie back to your Cider machine and get her and your brother to know each other a little better?"

Flim seemed to resist this idea. Trixie didn't know it, but he was afraid, based on her mentioning of him, that Trixie had actually fallen for his twin, rather than him. "I'd rather we not..."

"What was that?"

"I said, why don't we trot?" Flim offered his hoof to Trixie. Trixie examined, indecisive as to whether or not she should take it. She looked at his eyes, which starting to look fearful from the apparent rejection of his offer. Rolling her own, she took the hoof and let him walk her out of the room, out of the hotel, out into Trottingham's streets.

"So, Miss Great and Powerful Trixie," Flim said her name, no doubt in an effort to make small talk. "What brings you to Trottingham to start with?"

"Trixie is a traveling showpony." Trixie answered with a tedium in her voice. "She came to Trottingham after her last act failed spectacularly to try to set up a permanent residence. A place to retreat when she needs a break from the road, if you will."

Flim nodded. "Ah...I understand. We'll need a break every now and again, don't we? Hey..." Flim pointed to the adjacent street.

A yellow unicorn with a blue mane who struck Flim and Trixie as familiar and the pink pegasus who had liked the Brothers' cider were walking and chatting to themselves.

"You'll think he'll try again tonight?"

"Of course he will. Why wouldn't he? The new cider store? I doubt that will scare him off."

Trixie froze. He'll try again tonight? Who'll try again tonight? Oh, Celestia, please don't be the Headless Horse. Please don't be the Headless Horse! "Flim!" Trixie grabbed her date's shirt and threw him the other ponies direction. "Go make sure they're not talking about the Headless Horse!"

Flim dusted himself and gave a Trixie a questioning look, but he did as his crush had told him to, beckoning the mares for their attention. "Yoo-hoo! Ladies! Could I trouble you to ask you something?"

The two mares leered at him for his (to them) eccentric greeting. "Well...you just did." the pegasus chuckled. "But go on."

"Yes, well, me and my lovely date," Flim gestured to Trixie. "couldn't help overhearing your conversation and we were wondering...are you talking about the Headless Horse?"

The two looked to each other. "Who are you?"

"Why do you want to know?"

Flim tipped his hat and bowed. "Flim of the Flim Flam Brothers."

The pegasus recognized his name from earlier. "Oh! You were the ones with the delectable cider!"

"Yes we were. I'm so sorry to trouble you like this, but my date appears to be concerned about something..."

"Does she now?" The unicorn said. "Lemon Hearts. This is Pink Cloud. We were discussing the pony who was ringing the bell."

"Oh?" Flim raised an eyebrow. "Do tell!"

"Everypony knows not to ring the bell." Pink Cloud told him. "The only ponies we can think of who would do it are either foals or tourists who don't know better...or somepony who's doing it anyway."

"We were gonna go find out who was doing it and make it stop, hopefully." Lemon Hearts added. "In fact, come to think of it, why is your date so interested in our business? Maybe it's because..." Lemon pointed. "She's the one that's doing it!"

"What!?" Flim yelped, caught off-guard. Thankfully, Pink Cloud came to Trixie's defense.

"Lemon, that's ridiculous! She and the Flim Flam brothers only just got here, and the bell's been being rung for days now!"

"Maybe now that the ringers have their cider shop set up, they'll have stopped!" Lemon Hearts exclaimed.

"Or maybe the cider-makers and their assistant are just ponies who were in the wrong place at the wrong time! We're going to go the bell tower and find out!" Pink Cloud snapped. Before anything else could be said, she wrapped her her leg around Lemon Hearts' shoulder and proceeded to drag her away.

Flim returned to Trixie. "There. Did you hear that? Not the Headless Horse, Trixie. Now, may we go on?"

"Of course." Trixie quietly said, giving her hoof to Flim again. They resumed their pace. Completely unawares that on another corner of the street, watching the whole scene as it unfolded was...

Orion.




Trixie and Flim continued until they finally reached the location the town minister had allocated for them. It was indeed adjacent to the malt shop the minister had requested they parked next to. Flam was unnecessarily polishing the cider mugs, presumably for lack of a better thing to do.

Flim actually remained quiet, still quite sure he didn't like the idea of Trixie talking to Flam in this context.

"Err, Flam!" Trixie shouted, eager to end the awkward silence. "How do you do?"

Flam paused at hearing Trixie's voice, then slowly put the mug he was polishing back on the shelf amongst it's companion pieces. "Fine." he said after a very, very, pregnant pause.

Trixie tried to smile at both brothers, but her smile was quite clearly forced. She was picking up, quite clearly, that Flam wasn't entirely happy about seeing her for some reason.

"Flim, leave me and Trixie alone for juuust a second, will you?"

Flim's mouth hung open. "What? Really?"

"It'll just be a second, I assure you, brother of mine."

Flim was angry, but he couldn't find the words to properly express his feelings. If he told them what it was he was fearing, Flam would most certainly be offended that his brother couldn't trust him, and Trixie probably laugh at him. Somewhat moodily, he trotted off.

"Okay, Flam!" Trixie tried her best to maintain her smile. "What did you want to talk about?"

Flam gave her a glare with quite some menace in it. He trotted up to her and grabbed the clasp of her cloak with her hoof. "You listen here, and you listen good; We've known each other for less then two days, and my brother is infatuated with you."

"Trixie has noticed."

Flam shook her. "I'm sure she has. Now, it would be just dreadful were my brother's feelings...toyed with." he shook her again. "Capiche?"

"Trixie capiches! Trixie capiches!"

"Good." Flam snarled before letting her from his grasp. He formed a cup around his mouth with his hooves to enhance his audio. "Fliiiiim! You can come back now!"

Flim reappeared, still looking quite sulky, but he went up to Trixie and sat down beside her. "So, what did you two talk about?"

"...Relationships." Flam answered. "So, now that we're done, I believe I can trust you two lovebirds from this point." The bearded twin turned around to walk off, but gave Trixie a warning glance over his shoulder.

Flim, confused by his brother's gesture, scratched his head. "What was that about?"

"Trixie...does not know." Trixie said quickly.

"Oh well." Flim shrugged. He blasted the SSCS3K with his magic and offered the cider from it to Trixie in a mug. "May I offer you a beverage?"

"Trixie would be offended if you didn't." Trixie thanked him and took the mug into the grasp of her own magic. Lacking much else to do, they gave a toast with their mugs before taking a swig each.

Flim, his upper lip now stained with foam from the brew, seemed to look reserved about something.

Trixie's nerves lightened up from the cider's taste, but her expression was creased with concern as she noticed Flim's body language. "Flim? Are you okay?"

Flim signed and shook his head. "This...hasn't been a very romantic date, has it?"

Trixie felt something she wasn't quite used to feeling; the need to comfort a pony. Namely, Flim. She reached her hoof and touched it to his shoulder. "Don't talk like that, Flim! It's been plenty romantic!"

"We walked out a of hotel, got you freaked out about the Headless Horse, and you spent fifty seconds talking to my brother instead of me."

Trixie, unable to argue with this, just took another chug of her cider.

Minutes later, both unicorns had ingested enough the appletastic cider to start having their judgements impaired and their speeches slurred. They started telling each other stories about their life they were just that: Stories, which had actually been conjured by their cider-fueled imagination.

"Scho, thish one time, ah was, ah wash- ahh, what was ah doing? Oh, shewt! Ah can't remember!" Flim clopped his hooves together in a motion resembling a snap.

"That'sh okay, Fli-Fli...Fin!" Trixie slurred back in response. "Ah can't 'member nuthin' neither!"

Schomething about Trixie's grammar ticked at Flim. "That doeshn't schound right..." but in his stupor, he didn't really care enough to pursue the matter.

He was about to take another chug of his cider when he felt something chomp down on his head. "What?" He tried to feel what it was with his hoof- it was Trixie's hat! He faced Trixie. "Trixie, what'sh goin' on?"

"What'sch going on, ish that you and I...are gonna have schome fun! Firsht, I put my hat on you, then..." Trixie grabbed Flim's necktie and yanked it off, throwing it to the floor of the SSCS3K.

"Then I..." Trixie undid the clasp of her cloak, and provocatively writhed off herself, making sure to wiggle her hips and midsection. She put her front hooves on his shoulders and pushed him to his back on the ground.

Flim, catching on, proceeded to reach for the bottom of his ssshirt and began to pull it up over himshelf. He was almost ready for him and Trixie to engage in-

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The high-pitched scream brought to the two almost-loving on each ponies crashing back to their rightful senses. Realizing what had happened and what they were about to do, they scrambled to make themselves decent and stand up straight. In their rush and hurry their clothes back on, they managed to end dressed in the others' clothing. Flim in Trixie's cloak and hat, Trixie in Flim's necktie and barbershop shirt.

"Trixie! Flim!" Flam exclaimed, rushing out to meet them. "Are you two okay!?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're fine." Flim assured him. "But since we're fine...who's not?"

The three of them looked up and down, wondering who or what made that scream. They saw a kelp-colored earth pony come galloping down the sidewalk blazing fast.

"Exsuce me, sir!" Flim called after him. "Are you perchance heading to the source of that terrifying scream?"

"Yes!" The pony screamed over his shoulder. "If you're planning on the doing the same, I suggest you hurry!"

The three unicorns looked to each other, as if one was asking the other two what they wanted to do. With a collective nod, it was settled. They galloped after the fading image of the earth pony, eventually joining and being joined by other ponies who rushed out of their beds or otherwise stopped what they were doing to come out and investigate.

The herd of makeshift investigators reached a horde of ponies quickly amassing at the entrance to...the bell tower!

"Calm down, calm down." Trixie could hear the minister saying to somepony. "Breaking down now won't help her at all. Now, can you tell me what happened?"

"I'm not sure...she went ahead of me, and then she didn't come back. I asked if she was okay, and somepony just threw her down the stairs like this!"

Flim recognized the second voice. It was Lemon Hearts. He beckoned Flam and Trixie to follow him before attempting to make his way through the crowd. When they all broke through, they were immediately accused. An angry Orion, a calm-as-always minister, and a distraught Lemon Hearts with tears in her eyes were there.

"You!" Orion shouted, pointing a hoof at them. "You did this, didn't you?"

"Orion!" the minister scolded. "That is a baseless accusation!"

"It's not baseless!" Orion snapped. "I saw Flim talking to the girls about their plan to investigate the bell tower! They must have done it!"

"I'm sure they talked to plenty of ponies besides Flim before going the tower, Orion." The minister told him off.

"Um...must have done what, minister?" Trixie asked, thought she really didn't want to.

Orion glowered. The minster signed and Lemon Hearts sobbed. The three of them moved so Trixie and the Flim Flam Brothers could see.

There a pony crouched down at the bell tower's bottom steps. She was yellow and wearing a brown jacket and hat. She actually kind looked like Daring Do, except her hair was black and cord-like with yellow stripes, rather then grey scale. She was apparently a doctor, as a medical symbol was attached to her hat via paper clipped to it.

Pink Cloud was being operated on by her, her unconscious body bleeding all over the steps, the red water dripping down from one step to the next one below it and spreading...