//------------------------------// // Chapter 15 - Flim Flam // Story: Equestria Exiled // by AndrewRogue //------------------------------// Vinyl sat near the edge of the bed, tapping her hoof on the tablet and biting her lip as she struggled to focus on the screen, unable to keep from looking up every few seconds to make sure Octavia was still breathing. Of course the ship was busted. Things had already been going so well. At this rate, she fully expected either Tavi or herself to get struck by lightning. She wasn’t so sure about Ditzy’s sabotage claim, though. That sounded seriously paranoid. Somepony would’ve needed to know they were here – despite Ditzy’s insistence to Tavi they couldn’t be tracked because of programs she had in the ship’s systems or whatever – within an hour or two of them landing. Besides, having spent three days on that damned ship, she didn’t have any trouble believing the thing broke just because it felt like it. Not that that made her feel better. Either way, it meant leaving the station just got a lot harder. Shaking her head, she refocused on the tablet and sighed. She’d been hoping maybe the net would turn up some tricks for dealing with being overloaded with magic, but the sites she found didn’t really help. Magic poisoning. Caused by illness in unicorns or, in rare circumstances, exposure to large amounts of raw magic for extended periods of time. Effects included fever, delirium, muscle weakness, magical discharge, fatigue, fainting, uncontrollable spellcasting, coma, hallucinations, magical flux, psychosis, systematic organ failure, and, in rare circumstances, death. Treatment was easy for a unicorn: expel the excess magical energy through controlled spellcasting. If the patient had trouble, they could be be assisted in the casting by doctors. Vinyl took a deep breath and pressed her muzzle into the edge of the bed. “Why the buck don’t any of these cover what you do when it’s an earth pony with the problem?” “Because the unicorns studying it don’t care?” Vinyl didn’t bother to look at the doorway. “What’s up, Bon Bon?” “Diamond Tiara’s in bed and Rich is about to do the same, so I was on my way out. I wanted to talk with you a little more first, though.” Vinyl glanced at the tablet’s clock and was surprised to find it was well after midnight. “Oh. It’s way later than I thought. Geeze.” Slumping back onto her haunches, she started stretching her neck. “What’d you want to chat about? I’m sorta trying to figure something out right now.” “That’s what I wanted to chat with you about, Vines.” She stepped towards Vinyl, locking eyes with her. “What is really going on with you two?” Vinyl shifted and looked away. “I already told you: nothing.” “You really haven’t gotten any better at lying.” “I’m kinda outta ways to tell you it’s nothing, Bon Bon. Seriously, could you lay off it?” “Let me put it another way then: what sort of trouble did you bring here?” Vinyl’s heart pounded in her chest as she struggled to meet Bon Bon’s gaze. Buck her, she couldn’t deal with this right now. “Nothing! I’m like, ninety-nine percent there’s no trouble.” “And the other one percent?” Bon Bon asked. Vinyl shook her head, pulling back from her old friend. “Look, Bon Bon, please, just let it go, okay? It’s better for everypony if I don’t talk about it.” To her surprise, her old friend stepped forward, cornering her. “I know you, Vinyl. I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t do something you thought would get a bunch of ponies hurt, but you might do something so completely stupid and thoughtless that that’s exactly what’ll happen. What are you hiding?” “I can’t tell—” Bon Bon pressed her hoof against Vinyl’s chest, nearly knocking her over “I’m not letting you cause trouble for Rich or Diamond Tiara,” she said flatly, “And I’m not dealing with this ‘it’s better if I don’t talk about it’ bull. It never is. So, start talking or I will throw your sorry flank out into the storm.” There’d only been a couple times Vinyl had seen Bon Bon mad, and, while Tavi could be kinda cute when she was annoyed, Bon Bon legit scared her. A lot of ponies blustered when they were mad, but she’d never once seen Bon Bon not follow through just the way she’d promised. “Okay, look. Tavi got into a bit of trouble on Manehattan Station, and I helped her out, so we’re both kinda in it now, so we’re just trying to lay low. She does seriously have business here, just like she said. There’re no big wanted ads for us anywhere, so it’s not like you’re harboring known fugitives or anything.” Vinyl leaned back and gently pushed Bon Bon’s hoof down. “If anypony asks about us, you can just tell ‘em we’re here and you’ll be cool.” “What sort of trouble?” “Can you cut me some slack here, Bon Bon?” Vinyl let out an annoyed sigh when she received silence as an answer. “Fine. The Council Guard wants to arrest Tavi because some big important package got dropped on her head by accident and now she’s all mixed up in some stupid political game between councillors. Do you see why I don’t want to bucking talk about this? Knowing this stuff is what’s gonna cause—” “And you’re helping her because?” “Because that’s what friends do!” Vinyl snapped. The corners of her lips twitched a little. “So what actually caused the magic poisoning?” Vinyl shut her mouth and looked away. Why didn’t Bon Bon get how this worked? You let people in on the secrets, they get all tied up in it, and then the bad things happened. Bon Bon sighed. “Does it have to do with those rocks she asked Rich to find?” “Why… why would you say that?” “I may not have gotten the chance to fail out of a fancy unicorn school, but I’m not stupid, Vines.” Rolling her eyes at Vinyl’s confused expression, she continued, “She’s trying to lay low because the Council Guard is trying to arrest her, but she still cared enough about some rocks to ask Rich to look into them. You didn’t try to feed me the engine shielding line again. Seemed like a good enough guess to me.” Vinyl sighed, giving up. Nothing she could say at this point would sound convincing. “Fine. Fine, fine, fine. Yes, it has to do with the rocks. They’re magical rocks from Old Equestria, and the one Tavi has right now is filling her with tons of magic. It’s completely directed at her, though, and that’s why I’m pretty bucking sure she’s the only one in any danger from that. I’ve been hanging around her for days and I haven’t had any problems.” Finally managing to meet Bon Bon’s eyes, Vinyl continued, “If you want, I’ll go back to the ship and take the rock with me, but look. Right now? I’m seriously afraid that Tavi is gonna die before she gets help, so could you maybe lay the buck off just a little bit?” To her surprise, Bon Bon chuckled, her sternness melting away. “What? What’s funny?” “It’s just nice to know that you really can get mad, too.” Before Vinyl could speak, Bon Bon kissed her cheek. “Thank you for being mostly honest. You of all ponies should know it’s a lot easier to help when you actually share what the problem is. We’ll do what we can for Octavia. Worst case, I’m sure Rich can manage to charter a shuttle for you two.” As an afterthought, she added, “Oh, I left some wraps warming up in the kitchen for you now. Eat them while you do whatever you’re doing, then try and get some sleep.” “Sure,” Vinyl grumbled, letting out an aggravated breath as her old friend trotted back towards the door. “I’m serious. You won’t be any good to anypony if you waste all night trying to find the answers you want to find.” “I got it, Bons. Really.” Despite herself, a smile spread across Vinyl’s muzzle. “And let Rich sleep,” Bon Bon said, stopping in the doorway. “He’s done what he can for tonight. If you need anything, I’m just two units over, three floors up.” “Gotcha,” Vinyl said, levitating the tablet off the bed as she stood up. “The kitchen’s down the hall?” “Yes. This place isn’t that big. You won’t miss it.” ~~~~~ Octavia’s breath came in ragged, heavy gasps as she pushed through the fog, each step taken towards the crystal spire in the distance sapping her of what little strength she had left. She struggled forward, though, placing all her hopes on that dim shine that still seemed so far away. She knew if she looked away, she would lose it. If she stopped, she would not start again. If she wavered for even a split-second, she would fail. Why was this happening to her? Phantasmal voices surrounded her, threatening to drown out even that terrible, skull-splitting ring in her ears with their unintelligible, cacophonous droning. Words that sounded so familiar, but, at the same time, completely without form. Echoes of echoes of echoes of echoes of echoes... Octavia rubbed her eyes with a foreleg. She couldn’t think straight. Her stomach churned. Her legs felt numb. Her mind wandered. She’d been here before, right? She’d helped harvest these apples. She’d never done that. She’d built a barn. When? She’d come here for cider and never gotten it. Yes? No. “Equestria to Octavia!” The sound pierced the haze of thoughts, forcing her to remember that another pony was here with her. “Huh?” “You keep spacing out. And you’re not looking too good.” “M’fine,” Octavia mumbled. “Well I’m not,” Rainbow Dash said. “I’m totally lost. Sweet Apple Acres wasn’t this big. We should’ve already been in Ponyville.” “Prolly ‘cause…” Octavia shook her head and tried again, “Probably because this place isn’t real. It’s a dream or something like that.” “More like a nightmare,” the pegasus grumbled. “Trust me, this place? Not going away when you wake up. Speaking of, you got any more ideas on that yet?” “Just be quiet and lemme— let me think.” She resisted the urge to sit, despite thinking and walking together being a real challenge. Where was this place? Why was it familiar? How did she leave? This all had to do with the Element’s magic, right? But what did that actually mean? She forced herself to breathe slower, just like before she played. Concentrate and focus. Vinyl had told her about magic. Vinyl. Her friend. The only friend she still had. A friend she badly missed right now. She wanted to see her friends again. She wanted to race Applejack again. She wanted to talk Daring Do with Twilight again. She wanted to go to another of Pinkie’s parties again. She wanted to just hang with Fluttershy again. She’d even put up with Rarity dressing her up again. Who? This place was driving her crazy. Thoughts that weren’t hers, memories that weren’t hers, voices from all around. Why? Why would the magic that she had been told belonged to her do this? A distant memory of a voice she knew pierced the din filling her head. “What’d my tutor always say... ‘A unicorn’s magic is a perfect expression of themselves’ or something?” Rainbow Dash had been the Element of Loyalty. The Element of Loyalty was Rainbow Dash. “You’re doing this to me,” Octavia groaned, her legs finally giving out on her, forcing her to the ground. “Huh?” “You need to let me wake up.” Rainbow Dash whirled on her. “What? How’m I supposed to do that?” “I dunno,” Octavia mumbled, “But—” “Then don’t ask me to do things I can’t do!” The pegasus bristled with sudden anger. “I’d love to do something, but I can’t! All I can do is hang around with you when you show up here. I can’t do bull here! You’ve got to get up and do this!” Octavia cringed, trying to push herself to her hooves as the wind whipped around her, joining the cacophony of sound that threatened to smother her thoughts. “Please, calm down,” she begged. “And how am I supposed to do that, huh? I don’t know how long I’ve been here, I don’t know how I got here, I don’t know where my friends are, I can’t do anything about it, and I’m sick of it! You think you need out of here? I need out of here!” The fog whirled and spun around them, buffeted by the growing winds, now thickening and darkening of its own accord. “They need me and I… I can’t help them!” The world around her shook and vibrated under the force of the discordance and the wind tore the grass and trees free of the ground, yet none of that terrified her more than the choking, cloying wave of sights and sounds that buffeted her. Racing over Equestria. Hanging with the Wonderbolts. Sweet Apple Acres’ cider. The sonic rainboom. The places she’d seen. The challenges she’d faced to protect Equestria. The friends she’d made. She wanted out. She needed out. She had to get out. But she couldn’t. She’d messed up. ~~~~~~ Vinyl rested her head on the edge of Tavi’s bed, staring blearily at the tablet out of the corner of her eyes, its clock letting her know that morning fast approached. Was Octavia breathing harder? She couldn’t really tell. At some point she’d given up browsing the network and just started spacing out, staring into nothing as insomnia got its way. Her stomach rumbled unhappily. Not that it mattered. Even if she’d been able to sleep, those stupid rolls and their stupid bucking SynthHay would’ve probably kept her up. How do you live on a station with all that fresh food and still end up keeping that bull around your place? Hours of browsing the net hadn’t changed the answer: the sufferer either needed to expel the excess magic themselves or get the assistance of a unicorn to remove it, which, by all accounts, was a super difficult, delicate process. It was like powering a magic circuit yourself. Vinyl had personally blown out more than a few light boards and sound systems doing that. Thinking about doing the same to Tavi didn’t help her stomach. Her ears pricked and her heart jumped as the front door buzzed. Bon Bon probably had a keycard, and, even for a pony like Filthy, it seemed way too bucking early for business visits. Plus, nopony else in the unit besides her was awake. So, not a normal visitor? Maybe a visitor in a hurry because it was an emergency? The door buzzed again. Pushing herself to her hooves, she stretched, blinking away her drowsiness, trying once again to keep her hopes from getting the better of her. After all, it could be somepony here to arrest them, then they’d both be royally bucked. As she stepped out of the room and into the hall, she almost crashed into a drowsy Filthy, also headed for the door. “Whoah, sorry, FIlthy! Is it a doct—” “I don’t know,” he growled, not even waiting for her to finish. “And I would think that most ponies of any intelligence would call ahead to confirm the situation. Regardless, I have no idea who else would be here this early. It isn’t as if we have door-to-door sales ponies here!” Clearly a pony who needed coffee to start the day. She followed him down the short hall, keeping a bit of distance between them. Might not have anything to do with her and Tavi. Plenty of ponies probably came out to Filthy’s place during rain week without announcing themselves. Vinyl bit her lip and fell a little further back, unable to forget Ditzy’s claims of sabotage. Even if this did involve them, it didn’t have to be good. As the door slid open, she tensed, immediately recognizing the heads of Ponyville Station and the owners of Flim Flam Industries: the brothers Flim and Flam. “Flim, Flam… what a surprise,” Filthy managed, apparently as surprised as she was to see the pair. After a moment, he stepped aside so the two could actually come in instead of standing out under the eave. “What brings the two of you out here on such a terrible day?” “Why, we heard you were in desperate need of a little help, Rich! A catastrophic emergency!” the brother with the mustache – Vinyl had never bothered to learn which was which – said. “And who would we be if we weren’t helping out?” the other added. Filthy hesitated a moment, but nodded. “Well, while I certainly appreciate it, Flam, Flim,” he said, addressing each in turn, “What I was looking for was—” “A doctor, yes!” Flam said. “Somepony familiar with magic poisoning, right?” “That is exactly why we’re here! We’ve put a call to our very own personal physician and he’ll be here quick as he can. Unfortunately, he’s off station right now.” “We’ve got him a spot on Fillydelphia’s fastest shuttle serves. However, since this is apparently an emergency, we wanted to see if we could lend a bit of a helping hoof ourselves.” Flim’s eyes finally caught Vinyl and he smiled, stepping forward. “Ah! A most unexpected guest, Rich! Is that you, Vinyl Scratch?” Stepping forward, he continued, “You should have let us know you were coming to Ponyville Station! You are one customer we would be more than happy to welcome personally!” “I do hope it isn’t you who’s ill, Miss Scratch! Please say it isn’t so, Rich.” Flam said, also stepping past Filthy. “It would be a devastating blow to the Empire’s music scene, not to mention our own business.” Vinyl didn’t exactly smile back. Working only through Filthy had been the best choice she ever made. “Nah. I’m fine. It’s a friend of mine I came to the station with. She’s in a pretty bad way, so if we could get on with it?” The two brothers exchanged glances and nodded before Flam spoke up. “Well, you are definitely quite lucky then! The Flim Flam Miracle Curative Tonic is one-hundred percent guaranteed to help with problems stemming from magical exposure, or your money back!” The name sounded familiar. In fact, she was pretty sure she’d seen something named that back in Manehattan’s drugstores, right next to allergy meds and all the junk that got advertised on the network. Clearing his throat, Flim nudged his brother. “Not that we will be charging, of course. Consider this an investment in our continued relationship with a valued partner.” “Look, I really don’t care,” Vinyl said, jerking her head towards the room where Tavi was and ignoring the dirty look Filthy gave her. “Charge, don’t, whatever. If that stuff’ll help, then just hurry up and give it to her, okay?” “Please excuse Vinyl’s brusqueness,” Filthy said. “She is obviously quite concerned about her friend.” The two brothers smiled, speaking at almost the exact time, “Of course.” Flim continued, “Let’s go see what we can do, eh?” They all piled into the room, with the exception of Filthy who excused himself to check on his daughter and not overcrowd the room. As it was, the three of them barely fit, so long as they spaced themselves out around the bed. Vinyl tapped her hoof impatiently, her eyes darting between the brothers and her friend, irritation giving way to concern as she saw Tavi’s chest rise and fall. She really was breathing harder. “Is that stuff going to cure her?” “Well, our special Miracle Curative Tonic will certainly help treat the symptoms,” Flam said as his brother produced a greenish bottle from his saddlebags. “Laboratory testing has shown one of its many, many beneficial effects is the treatment of mild magic poisoning, but it has yet to be tested with more severe cases. We may well be seeing a first here!” “And you’ve got your doctor on the way? When do you think he’ll be here?” “As soon as he can!” “I’ll pay you two back,” Vinyl said, her gaze bouncing between her friend and the bottle. “With interest.” “Think nothing of it! Well, perhaps an autograph or two? We are both quite big fans of yours.” “Speaking of, have you been with her since before this started, Vinyl?” Flim asked as cracked the bottle open with his magic. “Yeah.” “Then I think you should have some as well.” Vinyl shook her head. “I’m fine. I’m sure. Let’s just worry about Tavi, okay?” “Nonsense!” Flam protested, his magic snatching the bottle from Flim. “You are a valued customer and a musical treasure. We absolutely must insist that you, as a precaution—” Without even waiting for him to finish, Vinyl took the bottle. She didn’t have time for this. “Fine! Just drink some of it, yeah?” As the brothers nodded, she took a deep swig, cringing as the nauseatingly minty liquid filled her mouth. It took an awful lot of control not to spit it out. “Sweet Luna that’s awful.” “Really?” Flim said, accepting the bottle back and passing it over to his brother. “Nine-out-of-ten ponies agree that the flavor is stellar” Apparently seeing Vinyl’s glare, he cleared his throat. “More importantly, we could use your help for a moment. Could you lift your friend slightly? We need to make her drink.” “Sure. No problem.” She felt lightheaded she wrapped Tavi in magic, exhaustion making it hard to even just lift her up enough that they’d be able to pour liquid down her throat. “You sure this is the right way to do this?” “Of course, Miss Scratch!” Flim said. “This patented formula was created by us, after all.” Flam added. “Could you hurry it up then?” Vinyl asked, blinking as she swayed unsteadily. Levitation had never been her strong suit, and Tavi was not light. “In a moment. We wouldn’t want her to choke, would we?” Shaking her head, Vinyl refocused, trying to not drop her friend. What the buck were they were waiting for? Her magic faltered for a moment, forcing her to redouble her efforts. This wasn’t her first sleepless night by any count. Why the buck was it suddenly kicking her flank so hard? “Are you alright, Miss Scratch?” “Just didn’t sleep super great,” she mumbled, the words slurring. Her tongue felt numb. Both Flim and Flam watched her. Neither paid any attention to Octavia. “The buck did you...” Vinyl mumbled, leaning back against the wall for support as she release Tavi and tried to gather magic for another spell as the brothers became quadruplets. “You drugged me.” Flim shoved the door shut behind him. “Correct, Vinyl! I suppose a club pony would know all about the various substances one can put in a drink. This one is quite effective on unicorns. It only kicks in once they try a bit of magic, but it works quite fast once triggered, don’t you agree?” Vinyl glared as she struggled to hold onto the little magic she managed to gather. “Oh my! Vinyl has very scary eyes, doesn’t she, brother?” “That she does! But you really should sit down, otherwise you might hurt yourself.” “Indeed. We’d hate for something to happen to you.” “Buck off, asses,” Vinyl managed, the magic slipping away. “If you aren’t careful, you’re going to hurt yourself.” Their voices sounded so far away. By the time Vinyl realized she was falling, she’d already hit the floor. Somepony sighed. “We warned her, didn’t we brother?” “That we did.” Vinyl’s limbs felt completely detached from her as the world darkened and pulled away. Her mind swam, but one thought centered itself. Flailing weakly, her hoof caught Tavi’s saddlebag and managed to wedge it under the bed. “Flim! Flam! What in Celestia’s name going on here?” The voices sounded so faint. “Ah, Rich. Relax. Sorry we couldn’t let you know, but we wanted to protect you from the heap of trouble that...”