6. Getting Started
Chapter 6. Getting Started
"Are you really sure I won't get into troubles by talking to these guys?" Trixie asked for the seventh time, reading over and over again the big sign in the brown façade of the building that read 'Flim Flam brothers' Everything-Under-The-Sun Emporium'. There was a big arrow pointing at the entrance with numerous bulbs decorating its sides.
Sunset scratched her chin. "Huh, the sign is new."
"Don't ignore me!" Trixie barked, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"Hey, don't you trust me?" Sunset asked with a sly smile.
Trixie snorted. "No, I don't." She put her hands inside the pockets of her hoodie and leaned back a little. "Though I think it's worth giving you the benefit of doubt, but at the first sign that these guys want to trick me into something bad…"
"Yeah, yeah, you'll go." Sunset dismissed the blue girl with a movement of her hand. "You said it enough times already."
Trixie scrunched her nose and offered Sunset a big frown. After a few seconds, she sighed. She wasn't sure about getting help from the girl that literally became a demon and could've done more damage than just destroying the school's entrance. But, at the same time, it was an opportunity to get what she wanted.
She opened the door, and was greeted by the ever so familiar sound of a small bell. She eyed the local; it was arguable spacious. There were several counters at the sides of the interior, all of them showing various kinds of things. She saw musical instruments, jewelry, technological stuff and miscellaneous. There was a bored looking guy playing idly with the cash register that didn't seem to notice her yet. Well, at least it looks like a normal Pawn shop.
"Hey, you!" Sunset yelled from Trixie's back at the guy, who jumped at the sudden loud noise. "Why aren't you attending us?"
The guy had long, green hair and a particular gray skin color. He muttered something that sounded like an apology before walking the counters' side to the entrance. "G-Good afternoon. Are you going to sell, pawn or buy?"
Sunset crossed her arms and groaned a little. It was really frustrating to her when people were so… weak, so to speak. The poor guy was shivering. "I want to talk to Flim and Flam."
"Ah, well, they said that, uh…"
"That we are always available for Sunset!" A voice came from the other side of the room. Trixie saw two men standing at the side of the other. She thought they looked funny because they were dressed very similar, it didn't help either that they were twins. At least, she thought, if she was to work with them, she'd be able to differentiate them because one of them was using a mustache.
"It is a peculiar sight, though." Said the twin without the mustache. "You never want to come to our businesses."
"Or perhaps you finally understand how incredibly spectacular it is to work within the shop, hm?" The other twin said.
Sunset frowned. "Of course not, Flam."
Flam, the guy with the mustache, approached Sunset with a weird gaze, as if studying her. But, before he could say anything, the other twin, who by process of elimination Trixie guessed it was Flim, eyed her and leaned closer. "Oh! You bought a friend! How amazing!" He said, stretching his arms up.
"And I'm sure this lovely lady would like to buy, sell or pawn something!" Flam said, having walking at the side of his brother.
"Perhaps you want an electric guitar!" Flim announced, producing the said instrument from… somewhere.
"Or maybe a top hat!"
"Or a necklace!"
"Or that you let her talk." Sunset interrupted them. "That's why you don't have customers. You scare them."
"Well then, talk!" Flim said, offering Trixie a big smile.
"Any friend of Sunset…" Flam started to say. The two brothers hug each other with one arm and raised the other.
"Is a friend of us!" They said at the same time.
For a few seconds, Trixie only stared at them. Sunset had told her that they were businessmen, but for what she was seeing, professionalism wasn't exactly a substantive she'd use for them. For the first time that day, she was really considering it a bad idea to ask Sunset for help. "Well…" She said, looking for the exit to run at the first chance.
"She wants magic stuff, but she has no money." Sunset said with a disinterested voice.
The twins looked at each other and then at Trixie frowning. "I'm not sure you understand the meaning of the word business." Flim said, or was it Flam? She couldn't remember. "Perhaps we should give you a quick explanation:" The other brother said, and making the exact same movements, they both sang along. "No money, no ware."
Trixie offered a frown on her own. "Well, if you're treating your customers like this, I'm not surprised that this place is empty." She said, moving widely her arm to show the building, and true to her words, the place was almost completely empty, which was a little strange, considering the impressive amount of things they offered for sale. "Listen, maybe we can work together. I just need a few props for my performances, and I can pay them after the shows…" She looked away. "I know it sounds stupid, you don't even know me, so I can't exactly guarantee the success of my shows, so…"
The twins looked at each other, and after a few seconds, they turned to Sunset. "What do you have to say in the matter, Sunset?" Flim (or Flam) asked.
Sunset eyed Trixie for a few seconds and then at the brothers. "I can't talk for her, I barely know her." She said, earning a surprised gaze from Trixie. "You two should decide…" She paused for a moment and when she spoke again, her voice was serious. "But the last time this happened, it turned out pretty good, right?"
Trixie looked suspiciously at Sunset and then at the brothers, and then at Sunset again. There was something going on between them, like a silent understanding, as if they were having an argument only with their glances. After what seemed like an eternity, the twins stepped back and started to whisper to each other.
"What's going on?" Trixie asked, not looking away from the comically arguing brothers. "Is there something I should know?"
Sunset smirked a little, but not at Trixie, perhaps at the situation itself. "Nothing important, but I think you'll get your props."
Trixie was about to ask something, but the brothers came to her field of view. "Why don't you show us what are you good at?" Flim, assuming it was Flim, asked.
"Show us a magic trick!" Flam, or perhaps Flim, said loudly.
"Right here, right now!"
"And if we like it, we'll help you!"
Trixie snorted and crossed her arms. "Yeah, this is the second time today people ask me to do magic without any kind of prior preparation…" She said, but instead of an angry look, she smiled at them and popped her neck. "Not that I complain, of course. Because the Great and Powerful Trixie is always prepared for a public performance!" She announced as she produced a deck of cards out of the left pocket of her hoodie.
Of course she took a full minute to show her expertise in shuffling cards. She just loved the look in the audience's eyes when she made the cards jump from hand to hand, spinning restlessly in midair. It always reminded her that it was totally worth all the time she spent practicing. Sadly, she couldn't just keep doing it forever, or else the audience might get bored. She had to move to the next step of the magic trick.
She cut the deck in half and separated one half about an inch above the other half. "Now, Flim or Flam, one of you tell me to stop whenever you want." She said, and when they nodded, she started to let the cards fall to the stack below.
"Stop." The brothers said, and Trixie immediately interrupted the fall of the cards. She took the last one that fell and, without seeing it, she passed it to Flam. Well, maybe it was Flim. "Look at your card, remember it. Now, put it on top of the deck, please." They did as told, and Trixie started to shuffle the deck once again. "You know, people sometimes want to put you down just for the sake of it. And sometimes, your luck just doesn't like you. So, what do you do?" She said, ending the shuffle and just turning the deck in her hands. "I'll tell you what you do. You put all your negative feelings together, and before they explode… Kick them."
And as she said those last two words, she let the deck fall, and with all her strength, she kicked the deck at the exit's direction. When all the cards finished falling and spreading everywhere, the twins noticed that one of them was face down on the glass. "Only that way, you'll only see what's really important." Trixie said, moving her hand to tell the brothers go for their card. Flim took the card and looked at it. He frowned and showed the card to Trixie.
"This isn't our card!"
But against all odds, Trixie's smile only grew. "Ah, sometimes, there will be things that won't let us reach our goals."
"Brother…" Flam said, touching his brother's shoulder. Flim turned around to see the same place where he took the card from. His eyes widened in surprise as his brother's. Their card, the seven of diamonds, was right there, stuck in the window. Only that the card was at the other side of the glass.
Sunset didn't realize that she had her mouth open until she wanted to speak. "When did you do that? I was with you the whole time, you shouldn't have had enough time to do that!"
Trixie hummed with a satisfied smile. "Oh, dear Sunset. A good magician can do many things without others noticing. I can set up almost any trick almost anywhere, and people won't ever see anything."
Flim scratched the back of his head while Flam played idly with his moustache. "Well, we've seen that trick a lot, we know how it works." Flim said.
"But, the fact that you prepared the trick even before we asked you to do it, says a lot about your capability of anticipation." Flam praised a little, just a little. He didn't want them to notice.
"So, I take it you're going to help me with no funny business." Trixie said. She obviously noticed the praise.
"Hmm I don't know…" Flam scratched his chin. "What do you say, brother?"
"It can be beneficial or prejudicial. As she said, we don't know her."
"So how do we decide? We throw a coin?" Trixie raised an eyebrow.
"No, that's not very professional, brother. I think we should ask the opinion of our official counselor."
"Agreed."
The brothers then turned to look at Sunset, who only rolled her eyes. "In other words, you want me to make the decision." The twins nodded, and she forced a sigh. "Well, I say to give her one chance to prove herself. If she's not good even with the props, then we don't help her, but if she's good, we can start making serious deals."
"Very smart and beautiful, that's our Sunset!" Flim said as Flam nodded in agreement.
Sunset rolled her eyes. "Whatever."
"So, what's your name?" Trixie decided that the one with the moustache was Flam.
"Trixie Lulamoon."
"I suppose Sunset already told you who we are, but just for the sake of introductions…" Flim started, and Trixie already knew that Flam was going to be the next one to speak.
"He's Flim!"
"He's Flam!"
"And we are the Flim Flam brothers!" They announced at the same time.
"So, what exactly do you need?" Flim asked.
Trixie leaned back a little and smiled. "Oh, for now I just need very few things."
~~~~~~~~
The sky was still a little gray. But there were a few holes here and there, announcing the end of the rain. A gentle breeze made Sunset's hair to move against her face for a couple of seconds. She slowly inhaled through her nose, smelling the unmistakable scent of fall. Sadly, it wasn't exactly the same smell she liked, but a gross amalgam of various gases, result of human technology. It took her a whole year to assimilate how these humans were able to create so many amazing things to make their lives tons of times more comfortable every year, and at the same time, to destroy their beautiful environment, and transform it into depressing, lifelessly colored cities.
If she was to stay in this world for another two and a half years, and this time she didn't have evil plans to focus on, at the very least, she'd like to visit some of the last beautiful places left in the planet. Jungles, deserts, forests, lakes, the poles; anything that hasn't been tainted with human technology. For what she saw in the T.V., those places looked like Equestria sans magic.
"Flim and Flam sure have anything in there." Trixie called from behind, exiting the pawn shop. She was carrying a rather big box with both hands. "They had everything I needed."
"One week." Sunset said without seeing her. When Trixie didn't answer, she turned her head and glared directly at her eyes. "In one week you have to perform and show us the best of your 'magical abilities'." She crossed her arms and rubbed the cold out of her biceps.
Trixie leaned her head a little to her left and offered a weak smile. "I will. I've been training restlessly, now that I finally got the opportunity, I will take it. And I will show you just what I'm capable of."
Sunset snorted. "It's not me who you have to impress, but the brothers." She eyed the poorly closed box, spying what seemed like rope. "Since I'll see how you use the things you got from them, I'm not going to be impressed at your performance."
"You say that now." Sunset raised an eyebrow and frowned a little. "The final magic trick I'll make at the show, it's something of my creation. It started as a silly little girl's fantasy, but as I grew up, I learned that with the help of this handy thing called math, I can do it. And I will do it." In that moment, Sunset could see that Trixie's eyes were filled with determination. "Now that I have the proper tools, a week is all I need. And it doesn't matter if you know how it works, because when you see it on stage, you will be impressed."
Sunset hummed and gave a faint smile. "Well then, what are you going to do now?"
"Do you think Principal Celestia is in the school?"
"She is." Sunset answered. "She, her sister and half the teachers are already there. Why?"
Trixie shifted the weight of the box on her arms. "I want to ask her if I can use the gym. I know she's keen of this kind of things. That way I don't have to lose time searching for a place to perform."
Sunset nodded. "Then let's go. We still have three hours of sunlight." And without waiting for an answer, Sunset started to walk. Fortunately, Canterlot High was just a couple of blocks away.
"Do you really have to come with me?" Trixie asked, seemingly not noticing the weight of the box.
"Yes." And not another word left her mouth. Trixie decided not to ask again. It was obvious that Sunset wanted to make sure the props were in perfect condition just in case, so the brothers wouldn't get mad at her.
That, or Sunset enjoyed her company.
Well, everyone enjoyed Trixie's company, of course.
The girls walked in silence for a few minutes until they finally got to Canterlot High. Sunset decided to wait outside while Trixie entered to ask Principal Celestia for permission to use the gym.
Sunset trotted to the portal and leaned on it. A breeze met her hair, forcing her to close her eyes in instinct. She heard the annoying noise of cars passing by endlessly. Embracing herself, she decided to concentrate on not hearing anything. The hustle of the street, the birds chirping above the statue, and her own thoughts; everything went silent. She sighed, brushing off the tension on her shoulders. Interestingly enough, it was way easier than ever before.
She felt a warm sensation in her back, like a thick blanket in a cold day. She hung her head to let the wind caress her hair. She could smell the grass below and the pollen being carried from the east. She could hear, far, far away, an unmistakably sound, one that she was so used to since the very day she was born. It was clop. It was the clop of adults and children, getting louder every second. And as the sound got closer, she heard the sound of laugh, of chattering. She heard the occasional beam of energy, a flap of a wing.
She frowned as much as she could when the smell of the grass and flowers got stronger. She could smell the trunk and leaves of the trees; the smell of the rocks in the paths; the smell of the concrete of the castle's walls.
She smiled. She was in Canterlot. She was in Equestria.
Sunset could feel herself standing on four hooves. She could feel her tail twitching slightly at the pass of wind. She could feel her horn, ready to cast any spell she could think of. Sigh… Home, sweet home. She thought.
There was a big oak-tree at the biggest park in Canterlot in which Sunset always loved to lie down and read something. She was leaning on the trunk, with its surface occasionally scratching her flank. A book was in front of her, she didn't know what it was about, because she wasn't reading. She was just enjoying herself, breathing slowly and calmly.
"… et…"
A distant echo threatened to interrupt her peaceful moment. Sunset just ignored it and returned to her reading. "…unset…" She frowned and pressed herself a little more against the trunk, but she noticed that it was somewhat cold and shallow. She raised her hand to her back and touched the surface.
"Hey, Sunset!"
She opened her eyes.
Suddenly, her daydream of Equestria faded into a sad image of Canterlot High. Trixie was in front of her with a proud grin. "Principal Celestia agreed to my magic show. I will perform next Monday!"
Sunset growled. "Yaaaaay see you tomorrow." She said plainly and turned to her left. She absentmindedly put a hand on the surface of the portal and stared at it, as if waiting for it to start glowing and let her return home. She sighed and started to walk home, ignoring whatever Trixie was complaining about.
~~~~~~~~
"Are you really, really sure about it, Pinks?" Rainbow asked for the umpteenth time. And Pinkie only nodded with a big smile.
"How do ya even know that?" Applejack asked, playing idly with an empty bottle of apple fizzy cider.
"It's my job to know that kind of things, silly!" Pinkie answered, patting gently Applejack's hat. "'Sides, Principal Celestia told me to tell you."
Rarity shifted in her chair. "Perhaps she wants us to avoid confusion amongst the students?"
"Or maybe she wants us to make sure Sunset won't try to do anything bad." Rainbow said, crossing her arms and balancing her body in the chair.
"But Sunset changed, right?"
Rainbow snorted. "Come on, Flutters, people don't change that fast."
"Not with that attitude, gurl!" Pinkie said, making Rainbow frown.
"I do believe Sunset changed." Rarity intervened. "You should give her a chance to prove herself, Rainbow Dash."
"Hmph!"
"Anyway, what're we gonna do 'bout this?" Applejack looked at her faded reflection in the bottle. "It can't be just a coincidence."
"I don't know." Rarity slowly scratched her chin. "It's a complicated situation."
"But, we can just explain everything, right?" Pinkie asked.
"Darling, please, I still don't believe at all what happened a week ago and you pretend to tell it to a new student?"
"Yup!"
Rarity groaned and Applejack laughed. "Fine, but when she takes you like freaks, I will come with a more subtle, realistic explanation."
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I'm guessing the 'complicated situation' is the OTHER Sunset Shimmer showed up, this should be interesting
Ah, this is a simple typo but I believe you mean 'locale'. Local means near-by. Locale means place. 'She eyed the place' makes much more sense than 'she eyed the near-by'.
4965452
Or the other Twilight. Which seems more likely if this Sunset Shimmer is actually too old for High School (I think this was the fic where she was 25).
4966448 ah, good point ForSpite. It would be funny to see the other Twilight show up, everyone thinks it's the same Twilight they've known the past week and starts talking to her about it, then she's like 'I think I would remember blasting a demon with a rainbow... yeah that doesn't seem like something I'd forget'
4966473
Flash Sentry starts asking her for another dance... she has no idea who he is.
4966626 and Fluttershy starts talking to her dog asking what it's like to be a dragon in a dog body
4965452 Or maybe it's the OTHER Twilight Sparkle.
4966827 that's what me and ForSpite have been speculating
guess it's something for us to wait and see eh? 
>Flim and Flam
Even if Trixie's alternate is a genuinely nice girl (well, not that Equestria Trixie was that bad either), I still won't believe those guys are all that above the counter. Hell, they're pawn shop owners!
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/d0/92/81/d09281c0e18f8c24723701c83acc6a83.jpg
6386575
Yeah you know they be selling that good underneath the table
Somehow it's not surprising whatsoever that she's allied with those two shysters