Nonpareil

by TheOriginalSS

Chapter 2: Brotherly Issues

Flim stepped onto the stage for the next performance, his mane billowing in the breeze as it cut through the town. He shivered and turned to his brother, smiling widely.

“Come on brother, we’ve got to pick up the pace!” He smiled, then leapt onto the stage they’d erected to start the second day of cider selling.

Flam grumbled as Pennsalymare blew at them with a harsh gale. Apparently a cold front had come in the past night, and it made this morning particularly cold and freezing. The entire place felt like it’d been completely frozen overnight. Luckily they’d not lost the blanket to the freezing wind.

“It’s not even supposed to be cold today.” Flam grumbled, “Stupid Pegasi.”

The mustached stallion leapt up onto the stage, and they surveyed the crowd. While they were expecting a small audience, Flim could only count maybe 15 or 20 ponies in front of them. He felt his face go a little pale as he realized that this meant that they’d have even less bits to put into the fund to fix the machine. They’d have to sell it.

Flim stepped forward and he slowly prepped himself by tapping his hoof on the ground. He whispered under his breath, “A one…a two…a one two three!”

Flam used his magic to start the soft music coming from their machine as Flim yelled, “Welcome one and all to the best cider you’ll ever have in your entire life!”

Flam sighed and he walked forward, a false smile on his face and he quickly picked up the line, “The best cider you’ll ever drink in all of Equestria!”

Another show had begun.

High Profit had just returned from his work, Dusk Dancer was making dinner, and Flim was bored out of his mind.

The filly turned and he sighed, covering his face with his hoof as he tried to think of what to do to pass the time. Flam was asleep and he didn’t want to wake him up, but he was left without a buddy to play with because of it!

Flim gently crawled his way out of the tiny bed he and Flam shared, and began to edge his way out of the room. They lived in the same room and had two separate beds, but Flim didn’t want to leave his brother alone in his bed. Thye slept together in the same bed every night, usually cuddled together in each other’s tiny hooves.

The foal gently opened the door, wincing at how it squeaked. He turned and saw Flam stir, and he held his tiny breath. When the foal stayed asleep, he sighed and continued into the kitchen.

The brothers lived in a two story house, with their bedroom, the kitchen, living room, and bathroom downstairs. Upstairs was their parent’s bedroom, work room, and some other rooms that they weren’t usually allowed into. Right now, High Profit was upstairs, doing whatever it was he normally did when he got home.

Suddenly, a strange sound hit Flim’s ears as he continued to walk down the hallway. He turned his head in the direction of the sound, but it seemed to come from the hallway itself! He blinked and walked towards the end of it, passing by the bathroom as he inched his way up towards it.

The foal turned to see a phonograph playing a tune on the table, blaring music into the house as it rocked gently on the table. What surprised him more than that was the pony in the room.

Dusk Dancer had moved the furniture out of the way and made a tiny clearing in the middle of the room. In that space was the pony herself, dancing around and laughing to the beat, tapping her hooves and singing out the lyrics to the song as she danced:

And my dear old Stallion,

Don’t you fret tonight!

Because baby’s gonna be here,

To hold you tonight!

All that we need to make this whole,

To interlock,

Is a little push,

And a kiss all to the top!

Flim watched in awe as his mother continued to twirl and pose in her dancing style. Oddly, she seemed to rear up on her hind legs a lot, as though she was trying to walk on them. She had a little bit of cloth wrapped around her neck with she played with too, which was really weird to him.

However, Flim couldn’t help but marvel at the sight of his mother singing and dancing. He thought it looked rather interesting and kinda cool. He walked up to the display, and then he stopped, hiding behind the table, overcome with fear of interrupting her.

Slowly, he adjusted his position and watched her. He took note of her hooves, where they went, and how she used them. He also saw that she was using the cloth as a type of prop. She smiled the whole while, not once ever breaking a frown, even when sweat formed on her face.

Then, Flim realized the music had come to a close. He opened his eyes in awe as she spun, twirled, then stopped on her hind hooves, her front hooves up and posed so she looked like a model.

Flim jumped up and he accidently hit his head on the table top. He let out a squeak,

“Ow!” Before he quickly started clapping, “Woho! Mom that was awesome!”

Dusk Dancer stopped and turned to him, falling on her front hooves and blushing, “Flim! Were you…watching me darling?”

Flim nodded his head, “Yup! I thought it was soooooo cool!”

Dusk blushed harder and she said, “Y-you really liked it sweetie?”

Flim nodded, “Of course! You were all, WOOSH!” He jumped up, “then all WAA!” He tried to pose on his hind hooves, “Then you jumped and was all WOHO!” He tried to pose like her, and ended up flat on his back.

Dusk rushed over and put him on his hooves, smiling at him, “Well dear…I’m glad you liked it.”

Flim nodded, then he stood up, “What’s it called?”

“Dancing.” She smiled, “Oh, and what I was doing with my voice was singing.”

“Can you teach me!?!”

Dusk blinked and she looked over at the wall, then she looked at him, “Well…I guess I can teach you a few basic mooves….”

Flim jumped for joy and he dashed over to the center of the floor and he nodded, “Let’s get started!”

Later, Flim ran up to Flam as he woke up from his nap. He shook him repeatedly.

The foal groaned and he looked at his brother, “What is it Flim?”

“Brother, I gotta show you this awesome thing! It’s called Dancing! You’re gonna love it!”

Flim stood behind the station of their cider machine, smiling and dealing out cider with his magic as the bits fell into their chest with satisfying clinks.

“Don’t be shy!” He called out into the crowd, “We have all the cider you can ever DREAM of here!”

The ponies had a ripple of conversation go through the crowd, but sadly, neither brother saw any ponies get back in line. The ponies already in line got their cup of cider, then quickly went out of line and went back to business.

This disappointed Flam greatly. He was hoping for at least one more round of cider to sell before they called it a day. They’d been selling for almost an hour, and already the line had almost completely thinned out. In their business, that meant that they weren’t making any more profit after the last pony came through.

And, just as he predicted, the last pony of the day slowly walked towards them and tossed the bits into the chest, then took their cider and left. Within minutes, the area was deserted.

Flim shut the chest and lifted it telekinetically, “Another day, another cider, eh brother?”

Flam just grumbled and he spat out, “Just count the bits already Flim.”

The pony turned, a little startled. Ever since they’d started their business, they never addressed each other by name in that manor. Offstage they usually only called each other ‘brother’ or ‘partner.’ To hear Flam say that was a little unsettling to hear.

The ponies went back to the machine and Flim quickly began to magically count the bits by flashing them in front of his face. Flam sat down by the little podium and leaned against it, taking his hat off and rubbing his horn a bit.

Flim looked up finally and he said slowly, “Brother, you won’t like this.”

Flam looked angry and he spat, “For Celestia’s sake Flim just tell me the bits already!”

The salespony blinked and he looked down, “We made 314 bits today. We may have just enough to repair the barrel.”

Flam slammed his hoof down on the couch, “That’s unacceptable!” He seethed, “We should’ve already had more than enough bits to fix the machine three times over! How many bits do we even need?!?”

Flim took a step back and he said steadily, “2546 by my count….brother…”

Flam growled and he grabbed the blanket, “Let’s just fix the damned machine and be done with it already.” He sat down, “Why can’t you just fix it again?”

The other pony laid down opposite him and looked up at the evening sky, “It’s not the fixing, it’s the parts we need to fix them, remember brother?”

Flam yawned, “Yes, I do Flim. Goodnight.”

The action offset him and Flim laid down, feeling put off as he cuddled the blanket. As night dawned he couldn’t help but feel that he’d failed his brother somehow.

Comments

[Yara Touin]

Let me start by saying that I think the story is great and that I really enjoy reading it.

The only thing that I would want to point out right now is that the flashbacks can be a little unclear, in the previous chapter I had to read through the flashback's start a couple of times before I realised it was a flashback. I would suggest using page breaks, or maybe italics to indicate them.

Other than that, keep going!

[TheOriginalSS]

4858912 Fixed! thanks for that feedback, I went ahead and took your advice!