Third Try’s the Charm

by eiggengrau

Third Try

The morning of Vingent’s last day came far too early.

“I don’t want you to go, I don’t want you to go away, is that selfish of me?”

“No, it’s not. This is just so out of control, I’m sorry.”

For a long moment they held each other. There was nothing more to say, no tears left.

“Remember, if she doesn’t send you back to your world, you still have me.”

And if she did, well then he didn’t.

—

“The books are balanced, sir, every account, down to a hundredth of a bit.”

Vingent had made full use of the delays resulting from failed return spells to finish the major project he had been hired for. Years of sloppy ledgers had been set right, and just in time. He needed to head down to the ferry dock now.

“You’re leaving behind some big horse shoes to fill, y’know. This could a permanent position.”

“Anypony with an associate’s degree in business accounting should have no problem keeping it all in order. It should have never gotten so mixed up.”

“I didn’t ask you before, but in your professional opinion, was Barker robbing me?”

Vingent hesitated to speak ill about an old diamond dog he’d never met, and who wasn’t here to defend himself. But there was no point covering for his predecessor either, he owed the boss an honest appraisal to the best of his ability.

“No, sir. I never met him, but judging from the books, he was either incompetent or lazy. I think if he was embezzling, he’d have kept the books better, with just a few false entries. You’d probably have been better off than the mess you had when you promoted me.”

“Thank you for all your hard work. I hate to lose you from the fam– eh, firm.”

“I hate to go, sir.”

Before Cardale could say anything more, Vingent raised his hoof and they shook.

Whatever the older stallion was going to say was lost.

“Good luck. It’s been a pleasure knowing you, son.”

—

“I’ll be waitin’,” the ferry pony said as his passenger disembarked onto the stone jetty, “just in case.”

“No, the Princess is sure this one will work. You might as well head back to shore.”

There was an unexpected sound of defeat in his voice.

“Uh, hey, are you okay?”

“No, I’m not. Here.”

The ferry stallion caught the thrown wallet.

“You already paid me!” he said in surprise.

“I won’t need that anymore. Thank you for the ride, Charon.”

“No, it’s Charlie, pone, my name’s Charlie Onne. I’ll hold onto this for you!”

He waved the wallet at a retreating back.

—

Vingent approached the heavy iron and oak door.

For long minutes he stood there, his heart pounding. What if he fled, took Carren, and vanished into lands ruled by another species? Could they plead sanctuary, would there be any chance of hiding from an unstoppable alicorn?

Old injuries ached as he raised a foreleg to knock; as always the door swang open before his hoof made contact. Grimmle stood impassively behind, as if he were part of the very stones of the tower.

Grasping for any delay, he asked “How long have you worked here?”

“My father, and his fathers before him, have served the Barons of the Rock since before Princesses Celestia and Luna ascended to their thrones.”

He solemnly made an obscure gesture of reverence when he spoke the previous rulers’ names. Ponies had sworn up and down that the reigning Princesses preceding the current Queen had ruled Equestria for eleven centuries. After the wonders he had seen he could hardly doubt, and he mirrored the butler’s obeisance.

“Of the Rock? I guess I thought the Baron was the Baron of Greenburg, or something.”

“Sir stands at the door of Rock Keep. His Lordship, the Baron of the Rock, is away on a mission of mercy, but the Lady of the Rock, Princess Twilight, will see you now.”

Lady of the Rock; her style had a nice sound to it. Vingent regretted that he would never get the chance to swear fealty to the Baron and his Lady.

“If sir will please follow me.”

—

Sitting at the bar in The Burned Mark, Greenburg’s quietest drinking establishment, Cardale presided over a collection of empties and peered listlessly out the window. Far across the lake he could just make out The Rock island, and the keep tower rising above it.

Would clouds and lightning gather around that edifice, or would rays of light spring effulgently forth?

Or would there be nothing at all to indicate when his daughter’s chance at happiness was snatched away?

“Take the filly and run,” he had almost said. Should have said.

He could have bought them enough time to make it across the border. If the Princess needed Vingent out of Equestria for whatever reason, why wouldn’t a distant land be good enough? What danger could a lad like him pose?

Cardale’s trade partner, Prowler Fatts in far away Abyssinia, could have employed Vingent. A good bookkeeper is always in demand and Cardale’s letter of recommendation would carry suitable weight with anycreature who did business with him. Prowler was a good bet because he was a bit of a noble and had a royal grant from the Abyssinian king. Enough influence to slow down any effort at extradition. If any such effort even came.

Coins hit the bar top.

“Another double.”

—

Vingent looked at the tiny flask of potion as if it were some ill viaticum.

Slightly winded from the steps, he paused before asking, “Are you sure—”

“That this will work? One hundred percent!” Twilight said brightly.

How cheerful she looked about it. If only she could understand, if only he could say, no.

“Sorry for wasting your time with those first two attempts. Even the Element of Magic is always learning and that means always trying new spells.”

There was no point in delaying any further and he drank it down, not even surprised that the flavor was familiar.

Instead of intestinal pain this started with a sudden sense of the unreality, the impossibility, of his situation. The planet Chiron was a rough, industrial, world. Utterly unlike the glorious scenery he could see from here atop the tower. There were no oak forest surrounded lakes with stone castles on mysterious islands, there was no magic. And who on Chiron would believe a tale of friendly, talking, colourful ponies? Not that telling anyone about them would be an option.

If only he could have just told the Princess.

But, satisfied with a job well done, Twilight waited for the potion to work its magic and return the wayward human.

Vingent was already fading out and his reaction was not what she expected. The tears running down his muzzle didn’t look like any sort of a homecoming.

“Vingent, what’s wrong?”

Confused, maybe even alarmed, she rushed to his side to ask the crucial question, too late.

“Don’t you want to return to your real life?”

“It didn’t work, it didn’t work!” he wailed, too distraught to answer directly.

“What didn’t work? The potion is working, it just takes a moment.”

Equestria had seemed like Heaven when he found himself meeting ponies and making friends and almost—

But now where he was certainly going…

“When I cut my wrists, it didn’t work, they saved me. When I tried to drown myself, it didn’t work, I chickened out. But, third try’s the charm. I got some poison.”

Twilight’s eyes were wide in horror and new understanding.

“Vingent?”

The connection was breaking

He was locked into the ruin of a self-ended life

The dark confines of a coffin

“Princess, I killed myself.”

Comments

[Mix-up]

Ouch this certainly adds damper on things for him, I hope Twilight finds sound way to treat him to find joy in life again. Nice dramatic chapter keep it up.

[PrincePegacornV]

Damn, that really got dark...

Just goes to show that before doing anything one should talk things out, I guess.

And, how come I can't stop thinking that he was gone regardless?

Anyway, good show!