> Eviler Than Thou
>  by Darkryt Orbinautz
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Of Bells and Cider
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Darkryt Orbinautz

Eviler Than Thou

Chapter 1

Of Bells and Ciders



Black woods went on for as far as the pony eye could see. The high, high bell tower that a pony could see for miles off in the distance was the only indicator to visitors that they hadn't stepped into a twisting nether of dark magic. The forest was almost less like a forest and more a shadow of a forest.

The woods, creepy and chilling as they were, did nothing to cow the pony.

Inside a stagecoach, an dark blue unicorn, clad in a star-colored cape and wizard's hat, looked out from her coach's window at the gleaming bell tower in the distance.

Trottingham's most distinctive feature.

The coach, automated by the unicorn's magic, rolled across the forest floor.

A hungry, shrill wolven howl echoed around, followed by a owl's meek and curious hoot.

Inside the coach, Trixie scowled. She'd be blasted if she was going to let some creepy noises keep her from Trottingham.

Trottingham...Trixe had never been there. The likes of her were more suited to flashy, gaudy Las Pegasus or unsuspecting, backwater Ponyville which she had recently escaped from. But certainly not in imperial, high-class, Trottingham whose air of culture and misc rivaled Canterlot's. Even then, when ponies who had been to both cities were asked, they would always say that there was something Trottingham had that Canterlot didn't. Something strange, something abnormal...something ancient.

Off in the distance, the Trottingham's bell tower began ringing. The sudden noise of the massive clapper against the bell's lip, the booming, percussive sound of the ancient bronze, caused Trixie to fall over in surprise. Her concentration disrupted, the spell she cast on the stagecoach to make it move wavered in strength.

Grunting as she worked herself back to a riding position, Trixie mentally cursed at the bell for startling her.

"NAH AH HA HA HA!"

Trixie froze in fear. That wasn't a forest creature. In fact, it almost sounded like a pony, but...distorted.

Concerned, she slightly opened the front door of her stagecoach and peeked her head out. "H-hello? Is somepony there?" she asked meekly. With the quiet rising and undisturbed since the bell's ringing, the terrible notion of a somepony being in danger wormed it's way into her mind. She took in a deep breath and huffed. This was a perfect opportunity for her! Clearing her throat and steeling her courage, she boldly announced her intent to help. "Hark! Is that a poor pony who requires assistance from the Great and Powerrrful Trrrixie?"

More silence. In all likeliness, she was too late.

Frowning slightly from her inability to prevent a pony from suffering horribly, she used her magic to make her stagecoach start moving again.

"NAH AH HA HA HA!"

Trixie, now more irritated at that annoying laughter then afraid of it, stopped her coach and stuck her head out to yell at whomever was doing it. "The Great and Powerful Trixie demands that you stop that laughing!"

More silence...then, there was noise. Kinda like a rubber band being pulled back to be snapped. Following that was a sight that made Trixie's breath accelerate and her irises to shrink in alarm.

Hurling itself straight at her and her stagecoach was a small, emerald green fireball, no doubt cast by some teenage unicorn for some dumb activity that their parents would frown upon. However, while the fireball itself was small, and (Trixie assumed) it's origins were stupid in nature, it would've set her coach on fire. She charged up her horn in an effort to cast a spell to intercept it, but no spell that would actually help came to mind.

The fireball hit the dead-center of her coach door, and the flame wasted no effort in spreading about her wooden door.

Trixie quickly fell back inside her coach and backed against the backside of her coach. The flames kept spreading about her door, eventually swallowing the entire front half of the coach in it's jade glow.

Panic making her unable to cast magic, Trixie began trying to buck an exit into the back half of her coach. She bucked and bucked, but the wood didn't give out. Like a smirthing slimming snake, the bright fire began slithering closer.

"No, no!" Trixie exclaimed, the pacing of her bucking increasing from fear. "Please break! Please!"

Finally, as in response to Trixie's pleas, the wood gave out, a hole put in it by Trixie's back hoof. "Yes!"

Motivated at the notion she could live another day, Trixie continued bucking until the hole was large for her to fit through. She quickly turned around and jumped through without taking a second look back until after she was safely out of the burning vehicle.

Trixie stared at her burning stagecoach, her blue coat illuminated by the green glare of light the magic fire gave off.

She stared, entrance by the flicking fire for a good minute.

After that had passed, her panic had faded enough that she could focus enough to summon a raincloud with the magic in her horn to splash water down on her stagecoach to snuff the flames out. Tendrils of smoke started drifting off into the sky. Trixie let out a relieved sign. She had saved her coach, even if it was now burnt and wet.

This done, Trixie took in a deep breath in preparation to start scolding the dumb teens.

"Hey! You dumb colts! You could've killed me! Get out here and-"

Another emerald fire came arching out from the canopy of the trees and landed some distance in front of her, dispersing into nothingness as it just barely missed her and hit the ground.

"Hey!" Trixie snapped, more than offended. "Are you even paying attention to what Trixie is saying?"

Three more fireballs flew up and out of the canopies from multiple directions and landed around her. She deftly moved to the left, then to the right to dodge the spells.

Trixie's eyes widened. Dumb teens or not, whoever was throwing these fireballs at her knew fully well what they were doing.

"Duh-at...Please! If you want something from Trixie, just ask!" Trixie asked meekly, covering her head with her front legs in fear.

Behind her, in spite of there having been no second fireball to hit her coach, it burst right up into the green inferno that Trixie had put out.

Trixie backed away in alarm, seeing her coach alight having cowed any last remaining shard of courage in her right out. She turned around and began galloping off into the forest way she had came.

"Aghh-ick-aaaaaaah!" Celestia blast it all to Tartarus! Her hooves were getting stubbed over and over again by pebbles and rocks and tree trunks and roots. Her stagecoach had been wide enough to roll over them all on her way to Trottingham, but now, running back on hoof without her vehicle, the forest floor debris was poking at her.

"Eeeeugh..." Trixie's left eye winced in pain.

There was a sound like a firecracker going being lit and going off, and another emerald fireball came blazing through the woods and passed by her harmlessly, but that didn't mean she was safe. As a matter of fact, the fireball smashed against a tree, but unlike the other ones that dissipated when they had missed her, this one set the tree on fire. With a supernatural speed that could make a Wonderbolt seethe in envy, the fire spread up the tree and onto the branches. Then it leaped from the branches of the tree to the branches of the two adjacent to it.

Trixie stopped, examined the burning trees and swerved to her right. She galloped towards a pair of trees, meaning to escape through that route, but just as she was about to slip between them, the green fire leaped from the trees' it was on to them.

Terrified and backing away, Trixie turned around again and tried, again, to swerve off into another opening between another, but the same thing happened- just as she was to get through them, the fire consumed them. Then again, and again, and again until but two trees in the circle were aflame.

Seeing little to no other choice, Trixie scrunched her eyes shut and dash frenziedly towards the unlit trees, hoping against all hope in the world they wouldn't also catch fire and envelope her.

Much to her surprised relief and relaxation, when Trixie eyes next opened up, she was unscathed. She chanced a glance behind her to see that the circle of trees she just escaped was still well aflame, except for the two she had just went through. She paused, confused as to why those two particular trees would be left untouched by the otherwise all-consuming flame.

She stepped backwards, and with a splash, the answered presented itself to her. She turned her neck around to see her back hoof had just been splashed with muddy, mucky, water that it had stepped in. She looked behind her to see spots of puddles leading away -or perhaps to- a swamp puddle within the forest. She looked at the trees she passed through to see that they were much closer to the swamp waters then others in the circle.

She breathed out in relief. It seemed that flame, as unnatural and evil as it was, was still shared the common fire's fear of water.

"Ha!" Trixie boasted, her ego restored by the fact that she had just defied impossible odds. "Foolish unicorn! Did you really think you could beat the un-defeatable, Grrreat and Powerrrful Trrrixe? Don't be a foal! Hahahahaha!"

Her victorious laughter was cut short by another fireball arching out and crashing right into the untouched trees.

Trixie blinked and blanched and started backing away, slowly submerging her back legs into the swamp. Trixie swiveled her head around in surprise when she realized what she was stepping into. "Oh, gross! The Great and Powerful Trixie is above taking a dip in a bog!"

The jade forest fire suddenly burned brighter then before, to the point that Trixie could easily hear it's unearthly sounding crackle.

Trixie pursed her lips in contemplation, her regained-ego falling and giving way back to her fear. Without a second thought, she inhaled a deep breath and dove into the swamp.

She sunk into the muddy water, breath held all the way that she sunk, and came upon an orange fish. She wasn't in the mood to question how it lived in such filthy water at the moment. She did wave to it amiably, though.

Once the disgust at having had to plunge herself full-body into a swamp had gone away, Trixie realized how much of a better position she was in now. All she had to do was wait for the fire to subside and the unicorn that was, at this point, deliberately targeting her, to either get tired or bored and leave. Then she could get out and, hopefully, snail her way to Trottingham through the burnt leftovers of the forest.

The fish's eyes widened, then it turned around and swam off.

Trixie frowned. Is Trixie so unattractive that she can even repel a fish?

However, it turned out it wasn't Trixie that had repelled the fish: A green fireball dunked itself into the water in right in front of her. Trixie's jaw dropped at the defilement of physics and she started trying to backpedal away from it.

It increased in size, spreading out around her and entrapping her in a burning circle. She splashed herself up out of the water only to see that the fire was also above the water.

Trixie's eyes closed shut and started watering. After all the times she had so narrowly escaped from the flame's grasp tonight, she was still doomed for it to be the cause of her death.

She reflected on those times, how she just managed to defy the odds in her coach, in the woods, in the circle of trees...

Trixie spat at the water and fire in defiance and, deciding she'd go out on her own terms, dove back under the water. She opened her mouth to let the water into her breathing passage ways. (which tasted really gross, but...)
With her mouth just hanging open, the water went into her mouth quickly enough. Soon, her breathing slowed...then came to a halt...her conscious was going, going...

Gone.



A rhythmic ha-chink-chink sounded out, rousing Trixie from her slumber.

"Hmmm?" She questioned, pushing herself up on on her shoulders. "Is Trixie...in the Elysian Fields?"

"No." A suave, male voice told her. "She's just outside Trottingham."

That caused Trixie's eyes to widen, allowing her to see where she was. The first thing she noticed was that her hat and cloak were on a clothesline, drying. The line was hanging from two pointed light bulbs on top of a cymbal-shaped lip of a huge clear container.
The second thing she noticed was that she was moving. On a vehicle. She struggled to get to her hooves, weakly groaning from her exhaustion.

"Don't exhaust yourself, dear." Another voice said, similar to the first one, but deeper.

Having now heard two voices, Trixie whipped her head back and forth to find their origin. She saw, in front, two lanky, dull yellow stallions wearing red-and-white stripe barbershop quartet vests and hats. One's face was young and attractive, while the others strong and chiseled looking with a red beard-and-mustache combo. Their cutie marks were complimenting, the beardless ones' being a apple that been slice with the bearded one's being a that slice of an apple. They were standing in front a boat-styled wheel, no doubt the steering mechanism for the huge, steampunk cart platform they were all on.

"Um...who are you?" Trixie asked automatically.

The two looked at each other knowingly, then they raised their hats off their heads, pointed at the other, and broke into song.

"He's Flim!"

"He's Flam!"

"We're the world famous Flim-Flam Brothers!"

"Traveling salesman non-parei!"

Trixe raised her eyebrow. "Uh...huh. Um...could you tell Trixie how she got here on your vehicle?"

The two put their hats back on. "We found you floating in a swamp in the forest. You were almost drowned, but we got to you just in the nic of time!"

Trixie's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? You saved Trixie?" They nodded. "Thank you! But...how did you get past the fire?"

The two exchanged serious glances. "Uh, we're sorry, Miss Trixie, but there wasn't any fire."

Trixie turned aghast. "No fire? But...it was on the water! It was green! Are you sure you didn't see it?"

Flim and Flam looked at each other again.

"Green fire?"

"On the water?"

Flam took his hat off in salute. "You, ma'am, are a very lucky mare to have escaped from him."

"Him?" Trixie asked. "Who's him?"

Now it was the Flim Flam Brothers turn for their eyes to widen. Then they fell over on their backs laughing.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Did you...did you really?"

"Y-you tried to go to Trottingham without knowing about him?"

"Who's him!?" Trixie repeated, slightly angry that hadn't actually answered her question.

The two stood up and righted themselves, then put their hats over their chests very seriously.

"Why..." Flam began. Flim finished.

"The Headless Horse, of course!"
> Of Crushes and Brothers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Darkryt Orbinautz

Eviler Than Thou

Chapter 2

Of Crushes and Brothers




At the notion of having escaped the Headless Horse, Trixie eyes remained wide and blank as a white egg. The machine they were riding hit a few bumps in the road, showing just how long it was taking for the dark blue pony's sense to return to her.

Soon, it did...along with something else. Now it was her turn to fall on her back in uproarious laughter. The Headless Horse? Everypony knew that was just a pony's tail, meant for scaring misbehaving little fillies and colts who wouldn't go to sleep, the terror of hearing the Headless Horse's description meant to change the 'wouldn't' to a 'can't'.

Trixie swept her hoof across her face in a effort to stifle her laughter and regain her composure. Having a few more weak laughs died their way out of her mouth. She had to ask these two something. "D-do you really think that the Headless Horse is real?"

Flam and Flim turned their heads towards each other, as if asking the other one the same question.

"Well," Flam said uncertainly, scraping a hoof at the vehicle's floor. "We did some business research before deciding to set up shop here. We found out that a lot of ponies that were trying to get to Trottingham late at night were attacked by an unseen unicorn that threw green fire at them..."

"Rumors are abound about it being the Headless Horse. Nothing's really come to support that particular theory..." Flim added shyly.

"But nothing to really contradict it either."

"Hmm." Trixie said, chancing a glance back at her cape and hat, gently billowing in a mock-wind by the movement of the vehicle. She pursed her lips, wondering why these two colts saved her. "Why did you two save Trixie?"

They both smiled and chuckled. "Well, both of us know that when you see a comatose mare floating on the water, the polite thing to do is pick her up and take her to the hospital."

"But, uh," Flim stuttered. "Since you're up and well, I imagine you can limp to Trottingham's hospital by yourself, then?

"NO!" Trixie yelled. The Flim Flam Brothers recoiled back at her sudden increase in volume. "Dah...what Trixie means is...er." Trixie tripped over her words. She didn't want to admit to them- or to herself, even- but she had been scared last night, and at the moment, the idea of company for her next attempt to get inside Trottingham seemed inviting. "Trixie would...ah, like escorts to Trottinham, if you two colts would be so kind?"

The Flim Flam Brothers exchanged leers at each other, no doubt trying to decide whether to be as such for Trixie.

Trixie, seeing their hesitance, panicked. She really didn't want to push her luck trying to go Trottingham alone. She tried to think of something to persuade them...persuade! There was her ticket!

"Please, sirs," Trixie pleaded, crisscrossing her front hooves fearfully and fluttering her eyelashes at them, trying to make her face as disarmingly cute as possible. "Trixie is ever so scared that the Headless Horse might attack her again." Her voice faltered at that admission. She was trying to say it in a cute manner, but as that was very much something she was actually afraid of, her fear showed through.

Flam regarded her curiously. Distrustfully, even. Trixie got the idea that he was familiar with the tactic she was employing. To her relief, though, Flim, on the other hoof, had his tail raised while a blush formed on his cheeks.

"Oh...I guess we can let you hang around with us for awhile."

Flam gave Flim a disapproving look. He didn't disagree with his brother often, but he had a bad feeling about the cute way the mare was carrying herself. He hooked his front leg around Flim's shoulders and smiled friendlily at Trixie. "Say, Trixie? Could you go to the back of the Super Speedy Cider Squeezey for a moment? I'd like to talk to my brother alone."

Trixie blinked in confusion. "The what?"

"That's the name of this beauty right here." Flim brushed his hoof against the floorboard affectionately.

"Oh, okay. Yeah, sure!" Trixie turned and galloped off the platform, landing on another one that was still part of the machine, but just the tiniest bit closer to the ground. She trotted over to the edge of this one and sat down there on her haunches.

Now with enough distance between them that Trixie couldn't hear them if they talked quietly, Flam rounded on his twin. "What are you thinking, Flim? This mare is obviously some sort of-of- scammer!"

"Takes one to know one." Flim said.

Flam narrowed his eyes. "Oh, you, of all ponies, cannot tell me that."

Flim looked down at floorboards and frowned. "Yeah, that's true...but, she said she was afraid of the Horse coming after her, so..."

"Didn't you see the way she was making her eyes look?" Flam questioned, crossing his front legs.

Flim raised an eyebrow at his twin. "Did you?" he shot back.

Flam gritted his teeth. "I mean it, Flim! I'm telling ya, this mare is bad news!"

Flim glared at Flam, uncertain what to do to quell his brother's temper. "Tell you what, Flam: We take her with us to Trottingham. Then, after we set up business, we part ways?"

Flam scratched his beard in thought. "That's a good plan, actually. I like it! Let's do that." he cleared his throat and turned around to yell. "You can come on back now, Trixie!"

Trixie got up off her seat and trudged back up besides them, using her magic to levitate her now-dried clothes off their lightbulb-hung line and clasping them back on their proper places on her neck and head. She walked up besides Flim and yawned.

"It seems...Trixie is more tired from her ordeal then she thought." Trixie slowly lowered herself to her belly with and curled up besides Flim. She looked adorable, curled up like that.

"Oooowh!" Flim cooed at the sight. He looked up at Flam. "Think you can keep driving the machine?"

Flam rolled his eyes, but nodded his head.

Flim lowered himself the same way Trixie had and wrapped his tail and head around her, burying his muzzle into her the cape on her neck.




Celestia's sun hung up overhead. When it's position had finally shifted enough for a mortal pony to notice, the Super Speedy Cider Squeezey was rolling smoothly down a gold brick road. Except it wasn't a gold brick road, it was regular bricks painted over in very dark yellow and glitter to make it look that way. Trottingham ponies were like that.

Flim kept curled around Trixie, his eyes closed in faux. He wasn't actually asleep just yet, but Flam knew he would be soon if left undisturbed. He pushed Flim on the shoulder, causing him to jostle, which caused Trixie to stir in turn.

Flim rubbed the sleep from his eyes while Trixie blinked twice in dawning. She yawned, putting her hoof to her mouth to be polite. "The Great and Powerful Trixie...demands...aaaaaawn."

"We're here, you two." Flam informed them. "Trottingham."

That caused both to become awake and alert. They scrambled to get up, Trixie accidentally smacking Flim in the belly as she got up.
There it was. Trottingham, the Super Speedy Cider Squeezey parked just outside an alleyway that led into the city. The bell tower was just as visible here as it was outside in the forest. Now in breathing distance of the city's air, Trixie felt something about it. It was a lot like Canterlot, but it was missing...something. Something that Canterlot was known for. It was missing it's...charm? No. Upperclass feeling? No...

Snobbishness, Trixie realized. It was lacking Canterlot's snobbishness.

"Well, brother of mine, shall we start our sales pitch?" Flim asked. Flam smiled devilishly and nodded. Flim started making some adjustments to the Sqeezey machine with his magic, then he raised a curious eyebrow at Trixie. "Say, Trixie, my dear? Would you be willing to participate in our little song and dance?"

Trixie gave a blank stare. "Um...explain to Trixie what you mean."

Flim started walking towards another section of the Sqeezey machine. "What I mean is, we're here to set up a cider shop. If we could you taste our cider in front of the townsfolk and tell them what you think?"

Trixie was about to answer yes when a problem with this plan made itself it clear to her. "What if Trixie does not like your cider?"

Flim chuckled, a mischievous gleam in his eye. "Why, it'll show we were honest enough ponies not to pay you off to compliment our cider!"

"And it'll show that our fine machine isn't working right." Flam added.

"Trixie...will do this thing you ask of her."

With a mutual cry of 'Great!" The Flim Flam Brothers blasted their machine with their magic. It started making loud, obnoxious noises that Trixie found irritating. Underneath those noises though, Trixie could wooden doors opening and closing. She looked up to see ponies coming out of their homes to investigate the source of the noise. Of course! Brilliant! The machine made those obnoxious sounds, ponies came out to investigate, then the Brothers showed off their wares.

"What the hay is going on?" An extremely dark blue, brown-maned earth pony with a constellation Cutie Mark swore.

"What's this?" A yellow unicorn with a blue mane exclaimed.

"How bizarre!" A pegasus that was pink in both mane and coat yelped.

The crowd quickly grew, but all of sudden they began parting, as if a Princess was walking down. It turned out there wasn't a princess, but a dark white earth pony with a curled grey mane in a white robe and small, round glasses on his noise came rushing through. "I say, I say, what is the commotion about?" Based on the glasses, posture, and the Cutie Mark like a book being flipped through, Trixie got the feeling he was the town minister.

The Flim Flam Brothers blasted the machine again, which made it shut up (to Trixie's relief). Then they turned around to face the minister, bowed and tipped their hats. "The Flim Flam Brothers would like to offer their services to the good folks of Trottingham!"

"Give me a break..." The dark blue earth pony grumbled. Trixie was starting to get the impression he was a very cranky colt.

The minister put a hoof to his chin. "Well, we actually haven't had a decent cider store around here for quite some time now..."

"So you'll give us a space to set up, then?" Flam asked teasingly.

"Not so fast there, sonny." The minister replied. "I said we hadn't had a decent cider store; is your cider decent?"

"A valid question!" Flim answered with a thin smile. "See this spellbinding mare with us on our fair machine?"

The crowd looked at Trixie and nodded. Flam gave Flim a dubious look.

Trixie, for her part, flushed and shook her hoof away. "Oh, stop! You flatter Trixie!"

"We found her out on the road." Flim explained. "and she has so generously agreed to taste our cider in front of you all."
"We'd like to take a second to tell you all that Trixie has never tasted our cider before AND has not, in any, been bribed to compliment our beverage! Her reaction will be one-hundred percent genuine!"

The crowed murmured, and the minister kept an eye on the Brothers.

The machine whirred to life, a series of pings and dings coming out of it, and when it was done, Flam levitated a mug filled with frothy cider out from an unseen compartment and levitated in front of Trixie, motioning for her to take it with her magic, who did so. Trixie nervously brought to her lip and tilted the mug upwards, taking a gentle sip.

She levitated it away, and saw the Trottingham ponies looking at her expectantly for her verdict. She took another, larger swig of the cider and smacked her lips, trying to decided how she felt about it.

"...Soothing." She said at last. The crowd murmured at the vague judgement, then a few curious mares stepped forward to try it themselves. Flam and Flim gave them each a mug, and they all reacted positively.

"I like it!"

"Seems legit."

"I wouldn't mind having this around the block..."

Flam rubbed his hooves together in anticipation. "So, does that mean you'll give us a space, then?"

"Not so fast!" The minister said suddenly and powerfully. "Bring one of those mugs here."

"With pleasure!" Flam said, pulling out another mug and levitating it to the minister's grasp. He grabbed it with his hoof, then he reached into his robe and pulled out some green powder.

"This powder will test whether this cider has unholy spirits." The minister explained.

Flim and Flam exchanged confused glances.

The minister dropped the green powder into the cider. At first, nothing happen, leading Trixie and the Brothers to suspect the powder didn't actually work. But then the cider started boiling, and a cloud of white smoke puffed out of it.

That was apparently a good thing, as the minister walked up and gave the mug back, pulled out a map out of his robe and forked it over. "The white spaces are blank spots. Set up at any one of them. I might ask you do so by the malt shop. Celestia knows they could split the rush in rush hour..."

The cranky colt sputtered and stammered. "Minister! You're just going to let these strange ponies in, just like that? What are you thinking?" The colt turned around and tromped off in a huff.

"What's his issue?" Trixie questioned.

The minister adjusted his glasses and apologized. "I'm sorry...you'll have to excuse Orion. Somepony rang the bell last night."

"Yes, Trixie heard." Trixie said, then decided to clarify. "The bell, I mean. I heard the bell."

"Pardon me for asking, minister, but what's so wrong about the bell being rung? That is what it's there for, right?" Flim asked.

The minister shook his head. "Indeed. But it's supposed to be rung in celebration, like a holiday or a wedding. No such thing was happening last night, and somepony rang the bell anyway. I would think that letting that rumor perpetuate would put a stop to this, but apparently not."

"Rumor?" The ponies on the machine asked in unison. "What rumor?"

"I don't believe it myself...but legend says that when the bell is rung without reason that it disturbs the slumber of the Headless Horse."

Flim, Flam, and Trixie's eyes all widened. "The Headless Horse?"

"Is that what I said? That's what I meant to say."

Flim, Flam, and Trixie looked at each other uncertainly, not sure whether to tell the minister about Trixie's encounter with the green fire. They all silently agreed with their eyes against it.

"Let me guess...you had an encounter with green fire that wouldn't go out, didn't you?"

Trixie and the Flim Flam Brothers looked at the minister in surprise.

"How did you-" Flim began.

"Know?" The minister finished. He chuckled. "You should be careful what you say with your eyes. Everypony can see them, after all." On that cryptic note, the minister turned around and walked off, presumably to go back to the church.

After he left, Flam turned to Trixie. "So, Great and Powerful Trixie, think you can be by yourself from here on out?"

Trixie nodded, swiveling her hat dramatically. "Of course! The Great and Powerful Trixie has no need of escorts once inside city walls!"
Flam scoffed at this, while Flim looked downtrodden. Trixie didn't know why, but seeing Flim with his head down like that bugged her slightly. She shook the feeling off and jumped down from the machine onto the Trottingham floor and went on her way.




Later that evening, Trixie headed to the nearest hotel she could find. She didn't know whether or not she'd be staying here yet, so she wasn't keen on the idea of having to pay full-rent for a part-time stay at the apartment. She gave the recepstinost some bits she thankfully had instead on her person, rather then her wagon.

Her thoughts began to drift...her wagon. Was it still there, out in the forest, burnt but intact? Or did the second time it ignited finish it off for good? Signing, she shook those thoughts from her head and climbed up the hotel stairs to her room. She didn't notice a pony make his way through the hotel entrance behind her, or if she did, she didn't care.

She came to the room with her number on it, put the card key in, and entered. It wasn't a bad room, entirely. The bed looked comfy and sturdy enough, the television was a decent size, and the bathroom smelled clean.

There was a knock on the door. Trixie got a bit worried and confused. Who did she know that would want to see her at this hour?...and how did they know what room she was in?

Quietly, she edged towards the door and put her ear to the door, thinking she might be able to hear something that would tell her who -or what- was outside her door.

Whoever it was, it knocked again, the acoustics of the impact hurting her ear.

"Aaagck!" She rubbed her ear sorely, the pain now replacing her fear with anger. Using her magic to make her cape billow, she started preparing to talk down whoever was on the other side of the door."Who dares-"

It was Flim.

"Oh, hello, Flim." Trixie said with boredom.

"Hello again, Great and Powerful Trixie." Flim greeted back in that suave, con-mare voice of his.

"What can I do for you?"

"Well, Flam and I have everything ready to start sales tomorrow, so I was thinking, maybe, if you wouldn't mind, perhaps, if you're not too busy-" Flim started making nervous hoof gestures.

"Trixie is not a fan of stalling in her conversation." Trixie snarled.

"Right, right..." Flim tried to puff out his chest proudly, but it deflated. He took in a very, very, deep breath and circled his hoof nervously. "Miss Great and Powerful Trixie..."

"Would you go out on a date with me?"
> Of Dates and Scares
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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...
> Of Accents and Accusations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Darkryt Orbinautz

Eviler Than Thou

Chapter 4

Of Accents and Accusations



Trixie, Flim and Flam all covered their mouths in worry, still taking in the spectacle. Pink Cloud, leaking that substance so wretched, yet coursed through everypony on the cement stairs.

Trixie looked to the minister, asking with her eyes if she could approach. If she had been heedful of the minister's words, she might've realized Orion could see what she was asking, arousing his suspicious of the newcomer magician even more.

Trixie slowly took a step forward, then another one, then stopped, absorbing the grisly scene. Flim placed himself by her side, which reassured her enough to come closer. (Though the showoff in her would never admit this)

The two unicorns gingerly approached the bottom of the stairs.

"Pink Cloud?" Flim quietly pipped out. There was no response. No response at all.

"Zhe'll ve fine." The doctor that looked like Daring Do told him. "Vut not until after zhe haz had ztiches."

Flim tilted his head at the doctor. "May I say, madam, you have a very strange accent."

The doctor shot him a look which made it clear to him he was speaking quite out of line. "Vou vatch vore tongue, bo've! I am the only dokter in Trottinham, and vou know wh've? Vecause I am good enough any other dokters vould ve re-dun-dant!"

Flim backed away, not expecting a 'dokter' to be so quite so...feisty. "Uh, my mistake, ma'am."

"Darn right it iz!" The dokter snapped. Somehow, she was capable of chewing Flim out and getting Pink Cloud into a stable enough condition that the pegasus could be taken to a hospital where more advanced equipment could be used to salvage her.

The doctor bit Pink Cloud's mane and carefully began to lift her, the pegasi's limbs flopping about like a slowly dragged rag doll as the doctor lifted her up onto her back. Trixie shuddered. Seeing a pony's body manipulated like that...so-so limp and-and... lifeless.

Orion departed from the crowd and started trotting up along the doctor. Trixie got the feeling the two were close. The dark blue colt shot a nasty look at her over his shoulder.

The minister shook his head and chuckled. "Ah...good old Vivian. She's a little rough around the edges, but if a pony can be saved, she'll save 'em."

Flam had just the tiniest dissent in regards to the minister's opinion. "A little rough?"

The minister didn't hear him, or at least pretended not to. "All right, everypony, crisis dealt with. Please return to your homes...Yes, that's it, go on..."

The assembled crowd did as told, slowly but surely separating back into whatever groups they were in before the scream had been heard. Having dismissed everypony but them, the minister turned towards Trixie, Flim, and Flam.

"You three ought to head back home as well." The old pony said. "Celestia knows if whatever did that to Pink Cloud is willing to come down from the tower." He turned around and disappeared into the shadows after his warning.

Flam raised his eyebrows at Trixie and Flim.

Trixie, thinking that she had done something to hurt Flim she wasn't aware of having done, started a small trickle of sweat on her forehead.

Flam cleared his throat and gestured to his chest.

"What are you getting at, Flam?" Flim questioned.

Flam crossed his hooves across each other, as if trying to clip one into the other.

Flim and Trixie looked at each other. They finally saw what Flam was getting at.

Flim awkwardly tried to laugh it. "Ehheheh...it would seem, beautiful Trixie, that we are wearing the others' clothes."

"So we are." Trixie agreed. "...The Great and Powerful Trixie demands the return of her hat and cloak immediately!"

"Of course, of course..." Flim set to work undoing the clasp of Trixie's cloak and took off her hat. Trixie held them in her magic while she fiddled with getting Flim's clothes off herself. Even she knew that fair trade is fair trade. Although, as she messed with it, she couldn't but start to wonder; If she and Flim had rushed so much that they got dressed in the other's clothes, how did they have the frame of mind to clip the clasps, knot the ties and push all the buttons?

Deciding not to bother Flim with her musings, she gave Flim's shirt, tie, and hat to him and all three unicorns departed to their residence for the night.

Under the covers of her bed in the hotel room, Trixie couldn't sleep well. She couldn't stop thinking about what happened to Pink Cloud. What kind of creature could do that, that would do that, that would also bother hanging out around the bell tower and ring the bell? Perhaps there was more then one creature up there? A pony ringing the bell on purpose to anger the townsfolk and a large rat that had cut up Pink Cloud independently of said pony? A warlock ringing the bell in an effort to summon the Headless Horse to tame it, and his pet demon that kept Pink Cloud away?

After a couple of hours, Trixie removed herself from the room bed. She hadn't actually slept, kept awake by her pondering. Bags had formed under her eyes and her mane was disheveled, and had she her way, she would've lied on the mattress for as long as took for her to get the sleep she was deprived, but it was morning now, and that meant she had to do her morning rounds.

She got dressed and left the hotel grounds, finding something she really wasn't expecting just outside the door.

Her wagon. Intact, cleaned up and prepared for travel. If she would've been so humble, she might've even said that it looked better then when she had first rolled into forest. But...how? Trixie was starting to dislike Trottingham. It was getting more mysterious by the minute. Who would've taken the time to trek through the forest, find her wagon, fix it and bring it all the way to the motel for just for her?

...Flim. Flim would've done it for her.

Okay. Maybe Trottingham wasn't that terribly mysterious.

Smiling to herself, she perkily swung back into the hotel to sign out.

"My, my." The register clerk clicked her tongue. "Somepony looks happy."

"Trixie is quite happy!" Trixie self-narrarated. "Somepony was nice enough to clean her wagon and bring it outside the hotel for her."

"Oh my! What a gentlecolt!" The clerk exclaimed.

"Trixie will be returning to her wagon, and as such, will be signing out of the hotel room."

"Awww, so soon? Are you sure we can't get you to stay one more night?"

Trixie became very uncomfortable with the clerk's saddened tone. She got the feeling the clerk might've been possessed by some spirit from the hotel that made sure the patrons didn't want to check out. "...Yes, Trixie is sure."

The clerk chuckled. "Well, can't blame me for trying to help the hotel make a buck, can you?" She happily held up a pen for Trixie to sign out with.

Trixie exhaled quietly in relief that she was getting into a tizzy over nothing. She took the pen and signed the papers saying she no longer was staying at the hotel. After shaking hooves with the clerk, she went to her room to pack her stuff and put where it belonged- in her wagon. That done, she got into the wagon and used her spell to make it move, rolling down the streets until she was at her destination- Flim and Flam's shop.
The yellow unicorns started in confusion at the wagon they hadn't seen before until Trixie popped herself out the door and waved.

"Ah, Trixie!" Flam exclaimed jovially. "This is your wagon, I take it?"

"Mh-hmm!"

"It's very nice."

"It is, isn't it? Your dear brother was so kind as to rescue it from the forest."

Flim stopped whatever he was doing and scratched his head. "...I was?"

Flam turned towards his twin. "Flim, were you not so kind as to fix Trixie's wagon?"

"No. I had no idea where her wagon was or that Trixie even had one!"

Trixie narrowed her eyes. "So wait, you didn't fix my wagon?"

"No..."

Trixie tucked in her cheeks in agitation. Seems Trottingham was that terribly mysterious after all. "Would...you two mind if Trixie were to set up her wagon next to your machine?"

"Not at all, dear!" Flim assured her with a tip of a hat. Flam's eye twitched. He was probably still afraid of Trixie hurting Flim, but he didn't seem confident enough to raise an actual objection.

Trixie magicked her wagon over to the side and slightly to the back of the Super Squeezy machine. Close enough to suggest she was on good terms with the Brothers, without being so invasive as to ward off potential customers. Having parked her wagon, Trixie got out of and took a seat on the Brother's set-up.

"So, how's business been?" Trixie attempted to make small talk.

"Slow, but we're still new here." Flam answered.

Trixie sat back against her seat, then spotted a brown unicorn with a orange mane walking past the store. "Hey, perhaps he could be a customer?"

Flim and Flam looked at him, then back to Trixie. "...How?"

Trixie rolled her eyebrows. "You know, for such entrepreneurial ponies, you sure don't how to run a business." Trixie started clearing the table and jumped up on it. She used her magic to make it appear like her cape was billowing in the wind, despite the lack of such, pointed at the brown colt, then started boasting her best announcer voice. "You there! Unicorn with the orange mane!"

The unicorn's eyes widened he realized Trixie was talking to him. He shakily turned his head towards her. "W-who- m-me?" He must've been shy, Trixie concluded from the way he stuttered.

"Yes, you!" Trixie answered. "You look like you could use a refresher! A pick-me-up!"

"I-I do?"

"I don't know, maybe. Just play along. Why not buy some of the Flim Flam Brothers own foal-safe type cider to make your morning as bright as the beverage?"

The brown colt's eyes shifted back and forth across the street, but he nodded. "O-okay, sure..." he nervously sat down at one of the tables. Flam and Flim zoomed over to make him comfortable.

"Mind you though, while our cider is delish, we do have some other drinks if that's more your speed." Flam informed him.

"T-that's fine." The colt stuttered out.

Flim pulled a notepad and quill. "So, what'll it be? Cider? Plain Apple juice? Milk or perhaps an orange smoothie? Just plain water?"

The colt seemed to shake in his seat, confounded by Flim's offering of decision.

Flim took the notebook away from his face. "Sir, are you all right?"

"HERE!" The colt exclaimed, throwing some bits on the table. "Just take my money and don't hurt me!" He bolted out of his seat and dashed out of the set-up.

Trixie and Flam pouted. "What was that all about?"

Flim hung his neck over the table, looking at the bits. He scooped them up and held them in the air. "Sir, don't you want your change?"

Trixie facehooved.

"Eh-hem..." A familiar voice snarled. "That nice young bartender asked you if you wanted your change."

The unicorn was corralled back into the set-up by Lemon Hearts.

"But-but..."

"But what?" Lemon Hearts growled. "I mean, it's not like they hurt somepony, is it?"

The colt raised his hoof. Lemon Hearts snorted.

"...No, ma'am." The colt turned back to face Flim. "Ah...yes, I would like my change."

Flim kinetically moved the bits from his hoof to the colt's hoof. He then left at a much slower, less panicked pace.

"I'm sorry about that." Lemon Hearst apologized after the colt left. "Orion's been going around telling everypony how he thinks you three got Pink Cloud. I don't buy it, but I can't speak for everypony."

"Insolent jerk!" Trixie snapped. "The Great and Powerful Trixie did not harm Pink Cloud! If I did, I would make sure I got credit for it!"

Lemon Hearts eyed her warily. "...Yeah, I'm sure you would. Anyways, I don't think you did it."

"That's nice of you." Flim complimented.

"Yeah, see. If you three knew we were coming for you, then why would you attack Pink Cloud, but not come after me?"

"A valid question."

Lemon Hearts reached behind herself and pulled out a book from...where ever. "I thought you three might be interested in a chance to prove your innocence, so I got this for you to read." She chunked the book on the table.

Flam flipped it open and started reading. "Ahem...foreword, by Andrew Joshua Talon, "For-'"

"Skip that." Hearts instructed. She reached her hoof over and started flipping through the book here. "Here. Read here."

Flam cleared his throat again and started reading. "'On The Headless Horse...the Headless Horse is more then it first appears to be. Despite all my intensive research, I have found nothing of him. Some say he was born by the little-known Princess Luna before her exile (See page 121, 'Mare in The Moon') and is disturbed when the bell is rung because it reminds of him of his mother's lullaby, which he knows he will not hear again. Others suggest the Headless Horse is the vengeful spirit of a criminal who was decapitated in medieval times. Still, some say he is the manifestation of the all the sins in all of the ponies of Trottingham. Plenty of theories, but so few facts...'"

Trixie and the Flim Flam Brothers looked at Lemon Hearts.

"...What is this supposed to tell us?"

"Who's Princess Luna?"

"Are you trying to tell me we're supposed to play a lullaby for the Headless Horse?"

" One, what you need to do. two, Princess Celestia's sister. Three, no." Lemon Hearts answered.

The three of them were still confused.

"Princess Celestia has a sister?"

"What is it we need to do?"

Lemon Hearts took in a deep breath and facehooved. "You three need to go up the bell tower and find out who's ringing the bell and bring them to justice!"

Flim, Flam and Trixie were all aghast at this idea. Didn't Lemon Hearts see what the mysterious bell-ringer did to Pink Cloud? What's to prevent it from doing that to them?

Lemon Hearts scuffed her hoof at the ground. "I'll leave that book with you, in case you need it again. I know you probably don't wanna face whatever did that to Pink Cloud, but somepony needs to. And don't forget; If you go catch who did this, Orion'll have to admit your innocent! Stew on that for awhile."

Lemon Hearts left on that.

The three unicorns started stewing, as Hearts had instructed. Was it worth it? Risking their life and limb to prove their innocence? Most ponies would've said 'Yes' but these particular three had a slightly greater sense of self-preservation then most ponies. Enough so that they could handle being thought of guilty if meant they could keep their body parts on their bodies.

At least that's what they thought.

For the rest of the day, no pony came into the shop to buy anything, no matter how much Trixie boasted of the cider's quality. Granted, plenty of ponies threw measly offerings of bits in hopes it would keep Trixie and the Brothers from hurting them, which Flim and Flam, seeing that they were currently unlikely to make any other way of income, but as the day faded away and was replaced by the utterly moonless night, it started feeling...wrong. Flim, Flam and Trixie weren't exactly just ponies. They didn't mind a few little lies and misconceptions if it helped them make a buck. But for some reason, they just couldn't shake that feeling of guilt. They hadn't hurt Pink Cloud, but when a pony is told a lie many times, they eventually start to believe it. At this rate, how long would it take for the three of them to think that they HAD done that to Pink Cloud? Because Pink Cloud had nearly been the one to find out their bell-ringing scheme...that wasn't even theirs!

Unable to resist whatever magic in the night was making them suddenly care about the truth, Flim and Flam scooped up all their undeserved bits from the day's haul into a sack and resolved to give them all back to the townsfolk when they had gotten this mess sorted out.

Not that they were going to the bell tower. They still wouldn't dare begin the ascent up that wretched rising structure to be met with the same shredded-up fate as Pink Cloud had met. No, they would just...confront Orion. Simple enough. There was three of them and only one of him...but he did appear to have the town on his side. It was entirely possible he could rally a mob with torches and pitchforks to run the three of them out of town...

Flim looked at the sack of bits. The sight of it reminded him why they had settled on what they were settling on.

"Well..." Flim screwed up all he had that resemble courage. "Let's go."

The three of them began marching out of the shop and were halfway across the street when it hit them.

"So...where does Orion live?" Trixie asked.

Flim and Flam looked at her.

"...We thought you knew that."

"...Trixie sees."

They had no idea where Orion lived. They couldn't very well asks anypony. That would just make them appear more suspicious to the townsfolk. If they asked somepony, that pony would probably run screaming to Orion that the three of them were out to get him, and he could do...whatever he'd do if he thought somepony was coming after him.

They paced around in circles, walking after the others' tails, trying to think of what to do. More then once, one of them would raise their hoof, thinking they had something, only to put it down and shake their heads when they realized they really had nothing. What to do, what to do...

"Hmmhmhm...feeling lost, my little ponies? I've yet to see somepony walk around in circles quite like that."

The three of them looked over the street to see the minister, regarding them with amusement. The minister, of course! He'd be willing to help them, wouldn't he? He had been so nice before...

"Minister?" Trixie squeaked. "Can you help us?"

"I can try." The minister answered jovially. "What ails you?"

"We're trying to find Orion."

"He's at Doctor Vaccine's...as usual. What do you need him for? Anything I can help with?"

The three of them all got naughty smiles on their face. To their understanding, the minister was a pony who kept Orion in check.

"Er, perhaps." Trixie said, trying to be coy. "We were told that Orion's been going around telling everypony how he thinks we hurt Pink Cloud."

The minister's jovial disposition disappeared. "Is that so? Seems I will be seeing Orion, irreverent of whether or not you come with me."

When Trixie first met the minister, she had gotten the impression he was somepony that wouldn't look very nice when crossed. Right now, he looked quite cross, and Trixie had been right; He did not look nice at the moment.

He walked over the street and rounded the three of them up like ducklings following their mother in the swimming pond. It felt less like the three of them going on a mission to confront Orion and more like the three of them being guided along to witness the minister doing so.

The minister led them through the streets and alleyways of Trottingham's streets, their hooves clipping and clopping across the cement of the sidewalks until they reached a simple, red brick house with a large wooden sign hung above the door. "Doctor Vaccine's."

The minister knocked his hoof on the door violently.

"Voo iz it?" A voice like Vaccine's asked from behind the door. It was a little more squeaky, like it was coming from a child.

"Seashells, seashells, by the sea floor, won't you see me and open the door?" the minister chanted. Trixie and the Brothers were confused by this.

The door was rather enthusiastically swung open to reveal, sure enough, a filly that looked like a tinier version of Vaccine. Almost a copy of Daring Do with the exception of her hair being cord-like, and black with yellow stripes rather then gray-scale. "Minizter!" She cried, running up to the minister and hugging him the best her tiny legs could manage.

"Hello, Vivian." The minister greeted.

Flam tapped the minister on the shoulder. "I...take this delightful little filly is the good Doctor's filly?"

"Yes. I'm often her foalsitter. Which is why I taught that special little rhyme, so that she always knows when it's me at the door." He adorably booped Vivian's nose.

"Are voo here to pla've vith me and momm've?"

The minister signed. "I'm sorry, dear, but no. I'm here to see Orion."

Vivian pouted. "Iz he in trouble again?"

The minister mimicked her accent. "Ves. Ves he iz."
Vivian moved to let the minister in, but when Trixie, Flim and Flam tried to follow, she got in their and took a fighting stance, scraping her hoof and snorting, clearly distrustful of theze ponieezz she had never zeen vefore. "Halt! Voo goes there?"

"It's all right, Vivian." The minister said from within the house. "They're with me."

"Oh. Okay." Vivian turned around and went back inside the brick house. Trixie, Flim and Flam all looked to each other, not sure if they should go ahead...They had gotten this far. Why stop now? That resolved, they entered the building.

It was simple. Humble, even. Wood walls and floors, a red sofa, a red carpet for the foals to play on. A few hallway entrances, A few pictures that hung on the wall. Trixie didn't feel like approaching them just to make out what was in them better. Vivian sat down on her hind legs just in front of the couch.

Flim reached a hoof out for her attention. "Excuse me, Vivian, but-"

Vivian, as if she could tell what pointed to the hallway entrance on the left of the room. "In there."

Flim blinked, then backed away from Vivian, slightly unnerved. "Eeeh...right! In there, my compredre's!" The three of them marched into the doorway Vivian had pointed at.

It led into a very large room with several beds set up against the walls. One of them had Pink Cloud on it, lying on her back and looking generally okay. The covers were hiding the stitches on her body, no doubt. Seems Vaccine's house doubled as the local hospital, though Trixie couldn't see any advanced equipment like the Doctor had mentioned. Maybe it was hidden?
Doctor Vaccine sat on a stool on the bed's right, while Orion sat on the same on the bed's left. The minister was sitting on the floor, he and Vaccine giving Orion quite disapproving looks.

"Ah, Flam, Trixie and Flim!" The minister put his hooves together at their arrival. "I do believe Orion has something to say, don't you, Orion?"

"Get glued." Orion growled.

The minister bared his teeth and looked he was about to wallop Orion a new one, but Vaccine intercepted before anything could happen.

"Orion, zweetie," Vaccine purred, rubbing her hoof on Orion's chin. "Zurely voo don't need zo rude to theze newkomers?"

Orion seemed to smile and flush at Vaccine's touch. Trixie recognized the look as that of a pony being touch by another they had a significant crush on. "Well, I don't know...there's still the issue of who...did that to Pink Cloud."

Vaccine began rubbing her hoof on him slower, allowing him to feel every curve of the yellow appendage. "There iz, vut that'zz no reazon to ztart zpreading such nazty lie'zz about them, iz it?"

Orion's head wobbled, clearly enjoying Vaccine's scrubbing. "...I guess not. I'm sorry about telling everypony you three were the ones that attacked Pink Cloud." He fell backwards on the bed like he was trying to put his head in Vaccine's lap, but he just ended up thumbing against the side of Pink Cloud's obscured Cutie Mark.

"Thank you, Orion." The minister spat out.

Trixie, Flim and Flam scraped their hooves, uncertain what to say.

"Err...apology accepted?" Flam questioned.

"Right then." The minister exclaimed, clapping his hooves and getting up. "That's all taken care of, so I guess we'll be off now."

"Take kare." Vaccine waved them off.

The minister walked over to Trixie and the Brothers to rejoin their group, but just as the four of them were about to leave, Vaccine raised her hoof into the air and swatted at said air, like she was trying to count the beat of a musical composition. "Vait!"

The mismatched group turned around at Vaccine's distraught cry. "Something wrong, Vaccine?"

"Er, ves, vut no." The strangely-accented doctor answered. "I vas vundering...kould vou four ztay here vith the patient vhile Orion and I go out about the town?"

Trixie and Flim exchanged confused looks. Why did Vaccine wait until now to ask that? Couldn't she asked that when they had all first came in?

Orion flung himself off the bed and onto his knees (well, hind knees) at the idea of him and Vaccine being out. "Oh, please! I'll admit to everypony I might see what I said was just speculation if you foalsit Pink Cloud and Vivian!"

Flam smirked and rubbed his hooves together. "Sounds like a good deal to me! What do you think, brother of mine? Trixie?"

Trixie shrugged her shoulders. "I...suppose Trixie can do this...bizarre request of yours."

"I'm quite certain Vivian will be happy to know I can play with her, then." The minister said.

Flim actually didn't want to do this, but seeing as he was outnumbered three-to-one, he hung his head and signed. "Huu...I guess."

Orion zoomed over and shook Trixie's hoof with a bustling amount of energy. "Oh, thank you, thank you so much!"

"...You're welcome?"

Orion bounced out of the room. Vaccine removed herself from her stool and followed him out. Trixie and her group sat down in various positions around the bed.

"Viiiiivian! Your mother's going out! Come in here so we can keep an eye on you!" The minister called.

Vivian excitedly ran into the room, swerving all the way around the bed to get to the minister. She jumped up on him like a hungry parasite and embraced him tightly. "Yaaaay! Now we can play games and tell each other stories and..." She yawned.

"Must be getting close to your bedtime."

"No... fair." Vivian protested. "You just got here..." despite her obvious want to play with the minister, her grip on him slipped and she slid down his chest and sunk into the floor like a blob. The minster chuckled, while Trixie couldn't help d'awwing at the filly's behavior. The minister scooped her in his arms and gently slid her under the covers of one of the occupied beds. She looked like a little puppy with her eyes closed and neck swiveled around the edge of the blanket.

"Aww...she's so cute when she's sleeping." Flim cooed.

"You should see her when she's awake." The minister informed him, petting Vivian's sleeping cheek. "I'd sing her lullaby, but as she's already asleep..."

The group sat there in silence, the night ticking away on Vaccine's wall-clock. Watching Vivian sleep was cute enough...for a while. Eventually though, the sound of the clock ticking became too much for Trixie to bear. Ick-ick-ick-ick-ick...

"Will somepony please talk about something!?"

"SHHhh!" The minister scolded, not wanting Vivian to be woken up.

"Sorry...but still..."

Ick-ick-ick-ick-ick.

Trixie's eye twitched. Somepony make that clock shut up!

"So!" Flam exclaimed. "What's, uh, what's up the Doc and Orion?"

"Orion's always had something of a crush on our good doctor." The minister explained. "He tries to keep it a secret, but everypony knows about it. It's one of the only ways to keep his temper in check, after all."

Ah! So that's why Vaccine started rubbing her hoof to get Orion to apologize to them. Huh.

Flam cocked his head, casting an sideways (figuratively and literally) glance at Trixie. "I must ask, minister, does Vivian...appreciate Orion's crush on him, or does she just use it to manipulate him?"

Trixie gave him a sideways glance back. There was a difference between being protective of his brother and being a jerk.

"Ehhh...I don't know how she feels about him really," the minister answered. "but she is willing to use it against him if it helps other ponies dealing with him...such as yourselves."

Flam's eyes widened as he realized he could've been giving off all the wrong signals. "Oh...oh yes! That's...nice of her...well, maybe not to Orion, but..."

DING-DONG-DING-DING.

All conversation was dropped.

Vivian muttered in her sleep, but thankfully didn't wake up.

The minister signed and shook his head. "I wish I knew why whomsoever disgracing the bell is doing this. Why? Are they trying to disrupt the Headless Horse?"

"Oh!" Trixie exclaimed. "Lemon Hearts gave us a book to read about the Headless Horse. It said some stuff about where he came from. "Lots of theories, but so few facts."

The minister put a contemplative hoof to his chin. "Hmph. Did she now? I'm sorry I can't help with that. I don't know anymore then the author of the book does about the Horse."

THIMP-THIMP-THIMP. Somepony frantically knocked on the door. "Help!"

That sounded like Orion!

Everypony rushed out of the bed-filled room and to the house's front entrance and swung it open to reveal Orion covered in soot with Vaccine more heavily scorched, unconscious, and breathing heavily on his back.

"Orion, what happened!?"

"I-I don't know! I heard the bell ring, then something got in my eyes. When I could see again, Vivian was like this!"

"Here, I'll get her into a bed..." The minister offered, using his hooves to remove Vaccine from Orion's back and onto his. The old pony ran back into the bedroom.

"I..." Orion gasped, his eyes becoming slightly watery. "I'm...going to go home...I can't help Vaccine, and...oh!" Orion turned around and faded into the streets.

Trixie, Flim and Flam were left standing there in Vaccine's house, feeling afraid and...somewhat guilty. Lemon Hearts had pressed on them to visit the bell tower to prove their innocence. They took a shortcut. A workaround, and somehow the bell being rung resulted in another pony getting hurt.

The minister came back out of the room with Vivian in his arms, er, legs. It was clear he didn't want her to wake up to see her mother scorched and barely breathing.

Why should they feel guilty? They hadn't hurt anypony. They hadn't dissected Pink Cloud or blasted Vaccine with a flamethrower. It's not like they were responsible. But they felt that way. Survivor's Guilt was a possible explanation. The three of locked their eyes in a triangle, hoping one of them would say something, but none of them did. They all knew what was on the others' mind. They didn't want do this. They really, really didn't want to do this...but they had to.

They had to go the bell tower.
> Of Creaks and Gryphons
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Darkryt Orbinautz

Eviler Than Thou

Chapter 5

Of Creaks and Gryphons



"I'm going to get Orion." The minister said as he came back down the stairs. "Somepony needs to make Vivian doesn't find out what happened to her mother. Who knows how she might take it?"

"Uh, minister?" Flam questioned. "I hate to trouble you again, but we're going to go up the bell tower. Would you come with us?"

The minister looked surprised. Understandable, as who would expect somepony to actually decide to go up the tower after what happened to the mares in the other room?

"Go ahead without me." The minster answered. "I'll meet you there after I bring Orion back here." The minister left the house ahead of them.

The three unicorns exited the house and blindly stumbled through the alleyways the minister had led them to. They hadn't the foggiest idea how to get to the bell tower from where they were.

"I think it's that way..."

"No, it's this way!"

"I'm telling you, Flam, it's that way!"

"This way!"

"That way!"

"Shut up, both of you!" Trixie snapped. "We're unicorns aren't we? We'll just use a spell!" A purple light formed on Trixie's horn that transformed into a sphere which floated off into the distance.

"Follow that sphere!" Trixie commanded. They galloped after it, Trixie in the lead. It managed to lead them through the alleyways until they were back out on the less dark, more navigable streets. A pony saw them following the purple sphere, yelped, and hid behind something. They ignored them, focused on the sphere.

Along the way, Trixie heard a odd noise, like a pony in armor slowly walking.

Clink...Clink... Clink...Clink...

She decided to ignore it. It's not like it had something to do with the bell tower, is it?

Eventually the sphere led them the cement stairs of the bell tower and dissipated.

Flim gulped. "...Well, here we are."

"...Yup." Trixie agreed. "Here we are."

Whatever had made Trixie effective enough to use her magic to lead them out of the alley had seemed to have left her when she needed more now then she did then.

Clink...Clink...Clink...Clink.

That sound again. Trixie decided to question it this time.

"...What's that sound?" Trixie questioned.

"What sound?" Flam asked in response. Trixie wasn't sure if he actually couldn't hear it or whether or he was pretending not to irritate her. Remember his comments at Orion's house, she presumed it was the latter. And, here, at the bell tower's entrance, she had the perfect opportunity to get back at him. The familiar green fireball came arching out of the forest and flew right over them.

"...You go first, Flam."

"Why should I go first? You go first!"

"You should go first!"

"NAH HAAAAAAAAAARRGGGH!"

Trixie froze. That sounded like the laughter she heard in the forest when she first tried to get into town. But it wasn't laughter. It was a scream of rage.

The all-too-familiar sound of a firecracker being launched assaulted her eyes. Trixie ducked to the concrete and put her front legs over her head. The green fireball seemed to aim at the bell tower, but stopped short and merely started flying around the bell tower's top, as though trying to scare whoever was in there without coming close enough to risk melting the bell within.

"The Headless Horse grows angrier. We must hurry."

Oh, thank Celestia. The minister had arrived. Just as he had when they were going to Orion's, he conducted them into a group like a mother duckling bading her kids for the swim. They followed him through the entrance, marching like the ducks on the land.

The inside of the clock tower wasn't as...violent-looking as Trixie had expected. Stone log upon stone log stacked on top of each other like a wooden blocks, forming stairs. The walls were white, but they looked just the tiniest bit grey for some reason that Trixie didn't think she wanted to know just yet. In the darkness, the lines of the interlocked bricks looked like insane scribbling.

The four of them started climbing up the stairs, their hoofsteps the only noise. Their shadows, the only movement. More then once, Trixie was startled by a sudden change in the dissonance, but it was only Flim or Flam stepping either more lightly or more heavily on the stairway.

"We're halfway to the top now." The minister informed them after they been through...how many stairs? Trixie lost count. Was she even counting the first place? Bah, she didn't care.

Clink... Clink... Clink... Clink...

She tried to ignore the sound. She probably would've come off as crazy if she kept pestering anypony about it. Although she started caring again when she stepped on something.

"EEEET!"

"AAHHHH!" Trixie backed away and fell backwards. "RAT RAT RAT!"

"EEEEEEET!" The tiny brown rodent shrieked, then it ran down the stairs, trying to get away from whatever had just crushed it's tail.

Trixie started taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself. Mercifully, the rat hadn't tried to bite her. Of course, now that she saw it, she couldn't but wonder if maybe her speculations in the hotel had some grain of truth to them.

"Trixie has a question..." The blue unicorn said as they resumed their march up the stairs.

"Ask away." The minister encouraged her, keeping his eyes on the stair.

"Does anypony else think the rat Trixie stepped on could be what hurt Pink Cloud?"

The minister and the Flim Flam Brothers snorted.

"...What?"

"First of all, that rat was too small to give the wounds Pink Cloud had. Second..." The minister turned around with an amused grin on his face. "That was a mouse."

"...The Great and Powerful Trixie knew that! You think Trixie incapable of telling the difference between a rat and mouse?"

"Oh, none of us think that, Trixie!" Flim assured her.

"We know it." Flam whispered into Flim's ear. The two snickered.

Trixie remained indignant. "What are you colts laughing about? Trixie demands to know!"

"Nothing."

"Stop!" The minister instructed, holding his leg out to keep Trixie from going any further up the stairs.

Clink... Clink... Clink... Clink...

"We are almost at the top."

"That's...good." Flim said slowly. "...Right?"

The minister pointed his hoof. "Look."

In front of them, what should have been another tedious set of stone logs was instead a collapsed wooden...hut within the tower.

"What the-!?"

"An old hut that leads into the bell's chamber." The minister explained. "The ponies that built it thought it added 'flair' when the material that the stairway was made of changed suddenly just before visitors got to the top. As you can see, it didn't work that well...Come on then, the rest of you go before me. If you fall in, I can pull you out."

Trixie and Flam looked at each other. Flim, seeing they wer about to get into another spat about who went first, volunteered to be the first across.

Flim cautiously, tensely put one hoof on the intact part of the wood. He shakily got another one, then his hind ones.

"Don't be afraid, Flim." The minister told him. "Being afraid will only serve to create a valid cause of concern."

Flim gave the minister a bewildered look at his cryptic way of reassurance. Regardless, he tippedhooved his across and made it over the way and to the door that led into the bell's chamber.

"Now Flam." The minister instructed.

Flam did the same as Flim, stepping his way over cautiously. He lost balance once, though, and got poked in the side by a broken piece of wood. "Ow!"

"Flam! You all right?" Flim called.

"I'm fine! I've had worse." He rubbed his side and gave the broken piece of wood a filthy glare. "Then again, I've also had better." In spite of the wood's ever so clear malicious intent, he made it the rest of the way across without anything breaking. (Either on the wood or him.)

"Your turn, Trixie."

Trixie lowered her head to look at the wood. She raised her head back up in a 'Humph!' gesture. "Once again, Flim Flam Brothers, you have forgotten that you are both unicorns!" Trixie took a few step backwards, scraped her hoof and came running at the broken hut. Just as she was about to take her first step on it, she jumped into the air.

Flim covered his eyes, thinking that Trixie was about to fall crashing through the floor.

Trixie wasn't a dumb pony, though. She knew what she was doing. When she began to lose altitude, she grabbed the whole of her own body in her magic and used it to hurl herself across, landing on her tushie in front of the door to the chamber.

"Very well then. I guess that means it's my turn, eh?" The minister joked. He started leisurely trotting along the wood as causally as he would if he was out on the street in broad daylight.

Flim became concerned at his seeming whimsy. "Minister, are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Don't worry, it's fine." The minister answered. "I used to walk this thing whenever there was a tourist group-WAAAOOH!" Despite his claims of having walked the path before, the minister's hind hoof hit a weak spot in the wood and the floor crumbled beneath him, sinking the entire rear half of his body into whatever pit lied beneath the wood.

"MINISTER!"

"I'm fine!" The elder dismissed their concerns. "I'll be able to dig myself out...but that'll take a while. Go stop whoever's in that room!" The minister started pedaling his left hoof under the wood while using his right one to keep himself out of the aforementioned pit.

Trixie and the Brothers turned to look at the door.

"Well..." Flam began. "Last chance for anypony to change their mind."

"I thought that was when we were waiting outside?" Flim questioned.

The three of them braced themselves, taking a deep breath and a moment to remember Pink Cloud and Doctor Vaccine.

Trixie, thought quivering, put her hoof on the doorknob and pulled it open. (So much for being a unicorn!)

They entered the room, not finding what they were expecting to find.

The gigantic bell was there, undisturbed as far could be seen from looking at it. They were a few spots of blood on the floor just in front of the door they had the misfortune to step in. (Eeuck!)

But still, aside from those spots, there wasn't really anything there. No prankster pony ringing the bell for cruel laughs, no warlock and his pet monster ringing the bell to draw out the Headless Horse. Nothing.

"Oh, would you look at that! There's nopony here. What a shame. Come on, let's go home." Flim turned around and headed for the exit, but Flam stood in his way.

"We're not leaving here until we find something." The mustachioed brother scolded.

Trixie looked around the room. There was something they were missing. The bell, the blood from Pink Cloud's unfavorable encounter, the four windows.

The windows! There was probably something in them. Trixie started scrutinizing them, judging them for anything that was there that should not have been. She got more then bargained for when she saw something move on of them.

"Flim! Flam! The window!" Trixie squeaked for their attention. She got it, and everypony stood there shivering in fear as the shadow on the window made its features visible. First, it stretched it's wings, which even blotted out by the darkness looked proud. Trixie might've thought it was a pegasus, but she would've have thought wrong. Pegasi don't have pen-sharp talons or beaks made for cracking shells.

Each unicorn exclaimed as the shape took off from it's roost and crash-stomped landed in front of them. It was more then a little terrifying-wait, wait, no, it was a she! A blood soaked creature with an eagle's wings and head, but a lion's hind legs and tail. Trixie tensed, expecting something to happen. For the hybrid to scream at them, claiming they were intruding on it's nest. For it to ask them a riddle that none of them knew the answer to.

She was not expecting it to smooth its head feathers back and greet them in a totally carefree manner.

"'Sup?"

The three unicorns all looked to each other for an answer to the creature's question.

"...Trixie does not know the meaning of this 'sup' you speak of!"

"Sup." The creature repeated. "You know, what's up? 'Sup? So, seriously, 'sup?"

Flam cleared his throat. "What is 'up' is that somepony's been ringing this bell here, and a lot of ponies are starting to get hurt because of it! Do you know who's been responsible?"

"Yeah." The creature replied. "Me."

Flam sputtered. "Y-y-you? You've been ringing the bell?"

"Yeah. Heard that nopony likes it when the bell gets rung. Thought it be a great prank."

"Prank!?" Trixie exclaimed. "Prank!? Because of your prank, Trixie nearly lost her wagon, Pink Cloud lost her blood, and Doctor Vaccine's lungs nearly went out!"

The creature gave the three of them a dubious eyebrow. "I don't if you noticed, but that little pink pegasus isn't the only one that lost her blood!" She flexed her wings out, showing horseshoe imprints on them that were consistent with having been in a fight. "That pink chick saw me ringing the bell and went nuts! I barely managed to throw her off me and out the window! You think you can just come in here and make me stop ringing the bell after that cos you asked nicely? Sorry, dweebs, but that's NOT how Gilda rolls!"

"I beseech thee, madam, please stop ringing the bell."

"I just told you dweebs I wasn't gonna stop ringing the bell!" Gilda snapped.

Trixie shifted her eyes between the two Flim Flam Brothers. "Trixie didn't say that."

"I didn't say that." Flim insisted.

"Wasn't me." Flam added.

"Rrrraaagh!" Somepony screamed. "We had hoped to avoid this direct course of action, but our patience hath runneth out!"

Everything went grey in Trixie's eyes. Everything lost its color. Not that everything had lost its color, she was just so badly afraid that it seemed that way. She was afraid...because she knew. Knowledge really was a terrible thing after all.

She knew who was speaking in that old, outdated tongue...she knew whose patience 'hath runneth' out...She knew where that awful sound was coming from...

The Headless Horse was coming.

The Headless Horse was coming.

THE HEADLESS HORSE WAS COMING!

... CLINK.

... ... CLINK.

... ... ... CLINK.

... ... ... ...CLINK.

... ... ... ... ... CLINK.

... ... ... ... ... ... CLINK.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... CLINK.
> Of Plans and Possessions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Darkryt Orbinautz

Eviler Than Thou

Chapter 6

Of Possessions and Plans



He was dreadful. Just dreadful. That was the only word Trixie could think of for him. 'Awful' was too weak a word, while 'disgusting' was too strong.

A head like a pony's Jack-o-lantern floated over a severed neck-hole. Emerald fire ran all through and around it, forming his eyes, neck and mane. Black armor with red accents covered his body (assuming he even had one). A emblem was emblazoned upon over where his Cutie Mark would be. A black heart with red thorns crisscrossing through the tip, and a sort of...crown at the heart's bottom tip. The same emerald fire formed his tail, which, except for being made of fire, looked normal.

The Headless Horse pointed at Gilda. "Thou shalt payeth dearly for disgracing the name of the bell!"

Trixie's eyes were locked on him. "Uh-uht-uth, you're not a unicorn!"

The Headless Horse took a moment to glance briefly at her. "No. We are an Earth pony as far can be told, though we are of noble heritage."

"Why do you talk like that, dude?" Gilda asked.

The Headless Horse glared at her. "Thou is hardly in a place where thy should be questioning our speech." The Horse raised his hoof, and the green fireball Trixie had seen so often before formed on it. He threw it at Gilda, but she used her wings to lift off the floor, sending the fireball on a course for the windowsill. It dissipated before it could make contact.

That gave Trixie an idea. "Everypony get under the bell!" She and the Flim Flam Brothers rushed under the bell's lip, where the bell hung high enough off the ground for them to slide under it and into, large enough to house them in it's shell and probably at least two dozen more.

"Pfft! You bozos might be willing to run from this jerk, but I'll stay right up here in the air. He can't get me here." Gilda scoffed, woefully ignorant of the Headless Horse's power. The Horse created another fireball and threw into the air where it whizzed harmlessly past Gilda, but that was only due to the gryphon's reflex.

"Although...just because I can do something doesn't mean I should, right?" Gilda swooped in under the bell with the rest of them.

The Headless Horse laughed. "Nah ha ha ha ha! Fools! Thou thinketh thy can hide under the bell? Thinketh for a moment's notice..."

The Headless Horse ducked his head and entered the bell with them.

"W-wait!" Flim protested. "What about the bell? You can't hurt the bell, right?"

"No. We cannot." The Headless Horse confirmed. "But...We can hurt thou!" He grabbed Flim by the collar of his shirt and threw him out from under the bell and into a wall.

"FLIM!" Trixie screamed. She hadn't realized how much her feelings had developed for Flim, although she was nowhere near saying she returned his crush on her, seeing him thrown aside so viciously was far too distressing.

"Now, thou!" The Headless Horse shook his hoof at Gilda. "We may be tempted makeeth thy's punishment lessen, if thou shalt submit willingly."

"Forget it!" Gilda growled.

"As thou wishes." The Headless Horse started stalking towards her.

The door swung open suddenly to reveal the minister. "Everypony get of here! I'll hold him off!"

The minister ran up under the bell and pulled out some of the green powder he had used on Flim and Flam's cider. He threw it into the Headless Horse's face.

"Nah haaarrrrggh!" The Headless Horse shrieked and covered his face with his hooves, trying to rub the power out of his eyes and face.

"Grab Flim and go!" The minister ordered.

"You get him." Trixie instructed Gilda.

"Why do I have to get him?" Gilda huffed. "I don't owe him anything!"

Trixie narrowed her eyes sharply at Gilda, offended. She grabbed the gryphon by the plumage on her chest. "You listen here, you dirty lion-eagle...thing!: Because of you, the Headless Horse is loose. Because of you, I almost died AND lost my wagon! Because of you, Pink Cloud almost died, Doctor Vaccine almost died, and the Headless Horse threw this unfortunate colt into a wall! I would say you owe SOMEPONY SOMETHING."

"I don't have to-"

Trixie shook Gilda. "You go save Flim, or Trixie swears, she will shove her hat so far up your butt it will come out of your ears!"

"Birds don't have ears, dude."

"GO!" Trixie barked, throwing Gilda aside.

The Headless Horse finally cleared his eyes of the powder and was ready to attack the minister, but the dark white Earth pony threw another clump of powder at his face.

Gilda reluctantly blazed over to Flim and snatched him up in her talons, then flew out the window with him.

Flam grabbed Trixie's hoof and started pulling her out towards the door.

The Headless Horse noticed them escaping. "Thou shalt not escapeth our wrath!"

"Oh yes they shalt!" The minister shouted. He attempted to sucker-punch the Headless Horse, but missed. (Thankfully. His hoof would've, in all likeliness, caught fire had it made contact.)

"Nah Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!" The Headless Horse laughed his blood-freezing laughed and bucked the minister in the face, the metal armor of them hitting the Earth pony elder hard enough to conk him out.

Now free of distraction, The Headless Horse gave chase after Flam and Trixie. The unicorns, having been reduced from three to two, had gotten to the broken wooden hut when The Headless Horse appeared behind them.

"Nah Haaaaarrrggh!" The Headless Horse screamed.

"What do you want with us!?" Flam screeched. "We didn't ring the bell! Gilda did!"

"Bah!" The Headless Horse scoffed. "Thoust are ALL defilers to the bell's sanctity! Nah Haaaaaarrrrgh!" The Headless Horse reared up, inflaming his front hooves as he did so. He brought them down on the hut's edge, setting all the wood alight.

Trixie's eyes widened.

"Hurry!" Flam urged.

Disregarding everything the minister had taught them about being carefully on the wood, Trixie and Flam started galloping for their lives across it. Getting away from the fire was kind of...more important then being careful, though there was the slight knick in that logic that not being careful was easily likely to affect whether or not they actually managed to get away from the fire.

There was nothing better or finer to convey this point then when Trixie dropped the floor just as she was about to make it to the other end. She barely managed to grabbed the ledge of the opposing concrete with her hooves.

Trixie closed her eyes, awaiting for the end to come and snatch her to the Elysian Fields. The crackle of the flame's crisp, burning on the wood, got louder- and closer with each passing second...and closer...and closer...

"Hang on!" Flam cried, picking up Trixie's cloak in his magic. "I'll pull you up!" He then proceeded to indeed do just that, yanking on Trixie's cloak until the blue mare was completely on the concrete stairs again.

"Hoo! That was a close one." Flam exhaled.

"You're telling Trixie!?"

"Grrrrrrr!" The Headless Horse still stood on the side where the door to the bell was, seemingly frustrated at having cost himself the only way to get across. The wood, torn away by the jade fire, started collapsing into the tower levels below.

"Ha!" Trixie laughed. "What will 'thoust' do now, Headless Horse?"

The Headless Horse snorted uncaringly.

Green kindlings and embers from the fallen wood began rising up out of the pit and gathering in the air, slowly allowing a bridge of heat to be formed between the two concrete pieces. There was no way a normal pony could have crossed it. It would've been like walking on the hottest coals...but it was clear by now that the Headless Horse wasn't a normal pony.

"...Oh." Trixie said in realization. "That's what."

"RUN!" Flam screamed at her.

They resumed galloping, trying to get down the stairs and out of the bell tower. Where they would go from there was a good question. They had no set goal in mind. Except 'get away from the Horse'.

It's good to have goals.

The Headless Horse leisurely walked along the flaming bridge. It was almost like he was just having a walk in the park or stroll down to the bakery. It was like he knew that Flam and Trixie wouldn't be able to get away, no matter how far they ran.

Trixie and Flam just barely managed to make it out the bell tower's ground entrance, as they were tired and short on breath.

"Been waiting around for ya." Gilda greeted them.

"Trixie!" Flim shouted, running up to her to inspect her body. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm fine." Trixie assured him. "But the minister..."

"Nah Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!"

Gilda looked at the three of them. "What was that?"

The Headless Horse appeared in the door's archway, just a few steps behind

"That was US!"

"EVERYPONY RUN FOR IT!"

Trixie and Flim started galloping at the fastest pace they could muster back towards Trottinham's entrance, while Flam headed backwards for Orion's house. Gilda flew overhead and made like she was going to fly off for parts unknown.

Trixie noticed. "Oh no you don't! You did this, Gilda! Trixie will see to it that you answer for it!" Trixie grabbed her hat and threw into the air, grabbing it with her magic mid-ascent to make it fly upwards.

Flim, ignoring that he and Trixie were running for their lives from an ancient burning evil of unknown power and uncertain origin, stopped when he noticed Trixie had quit moving. "Trixie, what are you doing?"

Trixie affixed him a dubious glare. "Flim, do you think Trixie was kidding?"

Gilda was moving through the air, not caring for the ponies below, gliding more then flying, when she felt something start poking her rear.

"What?" She turned around to see a...floating hat with a star pattern, actually trying to stab her in the butt with its tip.

"Hey, stop that!" Gilda swiped at the hat with her claw. It flew out of her reach, then over and around until it was able to start poking her uncomfortably.

"I said stop that!" Gilda snarled. She swiped at it again, only for it move over and around her again. It was only now after all that turning around that Gilda noticed Trixie looking up at her dirtily.

Gilda, seeing that she wasn't getting out of this, signed and resigned herself to help. "Fine..." The gryphon spread her wings and dashed through the air to the opposite direction, where Flam was being pursued by The Headless Horse.

"DEFILER!"

The Headless Horse hurled a fireball at Flam, which just narrowly missed and dispersed into harmless sparks against the concrete.

"Hey, barber!" Gilda called from above. "Hide in the trash cans!"

Flam continued galloping while at the same looking up at Gilda in bewilderment. "What?"

"It works. When gryphons get chased by something bigger then them, they find something to cover the smell. Hide in the trash!"

Flam continued looking at her, but shook his head and signed. "I hate this city." Tossing aside his reservations for the sake of survival, Flam swerved into the next alleyway that he saw and ducked behind the trash cans, placing himself so that not only was his smell covered by the rank, tossed-out junk, but also so that his coat and hat were covered by the standing cans.

The Headless Horse, seeing that his prey had disappeared, halted and slowed from a gallop to a walk. He looked around. Looking for where Flam had somehow disappeared to, perhaps? Without question. Not immediately seeing him, he looked up to gauge if the unicorn had somehow reached the rooftop, which allowed him to catch sight of Gilda flying.

"Nah Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!" The Headless Horse prepared a fireball and hurled it upwards, but the firecracker whistle it made alerted the gryphon, so she had the time to move out of the way. The Headless Horse continued throwing fireballs at her, until she decided to get smart and duck behind a building's rooftop.

The Headless Horse sneered at having lost his prey not once, but twice. He turned back around and started walking. From behind the trash cans, Flim could hear the awful sound of his armor, rattling as he approached.

Clink...Clink...Clink...Clink...Clink...Clink.

The clinking stopped for a second. Flim risked craning his neck to see the Headless Horse had passed by yet or not. Alas, he had not.

The Headless Horse did another take of the block, then focused on the alley Flim had hidden himself in.

Oh, Celestia, he knew Flim was hiding in there! Somehow, he knew. Flim knew he knew. Perhaps being on fire and made out a pumpkin made the Headless Horse's nose harder to fool then the noses of gryphon's predators in the wild. Or maybe The Headless Horse had another way of sensing Flim. It wouldn't be the first abnormal thing about him, certainly.

Clink...Clink...Clink...Clink...

The Headless Horse had gotten close enough for the light of the fire on him to start illuminating the cans.

Clink...Clink...

Now he was so close that Flim could see the smoke of his breath, smell the sulfur of his undying breathing. The Headless Horse's head drew closer to the cans he was hiding behind, trying to see if Flim was actually there or not.

Then, just as he was about to swat the cans aside to reveal him, The Headless Horse stopped and looked upwards.

"The sun is about to rise." The Headless Horse, once so confident and seemingly without fear and with at least three magical abilities unknown to all unicorns but the greatest ones, turned around and just...left. He just...left!

Flam nervously poked his way out of his trash can camouflage. Sure enough, the sun was indeed rising, the lighting on all the buildings was changing from moonless to sunlit.

Gilda flapped her wings, descending downwards to check on Flam. "You okay, dude?"

"Y-yeah." Flam stuttered out. "The Headless Horse...he...he almost found me...then he said something about the sun rising and just...up and left!"

"Huh." Gilda admitted. "Weird."

"Flam!" Trixie and Flim swerved into the alleyway's entrance. "Are you okay!?"

"Yeah...A bit tired, now that you mention it, but I'm fine." Flam answered.

"Well, now that I've helped your little friend here..." Gilda attempted to dismiss them and take off, but Trixie levitated her hat into the gryphon's face.

"You're not leaving until Trixie decides you've suffered enough!" Trixie growled.

"..." Gilda looked miffed, but kept quiet.

"We should go back to Doctor Vaccine's." Flim suggested. "See if Orion can help the minister get out of the bell tower."

Everypony (gryphon not included in that) nodded their heads in agreement. They started navigating their way back to Doctor Vaccine's residence.



The Trottingham townsfolk started breaking out their morning rituals, getting up, stretching and yawning, getting a cup of coffee to help to increase their alertness at the cost of their heart health. All of them looked at the mismatched pair of miscreants with confusion, not understanding any conceivable reason for why they would be out so early. And the gryphon! Where did she come from?

Ignoring them all from the kindly ones who asked if they were okay to the rude ones who insulted them for fraternizing with non-ponies, the mismatched quartet stumbled their way back into Vaccine's house. Trixie, being the last one in, clicked the door closed behind them while the Brothers stood there anxiously in the living room and Gilda floated on air nonchalantly.

"Orion!" Flam called, cupping his muzzle with his hoof for more volume. "We found who's been ringing the bell, but we lost the minister!"

There was no response, not even an indignant snort or hateful remark. Even a hateful remark would be better then no response as far as the unicorns were concerned. Gilda continued to not care.

"Orion?...Orion?...Orriiiion!...ORION!"

"Vaaaah!"

Vivian came down from the stairs, rubbing her eye to clear of tiredness. "Vhat iz all the velling avout!?"

"Vivian!" Flim exclaimed. "Where's Orion?"

Vivian's body visible became alert. "I-I don't know. He zang me m'ave lullaby in bed, zo I fell azleep..."

"You fell asleep?" Gilda asked dubiously. She appeared unaware that making little ponies sleep was sort of what lullabies were designed to do. What else was Vivian supposed to have done? Get up and make Orion a cup of steaming coffee?

Vivian looked at their group, unfazed by the presence of a gryphon. Given how rough around the edges Doctor Vaccine was, it wasn't surprising her filly took a hybrid so lightly. Trixie was unawares Vivian was about to ask something to make them all very uncomfortable.

"...Vhere iz the minizter?"

The unicorns all adopted worried expressionless. How to answer that? If they told her that they had lost the minister in the bell tower...in fact, it just occurred to them with the wooden hut having been burned away, the minister had no way to get down...

Vivian scanned the area. It appeared something else was on her mind as well.

"And- momm've?"

Flam bravely stepped up to the plate. "She's, uh, out, sweetheart."

Vivian frowned. "That'z exactly vhat Orion zaid to me lazt night...momm've's never out for this long..." she looked around, hopped off the stairs and started heading for the patient room...where her momm've was lying on her back in burns!

Trixie took charge to avert the calamity, quickly intercepting the filly just in front of the door. "No, no no, Vivian, you can't go in there, sweet heart."

Vivian looked at her oddly, like a huge mushroom was growing out of Trixie's back. "Vell, vhy not?"

"Because...because..." Trixie stammered, unable to think of an excuse. Vivian was apparently a smart little girl- smart enough, at least, to make tricking with the normal kiddie bag of tricks difficult.

"Because the minister said so."

"Oh." Vivian plopped down onto her haunches. "Okay."

Trixie looked at Flam. Had he said that? Flam affirmed that he didn't with a shrug. Flam turned to Flim, who in turn turned to back to Trixie.

"AH-em."

Everypony (plus gryphon) looked to the doorway to see Orion standing there coldly and distantly with the minister on his back.

"Orion!" Trixie exclaimed. "Where did you go?"

"Somepony heard the minister crying for help at the bell tower's top." Orion turned away his head and cleared his throat proudly. Arrogantly, really. "Naturally, they came to me for help."

Trixie was not amused at Orion's self-pride. As Flim had said to his brother earlier, takes one to know one, and Trixie was definitely getting to know Orion as one.

"But..." Flam interjected. "How did you get to the top?"

"What do you mean?"

"The- wooden hut separating the stairs from the bell room was burned away by the Headless Horse! How did you manage to get up there!?"

Orion seemed to really not understand what Flam is getting all worked up over. "I really don't know what you're talking about, Flam."

Before Flam could start outlining what was wrong with Orion's scenario, the minister grunted, coming to, and trying to crawl his way off Orion's back. "Is...everypony all right?"

"Yes, minister." chorused through the room.

The minister looked around took a headcount, seeing Trixie, Flim, Flam, Orion and Vivian. "...Where is the Headless Horse?"

Flam raised his hoof to draw attention to himself. "Um, he nearly got me in alleyway...but then he said something about the sun rising and just disappeared."

The minister and Orion exchanged looks. The minister in particular seemed to have an idea starting to edge it's way into his mind.

"He said something about...the sun rising?" The minister stroked his chin.

Orion's gaze wondered about the room, eventually noticing Gilda. "DAH! WHAT'S THAT!?"

The minister raised his head to where Orion's hoof was pointing. "That is a gryphon, Orion."

"Half eagle, half lion, and allll awesome!" Gilda described herself.

The minister looked downwards, undisturbed by the presence of a lion-eagle in the room, and started pacing around in circles. "Hmmm... "

Orion stood there with his front hooves raised defensively, trembling in fear at the sight of Gilda. Gilda seemed to catch on his fear. She landed on the floor and start walking towards him very, very slooowly...

"AH! STAY AWAY!" Orion started backing towards the wall.

"Gilda, stop that!" Trixie commanded.

Gilda turned her neck and looked at her, clearly having no intention of stopping this. Trixie took her hat off with her hoof and pounded the pointy end at Gilda. She waved it at her. Gilda signed and finally relented, floating away from Orion.

Orion visibly relaxed slightly. (Very slightly.)

Trixie, reminded of Gilda's behavior, narrowed her eyes at the gryphon. She cast another look at Vivian, the poor little filly with no idea of what happened to her mother.

"Vivian, would you please stay in here while I take Gilda to the patient room?" Trixie asked Vivian sweetly.

Vivian looked displeased. She turned to the minister and Orion. Their answers would decide her course of action in regards to Trixie's request.

Orion was still shaking too much to do anything, while the minister was pacing to the point he could have been off his own little world.

"...Fiiiiine." Vivian groaned, getting up and turning around. "I'm going to go plav'e in ma've room..." the little filly bitterly made her way up the stairs.

"Now come here..." Trixie grabbed Gilda's head with her magic and forcefully dragged her into the patient room, where Pink Cloud and Doctor Vaccine were both resting.

"Ooohf..." Gilda tssked. "What got Daring Do here?"

"The Headless Horse." Trixie answered with a snap in her voice. "Thanks to you. This-" she gestured to the beds with hoof, waving it wildly. "Is your doing, Gilda. This filly's mother is on a bed, scorched beyond belief, all because you decided to play a prank. Do you understand?"

Gilda wore an uneasy expression. "Yeah, I guess..."

"This. Filly's. Mother." Trixie snarled.

"Okay, okay!" Gilda threw her claws up into the air, admitting defeat to Trixie's point. "I'll stop ringing the bell..."

"Everypony, get in here!" the minister shouted from the other room. "I have an idea!"

Trixie and Gilda exchanged confused looks, then galloped back into the living room where everypony, bar Vivian, was starting to form a circle around the minister.

"An idea?" Orion questioned, not noticing Gilda coming back into the room.

"Yes, an idea! A plan, if you will." The minister answered cheerfully. "I want everypony to pause and think about the bell. How ringing it makes the Headless Horse go nuts." The minister paused, giving everypony a moment to think about exactly that. "Who's not to say that in the future, some ignorant pony will start ringing the bell and cause this whole mess over again?"

Everypony turned to each other for an answer, which had the side effect of making Orion see Gilda. Gilda smirked as Orion broke out in a cold sweat.

"What if we could stop the Headless Horse?" The minister questioned. Everypony gave him a disbelieving, bewildered glare each.

"What!?"

"Huh?"

"Is that even possible!?"

"Maybe." The minister answered. "Flam said that the Headless Horse retreated and left him be when he sensed the sun rising. Think, my little ponies. What is the one thing in pony tales that always, always repels monsters?"

Everypony looked around, somehow even more confused then before.

"Uh, memories?"

"Spells?"

"Lullabies?"

The minister grinned nervously. "Well, um, actually, those are all very good answers...but what I meant was the sun. I think, if we can trick the Headless Horse into being out during the sunrise, we can put a stop to his reign of terror...forever!"

Trixie looked off into space. The Headless Horse, gone forever...nopony would ever have to be put through what she had. No pony would ever have to get their wagon burned down and nearly killed by a flung fireball. No pony would have to suffer like she, Pink Cloud, Flam, and Vaccine had.

"Trixie is all for it!" The unicorn announced. "What is this plan?"

"First, we will have Gilda ring the bell to draw him out!"

Trixie looked at the minister disbelievingly. She slammed her hat into the floor. All that talk to Gilda in the patient room to convince her not to ring the bell, ka-put!

Gilda raised a talon. "Uh, minister, dude? I was the dude who was ringing the bell in the first place...this whole mess is..." Gilda shirked, not being used to taking responsibility to her own actions. "Kinda my fault."

The revelation that Gilda had been the one to ring the bell set Orion off. His fear was replaced with anger, and he raised his front hooves in a manner that he suggested he was going to lunge for Gilda. The minister quietly suggested Gilda move just ever-so-slightly to the right, which caused Orion's lunge to miss and send the dark blue pony sprawled against the floor.

That taken care of, the minister resumed conversation where had left before the distraction had derailed it.

"All the more reason you should help us put an end to it, Gilda." The minister began outlying the basic plan he had. "First, Gilda will fly into the tower and start ringing the bell. When the Headless Horse comes for her, she'll fly out and lead him to the streets, where we'll be there on the Flim Flam brothers machine. We'll soak him with the cider from it, and then lead him out into the forest, eventually bringing him to a swamp. If we pull it off the right way, he'll rise out of the swamp just as the sun is rising. Who's in?"

Everypony and Gilda looked around.

"All for one-" Flam started, throwing his hat into the air.

"And one for all!" Flim finished, doing the same.

Gilda's shirking made a repeat performance. "I guess I do owe something to that filly's mother..."

Orion remained indignant, crossing his front legs. "Minister, you want me to work with not only outsiders, but also the-being responsible for this mess in the first place!? Absolutely not! Never! Forget it!"

"Very well..." The minister agreed drolly. "I suppose we need someone to make sure Vivian doesn't stumble on her poor mother anyhoo..."

Orion grumbled.

"So, are we all agreed?" The minister questioned one more time. "After this, there's no turning back, understand?"

"I thought no turning back came after we start climbing the tower?" Flim questioned again.

Hearing no objections of any sort, the minister felt confident in the success of his mad scheme. "All righty! Flim, Flam, go get your machine ready. The Headless Horse's fire is weak to water-and cider, by extension, but only temporarily. We'll all meet at the tower around 3 A.M. That way, the sun won't have much time before it rises."

Everypony, bar Orion, but including Gilda, all placed their hooves on each others in one last act to show that they truly committing. No turning tail and fleeing, no backing down.

It was time to end this, once... and for all.




The unicorns, Gilda, and the minister all left Vaccine's home to go out and get their affairs in order. Flam, in part, wanted to see if there were any quick modification that could be done to their machine before they got ready to face the Horse again. Gilda flew off towards the bell tower, promising she wouldn't ring until it was time. The minister headed for his own house, which Trixie hadn't been to yet, in order to restock on powers he lost fighting the Horse the first time.

"Um, Trixie?" Flim said nervously as the unicorn trotted towards where the machine rested. "I...I have something to say to you."

"The Great and Powerful Trixie gives you the permission to continue, Flim." Trixie told him lazily. She was too excited- and freakin' terrified- at the idea of beating the Headless Horse to pay him much mind.

"There's...been something I've been meaning to say, but I haven't had the courage..." Flim continued.

"Uh-huh." Trixie said.

"I...I like you, Trixie."

Trixie froze up like discarded steel I-beams. Everypony could tell Flim had taken a liking to Trixie, including Flam and Trixie herself, but for him to outright admit that...carried implications, the likes of which Trixie wasn't in the right mind to deal with appropriately.

"D-do you like me back?"

OH! Oh, wow...just wow. Trixie really was not in the right mindset to deal with this right now. How was she supposed to answer this without being so blunt as to break his heart, yet not negative to suggest she wasn't completely out of his league?

Trixie's mouth hung, struggling for an answer. "I..."

Trixie looked at Flim, seeing his money-green eyes quivering in anxiety for her answer.

"I...Trixie.." Trixie shook her head. What was she doing? She was the Great and Powerful Trixie! The affections of a clean stallion like Flim should be no different then the admiration of an adoring fan!

(Pssst...hey...Except it totally was in every regard. Don't tell anypony.)

Trixie cleared her throat, getting ready for to her usual boasting and swagger. "The Great and Powerful Trixie...would require more time spent with you to decide whether or not she likes you."

Flim's face showed exactly what Trixie was trying to get. Not heartbroken, yet not completely closed off to the idea of starting something with her. Flam announced they had arrived at the Super Speedy Cider Sqeezy, and they all took up posts on it.

While Flim and Flam started busting open panels and investigating a lot of technical stuff Trixie could never hope to understand, she experimented with different ways to pass the time.

Chief amongst them was levitating all the unused cider mugs and stacking them in such a way they very vaguely resembled a pony, and even just that require her to 'cheat' and used her magic on the mugs.

It worked though, as it was very plainly nighttime when Flam walked up to her and offered some special brew of cider meant to keep them all awake and energetic longer, so nopony fell fast asleep in the middle of the upcoming confrontation.

After they all had a sufficient sip of it, the Flim Flam brothers worked their magic on the machine. Its wheels made sure it didn't take long for them to arrive just outside the bell tower, where the minister was already waiting with satchels full of powder slung over his haunches and Gilda perched atop the tower's roof, waiting for the A-O.K to start ringing.

"Before we continue, do you three have your affairs in order?"

"As much as they can be..." Flim muttered.

The minister looked at Trixie and Flam, giving them each their own chance for an individual objection. Getting nothing of the sort, the minister pulled some power- black power- and threw against the ground, where a cloud of black smoke rose from it.

That must have been the signal, since Gilda spread her wings flew into the bell tower proper.

DING-DONG-DING-DONG

DING-DING-DING-DONG

DING-DONG-DING

Everypony tensed, waiting for the Headless Horse. Gilda flew out of the tower and join them in their wait. It didn't last long after that.

"NAH HAAAAARRGH! How long does it take thoust little ponies to learn thine lesson?"

Everypony immediately starting frantically searching around for where the Headless Horse was coming from. They saw him stalking towards, his armor clink clink clink clinking, in the street just in front of him.

...The street that lead into the swamp they had meaning to lead him into!

"NAH HAAARG!" The Headless Horse began preparing his fireballs once more.

"What do we do!?" Flam yelped at the minister. The Headless Horse was blocking their way out of the city!

"Stick with the plan." The minister coolly informed him, climbing up onto the Cider machine. Trixie and Flim were confused, but Flam quickly caught on. With his magic, Flam aimed the cider machine's spout at the Headless Horse and squirted out a torrent of cider, causing smoke to rise from the Headless Horse's body as his temperatures adjusted for the liquid.

"Bah! Agggh! Pfff! Ptooie! Dost thoust really thinketh that we would fall to cider so easily!?"

Flam cranked the machine's controls. "Nope, but-"

Everypony clung onto dear life as the machine began roaring down the hallway with it's light blinking.

The Headless Horse, seeing the machine was about to steamroll him over, turned and attempted to scramble out of the way, but didn't make in time. The machine knocked to him his side and roll right over him. Miraculous, his flaming hairs didn't catch the machine on fire.

As the rear wheels crunched their over the Horse, the minister dash to the rear end of the vehicle and ready some powder. Once the Horse was visible again, the minister flung the power at him, blinding for the third time in total, but only the first tonight.

As the Headless Horse lied in street, grunting, moaning, and trying to regain his composure (and dignity) Trixie yelled at Flam.

"BOOK IT!"

"I'M BOOKING IT AS FAST AS I CAN!"

"Oi!" Flim attempted to wedge his way between them and added his magic to Flam's, allowing the machine to pick up more velocity. Just in time too, as a fireball arched right over their heads and exploded in front of them. The twins were just barely able to get the machine to swerve to avoid the resulting pothole.

Just in after that, they finally made their into the forest, where, for Trixie at least, this whole horrid venue had began. Fitting it should end here as well, is it not?

"NAH HAAAAARRGH!" The Headless Horse's scream tore it's way through the forest, making Trixie panic and think the Horse was even closer then he actually was.

As Flim and Flam swerved the machine to avoid the many low-hung branching and bulging tree roots, Trixie noticed something...they were going the same way she had gone when she had first encountered the Headless Horse. She started shivering. She didn't think for a second that the swamp the minister had been referring to was the same one she had nearly drowned in!

Despite the Flim Flam Brothers best efforts, the machine smashed into a tree trunk, sending it upright, which catapulted all of them off it. Gilda did a nice save and spread her wings in mid-air to keep from falling face-first into the not so pleasant forest floor. Trixie was...not so lucky.

"NAH HAAAARRGH!" The Headless Horse screamed, climbing onto the trunk which caused the collision.

Trixie's eyes widen in panic. So this was it then...the end. The absolute end, for better or for worse.

"Hey, ugly!" Gilda taunted. "Here I am!"

"Defiler!" The Horse shouted, preparing to hurl another fireball. "DEFILER!" He threw it at her, the firecracker whistle piercing everypony's hearing. Gilda dodged the spell and continued taunting him.

"Is that all you can do? Come on, ugly! Fly up here and put 'em up!" Gilda curled her talons into fists for emphasis.

"Thou hath no idea the power thine tempts!" The Headless Horse's entire body exploded into green fire and launched upwards at Gilda in a flaming bolt. Gilda, once again, dodged out of the way, causing the flaming bolt to land into...

A swamp.

Not just a swamp, the swamp. THE swamp. The swamp where Trixie had almost drowned...

Trixie breathed a sign of relief, thinking the worst was over now.

"FOOLS!" The Headless Horse yelled, splashing his way out of the swamp. "THOU STILL THINKETH WATER CAN DEFEAT US!?"

"No..." Gilda replied. "But we do think the sun can!"

The Headless Horse got A worried look on his face. It was extremely satisfying to see to Trixie to see him so...concerned. vulnerable, after all the times he nearly set her luxurious mane on fire.

"Nooooooooo!" The Headless Horse screamed. The entire swamp burst into flame as the sun's penetrating rays swept their revealing light over the area. Not The horse's emerald flame, but regular, normal, red like bloodstone fire.

"NO! NO! NOOOOOOO-AAOooOooeeeeh!" The headless Horse's panicked wailing's could be heard, just barely, over the roar of crackling flame. The swamp's fire dissipated, and a specter, a black horse's skeleton with no hind lings, consumed in jade flames, rocketed out of the swamp and into the sky, quite possibly into outer space, even.

"HA!" Gilda cheered, pumping her fist. "We did it! We totally did it!"

Everypony let out deep breaths they didn't even know they were holding. It was over now. Completely, totally, utterly over. Where the headless Horse hellish heat was burning in the mucky lake moments ago was nothing except-

"ORION!?"

"HELP!" The dark blue earth pony screamed, hooves splashing in the water. "I CAN'T SWIM!"

Gilda came soaring to the rescue, swooping down to pick Orion up in her talons and bringing out of the water, dumping mere inches away from Trixie and the others.

"Orion?" Trixie questioned. "What-how did- huh?"

Orion took in a deep breath. "I..." he scuffed his hoof, further attempting to avoid conversation. "I have a confession to make, I guess...I am the headless Horse." Orion looked skyward where the flaming skeleton had disappeared. "Or, I guess I was..."

Trixie and the Flim Flam brothers all exchanged confused looks.

Orion signed while the minister got off the ground and attempted to offer a comforting hoof on his shoulder.

"I was the one that set Trixie's wagon on fire...I felt bad, so i went into the forest cleaned it up and dumped it in front of her hotel room." Orion looked away ashamedly, hoping Trixie and the brothers would figure out the rest for themselves so he wouldn't have to embarrass himself further.

Trixie slid her hooves across the ground so she could get up. "That's how you knew the minister was in trouble...you were the Headless Horse..."

Orion nodded. "I-I can't thank the five of you enough. I've been possessed by him for...oh, It's been so long I lost count of the years. I'm sorry I accused you of being the bell-ringers when you first came into town."

Flam adjusted his hat. "And now that we know who really did it..."

Everypony looked up, only to see Gilda had flown off.

Trixie rolled her eyes at the gryphon's cowardice. Some ponies just can't stand the thought of facing justice.

"If there's anything I can do for you three..." Orion offered. "Just ask. I am forever in your debt."

"Duly noted!" Flam exclaimed.

"Perhaps you can go around town advertising our cider." Flim joked.

"I'll get right on that!" Orion took off for town, galloping so fast he left a zip-line blur behind him.

Flim's mouth drooped. "...I was joking."

The minister laughed jovially. "Hahaha!...Apparently he doesn't know that. Orion never was one to make a joke. So, my little ponies, now that the Headless Horse is gone, what do you think you'll do?"

Flam, Flim and Trixie exchanged looks.

"Eeh, continuing selling our cider, of course!" Flim exclaimed. "What about you, Trixie?"

Trixie looked up, where the Headless Horse's spirit flown moments ago. She recalled all the close encounters, the drowning, the collapsing hut, the wagon Orion cleaned up. "The Great and Powerful Trixie...thinks she'll start traveling. She needs to get away from anything to do with the Horse for awhile."

Flim looked at the ground. Trixie caught wind of it and cupped his chin with her hoof.

"Buuut...she supposes she make a return trip to see her stallion every now and then." She winked at Flim, which made him blush. Of course, Trixie, being the over-the-top showmare she was, couldn't just stop there. She gave him a little smooch on the cheek. Flim moaned and fell onto his back, hooves in the air.

Trixie, Flam, and the minister all looked at the toppled over unicorn, then shared a good laugh at his expense.



Orion clicked the door to Vaccine's house closed behind him, as he was the last one in. He was tired after a whole day of advertising the Brothers excellent cider for to the whole town, which, after having sip himself, he couldn't genuinely bring himself to call it 'bad'. But, he wanted to see Vaccine and make sure she was okay.

He daintily made his way into the patient room, where Vaccine was up walking on crutches, giving Pink Cloud one last check-up before she could leave the doctor's house.

"Zay 'ahhh'" Vaccine instructed, putting a Popsicle stick on Pink Cloud's tongue.

"Aaaaah."

"No, no, not 'Aaaaah', 'ahhh'."

"Ahhh."

"Excellent." Vaccine removed the stick. "Voo are good to go, Pink Kloud...vut I recommend voo eat zome more grazz every now and then, oka've?"

"Whatever you say, doc!" Pink Cloud saluted. "I'm just happy to be alive!" with Vaccine's blessing, Pink Cloud flapped her wings and flew over Orion and left.

After making sure she had left, Orion approached Vaccine. "So, how you feeling, doctor?"

"Fine." Vaccine replied in normal tone of voice. "Juzt fine."

"Good!" Orion perked up at the news. The sound of Vaccine's crutch being the only noise in the room, he felt confident in starting to ask... "So, Vaccine, maybe you and I could go out to dinner-?"

There was an audible, attention-grabbing clunk from Vaccine's clipboard as she tossed onto a drawer.

"I'm not fine, Orion."

Orion's jaw dropped in horror. That his little Daring Do replica would not be fine was practically his worst nightmare. "Well, what is it? What can I do? Whatever needs to be done, Vaccine, I'll do it!"

Vaccine turned around to face him, and Orion could see, written in her face, there was nothing that could be done. "I have a dizeaze, Orion. Non-containgouz, of courze, vut ztill a dizeaze nonethelezz. In a very short time from now, I'm going to die. I need someponv'e to look after Vivian when that happens."

Orion's jaw hung down even further before he snapped it shut with a jerk of his head. "You can't die, Vivian! I-I- I love you!"

Vivian smiled. The most beautiful smile ever. Well, really, it wasn't any prettier then any average-Joe ponies' smile, but infatuations like Orion's had made colts not see worse. "Vhich iz vhv'e I know voo vill do it for me."

Orion shed a tear before biting down on his own jaw. "Yes...yes, I will."

Vaccine looked away. "I...must confezz zomething. I knew voo vere the Headlezz Horze. I took count of vhen the bell rung each night-" Vivian swung her hoof at the air like a musical composition. "I had veen hopinh voo vould've turned into the Horze and kill me, so that I wouldn't die on m've vezide zurrounded by family memverz...I kouldn't stand the idea that I vould just lie there and let them vatch me die."

"That won't happen, Vaccine." Orion told her. "I promise."

"No..." Vaccine shook her head in agreement. "No, it won't." Vaccine coughed.

"I will take good care of Vivian." Orion said. "I promise that, too."

"Thank voo, Orion..." Vaccine said sweetly. She looked at him with the unflinching gaze of an old crone who been 'round the world and seen it all. "Kome here." Vaccine beckoned Orion over with her hoof.

Orion scurried into leg's reach of Vaccine. Vaccine tossed the crutch aside, showing a callus disregard for everything she had learned as a medical professional, and swept Orion into her front legs and kissed him passionately.

"Mmm!" Orion moaned, fully enjoying the sensation. "Mmm! MMMMPH!"

After a few blissful moments of finally having his long-sought after love returned...air rushed into Orion's mouth.

"..mmhp?" He made a confused noise. Some more air rushed in. Then, without a minute break in between, something...splashed into his mouth and onto his face!

"Bleck!" Orion pulled away from Vaccine, something he would no doubt regret later, but he wanted to know what was getting all over his face. "Sorry about that, Vaccine, but something-"

A-FLECK-HECK-A-HOO.

Oh dear heavens! That was blood that gotten into his face and mouth! Vaccine's blood! Vaccine was coughing! Vaccine was coughing blood!

"VACCINE!" Orion screamed, grabbing Vaccine's shoulders. "Vaccine, what's wrong? Is- this the disease?"

Vaccine confirmed this with a nod, eyes shut in pain and muzzle dripping with hacked out blood. AHEECK-HIC-AAACCK.

"Vaccine...Vaccine..." Orion desperately muttered, praying to Celestia a miracle would happen. Vaccine's hoof gestured at him. Orion leaned in closer to see what she wanted. She wrapped her legs around his neck and resumed the kiss they had been sharing. Orion was so sad, so depressed, so broken and devastated that he didn't even care anymore about Vaccine's blood being coughed into his mouth. Vaccine's disease may not have been contagious, but there was no way he wasn't going to catch something nasty from that. The two's passionate moaning altering in a twisted mocking symphony with the coughs, their tongues wrestling with each other through the blood, with tears streaming down both their faces.

All too quickly. Far, far, far too quickly, Orion could feel Vaccine's tongue stop moving. He opened his waterstained eyes and looked at her, at the splashed blood covering both their muzzles. He delicately got mouth off Vaccine's tongue and let her drop to the floor.

Orion's tears resumed. He would give anything, anything, life and limb, body and soul, for just a minute more, just one minuter more with her- thirty seconds. Twenty, ten even! Just-just some amount of time more.

"Ah-heeen...heeeen...hee-aahhhh!" Orion cried.

"Orion?"

Orion took his hooves eyes, going against the gods themselves and wishing for something even more then he been wishing for Vaccine a moment ago. He didn't want to look...but he had to. He had to look...to see Vivian, standing in the doorway with a look of plain confusion on her face.

Vivian's head tilted confusedly.

"Vhat did voo do to mommv'e?"




Outside in the dark of the night, just on the edge of the forest and outside Trottingham, a chariot pulled up. An incredibly intimidating chariot, with black spikes on the wheels and dark shadows of beautiful, but sharp-faced ponies painted on it's walls. The chariot's sole passenger stepped down from it, their hooves wreathed in invisible magic power.

The passenger was wearing a black cloak, which would be presumed to conceal the identify of it's wearing...had said wearer not flicked the hood of it off, revealing a powerful, beautiful face with larger-then-most ponies muzzle. A blackish blue horn rested between their ears, and the stars themselves seemed integrated into her mane.

The passenger was Princess Luna.

Luna looked up, as if expecting somepony...or something.

A green flame descend down from the sky and came to rest in front of her. Inside the flame was a coal-black skeleton of a horse.

"We told thou Orion would not host thee for long." Luna said to the flame imperiously. "What hath thou learnt from 'tis venture?"

The black skeleton signed.

"Mother knows best..."

"Quite right." Luna said smugly, smirking. "Come along, our son. We have met a pony who will host thou...and we expect he will do so with much enthusiasm."

The Headless Horse seemed dubious at this prospect. "Oh? Who, pray tell, mother, would be enthusiastic about hosting us?"

"A delightful little colt." Luna answered as she climbed back into the chariot, motioning for her son to get in.

"What is this colt's name?"

"Pipsqueak. In fact, he lived here once, but he does no longer..."

THE... END?