Breaking Bad

Ponyville was quiet, the inhabitants nestled safely inside their houses from the relentless rain beating down on the outside, soaking the grass, the houses, and the concession stands in its watery wake. In the center of the town square lay a large, deserted tent, the wooden stall in front of it weak from neglect. Hanging above it, swinging in the wind, was a hoof-carved, stylized sign, the words Flim Flam Brothers' Miracle Curative Tonic painted delicately along its length.

Walking silently through the town was a lone stallion, his head held surprisingly high and his slow trot unaffected by the cold conditions of the outdoor area. He trotted through Ponyville, seemingly without a care in the world, despite the roaring wind and the torrent of rain currently soaking his blue and white shirt.

Alone he was, strolling casually in the rain.

His hooves led him to a tall wooden fence post, a collection of carved arrows pointing every which way, bearing the name of a city in their direction, almost begging the stallion pondering it to pick their location. Not once did he move a hoof up to his face in contemplation, nor did he look away from the sign, even as he heard the telltale sound of his name being called from his right, the very idea of someone calling him not sounding even remotely normal in this town.

He continued to stare at the various locations stenciled on the front of the signs, not noticing the sound of hoofsteps getting closer to his region. He didn't flinch, not a single time, when he heard the angelic sound of a mare behind him ask, "Hello there, sir?"

He remained still, like a statue guarding a stereotypical castle.

"Excuse me, Flim, is it?"

He shook his head, still not looking at the mare behind him.

"Oh, my sincere apologies. Flam, then?"

Flam nodded.

"Ah yes. Well, Flam, I couldn't help but notice that you're out here in the cold, and well, I couldn't just let a poor stallion wander about in the rain aimlessly."

The stallion gave no response, instead resuming his focus on the fence post standing in front of him.

"Now Flam, I understand what you and your brother have done, but I am in no position to let you get absolutely drenched out here. I am the Element of Generosity, after all. You'll catch a cold, now come come, let's get you out of this dreadful torrent we call rain."

Flam sighed, turning around to face the mare. He opened his mouth to protest, only to find that the gray mare in front of him was giving a mixture of what he saw as hopefulness and quite possibly legitimate generosity. Flam slowly nodded, watching as the mare struggled with her umbrella, muttering something about getting her newly curled mane getting wet.

Dressed head to hoof in a rather oddly stylish rain coat, she found herself relieved of her faulty umbrella, a fiery green aura surrounding its frame and levitating directly over her head. Looking toward the stallion next to her, she found Flam giving her a very small, almost absent smile, which she gave in return in a much larger form. He gave her a short nod, and followed her closely as she led him to her household.

It wasn't long before Flam found himself looking at the figure of a large, multicolored building, a small orange flag flapping violently in the turbulent wind, practically looking close to being torn completely off its hinge. Flam raised a brow at the sign atop the purple door the mare was currently unlocking, the white, fancy-font words reading Carousel Boutique.

He was thrown from his thoughts as he heard the sound of the lock clicking in place, followed by the mare opening the door with a loud creak, which the mare tutted at as she walked in.

"Tsk tsk tsk, one day I absolutely must tend to that awful creaking," she insisted, shaking her head to rid the thought of the irritating sound. Not hearing hoofsteps behind her, she turned slowly, looking at the wet stallion currently standing idly on her purple welcome mat expectantly.

"Well? Come in," she spoke, waving a hoof toward the interior of her residence. Flam gave her motion one observant look, before he calmly walked in, pausing to wipe his mud-ridden hooves on the mat. The mare threw a glance toward her red and yellow couch before she went to take off her raincoat, watching as Flam walked silently to her furniture and took a seat without further oddity.

As she threw off her bright yellow hat, the mare called, "I'm going to go make some tea, would you care for a cup?"

She looked at the stallion, still seated quietly on her sofa. He gave a quiet nod, still not looking at his host. Giving a sincere smile, she added, "I'm Rarity, by the way," she gazed at the still silent stallion expectantly, "just.. call if you need anything, Mr..."

She was sure he would give her his last name so she could politely address him, but he remained silent. She gave a slightly whispered, "Okay then," and quickly trotted into the kitchen to put out a kettle.

As Rarity disappeared into the kitchen, Flam stared blankly at the table in front of him, a small assortment of yarn spools and filled pincushions leering right back at him. He sat like a statue, unblinking and motionless, until he heard the sound of someone knocking on the front door of Rarity's Boutique, a series of what Flam assumed to be a code knock of sorts, before he caught the voice of Rarity calling, "Come in!"

Looking toward the purple door, he watched as it opened in the blink of an eye, a cyan Pegasus mare appearing at the door, her hooves covered in mud and her eyes shut as she exclaimed, "Hey, yo Rares, how do ya like the storm I made? Did it all by myself, in ten seconds-"

"Yes yes yes, Rainbow Dash. I understand, ten seconds flat, like always."

"Yup. Now that I think about it," she began, rubbing a hoof on her chest proudly, "I think it might've been nine seconds."

"Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked, suddenly appearing behind the corner and looking at her friend.

"Yeah Rares?"

"Would you be a dear and just take a seat in the lobby? I'm making tea for my guest, so I'll be there in a minute."

"Yeah, I can do that," she confirmed, walking back into the main room, "who's this guest of yours-"

She suddenly stopped mid-sentence, her eyes wide and her posture alert, noticing the light olive stallion sitting calmly on her fainting couch, "You."

Rainbow walked menacingly over to the seated Unicorn, her face fixed into one of opposition at the swindler's presence, "Just what are you doin' here, huh?"

The stallion remained silent, but slowly turned his head her way.

Trotting up closer to him, now a leg-length away, she grit her teeth and sneered quietly, "You gonna answer me.. bitch?"

He gave no answer, continuing to review the hostile mare before him as if unimpressed.

Rainbow flapped her wings and floated over to him, butting her head onto his and fuming, "Tell me why you're here, you retarded businesspony-"

She suddenly felt the wind get knocked out of her, courtesy of the retracted foreleg now embedded in her gut. Reaching for her stomach, she watched as her hoof was enveloped in a fiery green magical aura, before it slammed into her face, knocking her out of the air and onto the carpet a few feet away from the stallion now standing from the couch.

Rising from the ground and wiping her mouth, she growled at the Unicorn, who narrowed his eyes and got into a half-attempted defensive stance, "Alright. You asked for it, yo-"

Her right foreleg gave out from underneath her, causing her to fall to the ground in a heap. Watching as the green aura faded from the "faulty" appendage, she grunted loudly and reached for the nearest chair, coiling her hooves around it and raising it over her head.

She threw it with all her might, launching it directly at Flam, who dodged, lit his horn, and magicked the chair, floating it down safely to the ground. Turning his head, he gave a frown toward the cyan mare currently staring him down. She pawed at the carpet beneath her hooves, her eyes swiftly scanning the room for something else to use. Her magenta irises rested on a bag of diamonds, which she promptly flew towards, opening it up without a hitch and holding it up to the light above the coffee table.

Flam raised a hoof over his eyes, blinded by the diamond's reflection, and as it dimmed, he lowered his leg, only to be knocked off his hooves by a light blue blur, the duo rolling around across the carpet and exchanging blows. The noise drew over the light gray mare, who gasped in shock and snapped, "Rainbow Dash! Just what in the name of Celestia are you doing?!"

Rainbow, straddled atop Flam, a hoof raised for the strike, looked over at Rarity and responded, "He lunged at me!"

"There is no reason he would have, unless you provoked him, Rainbow Dash!"

"But Rares-"

"No buts, Rainbow. Get out!" Rarity hissed, throwing a hoof toward the front door, prompting her cyan friend to look down at her opponent and get up quickly.

"Ya know what? Fine, I gotta be someplace anyway."

"Then go!"

With that, the Pegasus flew out the door, but not before giving Flam a final glare of defeat. Rarity trotted quickly toward the entryway, slamming the door shut in a very unlady-like fashion. She turned around to face her guest, brandishing an obviously nervous smile, "I sincerely apologize for her behavior, Mr. Flam, I do hope she didn't injure you-"

"I have cancer," Flam spoke finally, his eyes dim and his expression calm and collected. He looked over to Rarity, and added simply, "it's bad."

Rarity stood there in shock, her heart pounding in her ears. As it dimmed, she heard the sound of the kettle whistling loudly, finding this as a way out, "I'll go get your tea, and then we can talk about it. Is that adequate, Mr..."

"White."

Rarity smiled, glad to finally get his last name, "Mr. White. Thank you," she chimed, turning to go back into the kitchen, "I'll be.... just a minute."

Trotting back into the blue painted room, she was quick to shut off the heat boiling the kettle's water, as per her much rehearsed chore of making tea. Lighting her horn, she retrieved two glasses from the mulberry cabinet above her head, tipping over the kettle and pouring the steaming hot water inside. Floating two teabags and dropping them delicately into the cups, she walked out of the cookery, both glasses hovering alongside her.

Opening her eyes, she was met with an empty Boutique.

"....Mr. White?"

The storm was quick to slow down a tad, a largely welcomed change of pace for Flam as he trotted along Ponyville. He had seen her fly this way, she would be around here someplace.

The neighborhood he was in must have been where the recently graduated, entirely vulnerable teenagers lived, some of the houses' grassy front yards being either five feet tall, or completely gone from what appeared to be a voluntary fire. Flam gave a frown, knowing full well what other kind of ponies must have lived around here. Tweakers, alcoholics, Zappers, just to name a few. Some neighborhood he definitely didn't expect to be in a happy town like Ponyville. Thinking back to how it was isolated from the rest of the metropolis by a river and a stone bridge, the stallion suddenly saw fit.

As he walked past a run-down, seemingly abandoned house, he heard the sounds of voices. Stopping abruptly, he slowly trotted backward, halting when he was looking at the worn front door of the residence, slightly ajar and leading into darkness. Casually stalking toward the entryway, he lay his head curiously on the dirtied, chipped wood.

"...got ten pounds for you guys today. How's that, yo?" asked a familiar voice.

"Ten pounds? That it?" questioned a gruffer, definitely male voice.

The mare took a few heartbeats until she answered, "Yeah, 's all I could cook."

"Why's that, 'uh?"

"My friends and I had to tend to some business. Some bunny got trapped in a well an'-"

Flam heard the sound of uproarious laughter follow suit. There were definitely more than two ponies in there.

"You've gotta be jokin'."

Silence.

The stallion spoke slowly, "Son.. of.. a.. bitch you're not jokin'!"

The laughter rose up again. Flam could already imagine the mare biting her lower lip and immediately regretting her little spill.

"Alright boys, calm down. So... how much?"

"Nine hundred."

The gruff stallion's heavy hoofsteps resounded across what Flam assumed to be a hollow wooden floor, "Nine. Hundred?"

The mare stammered, "Yeah, I-"

"That's four hundred more than last time. Do you think I'm stupid or somethin'?"

"Nonono yo, it's just been kinda hard to make and all with my supplies getting low-"

"Not my problem, bitch."

Flam caught the sound of something metallic being shifted, and the mare began to protest loudly, "Whoa whoa whoa, you don't have to do this man-"

"You try to sell me Rocks for almost double the price of last time, and you say I don't have to do this?" the stallion asked menacingly.

"If you give me nine hundred, I could buy some new equipment! And then you get more Rocks, alright?"

"I don't think that's how this is gonna end, Dash-"

The door to the establishment suddenly burst open, the silhouette of a Unicorn standing ominously in the doorway.

"And just what is happening here, huh?"

The stallions, oddly-shaped objects grasped in their magic, took one glance toward their new arrival and screamed, "Shit, a Guard!"

"Everypony for themselves!"

They dispersed without warning, each finding a way out of the house, the sound of opening doors, windows, and broken glass resounding throughout the desolate household. The stallion in the doorway trotted slowly inside, green eyes scanning the entire room to assure the absence of danger. Looking toward the side of a wooden table, he found a rainbow-maned Pegasus, her mane frazzled from stress. Raising a hoof over her eyes from the outdoors' blinding light, she grit her teeth in concentration.

As Flam walked calmly up to her, she muttered, "Oh shit.." and watched as Flam's eyes diverted swiftly to something directly next to her. Eyes widening in realization, she turned over and reached for the object, only to be thwarted as it was enveloped in a green aura.

Flam floated the object up to his eyes, and raised a surprised brow at the plastic bag of white, crystallized rocks surrounded in his magic. Casting a glance at the currently risen mare staring worriedly at him, he opened his mouth to speak.

"And just what is this... 'bitch'?"