Chapter One - Hollow Shades And The Mathematical And Scientifically Accurate Fortune Telling Machine
Coco smiled and hummed a small tune to herself as she got off the train in the gloomy town. She picked up her bag and readjusted her tie, before setting off on her way to deliver some assistance to an isolated designer who lived just outside of Hollow Shades. Coco shook her head as she trotted along "As if this place wasn't secluded enough as it is" she mumbled to herself, looking around at the beautiful lights that lit up the dim village. It was a quiet town and Coco liked that, it was a nice change from the busy city. As she was staring at the town a pony rushed past her, bumping her and knocking the bag she was carrying, spilling it's contents on the ground. "H-hey!" She called rather softly, picking up the contents of her bag then looking around to see where they went and why they were running. She noticed a crowd in the distance with the pony that had bumped into her in it, and she wandered what was going on.
"Come one come all, for the Flim Flam Brothers are about to present to you the opportunity of a lifetime" spoke a beautiful and eloquent voice.
"Yes, my dear friends, we are going to show you the solution to all your troubles, for we sense that there is unrest in this village about what the future holds and you require a little mathematical and scientifically accurate fortune telling action" spoke another pony in a very similar but slightly more mature voice.
Coco frowned and tried to get closer to the two, looking in wonder at the strange contraption that were in front of. It looked like a small caravan but it was covered in all sorts of buzzing lights and mechanisms, all of which were probably more for show than anything else. Everyone in the audience seemed completely entranced by the parading unicorns, but Coco wasn't so sure.
"Yes indeed! Today we present to you a machine that can answer all your questions about the future.” Said the younger of the two.
The mustached one spoke up “Any thing you want to know simply ask the machine and it will give you an accurate depiction of the future. So who's firs-"
"You're those ponies rarity was telling me about" Coco thought aloud, interrupting them and causing everyone to turn to face her.
"What on earth do you mean?” The twin she had interrupted asked, in a way that was both intimidating and charming at the same time. Coco gulped and looked at the ground
"W-well you're the Flim Flam brothers right? You are known in Ponyvile for selling dodgy products, and you keep abusing one of my friends. Besides a machine that can tell the future?" She looked up at them with confidence "If it works then why don’t you give all these ponies a demonstration" she demanded, looking at the mustached twin and then at the other.
"If that's what you want little lady. I Flim-"
"And I Flam, assure you that there is no gimmick to this machinery, just simple science created and designed by my genius brother.”
“Why thank you Flam. So who wants to volunteer to be part of our demonstration? You look like a reasonable pony sir, would you like to come up here?" Flim asked, pointing to a pony in the crowd.
Coco shook her head and stepped forwards "No, me. I want to make sure you aren't tricking any pony, and for all I know you might be paying him to do this" she said, looking back at the pony “No offense…I mean I’m sure you’re a nice guy….” She said, her random burst of confidence slowly fading as she noticed how irritated the crowd looked.
The two brothers looked at each other, and while Flam frowned at the thought of her seeing through the trick as she seemed smart and she obviously knew Applejack; Flim knew that if they turned her down they would lose the other customers, so he nodded and bowed "As you wish" he said, leading her to a curtain "Just step behind here and you will see into your future". Coco nodded and walked into the curtained off area of the large contraption. It was rather dark except for a dim light above, and there was a seat and a small screen with a keypad "simply enter a question you want to know and the machine will sort out the rest" Flim said, avoiding a rather annoyed glare from his twin.
The salespony walked out of the room and Coco could hear the two making comments outside, and wandered to herself how she ended up in this mess. “Next time Coco, go straight to where you are supposed to be and don’t get distracted. Ugh I’m already late as it is.” She said, rather frustrated with herself. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and decided to get this over with as soon as possible.
It didn’t take her long to think of a question, as it had been on her mind for awhile. She typed 'Will I help any pony like Rarity helped me' into the contraption. After a few moments of buzzing a small image of the words 'no' appeared on the strange screen.
Coco frowned and walked out "Well I guess I can't really tell until it happens...o-or doesn't happen" She said quietly, sighing as she did so.
The two brothers perked up "You see every pony, our machine does work" Flam announced.
“That’s not what I said, but it is kind of cool...” Coco said with a shrug before walking off, picking her bag back up.
But before she could head off again a pony stood in her way. "Why are you leaving miss?" Flim asked.
"Our show is about to begin" Flam piped in a singsong manner as he collected bits from ponies entering the rather dodgy fortune telling booth.
Coco guessed that the answers were random and it didn't really tell the future, but annoyingly she couldn’t prove it wrong, and she doubted the town’s ponies would believe her. Coco shook her head "I'm not interested in money making gimmicks. Goodbye." she said as she walked around Flim and off into the forest on an old path. The two stallions looked at each other for a moment until Flam just shrugged and the two continued their work.
Author's Note
Just dipping my toes in here, sorting out characters and the such.
I hope you all enjoyed it, and if you made it this far thank you and have a cookie *gives cookie*
