Author's Note
Good Day everyone, this is my first submission to this site. I hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 1
Flim
Life became extremely tough after those incidents at Ponyville. Our names became well known throughout Equestria, but for all the bad reasons. Everywhere my brother and I went, everypony knew who we were, and would usually drive us out of town. What places let us stay, the ponies there would never purchase our wares, and would treat us terribly. We get charged twice the bits a different pony would pay for goods and services, and ponies constantly give these looks. We did the best we could, selling off anything we had. Utensils, spare clothes, even our wagon, we sold them all. We had enough bits to last a few weeks, so we had to think up of something before then. We're both intelligent stallions, I was sure we would have come up of something by then. But then, Flam started to develop a cough.
We thought it was just a simple cough, but it wouldn't go away. It got worse, and worse, and after a few days, he barely had the strength to get out of bed. I stood by his side as he laid in bed, ragged of breath, and in a cold sweat. He had a terrible fever, and he was looking pale. "What can I do?" I said to myself, "Our funds are running low, and we still haven't come up with anything." My brother broke into a violent coughing fit, and I decided to go see a doctor. Flam was in no condition to get out of bed, so I had to get the doctor to come here. I took our bag of bits, and set it on my back. "I'll be right back brother, I'm going to get a doctor."
I ran out the door of our run down room at the inn, and past the front desk. But before I could get out the door, the Innkeeper spotted me. "Hey Scim Scam! your weekly payment is late again! If you don't get it in to me by tomorrow, I'm kickin' you crooks out!" Flim stopped in his tracks. I knew upsetting the Innkeeper meant risking another payment increase, so I had to swallow my pride.
I turned around to face him with a forced smile, "Of course good sir! We'll be right on that sir! I just need to go and pick up a few things in town, and I'll be right back!" The Innkeeper seemed satisfied with my response, so I ran out the building and went straight to the hospital.
I got to the hospital, and saw it was completely empty. "Thank goodness, the doctor can take care of Flam right away." I ran into the doctor's office and saw her balancing a pencil on her nose. "Doctor please, you gotta help me!" My outburst surprised her, causing her pencil to jump off her nose.
"Oh! Yes! What do you nee-" She then noticed who it was in front of her, and started looking at papers on her desk. "I'm sorry, but I'm very busy today. You'll have to come back another time."
She was clearly lying to me. "Doctor, please! My brother is horribly sick! He needs medical attention right away!" "And like I said, I'm very busy! I have more important matters to attend to then help a pair of thieves!" It was clear she didn't want to help me, but my brother desperately needs medical care, and I was willing to do anything to get it. I swallowed my pride once more. I begged and pleaded, I repeatedly told her of My brother's condition, I promised to pay her any price necessary. And after twenty minutes, she finally cracked, and begrudgingly agreed to help him.
The doctor looked over Flam, gave him a full inspection. The entire time, she had a serious look on her face the entire time, which worried me deeply. I spoke up, "Well? Will my brother be alright?"
The doctor put her tools away and faced me, "Can we speak outside?" My worry only got grew. What did she have to say? Once we were outside the room, she spoke,"Your brother has a serious fever, and is suffering from malnutrition." It's true. In order to save bits, we bought the cheapest food we could find. And even then, stall owners usually gave us the lowest quality products they had. But I was glad it wasn't anything dire. "Then, can you help him?"
"Yes, but the medicine won't be cheap." She pulled out a pencil and some paper, and started writing on it. "The price of the medicine, as well as the price of today's service, as well as a requested home visit."
Flim looked at the piece of paper, and saw the price. "What! W-we can't possibly afford to pay that much! There has to be another way!"
"I'm sorry, but that's the price. I can't compromise about it." With that, she walk away, leaving me standing there dumbfounded.
As I walked back through the door, I felt an overwhelming sense of defeat. I thought to myself, "Why? Why is it like this? Sure, my brother and I scammed a few ponies, but we never hurt anypony. My brother's life is in danger, and we can't even get some basic medical care!" I stood over Flam, who took a few minutes to notice me.
He struggled to speak, "w-well? what did...the doctor...say?" His eyes were barely open, and he could barely speak. His face was filled with pain and sorrow.
I wasn't sure what to say. "She...she said you'll be alright. You just need a few weeks to recover."
His expression eased up a little. "that...that's good." He immediately fell asleep.
Looking at him lying there, I felt my resolve strengthening. "Flam, I promise, I'll make the bits needed to make you better. I'll work, and work, and work, and work until I can't work anymore. I'll make you better." With that, I ran out the door again. I ran through the hall, and through the front lobby.
The Innkeeper saw me again "Hey! Scim Scam! You said you'd have the bits by now!" But I had no time to listen, I ran straight through the door.
I went all over town, going place to place, begging every business I could to hire me. I was willing to work for next to nothing. I was willing to work around the clock, to work straight through the night. All I needed was a source of income, something, anything to make bits. Finally, after asking almost everypony, the owner of a construction company finally hired me. I was in his office, which was more just a wooden shack with a desk and a few chairs, while he explained the details. "Alright, you'll be part of clean up. That means you're gonna clear up all the rubble and materials that need to be removed. You'll receive a ten minute lunch break, and will be working for two bits an hour, and if I hear anything about you from the other workers, you can kiss your job goodbye. Are we clear?"
I responded enthusiastically, "Yes sir! Of course sir! Thank you sir!"
"Then you start tomorrow. Come by here first thing in the morning, and we'll head to the construction sight."
"Yes sir! Thank you sir!" Things began looking up. I found myself a job, and I'll work hard every day to pay for Flam's medicine. I got back to the Inn and ran right for our room. "Hey Scim Scam! where's your payme-" Before he could finish, I ran right past him, throwing the correct amount of bits on the desk. I took my bag off, and went straight to bed. "I'll need to be well rested if I wanna get my pay tomorrow." I drifted off to sleep, and dreamt of Flam and I traveling the road together, him being healthy and well.
I woke up the next morning, even before the sun came up, and made my way to the company. There, I saw a group of burly colts, all huddled around a wagon. The boss was on top, talking to them all. "Alright, let's get movin'. Hey new guy! You're late!" He looked right at me.
"Yes sir, I'm so sorry sir!" With that, everypony started getting on, while others started harnessing themselves to the front. I walked up to the wagon, and before I could get on, one of the workers stopped me.
"Woah there skinny, we got a rule around here. New guy's gotta be a runner. So get yourself strapped up." All the other workers started snickering, including the boss. It was clear that there was nothing I could do.
"right away…" I struggled to get myself strapped in, and once I did, the boss started yelling.
"C'mon new guy! We're losing time because of you!" "Yes sir, I'm sorry sir!" I was never an athletic colt, but with this team, I should have been alright. We started moving. After a while, I noticed something strange. There was a whole team of us, and yet I felt like I was carrying the entire load. I looked around and saw the other runners smirking, their legs barely at a trot. It became clear that they were barely pulling their weight, that they were making me do most of the work. But what could I do? One complaint, and I lose my job. So I just ran without a word. After about ten minutes, we finally got to the construction sight. I hadn't even started working, but I was already exhausted.
The day was filled with nothing but hard labor and being yelled at. But the thought of my brother sick in bed kept me motivated. I didn't complain, and I didn't slack off. Once the day was done, I was told to get back with the runners. I was too tired, too sore to run. The boss saw that, and told me to get in the cart. Of course, he took this out of my pay. When we got back, He gave me my bits, and I went back to Flam. I went straight to bed and instantly passed out. The next day, I woke up and was still exhausted. But that didn't matter. I had to work, I had to make bits for Flam. It was the same thing today as well, I had to run, I had to carry heavy loads all day, and I got my pay deducted for not being able to run back. For a week, I did this over and over. All the while, Flam's condition worsened. I received my bits every day, and bought food for Flam and myself. If things kept going this way, I would have the bits in about a month. I only hope that Flam can last that long.
Working every day started wearing on me. My body became weak, and my conviction grew weak. I began to lose my way. I began to forget why I was even working. Was there a point to all this, will I ever make enough bits to help Flam? And even if I do, is it even certain that he'll get better? I thought these things to myself as the day finished. I started walking to the wagon, but before I could get on, they pulled away. I tried running after them, "Wait! I'm still here! Come back!" but no matter how much I yelled, they didn't stop. I was more than certain that they left without me on purpose. Normally, I would have gotten mad. So mad, that I would yell at the top of my lungs. But I got so used to pretending not to be upset, that I didn't feel mad at all. And so, with my head down, I started slowly walking back to town.
I contemplated my situation, a lone stallion, walking down a dirt path, tired and dirty, barely making enough to get by. On top of that, his brother was bed ridden, unable to get up, and we were unable to pay for the medicine. But what bothered him the most, was that not a single pony was willing to help them. Everypony they met would treat them like garbage, they don't care about us at all. I remembered back in Ponyville, there were a few young mares who talked about 'friendship' and 'teamwork' and 'caring' and all that junk. But what about me? What about Flam? Why was nobody there for us? I asked myself all these, but I knew exactly why. It was because we were terrible ponies as well. We drove ponies out of business, we scammed ponies of their bits, we made a living off of tricking others. We're treated terribly because we treated so many others the same way. "Well not anymore! If I want others to be nice to me, than I have to start being nice to others. No more, putting on a fake smile and telling ponies what they want to hear. No, I'm going to turn over a new leaf, become a new colt! I'll earn the trust of other, and help out everypony I can. That way, other ponies will help us. In fact, I'm going to go up to the first pony I see, and ask if they need help with anything. I swear on it."
I lifted my head, and had a new spring to my step. As I walked, I looked around for anypony to help. And after a few minutes, I saw something by a pool of water. As I got closer, I saw that it was somepony being swarmed by a bunch of strange, dark pony looking things. The situation looked dire. Were they eating the pony? My first reaction was to run away before they got to me. But I already swore on it. "Me and my big mouth." I began running to the pony.
Flam
I've been sick in bed for almost a month now, my condition was only getting worse with ever passing day. To think that this all started from a simple fever, and now I'm barely even able to lift my head. I spent every day lying in bed, trying my best to fall asleep. My sheets were always damp from my sweat, and my skin always felt clammy. No matter what I did, the pain wouldn't go away. But I had to keep fighting, for my brother's sake. I see him stand over me, a sad expression plastered on his face. He was constantly worried about me, and there's nothing I can do. What would happen to him if I let this sickness get the better of me? Leaving my brother all alone, without his dear brother to support him. The thought of this makes me feel much worse than my sickness ever could. So I fought. Fought my sickness, fought my pain, fought my desperation.
Sometimes when I woke up, I saw him lying in his bed, covered in dirt and bruises. I could that he was doing manual labor,a lot of it, and I knew exactly why. He was making bits. By now, our reserves must have run dry, and he needed to make bits for both of us. But more than that, I would only see him at night, proof that he spent all day working. Why did he have to spend all day doing hard labor? The way we live now, he could easily just work a few hours a day, and we'd be set. I ask myself this, but I knew exactly why. He needs to pay for my medical bills. He told me the doctor said I would be better in a matter of weeks, but I knew right away that he was lying to me, his face said it all. I just played along so as to not worry him. But I know that I won't get better unless I get some medicine. And the way we've been treated in this town, the doctor probably charged twice the actual amount. What am I to do? Do I tell him 'It's alright brother, no need to work so hard. I'm a dead colt anyway'? No, I couldn't possibly. So I simply laid here silently, letting him work himself to death.
However, lately I've noticed something strange. Despite Flim looking more and more tired with each passing day, I felt that he was somehow, happier. As if he had found something to look forward to. While I had no idea what it was, I didn't particularly care. Seeing Flim so happy made me happy as well. So I never bothered to ask him.
But one night, I woke up for no real reason, and saw something very peculiar. Flim just got into bed and fell asleep. And after a short moment, a strange green glowing mist seeped through the walls and started going into his body. Somepony was using magic on him, but there wasn't a thing I could do. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak, I could only lay there and watch an unknown assailant use a strange spell on my brother. I figured worrying about it would do me no good, so I went back to sleep.
When I next woke up, I saw the light coming through the single window in our room. I must have been hallucinating or something, because I then saw several shadows gathering in the light. They were pony sized, but seemed to have both horns, and wings. "This can't be right." I thought, as I tried to lift my head to look at the window. I struggled will all my might, I was felt like something terrible was going to happen to me. With great effort, I slowly turned my head to look. I started to sweat, and my breathing became loud and shaky. I could barely see the window from the corner of my eye. And there, I saw several monsters, terrible dark creatures, with the bodies of ponies, but pitch black, and covered in gaping holes. They began climbing through the sill, gathering right on top of me. My vision began to blur, and I was scared beyond my wits. I squeezed my eyes shut as hard as I could, saying to myself that this was all just a dream.
Suddenly, the door loudly swung open. "Good Morning brother dear!" Flim trotted through with a few bags on his back. I slowly opened my eyes, and saw that all the terrible creatures were gone. Flim put the bags down near my bed, and looked at the window. "Brother, did you open the window? You shouldn't strain yourself. Please, if there's anything you need, just ask, and good old Flim here will take care of it right away." I was flabbergasted. Was it all really just a hallucination? Flim noticed my dazed state, and expressed his concern. "Flam, you look pale. Do you need some water?" His face was filled with concern.
"what? oh, uh, if...if you would be so kind." With that, Flim ran out the door to fetch some water. A few moments, later, he came back with a glass of water. He was holding both the glass, as well as a straw using magic.
While that strange nightmare did worry me, I also noticed that Flim was suddenly full of energy. Just a few days ago, he couldn't use magic at all, let alone hold things in his hooves. "Could this be connected to that strange mist I saw go into his body? If so, why would somepony do that? Everypony in this town knows who we are, so why would they help Flim? Is this some sort of sick joke?" I couldn't shake off this feeling of uneasiness as I sipped the cool water.
A few days later, I woke up to the sound of the door opening. The sun was still up, so it couldn't have been Flim, he was still at work. Someone was breaking in! There was nothing I could do. I couldn't run, I couldn't hide, I couldn't even move out of bed. All I could do was lay under the sheets and stare as the door opened. The slab of wood slowly creaked open and I heard hooves against the floor. I covered my head with the sheets and tried to stay as still as possible. The steps came closer and closer, until it came right up next to my bed. I tried to be as still as possible, but I was barely able to control my breathing, and I was shaking violently. I was certain that whoever was right next to me could see the sheets moving.
Then suddenly, I heard a voice, "Brother, are you alright? Are you too cold?" I was surprised, but also put at ease. I poked my head out from the sheets, and indeed saw Flim.
He had on his usual concerned face, so I spoke up, "no, I'm fine brother. I was just sleeping." Flim's face eased up a bit and started walking toward the table. "by the way Flim, why are you back so early?"
He stopped moving, and after a moment, turned his head, "The boss wanted me to work at the office for the first half of the day. I came back to gather some supplies before heading off to the construction sight." He turned back to the table.
From what I saw, he seemed to put completely random items into his bag, but I decided to not bother him. While it was just my brother, this was the second time I felt like I was in danger. I decided to tell my brother about my earlier happening. He already had put on his bag, and was heading for the door. "Flim?"
He stopped right at the entrance, "Yes brother?"
"this may sound crazy, but have you seen anything...strange around here?"
Flim turned around to face me, "What do you mean, brother?" His reaction was a bit strange. Has he actually seen these things as well?
"well, a while ago, I saw what looked like black ponies covered in holes. I thought it was just a nightmare, but it seemed so real."
Flim was silent for a bit before he spoke, "Don't be ridiculous brother, how could there be such creatures here? Surely the local authority would have been notified by now." Flim had a point. Surely such monstrous creatures wouldn't be able to hide themselves. Somepony would have noticed them by now.
"you're right Flim, I guess it was just a dream."
"I'm glad you're at ease brother." With that, Flim went through the door, and I went to sleep.
The next time I woke up, I heard Flim's voice through the wall. It sounded like he was talking to somepony, and rather enthusiastically. The next thing I heard was a mare's voice, low and sultry. "my, my, could it be my brother found himself a young mare?" Knowing that my brother started living a normal life made me happy. For the past few days, my condition hasn't been getting worse at all. While I'm certainly not getting any better, I'm at least not going deeper each day. But then, a dark thought came to me, what would happen if I passed on? Flim has practically developed his own life, completely independent from me. In fact, if I was gone, he wouldn't have to work so hard, and would have more time for himself. I've been nothing but a burden to him this entire time. If I were gone, Flim would most certainly have a better life...
Right as I finished that thought, Flim slammed through the door. "I have great news brother!" He ran right up against my bed and continued. "The key to your recovery! A sure fire, without a doubt, way to cure your sickness!" I couldn't believe what he was saying. Could he have truly found a way to remedy me? No pony was willing to help us. Perhaps his mare friend was connected to it somehow.
"well brother, what is it that you found?" Flim took out something completely wrapped in cloth out of his bag.
"I can't show you now, the risks would be too high, but believe me when I say that within this cloth, is an object that will bring you back to health instantly! All I need to do is create a device that can properly utilize its magic!"
This was too good to be true. Could what Flim found actually do such a thing? What was it? Where did he find it? There were too many questions for me to fully believe him. And it wasn't until then I realized a mare standing by the door. She was a rather peculiar looking one. Dark skin, sickly green hair, and strange looking eyes. Something was off about this young unicorn. I had my doubts about her, just like I did about the wrapped object. There was something about these two things that bothered me. They both had strange auras about them. And for some reason, they reminded me of my nightmare. But Flim looked so enthusiastic about it all, that I didn't want to bring up any objections. And plus, even if we've been out of the game, its no easy task to scam a scammer.
So Flim quit his job, and devoted his time to manufacturing his device. Seeing him working so happily helped my condition just a small bit. Enough to give me the strength to partially lift myself out of bed. I was now able to look through the window, something I was unable to do for weeks. Several times a day, I saw Flim going back and forth, gathering supplies, moving equipment, and looking over his plans. While this reminded me of our old days, something about him bothered me. Whenever I saw him up close, I could see dark rings around his eyes, and a green tint around his pupils. Each day, they would get larger and larger. It couldn't be from exhaust, he's doing less physical labor than from his old job. His body started to look a bit gray, and he started to mumble to himself after a while. But what bothered me the most, was that strange mare. She was always with him, following him, not saying a thing. She always had a neutral look on her face. I fear my original doubts may have been well warranted.
One night, I found myself unable to sleep. Everything that was happening made me extremely uneasy. I looked over and saw Flim fast asleep. I lifted myself partly out of bed, and saw the cloth wrap on the table. With great struggle, I lifted the cloth using magic. Very slowly, I unwrapped the cloth, careful to not make any noise. What was underneath bewildered me. It was some sort of, horn. Black at the base and red at the tip. Just looking at it sent chills down my spine. What was it? This strange object? I could feel the dark intent seeping out of it. How could something like this possibly help me?
I was so entranced, that I failed to notice somepony entering the room. "You shouldn't look through your brother's belongings without permission." I looked over to the sound of the voice, and saw somepony in front of the window. It was that mare who was always with flam. The moon light made her a silhouette and her shadow crawled all the way to the other side of the room. She slowly walked over to the table, and wrapped up the horn. She then went to the door, but before leaving, she stopped and said, "You should leave your brothers to his own devises." She closed the door behind her, leaving me fully awake.
