Chapter 1

“What could possibly be distracting you darling?” Rarity asks, snapping me to my senses.

“W-what?” I ask groggily. My eyes sting as my head turns to my friend who has the sun setting in her direction.

“I’ve not heard a peep from you in two days darling. It's simply awful you've gone and closed yourself indoors for so long.” Rarity chastises me in her usual exaggerated tone. Smiling slightly I recollect my nights getting used to my new home and the countless hours spent organizing the new library how I'd like.

“Sorry, I'm just… getting settled in. It's really difficult, there were so many memories in my old home.” I say feeling my chest tighten, the ache however is short lived as I hear a sound catch my ear. The soft hum of machinery buzzes in the distance, growing louder as I near the town center. And then, unmistakably, their voices—smooth, insincere—drift through the air.

“Darling where in the world are…” As if to answer her question we round the corner to the center of Ponyville where the town hall. There with their stand and gadgets are the twins Flim and Flam who stand on their stage. Like all the times before they have a crowd around them as they peddle their snake oil salesmen gambit.

“Come one, come all. What we have for you all today is something special.”

“That's right Flim. For you see, deep in mystical woods there is a magical herb. With this herb you are able to enhance your magical properties.” Flam says happily displaying a bottle of purple liquid, within the liquid swirls sparkling magic particles that shimmer in the setting sunlight..

What are they talking about? There isn’t a plant that can do that. I’ve read every book there is on plants and have gone in depth on their properties. If this plant existed it would be known world wide. Then again Flim and Flam were never the most truthful ponies.

“Why are you showing a bottle of liquid if you’re talking about a herb.” A pony from the crowd in front of me says loudly. Prompting Flim to theatrically waltz up to the front of the stage.

“You are quite sharp, True we show a liquid but this liquid is an Elixir. The herb has been rendered down and turned into this product you see.” As if on cue Flam slides in while Flim steps back and gives him room.

“You see, the herb on its own is thorny and rough. Not very appetizing, so when we discovered its properties from a local witchdoctor on our travels through distant lands we knew we struck gold, and much like gold it needs refining.” Flim comes back to the front and holds a bottle and brings it to his mouth as he pulls the cork with his teeth as Flam continues to speak. “Enhance your magical properties with just a drop of this elixir!” He shouts as Flam takes an exaggerated theatrical drink from the bottle. Tossing the pretty much half full bottle aside Flam flexes his muscles and though they are large I can’t help question the authenticity of this charade.

“A single sip, my friends, and you'll feel power surging through every fiber of your being!” Flam says with a smirk to his face. Murmurs run through the crowd and I’m happy I’m not the only skeptical pony here but at the same time I can tell some are falling for the tricks Flim and Flam are playing.

“I see some may still be doubting us Flim.” Flam says as he hops down from stage only to turn towards it as Flim takes on a smug smile. It feels as if for a moment it was directed towards me but before I can react to it something inconceivable happens right before my eyes. Up on his hind legs Flam begins to lift the entire stage with all the bottles of elixir, flam, and additional displays up off the ground. Stepping back a bit I feel my mind begin to grapple with what is happening in front of me. I know Flim and Flam, they can’t be this strong, yet inch by inch, slowly the stage lifts as everypony around stands slack jawed at the show of might before us. With a grunt Flam brings the stage above his head and from atop it Flim comes to the edge and smiles down to us all. This isn’t possible… there has to be magic at play. I mentally tell myself but as I use my horn to detect any magic spells being cast I am met by the worst thing I could imagine. There isn’t any. That can only mean two things, There is some other gimmick or… the elixir actually did this.

“Doubt us no longer, Ponyville! You’ve never seen strength like this, and you never will again… unless, of course, you take just one sip of our magical elixir!” Flim confidently says getting shocked cheers. I however look at Flam who stands there happily holding the stage not even breaking a sweat, however as I look at him my breath hitches, getting caught in my throat when I notice that his pupils have dilated to the point I can’t tell if the iris is even visible anymore.

“Twilight Darling?” Rarity’s voice snaps me to attention drawing my gaze to her. Her concerned look telling me my emotions were evident for all to see, no thanks to my fur standing on end.

“I’m alright Rarity. It’s just… this Elixir. I don’t like it.” I say feeling a tingle shoot up my spine causing me to shiver. “It feels like it breaks the rules of reality that I’ve come to know. It has to be fake. Yet I can’t figure out what is allowing them to achieve this.”

“You worry too much darling. Strange and odd things happened regularly to us and in Equestria as a whole. Not to mention new things are discovered all the time. They may have found a rare plant and found a way to harness it. Nothing more to it.”

“That… that true, but just look at Flam. He looks off. His eyes are dilated beyond anything I've ever seen before.”

“Come dear, you yourself say to always give ponies second chances,” Rarity happily responds to me. “I must say though, if this could help make orders less taxing on my magic I wouldn't mind trying this Elixir out.”

Hearing Rarity actually consider taking them up on their offer causes my blood to run cold and my mind to grind to a halt. Without a second of hesitation I snap out. “Rarity, you can't. It's dangerous.”

“Twilight, dear, I don't understand what has you so on edge. Are you sure being cooped up hasn't caused you to be agitated?” Rarity says in shock to my outburst, my face turning red in embarrassment and frustration. Turning my face back to the twins I watch as Flam places the stage back down amidst the crowd either keeping their distance or clambering to buy some of their Elixir.

“I… I'm sorry Rarity. I just have a gut feeling this is going to go horribly wrong.”

“Come now,” Rarity soothingly says to me as I watch her slowly step up towards the stand as she pulls some bits she has stashed away in her saddlebags. “What is the worst that can happen from a simple potion these two cook up?”

I watch as Rarity walks off to Flim and Flam who start making sale after sale quickly exchanging bits for product. Feeling my stomach churn as I watch it unfold and Rarity nearing them. “That's my worry… we don't know what could be the worst case scenario.”

Author's Note

I hope you all like, it's a little projects I've been working on with my partner that is inspired by the tiktok Infection trend. I seen quite a few ways the stories there could be better so I went in and tried my hand at a story for one and my partner wanted to make drawings for a tiktok reel. So keep an ear out for that from him.

Any tips or comments are loved and if you liked this give the story a like. Share it around too!