Do you think we can find a similar baby before Twilight comes back?
Starlight Glimmer stretched her hooves and looked at the tray standing by her bed. Once she’d learned the way to the bathroom, living in a castle had become a real paradise. Free breakfasts, more books that she was able to read in her life, and interesting company made Starlight’s life much better than it ever was before.
Speaking of company, Starlight noticed Trixie sleeping in the corner of the room. She briefly remembered her friend ending up in the castle somehow last night. After a sip of orange juice and some more thinking, she realised that it was happening more and more often.
“Trixie,” Starlight said. “Why are you sleeping on the floor when this castle has so many bedrooms?”
Trixie rolled on the floor and opened her eyes. “Trixie had gotten used to sleeping on hard surfaces.”
“Why are you sleeping in my bedroom then?” Starlight asked. “It’s a big castle.”
“Trixie hates sleeping alone and Twilight told her to get out,” Trixie replied. “Also, we were having a sleepover.”
“Ah, now I recall,” Starlight muttered. “It went kinda weird…”
Trixie stood up and shamelessly took one of Starlight’s sandwiches. “What’s for dinner?” she asked.
Starlight raised her eyebrow. “You’re already thinking of dinner? Also, if I recall correctly, you were a travelling magician last time I checked. As of late, it seems that you’re wandering mostly from the living room to the kitchen.”
“One can’t be a travelling magician all their life,” Trixie muttered. “What’d my mother say?”
Starlight groaned. “Trixie, you told me yourself that your mother was a travelling unicyclist and a clown. I’d say a magician is actually an improvement.”
“Well, after Trixie’s mother fell off her unicycle, she doesn’t travel that much,” Trixie said. “Also, you call that an improvement? Try doing tricks after walking from town to town for three days in knee-deep snow, freezing off your–” She was interrupted by knocking on the door.
“Come in!” Starlight exclaimed.
The door opened and Twilight walked in, her mane dishevelled. “Hello, Starlight. May I ask you something?” Her gaze wandered off to Trixie and she raised her eyebrows.
“I have no knowledge of that mare,” Starlight muttered. “And she’s not staying for dinner.”
“She can stay,” Twilight replied. “That’ll make it better, I guess.”
“Make what better?” Trixie asked.
“Remember how a week ago Cadance asked me to take care of Flurry Heart?” Twilight asked.
Starlight furrowed her eyebrows. “Yeah… It was supposed to be, like… today?”
“Exactly!” Twilight exclaimed. “And just today, we have a friendship emergency! In Trottingham! Do you know what that means?”
“You need to work on your Bridleish accent?” Trixie asked.
“No!” Twilight groaned. “I need to leave her with someone else…”
Starlight raised her hoof. “Couldn’t you just tell Cadance that you can’t babysit Flurry today?”
“How?” Twilight asked. “Flurry is already here and Cadance went with Shining to Las Pegasus.”
“Talk about responsible parents,” Starlight muttered.
“Do tell. Trixie’s mother tried to teach her bull-leaping.” Trixie sighed. “Do you know where Trixie has scars?”
“You’ll show me later,” Twilight said. “The thing is, Spike and I have to go and someone has to stay with Flurry. I researched all the available options and you two are the best match.”
“By ‘researching all the available options’, do you mean ‘grabbing the first pony in sight’?”
“No.” Twilight turned back. “Grabbing the first pony in sight with enough magical skills to contain her if necessary. The list of things to do is on the fridge. Spike read a book to Flurry and she’s sleeping now, so it shouldn’t be too hard.”
With these words, she teleported away.
“See?” Trixie asked. “Finally someone who appreciates Trixie’s magic skills.”
“She was talking about me…” Starlight said.
“No, she was talking about Trixie.”
“She didn’t even know you were there!” Starlight exclaimed. As the echo of her voice died down, she heard Flurry’s crying coming from the downstairs.
“Congratulations,” Trixie muttered. “Now, we’ll have to do something…”
Flurry Heart sat in the middle of the room, looking at the big, blue pony in front of her, who seemed kind of funny in her cloak and a hat. Her mom never wore a hat. She was also much thinner than the big blue pony who, in turn, was a bit shorter than daddy. And probably softer than a light purple pony who was watching them with an expression Flurry herself made when her diaper was full. Flurry had to make further research in that direction.
“I don’t think she gets what’s going on,” Starlight muttered, watching Flurry Heart.
“Worry not.” Trixie reached behind Flurry’s ear and showed her a coin that appeared on her hoof.
Flurry started to laugh, rocking back and forth.
“See?” Trixie hid the coin between her hooves and spread them open, revealing that the coin had disappeared. “Money makes the world go round, even foals know that.”
“I’d like to remind you that it was my coin,” Starlight muttered. “Where did it go?”
Trixie shrugged and turned to Flurry. “The big meanie would like to know where is her coin. Do you know where it is?”
“Gah!” Flurry teleported closer to Starlight’s head and bit her ear. Starlight screamed and lowered her head, causing a coin to fall from behind her ear.
“Oh, for fu–” Starlight looked at Flurry and cleared her throat. “Umm… Oh, funny… How did you put it there?”
Trixie’s eyes widened. “Trixie didn’t.” She took off her hat and, after showing Starlight and Flurry that it was empty, produced two toy rabbits and a coin from it. “There it was.”
They both looked at the coin lying on the floor, at each other, and at Flurry, who was floating in the air slightly above them.
“Did she just magic that coin out of thin air?” Starlight asked.
“I don’t know,” Trixie replied. “Do you keep money in your mane?”
“Of course not,” Starlight muttered. “Why would I?”
“This shouldn’t be possible.” Trixie shook her head. “Imagine if everypony did that. The inflation–”
“Who cares?” Starlight looked at Flurry. “If this kid can just make money… Flurry, dear, would you make more coins for us?”
Flurry closed her eyes and shook her head.
“She probably teleported it from somewhere,” Trixie said. “You can’t just make solid gold out of thin air.”
“I know, but it’s an alicorn foal.” Starlight looked at the coin and saw that it disappeared. “Did you take it?”
“Not me this time,” Trixie replied. “Maybe it was an illusion or…” She looked at Flurry, who was now sitting on the floor, munching something. “Oh, horseapples…”
“Don’t eat the coin!” Starlight exclaimed, darting towards Flurry who, seeing that, teleported on the top of a bookshelf. “Don’t eat the coin, you little–”
Flurry looked at her and swallowed whatever she was munching.
“Great.” Starlight sighed. “She ate that coin. Now Twilight will murder us and no one will even know. This castle has thick walls.”
“Don’t worry, it’ll come back, eventually,” Trixie said. “We’ll just have to wait.”
“What if it doesn’t?” Starlight asked. “I heard it can get stuck, or the foal can throw it up and choke on it or–”
“Stop!” Trixie exclaimed. “One of us has to remain calm and when you panic, Trixie starts to panic too and if the kid starts to panic, she may get that coin stuck somewhere and–”
“Did you really have to tell me that?” Starlight groaned. “Now I’m gonna panic!”
“Bah!” Flurry Heart exclaimed, banging her hoof against the floor. Starlight and Trixie looked at her and saw a coin lying on the floor in front of her.
“Good girl!” Starlight cooed. “Now, give me back that coin before you actually eat it…” She levitated the coin.
“It may not be the same one,” Trixie muttered. “Trixie has a few of those stashed all over the castle…”
“Shut up,” Starlight growled. “It’s the same coin, okay? Also, no more tricks. Time to find something safer…”
A clay disc was launched from the trap and flew into the air, above the trees. Another disc flew above it from the opposite direction and as they passed near each other, two rays of minty green magic hit them, smashing them to bits.
“Woo!” Flurry Heart opened her mouth, looking at Starlight, who smiled, looking down from the top of Twilight’s castle.
“Your turn,” Starlight said. “Trixie, one skeet only!”
The disc flew into the air and was almost immediately shot down when a yellow spell broke off a half of it. The rest fell down, spinning, and smashed on the ground.
“Not bad,” Starlight nodded. “But watch this!” She aimed her horn and shot down another two discs while Flurry watched it, wide-eyed. “Your turn. Two discs, Trixie. She’s getting better.”
Flurry furrowed her eyebrows, waiting for the sound of the traps releasing the discs. She aimed her horn and fired two beams right after the launch, muttering something incomprehensible.
The first disc fell apart after being struck, but the second beam missed its mark and flew further, charring the leaves on its way. Starlight watched it, gritting her teeth and hoping it’d dissipate.
An explosion and a scream later, Starlight realised that she was wrong. “You know what, Flurry? I think it’s time to grab something to eat.” She grabbed Flurry with her magic and looked down from the balcony. “Trixie! Hide all that mess somewhere and run!”
It didn’t take long after they all met at the first floor of the castle (Trixie covered in sweat and bits of clay) when someone knocked at the door.
“Police?” Trixie asked. “We’d better open. Trixie learned that cooperation is the best way of not ending up in jail.”
“I’m not sure if it helps if she killed somepony,” Starlight replied, looking at Flurry Heart, who was now trying to put her hind leg in her mouth, laughing and babbling something to herself. “That spell looked rather painful.”
Someone banged at the door. Starlight looked at Trixie and sighed. “Okay, I’ll open…”
When she opened the gate, she saw a violet pegasus with a frazzled, blonde mane and charred coat. Starlight, who was getting better at recognising the citizens of Ponyville, recalled that her name was Cloud Kicker. And that she was utterly pissed.
“Okay, knobheads,” Cloud Kicker muttered. “Which of you was playing with her horn on the balcony?”
“Well, you may not believe it…” Starlight grinned sheepishly, backpedalling.
“I can believe many things,” Cloud Kicker replied. “But not exactly a friggin’ laser beam frying my arse out of the blue…”
“Please tone down your language.” Trixie covered Flurry’s ears with her hooves. “There are babies around.”
“Oh, who gives a fu–” Cloud Kicker coughed and gagged when Starlight silenced her with a spell.
“When we ask you to tone down your language, we really mean it,” Starlight said. “Also, you may not believe, but little Flurry had a teeny-tiny magical accident…”
Cloud Kicker flexed her muscles, gritting her teeth and furrowing her eyebrows.
Starlight rubbed her jaw with her hoof and groaned.
“More ice?” Trixie asked.
“Mhm.” Starlight groaned. “Do I still have all the teeth?”
“Trixie thinks so.” Trixie gave Starlight another bag of ice. “Also, Trixie changed Flurry’s diaper. Poor girl didn’t react well to that winged brute.”
Starlight furrowed her eyebrows and looked at the bag of ice. “Did you wash your hooves then?”
“Yes,” Trixie replied, a bit too quickly for Starlight’s taste. She decided not to delve into the topic, if only to maintain sanity.
“What did she say when she left?” Starlight asked. “It’s all kinda blurry.”
“Something about, umm… dumb meanies who blame the baby for their, umm… mental problems,” Trixie said. “Except she didn’t say ‘dumb meanies’.”
“I figured out as much,” Starlight muttered. “What’s next on the list Twilight gave us?”
“A walk,” Trixie replied. “The weather’s nice and we can take Flurry to the park. We’ll buy cupcakes or ice cream and it’s gonna be fun.”
Starlight moved her jaw a few times, checking if it was still in its place. “Okay…”
“So basically…” The blue filly looked at the jar of peanut butter standing in front of her on a checkered blanket before turning back to her foalsitter. “Just yesterday we were both fillies and we were learning in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Now, I’m still a filly and you’re an adult. Why is that, Amethyst?”
Amethyst Star shrugged and gave the filly a peanut butter sandwich. “Your imagination never ceases to amaze me, Tootsie.”
Tootsie pouted. “It’s really happening! All the time! Most of ponies don’t notice, but Ruby also sees that. And now we discovered that Dinky does that too.”
“That doesn’t happen,” Amethyst Star replied. “I mean, my life was always the same, as far as I remember. I was the best organiser in Ponyville until–”
“Well, this keeps happening, but you just never notice the changes,” Tootsie said. “Hell, there was that weird universe where I was a superhero… Or sometimes the same thing repeats, with small changes.”
Amethyst smiled, raising her eyebrow. “Did this picnic happen before?”
Tootsie nodded. “I’m expecting some pesky pegasus to take that jar of peanut butter from us.”
Suddenly, something small but incredibly fast flew between them, stealing the peanut butter and flying away, somersaulting in the air.
“Pesky pegasus or a plaguey parasprite?” Amethyst Star asked.
“More like annoying alicorn,” Tootsie muttered. She turned to see Starlight Glimmer chasing the little alicorn and unsuccessfully trying to make her come back.
Starlight turned to Amethyst and Tootsie. “I’m sorry for that, she’s impossible…”
“I’m getting used to it,” Tootsie muttered. She waved at Flurry Heart, who suddenly stopped in mid-air, dropping the jar of peanut butter on Starlight’s head. Her mane cushioned the blow, but Starlight was still staggering slightly when she gave the jar back to Tootsie and Amethyst.
“I swear, this kid is gonna kill me,” Starlight muttered after she came back with Flurry to Trixie, who was lying on the blanket under a large parasol. “Now we swap places: I sleep in the sun and you go with her and buy her some sweets or something.”
“Okay.” Trixie levitated Flurry on her back. “Come on, kid, we’re gonna have a ride.”
“Gah!” Flurry exclaimed. Starlight sat on the blanket and watched them both walk away. Then she closed her eyes and snored, stretching her hooves in the sun.
The nap didn’t last long. Starlight felt a chill when someone stood over her, blocking the sun’s rays. She opened her eyes and saw Trixie and Flurry Heart, carrying a bag full of treats.
“Back already?” Starlight muttered.
“Kinda,” Trixie replied. “We were at the Sugarcube Corner when Flurry decided to steal some cake.”
Starlight raised her eyebrows. “And she’s a princess… What did she do?”
“Her levitation slipped and she dropped the shelf with forty cakes,” Trixie replied.
Starlight rolled back on her legs. “Forty?”
“Forty.”
“That’s terrible,” Starlight said. “What did Pinkie say?”
Trixie smiled sheepishly. “Pinkie is with Twilight. Mrs. Cake made Trixie pay for those cakes. Two bits per cake, so eighty bits. And Trixie had only ten bits.”
Starlight groaned. “Have you ever seen eighty bits in your life?”
Trixie blushed. “Yes. A minute later, when Trixie performed a vanishing wallet trick on Diamond Tiara. But she may notice soon.”
Starlight slapped her hoof against her forehead. “You paid for the cakes with Diamond Tiara’s money?”
“Shh.” Trixie covered her mouth with her hoof. “Somepony may hear.”
“Oh, for Celestia’s sake…”
“Besides, Trixie is not that poor. She earned enough bits with her hard work to buy the Alicorn Amulet.”
Starlight tilted her head and looked at Trixie. “That Alicorn Amulet? I read about it, but I thought it went missing ages ago! Do you still have it?”
Trixie shook her head. “A zebra stole it.”
“That’s a rude thing to say.”
“But it’s true.” Trixie shrugged. “Her name is Zecora and she lives in the Everfree Forest, but don’t expect her to show it to you. She’ll just talk in rhyme and give you some booze, after which you’ll walk backwards for three days.”
Starlight sighed. “Nevermind. In case someone asks about the money, we need to act natural. This includes Flurry.”
“Ba!” Flurry saluted.
“Good.” Starlight stood up. “Do you want something to eat?”
Flurry shook her head and pointed at the nearby swings. Starlight shook her head. “If you fall, Twilight will tear my legs off…”
Flurry gave out a long wail, looking at Trixie.
“She has wings, you know,” Trixie said.
“I see you two formed an alliance,” Starlight muttered. “Okay, Flurry, let’s go and play.”
She levitated the filly and sat her on the swing. Then she poked the seat gently with her magic, causing it to move slightly. Flurry laughed and looked at Starlight.
“More?” Starlight asked. “Okay…” She moved the swing with her magic.
“Gah!” Flurry lit her horn. Starlight barely managed to jump back when the seat swung right next to her head.
“Don’t go too high!” she exclaimed, trying to stop the swing, but Flurry blocked her magic. “Trixie? Trixie, help!”
Suddenly, the swing made a full revolution around the bar. Trixie ran towards it, but the swing turned again, launching Flurry into the air.
Starlight rushed forward. “Oh, holy sh–” She rammed into Trixie, who stood in place, watching Flurry spread her wings and fly away.
“Not this again…” Starlight ran, trying to catch up with Flurry, who was gliding above the park.
“Told you!” Trixie exclaimed. “She can fly. She won’t fall.”
“What if a falcon mistakes her for a pigeon?!” Starlight shouted. “This happened before, I read about it!”
“Yeah, and pony pox vaccine is made of poison joke and causes Clydesdale fur blight,” Trixie muttered.
Still running, Starlight turned her head towards Trixie. “And you’re telling me this only now!?”
“Trixie is happy she’s not your daughter,” Trixie said. “Also, a tree.”
“What tree?” Starlight turned to see where Flurry Heart was and saw a tree getting closer to her with every step. She lit her horn, conjuring a magic shield around her head, but hitting the trunk still knocked the wind out of her as she bounced and rolled on the grass.
The tree shook. Several leaves and loose branches fell from it, followed by a pegasus, who had been sleeping on it. Much to Starlight’s dismay, said pegasus happened to be Cloud Kicker.
“You.” Cloud Kicker stood up and walked to Starlight. “What the hell are you doing, you psychotic cu–”
“Go back to sleep, honey.” Starlight lit her horn and touched Cloud Kicker’s forehead, causing the pegasus to drop limply on the ground. Starlight looked around to see if no one was watching, and levitated Cloud Kicker back on the tree.
“Okay now.” Trixie joined Starlight just as she was done putting Cloud Kicker on the branch in a comfortable position. “Where’s Flurry?”
Starlight froze. “I lost her when I was dealing with that brute.” She looked around. “Do you think we can find a similar baby before Twilight comes back?”
“Trixie wouldn’t count on that…” Trixie muttered. “In fact, Trixie thinks it’s time for her to travel… preferably somewhere where Twilight won’t find her.”
Starlight grabbed Trixie with her magic. “Stop right here, you coward. She couldn’t have gone too far.” She scratched her mane. “What do foals like her like? Sweets, playing in the mud, eating worms…”
“She knows where Sugarcube Corner is,” Trixie said. “We may find her there.”
Starlight nodded. “Yeah, let’s start from there. At least we can tell Twilight that we tried to find her.”
They didn’t even have to get there. Shortly after they left the park, they saw a large cart full of canned food and bottled water blocking the road. Starlight walked around it carefully to tell whoever was pulling it what she thought about such a violation of traffic laws. However, one look told her that it would be a waste of time.
“What are you doing, whatever your name is?” Starlight asked, watching the greenish unicorn wearing a tinfoil hat.
“Lyra Heartstrings,” the mare replied. “You’d better hurry. I have only a few places left in my bunker and Bonnie said that I’m dumb, so she’s not going there.”
“I have several questions…” Starlight raised her hoof. “What bunker? Why do you need all those cans?”
“Alicorn babies falling from the sky!” Lyra exclaimed. “That’s a sign of the oncoming apocalypse!”
“What?” Starlight groaned and smacked her face with her hoof. “That’s dumb. Who told you that?”
“The same ponies who say things about the pony pox vaccine,” Trixie muttered. “Also, where’s that baby?”
“Bonnie is taking care of it,” Lyra replied. “Also, it’s not dumb. Lily, Rose, and Daisy believe it too.”
Starlight rolled her eyes. “I’ve met those three. They’re not the most stable ponies in the world and trust me, I can spot crazy when I see it.”
“Every day in the mirror,” Trixie whispered, ignoring the glares Starlight was giving her.
“Sure!” Lyra exclaimed. “But we’ll see who’ll laugh when the world ends!” She pulled the cart and it moved slowly, its wheels nearly hitting Starlight.
“Doomsday cults,” Starlight muttered. “Those are the worst. Who is this Bonnie she was talking about?”
“She has a candy store nearby,” Trixie replied. “And she really likes Trixie’s shows. Like, she was on every single one.”
“Ah, good,” Starlight said. “She’ll be happy to help, then…”
“Ah, you two morons,” Bon Bon said, seeing Trixie and Starlight enter her store. She pointed at Flurry Heart, who was sitting on the counter, eating a giant lollipop. “Is that yours?”
“Kinda,” Trixie replied. “Thanks for finding her.”
“She made a hole in my roof and freaked Lyra out.” Bon Bon sighed. “It’ll take days before she realises the world is not about to end…”
“Yeah, sorry for that,” Starlight muttered. “Now give her to us and we won’t bother you anymore.”
“I also gave her a bath and changed her diapers,” Bon Bon said. “Do you know how hard it is when you have to use your mouth?”
“Eww…” Trixie winced. “I mean, I can relate… I think.”
“Exactly.” Bon Bon stood up. “And since you two useless idiots do nothing but freeloading in Twilight Sparkle’s castle, I guess you’ll be more than happy to pay me for taking care of her…”
Starlight groaned. “Oh, surely. What do you want?”
“You’ll pay me for the roof,” Bon Bon replied. “And you…” She pointed at Trixie. “Stop making shows in Ponyville. Lyra loves them and I always have to go with her. And I hate your guts.”
Trixie furrowed her eyebrows. “Wait a minute. I have to think about your proposition…”
Five minutes later, Starlight and Trixie were rushing towards the castle, with Flurry Heart sleeping on Trixie’s back.
“I think you overreacted a bit,” Starlight said, opening the door and checking if nopony was following them.
“What do you mean?” Trixie asked. “She wanted Trixie to stop performing!”
“You could’ve just punched her,” Starlight replied, walking inside of the castle with Trixie and quickly locking the door. “But no, you had to drop a shelf full of candies on her…”
“It fell by itself,” Trixie muttered.
“Yes, but why did you disappear her then?” Starlight asked. “Someone may look for her.”
“One doesn’t often find a cardboard box and two mirrors just lying around,” Trixie replied. “When Trixie found them, she just had to disappear someone.”
Starlight scratched her mane. “Can you make us disappear too?”
“Yeah, but Trixie will need another box. Have you seen a box in the castle?”
“Gah!” Flurry exclaimed.
Trixie smiled. “See? She’d like to see that disappearing trick again.” She patted Flurry’s head. “Good girl. We’ll disappear auntie Starlight one day…”
“Don’t you dare,” Starlight muttered. “Also, you’d better feed her yourself. I got too many hits to the head today and I need to sleep it off.”
“Sure, go to sleep, why not.” Trixie rolled her eyes. “And I’ll have to feed her, huh?”
“You’ll do that better.” Starlight smiled sheepishly and teleported away.
“Better-schmetter.” Trixie turned to Flurry Heart. “How about you? Ready for some food?”
Flurry furrowed her eyebrows and stuck her tongue out.
“Trixie takes that as ‘yes’,” Trixie said, levitating Flurry and taking her to the kitchen. There, she sat her on a tall chair and checked the things Twilight had left on the counter. “Hmm, peas.”
“Eww…” Flurry shuddered.
“Yeah, Trixie doesn’t get it either.” Trixie opened the jar and looked at its contents. “Like, it looks the same after it gets out.” She sniffed the pea. “Though now it smells better.”
“Blah,” Flurry replied.
“You’re saying?” Trixie shrugged and levitated the spoon. “Come on, eat some. It looks tasty.”
Flurry shook her head.
“Little zebras have nothing to eat and you don’t want to eat your peas?” Trixie groaned. “Come on, kid. Trixie can tell you a story of how she defeated an Ursa Major.”
Flurry’s jaw dropped. Trixie quickly put the spoon in her mouth. A second later, she had to dodge the peas coming back at her, complete with the spoon, which spun in mid-air and got stuck in the wall.
“At least you swallowed some,” Trixie muttered. “Also, damn Bon Bon, she had to give you that lollipop…” She got the spoon out of the wall and walked back to Flurry. “Okay, kid. If I show you a magic trick, will you eat some?”
Flurry shrugged, smiling at Trixie.
“Okay, this one’s called ‘disappearing food’,” Trixie said. “Open your mouth and close your eyes.”
When Flurry did so, Trixie grabbed a spoonful of peas and gave it to the baby, who chewed and swallowed it.
“See?” Trixie levitated the clean spoon. “It disappeared. Wanna disappear some more?”
Flurry tilted her head and raised her eyebrow, looking at Trixie.
Trixie sighed. “Do you think Trixie is dumb?”
Flurry nodded.
“Okay…” Trixie muttered. “But if Trixie asks you nicely, will you eat your food?”
Flurry furrowed her eyebrows.
“You’ll get candies later,” Trixie said.
“Gah!” Flurry exclaimed, levitating the jar of peas and a spoon.
“You want to eat yourself?” Trixie asked. Then she saw the spoon flying towards her. “What are you doing?”
“Ba,” Flurry replied.
“Okay.” Trixie sighed. “We’ll eat together, then.”
Starlight groaned when the sun shone into her eyes. She turned in her bed and opened her eyes, only to see Twilight Sparkle standing in her bedroom.
“What’s going on?” Starlight asked. “How was the mission?”
“Fine,” Twilight replied. “But we have a few problems.”
“Something with Flurry Heart?” Starlight sat on her bed quickly.
“She’s fine,” Twilight replied. “But since I came back home, I had to talk to Filthy Rich about his daughter’s missing wallet, then I learned that Cloud Kicker is allergic to sleeping charms…”
“I didn’t put a sleeping charm on her yesterday in the park,” Starlight replied. ‘In fact, I don’t even know who she is and how can this idiot even be allergic to magic?”
“I asked her the same question and she nearly coughed up her lungs on my hooves,” Twilight said. “Oh, and the Cakes are asking about their ruined shelf. Also, I got this from Daisy on my way home.” She levitated a tinfoil hat. “It has something to do with Lyra seeing alicorn babies falling from the sky.”
“Maybe she should go to the shrink.” Starlight shrugged, sweating heavily.
“I went to check on Lyra.” Twilight looked at Starlight and sighed. “She locked herself in some underground room, but I found unconscious Bon Bon in a cardboard box, cleverly hidden with two mirrors.”
“Who could do that?” Starlight grinned nervously.
“I have several suspects,” Twilight muttered. “Exactly one, but she’s currently throwing up after eating most of the food I left for Flurry. Speaking of which, Cadance told me that they found a coin in Flurry’s, umm…”
“So she swallowed it after all!” Starlight exclaimed. Just after that, she covered her mouth with her hoof. “You heard nothing,” she muttered.
Twilight gritted her teeth. “Do you have anything to say about those phenomena?”
“Umm…” Starlight smiled widely. “Don’t murder me, please?”
“What?” Twilight raised her eyebrows. “No, I would never murder you.”
“Good.” Starlight sighed with relief.
“Cadance asked me if I could help her find a babysitter,” Twilight said. “Apparently Sunburst is pretty bad at that.”
“No wonder…” Starlight nodded.
“I told her that you volunteered.”
Starlight froze. “Oh, no…”
Author's Note
In case you wonder how Trixie ended up in this state, Bootsy's version can be safely treated as canon:
I'm imagining Trixie and Flurry partying and going on a foal food bender, ending with Trixie hanging from a chandelier, ranting about how unfair it is that you have to pay for a permit to do street performance in Canterlot. Then she pukes and gets most of her biological ejecta into a mixing bowl below. Flurry holds up a scorecard in appreciation of the display, and Trixie gives a tiny "woo" before falling off the chandelier and passing out.
