WHO'S LAUGHING NOW?

It did not matter that it was almost midnight.

It did not matter that it was raining cats and dogs.

It did not matter that both the streets and sidewalks were extremely wet.

It did not even matter that she had to push through dozens of pedestrian ponies all rushing to get somewhere warm.

The only thing that truly mattered was reaching Manehattan General Hospital as soon as possible.

This was on the mind of a unicorn with azure coat, white mane, and dark violet eyes named Trixie Lulamoon that night. Across the land of Equestria, she was known as the Great and Powerful Trixie, a traveling magician known for performing dazzling feats of magic in towns such as Trottingham and Hoofington. In fact, she was just finished with another acclaimed performance in Dodge City when she had received a letter that had shaken her to the core, and prompted her to pack her things before galloping all the way to Manehattan with her wagon attached to her back. It had taken her the entirety of both the afternoon and evening to arrive to the city, but finally, she was there and, despite being nearly out of breath, she had no intention of slowing down even for a second.

Not when the only family she had left was concerned.

It was a couple minutes to midnight when she made it to the hospital and quickly entered there after leaving her wagon just beside the front doors of the building. Once inside, she trotted towards the reception desk and became somewhat relieved when she saw a receptionist pony she was already familiar with sitting there. In addition to her blue scrubs and transparent gloves, the earth pony had a lime coat, crimson mane, and turquoise eyes.

As soon as she saw Trixie coming to the desk, she stood up from her seat and said, “Oh, Trixie, thank Celestia you got the letter we sent. He’s been mumbling your name ever since we moved him to an intensive care unit.”

Upon hearing this, Trixie’s eyes widened with horror and she asked, “Intensive care unit?! He’s become that much worse?! Please, you gotta take me to him!”

“Follow me”, the receptionist replied and together, they started climbing a nearby staircase towards the upper levels of the hospital.

After reaching the third floor, they made a sharp left turn towards a corridor labeled, “Leukemia Patients”, and entered through the fourth door on the right. Once they did, they came across a seemingly unconscious unicorn colt with an orange coat, jet black mane, dark violet eyes (exactly like those of Trixie), and no cutie mark breathing through a respirator and, just as the receptionist had said, was lying on an intensive care unit, which was basically a bed with several tubes, monitors, and other kinds of medical equipment attached to it.

The moment Trixie the colt like this, she burst into tears and promptly moved closer to him. When she was right beshide his bed, she softly said to his ear, “Hi there, kiddo. Guess who’s great and powerful big sis came all the way from the other side of Equestria?”

A few seconds later, the colt’s eyes slowly began to open and he even turned his head towards Trixie before a small smile appeared on his face. He then managed to say, “Trixie… You’re back… I knew you’d come… “

Trixie responded by letting out a mixture of laughter and sobbing, and declared, “Well, of course I came, silly! You really think I’d leave you alone when you’re in this state? How did you end up like this, anyway?”

“I… I don’t really know”, the colt revealed. “I was playing with those toys you brought me in your last visit. Then, I got really hot and everything started spinning, which made me fall to the floor and fall asleep. When I woke up, I was lying here and a nurse said I spent the whole night in the Emergency Room. The heat and the spinning are gone, but I still don’t know where they came from. Do you have any idea where they could’ve come from?”

Trixie then sniffled, stroked her brother’s mane a bit, and replied,”No, I don’t know either, honey. But, I promise I’ll figure it out. I gotta go talk to the doctor for a minute. You just sit tight and wait for me here. I won’t be long, okay?”

The colt nodded in approval and Trixie kissed him on the forehead before walking out of the room and going towards the staircase. She went one floor down, made a right turn, continued walking down a long corridor, and stopped at the seventh door on the left. She then knocked it a few times and, soon enough, a male unicorn with a brown coat, azure mane, and dark green eyes opened the door.

He announced with a surprised tone, “Oh, Miss Lulamoon! I’m so glad to see you here. Please, come in to my office. I was just about to head home, but I can certainly spare a few minutes to talk to you.”

Trixie immediately entered the room and took a seat right in front of the doctor’s desk. After sitting at his own chair, the doctor began to explain, “I assume you’re here to talk about Sunspot’s sudden collapse the other day. Well, there is really no easy way to say this. He is getting worse. His leukemia has progressed to a critical stage and unless we operate on him, he’s only got a couple months at best, I’m afraid. I know you’ve been trying to acquire the funds necessary to afford an operation like this for quite some time, but I strongly urge you to hurry. The hospital is currently a bit understaffed and, in addition to your brother, there are more than a few leukemia patients who are in desperate need of this operation.”

It took Trixie quite a long while to process all this information and she even shed a few more tears in the process. Then, she wiped away the tears and asked, “I understand, doctor. I promise that I’ll get you that money soon. In fact, I just need to put on a few more shows to complete the sum and my next performance is only a week from now. Sure, it’s in a town much smaller than the ones I’ve performed in, but that’s not important. What’s really important is saving Sunspot’s life. He’s the only family I’ve got left after our dad abandoned us and our mom got killed by a drunk cab driver. I cannot afford to lose him too. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to say good-bye to him before leaving for my upcoming show. Oh, and please don’t say to him anything related to what you just told me. I’m gonna try to explain the situation as best as I can.”

The doctor took a few moments to think about what she had said before nodding in approval. He then stood up from his seat, walked towards the door, and opened it so that Trixie could exit the office. Trixie promptly did so and started walking back to her brother’s room while thinking about what she was going to say to him. While she could not tell the entire truth, she could manage to reveal a variation of it that would not worry him. With that in mind, she went down the stairs and kept walking until she reached his room.

She found him just as she had left him and, once again, went to his bedside. Then, she took a deep breath and began to explain, “Hi again. Sooo… I spoke with the doctor and he said the drugs you’ve been taking aren’t affecting you anymore. That’s why they’re going to try… something else. It’s a pretty expensive option, but it’s gonna cure you for good and though I don’t have the money to afford it yet, I’ll definitely find it after performing on just a few more shows. Sounds okay?”

“Hmmm… Yeah, I think that’s okay”, replied Sunspot. “So, after you leave for your next show, you’ll come back real soon, right? Then, I’ll get cured… And we’ll be together forever! Oh, I can’t wait for that to happen! We’ll live in a normal house and you can show me all the tricks you’ve ever done. I wanna be a magician just like you when I grow up.”

Trixie giggled at that statement before stroking her brother’s mane and declaring, “Slow down there, kiddo. I still gotta pull off the next couple of peformances for any of what you just said to happen, remember?”

“Oh, quit worrying. You’ll be fine”, Sunspot assured her. “I mean, when was the last time you blew a magic trick, anyway?”

That question made Trixie think very hard before answering it and, several seconds later, a determined smile appeared on her face and she replied, “Never. The Great and Powerful Trixie has NEVER failed to pull off a feat of magic and that fact is not gonna change any time soon. Just wait a little longer, Sunspot. A few more successful shows and, Celestia as my witness, everything you’ve been dreaming about will become reality.”

As soon as she finished that sentence, her brother wrapped her arms around her neck and, despite feeling her throat being crushed, she hugged him back until he let go a short while later. Then, she kissed him on the cheek, walked out of the room, and headed towards the location of her next performance:

PONYVILLE