Flurry Heart sat on the plush carpet playing with small toy carts. "Vroom! Vroom!" Her eyes drifted towards the mare who stood in the doorway. "Mommy!" she said excitedly, beating her little alicorn wings.
Cadance had purchased the miniature derby racer carts yesterday on a whim. These look cute, she had said to herself while browsing the Crystal Empire's largest toy store.
She was pleased to see that her daughter enjoyed playing with them. It was not often that a toy captivated Flurry Heart as these carts did. "Do you like your carts, Flurry?" Cadance said, stepping into Flurry Heart's bedroom.
"Yes!" replied the young alicorn as she pushed a cart resembling a swan forward, making cute little noises as she did so. "This one's my favorite!" She held it up, proudly displaying it to her mother.
Cadance chuckled, stooping down and pressing her hooves against another cart, one that resembled a traditional pony carriage. The carts were, of course, small and, now that Cadance was playing with them, surprisingly fragile. Cadance took care not to snap the thin wooden beams. I bet Flurry will break these before the week is over.
"Race!" Flurry Heart turned the swan cart upside down and fixated her eyes on the wooden wheels as she spun them round and round.
"You want to race, huh? Well I'd better choose a faster cart then," said Cadance brightly, reaching for a cart shaped like a lightning bolt.
For a few minutes, Flurry and Cadance giggled as they played together, tracking the carts all around the crystal room.
"Darn, you win again! You sure are fast." Cadance scooped up Flurry Heart and cuddled her, ruffling her pastel mane.
"Get in the cart mommy!"
Cadance chuckled. She released Flurry Heart and stood up, stretching her front hooves. "Oh Flurry, you're so silly!" she said with a warm smile. "Mommy has to go get dinner ready. I'm making your favorite, ma—"
"Get in the cart!" Flurry shouted excitedly.
Again Cadance chuckled. "We can play again later sweetie."
The smile faded from Flurry's face. "Get in the cart!" She pointed a tiny hoof at the swan on wheels.
"You want me to get in the cart?" She eyed it, a toy not bigger than her front hooves.
"Yes!"
"I don't know," said Cadance, "It seems kind of small for a big pony like me." She flapped her large alicorn wings playfully as she turned to exit the room.
"No mommy! Get in the cart!" Tears were forming in Flurry Heart's eyes.
Oh no.
Cadance craned her neck to glance at Flurry Heart, who began to sob. With a sigh, Cadance trotted slowly towards Flurry Heart and lay down next to her. "Listen," she began, gently moving her daughter's favorite cart back and forth. "I don't think I'll fit into this. It's a toy."
Flurry would not listen to reason. "GET IN THE CART!" she screamed. Cadance proceeded to be showered with her daughter's irrational tears.
Cadance attempted to calm her daughter with a soft body rub, but her hoof was shoved aside by the upset alicorn foal. Twice more, Flurry Heart demanded that Cadance fit her pony-sized body into a toy cart, screaming and crying all the while.
"Okay!" Cadance finally said, exasperated. "I'll get in the cart." Flurry Heart ceased crying and clapped her hooves together, frown immediately replaced with an eager smile.
Bending over, Cadance aimed her horn at the swan cart and fired a beam of magic at it. The cart instantly grew. With the cart now large enough to sit in, Cadance thrusted her body over the pale lavender wall and sat behind the wheel. She turned to Flurry Heart. "Look! Mommy's in the cart!" she said through an awkward smile.
"NO NO NO!" Flurry's horn emitted a yellow aura, signaling trouble.
Cadance dived out of the cart just before a yellow bolt of magic returned the cart to its original size.
"GET IN THE CART!" Flurry Heart picked up the cart and threw it at Cadance. It bounced harmlessly against her pink body.
"I can't. I want to, really, but I can't, okay?"
Flurry responded with more tears.
"Is everything okay in here?" Shining Armor's head appeared in the doorway of Flurry Heart's bedroom.
"Flurry wants me to get in her toy cart," said Cadance, who slowly moved towards Shining Armor. Standing together, they watched as their daughter rolled around on the carpet, crying because her mother could not, would not get into the toy cart.
"You did explain to her that it's a toy, right?" asked Shining Armor.
"Of course."
"And..."
Cadance gestured, with evident frustration, to Flurry Heart. A pause. "I think something is wrong with our daughter."
"She's just a foal," said Shining Armor, smiling.
"No." Cadance leaned towards Shining Armor and lowered her voice. "I think Flurry might be..."
"Believe me, Cadance. Flurry is perfectly normal," Shining Armor interrupted.
"GET IN THE CART!" Flurry Heart shouted, her tears ceaseless. Cadance raised an eyebrow and glanced at her husband.
"Have you tried getting into it?" asked Shining Armor.
"Really? You're asking me if I've tried getting into it? It's a toy cart for Celestia's sake!"
"Maybe if you try, Flurry will calm down."
Cadance sighed. Her husband was right. Perhaps if she attempted to sit behind the teeny tiny wheel, Flurry would realize that what she was demanding was, quite frankly, impossible. She gingerly stepped towards the still screaming Flurry Heart.
"GET IN THE CART!"
"Yes. Mommy will get in the cart, okay?" Flurry Heart sniffled, then watched as her mother approached the cart, which lay flat on the carpet, damp with tears. Cadance stooped over and placed it upright. She put one hoof in the air, directly over the cart. She set it down.
*CRUNCH*
Flurry and Cadance both stared at the now headless swan cart.
"WAHHHH!" Flurry Heart resumed her tantrum, her favorite toy having been destroyed by her mother.
Cadance stared daggers at Shining Armor. This is going to be a long night.
