Unexpected Changes

Right after lunch, there was a period of recess. This would allow their projects a little bit more time to dry, and would allow the kids to burn off more energy, and digest their food a bit. The jungle gym was strictly off-limits, because with everypony stuffed full of food, hanging upside down was a bad idea.

Normally, Daisy would go play with her friends, but there were a few mitigating factors today. For one, Lily still smelled like pickled eggs. More importantly, however, there were two new students that she'd barely introduced herself to this morning.

Top Story was the center of attention right now, displaying for everypony his favourite toy; a spinning spindle with bumpers on it. He called it a "battle top," and when he launched two of them into a basin, they spun around, knocking into each other and grinding in such a way as to smack each other away and bounce around. He was explaining the rules and mechanics of the game; that if one of the tops stopped spinning, it was out, and if it ended up in one of the pits on the outside of the arena, it was almost always going to bounce itself to a stop.

"The part that makes this the most interesting is the shape of the arena," he said as she approached. "All of the official arenas are basins, with some variation. The red one has a sizable divot in the middle, which can be a trap for the more balanced tops, and it has teeth on the outside rim that can make the unbalanced tops with the wide arcs crash more often. The blue one has the center elevated to throw the tops away from the center, which can make it so that only the unbalanced tops can move around. The balanced ones are just going to hobble in place. The green one has no wall bumpers, so it's easy to be tossed out of the ring, but it also has lips protecting you from just hopping out of the arena accidentally."

Some of the kids left during his demonstration, but he didn't seem to mind. He was playing with his favourite toy, and if they didn't find that interesting, that was their problem.

Daisy kneeled down across from him. "Can I try?"

"Sure." He put together a few pieces for her, clicked it into place, and then set it on the ground in front of her. "Before we set to the battling part, though, how about we see how you do solo? If you don't do it right, it's easy to lose the match."

With a bit of instruction, she managed to hold the launcher correctly and pull back on the ripcord, launching the spinning top into the arena. It almost sounded like a saw as it spun around, which was apt, considering the fact that the outer ring at the top of the device looked like a sawblade.

"Very good," nodded Top Story. "That's the right way to do it. We can definitely have a match once this thing stops spinning."

"Shouldn't we try to stop it?"

"No. It'll stop on its own after, like a minute. It's not a good idea to just grab it, though. It could hurt your hoof when it's going that fast." He looked up. "So, are you friends with that filly that had the pickled eggs?"

"Lily? Yeah, we're neighbors. She's about a month older than me."

"Does she always eat stuff like that?"

"No. Usually, it's more normal stuff. Nachos, macaroni and cheese, ratatouille, ravioli, stuff like that. She just had a weird craving today, is all."

"So it'll be better tomorrow, I'm guessing?"

"Probably? She's been acting a little bit weird, lately."

"Like, weird, how?"

Daisy thought about it for a moment. "You know, I'm not one to gossip. I probably shouldn't say much about what exactly is strange, but I can tell you this; she had this problem with her tummy a few weeks ago, and that's when it all started. So maybe it's the lasting effects from her being sick for a bit." As the battle top wound down, she grabbed it and put it back on the launcher, preparing for the match.

Top Story grabbed his own and prepared for his own launch. "So, even if she says something weird in the next few days, it's just her being a little bit sick, still?"

They launched their tops into the arena and they bounced around for a bit before settling into a circular chase. Top's was moving a bit faster, and would catch up to Daisy's soon. "Yeah. That, or the change is actually permanent, in which case, she's just as new as you."

"Huh," noted Glory, making Daisy jump. Last she'd checked, Glory was over with Lily.

"What?"

"It's funny. Now that you mention it, she did suddenly become different. Do you think her dad was actually a disguised changeling, and he kidnapped her and replaced the Lily we know and love with an impostor?"

Daisy gasped. "Glory! What a terrible thing to say!"

"It would explain her changes," she shrugged.

"Maybe she was replaced with a doppelganger," suggested Top. "I saw it in a comic book, once. The king of Prance was replaced by his twin brother, who'd been taken away at birth and locked in a dungeon for his whole life behind an iron mask. You had to pay attention to their speech bubbles to tell which was which, because they looked exactly the same. Does she have a twin sister?"

"No," answered Daisy. "She would have told us."

"What about a twin sister that she doesn't know about?"

"If she didn't know whether or not she had a sister, how would we figure it out?"

Top just shrugged. "No idea."

"You know, when my mom was pregnant with me, she changed a lot of her behaviour, too," offered Glory. "Or at least, my dad said she did."

"Yeah, but she can't be pregnant," argued Daisy. "She's not married."

"Oh, yeah," chuckled Glory. "I forgot about that part."

"Or maybe she is," offered Top. "If she's a doppelganger or a changeling, she could be secretly married, while the real Lily is locked up in a dungeon somewhere, wearing an iron mask."

"Speaking of iron faces," offered another colt, "Maybe she was replaced by a robot. Have you tried sticking a magnet on her yet?"