"Wha—Trixie, what is this?"
"Um... lemonade?"
Starlight blinked. "It's black."
Trixie frowned "That's kinda rude."
"What?!" Starlight whipped her head at her. "No, I'm not— look at it! It's black!" She gestured at the cup in question.
Trixie stared down at it. She tilted her head and clicked her tongue. "I chipped the cup."
Starlight deadpanned. "That's what you're worried about?!"
"This was Trixie's favorite cup."
"Trixie, look at it!"
"Ugh, yes I know, there's a crack on the side too."
"No." Starlight pressed her hoof between her eyes. "Not the cup. Look at the liquid, it's smoking! How is it smoking? It's lemonade!"
"Ohhh. Oh no." Trixie looked around the kitchen. "Should we open a window?"
"Trixie, this castle is massive, a tiny trail of smoke will clear away before you even make it to the closest window."
"I think we should open a window."
"We don't need to— why am I talking about this. I mean, how'd this even happen?"
Trixie put a hoof to her chin. "I think I messed up your spell."
"Yes, I can see that, but why is it black?! It's just lemon juice, water, and some sugar. What is there to even burn?"
Trixie shrugged. "The lemonade, apparently."
"But that makes absolutely no se—" Starlight blinked. "Wait, what spell?"
"You know, that, um, self heating spell you were trying out yesterday, remember?"
"Oh, that one! I, uh..." Starlight glanced at the still-smoking cup. "Trixie, why were you trying to heat your lemonade?"
"Actually, it was already warm. I miiight've left it out in the sun for too long."
"That... doesn't clarify anything at all. You were trying to make your lukewarm lemonade even warmer?"
"What? No! Don't be silly, Starlight! Obviously, I was trying to make it cold again."
Starlight stared. "...with a heating spell."
"Yep! Well, no. I was trying to cast it backwards, so it'd be a cooling spell instead."
"..." Starlight threw her head back and groaned in exasperation.
"What?"
"Trixieeee, that's not how magic works. Actually, that's not how most things work."
Trixie stuck her tongue out. "It works for my magic tricks."
"But that's not the same thing as with real ma— I mean, with magic spells. Any wrong step in the spell bases or matrices could have unpredictable side effects!"
"Haha, okay, Twilight."
"Trixie!"
"What?!"
"You said you cast it backwards, right? The spell has multiple components, one of them is a delayed enchantment that latches onto the heating matrix and destabilizes it once it reaches a set target temperature."
Trixie raised an eyebrow. "Ponish, please?"
Starlight rolled her eyes. "The last step of the spell stops the whole thing when it's hot enough, so it doesn't just keep going."
"Ohhhhhh. So that's what that was for."
"Trixie!" Starlight waved her hooves frantically. "That's supposed to be the last step! Did you do that first instead?!"
"Well, yeah, I just said I cast it backwards."
"Nooo, the heating matrix needs to be active already for the stopping spell to attach to it! Otherwise it'll just fizzle out."
"Awww." Trixie pouted. "Oopsie."
"Wha— 'oopsie'?! Trixie, if you didn't put the stopping spell on it, did you at least disable the heating matrix yourself?"
Trixie blinked. "I was supposed to do that?"
Starlight deadpanned. She turned towards the cup of ominous, black liquid, where tiny bubbles were beginning to break the surface. The smoke trail had doubled in size. "Oh, for the love of Celestia."
"Pssshhh." Trixie waved a hoof dismissively. "It's just boiling, no big deal."
Starlight rushed over to the cup, holding a hoof over her snout. "If it's just boiling water or something, then yes! I have no idea what this is anymore! This could be releasing some toxic fumes or something" She groaned in annoyance. "I'll just sift through the matrix myself and disrupt it directly." She closed her eyes as her horn began to glow.
Trixie waved a hoof, coughing. "We definitely need to open a window." She looked up thoughtfully. "If this is because I cast it backwards, all I need is to cast it correctly and it'll cancel itself out!"
Starlight's eyes shot wide open. "What?! Trixie, no!"
Too late, an orb of purple light formed over Trixie's horn and shot towards the boiling, black fluid. In desperation, Starlight threw a teal dome of magic energy over the cup. The orb collided with the shield, which reflected it up and into the ceiling with a loud bang.
"What was that for?!" Trixie stamped a hoof.
"I never tested casting the spell on something that already has it! You can't just recklessly toy with magic like that, who knows what could happen!"
Trixie raised an eyebrow. "You do that all the time already."
"Wha— well," Starlight sputtered. "Yes, but that's because I'm careful when I do it."
Trixie scoffs. "The Great and Powerful Trixie can certainly be careful."
"You weren't being careful just now. Or when you cast this the first time."
"Pffft. Like you're careful either."
"What?" Starlight narrowed her eyes. "I test all my spells in a controlled environment with safety measures in place!"
"Twilight's stories say otherwise."
Starlight's cheeks flushed red. "I—, I test them carefully now. And I—, wait." Starlight froze. "Is it... just me or is it getting hotter in here?"
Trixie looked up. "Oh."
Starlight followed her gaze, where the crystal ceiling of the kitchen now emanated a menacing, red glow. "Oh."
Starlight sat on the grass outside, silently watching as Twilight carefully dismantled the faulty heat matrix now stuck to the kitchen ceiling. Twilight looked back at her briefly, and Starlight waved sheepishly.
Trixie trotted beside her, holding the cup of still boiling 'lemonade' in her magic. "Yeah, we should've opened that window."
Starlight snatched the cup from the air with her magic and threw it away hard. It shattered against the earth, spreading its dark contents everywhere. An angry fire erupted around it.
Trixie raised an eyebrow. "Told you you aren't careful."
"Shut up, Trixie."
Author's Note
Heehee
Was supposed to write this yesterday but got distracted. Wonder if I'll make it to the other two categories, slice of life and experimental, by tomorrow.
Not like I totally didn't cram those two on the last day last time.
I totally wouldn't. Yep.
