Gossip Spreads Quick

Shoeshine stared at the ceiling of her room with a bored sigh, idly playing with a horse shoe.

“I’m bored,” Shoeshine sighed and kept tossing the horse shoe up into the sky. “Why can’t something entertaining happen today?”

Shoeshine’s business was never open on Saturdays or Sundays. She used those days to rest, spend time with her friends or catch up on some random house work. Carrot Tops fields were harvested so she was out at the market, Noi was at her friends, Roseluck was busy, Derpy was busy, so was Sunset and Silverspeed.

Which left one member of the Main Six as they had been taken to being called unaccounted for, Trixie.

Shoeshine had originally viewed Trixie as a frustrating pony and well, she still was occasionally like that but the two got along better. Shoeshine would even go as far as to say Trixie was one of her best friends.

“I blame that damn sleepover at Sunset’s last month,” Shoeshine snorted and smirked as she rolled out of bed. “Eh. Might as well search the town for Trixie.”

Shoeshine panted as she leaned against Trixie’s wagon, internally cursing out the seeming influx of rabbits Ponyville had. Who knew rabbits could block of an entire street for an hour. Shoeshine had to run around the entire town just to get around to Trixie’s wagon.

“Just a minute,” Shoeshine gasped as Trixie leaned out her window and gave her a confused look. “Woo, not used to running like that. What are you up to?”

“Trixie was napping till somepony ran into her wagon face first. Why do you ask?” Trixie stifled a yawn and blinked away the sleep.

“Well, I wanted somepony to hang out with. You down to tear up Ponyville for a bit? Maybe see what Pinkie, Lyra, Vinyl and Berry got going down? The six of us can cause some chaos I bet,” Shoeshine commented with a grin. Her ears flattened as Trixie shut the window. “Well, guess that’s a no?”

Trixie’s door opened and she trotted down the steps, clad in her trademark hat and cape to complete her look.

“Let’s go tear shit up,” Trixie matched Shoeshine’s grin. “Let’s start with hmmmm, Octavia?” Shoeshine winced and shook her head.

“Remember, she doesn’t like us that much after that one time we swapped out her tea for something else. She especially doesn’t like you after that incident. Throwing powder in her eyes as we run for our lives is a surprisingly effective distraction.”

Trixie giggled and Shoeshine rolled her eyes with a smirk, bumping her flank against Trixie’s.

“So messing with her is absolutely a good idea,” Shoeshine chuckled and raised an eyebrow. “You game?”

“Trixie is definitely game,” Trixie shrugged and stretched her legs out. “And if Trixie remembers correctly, our last prank on Octavia was Vinyls idea.”

“True,” Shoeshine conceded and the two continued their trot into Ponyville over a bridge, glancing at the fish swimming along in the stream. “Here comes Lily.”

The pink mare was smiling widely and Shoeshine gave Trixie a confused look. Lily had practically become a different mare recently and Shoeshine, after years of dealing with a grumpy Lily, wasn’t sure what to think about said changes.

“Hey!” Lily grinned wider if that was possible. At this point, she was giving Pinkie a run for her money and Shoeshine thought that was an impossible task. “Hey Shoeshine, hello Trixie.”

“Hi,” Trixie shifted on her hooves anxiously and flicked her tail.

“So,” Lily clapped hooves together excitedly and Shoeshine raised an eyebrow. “I tracked down the rest of our friends. Roseluck, Daisy and I are gonna go spend the night in the Everfree. We want you all to come with us. Sunset said sure, so did Silverspeed, Derpy is getting Berry to watch her kids. Roseluck wants you two to come along.”

Shoeshine and Trixie shared a look with each other.

“I don’t know Lily. I got work tomorrow,” Shoeshine answered and looked down. That wasn’t a lie, she did genuinely have to open her shop tomorrow morning.

“And Trixie has uh nothing going on.”

“Excellent!” Lily flung a foreleg around Trixie and Trixie tensed slightly. She wasn’t entirely fond of being touched by anypony outside her family and friends. She didn’t hate Lily by any means but the mare was well, different. “So that means you can come, right?”

Trixie opened her mouth to come up with an excuse but Lily gave her a hopeful look. With a sigh, she nodded yes and Lily nuzzled her.

“See you tonight!” Lily trotted off with a wave as the two stared in stunned silence along with some nearby ponies.

“That was weird, right?” Trixie asked and Shoeshine nodded slowly.

“Most definitely.”

Trixie cursed herself internally as she trotted to the main entrance of the Everfree, her saddlebags weighing heavily on her flanks with a pillow and some blankets along with a tent she had borrowed from Raindrops.

Sunset and the others were waiting with Lily, Roseluck and Daisy, Silverspeed and Derpy pacing back and forth. Silverspeed had her bow and arrows sticking out of her saddlebags.

“Hey,” Trixie panted out as she approached the group.

“Hey. Want help?” Roseluck asked and Trixie shook her head.

“The great and powerful Trixie requires no assistance,” Trixie proclaimed and Roseluck shrugged.

“Alright then.”

Trixie yawned and cracked her neck, glancing back with a raised eyebrow at Shoeshine trotting up.

“I was convinced to come along. I’m here for the free marshmallows,” Shoeshine answered before anypony could say anything. “And the chocolate. I will not be sleeping on the ground though. And I’m not bunking with Trixie, no offense. You snore loud. I call dibs on Derpy.”

Derpy nodded and Sunset levitated the gray mare’s items in her magic. Trixie assumed Derpy had no saddlebags or hers had broken. She loved Derpy as everypony did, but she was surprisingly proud and refused bits from everypony who knew her and offered.

“Trixie calls sleeping by herself. And she does not snore,” Trixie defended herself from Shoeshine’s previous claim and Shoeshine gave her a look.

“We can go over this when we get in there. I don’t wanna be stuck in the Everfree when it gets super dark. And we should also have somepony stay up in shifts when the others sleep,” Sunset suggested and they all nodded in agreement.

Daisy glanced nervously into the forest anxiously. The sun was already setting slowly. Daisy wasn’t entirely too fond of the dark, especially inside there. There was a dozen monsters probably feet away from her. She quickly pushed that thought away and shook her head.

She inhaled and stepped inside after Sunset and Trixie, their horns glowing teal and pink to light up the path ahead.