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// Chapter 12: Millie-free Day 
// Story: Aunt Millie 
// by Fluttercheer 
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Chapter 12: Millie-free Day


As Sparkler awoke the next morning, she slipped out of her bed as quietly and carefully as possible, trying to not wake up her little sister. It was very early in the morning and this came just right for Sparkler's plan. On silent hooves, she left her room and locked it, then went out of the house and made her way down the well-known route to Rarity's boutique.
It was still slightly dim outside as she arrived there, though, the lights on the first floor showed that the fashionista was already awake and at work. With firm steps, Sparkler approached the boutique and went inside, the bells above the door chiming loudly.
The unexpected sound made Rarity look up. She left the small back room, checking out what customer would come at such an odd hour of the day. Her face cleared up as she saw her assistant.
“Sparkler!” she exclaimed, a smile on her face. “Good morning, dear! What are you doing here this early?” Her voice became a few octaves higher during the last sentence.
Sparkler answered the smile weakly. “Morning Rarity,” she said, then came straight to the point. “I'm here because I need to ask you for something and it's important. I need today and tomorrow off.”
This announcement made the face of the fashionista fall apart a little. “Two days off?” she asked, her voice now sounding raspy a little. “Sparkler, dear, I simply can't do without you this week. You know how much work we have with the order Coloratura made for her new tour. And there are still so many dresses to finish!” The last words sounded panicky.
“I know,” Sparkler replied, her voice understanding. “But it is really important. Something happened and I need to stay at home for Dinky.” Her voice shifted to a more strained tone.
Rarity's brow furrowed and a new kind of worry filled her face. “You look stressed, darling. Whatever is the matter? Didn't you say your aunt is taking care of Dinky while Derpy is not here?”
Sparkler nodded. “She does. Or, at least she should. It's a very long story.”
Rarity waved Sparkler to follow her, then entered the back room again. Inside, she sat down at a small table. It was covered in pieces of differently-colored fabric. Rarity pointed at a seat opposite of her, then she took off her glasses while Sparkler sat down as well.
“Tell me what happened, darling. Was there an emergency?”
“You could say that,” Sparkler answered the question in a stern voice. Hurrying to come home to her little sister as fast as possible, before Millie would wake up, Sparkler quickly mentioned the most important events of the last three days. The concern in Rarity's face increased more and more during the short rundown.
“And now I don't want her to be here anymore,” Sparkler ended.
A shocked expression adorned Rarity's face now, disbelief radiating from it. “Oh my.....” she breathed. “I know about this 'Millie'. She was only here buying a dress once, but some of my customers whispered how she's really strict with raising her daughter. I just didn't expect she could be this bad.” Rarity slightly shuddered from the imagination.
“And this is why I need to stay at home until mom is back. I'm sorry, but I need the last two days of the week off, Rarity,” Sparkler urged now.
“I understand completely, darling.” The gruesome story had completely washed away Rarity's concerns about the dress order. “There is a lot to do..... But I simply cannot allow that a precious filly like your sister suffers even more from such a shrew!” Rarity's voice was filled with disgust.
“Thank you, Rarity,” Sparkler gave her a grateful smile. “I'm sorry I can't help you out more this week.”
“Don't worry about it, darling! With a little help from my friends, I can still make it. Now hurry home and save your sister from this dreadful person!”
It was nothing Sparkler needed to get told twice. She said a quick goodbye, then left the boutique. Outside, she increased her tempo to a fast gallop until she had entered the house again. Swiftly, she went up the stairs and found herself back in her room just in time for Dinky to stir awake.
Sparkler trotted to her bed, a warm smile on her face. “Morning, sis!” She ruffled with a hoof through Dinky's mane, gently. “How do you feel?”
Dinky yawned, then looked up at her sister. Her face looked better than on the evening before, though, there was a shy expression on it. “I'm ok, Sparks,” Dinky answered the question and sat up. Her voice was quiet. “But..... I'm afraid to go downstairs.”
“No surprise.” Sparkler smiled and gave her sister a hug. “But don't worry. I just talked with Rarity and she gave me off from work until mom returns. You won't have to put up with Millie anymore.”
At her back, Sparkler felt Dinky's hooves tightening the grip. She could hear a more than relieved sigh coming from her. “Thank you, Sparks. I wouldn't last another day with her.”
Sparkler rubbed over her back. “I know and now you won't have to anymore, sis.” She carefully retreated and looked into her sister's eyes. “You want to take a shower now?”
The filly nodded, but new concern began to obscure her face.
“I will wait in front of the bathroom door, don't worry!” Sparkler smiled reassuringly, reading in her sister's countenance.
Now Dinky's face cleared up and she fell around her sister's neck again and squeezed her tighter than before. “You're so much better than Millie, Sparks!”
Hearing this “compliment”, Sparkler retreated again and eyed her little sister, a pretended sternness in her face. “Better than Millie? Is this really all you can think of, sis?” She let a boop come down on Dinky's nose.
Sheepishly, Dinky's face became red a little. “Better than every sister in the world, then! Does this sound okay?”
Instead of answering, Sparkler simply shared a giggle with Dinky. Both of them in a better mood now, the two sisters left the room. After Sparkler had locked it again, Dinky disappeared in the bathroom, her big sister taking position in front of it. Not much happened, except for Millie leaving her room, acknowledging Sparkler with nothing more than a grunt, then trotting downstairs.
A few minutes later, Dinky left the bathroom again, looking much more refreshed now. Only the shy, insecure glimmer in her eyes still remained. She closed the door, then joined her sister's side.
“Can we just eat breakfast in your room, Sparks? I don't want to enter the kitchen with her around.” Her eyes looked pleadingly at her big sister.
To her surprise, though, Sparkler shook her head. “No, Dinks, we're eating breakfast in Sugarcube Corner today.”
Dinky's face became confused. “Do you think we have enough time for this before I have to go to school, Sparks?”
Sparkler smirked and ruffled through her mane. “Don't worry about this, Dinks. We will have plenty of time.” Then she went ahead through the corridor and began to descend the stairs, remaining short of any further explanation. Dinky hurried after her.
Downstairs, Sparkler looked over to the kitchen, grim-faced. Dinky eyed it too, nervously. In a calming fashion, Sparkler placed a hoof on her head. “You wait here, Dinks. This is going to take just a moment.”
Sparkler approached the kitchen in a brisk tempo and stopped right at the doorframe, having barely entered the kitchen. Her flank and most of her back remained visible in the door's opening. Dinky could hear the voices of her sister and her aunt.

“You are excused, Millie, I'll be taking over for you the last two days. Dinky and me will leave for the day now. We will return in the evening. Until then, I want that you have your stuff packed and left the house.”

“I'm not surprised that you would throw out the last sane mind in this house, Sparkler. I will leave, but I will come back and free your poor sister from here.”

“You better don't.”

It was a short conversation, Sparkler had only said the most necessary things to get across what she wanted. Sparkler turned around on her hooves and returned to Dinky, her face softening more with every step. She booped her little sister's nose again. “Let's go outside and have some fun!” She lit up her horn and opened the door, then galloped outside. Dinky galloped right after her, wearing a cheerful smile.
As Dinky had caught up with Sparkler and just wanted to talk to her, a horrified expression appeared on her face and she gasped.
“Sparks, I forgot my saddlebags, we have to–”
Sparkler looked at her sister and smirked. “You won't need them today, Dinks.”
“Huh?” Dinky's face radiated confusion once again. “But I have school today.”
“Just wait and see.” She put a hoof around Dinky's shoulder and squeezed her.
Dinky felt clueless. They were clearly on the way to the schoolhouse, yet every time Dinky asked, Sparkler remained strangely insistent there was no school today.
As they had arrived at their destination, Sparkler gestured Dinky to stay at the door, then she went inside the building. Peeking in, Dinky could see that Miss Cheerilee was already here, standing in front of her class as usual. Clearly, school had not been cancelled today, just as she had suspected. She looked with a quizzical look to Sparkler, who went straight for the teacher's desk. It was when Sparkler and Miss Cheerilee began to talk and when her teacher gasped in shock over the things Sparkler told her, that Dinky began to understand her sister's plan. A smile flashed over her face, the positive feelings she felt now eliminating a lot of the still remaining stress on her mind.
During their talk, only snippets of the conversation found their way into Dinky's ears, but she could clearly hear “mentally distraught”, “break”, “excused” and even Lily's name out of all the words. The mentioning of Lily cast a concerned frown on Miss Cheerilee's face and she looked away from Sparkler for a moment, into the rows of her students and at Lily's desk. Only as Dinky followed her teacher's glance she noticed that Lily was not here! Now the young unicorn frowned herself. Still having to think about what happened yesterday on the playground, questions about her friend's well-being coursed through her mind, making her numb for her environment.
A poke at her side threw her out of the trance and she looked up, puzzled, seeing her sister's face grinning down at her.
“Wanna get some breakfast now?” she asked her.
“What about school?” Dinky replied, although she could guess the answer already.
“You're excused for today, Dinks. You can be glad that your teacher is so understanding. Canterlot's teachers are a lot more strict.” She gave her sister another poke. “Now come. I'm sure you're hungry.”
Dinky could only nod and, like on cue, her stomach gave his own agreement to this. “You bet!” she answered. “The muffin from yesterday was barely enough, Sparks.” Some happy tears in her eyes, Dinky gave her sister a hug, then they galloped off towards Sugarcube Corner.
Sparkler ordered for them quickly and so, they soon were sitting at a table in the far corner of the small, cozy bakery. In front of each of them was a plate filled with blueberry muffins, making Dinky's eyes glisten from appetite. Greedily, she put the piece of pastry into her hooves and bit off half of it, immediately reaching the center of the muffin. She groaned in satisfaction as she felt the first taste of blueberries spread out on her tongue.
As she had eaten the muffin completely, she felt the urge to wash it down with something. Using her magic, she reached out to the big, towering glass to her left side. Before she could lift it to her mouth, though, she stopped, noticing the contents of the glass just now.
“Chocolate milkshake? For breakfast?” She gave her sister the most confused look, even raising an eyebrow, her lips puckered.
“With extra sugar!” Sparkler gave her a gigantic grin.
“For breakfast?” Dinky asked a second time, still stumped. She didn't move, just looked at her sister with that confused expression in her eyes.
“Everything's allowed today, Dinks. It's Millie-free Day.” Her tone was as cheeky as it could get.
Dinky lowered her eyes a little. “You're crazy, Sparkler.”
Sparkler laughed, then shook her head. “No, you're crazy today, Dinks, and you deserve it.” She reached across the table and ruffled through Dinky's mane.
“Now, do you really want to let this big, cold, delicious chocolate milkshake wait, Dinks? If you don't, I'm going to drink it. I can handle two.” She activated her magic and pulled at the milkshake a little, causing Dinky to frown.
Dinky let her hooves come to assistance and pulled the glass out of her sister's grasp. “Never!” she said defiantly, then finally hovered the glass to her mouth and wrapped her lips around the drinking straw. She drank in big gulps from it while giving her sister a suspicious side glance. Sparkler smirked, then she took her own glass as well.
Dinky set the glass aside and took another muffin from the plate. “You teasing monster,” she said, while only paying attention to her muffin.
“It's my job as big sister,” Sparkler replied, completely unimpressed, while putting away her milkshake glass.
“Yeah?” Dinky said, between two bites, shooting Sparkler a short glance. “How many bits do you get for it?”
“No bits.” Sparkler reached for another muffin. “I get paid in your silly frowns and nose boops.” Demonstratively, she reached across the table and booped Dinky's nose, causing the filly to scrunch her face. Then she bit into her muffin, smugness coming from her eyes. “Bubblehead,” she then said as she had swallowed down the muffin, her tone completely serious.
Dinky gasped, then gave her sister a glare. “You call me a bubblehead, Sparkler? Then you are a..... a..... a moron!” Her anger was genuine, obvious by her gritted teeth.
“A moron?” Sparkler gave her little sister a pitiful look. “That's all you can think of, Dinks? You sounded a lot more creative yesterday. I'm really disappointed now.”
The reminder caused Dinky to blush.
Sparkler took another sip of her milkshake. “You wimp,” she said then.
Dinky let a hoof come down on the table and jumped up from her seat. “Fine, then you're a dumbflank, Sparkler! Is that better?” She huffed now.
“Oh, really?” Sparker asked across the table, now wearing a glare herself. “Then you're an idiot.”
Now surprise got added to Dinky's anger. “Idiot? And you call me uncreative, Sparkler? You're a loser.” Dinky deadpanned.
Sparkler shrugged. “Better a loser than a halfwit.”
“And better a halfwit than a dweeb.”
“Or better a dweeb than a dunderhead.”
Their conversation now turned into sustained fire as the two sisters shot insult after insult at one another, all while wearing their glares.

“Numbskull!”

“Sucker!”

“Fool!”

“Dork!”

They were so distracted by shouting the words at each other, that none of them noticed Mrs. Cake stopping at their table, halfway back to the counter. Her eyes bulged, almost jumping out of their holes, it seemed, and her face was a frozen piece of disbelief. She shook her head, then returned to the counter.
The barrage continued. Though, as serious as it seemed for a bystander, their words got more and more ridiculous with each shot.

“Sap!” it came out of Dinky's mouth.

“Chump!” Sparkler countered, biting her lip.

“Goon!” Dinky shot another word at her sister, her voice cracking slightly.

Noticing it, Sparkler grinned at Dinky triumphantly. “Nincompoop.” Her eyes drilled into Dinky's skull.

“Stum..... Stumble.....” Dinky began with another word, but then broke out in deafening laughter before she could finish it. “I-I give up, Sparkler!” she managed to say somewhere between her laughs.
“That means you lose, Dinks,” Sparkler grinned. “Just like last time. But I admit, you got a little better.” Then she fell into the laughter and the volume in Sugarcube Corner got suddenly doubled.
At the counter, Mrs. Cake shook her head again, not knowing what to think about the sudden change of mood. She looked over to her husband. Both of them shrugged, then went back to their work.
Out of breath from their long-lasting laughing fit, the sisters finished their breakfast quietly, but not without smiling at each other. Both of them looked happy and relieved now.
As they trotted out of Sugarcube Corner, each of them wrapped a hoof around the neck of the other. Dinky felt better, having finally a sufficient meal in her stomach. She looked up to her sister. “What now, Sparkler?”
“Ice cream!” Sparkler answered firm, with a touch of crazyness in her voice.
“Ice..... cream?” Dinky repeated the words. “Now?” she looked down at her stomach, that felt like it was going to burst.
“Millie-free Day”, Sparkler just said, giving the shortest explanation possible.
“Right.....” Dinky nodded, then giggled. The sisters increased their pace at the last meters on their way to the ice cream booth.
Ten minutes later, they sat on a bench in the nearby park, each of them hovering a cone of ice cream in front of her face, eagerly licking at it. The hair around their mouths was smeared with blue and yellow stains. The situation couldn't have been happier. Though, as Dinky mentioned Millie, the mood decreased slightly.
“We had six muffins and a huge milkshake for breakfast. And now we're eating ice cream right after it. And it isn't even noon yet!” Dinky looked over to the clock tower, which showed that it was exactly eleven o'clock. “Millie would explode,” she said, not without a giggle. “I just hope she doesn't wander by here.....” She flattened her ears.
“I wouldn't worry about that, Dinks.” She put a hoof around her little sister. “She's probably sitting at home now and trampling on the nerves of her daughter and her husband, to compensate for her defeat.”
“Or plotting something.” Dinky's face became a little darker. “You know what she said, Sparks.”
“Maybe,” Sparkler said, completely calm. “But now Cheerilee knows about it. And Rarity does too. And that means she's going to tell her friends about it, until Princess Twilight hears of it as well. Not to forget the ridiculous show she put on at the playground yesterday..... Everypony there saw it and Lily's parents definitely know about it by now.”
Dinky looked at her sister, a small bit of anxious doubt gracing her face. “And you're sure that's enough, Sparks?”
“Definitely.” She squeezed Dinky. “Once word goes around that she hurt Lily in a fit of hysteria, nopony's going to take her serious anymore.”
“Mhm.” Dinky nodded. Her sister was right, but something else worried her now. “I wonder how Lily feels. I hope she's okay..... She wasn't at school when we were there.”
Sparkler pulled her closer. “Maybe she stayed at home after what happened yesterday. Couldn't blame her. But I doubt she got more than a scratch from that, Dinks. I'm sure she's alright.”
“I guess.....” Dinky said, still thinking a bit. “What are we going to do now?” She looked up from the ground and into her sister's face. Her ice cream was eaten up now and Dinky cleaned her mouth with a napkin from the booth.
Sparkler threw the last bit of her own cone into her mouth and bit on it with a crunch, then swallowed the tiny piece and cleaned herself with her own napkin. “Wanna go to the arcade?” she asked. “They should have opened some minutes ago.”
Dinky beamed. “Yeah!” she exclaimed enthusiastically. “I don't even remember when I was there the last time! Let's go!” Without awaiting a reaction by her big sister, Dinky jumped down from the bench and galloped out of the park, right towards her desired destination.
The Ponyville Arcade was still almost empty at their arrival, as usual at this time of day. Most ponies were at work or in school and could not spend their time there right now.
There was Pinkie Pie, shaking her body to the rhythm of a dancing game. She turned around and waved with both forehooves at the two unicorns as they passed by, while simultaneously keeping up with the beat and getting bombarded with colorful messages saying “Perfect!” from the screen. None of the two sisters questioned it.
In front of another gaming machine stood Beauty Brass. The mare with the pale blue coat and amber mane had her mind buried in a game of “Changeling Invaders”. She was licking her lips, completely concentrated and not noticing her surroundings, as her unicorn on the screen blasted through armadas of changelings that were trying to conquer Canterlot.
Dinky and Sparkler, looking through the games to decide which one they should play first, trotted around the corner. At a machine in front of them, not far away, stood..... Button Mash. Dinky gasped in surprise to see him here. It was a school day for the young colt, yet, there he was, playing a game. He did not notice them as they approached him, his mind too focused on fighting a cave troll with his hero.
From her knowledge of the game, Dinky knew it was the first boss, so Button Mash had really come far in the short time since the arcade had opened. She trotted at his side and tapped on his shoulder. “Button? Why are you here at this time?”
Startled, he let out a yelp and accidentally hit a wrong button on the machine. The cave troll was just about to deliver a blow, but instead of defending himself with his shield, the earth pony knight now launched an attack on his own. It turned out fatal. His energy already low, the blow of the troll knocked the pony out. The screen turned black, then “GAME OVER” appeared on it in big, red letters.
A frustrated scream rang out of Button's mouth, his scratchy and slightly squeaky voice turning into a whimper soon. A few tears were in the corner of his eyes.
“What?” he asked desperated. “Why couldn't you just wait until I was finished?”
Dinky gave him a sheepish grin, rubbing a hoof embarrassedly. “I'm sorry..... I was just surprised to see you here, skipping school like this.”
“And? You're doing the same!” the brown colt countered.
Now Dinky had the high ground. “I'm not,” she said and lifted her head in an exaggerated fashion. “Miss Cheerilee excused me for today.”
“Yeah?” Button Mash replied, his voice sounding doubtful. “Or maybe you just got suspended because you called your aunt a bitch!”
“I'm not!” Dinky frowned angrily.
Button Mash shrugged. “I don't care. But you should help me now, it was because of you that I lost!”
This was something Dinky could agreed on. It had not been her intention to blow the game for Button and she was here to play anyway. 	Having retrieved some bits from her sister, she put them in the machine. Then she put her hooves on the second set of controls and chose the two-player mode. The two foals began to play, Button as his usual knight and Dinky having chosen the unicorn wizard. Soon they were enthralled by the game and forgot about their surroundings. Sparkler laid down in a comfortable position on the floor at the side of the machine and watched the two of them play.
After a few hours, which were spent by Button tanking the enemies and Dinky roasting them with spells from behind and occasionally healing Button's knight, Button Mash suggested to grab lunch. He put away his hooves from the controls, after one of the bosses had just killed their small team.
“School's over now,” he said. “Let's go and grab some food.” He grabbed his wallet from the machine and trotted away from it.
Dinky felt unsure. She was still moderately sated from the sumptuous breakfast and not really hungry yet. But it was Millie-free Day, right? She could afford eating more than she needed today. Those were the thoughts that went through her head, so she followed Button Mash out of the arcade, her sister trotting closely behind them.
As they returned from the restaurant, Button rubbing his full stomach and Dinky feeling filled to bursting once again, a surprise awaited them in the arcade:

At one of the machines on the way to the game Button and Dinky had played earlier, stood Lily, playing a puzzle game. She did not notice their presence.

Still remembering her mistake from earlier, Dinky approached her best friend carefully. She took position at her side and looked at Lily, without saying a word.
Lily gasped as she noticed who was here from the corner of her eyes and hit the pause button on the machine. Turning around swiftly, she did a step forward and wrapped Dinky into a hug.
“I was worried because you weren't at school today!” she said in her soft voice, which was dripping with apprehension. “Miss Cheerilee said you are excused.” She squeezed her unicorn friend.
“You were worried?” Dinky asked. She pulled back and looked at Lily in surprise. “I should be worried and I am! Why weren't you in school today?”
“I was,” Lily answered, to Dinky's surprise. “I just got late. My back still hurts a bit, so it took me longer to get there.”
Dinky looked past Lily's face and only now she noticed a small band-aid on the earth pony filly's back. The short, purple hair of her coat revealed a yellow shimmer of the skin around it.
“How do you feel?” Dinky asked, looking into her face again.
Lily sniffled slightly before answering, delirious with joy that Dinky seemed to be fine.
“Better.” Lily gave her an optimistic nod. “There was a rusty nail in the plank where I hit it. I got a shot, so I'm okay now. But my parents are furious over it.”
The last sentence let a wave of satisfaction flood through Dinky's body, but the stronger concern for her friend quenched it again soon.
“Are you really okay?” Dinky asked her friend.
Lily nodded again, affirmatively. “I am, don't worry, Dinky.” She reached out again and the two friends exchanged another hug, Dinky now also wrapping her hooves around Lily's neck, carefully, to not touch the wound on her back.
Having pulled away from each other again, Dinky turned her attention to the game Lily was playing. Simple blocks could be seen behind the gray of the pause screen, all of them adorned with symbols that looked akin to cutie marks. In the bottom right corner, Dinky could see the level Lily had reached in the meantime.
“Level 10?!” she exclaimed in utter disbelief. “In this game?!”
Lily blushed a little at the notion and remained silent. She only gave a short nod.
“But you know how hard it is!” Dinky continued.
Not only Dinky was completely baffled, the faces of Button Mash and Sparkler showed the same expressions.
Lily scraped a hoof at the floor, smiling. She was a little embarrassed. “It's not too hard,” she said quietly.
“Not too hard?!” Dinky burst into her face, feeling her mind getting blown even more. “That's the only game here ponies lose all their bits at while trying to beat it, because they never manage it! Nopony got even close to Level 10 so far! How did you do this?”
“I-I just figured it out after a few tries. I can show you if you want.”
Button Mash and Dinky both took the offer. They started the game from Level 1 and one after another, the two foals tried it out, while Lily gave them instructions. But none of them had much success. Despite Lily's patient explanations about the game's complicated mechanics, each of them could not get past Level 5. They only understood half of Lily's explanations and gave up as their heads started reeking. Even Sparkler, who got curious and tried it after them, failed. During the whole afternoon in which Lily tried to teach them how to do it, the strong filly's ability to understand the mechanics of the game became an even bigger mystery to them. All three of them had headaches as the sun began to set.
Having just left the game, Sparkler gave Lily a poke. “You're smart, filly. I think you're the only one who is not wasting all her bits on this game.”
Lily looked to the floor, scraping her hoof over it again. “It's nothing.” She started to feel a little uncomfortable with all the praise.
The small group of four ponies left the arcade. It was time for dinner. Outside, Button Mash said goodbye, then dashed away quickly. The fact his mom would probably already know that he wasn't at school on this day didn't seem to bother him. Lily got ready to leave too, but before she could say anything, Sparkler leapfrogged her.
“Hey, do you want to eat dinner with me and Dinky tonight?” She gave Dinky a wink. “It's Millie-free Day today, so we're ordering some food and watch a movie or too. Wanna come?”
Lily took a moment to think it over, but then agreed. She joined them at their way home and, after a short visit at her house to get her parents' agreement, she found herself in front of the house of the Hooves Family. At her side, she noticed Dinky shivering slightly, so she put a hoof around her.
“Sparks?” Dinky squeaked. “What if she is still here?”
Sparkler nodded. “I go in first and take a look. You wait here.” She pulled the door open and went inside. Taking a turn to the right first, she checked the kitchen. Returning to the foyer, Sparkler looked at Dinky, a circle formed by her purple aura appearing at the top of her horn, signaling that the kitchen was clear. She went into the living room on the left side of the house, which brought forth the same result, then up the stairs. The guest room was empty as she entered it. Millie's suitcase was gone and so were the few of her belongings she had brought with her and placed in the room. Sparkler breathed out in relief. All of a sudden, the house felt like it had been freed from a dark entity, which was true, in some way. She returned downstairs.
“Everything's fine,” she said to the two fillies, smiling. “Millie is gone.”
Not finding her worries confirmed now, Dinky went into the house, with Lily at her side. She glanced around the foyer, her face looking like she was here for the first time.
“Feels differently,” she said. Only now she noticed how the presence of her aunt had influenced the atmosphere of her home, as she felt the typical peace of it again. “She's really gone.” A rapt smile was all over her face. She turned at her big sister and hugged her, then pulled Lily closer for a group hug. “Let's order some pizza!” she cheered.
Both the other filly and the mare agreed with a nod, then Sparkler closed the entrance door with her magic.
After a short conversation, the three ponies settled on cheese pizza, so Sparkler called the local pizza parlor.
Around eight, Dinky and Lily were slumped down on the sofa in the living room. The opened pizza box and a few tins of soft drinks, as well as a huge bowl of popcorn on the table, everything was ready for their movie night.
Sparkler used her magic and hovered the disc out of the movie's box – which showed a young earth pony stallion at the side of an airplane looking dreamingly up to the sky – and into the player, then joined the two fillies on the sofa.
Each of the them grabbing a slice of pizza, they soon stared intensely at the screen as the movie started and the title “The Rising Wind” appeared on it.....