It was at that moment that a question that had been plaguing me came back. "Minuette?"
"Hmm?" She nudged the box of cookies beside her. "Want another? They're tasty aren't they?"
"They are," I agreed. Not that most Equestrian food wasn't delicious. "But that's not the question. You see, when I go to sleep in the other world, I come here, right, but I come here at different times each and every time. It's annoying to say the least. No one knows when I'll pop back exactly."
Minuette's cheerful expression fell to serious consideration almost instantly. "Cross dimensional," she muttered under her breath, her jaw working as if other words were coming. "There are a thousand theories." She hopped up to her hooves. "But nopony actually had a multi-dimensional pony to work with before, so it's all hypotheses and less proven theory." Suddenly she giggled. "Thank you for trusting me. I accept the job!"
Job? "Come again?"
"You want me to fix this, right?"
Oh. "If you can, that would be great. Just be careful about it."
Minuette waved a hoof lightly. "Of course, of course. You love both of your worlds and I don't want to take you away from either. There are lots of possibilities. For instance... In theory, we could split your perception."
That sounded alarming. "What would that entail, exactly?"
Minuette sat on her haunches and put her hooves together. "Right now you're all together. You're either there, or here." She brought the hooves apart. "But we could change that, make you here and there at once. Then you would live both lives, go to sleep at the same time, everything. One mind, two bodies."
"That... sounds incredibly confusing. Would you want to deal with two lives at the exact same time?"
Minuette shrugged. "I've done it before once or twice. When time's really crunched, I split up and go off in two directions. I guess it would be confusing for a not-time pony..." She huffed softly. "Alright, next idea in the form of a question. When would you like to be here?"
That was easy. "If it's a choice, I'd rather wake up here in the morning and go to sleep in the evening, then wake up back in my original world in the morning, repeat. Instead my visits here are always shorter than my time home, er, my first home." Was Equestria a home? Part of me wanted it to be one, but not the only. I still liked being a human, and a lawyer, thanks.
Minuette's eyes wandered down over me, then her head tilted. "That's odd."
I glanced down, following her eyes, and saw the grey of stone coming over me. Oops. "I'm waking up."
"May I study you while you're gone?"
"Be sure to let Celestia know," I cautioned, not wanting them to worry where I was.
"I will, and I have a friend that'll help me out with this." She put a hoof on my chest as it grew firmer. "You're in good hooves. You did right by me, it's only fair I return the service."
As the stone swept up over my face, the last thing I saw was Minuette running her hoof over me, exploring. Then, I woke up.
I sat up in bed, refreshed as if I had just been dreaming instead of living a whole other life. Speaking of that, I decided I should get that started. Sliding from bed, I started to greet the day.
Trixie was seated beside Starlight in the dining room, both sipping coffee and chatting. Kevin was making food.
Upon seeing me, Trixie aborted her conversation. "Trixie would like to accompany you to your work."
Starlight put a leg over Trixie. "I'll help her hide. I don't want to leave her here, it's boring."
Kevin shrugged as if he had heard their plan earlier, but failed to dissuade them.
A question came to me. "Trixie, you're a spellcaster, right?"
"Trixie is a great and dazzling one, yes." She gave a prim nod. "She must give you a demonstration, later. Why?"
I rolled a hand. "So are you going to transform yourself into a human?"
Trixie colored a little. "Trixie needs... Trixie will try!"
"No!" barked Starlight. "Not this again. You will try when I say it's time to try. I love you, but I'm not budging on this. Let me handle this, for now."
Trixie frowned severely. "You do not trust Trixie?"
"I trust Trix--you to learn it properly. I'll show you after we get back from work today, and tomorrow perhaps you'll do it yourself. I know you can do it, with some practice." She leaned in then. "In fact, I bet you'll pick it up faster than I did."
Trixie was easily mollified at the complimenting words. "Trixie will master the spell without a problem. For now, she supposes, she will trust you, Starlight."
"I'll make you into a pretty human, at least as far as they see."
Trixie tilted her head a little. "Trixie cares more about being Great and Powerful, but being easy on the eyes assists in this, so please, do proceed."
It was just at that point that I realized that I had agreed to take Trixie on by not specifically disagreeing. I considered the options. Did I want her in the house, possibly trying to be 'great and powerful' out of the sight of anyone that could keep her under control? No... taking her was likely the best course of action. What would the director think? "I'm becoming a veritable spring of ponies."
Breakfast was devoured, showers taken, clothes put on, and I was ready for work. I emerged from my room to find a new woman.
It was Trixie. It didn't take long to figure it out. She was wearing her wizard's hat and cloak proudly. She was also... pudgy. That struck me as curious. "Looking good," I complimented somewhat emptily and Trixie danced off, pleased.
I went for Starlight. "Why is Trixie so... round?"
Starlight hiked a brow. "I thought humans liked round."
I blinked, when had that come around? "Round in a few specific places, though tastes do vary." There was one easy way to explain. I raised my hands to my chest. "Human males tend to focus on here." Down went the hands to my back end. "And others back here. Those are the two most popular places to like 'big'. Some like big everywhere, but they're not as common as the first two."
Starlight's eyes fell to my chest, then glanced down at her own. "Are we not pretty then?"
Ouch... "I'm large enough," I said in a defensive hiss, blood rushing to my cheeks at the scathing burn delivered by a pony that had no idea how much it had hit. "I'm not a model, it's true, but I'm not flat either." I rolled my eyes. "Scratch that, some models are flat. People are strange. Are you two ready for work?"
Starlight pulled out her tablet and waved it at me. "Do you have another one of these?"
I did not, but... "When we get there, I'll let Trixie borrow my phone. It's not as large of a screen, but it'll do until we get another tablet."
Starlight hiked a brow. "So long as you're alright with her putting things on it. Now that she's here, I want to play a few games with her that claim they're multiplayer. That means we can both play, right?"
I imagined several screens of apps cluttering up my poor phone. "Can you try to keep it to, maybe, six apps? And, yes, that is what that means."
Kevin's voice came from the front, "I'll meet you there." And he was gone.
It was me and the two magical ponies hiding as humans. One, my sister. The other, a pudgy power house dressed up like a wizard. Why... "Do you have to wear that?"
Trixie glanced up at her hat and back at her cape. "Why wouldn't Trixie wear this?"
Starlight held up her hands placatingly. "Let her have this. I've seen worse already."
Welcome to California. We had seen some oddly dressed people. "Alright, but where we're going is not really a place for magic shows."
"Trixie has been told." She gave a dramatic bow. "She will be a Great and Courteous guest."
I shepherded them out of the house and into my car, and off we went. Trixie's eyes roamed over human civilization with curious eyes. "You were not joking. They have so much magic... And their inventions work so smoothly. A lesser pony might be terrified."
Starlight gave a little snort. "But not you, of course."
"Of course," she agreed. "Do they do magic performances in this world? Maybe with that lightning magic you were speaking of?"
Actually... "There are people who put on shows with lightning. They can play songs with it while being struck with bolts of electricity." I'd seen a few videos of it. "It's not the most practical thing, but it looks very interesting."
Starlight leaned in from the back seat. "Magic is not always about 'practical'. Trixie would know. If it captivated the audience and stirred the imagination, it did its job well. She would like to see this lightning display."
I made tepid assurances, should I spot such a performance, we would see it. "When we get to work, Trixie, you are here to help on the case I'm currently mixed up in, which is true. I'll be informing them of your arrival, and they may want to see you. Likely not today, but..."
Trixie lifted her shoulders. "Trixie will say hello to them. Do they like displays of power?"
"You should probably avoid that around them."
"If she must."
I pulled in at work and we all piled out of the car. I could see Trixie was stumbling in her walking, but she was hiding it as best she could. She was a proud person, that much was obvious.
I put a hand on her shoulder. "That was a very brave thing you did."
Trixie blinked. "Hmm? What was?"
"Trying to rescue your friend." I squeezed gently. "I'm sure she appreciates the attempt."
Starlight rolled her eyes. "I would have been happier if she just stayed home and waited for me."
Trixie pouted a little. "She couldn't just rest idly while her friend was in mortal peril on an alien world! Trixie had to act, so she did."
"What's done is done." I started for the building. "We move on."
The secretary started when we all came in off the elevator. "Oh, good morning, Linda. Who's your friend? Oh..." She pointed towards my office. "There's someone already here to see you." She leaned closer. "It's the client!"
The client? There was only one person who qualified for that title...