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// 79 - Party Time 
// Story: Perchance to Dream 
// by David Silver 
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With Susan settled at the castle, I could relax, but it had been quite a day, and I felt the stone coming. I returned to the platform they usually put me on, my hoofsteps sounding funny as they became stone on stone. It was fortunate that the magic involved seemed to allow some motion before it all settled in. I sank to my haunches, raised my head, and closed my eyes.

I awoke in what felt like no time at all, rising from my bed to hear the mutterings of others. Trixie and Starlight were sitting on up on their beds.

Trixie spotted me first. "Good morning, Linda. We trust you slept well?"

"Interestingly, at least." I started the morning rituals, with that extra nostalgic tang of being in my childhood home. As I prepared for a new day, I explained my adventures from the evening before, meeting the changeling and rescuing Susan.

As Starlight slipped past me for her turn in the shower, she gave a little poke. "You should call Twilight, fill her in."

Tod's laugh announced his presence. "Is she another furry?" he asked excitedly as he came into clear view from around the corner. "Does she dress up half as good? I wanna see her!"

That seemed a fine excuse. "Yes, she is furry, since the day she was born, I bet she'd claim."

Tod seemed quite pleased at the admission. "Cool! See, it ain't so bad. Don't know why people get all up about that." Starlight closed the door rather than answer. "Do they stay in their outfits all day? The shower will make her dye run, right?"

"She uses waterproof stuff," I lied boldly. "Don't you have things to do?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah, but no. This house is boring and your friends are the best part of it. I'm not bothering them that much, right?"

I considered that before pointing back to my temporary room. "Knock first, but I bet Trixie would be happy to see you."

"What's her real name?" he challenged.

Truth seemed the winning answer there. "If you call her anything but Trixie, except maybe 'The Great and Powerful Trixie', you will annoy her."

"That's a bit deep for roleplaying." Tod's voice seemed to hover between being impressed and worried, but off he went to find Trixie.

I fished out the Twilight Signal from the purse just in time for mother to arrive.

"Dear, there you are. Be ready to head out at ten." She reached and fussed with my clothing in a way that only parents and spouses were allowed to do, picking at the literal nits she could find.

"Ten?"

"Yes, Ten." She took a step back to give me a more general viewing. "It's not often I get everyone together, and I plan to make the most of it."

"What are we doing?" I had just dressed, so I didn't expect too much to be out of place, yet, but leave it to a mother... I was only mildly annoyed when she came in to fuss some more.

"We're going to be 'old school' about this, as the kid's say. We're having a little picnic on the beach. We'll talk and--" She had not stopped working at me. "--eat and be a family."

Beach, alright... "I didn't bring a swimsuit, and I doubt Starlight or Trixie did either."

"Speak for yourself," came Trixie's confident tones. She approached with Tod beside her. "Trixie is prepared for all situations!" She produced a one piece suit from a pocket and I just had to wonder, could a magic pony figure out how to hold things on their person in that same way they did as a pony when they were a human? I supposed Trixie, of anyone, would figure it out.

Tod withdrew behind Trixie, but mother spotted him easily. "Tod, are you bothering our guests?"

Trixie waved it away. "He's just a fan of Trixie, which she understands. She was showing him a few tricks, but he will have to wait to see the rest, for Trixie performs for crowds, not for solo performances. It would be a crime to deny the world her magic!"

Tod made a disappointed sound, but stepped forward. "I wanna see the rest."

"And you will," assured Trixie. "At the party."

Mother led Tod away, giving me some space. Still... "I suppose I don't have to go in the water..."

Trixie met eyes with me. "You do not fool Trixie. Shall we consult The Oracle and find some?"

And so was the morning. I didn't need Google's help. It was my home town and I hadn't been away that long. I went and got a bathing suit for myself and Starlight, then got picked up from the store to meet the rest of the family at the beach. It was a warm day, not a hot one. I liked it. I was dressed in my own one piece suit, feeling... How to describe? Being a lawyer meant that being reserved was at least part of the job duty, especially in fashion. You dressed formally, that's just what you did.

There I was, showing off more skin than I had in years in full view of the world. I kept telling myself I was being silly, but that didn't make the heat in my cheeks go away no matter how much I mentally complained.

A hand came down on my shoulder, it was Starlight. "You alright? I see your family." She pointed ahead where a large blanket was spread out and the family rested on and around it, at least those that had not run off into the water to play.

"I will be," I promised even if I didn't sound sincere to myself. "I just haven't been to the beach in a long time."

"It's just like anywhere else, really." She plucked at her own suit. She had managed to find one that matched her hair, which seemed to be an important thing for ponies. "I'm not used to these clothes either, but they're not... that bad. Did you ever get a chance to talk to Twilight?"

Right, distraction. "I'll go do that, tell them I'm on the way."

Starlight gave a thumbs up and we parted. I looked around and saw that the bathroom was a single person model, which would work perfectly. I quickly slipped inside and locked the door. The Twilight Signal was brought to bear and I pressed the button firmly.

"Hello?" came from the mirror in there. Twilight was sitting in it, visible from the chest up. "This isn't one of the normal places. Is something wrong?"

"No emergency." I waggled a few fingers as I turned to her. "We have two humans located and secured in Equestria, but I have a feeling neither belongs to my country. Luna seems to think ponies aren't being scattered over the world, this world, but I'm not sure I'm sold on that."

Twilight tilted her head to the left. "What are they like, and where are they?"

"Minuette has one," I said as I counted on a finger. "A little boy, er, colt. He seems cute and harmless but very lost and eager to go home." I moved to the second finger. "The other is a woman, a mare, halfway through a pregnancy at that. She's friendly, watch out for petting. She's at the Canterlot Castle right now."

Twilight's wings popped out. "Minuette?! When did she get involved in this? Nevermind." She seemed to force her wings back down. "I'm glad she's helping. I'll pay a visit to them both and see what I can learn. Perhaps there are traces of whatever magic pulled them here. Pregnant you say? How could you tell?"

I have never blinked so hard in my life. "How could you not tell?" I retorted. "She was swollen." I put both hands at my belly  and pantomimed the growth expected during the miracle of child making.

Twilight glanced off and back at me, her head shaking slightly. "Ponies don't get that much larger. That must be uncomfortable."

That brought up so many questions, but then... they went away. If a pony could tuck away a thousand objects into nowhere, keeping them close at... hoof, why would a foal be that different? To learn more, I'd need to be a scientist with a bunch of willing pony subjects to try to figure it out. I was not, so I pushed the query free of my mind for the moment. "Your people are blessed, Twilight. Back to the points at hand, you're welcome to visit them, just be mindful that they're both lost. Be easy on them."

"I will be extra careful," she said as she raised a hoof in a salute. "Being diplomatic is one of many roles I have as a princess."

"Did someone say diplomat?!" Pinkie dropped down from above, literally hovering over Twilight's head. "I'm one of those! I mean, I'm an ambassador, which is like a diplomat, right?"

I pondered what series of events led to the hyper pink pony becoming an ambassador of anything even as Twilight pulled her down to sit on the same level. "Pinkie, this is no joking matter."

Pinkie recoiled. "What? I take my ambassadorship seriously, Twilight." She crossed her hooves. "I have a one hundred percent success rate."

"You've only been on one mission." Twilight's eyelids came down halfway as she gave Pinkie a look.

"That was successful," she countered with a raised hoof. "One hundred percent." She gave a firm nod at that. "Don't worry, I'll help. Just take me with you and we'll have this sorted out in no time at all."

Twilight shook her head with a smile. "Well, we have this under control then. We'll check up on the humans you found and give them a proper welcome to Equestria and maybe figure a few things out. There isn't a lot you can do, unless you can talk to whatever kingdoms they do come from?"

If Susan came from Mexico, which I had not confirmed, that felt actually... easier than most of the other options. "I need more information before I can start planning that out. If you can, ask Susan what country she's from when you're there. Do it politely, of course. I doubt she'll consider it much of a secret. Don't bother with the boy, he's too young to even have a good grasp on the concept. In fact, keep the questions to him to a minimum."

Twilight frowned at my advice. "But we need more information..."

Pinkie huffed. "If he's just a colt, asking him a bunch of questions will just get him upset and us nowhere. You can't go chasing colts around, Twi."

Twi's eyes widened slightly. "Pinkie, phrasing. Alright, alright. We'll focus on the adult, the mare. Hopefully she will be a willing source of details. We have to start solving this problem instead of just learning how deep it goes."

Pinkie tilted her head. "Twilight, have you ever seen a pregnant human before?"

"Can't say I have," easily confessed Twilight.

"I wanna see one." She clopped her forehooves together. "I got to see Misses Cake go through it, the fun parts and the less than fun parts and everything, except the very last part. The doctors wouldn't let me watch. How lame is that?"

"Very... lame," said Twilight, clearly holding back her true feelings on the matter. "Thank you for checking in with us, Linda. We're on the case." Both she and Pinkie snapped to attention as the image faded, leaving me standing in a bathroom.

As if conjured by the vanishing, a knock came from the door and a female voice called, "Everything alright in there?" That's when I remembered I was hogging up the only woman's bathroom for some distance. I was really testing out those blushing muscles as I pocketed the cube and got out of there so the other ladies could have their turn, likely not talking to extradimensional princesses.