“Is it done yet?” asked Apple Bloom. “Is it? Is it?” She was practically hopping in excitement.
“Almost!” said Twist. “Just one more minute!”
“Aw, but Ah want it now!” Apple Bloom looked into the mixer again. “It’s taking forever!”
Dinky giggled. “Can mine have cinnamon, please?”
“Of course!”
Dinky smiled as she looked at Twist’s new candy-making kit that was sitting on the counter. Twist had just gotten it for her birthday and had been eager to try it out, but even the smallest recipe made far too much candy for one foal (well, according to Twist’s sister Bonbon, anyway). As a result, Twist had invited a few of her friends over to taste the first batch.
The mixer beeped and stopped, and Twist grinned. “It’s done!” She took the bowl down and carefully divided the mixture into three portions, making sure to add a heavy dusting of cinnamon to Dinky’s and a drizzle of freshly melted chocolate to Apple Bloom’s. She then began to carefully pour the sweet candy mixture into plastic sleeves. “Thanks for the apple butter, Apple Bloom. I think it’ll go really well in the candy.”
“Yeah, thanks!” said Dinky.
Apple Bloom smiled. “No problem.” She paused. “Now is it done?”
“Hang on a second!” Twist finished pouring and capped one end on each of the sleeves. “There we go!” She passed a sleeve to each of the other two foals. “What do you think?”
Dinky eagerly hoisted the sleeve into the air with her telekinesis and then applied just a hint of pressure to squeeze some of it into her mouth.
Or at least she tried.
What she actually did was squeeze hard enough to shoot about half the mixture out the open end and directly into her face, covering her eyes and almost knocking her over onto her flank. “Aaagh!”
Apple Bloom and Twist burst into laughter, and Dinky joined them a moment later. Licking the candy mixture off from around her mouth, she found that it was delicious. “This is yummy!” She paused. “Can I have another?”
The next voice wasn’t Twist’s, or Apple Bloom’s, for that matter. “Sorry, kiddo. I promised your mom I’d only let you have one,” said Bonbon, who had evidently just entered the room. “Otherwise it’ll ruin your appetite.”
Apple Bloom giggled. “But ah can have another, right?” (Dinky had managed to clear the mix off of one of her eyes and saw, to her surprise, that Apple Bloom had already finished hers – and, judging by the way she was licking her lips, she seemed to be enjoying it a lot.)
“Applejack made me promise to only let you have one too,” said Bonbon. “Sorry.”
“Please?” asked Twist. “Can’t I make another set? We’re having a lot of fun, and—“
“I know.” Bonbon smiled and nuzzled at her sister. “But I wouldn’t want any of you to get upset tummies. Come on, Twist. Don’t you have homework, anyway? You need to get it done before the Fair, or Mom won’t let you go.” The Ponyville town Fair was later that day, and most of the foals had been looking forward to it for weeks. Threatening not to let them attend was a very serious issue.
“Aww…” Twist was good at baking, but school wasn’t her strong suit, and Dinky knew that she was behind in math class. “Alright…”
Dinky finished getting the rest of the mix off of her face. “Hi Bonbon,” she said. “How’s your new candy recipe?”
“Hey Dinky. Good to see you.” Bonbon chuckled. “It’s coming alright. Mom still wants me to make it veggie flavored,” she paused as all three foals grimaced, “But I’m thinking something more marshmallow-esque.” She smiled at Dinky again before turning back to Twist. “Alright,” she told her sister. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you get your work done before the Fair starts. Say goodbye to your friends, and we’ll start homework in… ten minutes?”
Twist nodded. “Okay, Bonbon.”
“Great.” Bonbon nodded and left the room.
“Hmph.” Apple Bloom frowned. “Ah think we could’ve had one more without getting’ sick.” She paused. “Or three.”
“Well, she’s my big sister.” Twist began to clean up the bowls (with the other two moving to help once they saw what she was doing). “I gotta do what she says.”
“Ah know. But ah still think it’s silly.” Apple Bloom shrugged. “Guess ah’ll head home, then, an’ see if Applejack’s got anythin’ ah need ta do before the Fair… what’re ya doin’, Dinky?”
“Snails asked me to meet him in the park,” said Dinky. “And then I was going to say hi to Miss Trixie.”
“Snails?” The two earth ponies looked at each other and giggled. “Why him?” asked Twist. “He’s kind of gross.”
“He’s funny,” said Dinky. “And he said it was really important. And Momma says that, if a friend says something is really important, you should believe them.” She nodded sagely.
“He probably just found some bug,” said Apple Bloom, sticking out her tongue. “But have fun… an’ can ya come over tomorrow, right after school? Ah’m almost done with the clubhouse, an’ ah wanna show somepony.”
“Sure! I’d love to see it!” said Dinky. Applejack had gotten Apple Bloom a new clubhouse after placing well in a big farming competition, but Apple Bloom had taken it upon herself to add on to it and make it ‘cooler.’ Dinky didn’t think all of Apple Bloom’s ideas would have made it into the final design – the ‘trap door into a secret room full of apple cobbler’ in particular sounded like it might be hard to build – but she still wanted to see what her friend had come up with. “I bet Scootaloo would want to come too—“
“Ah already asked, but she’s doin’ somethin’ with Sweetie Belle,” said Apple Bloom. “Goin’ on some adventure in Whitetail Woods. An’ ah asked Bee Bop too, but she’s doin’ some photo thing with Featherweights.” She shrugged. “Guess ah could try again, though. Ah’d like everypony ta see it. We could make it a secret foal clubhouse an’ not let in any adults!”
“And we could have all the candy we wanted!” Twist added. “Awesome idea!”
Dinky giggled at that. “Great!” She turned to leave. “See you two tomorrow!”
The purple unicorn smiled as she left. Apple Bloom and Twist were really fun friends!
*
“…that’s a big bug,” observed Dinky.
It was easily half a foot long, with a hundred legs and a bright green shell. When Snails poked it, it waved its antenna around in an unhappy manner. Dinky had the strong feeling that it would much rather the three unicorns stop observing it and let it get back to doing whatever it was that bugs did.
“Isn’t it neat?” Snails grinned. “It’s my new favorite!”
Snips frowned. “You said yesterday that the tarantula was your favorite forever!”
“Yeah, but I didn’t know about this one when I said that!” Snails grinned as he poked it with his stick again. “I’m gonna take it home! I’ll name him… Crawly!”
“Didn’t you name your last bug Crawly?” asked Dinky, kneeling to look at the bug more closely. Hi there!
The bug poked an antenna at Dinky’s nose, causing the purple unicorn to scuttle back a few steps. “Hey!”
“Good point. Crawly 2 it is!” said Snails, oblivious to Dinky’s antics. “Thanks for coming out to see him, Dinky. We asked some of the other foals, but they didn’t want to.”
“Diamond Tiara even said we were gross.” Snips frowned. “Can you imagine? Us?” He laughed, burped, and laughed again. “How could anypony think we were gross?”
“How many bugs do you have?” said Dinky, trying to change the subject so she wouldn’t have to answer the question. “You must have collected hundreds by now!”
“I wish,” sighed Snails. “Raindrops only lets me have a few at a time. She’s still upset about that one time I left the box open and they all got out.”
“She’s silly,” said Snips. “That was so cool! It was like a big bug scavenger hunt in your house!”
“She was just upset cause they got into her bed.” Snails frowned. “I wonder why? I wouldn’t mind having a bug in my bed.” He looked at the bug. “It’d be like a stuffed animal, but a million times better!”
The bug had no reaction.
“It’s neat that you like stuff like this,” said Snips to Dinky. “You’re pretty cool!”
“Thanks! You too!” Dinky smiled. “Hey, Apple Bloom’s showing off her new clubhouse tomorrow. Want me to ask her if you two can come?”
They looked at each other. “Nah,” said Snails. “We were going to hang out in the caves under Whitetail Woods.”
“Besides,” said Snips, “I think she thinks we’re weird.”
Snails looked up at the sky. “Sorry, Snips, but I gotta head home or Raindrops’ll get mad. She said she wanted me to get the house cleaned up before the Fair, since she’s doing weather patrol stuff and can’t do it herself.” He carefully poked the bug into a little box with airholes.
“See you later?” asked Dinky. “At the festival?”
“Sure!”
He walked off, Snips hurrying to keep up on his shorter legs. Dinky chuckled as she watched them go. I bet he becomes a bug scientist one day. And then she was hurrying on her way to see Trixie.
*
Trixie was not home.
“She left about ten minutes ago,” said Featherweight, standing in Trixie’s yard. He had out a fancy camera with a tripod, and was busily snapping photos of Bee Bop unpacking her toy drums. “She said that it was a really big deal, that somepony took something really important to her and she had to get it back.”
Dinky frowned. “That’s awful! Did she say what?”
“No, but Pokey said that it was an ‘adult drink,’ whatever that is,” said Featherweight.
Bee Bop looked up. “Hey, come on. I’m almost ready!”
“Right, sorry!” Featherweight grinned. “This is gonna look awesome in the Foal Free Press. Bee Bop’s going to set a record for playing for longer than any other pony in Ponyville history!”
“I didn’t know there was a record for that,” said Dinky.
“There’s records for everything. Truffle Muncher just broke the ‘most muffins eaten in one sitting’ record last week!” said Featherweight. “And I got the photos of that too. But Miss Cherilee says we can’t print them in the school paper because later that night she got sick.”
“That’s too bad.”
“Actually, Pinkie Pie gave me and Truffle five jangles each for them.” Featherweight grinned. “She said they’re great advertisements!”
“Anyway,” called Bee Bop, thumping a couple times on her (out of tune) drums. “We’re going to be doing more photography tomorrow too.”
“Apple Bloom’s going to be showing off her clubhouse then,” said Dinky. “And Snips and Snails will be in Whitetail Woods. We could all go say hi to one of them!”
“Can’t,” said Featherweight. “Bee Bop’s going to play the ‘Jellybean Jambourine’ while balancing on one hoof. That’ll be another record!”
Dinky hesitated, wondering if she should ask what the record was in, exactly, but decided not to. Instead, she just smiled. “Okay then. Good luck!”
“I don’t need luck!” boasted Bee Bop, thumping her drums more forcefully. “I—“
One of the skins snapped, and Bee Bop yelped and dropped the drums. “Agh!”
Featherweight flew over. “You okay?”
“Yeah, but now I gotta reskin it.” Bee Bop sighed. “Horsefeathers.”
Featheweight pointed down a road. “Pokey said that Trixie was going to Whitetail Woods, Dinky.”
“Okay, thanks!”
*
Dinky was just approaching Whitetail Woods when she heard the booming, expansive voice of Ponyville’s richest citizen, Mr. Filthy Rich himself.
“This would be an absolutely perfect location!” he was saying. “Of course I’d like to buy it! Diamond, dear, don’t you think it’d be a perfect investment?”
“Yeah, dad,” said his obviously unenthused daughter. “Whatever.”
Dinky crested the hill to see Rich talking with Lotso Lots, a pony who sold houses and property in the Ponyville area. A few feet away were Diamond Tiara, sighing loudly and giving every indication that she was bored out of her mind, and Silver Spoon, who looked at least a little more interested.
Dinky approached them. “Hi Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon! Hi Mr. Rich and Mr. Lots!”
“Dinky!” Filthy Rich grinned. “What brings you here? Not trying to poach this deal from me, are you?” He laughed.
“Oh, no. I’m just looking for Miss Trixie.” Dinky smiled hopefully. “Have you seen her?”
“You know, I do think I saw her run down that path about fifteen minutes ago.” Filthy Rich gestured with a hoof. “She looked pretty anxious, though.”
“Daddy,” whined Diamond Tiara, “Can’t we go yet? I need to get dressed for the Fair!”
“In a few moments, sweetheart.” Filthy Rich glanced at Lotso, who nodded. “Alright, dear. Daddy needs to go sign some forms. You wait right there and don’t go into the woods, okay?” He moved off with Lotso.
“What’re you wearing to the Fair?” asked Dinky, puzzled. Was a Fair really a special enough location that it warranted dressing up?
Diamond Tiara made a ‘hmph’-like sound. “Something beautiful and elegant, of course.”
“It’s an awesome outfit,” added Silver Spoon. “Nopony’s going to look as nice as us.”
“As me,” corrected Diamond Tiara.
“Right, that’s what I meant.”
Dinky approached the two. “What’re you doing out here? Didn’t you say in school that you’d be getting dressed for a few hours before the Fair?”
“My dad wants to put some kind of snack shop up over there,” said Diamond Tiara. “I’ve told him three times that I’m bored and I need to get dressed, but does he listen? No…”
Silver Spoon shook her head in sympathy. “What’re you doing here, Dinky?”
“Looking for Miss Trixie,” said Dinky, wondering if Silver Spoon had ignored her the first time. “Well, I should—“
“WATCH OUT!”
Dinky had just enough time to leap to one side before a scooter sailed past her and directly into a tree.
“Hey!” yelled Diamond Tiara, whose mane had been ruffled by the scooter. “Scootaloo! You messed up my hair!”
“Maybe she’s trying to get a cutie mark in being clumsy,” snarked Silver Spoon.
Dinky looked at the scooter, now upside-down and with a collapsed front end. “Uh, are you okay?” she asked.
The scooter shifted, and Scootaloo poked her head out from under the overturned scooter. A moment later, Sweetie Belle did the same. Scootaloo was the first to speak. “That was AWESOME! We went faster than ever!” Scootaloo grinned. “I bet we set a new record!”
“Yeah, at crashing!” yelled Diamond Tiara. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Hey, it’s not my fault! The front wheels came loose!” said Scootaloo, crawling out and helping lift the scooter off of Sweetie Belle. “Sweetie Belle saw!”
Sweetie nodded. Her pure-white coat was muddy and tangled now, but she was smiling brightly. “Yeah! It’s not her fault!” She chuckled. “I bet you two couldn’t drive like that!”
“I certainly hope not!” said Diamond Tiara.
Scootaloo noticed Dinky. “Hey, Dinky! Wanna go for a ride tomorrow after school? Archer bet me three jangles that I can’t circle the town in ten minutes with two passengers. Sweetie’s coming, but I need one more. It’ll be really cool!”
“Oh.” Dinky thought. “I already told Apple Bloom that I’d go see her new clubhouse, but I can ride with you after.”
“Alright, cool!”
“Apple Bloom? Hmph.” Diamond Tiara turned up her nose. “I don’t go anywhere near Sweet Apple Acres. Her sister’s crazy.”
“I think she’s better now,” said Dinky, remembering the chaos that had surrounded a big farming competition earlier that year. Dinky had enjoyed the competition, mostly because she’d gotten to be the Head Taste Tester for Carrot Top’s dishes. She’d even got to wear a special chef’s hat (that was too big for her and almost fell over her eyes, but still). “Besides, Apple Bloom’s nice. When those bad ponies tried to abduct me, she asked Big Mac to save me.”
“You should tell us more about that,” said Scootaloo, who was now examining her scooter for other damages. “It sounds like an awesome story!”
“It really wasn’t,” said Dinky, blushing a little. “It was mostly just scary. Besides, Momma asked me not to talk to other ponies about it without her permission.”
“That’s not fair,” said Sweetie. “We wanna hear about it.”
“I don’t get why they foalnapped you,” said Silver Spoon. “If ponies are going to foalnap anypony for ransom in this town, it should be Diamond Tiara.”
“What?!” asked Diamond Tiara.
“Because you’re worth the most,” said Silver Spoon, brightly. “I bet your dad would pay a lot to get you back!”
Diamond Tiara, for once, didn’t look happy to have somepony note this. “Oh… right.”
Dinky coughed. “I have to go find Miss Trixie. Talk to you girls later, at the Fair!”
“Sure!” said Scootaloo. “I can’t wait! I hear they have some awesome carnival games!”
“Really? I heard it will be more… refined,” said Diamond Tiara.
Dinky quickly extricated herself from the brewing argument. “See you later!” she repeated, and then hurried off.
*
Whitetail Woods was beautiful in the summer. Dinky slowed down a little, allowing herself the time to examine the flowers and the birds as she moved through the trees.
“I bet Momma would take me for a picnic here if I asked,” she mused. “I bet she’d like that too.” Ditzy hadn’t complained to Dinky, of course, but Dinky knew that she worked very hard. She could probably use a nice, relaxing picnic. Besides, Dinky liked picnics too. Like Scootaloo had once told her, eating outside was just cooler than eating inside.
From down the path came the sounds of an explosion.
Dinky’s eyes widened, and then she did the only thing any reasonable foal would do in that situation – she raced forwards to check it out.
The path terminated in a small grassy clearing. Somepony had drawn a large circle with paint around the clearing, maybe four feet across, and had set up certain items at various positions on the circle. Dinky could see several pieces of silver, a few roses, a big and bright purple flower, and what looked like a plucked chicken.
“Hey, that’s Fluttershy’s!” said Dinky, recognizing Mr. Cluck. “What’s she doing all the way out here?”
The circle was broken at one point along its edge, where somepony had kicked dirt over it. Dinky trotted over to that part and looked around. In the forest, directly behind her, there was a large lump.
A large blue lump.
“Miss Trixie! Miss Trixie! Are you okay?” Dinky ran over.
Trixie groaned and weakly began getting to her hooves. “I really bucking hate zebra magic,” she muttered.
“Do you want me to get help?”
“No, no, I’m fine…” Trixie got to her hooves and shook her head. Her mane was askew and tangled. “Ouch. Dinky, what’re you doing here? Where’s Zecora?”
“Who?”
Trixie looked out at the magic circle. “Dang it, she didn’t get away, did she?” She sighed. “Well, at least I stopped whatever she was doing.”
“Did you use some awesome magic spell?” asked Dinky, eyes shining. If she did, maybe Trixie would tell her a story about it. Trixie’s stories were awesome!
“Uh – yes, of course!” Trixie grinned. “I cast this epic spell that sent Zecora flying, and broke all her curses and enchantments…”
Dinky looked at Trixie. “No you didn’t,” she said, adapt by now at reading Trixie’s face.
“… okay, no, I didn’t. I kicked dirt onto her circle until her spell broke, and then something went boom.” Trixie trotted out into the circle. “Hey, it’s still a victory – aha!”
She sprang into the center of the circle, where a bottle of bourbon was resting.
“Got it! No stupid zebra is going to take my liquor!” Trixie laughed. “I don’t know why she wanted it, or what she was trying to cast on it, but it didn’t work. I’d move the stars themselves to get this back!”
“How’d you find her?” asked Dinky.
“Tracking spell. I have it on all my bourbon bottles for exactly this scenario!”
Dinky blinked. “Just your bourbon?”
“No, all my important things, like… uh…” She trailed off. “Anyway, what’re you doing all the way out here?”
“My Momma asked me to find you before the Fair. You’ve got a package at the post office, but the slip says it contains magic stuff, so they’re not sure if they can safely move it.”
“Why didn’t she find me herself?” Trixie tucked the bourbon into her saddlebag, then began looking around for anything else salvageable.
“She was going to, but I said I’d do it. She looked tired,” said Dinky.
Trixie grinned. “I think I’m getting a toothache. C’mere, kiddo.” She helped Dinky climb onto her back. “Let’s head back to town. I’ll drop you off and then have a little party before the Fair.”
“What about Mr. Cluck?”
Trixie sighed and turned to look the chicken in the eye, after which the bird immediately fell asleep. “Alright, I’ll help carry him home.”
“Wow!” Dinky helped Trixie balance the sleeping, plucked chicken on her back. “Can you teach me that spell? It’d be really useful for when I’m helping out at Fluttershy’s!”
“Maybe when you’re older. Sleep spells are tricky.” Trixie began to trot home. “Although I might use one on myself later, after I have a little party of my own, first.” She chuckled.
“You’re not going to drink that bourbon at the party, right?” asked Dinky. “It could have a spell on it!”
“I broke the spell.”
“What if it’s got part of a spell before you broke it?” Dinky gulped. “What if it turns you into something really mean and ugly?”
Trixie looked at her bag, then sighed. “I guess that makes sense. I’ll have it sent to Canterlot to be analyzed.” She frowned. “Stupid zebras. I’ll make her pay for messing with my bourbon.”
“Why’d she want it?”
“No idea. I’ll check if the Canterlot eggheads have any theories.” Trixie shrugged. “So! How’s your day been going? Having fun with your friends?”
“Yeah! I played with Apple Bloom and Twist, and then I talked to Snips and Snails, and in the woods I ran into Diamond Tiara and Scootaloo and…” Dinky grinned. “I had a lot of fun!”
“Well, don’t tire yourself out before the Fair,” said Trixie. “Because – and this is just a hunch – the Great and Powerful Trixie might do a few illusions to kick things off.”
“YAY!” Dinky grinned. “You’re the best magician ever!”
“You should have a party with all your friends,” said Trixie. “I bet you’d enjoy that.”
“Yeah, but they never do stuff together. Like, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon never wanna hang out with any of the other foals, and most of them stay away from Snips and Snails.”
“Well, Snails did try to get that mail-order baby Ursa.”
“He thought it’d be a cute pet,” said Dinky. “I dunno. I wish we could all do something together.”
“I’m sure you will. You’re really good at making friends, Dinky. I bet you’ll help make all the foals in your class really close.”
“Really?” Dinky grinned.
“Yeah! Maybe it’s even your special talent.” Trixie chuckled.
“You’re really nice, Miss Trixie,” said Dinky, settling down for the ride. “I’m sure all that stuff Diamond Tiara said about you wasn’t true.”
“Wait, what stuff?”
“You know, about how you sacrifice ponies in your basement so you can cast magic spells and turn into monsters.”
“…I think I need to have a talk with Filthy Rich,” muttered Trixie.
Dinky giggled. Miss Trixie was right. She had a lot of friends, and she liked all of them. If only they could all do something together.
*
My little pony, My little pony
Ahh ahh ahh ahhh...
My little pony
Friendship never meant that much to me
My little pony
But you're all here and now I can see
Stormy weather; Lots to share
A musical bond; With love and care
Teaching laughter; It's an easy feat,
And magic makes it all complete!
You have my little ponies
How'd I ever make so many true friends?
*
The Fair was an absolute blast.
There was candy from Bonbon’s Bonbons, and muffins from the Sugar Cube (and Ditzy let Dinky have two whole muffins all to herself, since it was a special occasion). There were lots and lots of carnival games, including Dinky’s favorite, bobbing for apples. And, true to her word, Trixie put on an awesome magic show.
“For my next trick, the Great and Powerful Trixie is going to make a certain foal disappear!” cried out Trixie. “She will need a brave volunteer!”
Dinky quickly climbed up onto her mother’s back so she could be seen above the crowd. “Me! Me! I volunteer!”
And so she was put on stage, and after Trixie whispered a few instructions to her, she was quickly turned invisible. Struggling not to giggle – that would ruin the illusion – Dinky snuck off to the side.
“Uh, hang on a moment. The Great and Powerful Trixie seems to have misplaced the invisible foal.” Trixie smiled. “Oh well. I’m sure she’ll turn up eventually!”
“Oh no!” called out Ditzy. “How could you lose my baby? Dinky, do something so I can tell where you are!” There was general laughter.
That was her cue. Dinky ran out and snatched off Trixie’s hat. To the audience, it would look like the hat was suddenly running away on its own accord.
“Hey!” said Trixie, in mock-anger, as the crowd laughed. “Get back here!”
Dinky giggled and sped away, tightly holding onto the hat in her mouth. Magic was neat!
*
“Momma?” asked Dinky. She pointed at the cup that Ditzy had just bought from the Green Grape Farm stand. “What’s that? Can I have some?”
“Sorry, muffin,” said Ditzy, nuzzling her daughter. “But this drink is only for grown-up mares and stallions.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a toast!” said Carrot Top, who was trotting up next to them. “To the summer, and the prosperity of the Ponyville Farms!”
Mayor Scrolls and Trixie had taken the stage, both with large cups of the ‘grown-up’ beverage. Trixie, already looking slightly tipsy, cheered. “Let’s give it up for Ponyville, everypony!”
“YAY!” The crowd cheered, and the adults quaffed their beverages.
Trixie drained her cup in a single swig. “Now, everypony, the Fair continues for another hour. Let’s keep partying hard!”
“YAY!” This time, the cheer was just from one pony. Pinkie Pie bounded onto the stage. “Yes, let’s! We’ve only got sixty minutes to squeeze in as much partying as we possibly can! So don’t just stand there, hurry up! Go play games! Eat cake! Dance!” She gesticulated wildly.
Mayor Scrolls gently pushed her to the side. “Alright, everypony. Have a wonderful time!”
Dinky smiled, seeing how happy everypony was. She said, “They should have Fairs more often, Momma.” She giggled. “If I was Princess, we’d have Fairs everyday!”
“Ah, but then they’d get old,” said Ditzy, smiling down at her daughter.
“Not to me!” Dinky shook her head. “They’d never ever get old! I’d have fun every day!”
“I’m sure you would.” Ditzy hiccupped. “Excuse me. Alright, dear. There’s only an hour left. What do you want to do?”
“I wanna bob for apples again!” Dinky hopped up and down. “Can I? Please?”
“Of course, muffin.” Ditzy nuzzled Dinky, then looked at her cup. “I’m going to get another drink – grape juice, I think. Do you want anything?”
Dinky shook her head.
“In that case, have fun! Make sure to get a good apple!” Ditzy leaned in close to Dinky. “And don’t unplug the bottom of the apple tub. They don’t like that.”
Dinky giggled, remembering her Momma’s accidental draining of the apple tub the previous year. “I won’t!”
She raced off, smiling at the thought of getting another delicious apple.
*
If anything, the Fair was even more fun after the toast, because the adults were starting act as happy as the kids.
It’s like when Miss Trixie has a lot of her bourbon, thought Dinky. She gets really happy and has a lot of fun.
“Y’know,” said Carrot Top, sighing happily, “I’ve been thinking of a new business idea. Hey, Dinky, Scoots, tell me what you think.”
Dinky, and the nearby Scootaloo, trotted over.
“See, what if I sold pre-packed lunches? Carrot salad, carrot sandwich, and a slice of carrot cake for dessert. It’d be real convenient for parents, right?”
Dinky nodded. “I bet my Momma would—“
Before she could finish, Carrot Top looked over to see that Big Macintosh was sticking his head out from one of the nearby tents, smiling.
“Apple lunches,” he said, in a tone of settling a debate.
“Nah. Carrot lunches.”
“Apple.”
“Carrot!”
The two looked at each other before dissolving in to chuckles. Dinky and Scootaloo laughed too.
“What if you sold apple-and-carrot lunches?” offered Dinky. “I bet those would work even better?”
“Or cookie lunches!” added Scootaloo. “We’d all eat those!”
“We can’t sell cookie lunches, your parents wouldn’t buy them,” said Carrot Top, though she was smiling merrily.
“Nope,” added Big Macintosh. “Not healthy.”
“There you are.” Dinky turned to see Ditzy approaching her, Trixie not far behind. “Come on, dear. You have school tomorrow and the Fair’s almost closed.”
“Can’t she stay a little longer?” asked Dinky. “Please?”
“Sorry, muffin.” Ditzy helped Dinky climb onto her back. “But it’s a school night.”
Dinky frowned, but she wasn’t going to argue with her mom. “Okay. Bye, Scootaloo!”
“Bye, Dinky!”
Ditzy began to walk out of the Fair. As she did, Dinky saw Diamond Tiara by a carnival booth. It looked like Filthy Rich had hired another pony to win the carnival games for her, because whenever the other pony scored, the barker gave the prize to Diamond Tiara. But Rich didn’t look annoyed over this, instead, he was smiling merrily.
“Everypony looks really happy, Momma,” said Dinky. “Is it because of the ‘toast?’”
“In part,” said Ditzy. “And also because it’s a party and we’re all being friendly to each other.”
“How come our toast doesn’t make us happy like that?” asked Dinky, thinking of the bread she ate each morning. It tasted good, but it didn’t make her giggly or anything.
Ditzy chuckled. “It’s a different kind of toast, muffin.”
“Well, maybe we should have the other kind all the time. Then we could always be happy!” said Dinky.
“Ah… but like parties, it gets old after a while.” Ditzy paused to adjust her balance so that Dinky wasn’t in danger of sliding off. “It’s fun in moderation, but it would get old if it was all we did.”
Dinky frowned, not sure if she believed that.
“Besides, there’s other ways to have fun. Why don’t I read you a story tonight?”
“That sounds great!”
The two headed home, full of good food and perfectly content.