//------------------------------// // Because we did it before // Story: Watching the World Burn Again // by Silver Butcher //------------------------------// "So everyone's just cool with that colt selling Suicide Barrels?" Sunset asked with concern as they sat at the edge of Canterlot waterfall and watched as a Pony climbed inside a Barrel and shoved it into the water, letting out loud hooting noises as many ponies watched him float to his untimely demise. "That's the stupid part," Starlight laughed "If you try to save them then the idiot in the Barrel will try to shove you over the falls for destroying their stunt career'" "We pulled a guy in once and he shoved Trixie over the edge," Trixie said indignantly "Starlight caught me and Spike lit him on fire, a few moments later he ended up going over the edge either way," "They made it illegal to sell barrels to tourists once and there was a riot," Spike added. Sunset looked at her companions, who all stared at the colt drifting towards the edge screaming in excitement. "I can't just sit back and watch..." Sunset began only to be cut off by Spike. "By all means wait until he starts crying for help, pull him in, and watch as he shoved one of us over the side," Sunset looked at Spike for a moment when the screams of excitement turned to fear, on impulse Sunset lit her horn and recalled the barrel in. "Are you ok?" She asked, offering the colt in the barrel a hoof, only to have it smacked. "What's your problem?" He demanded "You just ruined my stunt bruh, This was my ticket to stardom and you just botched it," "Wha...you were screaming for help?" "Uh, no it was excitement, I had a lot of bits going into this and you've ruined outshot, you better pay up or things will get ugly lady," "How about, and hear me out on this," Spike cut in "You fuck off," Spike almost didn't react as the Colt shoved Spike aside with far too much force and sent Spike near the edge before Spike could slide off the edge Starlight grabbed him in her magic and Trixie very simple punched the Colt in the face and sent him screaming back into the falls. "It's a scam," Spike said with a groan as he dusted himself off and then pointed towards the Barrel Pony, who they saw teleport the colt back to him. "And an old one too, so many ponies think they can make it in Canterlot, things don't work out, they end up in debt, and by the end of it there involved in Barrel scams," "Am...am I on something right now?" Sunset asked in sincere confusion "Does that even work?" "In our experience, sometimes," Trixie shrugged "On tourists usually, Trixie almost fell for it herself once," "Well this has ruined the peace of the falls," Starlight sighed "One more time?" "One more time," Her three companions agreed before they disappeared in a flash "Ok explain," Sunset demanded as she and the others sat on top of the roof of a house while inside a dome that made them invisible and unhearable, before them a young filly was playing along in her backyard with her pet dog. Her Grand Father napping on the porch. "When we first started this one of the things we watched was open heart surgery," Starlight said calmly "After the surgery concluded we decided we'd stop back in to see how the patient was doing, then it escalated to use paying off her hospital bill, then it escalated further when they tracked us down, then it escalated beyond that when we were named the child's godparents," Sunset looked at them for a long moment before smiling. "I thought you didn't interfere," She said with a chuckle "But it sounds like you tried to save a guy from the waterfall, you helped this young girl's family, and if I remember correctly you congratulated yourselves on Fluttershy riding a giant crab," "In our defense," Spike retired without hesitation "we simply noticed it was always the same four colts being sent over the falls and were curious as to what was happening," "Also technically we used Twilight's Money to pay off the surgery," Starlight added quickly "It just so happens I accidentally used the card she gave to Spike that had his name on it," "And we just kind of felt bad about watching the Mother Crab get murked," Trixie finished, the trio all looked away from Sunset and turned to the foal, who was now rolling around with her dog laughing. "She's just so precious," Trixie cheered with a smile. "I'm gonna buy her so many unnecessary things," Spike agreed. "And we'll do it all with Twilights Money," Starlight finished happily. "Look I'm just saying this feels creepy," Sunset "Can we watch something else?" "I suppose it is getting late," Starlight noted. "Trixie declares it's time for the final act, the movie," "Sounds great to me," Spike agreed, "My Marefriend said some of her friends are dying to get to know me better, apparently she booked us a hotel room and everything so we can spend the night all getting to know each other," "I'm sorry what?" Sunset asked looking at Spike with confusion. "One More Time," The other three cried out in response before disappearing in a flash. Sunset happily munched on Popcorn while she watched what was clearly a poorly edited B-Movie at an Equestrian Drive-in movie theater. Starlight and Trixie were destroying a shared plate of Nachos, Spike had been dragged away by a large number of giggling waitresses and had just returned near the movie's climax. "You get yourself some more of that good-ass nothing?" Trixie asked casually. "So much more," Spike confirmed merrily. "So very much more," "Does Twilight know about Spike and that Waitress?" Sunset asked Starlight in mild confusion. "I dunno," Starlight replied confidently, without missing a beat she began eating a large amount of Popcorn to avoid the conversation. "Seems like you do, and the answer is no," Sunset muttered in response before being drawn back into the action of the movie, Sunset did her best to ignore as several waitresses walked up to their table, gave Spike a kiss, and informed him he'd already given them enough of a tip before moving along. "How much did you give them?" Sunset asked with mild concern. "I didn't," Spike whispered back with a chuckle. "out of casual curiosity, how much do you pay?" Trixie asked, Sunset immediately left the conversation and turned to Starlight, who simply shook her head. "I'm just here to enjoy my night, so long as they come home with me at the end I don't care what they do apart or together," Sunset did her best to ignore how out of control the night was becoming as more waitresses wished Spike a good night and told him they'd be happy to visit him in Ponyville anytime. Once the Movie credits began rolling Sunset took a deep breath as the trio all turned to her. "This was weird," She decided confidently "It was definitely fun and I can see myself wanting to do it again, but not too soon," "We do this every Thursday," Starlight said casually "From 9 am to 9 pm if you ever wants to join us we always spend 1 pm at Sugar Cube Corner, meet us there on Thursday Anytime, and you're welcome to tag along," Starlight lit her horn and in a flash, the group found themselves all together outside of Twilights Castle. "Welp you to have a good one," Spike said as he and Trixie began walking away from the entrance, "I'm spending the night at Trixie's," Starlight and Sunset simply shook their heads in Trixie's direction, who responded by holding her head up high. "Trixie is her own mare and does whatever she sees fit to do with whomever she seems fit to do it with. If they just so happen to pay Trixie a large sum of bits then that's just a cherry on top, now come Spike Trixie needs a new Wagon wheel and we have several payment plans to discuss," The Two hurried off into the distance and both Starlight and Sunset walked towards the front doors. "I forgot to ask," Sunset realized as they reached the door "Why do you guys do this?" "We like sitting back and watching the world burn," Starlight said simply "It's fun to divide whether to leave it to burn, fuel to flames, or smother them out completely," "That sounds kind of evil," Sunset noted. "Oh if it was evil would my sweet little god Daughter Cozy be coming to attend the school of Friendship next month? I think not,"