As three hyperactive young mares rushed onto the Hayseed Swamp Express, nopony paid much heed to the adolescent filly who hopped off the train. Whistling to herself, the filly casually trotted out of the station into the town proper with the air of a seasoned tourist.
“Let’s see, Ah’d have probably heard if the fort’s been finished, so he’s gotta be bunkin’ in town somewhere,” the filly muttered to herself as she went. “Ah reckon there can’t be too many places fer him to stay in a place like this, might as well start askin’ around and see what Ah can find.” Her mind apparently made up, the filly made her way towards the center of town, until the rumbling of her stomach compelled her to reassess her priorities. “Dang it, Ah knew Ah should’ve grabbed somethin’ to eat while Ah was on the train. Eh, a restaurant’s probably not a bad place to start askin’ questions either.” As she spoke, a large, gingerbread-like building caught the filly’s eye. “A bakery’s probably not a bad place to start either.”
*********
Pinkie Pie hummed to herself as she wiped the top of the Sugar Cube Corner counter to a sparkling clean, when all of sudden she felt her Pinkie Sense fire off a prediction. “Ear twitch followed by a mane wiggle… I’m going to meet somepony new today!” Pinkie exclaimed with a gasp of delight. At that very moment, an adolescent unicorn filly, about the same age as the students from Twilight’s School of Friendship, trotted into the bakery. The filly had a light pink coat and a few curls of red mane poking out from under the well-worn cowboy hat she wore. “Hi there, welcome to Sugar Cube Corner! My name’s Pinkie Pie. What’s yours?”
“Name’s Trick Shot. Ah don’t suppose y’ got any muffins here?”
“Muffins? Oh, you bet! Let’s see, we’ve got banana nut, apple strudel, apple cinnamon, blueberry, pumpkin spice –”
“Ah’ll just take a blueberry,” Trick Shot quickly said as Pinkie’s recitation started going speed. After exchanging a bit for the muffin and swiftly devouring the baked good, Trick Shot turned back to Pinkie Pie. “Say, y’ seem like the sort of pony who probably knows just about everypony in town.”
“Oh, abso-tively-lutely,” Pinkie Pie replied. “Did you want to know about somepony in particular?”
Before Trick Shot could answer, the bakery door swung open as Silver Streak marched inside. “Hey, Pinkie, could you get me my usual? Sorry I can’t stay and chat, the Captain’s had me flying extra patrols over the Everfree recently. He says it’s ‘cause the students have that clubhouse tree-thing out there, but personally I think he’s just a little jittery over Princess Twilight’s promotion. Oh, hey Trick Shot, haven’t seen you in a while. Anyway, I –” Silver Streak abruptly froze and turned to stare down at Trick Shot. “Wait, Trick Shot? What in Celestia’s name are you doing in Ponyville?”
“Do you two know each other?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“Sort of,” Silver Streak replied. “She’s Lieutenant Sharpshooter’s little sister.”
*********
“What in tarnation possessed y’ t’ come all the way out to Ponyville all by yerself?” Sharpshooter asked as he paced back and forth in front of his younger sister, now safely in Twilight’s castle. “If nothin’ else, what the hay is ma gonna think when y’ turn up missin’?”
Trick Shot snorted irritably. “That’s assumin’ she ever actually does notice. Ah wager it’ll be a couple moons before she even remembers she’s got foals, let alone that one of ‘ems missin’.”
“Ah horseapples, ma’s gone on one of her benders again, hasn’t she?” Sharpshooter groaned, to which Trick Shot nodded.
“The way Ah figured it, since y’ moved here instead of wherever the hay y’ were before, Ah could maybe move in with y’ or somethin’. Ah’m durn near old enough to live on mah own anyway, so it ain’t like Ah’d be that much of a bother or nothin’.”
“And it didn’t occur t’ y’ t’ ask me about yer little plan before hoppin’ on a train here?” an increasingly incensed Sharpshooter asked.
“‘Course not,” Trick Shot replied matter-of-factly. “If Ah had y’d probably have said no.”
The ensuing sibling shouting match soon attracted the attention of Starlight Glimmer, who came to investigate only to find Moonwhisper standing guard outside the room. “What the hay’s going on in there?”
“To make a long story short, Lieutenant Sharpshooter’s younger sister arrived in Ponyville this morning with the intention of moving in with him.” Moonwhisper replied. “So now they’re discussing what Miss Trick Shot’s living situation will be going forwards.”
“Discussing it pretty loudly from the sound of it. But, shouldn’t their parents have something to say about all this?” Starlight asked, eliciting a slight wince from Moonwhisper.
“That’s…not an entirely viable option. Tell me, are you familiar with a unicorn by the name of Calamity Mane?” Moonwhisper asked, to which Starlight shook her head. “She’s a well-known rodeo performer, trick shooting with beam spells, that sort of thing.”
“I’ve never really been much of a rodeo pony,” Starlight admitted. “But, what’s that got to do with anything?”
“Calamity Mane happens to be their mother.” Moonwhisper said. “Unfortunately, Calamity Mane is also, according to every account I’ve heard, a barely functioning alcoholic. While I don’t have all the details regarding her history regarding the lieutenant and his sister, I can verify that this isn’t the first time that Miss Trick Shot has arrived unannounced at Lieutenant Sharpshooter’s posting.”
“Yeesh, that kind of puts the issues I had with my dad in perspective,” Starlight said. “So, what’s going to happen now?”
“Actually, Ha was hopin’ t’ talk with y’ about that, seein’ as how Princess Twilight’s puttin’ y’ in charge of that school of hers,” Sharpshooter said as he entered the room. “Ah was wonderin’ if it wouldn’t be too late to sign Trick Shot up fer that fancy Friendship School of the Princess’.”
“Well, I guess we could sign her up for the next schoolyear,” Starlight replied. “Are you sure you don’t want to at least try contacting your mother, though?”
Sharpshooter snorted. “The old nag’s on one of her benders, and this is a bad one from what Trick Shot’s sayin’. Ma’ll come lookin’ fer her when she finally dries out, likely as not, and Ah’ll deal with that when the time comes. ‘Til then, Ah reckon the Princess’ school is as good a place as any fer Trick Shot, probably better ‘n most.”
“Ah don’t need t’ go t’ some highfalutin school!” Trick Shot yelled from back inside the room.
“And Ah told y’ that if yer gonna be tryin’ here, then yer getting’ yerself some proper schoolin’!” Sharpshooter yelled back before turning back to Starlight. “T’ tell the truth, mah sister’s never had much chance t’ make friends with foals her own age. So, between that and some real book learnin’ Ah reckon the Princess’ school would do her a world of good.”
“I see. Well, Twilight’s still the headmare for the time being, so I’ll need to talk with her, but I’m pretty sure we can find a place for Trick Shot at the school. Speaking of Twilight, has anypony seen her? Last time I checked she was working on something for Star Swirl, but now I can’t find her anywhere,” Starlight said.
“I believe I saw Twilight and Miss Fluttershy rushing out the door right around the time Lieutenant Silver Streak brought Trick Shot to the castle,” Moonwhisper said. “I think Twilight said something about going to the Appleloosa Fair to retrieve the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”
“Hold on, aren’t they a little young to be taking the train by themselves?” Starlight asked.
“That did seem to be the crux of the issue,” Moonwhisper replied. “Regardless, I can’t imagine Twilight will be gone for very long. There’s a practical limit to how much trouble those three fillies could get into, overly-exaggerated stories about their exploits notwithstanding.”