//------------------------------// // The Song That Did End // Story: Jingle Bells, This Song Smells // by Frazzle2Dazzle //------------------------------// As she walked down the hall, Starlight heard music approaching from the direction the room she was spying in on had been. She glanced back to be shocked at seeing the pale red man from the room running towards her. Oh… Shoot. She went from her steady walk to a full out sprint, trying to find a way she could get out of this mess. “Get back here, we both know how this ends!” The man yelled as he gained on her. What do I do, what do I do?! She had the smoke bombs Trixie had given her, but those didn't work half the time, while a quarter of the time... Was better left unsaid. "We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas~!" The music was getting louder as the man got closer. Bit by bit, lyric by lyric, her shorter legs weren't matching up to the pace he had set. She was running out of time as she weaved down the halls. Ah, buck it! Grabbing one of the smoke bombs from her pocket, she threw it to the ground as she turned a corner. As the man ran through it, he slid to a stop as he realized he couldn't see her out the other side. "What kind of spy tech does this girl have? She can't be that far..." taking his phone out, he let it keep loudly playing as he looked around where the smoke had dissipated. Meanwhile, back with the other one... She was just grabbing a soda from the fridge when she heard a loud poof behind her, startling her into it. Starlight looked around to see she was back in the breakroom the two schemers had been talking in, and saw the girl pulling herself out of the fridge. On the table, there was the forgotten Figgy Pudding on a plate. I could try and get more information out of her... Or I could just- "Yoink!" Dessert in hand, she ran back out of the room as the woman pulled herself out, looking around confused, "What the heck was that?" Trixie was a good worker. She was good at what she did. "How did you get in here?" What she did was follow orders. Trixie knew she should follow her queen's orders. She was a good queen. "I snuck into one of your vans." She should just listen. Do what people told her to do, and be a good worker. "Interesting... It appears I've dumbed down the guards too much. So, why did you come here? You're with somebody other than the Nicks, obviously." Why should I listen? Because everything was better when she wasn't thinking. "My friend came with me. We wanted to know why everyone was acting so weird." Is it worth being better when you sell out your friends? Yes... Starlight can be better too. She just needs to listen. "Not a lonesome troublemaker, eh? Sigh, I guess I'll have to deal with her as well. Tell me, where did she go?" Don't help her! I have to help her. She's telling me what to do. "She went to clean with somebody called 'Tossup'. I'm not sure where she is now." Doing what she says is right. Because she can think for me. "Good enough for now. Come with me, I think I'll show this girl how things are run around here." I can't believe I... I'm going to go help Starlight understand. She should listen too. Out of the backroom and into the regular hallways, Starlight rushed as fast as she could to the main performance hall, barely sparing time to get a bite of the Figgy Pudding down. However this works, I hope it works fast! It would probably be a short mission otherwise. "Hey, what's going on? Why are you running?!" the green manager guy from before called out while she was speeding towards where he was. She managed to skid to a halt while keeping the plate upright. "I, uh, was told to pass out some of this to people! It's Figgy Pudding! You should try it, it's really good!" she held up the plate with a nervous smile while the man looked at her dubiously. "Okay... Should I just take a chunk out of it, or-" "Yes, just take a piece off, it's meant to be, uh, finger food! People won't mind!" He still looked a little weirded out by it, but conceded as he took a small chunk of the stuff. Before he knew it, Starlight was gone again and heading to the concert hall. I realllly hope it works! It would be nice to have somebody working here not be hypnotized. It wasn't a short distance to the concert area, and every step of the way it seemed like more and more people were in the halls she ran through, and each stop costing her time for the guy chasing her to catch up, as well as bits of the Figgy Pudding. Eventually, as she finally found out where the main hall actually was, she was rushing through the doorway when she slammed into somebody. "Agh! Oh my gosh, I am so-" "You insolent little...! Watch where you're going!" the lady she ran into yelled, fury in her eyes. "I didn't mean to, I'm just in a hurry! I just need to get to my friend real quick!" she pleaded with the green-haired woman. "I'm right here, Starlight." The dull sentence made her freeze as Trixie numbly stepped out from behind the woman, a flat look devoid of emotion on her face. "Oh... So this is your friend?" the woman grinned, "She was so much easier to find than I thought. She came right to me, even, ha!" "Tr- Trixie...? What did she do to you?" The woman sneered at her, her eyes shining brightly, "Why should I tell you when I can show you?" she pressed one of her bluetooth earbuds, "Merengue, start up the speakers and play the song. I want to let the employees see how great the concert they're working for is." Starlight's eyes widened. Is she trying to- No, I have to stop this! Looking around, she found where the plate had fallen, the remaining Figgy Pudding half crushed on it, and grabbed a chunk of it out, rushing over to Trixie, "Trixie, eat this!" The woman flinched back at Starlight's rush, "Wait, is that-?!" GULP Before she knew it, Trixie had taken the portion from Starlight's hand and swallowed it with barely a chew... Which immediately led into a coughing fit as she gagged on the dry Figgy 'Pudding'. "Agh, bleh! Cough Cough What was that?! Oh, I'm gonna be sick..." The song started playing over the speakers, but Trixie kept coughing while the woman had a furious look on her face. "Oh, Starlight, cough, what happened, did we manage to beat the bad guys yet?" "Uhhh... I don't think we've beaten her yet, Trixie." "This wasn't something I expected..." the woman growled as she fully stood, "No matter. I can keep you here until the dessert wears off. You two!" she pointed to the side at a pair of the crewmembers, "Apprehend these two, I need them in the backroom!" a moment passed, and the two didn't do anything, "What are you standing around for?! I told you to take care of them!" "Yeah... I don't think we're falling for those tricks anymore," the green man from before walked up, "Song hypnosis... Very weird. But ever since I ate that stuff this girl gave me, my head's been clearer than it's been in days." "Wait... She gave you..." she looked around to the people around her, most with angry faces while those who still looked dulled by the music were being held back by their co-workers. "As you can see, there's been a bit of a change in hierarchy here." "...Shi-" Hot cocoa, thermal blankets, and various extra helpings of a lesser eaten dessert, the rest of the day went by in a blur as the police arrested the three people masterminding the scheme. The two girls managed to get some of the facts about what happened. Apparently the woman had found some kind of magic artifact like the ones popping up around Canterlot High, and had decided to use it to try and steal all the gifts people had in their homes. Something about ‘I never had Christmas’ or ‘You don’t deserve Christmas’. It was pretty vague as to why she had done it. But thankfully, the mall and the school and everybody else finally stopped playing that stupid song, and Trixie and Starlight could finally get some sleep… ”Princess! You have saved me from this curse, and I am a man once more!” “With the curse gone, please come with me to the Sugar Plum Fairy! I’m sure she can send us both home!” Not all the lines were quite accurate in the play, but it was good enough for Starlight. Nobody was quoting Hamlet, Shakespeare, or Twelve Days Of Christmas, and they managed to get the spirit of the play. It went off without a hitch, so she figured she’d get a pass for this. “So that’s what you were working on for the past month!” Trixie stretched as they got out of the school, heading back to their apartment, “I’d give it an eight out of ten, I wouldn’t mind going again next year.” “Yeah, Applejack and Snails really pulled through. They could probably get an easy A in the theater course.” Trixie laughed at that, “Perhaps, if they had the same flare for the dramatic that Trixie the Magnificent does!” Starlight smiled back, “Suuure. Whatever you say, Trixie.” Heading home in companionable silence, they heard carolers singing Jingle Bells, Winter Wonderland, and Let It Snow, not once down each block did they hear the Twelve Days Of Christmas, traditional or otherwise. Starlight supposed that it probably wouldn’t come back until next year. Walking into their apartment, Trixie made her wait outside for a moment. Confused, Starlight waited for a few minutes in the hall. “Okay, you can come in now!” Pushing the door open, Starlight was blown away at what she saw on the dining room table. Shining up and down, with black metal and a smooth screen, there was a ribbon on top of the laptop to give it a splash of red. “What… Trixie?” She stepped from the side to give Starlight a hug, “I knew you wanted a new laptop, so I saved up to get one. It’s one of the fancy schmancy ones that loads programs fast.” “You… You shouldn’t have. Thank you, Trixie.” Starlight had a big smile on her face as they hugged. Trixie smiled back, “Merry Christmas, Starlight.”