The Great and Powerful Trixie yawned wide as she woke up and stretched. "Despite conditions, I slept like a filly."
She looked around and saw a dozen pegasi watching her from clouds, and a few dozen earthbound ponies below looking up at her.
At this moment three immediate thoughts came to her mind: "Ugh, I need coffee.”, “At least the trick is working out.”, and “Wait, I think I have to pee."
As she looked around at the ponies watching her she gave off her best smile. "Hi everypony."
From all around every single pony that was able to hear her, and a few others from the ground that were able to listen in shouted back. "HI TRIXIE!"
"Okay, a bit creepy..."
Lyra gave a small yawn as she walked the distance to her shop, cup of coffee levitating beside her. "Well, here we go again. Maybe I can finish that violin today, OH MY CELESTIA!"
Her usual train of thoughts had been derailed and slammed into a river by the sight that greeted her. A line, starting from where she stood, snaked its way around the block. As she went around the corner, she saw that it went down the curve in the road, all the way to the front door of her little shop.
As she drank down the rest of her coffee she quickly made her way to the front of the line to open the door. Once inside she quickly turned on the lights, gave her displays a quick once over, then unlocked the door to let the flood in.
Immediately the torrent of ponies came into the shop and started looking around all the various musical and magical instruments, leaving Lyra to try and figure out who to help first.
"Do you have any pianos?"
"Can I get this on layaway?"
"Hey, what's this do?" The question was followed by the sound of shattering glass, as Lyra turned to the direction of the sound; The perpetrator already blending into the rest of the crowd.
Lyra felt panic rise in her chest as she quickly stood on her hind legs, grabbed the nearest instrument off the wall, which happened to be a baritone saxophone, and played the lowest note possible followed by a shrill squeak.
The effect was immediate, as everypony stopped talking over each other and bumping into the expensive instruments.
Lyra lowered the musical instrument and smiled. "Now that I have your attention, welcome! Please form a line to the counter and I will help you each one at a time!"
After a few groans and grumbles, the ponies reformed into a line before the register. That line connected to the line outside the door, which went around the block, and kept getting longer by the minute.
Lyra put her best smile on as she greeted the first mare at the counter. "How can I help you?"
The blue unicorn gave off a perfect smile as she flipped her white and blue mane. "Do you have any electric pianos?"
"This is going to be a great day for business." Lyra smiled as she pointed out the small selection she had. "Right over there, please take a look for the model you want. If it's not available, we can order it. NEXT!"
A pink unicorn gave off a small smile as she adjusted her wavy blue mane. "Yes, I was wondering, what is your favorite musical style?"
Lyra froze as she looked the pony over a few times. "I would have to say neoclassical." The two mares looked at each other for a few moments before Lyra finally pointed to the door leading to the back room. "Please make yourself at home, I'll be with you as soon as I can."
As the other mare went into Lyra's back room she turned to the next pony in line. "What can I get for you?"
Nurse Redheart gave off a cheery smile as she entered the room of a patient in the hospital. "Well Mister Tops, how are we doing today?"
The red earth pony was all smiles as he sat up in his bed. "Nurse Redheart, I do believe that I feel much better today, and please, call me Firebird."
Nurse Redheart gave off a gentle smile. "Well I just came by to let you know that Doctor Stable says that you should be able to go home today."
Firebird ran a hoof through his orange and gold mane as he eagerly tried to get up and away from the machines hooked up to him. "Well that's wonderful! Then the diabetes from the daww attack was impermanent?"
The nurse looked over the pony's chart a few times and nodded. "That is correct, however I would advise against viewing anything cute and cuddly for a few more weeks. No fluffy bunnies and kittens, and try to avoid little colts and fillies being adorable or any members of the so called Elements of Harmony."
The nurse was suddenly cut off from a moaning sound from the next bed over. "Where am I?"
Redheart grabbed the curtain in her teeth to slide it open revealing a certain white unicorn lying in a bed splattered with who-knows-what bodily fluids. "Prince Blueblood, you are lucky that Sound Advice was able to bring you to a hospital you partially own. Canterlot E.R. rejected you outright for what you did, last time you were there."
The bed ridden prince looked up at the florescent lights in the ceiling and moaned. "Why am I in a room with a mere commoner, and why is my nurse a lowly earth pony and not a unicorn?"
The nurse stuck her nose in the air as she slid the curtain shut again. "This EARTH pony happens to have been the only one that WANTED you to get better, despite your recent tax increase. I take my job seriously, and lucky for you that I was able to flush out all the salt and alcohol in your blood system."
The prince shot up in the bed and was rewarded with the squish of whatsit from under his legs. "ALL OF IT?!"
She pointed to the hose attached to Blueblood's foreleg that connected to a fifty gallon drum filled to the brim with pure alcohol, next to it sat a pony high pyramid of salt blocks. "ALL of it."
"Maybe that's why I am thinking clearly for the first time since..."
Suddenly Blueblood's mind was flooded with memories of his father forcing him to stand in a closet sized oven filled with broken glass and nails sticking out of all four walls and the ceiling, while the heat was rising. The young Blueblood attempted to lean against the walls to rest as the heat made him waiver and nearly pass out. "Father, what did I do?"
"A PROPER PRINCE MUST STAND TALL!" His fathers voice called out through the steel door.
The image faded away as the stallion came crashing back to reality. "I need a drink..."
The request was ignored for the most part as Firebird and Nurse Redheart left. "No more salt or alcohol for you. The doctor has already written to your aunt about sending you to a sobriety class."
At this call, Prince Blueblood quickly reached for the drum of alcohol in hopes of getting it back in him. The nurse quickly grabbed the cart it, and the salt was sitting on with her teeth and wheeled it away from him. "I'll be back with a few ponies to clean you up."
A few moments later and Firebird B. Tops was outside the hospital, breathing the fresh air and casually trotting to his tea shop; hoping to open it on time for the mid-morning rush.
Dark Star smiled at his aunt, Black Shadows as he sipped politely on his cup of tea. "Aunt B. It's so nice of you to invite me all the way up to Canterlot on this fine Friday."
The dark gray unicorn rolled her eyes, as she set her own cup down on the coffee table. "Dark Star, I did not invite you, you just appeared at my back door and asked where my sons are. Next thing I know, you let yourself in and help yourself to my tea."
Dark Star threw one of his hooves downward through the air as he laughed. "Oh Aunt B., you're so modest. Now where is Spooky Shadows? I could use him for a gig back in Ponyville tomorrow."
The psychiatrist frowned as she sipped from her teacup, giving her nephew a dark look over the rim. "Steam Shine is at work, up in Cloudsdale, where neither of us can go. That is unless you learned how to perform the cloud walking spell and can afford a balloon ride up there."
Her nephew guffawed for a few moments before finally getting a deep enough breath. "Steam Shine? What did he change his name for?"
Black Shadows stirred her tea for a few moments, as she looked at her nephew. "He felt that he should use his real name, if he is going to get a job. Not just a stage name you created for him."
Dark Star laughed for a few moments as he trotted to the fridge. "Oh Aunt B. you crack me up. Hey, you're out of iceberg lettuce and I was going to make us a salad. Oh, and when does Spooky Shadows come home from work?"
"Dark Star, I have already been through this with you, he does not live here anymore, and I don't give out addresses unless he says it's ok."
"Yeah, but I'm family, so you can make an exception. I need him for a job. Come on, I know you know, that I know, that you know, that he knows, that I know, that he knows, that we all know, that they know me, and I need him for his muscle. By the way, you're out of extra sourdough bread."
"What?! I just bought a whole loaf yesterday for sandwiches!" Black Shadows turned around to see her nephew chewing on the end of the whole loaf of bread.
"You know," he paused to swallow before taking another bite and continuing to talk. "I should have brought my wife here, she would have loved this bread and tea you gave me."
Black Shadows turned in her seat as she levitated her tea cup and muttered into it under her breath. Something along the lines of "I bet she's an ass too." but nopony could say since nopony could hear her.