//------------------------------//
// Part One 
// Story: Princess Flurry Heart's New Babysitter 
// by Hood 
//------------------------------//

	Trixie's journey towards the outskirts of town were met with sudden, brief blizzards, and only a few laps of warmth coming from the sun in between the short gaps. It took Trixie a little under an hour to overcome the hardest part of her struggle through the slush, and lugging that heavy caravan through it all was no small task, but she pulled through in the end, and the pay off made it all worthwhile. More and more, Trixie began to see the beginnings of the Crystal Empire. Huge shards were coming into her view, sticking out of the ground along the way, and they only got larger and larger the more Trixie wandered closer into town. Finally, just in the distance, she saw the castle spire in the middle of it all to be more beautiful than ever before, and already showed details Trixie had never noticed before now.

The more the fog before her cleared away to reveal cottages and homes, the more Trixie realized just how far she’d already gotten into town. Vending stalls for local trade were put up already. It was an entire outer district of trading to be done the moment anypony leaves those clouds behind them. There even resided a well built cider hall lying right next to the inner gates. Of course, Trixie wasn’t interested in any of that. If anything she was merely impressed with the old world look and feel of things.

"And yet," Trixie said to herself while approaching the entrance, "Trixie also feels as if there're probably even more the further you get."

With a free hoof, she rubbed her chin and smirked in thought of what might be waiting for her beyond the tall standing walls. She kept her posture in check when approaching the guards, and though this was usually an extensive process, in less time than she’d ever experienced when entering a city, Trixie was allowed to pass through with hardly any trouble whatsoever. A few questions along with a very little bit of paperwork was all the guards here really needed, which Trixie wished it could be that way anywhere she went. As Trixie came in, she mumbled to herself, "The Great and Powerful Trixie likes this place already… Now then, where to put up the stage?" 

With so many ponies crowding the front gate and doing business, Trixie had to walk just a bit further in before finally reaching an open spot. Luckily it was where the grass still grew, and it seemed vacant enough. Not to mention how many spectators she’d undoubtedly attract by being so nearby where everypony comes in at. Setting the stage took three simple steps. Makes sure no pony was standing in the way, pull a lever, and latch some wires. In little time at all, Trixie’s grand performance was just about ready to start. She still needed to freshen her make-up, though, but that wouldn’t take long, and she was just about ready to head inside when she overheard a conversation going on not too far from where she stood. 

Two local stallions kept talking about the baby being named Princess Flurry Heart, the name being almost all Trixie could catch. She came up, hearing more before interrupting. "She’s really special."

"Umm, Excuse Trixie," Trixie said with a hoof raising to bring attention to herself. "What’s that about Princess Cadance’s baby?"

"Oh, you haven’t heard?" the pony on the left asked.

"Turns out she’s a princess," the other pony chimed, hoofing as if it were a big deal. It was, in fact, but Trixie hadn’t realized the meaning just yet.

"Well… Trixie guesses that’s great!" She awkwardly tried to play it off as if she knew what they were talking about, and hoped they’d later down the line explain what they meant, but they didn’t.

"Well, anyways," one began, looking at his friend with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, right! We gotta be headed out now. What'd you say your name was?"

Trixie looked at they two of them, blinking, but smiled and boasted casually, "I'm the Great and powerful Trixie." She then asked with a concerning tone, "So soon?"

"Yep," the one on the left replied.

"We'll see you around, Trixie." As one began walking off, the other departed as well. "Bye."

Trixie reluctantly waved goodbye, quickly shrugged, and returned to her caravan. Meanwhile, within the caselt, and inside Princess Flurry Heart's room, Shining Armor and his wife had come to an ultimate decision. They looked down at the foal they cared dearly for, and looked at one another grimly. "It must be done," Shining Armor spoke to comfort Princess Cadance. 

"Come," the alicorn said, taking her husband’s hoof into her own. "We must address everypony, then."

They left onto the balcony, and by using a spell, Shining Armor’s voice travelled all the way to the terrible blizzards way far off in the distance. "Subjects of the Crystal Empire, and visitors of all types."

Just before entering her caravan like Trixie had been trying to do since she had arrived, Trixie turned around to listen to the announcement. She also couldn’t help herself from asking aloud, "What the…? Where in Equestria is that coming from?!"

She soon realized the voice was coming all the way from the castle spire, and being completely distracted, Trixie payed attention a bit longer, if only for a minute or two. "There is a pressing matter that we must attend to, outside the Crystal Empire," Shining Armor revealed. "The both of us."

Cadance then said, "In other words, we won’t be able to look after Princess Flurry Heart while we're gone."

This was followed by murmurs throughout the crowd Trixie found herself in. It seemed everypony had become enthralled with this bit of news, but Trixie soon got back to what she was doing first. While the showmare began to block out the announcement and missing the most important part, Shining Armor pressed on, "Sun Burst is coming along, too, so there’s little choice in the matter. Luckily…" He winked down at Sun Burst who assisted in finding a solution. "A certain somepony was able to find an old archive. It showed us some interesting ways we can use the crystal heart to our advantage in this situation."

Princess Cadance then explained further, "Combining both our magical power, we can have it select the most appropriate babysitter in all of the empire. We'll know who he or she is because they'll be shining the brightest, like a beacon for us to find."

Everypony outside Trixie's room was now rambling on about whether or not they'd be chosen or not, all except for Trixie who had no idea what was going on, and was just finishing up what she was doing. She left the sanctity of her dressing table and mirror, and heard Shining Armor and his wife finish with, "Since we don’t have a lot of time, we have to do this quickly, and then the three of us will be off once everything is situated."

All Trixie could think about at that time was how her show would turn out, and how much this citywide instance was taking her audience away from her. So, she rolled her eyes, and just as she was about to turn away again, a burst of energy surged through the sky, and it seemed as though there was an earthquake going on. Trixie was scared at first, but then she remembered hearing about this event. She believed it to be the crystal heart bursting with energy from everypony being so happy. Needless to say, that wasn’t necessarily the case here.

Trixie hadn’t really noticed herself shining brighter than all the other ponies that day. She’d have to be looking at herself from up above to really notice. At the time, all the other ponies coming her way, and talking about her seemed like a gathering, mystified audience. One after another started appearing, and Trixie was more than happy to boast, "Yes, come one, come all! Come see the Great and Powerful Trixie perform feats beyond your imagination!" She got up on stage, and it wasn’t until this that she noticed what they were all even gathering for. 

Somepony called out, "She’s glowing the brightest!"

And then somepony else, "She must be the one!"

"She’s must be Sitterborn!"

Trixie began backing up. "Umm…"

Then, Princess Cadance showed up overhead, flying gracefully. She landed on the stage in front of Trixie, her eyebrows raised. She then huffed, "Uh, so you’re the babysitter, huh?"

Trixie gulped, and then asked nervously, "Wait, what did Trixie miss?"

Cadance answered while ponies below began to bow, "You’ve been selected by the crystal heart to be Princess Flurry Heart’s royal babysitter."

Trixie blinked at this, and coughed before stating, "What...? You’ve got to be joking."

Shocked at this, everypony gasped, and the princess seemed insulted as well, but she managed to keep herself from flying off then and there. Instead, she asked, "Does it look like I’m joking?"

Trixie glanced at her equipment hidden behind the red curtains. "But why Trixie? She’s just here to perform and make some bits! That’s all..."

Shining Armor had arrived to the scene, and hopped onto stage to explain, "Let me explain. We can’t be here for tonight."

Just as he was getting started, Cadance stopped him by questioning, "Are you sure she was the shiniest out here? I mean, maybe the heart was wrong."

Reactively, Shining told her, "Hey, it can't be! There's gotta be a reason for it choosing... Uhh, what's your name again?"

Trixie answered, looking him in the eyes, "Trixie, and perhaps she's right. Surely there's been some mix up."

Now with raised eyebrows and a nervous smile, Shining Armor pleaded, "No, it couldn't possibly be a mix up. I read that book five times! Hehe..." He looked all around, and coughed. "Wh-what's your special talent, Trixie?"

Trixie smiled wide, and a little deviously, and answered, "The Great and Powerful Trixie entertains ponies with her brilliant magic tricks!"

He clapped after hearing that, and pointed at Trixie while glancing from her to the princess, Trixie's smile deteriorating as Shining Armor spoke. "Perfect! Look, Trixie, it’s only until sometime tomorrow, and the crystal heart must’ve chosen you because you'd do a great job at keeping our baby Flurry Heart entertained."

Trixie averted her eyes as best she could, but no matter how she wanted to refuse the mere notion, Trixie knew she probably didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. Cadance asked Trixie sweetly, "Why don’t you  at the very least come have a look at her. You probably haven't even gotten a chance to see what she looks like yet, huh?"

At that, Trixie shook her head. Shining Armor also mentioned, "You'd be doing everypony a huge favor..." 

Ponies all around her began chanting as well, that she should at least consider it. So, Trixie grunted in defeat, and said with gritted teeth, "Fine… Trixie will come see the baby."