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Part One1,113 words
Part Two1,220 words
Part Three1,176 words

Part One

Twilight descended the stairs and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She found Pinkie Pie already full of energy, bouncing around the kitchen in anticipation of her hostess’s awakening.

“Oh good, you’re up!” The pink mare said excitedly, keeping eye contact with Twilight as she bounced up to her. “Thank you sooo much for inviting me to your sleep-over last night!”

“Thank you for staying…err, do you want some breakfast?” Twilight asked hesitantly as her guest continued bounding around the table. Pinkie Pie stopped and immediately took a seat at the kitchen table.

“Yes, please!”

Twilight levitated a box of cereal out of a cupboard and milk from out of the fridge. She set them on the table and did the same with a pair of bowls and spoons. She apologized, “Spike is out of town, so this is really all I can offer.”

“Don’t apologize, silly, this is great!” Pinkie smiled genuinely and began pouring herself a bowl of Happy Crunch. Twilight sat across from her and waited for the cereal box to be relinquished. Pinkie Pie suddenly gasped and held the box an inch from her face.

“What’s wrong? It isn’t expired is it?” Twilight couldn’t recall when she’d purchased the cereal. Her view of Pinkie Pie’s face was obstructed by the box.

“Twilight,” Pinkie pie said seriously, her face still behind the box, “you haven’t found the prize yet, have you?”

“Well, no, I—”

“Good!” Pinkie upended the box over her bowl and watched as a mountain of cereal overflowed onto the tabletop. A green whistle in a small plastic bag sat atop the pile. Pinkie frowned at seeing it, and tossed the empty box over her shoulder.

“Dare I ask what that was about?” Twilight asked, levitating the empty box off the floor and over to her. Pinkie Pie absentmindedly pawed through the cereal, looking for something that wasn’t there. Twilight turned the box to look at the back and saw the words “Prize Inside!” in big red letters. There were pictures of the five possible toys and a big question mark.

“I didn’t win,” Pinkie mumbled. She poured milk over her pile of cereal, only making the mess worse.

“Every box contains a prize. Only one box contains the super-rare, mystery prize. Find it and win…100,000 bits?!” Twilight read from the box in surprise. “Pinkie, what would you even do with all that money?”

“Forget the money, I want that prize,” she replied. “Money is money, but that prize could be anything. It could be the greatest toy ever, or a hot air balloon, or a mime, or a space ship, or—”

“Pinkie, half those things wouldn’t fit in the box, and besides, do you know what your odds of finding it are? Happy Crunch makes thousands of these boxes a day; you’ll never find that ONE box that has the prize.” Twilight levitated another box of Happy Crunch out of her cupboard, and Pinkie Pie jumped for it as it passed. She missed and fell back into her seat.

“You could use your x-ray magic!” Pinkie Pie shouted. Twilight hadn’t even thought of that, and tried her spell on the box. Its cardboard exterior remained solid.

“They must have cast an anti-x-ray spell on it to prevent cheating.” Twilight said, magically opening the box and pouring cereal into her bowl.

“Just let me look for the prize!” Pinkie Pie held her hooves out over the table, reaching for the cereal box. Twilight just looked at her with her brow furrowed. Pinkie realized her host was growing impatient with her. She looked down at her bowl and an idea formed. She began shoveling spoonfuls of the sugary cereal into her mouth until the bowl was empty.

"Would you like a refill?” Twilight asked sarcastically, aware of her friend’s scheme. Pinkie nodded rapidly and expected Twilight to pass her the cereal box. Instead, she took Pinkie’s bowl and filled it from her side of the table.

“More…just a little more…a teency bit more,” Pinkie said as Twilight poured the cereal. Something shiny inside the box emerged from the puffed corn flakes, and it slowly approached the opening. Twilight tipped the box back and whatever was inside sunk back to the bottom.

“There you are,” Twilight said, passing the bowl back happily. Pinkie upended the bowl into her mouth and swallowed everything in one gulp. She then slid the bowl back across the table and waited for it to be filled. Twilight pretended not to notice, and took a bite of her cereal. She sat in silence, reading the nutrition facts off the side of the box in between bites.

“Twilight,” Pinkie said, staring at her friend. “Twilight?” she repeated when she received no response. “Twiiiii Liiiiiiight?”

The unicorn looked away from the box for a split second then back. Pinkie Pie finally grew impatient and leapt across the table, grabbing the box and tackling Twilight out of her chair. She sat on top of her and dumped the contents of the box. A pair of plastic earrings fell onto Twilight’s chest and Pinkie Pie compared them to the possible prizes on the box.

“Nope. Not the mystery prize,” Pinkie Pie said, disappointed.

“Pinkie Pie…Get off of me,” Twilight said with annoyance. The pink pony jumped off of her friend and bounced in place.

“Do you have another box? I bet that one has the mystery prize in it!” Pinkie Pie bounced towards the pantry cupboard.

Twilight teleported in front of Pinkie Pie and put her hooves against the bouncing pony. “Pinkie Pie! Stop! I don’t have any more cereal.” She closed her eyes as she struggled to restrain her guest.

“Yes you do! See?” Pinkie Pie was sitting in the open cupboard holding Twilight’s last box of Happy Crunch. Twilight opened her eyes and fell to the floor; no longer supported by Pinkie Pie.

Both Pinkie Pie and the box were suddenly surrounded by Twilight’s magic aura and levitated apart. “You should go,” Twilight said with agitation, holding Pinkie Pie right up to her face. With a flick of her horn, Twilight sent Pinkie flying out the library door. She slammed the door shut and let out a sigh of relief.

Her guest was gone but the mess remained; her half eaten bowl of cereal splattered across the floor, and the table covered in Pinkie’s mess. Twilight used her magic to clean the kitchen to its former spotless glory. She set herself out a clean bowl and prepared to enjoy a quiet breakfast.

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