One Good Turn...

by Posh

Pay It Forward

It was a six block walk from Starlight's hotel to Cheerilee's apartment. The snowy streets were relatively free of traffic in the early morning hours, and she only passed one or two other pedestrians as she walked, but the asphalt was slick and wet, which made for slow going. What should have been a short, brisk walk for Starlight Glimmer was surprisingly time-consuming.

She could have teleported, of course. But she hadn't seen Fillydelphia in daylight yet. It wasn't quite picturesque; it didn't have Canterlot's classical grandeur, or Manehattan's urban beauty. But in the morning sun, with light glinting off the windows of red-brick bodegas and vine-covered tenements, Fillydelphia's University Avenue had a character all to its own.

Starlight inhaled, catching a whiff of the breakfast floating beside her head – the egg and hay-bacon sandwich, and the paper cup of coffee.

Walking was the right call.

Cheerilee's humble apartment came into view, gradually, and Starlight picked up her pace to a canter. She spared a glance at Cheerilee's welcome mat, and briefly considered availing herself of the spare key, before deciding it would be too intrusive. Instead, she knocked – three firm raps on the hard, wooden door – and waited to be greeted.

It took about a minute before she heard shuffling, dragging hoofsteps from inside the apartment. The door unlocked, and creaked open just wide enough for Starlight to spot a green, bloodshot eye, set against a pale, magenta coat.

Starlight grinned. "Happy Hearth's Warming, Cheerilee. How're you feeling?"

Cheerilee blinked, slowly, and failed to respond.

Starlight's grin wore at the edges. "Yeah, I guess that's kind of a dumb question." She floated the sandwich and coffee up to the door, showing them to Cheerilee through the narrow space she'd opened, and peeling back the greasy wax paper covering the sandwich. "I brought you breakfast."

The eye swiveled up to gaze at the sandwich. Cheerilee blinked a second time, then opened the door a little wider – wide enough for Starlight to see that she'd draped herself in the duvet from her bed, and dragged it behind herself like an oversized cloak. Her face was pale and drawn, and her bed-mane swept backward behind her head, as though caught in a breeze.

Encouraged, Starlight floated the sandwich a little closer to Cheerilee. "I know it's not much, but—"

Immediately, Cheerilee lunged forward, jaws wide, so suddenly that Starlight backpedaled and almost stumbled off the stairs. The earth pony caught the sandwich in her mouth, and ripped half of it free with a flash of pearly white teeth. With a second lunge, she consumed the rest of the sandwich, and spat the wax paper out the side of her mouth. Starlight let it fall to the ground, watching with morbid fascination as Cheerilee chewed her entire breakfast at once.

"Er... bon appetit?" Starlight offered.

Cheerilee blinked, her eyelids moving out of sequence, as her jaws worked to grind her food down. She stepped back inside her apartment, and turned away, nudging the door wider with a hind hoof. Starlight took that as an invitation, and followed Cheerilee inside, closing the door behind herself.

Unlike the city, the apartment looked no more inviting in daylight than it did at night. But in her current state, Cheerilee looked right at home, shuffling back to her twin bed and climbing atop the mattress. With a mighty gulp, she swallowed her well-masticated breakfast, burped, and slipped the duvet down to her hips, freeing up her forelegs.

Starlight raised the coffee, and tried another grin. "Care for something to wash down breakfast?"

Cheerilee stared at the floating paper cup. She extended her now-freed forehooves toward it, and Starlight floated it into her grasp.

"Hope you like it," Starlight said, as Cheerilee flipped off the lid and took a deep breath of the coffee's aroma. "Twilight takes her coffee black, and I've acquired a taste for it that way, myself. It's hard for me to remember that other ponies like mixing stuff in their morning joe, and I didn't know whether you were one of those ponies or not, or if you even drank coffee, or—"

"Jus' lemme drink, please," Cheerilee mumbled, her eyes drooping shut.

Her first sip was slow and slurpy, ending with a satisfied sigh and another, more leisurely drink. Without opening her eyes, she patted the spot next to her, an invitation which Starlight quickly accepted, settling beside Cheerilee on the bed.

"You know," Cheerilee murmured, in a voice less fragile than what she'd spoken with earlier. "I read somewhere, once, that coffee doesn't really help alleviate hangover symptoms. Apparently, it actually dehydrates you, and makes it harder for your body to metabolize alcohol."

Starlight's ear flicked. "Where'd you read that?"

"Foal Free Press. Featherweight snuck an article on hangover cures into a New Year's edition one year. I had to have a talk with Namby-Pamby about editorial oversight afterward." Cheerilee sipped, smacked her lips, and opened her eyes at last. "I'm not sure I was even alive before I drank this, though, so he was clearly misinformed."

Starlight snorted. "Were I the competitive sort, I'd write that down, send it to Twilight in a letter. 'This year, for Hearth's Warming, I performed necromancy with caffeine. Beat that, Princess.'"

Cheerilee's shoulders shook with quiet laughter. Minutes passed in comfortable, companionable silence, as Starlight watched the older mare drink and recover a little bit more of herself.

A few more sips, and Cheerilee spoke up again, her voice now much firmer than before. "This is a lovely gesture, Starlight, but you didn't have to go so far out of your way for me. I know how much I imposed upon you last night, and I hate to be even more of a bother."

"I think you're misremembering how last night went. Must be all that brandy." Starlight nudged the sleepy teacher's shoulder. "I sat down with you because I wanted to talk to you. And I carried you back here because I wanted to make sure you got back home, safe and sound. You didn't impose, you're not a bother, and I'm not going out of my way right now. So, c'mon, bottoms up."

"...If you insist." Cheerilee drained the rest of her coffee, swallowed, and lowered the cup. "But I should still apologize to Trixie. My memory gets hazy after a certain point, but I don't believe she was very happy with me after I drank all her free liquor."

"You can say you're sorry, if you want, but even she probably realizes that you did her a favor in the long run. Grouchy Trixie is better than hungover Trixie, especially when she has a performance coming up." Starlight paused. "Come to think of it... that's one of the reasons I came by this morning."

Cheerilee looked at Starlight quizzically. "Did Trixie send you to wring an apology out of me?"

"No. Not that she wouldn't, but she was passed out in bed when I stepped out the door this morning. I don't think she even knows that I'm here." Starlight chuckled. "I mentioned last night that Trixie's doing a charity show at an orphanage, here in town, today. Remember?"

Cheerilee nodded. "At the manor on the southeast side. The Holly Bough."

"That's... probably the one. Trixie'd know better than me." Starlight shrugged. "Anyway, I came over to ask if you'd like to come along and watch the show. It's in a couple hours, so we were gonna grab some brunch first – which you're also invited to – and then, afterward, we're gonna hit downtown, do some shopping. Trixie insists that there are still some places that're open on Hearth's Warming Day—"

"You're inviting me to spend the whole day with you?" Cheerilee's eyes widened.

Starlight, surprised by the incredulity in the other mare's voice, shrank back. "I mean, if you don't already have plans..."

Cheerilee stared blankly at Starlight, her mouth working, open and closed, in silence.

Starlight tapped her front hooves together nervously. "Uh. You okay?"

"Yeah. Yes, I mean, I'm—" Cheerilee said, and stopped talking long enough to take a deep breath. "You've caught me a little off guard, that's all. To be honest, I don't how to respond."

"Perhaps with a yes?"

"That's certainly tempting," Cheerilee said, with a glance at her cluttered writing desk. "I'm just not sure why you're asking in the first place. You and Trixie had your whole holiday planned out. Brunch, shopping, a show – obviously, not in that order – and now, at the last minute, you're inviting a complete stranger into it."

"You're not a stranger, Cheerilee," Starlight said. "Granted, we weren't really much more than acquaintances back in Ponyville, but we still knew each other. And even if we didn't..."

She scooted closer to Cheerilee on the bed.

"I've been alone on Hearth's Warming. So has Trixie. And we both know, if there's ever a day out of the entire year that nopony deserves to be all alone, it's this one."

Cheerilee's lip trembled. She turned away, her gaze landing again on the cluttered writing desk across the room.

Starlight's hoof found her back. "Are you okay?"

Cheerilee was quiet for a moment before answering. "Do I at least have enough time to wash up a bit?"

Starlight grinned, relieved. "Brunch'll keep a little longer, I'm sure."

Cheerilee sniffled, and turned with a smile on Starlight. "Good. It's been awhile since I took an etiquette class, but I seem to recall learning that one doesn't show up to a meal with a bed-mane."

---

The city had woken up a little bit more by the time Starlight and Cheerilee set out together. Fillies and colts frolicked and gamboled in snow-strewn streets, some occasionally weaving around and between the two mares. Sleighs crashed through snowy embankments in the street, their riders squealing joyously. Other foals whiled the morning away on the sidewalks with their newly opened toys and presents, their parents looking on adoringly.

Yet again, Starlight was happy that she chose to walk, instead of teleport.

Cheerilee walked at her side, her neck wrapped in a black and white checkered scarf, and her body draped in a pink cloak that matched her mane. She watched the foals and families at play with a soft, nostalgic expression, though it was tinged with a periodic wince of pain every now and again.

"How're you holding up?" Starlight asked, with the apartment now a few blocks behind them.

Cheerilee smiled crookedly. "Better than before. It's only the headache that's giving me trouble now, and the cold air is doing wonders for that."

"Glad to hear somepony's enjoying the weather," Starlight said, a light shiver rippling through her. "It's better this morning than it was last night, but still – brr. I'll never complain about Ponyville's winters again."

Cheerilee laughed. "You never lived in a Ponyville without Twilight Sparkle. Things are pretty good now, but it wasn't so long ago that winter was an ordeal to live through – to say nothing of wrapping it up."

"She mentioned something to that effect once." Starlight drew to a stop at a street corner, waiting for carriage traffic to slow, before she and Cheerilee crossed. "It's still preferable to this."

"Some ponies just don't know how good they've got it," Cheerilee mused as she followed Starlight across the street. "Speaking of Ponyville, do you remember how I mentioned last night that I correspond with one of my former students?"

Starlight hopped onto the curb, and turned to offer her hoof to Cheerilee. "Mmhm?"

"Well, she tries to keep me up to date with all the latest news, but her perspective on things is understandably limited." Cheerilee accepted Starlight's offer, and looped their hooves together as she stepped onto the sidewalk. "So I may as well ask you how everything is back home. Is everypony well?"

"Everypony I know is doing okay," said Starlight, turning to walk down this new stretch of sidewalk. "Granted, I don't know many ponies. But Twilight's good, her friends are all good, and I don't think anypony around town's been maimed recently..."

"Always good to mention," said Cheerilee wistfully. "Ponyville... seems like there's always some kind of mayhem afoot back there. Amazing how quickly one gets used to it."

"Yeah, everypony's pretty jaded toward monster attacks and magical mishaps by now," said Starlight. "Not that we've had any lately. What about you? You get a lot of crazy stuff out here?"

"In Fillydelphia?" Cheerilee shook her head. "Not since I've lived here, at least. There was a parasprite infestation a few years back, apparently, but that was something we had to deal with in Ponyville, once, too. And I'm given to understand that ours was considerably worse. It's all been pretty quiet here, these last few months."

"I guess that's something to be grateful for," Starlight mused. "But yeah, not a whole lot has happened lately on my end, either. Pinkie Pie's sister moved close by... oh, uh, Applejack has a new grandpa. He makes pear jam. It's tasty."

"Granny Smith remarried?" Cheerilee raised an eyebrow. "With a Pear, of all ponies?"

"Huh? Uh, no, sorry." Starlight grinned sheepishly. "It's Applejack's long-lost grandpa, from her mother's side, that she never knew before. I guess he moved to Ponyville to meet his grandkids."

"Buttercup's father was a Pear? But that feud..." Cheerilee rubbed her chin with a snowy hoof. "That puts some things into perspective. I've known the Apple family for my whole life, and none of them have ever so much as mentioned their mother's relatives. I asked Big McIntosh about it, once, and he told me that his mom never talked about her family – and Granny Smith would lose her temper if the subject ever came up. If there was bad blood between Buttercup's relatives, and the Apples, then I guess that would explain it."

Starlight snorted. "And how many eeyups and nopes did it Big McIntosh to get there?"

"None." Cheerilee looked at Starlight, a playful glint in her eye. "McIntosh Apple can be surprisingly chatty, if you can get him to open up."

"I assume you mean without the aid of invasive spellcasting." Starlight rolled her eyes. "Well, whatever. I'm sure he does all kinds of opening up to that new girlfriend of his."

Starlight took a few more steps before she realized that Cheerilee had stopped walking. She turned, and saw a blank expression on the other mare's face.

"Girlfriend?" Cheerilee echoed.

"Uh... yeah," Starlight said. "He hooked up with a friend of mine from way back when. Sugar Belle. Guess it's getting pretty serious, too."

Cheerilee absorbed the news placidly, her expression hardly changing, save for a twitch at the corner of her lips. "Good for you, Mac," she murmured to herself.

..."Mac?"

Starlight's heart skipped, and she remained rooted to her spot, even as Cheerilee resumed her walk.

Oh. Oh, shoot.

By the time Starlight snapped out of it, she'd been standing still long enough for Cheerilee to get a bit of distance between the two them. She cantered after the schoolteacher, catching up swiftly. "Hey, look, I didn't mean to—"

"I know you didn't." Cheerilee gave Starlight a sad, bleary-eyed smile. "There are some things I left unsaid when I moved away from Ponyville. Dredging it up won't help anypony now. I'm glad that Mac found a special somepony; he's a good friend, and he deserves to be happy. Let's just leave it at that."

Abashed, Starlight lowered her gaze to her hooves. "Can I at least say that I'm sorry for bringing it up?"

"You don't need to apologize." Cheerilee thumped Starlight's flank, softly. "Anyway, I have it on good authority that you shove your hoof in your mouth, oh, once or twice a day. I can't be mad at you for being true to your nature."

Starlight looked up, confused.

"My student, the one who writes to me? She's a mutual friend of ours. Diamond Tiara." Cheerilee's smile widened. "She's told me how the two of you bonded. According to her, you periodically – how did she put it? – 'vomit regret-angst all over the face of anypony who spends more than a few minutes talking to you.' Apparently, it makes social outings with you somewhat awkward."

Starlight blushed, and absently played with the springy lock of hair falling over the front of her face. "Yeah, uh... she's not wrong..."

"She meant it lovingly, if it helps. She only ever has kind things to say about you. 'Awkward, but fun.' That's how she puts it." There was a pause, before Cheerilee spoke again. "Thank you, by the way."

Starlight blinked. "For what?"

"For being there for her. Giving her somepony to look up to." The pair reached the end of the block and hopped off the curb, crossing the street swiftly. "She hasn't had a lot of positive role models."

Her words of kindness helped to blunt some of Starlight's embarrassment. "I don't know about that. She had you for a teacher, after all. And from the way she talks about you, it's obvious just how much she still looks up to you. I've never heard her talk about Miss Rocky the same way."

A watery look broke across Cheerilee's face. She wiped her eyes with a frosty fetlock. "That's kind of you to say, but I'm not a part of her life anymore – not the same way that you, or Rocky Road, are. I may have helped her find her way, but it's friends like you who've kept her on it."

"Heh. Just paying it forward. And I think there’s a reason why she’s so comfortable around me.” Starlight’s expression grew wistful. “I’ve been in her position before.”

Cheerilee smirked. "You're not going to vomit regret-angst all over my face, are you?"

"I make no promises, but I'll do my best to restrain myself." Starlight let out a hollow chuckle. "To make a long story short... I get her. Where she came from, what she's going through, all that guilt she feels over who she used to be – all that stuff that never really goes away. I tell her, all you can do is show the ponies around you that it's not who you are anymore, and hope that they accept it. And be grateful for the ones who've believed in you enough to forgive you – the ones who've loved you, who aren't afraid to keep giving you chances... even when you keep screwing up."

She felt Cheerilee sidle up to her, pressing herself against Starlight's flank. They slowed to a stop, and stood there for a moment, leaning against one another, sharing each other's warmth.

"I don't know what it is you've done, but you're definitely somepony worth forgiving, in my eyes. I'm grateful that Diamond Tiara has somepony like you in her life."

"...That means a lot," said Starlight. "Coming from somepony like you."

Cheerilee pressed a little harder, before pulling back. "I think I'm starting to understand you and Trixie a little bit more, too. I'm not sure if she's ever told you about that thing with the amulet and the dome, but..."

"Yeah, I've heard that story. From a lot of ponies. Twilight tells it the best." Starlight chuckled as she and Cheerilee fell into step again. "Trixie's the first to admit that she went too far, though."

"That's one way of putting it," Cheerilee said. "She made quite the mess. But, to be fair, I've always thought her attempts at making amends were genuine."

"They are. I know she's a pain in the rump sometimes, but Trixie's a good pony at heart." Talking about Trixie put a dreamy look on Starlight's face, as it was wont to. "She knows all about the stuff I've done, too. And me? I've seen her at her absolute lowest – I've brought her back from the brink. I get her, and she gets me, in a way that I don't think anypony else in Equestria could."

"Not even Twilight?"

Starlight shook her head. "Don't get me wrong, I love Twilight. I owe her so much more than you could possibly know. But she hasn't... been on the other side, so to speak, not like Trixie has. So, as much as I love Twilight, there's some stuff about myself that I'm more comfortable sharing with Trixie. I've never said as much to Twilight, and I don't think Trixie's tactless enough to say so herself, but she knows. I'm sure she knows."

"And she's okay with all that?" Cheerilee asked.

"She is." Starlight paused. "She wasn't always, but she's lightened up about it a lot over the last few months. I guess she had a talk with Sunset Shimmer, a while back, that changed her perspective on—"

"I'm sorry, who?"

"Ah... that's another long story." Starlight waved a hoof dismissively. "The gist of it is, she's much more comfortable with Trixie and I than she was when we first started hanging out. She didn't even complain when I told her I wanted to spend Hearth's Warming with Trixie this year. Just wished us well, and sent me off with a pocketful of spending money."

"That was thoughtful of her." Cheerilee's expression slowly faded back into that sad-eyed smile from before. "You're sure Twilight's been well?"

"Uh... yeah. Nothing new to report on her end." Starlight canted her head quizzically, concern gnawing at her. "Something wrong?"

They came to the end of another block, and slowed to a stop at the curb. Cheerilee looked downcast, and thoughtful.

"She said she'd visit," the older mare said. "She didn't say when, but she said that she would. All this time living here, I thought, if she was going to come, then Hearth's Warming would've been... but she hasn't even written. Even when I write to her."

Cheerilee wiped at her eyes and sighed.

"It's a silly thing to be upset over. I know she's busy—"

"She is!" Starlight blurted, darting close to Cheerilee. "She's, like, super busy. Swamped with princess stuff. Like, there's so much on her plate right now that she barely has time for anything else. And, I mean, you've met the mailmare in Ponyville, right? Who even knows if her mail is... if it's, uh, getting to her..."

Cheerilee looked knowingly at Starlight, who trailed off.

"Don't take it personally, okay?" said Starlight, as Cheerilee stepped off the curb and into the street.

"I don't take it personally. Really, I don't." Cheerilee sniffed, and stepped off the curb, into the street. "Just... it's been a long few months, and it would've been nice to talk some things out with her."

She crossed alone, and Starlight followed after, a cold weight having settled in her stomach.

---

Trixie, being Trixie, hadn't thought about booking any accommodations for her trip to Fillydelphia. Her intention had been to set up her trailer on the frigid outskirts of town, huddling close to Starlight beneath a threadbare blanket for warmth.

Starlight, being Starlight, figured she could do them both one better.

By what could only be a Hearth's Warming miracle, the Wyndhoof, a four-star establishment in the heart of downtown Fillydelphia, had a vacancy. They were more than happy to take Starlight's money, and put them up for the holiday, even finding room for Trixie's trailer in their underground garage. Trixie, being Trixie, had grumbled about Starlight upending her plans, but delighted in the accommodations anyway.

"This is a nice place," Cheerilee commented, as Starlight led her down a plushly carpeted corridor. "I have no earthly idea how Trixie could have afforded it, but it's very pleasant."

"Oh, Trixie didn't book the hotel. That was all me," Starlight said, reaching into her coat pocket for her hotel key. "I mean, I charged it to Twilight's account, so, technically, the crown paid for it, and the funding for it came from the taxpayers, so, if you're splitting hairs, then Trixie kind of paid for it..."

...assuming she actually does pay taxes.

She slid the key into the lock, as Cheerilee made a thoughtful noise beside her. "I wonder if that counts as an abuse of taxpayer money."

"I'll ask Twilight. Or, better yet, I'll never ask Twilight ever." Starlight undid the latch and nudged the door open, beckoning Cheerilee inside after her.

The room was well-lit and furnished, if a bit cramped – Cheerilee's apartment was only slightly larger, by Starlight's reckoning. A desk, a coffee table, and a pair of lime-green chairs stood against one wall, bathed in yellowish, incandescent light. A chair was braced against a door on the opposite wall, propped on its back legs, with its backrest beneath the knob. The center of the room was dominated by a queen-sized bed; amid its rumpled white sheets, Trixie lay motionless, her face pressed into a pillow.

Starlight huffed as she approached the sleeping pony. "Trix, it's almost eleven. How are you still in bed?"

"To be entirely fair," Cheerilee said, joining Starlight at the bedside. "I'd still be in bed right now, too, if you hadn't come along."

"Yeah, but this big ol' lump was sober when she turned in last night. You were hungover this morning."

"Um... yes. 'Were.' Past tense." Cheerilee rubbed the back of her mane.

Starlight huffed, slumped over the side of the bed, and nosed her way under Trixie's flank, trying to flip her onto her back. "I swear, if I have to carry you to the bathroom and hoof-wash you again—"

"Don't go into the bathroom," Trixie mumbled into the pillow, her voice a papery croak. "Nothing to be found in there but... urk..."

Starlight pulled back, exchanging a worried look with Cheerilee. Her horn sparked and glowed, and an aura gently rolled Trixie onto her side. Trixie moaned as she moved, clutching her ominously burbling stomach.

"Trixie's innards... have staged a coup... against their rightful mistress." Trixie heaved, shoved a hoof against her mouth, and shuddered as she fought down a wave of nausea. "Why must the good and the beautiful suffer?"

"Maybe because 'the good and the beautiful' downed a gallon of sketchy eggnog before turning in for the night?" Starlight said.

Trixie's hoof groped in the air, before planting lightly on Starlight's barrel. "Do. Not. Malign. The nog. The nog is blameless... pure as the driven... ohhhhh, owwieowwieowwieowwie..."

"Damn it." Starlight groaned. "I promised myself I'd keep you from overindulging..."

"It isn't your fault. You had another pony to babysit." Cheerilee stepped up beside Starlight, giving her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Incidentally... I know this isn't the most important issue right now, but why is there a chair propped against that door?"

"That leads to the bathroom. Where the coup began. " Trixie flushed. "Housekeeping will not be happy with Trixie..."

"And Twilight," Starlight sighed, face-hoofing, "will not be happy with Starlight when she sees the cleaning bill."

"Okay, it's gross, good to know," said Cheerilee. "But that doesn't explain the chair."

"The biohazard situation... must be contained... it will wreak terrible vengeance upon the world if it escapes..." Trixie shot Starlight a glare. "And as somepony hasn't yet taught Trixie a reliable adhesive spell, Trixie made do with what she... owwww..."

"Trixie, that door swings inward," Cheerilee said, matter-of-factly. "Propping a chair against it wouldn't keep anything from getting out."

"Trixie was operating under extreme stress, okay?! She did the best she could!" Trixie's body clenched up, and she clutched her stomach. "Glimmyyyyyy, be a good sexy assistant and subdue Trixie's rebellious digestive systeeeeeeem..."

"Would if I could," Starlight sighed, pulling back. "But healing magic, beyond scrapes and bruises, is all outside my ken. Sorry, Trix, but I think you're gonna need to see a real doctor for this."

"We can page an ambulance in the lobby downstairs," Cheerilee added. "They advertise it above the concierge's desk. As services go, it's kind of a red flag, but at least it's convenient."

Trixie sniffled, hugging a pillow against herself. "Can we still get brunch first? Trixie's stomach is conspicuously empty."

"Trixie."

"Nothing wrong with asking." Trixie waved a hoof vaguely at Cheerilee. "You. Chim-Chim-Cheree."

Cheerilee pressed a hoof to her chest, blinking confusedly. "That isn't my name, Trixie. It's—"

"Irrelevant. You drank all of Trixie's brandy. And you got tear-stains all over her brand new magic scarf. That was a gift from her bosom-est of buddies. Trixie demands recompense." Trixie curled her leg back against her body. "Carrying her to the lobby will do."

Starlight balked. "Trixie, we invited—"

"You invited."

"We invited Cheerilee to spend Hearth's Warming with us as a guest. Not so that she could suffer the consequences of your own crappy decision-making."

"Please don't use that word," Trixie mumbled.

Cheerilee gently nudged Starlight aside, and pressed her flank against the mattress. "It's fine, really. Starlight, would you kindly roll her onto me?"

"Gently!" Trixie added, as Starlight's levitation field flopped the sick unicorn toward Cheerilee. "Kindly and gently!"

Cheerilee grunted as Trixie draped over her back. Her knees sagged momentarily beneath the weight of the other pony, but she grit her teeth and compensated for the added burden, steadying herself. "Comfy?"

"Mmnlehhh..." Trixie burrowed her face against Cheerilee's scarf. "You're warm... you got that going for you..."

They walked toward the door, Starlight leaning close to whisper into Cheerilee's ear. "You sure you don't mind doing this? I know carrying a sick magician on your back wasn't what you signed up for..."

Cheerilee smiled. "I really don't mind. And I do owe her. I'm not sure if brunch and a magic show is still on the table, but if, by some miracle, it is..."

She hefted Trixie once, gently.

"...then this is how I plan to pay my own way."

Trixie belched.

Author's Note:

Pre-reading services for this chapter provided by Dubs "bodega is a good word" Rewatcher and Majin "perhaps that reference to Twilight's anus is a bit out of place here" Syeekoh

Comments

[Spamotron]

So how is Starlight going to tell this story to Twilight so she doesn't have a "I've been a bad friend," freakout like she did over Moon Dancer?

[Posh]

8630023 well, that would be telling, wouldn't it?

[superfun]

I look forward to the next chapter.

[Daedalus Aegle]

I finally got to looking at my Read Later list. This is a good story. I like it.

[Posh]

9212140 I was just telling people about how disappointed I was when this story bombed upon its initial publication. Seeing your positive comment made me feel a little better. Thank you.

[Daedalus Aegle]

9789021
I'm glad my weak-ass comment did some good

I know that feel, it's rough.

[R5h]

This has been fun so far, and I'm looking forward to whatever comes next!

[superfun]

Is this dead?

[Posh]

9863600 No, just dormant.

[superfun]

9863614
Alright, good

[Pen and Paper]

The way you write all three of them is pure gold, especially Trixie. I always have to brace myself for the incredible emotional whiplash your stories put me through, but it's worth it every damn time!

[Posh]

11294046 Thank you. It’s nice to know someone else appreciates this.

Yeah, Trixie’s one of those characters who’s just. Fun. I should contrive excuses to write her more often.