A Pony Displaced: Homeward

by NoLongerSober

Chapter 63 - Birthday Brouhaha

“Wakeupwakeupwakeupwakeup!”

Fleetfeather groaned as she felt her daughter bouncing up and down on her chest, rousing her from a pleasant slumber. Usually ponies get to sleep in on Sunday.

“I’m up, dear,” Fleet said before letting out a yawn. “Happy birthday, Wind Whistler.” She then learned closer, giving the foal a nuzzle and a hug with her wings.

“Thanks, Mom.” Windy returned the hug before slipping out of her mother’s grasp. “Say Mom, I was wondering, does this mean I’m nine or a thousand and twelve?”

“That…” Fleet paused, bringing a hoof to her chin. “That actually is a good question, dear. I’ll run it by Barrier later.”

“If I do count as over a thousand, I wanna get a senior’s discount card!” Wind Whistler hopped off the bed and gently landed by the door.

“I’m not sure if they’ll allow it, dear.” Fleet gave her forelegs a stretch before rising from the bed. “Either way, I’m sure this will be a birthday we’ll never forget.”

***

At one o’clock, the party was officially underway. The privates had rented a table which was set up in the back yard with a collection of wrapped gifts for the birthday girl. Underneath a clear cover was a finely decorated cake with Wind Whistler’s name in blue piping.

“Alright, so we’ve got presents, the table, cake, stage for the magician,” Daring said as she checked over the display that had been diligently set up. “Looks like all that’s left to get is the pizzas.”

Before Barrier could say anything in response, the sound of the knocking on the front door reached his ears. “Excuse me for a moment.” In a flash, he was at the door. When he opened it up, he was surprised by the sight of the little filly standing in front of him.

The filly was a light yellow colored unicorn with bright green eyes. Her mane and tail were a sharply contrasting gold and silver. Her cutie mark seemed to be a trio of differently colored poker chips. Laying atop her back was a suitcase with fancy golden clips. It looked rather expensive to Barrier.

“Hi there!” The tiny unicorn extended a hoof. “You must be Mr. Barrier. Wind Whistler’s told me so much about you.”

“She… has?” Barrier’s eyebrow rose as he shook her small hoof.

“Yep. Said she learned a lot of stuff from you,” the filly said before taking her hoof back. “Name’s High Stakes. Windy’s been a great help when it came to starting up our business together.”

“That’s great to hear,” Barrier replied as she trotted into the house. “I assume you’re here for the party.”

“You’ve got it,” Stakes said before patting the suitcase on her back. “Got her present for her right here.”

“Alright. Just place it on the table in the backyard. You’re the first one here and we’re gonna wait before we really do anything.”

“Copy that.” High Stakes waved as she walked along, passing by Daring without giving her a second glance.

“Alright, how about you and the cadets wait here while I take care of the pizzas?” Daring asked as she reached the charcoal stallion’s side.

“Thanks, Daring,” he said as he lit his horn and held a hoof out. A bag of bits appeared in his outstretched hoof before giving it to the golden mare. Feels a little light. I should probably swing by the bank after the party’s done.

“I’ll be as quick as I can,” Daring said before giving Barrier a quick hug. He gave her a kiss on the cheek before she tossed open the door and took to the open skies.

Within ten minutes, the rest of the party guests had arrived. Windy had invited her closest friends, the Vanhoover Apple foals, Melony, Shutterbug and Crispy Wings.

A few minutes after everypony had arrived, the party started off with Wind Whistler blowing out the candles on her cake. Once everypony was given a slice, with a piece with a peach slice set aside for Daring in the fridge, Wind Whistler started to open up her presents.

The first present she chose was one given by Fleetfeather. She was ecstatic to see her mother had gotten her a little snow globe with a replica of Canterlot Palace inside. Barrier’s gifts had come next. The first part was a portrait Barrier had commissioned Color Splash to make. It showed Wind Whistler being held by both of her parents with them smiling widely.

The likenesses of the three turned out perfectly due to Flash’s face being in various historical books and Splash having seen the other two personally. Barrier had wished he could include Wind Whistler’s various siblings, but found he wasn’t able to describe them well enough for Splash’s skills to replicate.

That’s where the second part of his gift came into play. It was a set of five dolls that Splash had put together. Thankfully, it was easier for Splash to try to mimic their looks as dolls than a realistic portrait.

Wind Whistler was quite happy and gave Barrier the strongest hug she could muster while fighting back tears.

The other gifts got similar reactions from her. From Aunt Yearling’s gift of a complete Daring Do book set to the bags of apple candy that Dawn and Pippin had given her.

The gift that was the most surprising to Barrier was when High Stakes opened up her suitcase. She said as a bonus for all her hard work at their business, she’d given Wind Whistler a thousand bits.

“Enjoy it, Windy,” the golden girl said before giving the birthday filly a pat on the back. “Feel free to spend it on whatever you like. The briefcase is yours too.”

“Windy,” Barrier said after managing to work his jaw back into place. “What kind of business are you two running?”

“Oh, it’s a ca—”

“Hold it,” Barrier interrupted, his ears standing at attention. “I think I hear someone at the door. One second.” His horn quickly shimmered before he found himself standing in the house and started walking towards the entrance.

Barrier thought he saw the briefest bit of purple from the window before it darted to the side. With a sigh, he opened the door and saw nothing on his front step only for a sudden burst of pink smoke to quickly flood his vision.

On reflex, the stallion fell into a battle-ready stance as the smoke started to dissipate, revealing a blue unicorn mare with a silvery blue mane. She wore a matching violet hat and cape adorned with gold, silver and blue stars.

“THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE HAS ARRIVED!” she boastfully exclaimed as she proudly posed.

“So, you’re Spectacle’s daughter.” Barrier observed as he looked the young mare over. Doesn’t seem to have brought a trunk of supplies. Hopefully she can still impress them. “Hopefully Verdant’s right about you.”

“Rest assured, sir. The Great and Powerful Trixie may be in between jobs at the moment, but Trixie guarantees the foals will all be thrilled.”

“Right, let’s get the show on the road then,” Barrier said as he turned towards the back. “The presents have already been opened, so they could probably use some entertainment.”

“Um, before we begin, there’s one thing Trixie has to ask.” Her words made Barrier look over his shoulder, seeing her fidget slightly and biting her lower lip.

“And what might that be?”

“Where’s your bathroom?” She fidgeted some more. “The Great and Powerful Trixie was rather parched earlier and now needs to empty her great and bountiful bladder.”

Barrier sighed before pointing to the door on his left. “There’s a half-bath in there that you can—” He found himself cut off by the sound of rapid steps, the door being opened and quickly shut followed by a loud sigh of relief from the mare within. Barrier rolled his eyes as he made his way towards the back yard.

Well, so far so good. Barrier noted as he moved along. Cake’s being enjoyed by everypony, the pizzas are on the way, Windy liked all of the presents and the magician’s arrived. So long as her performance is good, things should be smooth sailing from here.

Barrier opened the door to the back yard, but was taken aback by what was happening at the table. The wand Windy was holding in her hooves was glowing and shaking violently while a gust of wind picked up, pushing everypony else away from the table.

The charcoal pony started to race towards the frightened filly when the blinding light quickly grew, enveloping the entire yard. Barrier felt himself being thrown off his hooves and landing hard on his back, winding him and sending stars across his vision as his head bounced hard on the ground.

As his vision started to return to him, the first thing Barrier noticed was the prone form of a blue pegasus mare with a pink tail.

“Fleet!” Barrier called as he hefted himself upright and dashed over towards the mare. It was only when he halted in front of her did he start to notice that several things were very wrong.

The first was that everything around him now seemed a lot bigger. From the yard and chairs to the mare in front of him. The second thing was his voice, which he noticed seemed to be much higher pitched than before. Lastly was the cutie mark on her side wasn’t Fleetfeather’s. In place of a pink pinion was now three purple whistles.

“Urgh… that hurt…” The mare groaned as she started to rise up. Barrier saw that this much larger mare had two perfectly unharmed eyes as she squinted to focus.

When she looked down and spotted Barrier in front of her, she leapt back and took a defensive stance. “U-Uncle Barrier?! I… What’s going on?! Why are you a little foal?! Did the… Wait, what’s wrong with my voice?!”

More groans reached the pair’s ears as the rest of the party-goers started to stand up. All of Wind Whistler’s school friends had become young adults while the reverse had applied to the privates.

“Hey, everypony!” Daring’s voice rang out as she flew into the backyard with several pizza boxes carried in her forelegs. “I got the pizzas and I… what the-”

A burst of pink smoke appeared in the yard as a voice rang out. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is ready to astound you all!” As the smoke cleared, the magician trotted over to the table. “Now, which of you is the birthday girl?”

“Uh… I am…” Wind Whistler said she stood up, leaving Trixie somewhat baffled.

“You… You’re somewhat tall for a nine-year old…” The perplexed performer said, drawing a groan from Barrier.

***

“I can’t believe it! I just can’t friggin’ believe it!” Daring’s eye twitched as she looked over the wand in her hoof. “I look high and low for a decade and a half for the Wand of Magic Star, but it’s not in some ancient temple or lost tomb! It’s in a Faust cursed pawn shop along with her book of spells! What’s next? Tohth’s Tome of Prophecy? Keita’s Cap of Charisma? Or how about the damned Alicorn Amulet?!”

“Aunty, please,” Windy softly said as she gave the bespectacled mare a pat on the back.

“Sorry. I’m just frustrated that I took so long looking for this and it was just in some pawn shop this whole time.” Daring let out a tired sigh.

“Do you think you can reverse this?” Barrier asked as he hoisted himself onto the top of the table.

“Hopefully.” Daring set the wand gently down. “Windy, what were you doing when the wand activated?”

“Well, I was just waving it around while saying some gibberish.” Windy looked down at her hooves in embarrassment. “I didn’t even open the book and I can’t really remember what I said.”

“It’s okay, dear.” Fleet gave her daughter’s side a pat, her hoof now unable to reach her daughter’s foreleg. “I’m sure we’ll find a way to get back to normal.”

“While this is all fascinating,” Trixie interrupted in between bites of her pizza. “Should Trixie start with her performance now?”

“Might as well,” Barrier replied as he rested his chin on the table.

“Excellent!” Trixie said before finishing her slice and hopping to her hooves. “Now, Trixie will start off by making a pony disappear. May I have a foal sized volunteer?”

After a moment of silence, Verdant raised his hoof up and moved away from the table.

“Excellent!” Trixie proclaimed as a light from her horn started to glow under her hat, removing the cape from her back and holding it in front of Verdant like a sheet. “On the count of three, Trixie will make the pony behind the cape disappear! One… Two… Three!”

The light under her hat’s brim glowed brighter just as she pulled the cape away and draped it over her back once more. True to her word, Verdant had vanished without a trace. One thing Barrier had noticed was a strained look on her face and that her belly seemed to poke out from under her cape a bit more than it had before.

“Oh, Trixie immediately regrets this.” Barrier thought he heard her quietly mutter something before she tried to stand up straight once more. “And now, the Great and Powerful-” BUUURRRPP “...Ah-hem. The Great and Powerful Trixie will now make him reappear! One… Two… Three!”

A burst of Trixie’s trademark colorful smoke appeared beside her. Once the smoke cleared, Barrier spotted that Verdant had returned looking slightly damp and now sporting a pepperoni eye patch.

“Ta-dah!” Trixie shakily said as Verdant tried to shake the dampness from his coat. “Now, what trick shall Trixie perform next?”

***

After the party had wrapped up, the privates left to escort the now adult foals back to their homes, as well as explain to their respective employers why they wouldn’t be going to work the next day.

Barrier gave a sigh as he walked into the living room and hopped onto his couch. “Hope I won’t have to get used to this,” he said as he levitated his flask in front of his face.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Wind Whistler said as she snatched the silver container from his magical grasp. “You’re way too young for this stuff now.”

“Windy,” Barrier said as his right eye twitched. “I understand your reasoning, but it’s still my whiskey.”

“And alcohol does a lot more damage to a foal’s body than an adult pony’s.” She replied as Trixie, Daring and Fleetfeather walked into the room. “How do we know this won’t badly mess you up before we return you back to normal?”

“I’m willing to take that risk,” Barrier’s horn lit up as he tried to pull the flask away, but Wind Whistler was able to easily overpower the charcoal foal.

“Uncle, if you don’t stop, I’ll just dispose of this stuff myself.” Wind Whistler gave an authoritative glare, which Barrier tried to counter with one of his own as she uncapped the flask.

“You wouldn’t dare,” Barrier darkly whispered.

“Watch me!” Wind Whistler shot back before taking a quick swig of the drink. Her eyes suddenly bulged out before she spat. “Blaurgh! That’s disgusting! Why do grown-ups like drinking stuff that tastes this awful?”

“Some ponies like the effects it causes and I’ll have you know that is a very high quality whiskey.” Barrier stated as his magic pulled the flask from her distracted grasp. Before it could reach him, however, a light magenta aura overtook his and pulled the flask towards Trixie who took a quick swig.

“Hmm… Not bad, but Trixie’s had better,” the cornflower blue unicorn said before passing the flask to Daring. “At any rate, now that the show has concluded, the time has come to deal with Trixie’s payment.”

Barrier gave a sigh as he leaned back into the couch. “Alright. Might as well get this over with. How much do I owe you?”

“Everything’s itemized here,” Trixie said as her magic pulled a scroll out from under her hat. “This includes the expenses for the various smoke bombs and other supplies Trixie expended during her show.”

“Uh-huh,” Barrier barely listened as he looked over the bill. “So it all comes too… wait, seven-hundred and fifty-eight bits?”

“That’s correct.” Trixie gave a little nod as she took a seat across from Barrier. “This is a rather fair price for Trixie’s services.”

“…I don’t have that kind of money on me at the moment.” Barrier frowned as he felt a bead of sweat starting to form on his brow.

“Well, then you’ll have to fulfill your household’s part of the contract.” A devious grin crossed Trixie’s features as she stretched out in the chair.

“Contract?” Barrier stood up on the couch. “What contract are you talking about?”

“Well, the one your green friend signed when arranging Trixie’s services.” Trixie then pulled a second sheet of paper from her hat. “In the event that Trixie cannot be promptly paid for her services, then Trixie is allowed to stay at the residence of the client until the debt owed has been repaid, along with providing Trixie with food and use of the residence’s facilities.”

“I… What?!” Barrier shouted as he leapt off the couch towards her, barely managing to go two feet.

“Lemme see that,” Daring said as she grabbed the contract from the air and quickly read over it. “Let’s see, party of the first part… Well, crap. Sorry, guys. I’ve gone over my fair share of contracts in my life and this one’s looking pretty air tight.”

“Dammit, Verdant,” Barrier muttered under his breath. “Do either of you have any bits to spare on you? I doubt the bank would let me make a withdrawal like this.”

“Sorry, but no,” Daring said as she gave the contract back to Trixie. “I just sent my editor a cheque for her services, along with paying some other expenses. I won’t be able to pay her off until at least Thursday.”

“And my pay day’s not until Friday,” Fleet sighed. “Sorry about this.”

“If you want, I can just use the money Stakes gave me,” Windy interjected. “After all, it’d be more than enough.”

“No, Windy,” Barrier sighed, giving her foreleg a pat. “You shouldn’t have to pay for our oversight. Especially not with your birthday present.”

“In that case,” the unicorn mare said as she rose from the chair. “It appears unless one of the other residents has the funds to pay, then Trixie shall be staying until further notice.”

“It would seem so,” Barrier groaned as he headed towards the kitchen. “And I’m guessing we’ll be having leftover pizza for dinner.”

“Say, do you have any peanut butter and crackers that Trixie can have for dessert?”

“Now I know how Verdant felt on Butterfly Island.” Barrier muttered under his breath. “And I’m guessing it’s going downhill from here.”

Author's Note:

Alticron: Hey folks. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. This was one of many things that was long planned for and I'm glad to share this with you. Who knows how the cast will get out of this one? We'll just have to wait and see.

In the meantime, this week's pic will is for young High Stakes.

Sorry for the fact that I didn't include pics of the now adult foals, but I've been busy upgrading a lot of the old art with the new redone cutie marks for Verdant, Hatty, Gem, Gem's revised hairdo in everything except the Nightmare Knight outfit and changing Swiftsword's face. Take a look back at the past Homeward chapters in case you're interested in seeing the new looks.

See ya next time!

Comments

[Chibalt]

Barrier spotted that Verdant had returned looking slightly damp and now sporting a pepperoni eye patch.

Did... is... did trixie just do what I think she did for that trick?

[redmar]

I hope that Wind Whistler is able to return everything to normal. They also have to let Daring deal with the Wand of Magic Star itself and I bet Twilight would love to read those books.

[goranxii]

The age thing should be fairly easy to fix, as long as Daring has one of those enchanted ribbons.

[harts fire]

Trixie is such a fun pony for in any story.

[Xanderfox]

Well High Stakes is a regular little confilly isn't she? And now we have a Great and Powerful Freeloader!

[A.P.O.N.I.]

Or how about the damned Alicorn Amulet?!

"Ooo! Trixie can speak to that one!"

Also, that's a great contract there, Trixie. I think that more people would get promptly paid if that was in the contract.

[Midknight Defender]

Say Mom, I was wondering, does this mean I’m nine or a thousand and nine?

One thousand twelve, Windy.

9 years subjective time, and a thousand and three years in the Crystal Empire. Or was it four? I forget what Uncle Barrie said it was before he got banished for exactly a thousand with Nightie dearest.

[Alticron]

10786087
Heh. Edited since I forgot that three years thing. My bad.