Odds 'n' Ends

by TheAncientPolitzanian

Growing Pains

Starlight examined the 'assignment' Twilight had just given her. "It's a… pot of dirt?"

"Not just dirt," Twilight explained. "There's a seed inside!"

"Ah, that makes more sense!"

"Which brings me to your assignment, Starlight: I want you to take that seed and grow it into a—"

"Got it!"

"Huh? Starlight, I wasn't fini—"

Not letting Twilight finish — after all, if she already knew what to do, then why wait? — Starlight immediately cast the requisite spell. On cue, the dirt rumbled; moments later, a colossal mass of leaf-covered branches shot out of it, quickly growing towards the ceiling. Once the dust had settled, the gargantuan philodendron may as well have been a Hearth's Warming tree.

"Ta-da!" Starlight singsonged, eyes closed and smile wide in prideful satisfaction... That is, until she felt the daggers Twilight was staring into her. "Wait, shoot. There was going to be a catch, wasn't there?"

"Yes," Twilight deadpanned. "Yes there was."

"And that catch was…?"

"'Grow the seed into a plant… without using magic.'"

"Ah. That, uh, makes more sense."

---

Author's Note:

A slightly extended edit of my June 2022 flashfic submission, based on the prompt "Pride" by Mockingbirb.