“Beatrice Lulamoon! You come out of hiding this instant!” the voice of Maximus Lulamoon called out from their living room. The sky-blue unicorn peeked under the coffee table for the elusive little filly, but no such luck. “Trixie, you better come out or you’re in big trouble, little missy!”

His ears swiveled as he heard a giggle from the next room over, as well as the sound of little hooves scampering across the hardwood floor of their home. An exasperated sigh escaped him as he realized he had his work cut out for him tonight.

"Trixie, are you in the kitchen?”

“Nuh-uh,” he heard the voice of his daughter say from the kitchen, followed by another giggle.

Despite it, Maximus gave a humored grin at his daughter's antics. There were times when she did them for the sole purpose of adding more white hairs to his already silvering blonde mane. “Trixie, come on now, it’s time for your bath.”

He walked into the kitchen, his brown eyes searching the suspiciously quiet kitchen. Everything looked normal. Pots were where they were supposed to be, the refrigerator was closed, the cabinets remained unopened; everything seemed like it should be.

Until his eyes fell upon the cookie jar as it lay on its side—its contents recently raided.

“Trixie! Did you help yourself to the cookies again?”

His gaze snapped to the side as he caught something dash away and up the stairs of their home. A quick search turned up cookie crumbs on the kitchen floor—chocolate chip crumbs to be precise.

“Little filly, when I get ahold of you, you are in so much trouble!” Another huff escaped him as he used his magic to set the cookie jar upright and deposited the crumbs in the waste bin.

‘That little filly… I swear by Celestia she is going to drive me crazy.’

Clip-clopping up the stairs, he caught sight of a small shadow duck into her room. He pushed the door open and peered around. Her toys were spread across the floor, a few stuffed dolls lay strewn about, as well as hairbrush and assorted hair accessories. He frowned as he saw the new dress he had bought for her the other day was laying haphazardly on the ground. Why is it she couldn’t keep her room clean?

Right now, that was beside the point. It was going on bedtime and there was a little filly that needed a bath.

"Trixie, I know you’re in here. Quit hiding and come take your bath.”

His ears turned at the sound of a muted giggle and he looked at the curtains hanging from her bedroom window. Peeking out from the edges of the curtain, he could see a pair of light blue hooves sticking out—as well as a silvery tail sticking out from the side of the curtain.He grinned beside himself and spoke out loud. “Oh, now where could she have gone? She is a master hide and seeker.”

Another muted giggle and he saw the curtain shift a bit.

He walked toward her closet. “Let’s see. Are you… in the closet!” He opened the closet suddenly and cast a glance over his shoulder at the still hiding filly. Other than a small movement, she remained still.

He walked toward the bed. “No, huh? Well then. Are you… under the bed!”

She giggled a bit louder, but held as still as she could. He smiled to himself before he noted something under her mattress. With a charge of his horn he pulled the item out.

"Hey, there are my trick cards.” He gave the curtain a bemused frown. “So this is where they went.”

There was a guilty shuffle behind the curtain, but she didn’t come out of her not-so-clever hiding spot.

Tucking his cards away, he turned and gave a dramatic sigh. “Well, she’s too good for me to find. Guess I’ll just go down stairs and read before bed. Since a certain little filly is going to hide from her poor, old father, he might as well just enjoy the quiet.”

As he walked toward the door to the bedroom, he saw her little tail swishing. He made sure to walk just a little bit closer to the curtain.

As soon as he did, a dark blue filly popped out from behind the curtain—her forelegs spread wide as she shouted, “Boo!”

“Ahh!” he shouted as he jumped away from her.

"Got you, Daddy!” Trixie giggled as she tackled into his foreleg, her back legs kicking as she tried to tip him over.

He fell over with some dramatics, pulling his daughter along with him as he rolled. “Ugh! You got me! How could you do this to your own father, you little rascal.”

She turned her nose up and flipped her mane back out of her eyes. “It was easy. I was hiding from you!”

He gave her a humored smirk. “You sure did. Scared me so bad I fell over. So now what are you going to do?”

She blinked and tilted her head at him—staring at him with those violet irises that reminded him so much of her mother. “Umm… Get more cookies?”

Giving her a flat stare, he shook his head. “You’ve had enough cookies, little missy, time for your bath.”

Her eyes widened and she tried scrambling for the doorway.

"Oh no you don’t!” he called after her. His horn lit up and lifted her off the ground. She kept running in place—her little hooves working in a blur—before she looked at them then at him.

"That’s not fair, Dad! I don’t wanna take a bath!”

He got to his hooves and looked at her. “You need to take a bath, Trixie. You have to take one every night so your mane doesn’t get ratted.” He took a discreet sniff. “Besides, you were outside playing in the dirt and you stink.”

She crossed her forelegs in a pout, still hovering in his magic. “I don’t stink!”

Giving her a firm nod, he carried her towards their bathroom. “Yes you do and you’re getting that bath. No arguments, little missy.”

She flailed in his magic as he turned on the bathtub, filling it with warm water. He looked over at her and gave her a sly smirk. “If you stop fighting, I’ll make it a bubble bath.”

She shook her head. “Nuh-uh! I don’t need a bath, Dad. I’m clean. Look.” Turning around in his magic, she tried to show that she wasn’t dirty at all.

He glanced at the spots of dirt on her coat and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, really clean. In the bath you go.” Levitating her above the water, he prepared to drop her in, but the moment he released her from his magic, she somehow was able to cling to his face.

"I don’t wanna take a bath!”

"Trixie, quit being so difficult and take your bath!” He pulled at her, but she had a death grip on him that he was afraid she’d take his mane with her.

"Nuh-uh! The Great and Powerful Twixie doesn’t need baths! She doesn’t need to be clean!” she yelled as she clung desperately to his face.

He grunted as she used that stage name she made for herself. “The Great and Powerful Trixie isn’t going to see the Great and Momentous Maximus’ next show if she isn’t clean! Quit being stubborn and get in!”

As he struggled to pry her loose, he bumped into the tub, causing some of the water to spill out across the floor. Unable to see it, he wasn’t able to stop himself as his hooves gave out from under him sending the both of them into the tub with an impressive splash that nearly reached the ceiling above.

When the water resettled, he gave his sheepish daughter a flat look. “Well, it seems we both are taking a bath, aren’t we.”

She giggled and splashed him.

"You little mink.” He splashed her back and she laughed as the water sprayed across her.

The two had a quick splashing fight before he was finally able to get the little filly to calm down long enough for him to get some shampoo into her mane and give it a good scrub. As he ran the bath brush over her coat, he caught sight of her glowering.

"Something on your mind, Sweet Pea?” he asked as he turned the faucet again to wash the soap from her coat.

"Why do I need baths every day, Dad?” She shook the running water from her face. “I’m just gonna get dirty again. It’s a waste of time to take them every day.”

He hummed as he pulled the drain from the tub, the soapy water swirling down the drain. “Maybe so, but you’ve always have to remember that a showmare must look her best every time. If she doesn’t take pride in her appearance, how can she expect her audience to take her seriously?” He lifted a towel from the rack and began to scrub her down. “You do want to be a showpony like your old man, don’t you?”

She nodded quickly even as she squirmed from the rough drying. “But it’s so… boring…” she groused.

A smirk tugged at his face. “Maybe so, but it’s something you have to do. So no arguing.”

Her bottom lip stuck out in a pout and he couldn’t suppress a chuckle. “Oh, don’t give me the pouty lip, or it’ll get stuck that way” He hung the towel on the rack to dry. “You don’t want to go through life with a pouty lip all the time, do you?”

She blinked and sucked her lip back in. “N-no, I’d look silly.”

"Right.” He ushered her out and towards her bedroom. “Come on now. Time for bed.”

Her ears pinned back, and she gave him the cute, filly eyes routine. “But I’m not tired yet…”

He shook his head. “No buts, little missy. You got into the cookie jar when you weren’t supposed to, so it’s time for bed.”

"Aww…” she lowered her head and peeked up at him, her lip jutting out just a bit again.

A firmer shake of his head sealed the deal. “Not happening. Come on, bed.”

"Can I at least get a story?” she asked in a quiet sort of voice.

‘Blast it all…’

"Fine…” he groused, knowing she won that round.

"Yay!” She sprang away into her room and quickly settled under her dark blue blankets. She patted the side of her bed for him to sit. “Come on, Dad. Tell me about the show in Manehatten again.”

He sighed as he sat on the side of the bed—the wooden frame creaking under his weight. “I’ve told you that story a dozen times already, Trixie, how about a new one?”

She shook her head firmly. “Uh-uh, I wanna hear it again. I like that one.”

A warm smile crossed his face. “All right, all right. I’ll tell you one more time, but you’ve got to promise to go to sleep, okay?”

"Promise!” She blinked before she look around her bed, lifting up a pillow to search under it. “Where’s Lulu? I can’t sleep without her.”

His gaze swept the room until it fell on a stuffed doll of a mare made of an off white material with light pink strands of cloth that counted as a mane.

"Here she is,” he said as he levitated the doll to her.

She eagerly took the doll in her forelegs and gave it a tight squeeze before settling under her blankets again. “All right, Daddy, tell me the story, please?”

He ran a hoof through her still damp mane, and smiled again. “Well, there I was on the stage of Manehatten’s most prestigious theater. The lights were dim, I couldn’t really make out the faces of my audience, but I could hear their awed gasps and cries of amazement as I put on a lights display of Princess Celestia as she vanquished the dreaded sea serpent. The crowd squealed as the sea serpent flew above their heads and many more would…”

As he told his story of that long ago show that made his name a common household mention, he would watch as Trixie watched him with fascinated eyes. But as time passed, he saw those little eyes grow a bit more distant and her eyelids weigh down on her. Even though she was falling asleep, he kept up with his story. Soon enough, he paused in his telling as he saw her blankets rise and fall with rhythmic breathing—she snuggled so tightly with her little doll, he was afraid she’d tear it. Now that was a tragedy he wanted to avoid at all costs.

Despite it all, he gently climbed off her bed and watched her for a moment before leaning in close and kissing her atop her head. She gave a soft moan and snuggled deeper, a light smile on her face.

"Dream big, Sweet Pea, dream big,” he whispered as he used his magic to bring the blankets up around her shoulders. With a final look her way, he turned off the lights to the room and stepped out.

Author's Notes:

“I giggled so evilly after I murdered everyone and won.” Foals Errand via skype chat 8/20/15

Proof she is evil! Beware the adorably evilness of Foals Errand!