The sun shone brightly through the window, a bright warm blanket of light draped over the table in the kitchen of Carousel Boutique. To one side sat the alabaster unicorn who lived there; on the other side, the buttercream pegasus who was her best friend. As they sat, they sipped from their cups.

“I’m thinking about getting into fencing,” Rarity said.

“Oh, like, the sport? With weapons and stuff? My brother used to do that back when we were younger.” Fluttershy smiled.

Rarity let out a little sigh. “Oh, Zephyr? I wonder if he would... tutor me...”

“Oh, Rarity, it’s been years since he’s done it, back when we were just kids. I’m sure he doesn’t remember anything.”

“Oh, but I’m sure it would all come back to him once we started, don’t you think?” Rarity asked.

“No, not really. That’s kind of ridiculous”

Fluttershy scooted her chair out from the table and stood up, trotting over to the kitchen counter. From the stovetop, she picked up a teapot—an ornate, ancient thing—and started to walk back to the table with the thing between her teeth.

Suddenly, there was a very loud noise. HURP!

Fluttershy jumped, startled, dropping the teapot in the process. Time seemed to slow down as the antique china spiralled towards the ground, and—

“What in the heck was that?!” Rarity exclaimed. Fluttershy opened her eyes—which had instinctively snapped shut—to see that, miraculously, the teapot hadn’t fallen to the ground and shattered; it was suspended aloft by a shimmering blue magical aura. Yet even though the teapot was saved, a pool of the liquid had spilled onto the floor, soaking Fluttershy’s hooves.

“Definitely wasn’t me,” Fluttershy said wearily. “Maybe it came from outside.”

“Oh, whatever. What were we talking about again? Oh, yes, fencing...” Rarity set the teapot down on the table, and then picked up a cloth rag from the counter in her magic. She moved as if to wipe up the liquid, but—

“Did someone say fencing?!” another voice exclaimed. The cabinet beneath the kitchen counter burst open and a smiling pink pony popped out, her mane floofing up as she stood up. “Ahhhhh, stick ’em up! Let’s goooo!”

Rarity facehoofed. “Pinkie, I was just talking about it. I haven’t actually started lessons.”

“I bet you could take her,” Fluttershy remarked.

“Nah, I’m way too good.” The pink pony leapt over to the puddle on the ground, and started licking. “Got me some mad skillz.”

Rarity grimaced; Fluttershy just stared.

“Why... why are you drinking the tea from the floor?”

“It’s not tea, it’s super fencing power energy juice!” the pink pony said with a grin. “I’ve got to lap all of it up for the big tournament.”

“I’ve never heard of any tournament,” Rarity said, skeptical.

The pink one smirked. “Yeah, it’s a secret right now. You could try asking Mayor Mare about it, but I’ve heard she gets real de-fence-ive.”

A beat. Then, all three of them laughed, uproariously.

“You think I could maybe start training, be ready in time for this tournament?”

“Oh definitely, silly! And I’d be happy to help ya! Though not too much. I still need to win, heehee.”

And, much as the sun kept shining on down through the window of the Boutique, life went on.