Princess Silver Swirl was in her castle tower, looking out one of the many
windows. That was nothing new. What was new was the furry shape the unicorn saw on the
main roof of Friendship Castle.
"Look, Jade!" she called to her dragon. "Princess Twinkle Star's cat, Cataline, is
on the roof. I think she can't get down."
Jade fluttered over to see, and then looked at Silver Swirl. What are you going
to do about it? the little dragon asked telepathically.
Silver Swirl frowned and considered. Had Cataline been any creature other than a
cat, it would have been a simple matter for Silver Swirl to wink onto the roof, pick Cataline up,
and wink to safety. However, Silver Swirl was violently allergic to cats. Not the sneezing and
nose-blowing kind of allergic; the kind where if she so much as touched a cat she would break out
in awful rashes. Not wanting to go through that horrible experience again, Silver Swirl came up
with an alternate plan.
"I'll just tell Twinkle Star that Cataline's up there. Then Twinkle Star can fly up
and get her." Silver Swirl nodded in satisfaction and winked to Twinkle Star's room.
When she materialized there, the only living creature in the room was herself.
Sighing, Silver Swirl trotted over to the room next door-- Princess Trixiebelle's room.
"Hi, Silver Swirl," said the jester. "You're here just in time. I need more funny
songs. Could you teach me one?"
"Hmm," said Silver Swirl. "Do you know the ‘Pigs in a Tree' one?"
Trixiebelle nodded.
"Hmm... how about this one?" Silver Swirl went on to recite, "Oh, I went to
Cincinnati and I walked around the block,
"And I walked right into a bakery shop,
"And I picked up a doughnut and I wiped off the grease,
"And I handed the lady a five-cent piece.
"Well, she looked at the nickel and she looked at me
"And she said, ‘Hey pony you can plainly see
"There's a hole in the nickel; there's a hole right through!'
"Said I: ‘There's a hole in the doughnut too!' "
Trixiebelle laughed. "That's great! Now, what was it you came about?"
"I need to find Twinkle Star," explained Silver Swirl.
"Oh," said Trixiebelle. "She left to visit the Bushwoolies this morning."
Silver Swirl quickly thanked the jester and winked to the Bushwoolie holes. Lots
of Bushwoolies were rushing around in the grassy meadow and the air was filled with excited
chatter.
Eager noticed Silver Swirl and scurried over to her. "Silver Swirl!" he exclaimed.
"We need your help; yes we do."
"Sure, I'll help you," Silver Swirl agreed. "What do you need?"
"Well," explained Eager, "there's a big baseball game coming up and we
Bushwoolies wanted to cheer for it. But we can't make the pyramid part work."
"I'll see what I can do," promised the unicorn. "First, gather up ten Bushwoolies--
four really big ones, three medium-sized ones, two small ones, and one tiny one."
Eager rounded up the required participants, and Silver Swirl showed them how to
balance on each other's backs. After a few rounds of practice, the Bushwoolies managed to make
a pyramid that didn't fall down. Eager was full of thanks.
"No problem," said Silver Swirl. "Have you seen Princess Twinkle Star?"
The Bushwoolies said that they had. "But she left to take Jolly and Mirthful to the
Satin Slipper Sweet Shoppe," added Wishful.
"Oh, thanks, guys!" exclaimed Silver Swirl, and winked away.
"But, Wishful," Cheery protested, "that was hours ago!"
"Oops," said Wishful. "I wish I had a better memory."
Silver Swirl winced when she winked into the Satin Slipper Sweet Shop. Two baby
ponies were screaming their lungs out at each other.
"I want the green and pink ones!" yelled Baby Surprise.
"But I want those two! You can have the red and purple ones!" retorted Baby
Glory.
"The red and purple ones are ugly! You take them!"
The two youngsters were sitting at a table with Tall Tales, whom Silver Swirl
trotted up to. "What happened?"
"I'm baby-sitting them," the other pony explained. "I got four ribbons for them so
they could each have two, but they both want the same two."
"Well... I remember something I read in a book that might work. Let me talk to
them," Silver Swirl replied. She approached the two antagonists.
"Hey guys, I think we can solve this problem of yours."
"How?" asked Baby Glory sullenly.
"Well, how about this: Baby Glory will divide the ribbons into two groups. Then
Baby Surprise will decide who gets which group. Does that sound fair?"
Both youngsters considered for a moment and reluctantly decided that it was fair.
Baby Glory ended up with the red and pink ribbons and Baby Surprise with the purple and green.
When the problem was settled, Silver Swirl went to talk to Scoops.
The busy store owner said that Twinkle Star had brought the Bushwoolies to the
shop, and then she had left for the Pokèmon Center.
Silver Swirl sighed and winked to the Pokèmon Center. She arrived and looked
around for Twinkle Star. She didn't see the other Princess, but she did spot Twinkle Star's
friend, Dazzle Glow.
"Hi, Dazzle Glow," she greeted the other pony.
"Hi," Dazzle Glow replied sadly.
"What's wrong?" asked Silver Swirl.
"Well, it's my Catterpie's first battle today, against a Nidoran. I'm kind of worried
that it might be too much for him; but if I cancel the battle, it'll look like me and Catterpie are
both wimps," Dazzle Glow sighed.
Silver Swirl thought about this. "Well, if you really think it's too much for him,
you shouldn't force him, especially if it's his first battle. On the other hand, you can't hold him
back forever-- he has to get experience sometime. Maybe you should talk to the Nidoran's trainer
about it."
"You're right-- I'm not going to put Catterpie in danger just to look good. I'll ask
Nidoran's trainer to have Nidoran go easy on Catterpie. Thanks so much for the advice! How
many Pokèmon do you have?" Dazzle Glow questioned.
"Actually," replied Silver Swirl, "I don't have any."
"You don't have any?" Dazzle Glow sounded astonished. "Hey, how would you
like a Mew?"
Now it was Silver Swirl's turn to be surprised. She knew that Mews were rare and
therefore valuable. They were certainly cute, though, she reflected. And it would be nice to have
her own Pokèmon. "You really wouldn't mind giving it up?" Silver Swirl inquired.
"Not at all, especially since you were so nice to me. Here." Dazzle Glow fished a
PokèBall out of her bag and handed it to Silver Swirl. "I know you'll take good care of
her."
Silver Swirl thanked Dazzle Glow and asked, for the fourth time, the whereabouts
of Princess Twinkle Star.
"Oh, she was here," the other pony affirmed. "She left a few hours ago."
"Did she say where she was going?" asked Silver Swirl.
"Nope," replied Dazzle Glow.
Silver Swirl moaned and winked back to her tower in Friendship Castle. She
looked out the window, expecting to see Cataline. To her surprise, the cat wasn't there. "What
happened to Cataline?" she asked Jade.
Twinkle Star came and got her, the dragon replied casually.
"What? You mean all of this searching was for nothing?" Silver Swirl almost
shrieked.
Jade shrugged and asked what was in the ball. Silver Swirl remembered the Mew
and opened the PokèBall. A lovely, cat-like creature popped out.
Silver Swirl spent the next ten minutes getting to know the Mew, whose name was
Melisande. As she talked to her new friend, she thought of everyone she'd helped, and concluded
that the day hadn't been wasted after all.