The day began like any other.

Aster walked through her shop, dusting the tables and adjusting the books. A few of them were always out of place, looking just about to fall. She might have to have a talk with that first employee of hers. How difficult was it to just push the books in far enough? A little more effort, that’s all she wanted. The sigh that came from her mouth was patient, yes, but tempered with the feelings of frustration. She wanted her place to be nice and orderly, not looking to fall apart. Cozy did not mean lazy!

But that task was interrupted when the sheep noticed something. Her normal cheerful whistle was cut short as something was made apparent. It was only when she could see the tiny little scrapes across the dust, looking like minuscule paws, that she grew truly concerned. Perhaps it wasn’t her worker at all, but rather the work of something more dangerous to her business? The little thieves would infest her shop as quickly as they could, seeking out the treats she was baking in the back room before vanishing into the night. Health inspectors would find this to be unacceptable, much as she already did. For when it came to keeping a bakery-slash-bookstore open, few things were as bad as these vermin invaders.

Rats.

In truth, the week had been long. Traps littered the store as she had tried to stop these furry monsters from getting her precious wares. Springs were hidden under doors during closing and a few pieces of poison were scattered around, though always safely concealed. What truly vexed the sheepy proprietor was the fact that none of those seemed to ever attract the beast! It deftly avoided the lethal temptations and found its way towards the back, sometimes opening the door before absconding itself with her cookies. There were no traces of where it took its pilfered loot, though she knew the pattern.

It was always the cookies.

SNAP.

Aster smirked as she stepped forward, having planned on this evil creature’s weekly appearance. These cookies were placed over a trap, hand crafted for the clever little beasty. A variety of springs had been carefully twisted, over the course of hours, to trap this one no matter where it went. It took the off-duty hero so long to prepare for the infiltration, working her broad fingers to the bone. Having such big digits meant this delicate task was that much more difficult! Stopping the attacker would be worth it, though.

She grabbed the rolling pin. It could still be alive, or aggressive. Rats in this city seemed positively superpowered.

What she didn’t expect, and how could she, was the sight of the little fae sitting on her countertop. The little girl was wearing clothes that seemed to exist in this strange place between natural and artificial. Bands of gold clasped glitter sized gems against her chest and yet the dress itself seemed to be made of threads from innumerable leaves. A hazy shimmer came from the girl with every breath, particularly from the gossamer wings as they slowly beat in the open air. The tiny bits of dust twinkled like mid-day starlight, outlining everything nearby in a supernatural glow.

She was adorable.

“Oh uh… are you my rat?” Aster asked, lamely, as she noticed the tiny visitor sitting atop her carefully modified mousetrap. Something this small and fragile had to be willing to talk, right? Stories of fairies always showed them as mischievous, never outright difficult.

“Ah’m nae rat, ye right moran. Ah’m yer fairy godmothah o’ sum such.”

The fact that this speech was so heavily accented meant Aster had to take a moment to actually figure this one out. Processing was so slow she could practically see the loading bar in her own head, much less how bumfuzzled she must look to her apparent guardian creature. But then she shook her head, muttered a few words, and had to confirm.

“Seriously?”

“Nae, Ah’m jus’ coddin’ ya, sheepy. Dun even know yer name.” the fairy laughed a little bit, her voice high and musical. Despite the coarseness of her words, she was certainly still impossibly cute.

Also, not an animal she’d ever seen. No fur or scales? Weird.

“Well, I’m Aster and-”

“Deadly trap, though! Mighta gotten me right banjaxed, but yaer too slow fer me.” And then the fairy tapped the jar of cookies she had chosen for a seat.

The sheep watched as the dust from the fairies wings suddenly floated into the air and formed a bright circle of golden radiance. The center soon was made visible; a place of plants and wildlife. The sound of animals came through loud and clear, even a few raindrops falling onto the girl’s wool. She was startled enough by the appearance of this magical portal that Aster didn’t even notice the fairy lifting into the air and heading for her escape…

With the whole supply, jar and all.

“Wait! Get back here with my cookies!” Aster rushed over, trying to get there but was just a bit too slow to reach the tiny retreating form.

“Yae’ll ‘member this as the day ye almost stopped yer cookie bandit!”

And then the portal was gone. Aster sighed and went to get another jar. Who would ever believe her when she told them about magical cookie fairies? Stormwave would just mock her, forever. Maybe Purity, since that horse was magical and stuff, but seriously. Magical tiny pixies taking her cookies in the middle of the morning? And making teleportals? That seemed... almost on brand with Horizon. But still, it was like she thought earlier.

This was just another day.

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I'm back and I have a lot of patreon stories to post today! And a big one! Jeez, computer issues kept creeping up. But hey! I can introduce my little fairy... Aisling.
Alongside a certain sheepy

In truth, I had this pic for a while but couldn't muster up the fortitude to write a caption. But I did! On stream!

Featuring my new little girl, Aisling. A few inches tall, super Irish, and very forward with her cookie love.
And a background appearance of Aster, owned by  phatman1201
And drawn by the utterly phenomenal Yumi Baker on DA, who is just amazing. Never fails to be crazy good.

More to come!