Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 35th cycle. Now cycle 36!

Had the idea for this cycle back in July or August where I thought it'd be interesting to do a set inspired by tarot cards. My initial research then directed me to the cards of the Major Arcana, of which there were 22, so I combined two, which got me to 21, making this a cycle-long set of stories. Then I did more research, to find out about each of those cards, and what they can represent. Now I need to point out that it's a more or less basic approach. I don't go into the reverse meaning or other things, just this part. ** If you would like the document of info I've collected and based myself on, let me know and I'll send it, since it covers the next three weeks' worth of stories. ** Lastly, in connection to the first card, 'The Fool', and the journey through those other cards, this entire cycle will feature, in lead or supporting form, one Brittany S. Pierce...

"A Little Sunlight"
or 'The Sun' (of course ;))
Young Brittany, Rachel, Quinn, Puck, Finn
Sunshine Girls #36 (following Sunburned, etc...)

The plush blue hippo had been named Blippo when, seeing him up on the wall of the carnival's ring toss game, that was what she'd called him. Her grandfather, who had won it for her, would say sometimes excitement make it too hard for her to enunciate. She wasn't sure what it meant, but regardless… Blippo the blue hippo had been hers from that day, and from that day he had been her best friend. With her small stature, she would have to carry him right in front of herself, arms around his middle – no chance in hell she would carry her friend by an ear, or a leg, show some respect… Depending on her level of comfort with a situation, her face would emerge from behind Blippo's head, up to eye level… If she planted her chin on top of his head, then you were in the clear. She took him just about anywhere… like the park.

Her grandfather took her there that day, as she was staying over while her mother was out of town for a competition. Everything was going fine, she had gone for a spin on the merry-go-round – by herself, because Blippo got dizzy a lot quicker than she ever did – and when she'd come off it, her feet tripping about until she could regain her balance, he was gone. She frowned, looking around, but he wasn't there. She remained as she was, very calm, for… a few seconds. Then she ran to find her grandfather, tears already streaming down her face, she…

She skidded to a stop when she spotted them, up in the jungle gym, and she redirected her steps. It was kind of a big deal, having superheroes hanging around, at least to her. She'd see them around sometimes. They looked out for people. They'd be sitting up there, looking around, and then all of a sudden they would jump down, run off, and they'd do their thing. Brittany had seen them, time and again… they were amazing. No one had to tell her they were superheroes, she could tell. If anyone could help her get Blippo back… it would be them.

"Hello?" she called up and the girls looked down.

"Hi," the blonde one replied.

"Can you help me? Please?"

"What's wrong?" the brunette one bent over the bar to see her better.

"My friend, I can't find him," Brittany explained.

"Hang on, we're coming," the blonde told her, moving to help the other girl, who seemed less agile at scaling the bars. They landed on the ground and walked up to her. She'd never seen them up-close before, and if she wasn't so worried about Blippo she might have been thrilled to see them. They were both shorter than her, but they looked to be her age. The brunette was dressed in red, the blonde in blue.

"Where did you lose him?" the brunette asked.

"Over there, I can show you," she took off running, looking back to make sure they were following; they were. They got back to the merry-go-round. "I put him right here," she pointed. "He doesn't like to spin, he gets sick," she explained.

"Put him?" the blonde asked. "Who's your friend?"

"His name is Blippo. He's blue… he's a hippo…" Brittany nodded along. The two girls looked to each other. "My grandpa got him for me, I don't want to lose him," she shook her head, begging, and maybe this did it, that or the tears on her face, her unhappiness. The brunette looked to the blonde at her side, and Brittany saw she'd stretched out her hand behind her back. The blonde did the same, and the two of them did… something… with their hands, like their fingers made the shape of a sun. Then they smiled.

"We'll help you," the blonde nodded. "I'll go back up the bars, maybe I can see him," she dashed back to the jungle gym. The brunette turned back to Brittany.

"Let's go look," she told her, and they started walking around, looking under things, in bushes…

"I won't tell anyone about you guys, you know?" Brittany told her, and the brunette looked confused, but she nodded. "About who you are, what you do?" She leaned in, and the brunette blinked. "I won't tell," she shook her head with a whisper.

"Oh… Okay," she nodded, and maybe she was accepting this statement, or maybe she was deciding to play along. "I'm Beams," she introduced herself. "That one up there," she pointed to the jungle gym where the blonde was scanning the park, "She's Rays." She looked back to Brittany, stood up tall. "And we're the All-Mighty Sunshine Girls," she announced, and Brittany's eyes grew wide.

"That's cool…" she declared. This made the brunette smile.

"It is?" she asked, and Brittany nodded. Just then, the blonde came running up.

"I found him, I found him!" she shouted over.

"You did?" Brittany asked, wiping tears off her face. The blonde nodded, but then she looked to her friend. "What's wrong?"

"They've got him," she announced, and the brunette gasped.

"W-Who's got him?"

"Those boys… The pest, and the other one," the blonde declared. "They're out over there," she pointed.

"Well let's go get him!" Brittany started to go, but the girls ran out in front of her.

"Wait, you don't want to do that," the brunette shook her head.

"Why not?" Brittany asked.

"They're mean… mean boys," the blonde explained.

"But they have Blippo!" she insisted.

"We'll get him back, we will," the brunette promised. "But we have to be careful," she explained.

"Let us do it," the blonde nodded. "Stay here?" Brittany agreed, and the girls ran off. She took a couple of steps forward, keeping the superheroes in sight. Then she saw the boys, and she saw…

"Blippo…" she gasped. Her plush friend wasn't harmed, from what she could see. One of the boys, the one she'd soon figure was the one the blonde girl referred to as the Pest, was tossing the hippo in the air and catching him, over and over, sometimes tossing him to his friend, who would toss it back. The girls got up to them, and she couldn't hear them, but from what she could see, it seemed the girls were yelling. This went back and forth for a while and then all of a sudden the boys took off running, the Pest holding Blippo by his back leg, with the girls hot on their trail. Brittany wanted to run after them… but they'd told her to stay there… but that mean boy was holding Blippo like a common toy! Maybe… maybe she could just catch them by surprise, then they'd stop, and the girls would have a chance… "I'm coming for you," she nodded to herself, bracing herself before she could take off running, right at the boy who had her Blippo captive. She wasn't sure what she was doing exactly, if she'd stop, or tackle him, or…

The boy didn't see her coming, not until she was nearly within arm's length, and then she shrieked and tucked to the ground, which startled him and made him trip and fall on his back, the plush hippo rolling away on the grass. Brittany looked up and sprinted over to get him, returning him to the safety of her arms. The other boy and the two girls caught up as the Pest was getting up.

"Get out of here!" the blonde told the boys, who frowned and ran away.

"Thank you," Brittany beamed to the girls.

"You're the one who got him back," the brunette told her with a smile.

"Brittany?" she heard her grandfather's voice and she turned and waved at him.

"I have to go," she told the girls. "And I promise I won't tell," she nodded to the brunette before running back to her grandfather, a wild story to tell him while she'd inspect that Blippo was safe and sound and not covered in dirt.

"What was that about?" Quinn asked as they marched back to the jungle gym. Rachel shrugged, smiled.

"I don't know… I think she really believes we're Sunshine Girls…"

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!