Whooves and DanG
Chapter 3: Busted On The Playground
Previous ChapterChapter 3
Busted on the playground
"Tell me again why we're going to hang with my friends instead of teaching me some of the amazing dragon stuff you did a week ago?" Claire pleaded as we walked toward the Ponyville park. Her adventurous nature was getting the best of her. My war stories weren't helping stall her much either.
"Ah but this is part of my young trainee." I joked in a sage tone. All I got from Claire was a "Not amused" expression. Ahead I heard the voices of the others become just audible. Seemed as if my plan for a little training disguised as fun with the other foals would pay off. It was also a chance for me to get to know the other kids better.
The first to make an appearance was Prism Bolt. He was lazing in a tree branch just over the heads of the others looking like he was bragging about a stunt he tried. He was shaped like Soarin but had Dash's mane and tail color. Knowing his mother it wasn't a stretch that he'd be just as egotistical. My plans with the group would be a good opportunity to knock him down a peg.
Next was Turquoise, Rare's son. I knew him as well as I knew Claire. He'd agreed to meet us at the park after running to the library to return a book. In a way he reminded me of myself, having the protective personality he kept hidden.
Beside him was what appeared to be an orange mini-Twilight. Starburst had such a bored to death expression on her face it was easy to tell she wanted nothing to do with idly chatting. She was more of a soldier than a foal. I figured it was the pegasi blood running through her mixed with her dad Flash's military genes. The only way to get her to read a book was if it was related to being in the royal guard.
Beside her was her polar opposite. Seeing Candy excited was a clear hint to who her mother was. I was just glad the filly wasn't as mentally unstable as her mother.
A few steps from the group stood Golden Delicious. This colt seemed like he'd stepped out of a future western romance novel than anything. He could buck an acre to rival his mother AJ but was a gentleman when it came to manners. Del had a tolerance that could even, as impossible as it sounds, outlast Pinkie's enthusiasm. I wondered if he even had a temper at all.
Beside him was Anthea. She was the only pony out of the group was wasn't blood-related to her mother. She was nature tuned like Shy but way more sociable. She hung around Del a lot as he was her escort as well as her friend.
Annie was the first to detect Claire and I's approach. I took note as her head and ears pointed directly in our direction before we'd gotten into the clearing. Being only able to see colors made me curious about how she'd do during the game. Annie joked about our arrival time as the others caught us in the corners of their eyes. I couldn't let the joke end one sided.
"A hero is never tardy, Young Anthea, nor is one ever ahead of schedule, we arrive exactly when we're needed," I exclaimed in a strict tone. All the other foals gasped and shied at our exchange. Anthea and I broke out laughing as if we'd finished a joke we both liked.
"So Mr. Dan why'd you invite us all out here?' Star interrupted getting straight to business. Her expression was filled with cautious excitement. The others chimed in with similar comments. Even Claire was demanding an answer. I realized that it was time to fess up as their expressions began darkening.
"Alright you seven, I'll spill." I laughed as I jumped from Claire's head to the back of a nearby park bench. "We're going to play hide and seek, with me seeking you seven out, and you youngin's doing your best to hide from me." Came my simple explanation. I then told them the rules, beginning with "I'm going to be using every source in my arsenal to find you, if I do you lose, if I end up surrendering you win, I expect you all to do the same trying to avoid being found.". "There's no leaving the park, you're all trapped by spells, and the game starts as soon as I avert my head, which there will be a five minute time period for you to hide before I start the hunt." I sneered darkly attempting to get the goals thinking as well as scared. I then turned around and zenned out on a couple songs that fit the game.
When I turned around all seven foals had disappeared. I slid into raptor morph and let the hunting instincts take the lead. Seven different lines of scent lead me in six different directions.
I hadn't taken five steps before a yell caught my attention. I looked up, in the direction of the voice, and spotted Prism aimed and descending upon me, forehoof in the lead, like a meteor. He planned on winning the game by taking out the hunter. Effective against an opponent who doesn't know better but a sure loss in this situation. I shook my head at his over-confidence.
At the last second, I swung my tail like a bat and sent Prism straight into the nearest bush.
Nearby the sound of rustling caught my attention. As I turned a single horn was seen disappearing into the bushes out of the corner of my eye. I mentally played it on a list of Equestrians I knew with horns. My suspicions were confirmed when a shiny purple scale reflected off a branch of the bush the horn had disappeared into. Claire was smart keeping an eye on her enemy, but quite foolish for being as close as she had been.
I decided it was best to cover more ground and end the game before it got out of hand. Preparing to take off I slid from raptor morph into my own alicorn form. As I beat my wings to lift off I activated an eye ability that allowed me to scan for chakra points in bodies.
A couple minutes in flight I happened upon what looked like a castle tower made of clouds. I shook my head as I cleared the clouds with sunny day. Star hovered in midair with a sheepish grin on her face.
It got slightly easier from there as Candy was just as goofy as her mom, making for an easy spot. After her, I finally told Claire that she can quit tailing me and count herself amoung the found. This left three foals and a flawed strategy.
Knowing Anthea she'd be with one of the two colts remaining. This made things both challenging and simpler. It meant I had to be more thorough in my search. It also meant that finding one of the colts might lead to finding her or knowing she was with the other. All I had to do was find either T or Del and the answer would reveal itself.
With a crazy bit of luck, a third option made itself known. I spotted both boys in the same hiding place, scanning outward like guards. This meant that Annie was sure to be with them.
I landed and busted both boys, then went straight to searching out Annie. I could feel she was close by but couldn't get no read on any direction or clues. The answer hit me as a twig snapped beneath my hoof. The smart little filly was using her connection with nature to hide. A change of tactics was surely in order.
I decided to keep Annie's attention on the fact that knowing that her guards had been found, Annie might surrender. I would discuss a draw with the kids seeing as I didn't find all of them. I was about to call out to the filly when another voice called out from above.
"YOUNG COLT WE WISH TO HAVE A WORD WITH THEE!" Bellowed Luna in the Royal Canterlot Voice. All of the foals came running up to see what the matter was as Luna landed. It wasn't hard to tell that I was at the center of her anger with her glaring straight at me. I sent the kids home, telling them that we'd discuss the game later. I'd rather not have them with me in case something urgent was going on.
"Whatever it was I didn't do it." I joked as I raised my hands in submission. After an awkward moment of silence, I continued with "It was the bunny, I swear I watched him do it.". The complete joke served only to get a more focused glare from Luna as her horn glowed and my body was surrounded by a levitation spell.
"YOU ARE COMING WITH US," Luna ordered taking back to the air. She flew wordlessly all the way to Canterlot Castle. The whole flight I was held slightly off to the side of her head but remained sealed in her spell. The last time I was in this much trouble it involved a cage and a torturous slumber party with the main six after an accident and months m.i.a. As Luna landed in her room she gently dropped me onto her bed.
"We have seen recent dreams of yours and know that there are things that you are not being truthful about." She snarled pacing toward her bedroom door. She took to waiting for a reply in the form of pacing back and forth. Finally, she stopped, turning my way and with a loud "WELL?", demanded I answer.
"Long story short" I sighed "you're going to want to sit down.". "I pinkie promise that what little details I will give are true but that I can only tell you so much before I mess up the whole reason I'm here," I vowed with as straight an expression and tone as possible. "Sometime in the future a kirin foal will get into a fight for her life and lose and without her everything you know is going to lose existence with her." The beginning slowly poured out. I sighed once again as I silently argued with myself over the next part. "I'm the same human as the original owner of this body but from a place where similar events have gone differently." Looking down in shame I whispered the truth.
For what seemed like an eon of contemplative expressions Luna remained silent. Her expression soured and she turned away, giving me what I thought was a silent order to leave her sight. She proved my assumption wrong as she interrupted my departure with a barely audible "Why?".
Turning to face the moon princess I answered "The differences between my temporal home and this place are so slight that most are hardly noticeable, and I feel such a love for everypony back home that no matter what plane or time stream, I'd do all I can to protect them, even if it means losing the bonds I have with them.". Silence greeted me afterward, to which I took as a sign to get some space for both of us to calm down. I leaped to catch air while morphing to an owl only to be stopped by a blue aura. I looked at the princess to find a soft expression on her face. I demorphed and let her move me back toward her bed.
Luna waited til I was safely grounded on her bed before dropping the spell. Her expression was impossible to read with so many thoughts floating around her mind. In a shaky voice, she asked: "You're willing to risk that much even for those you have yet to bond with?".
Before I could reply I found myself crushed on all sides by dark blue fur. From above tears rained down like a waterfall. She'd been moved by my sense of caring. A feeling of warm gratitude and a deeper bond emanated from Luna. With a great joy in her voice, Luna cried "If that be the case then all is forgiven as long as you promise to never lie to us again unless the need be that extreme and you tell us the truth when it is less risky to do so.".
With the sound of the door opening, Luna broke her embrace. Walking into the room was a bat pony stallion holding a foal that was part bat pony part alicorn. "Am I interrupting anything?" the stallion asked as he stopped in front of Luna.
"Ah Supernova, Nidra, I'd like you to meet the human I told you about, Dan, and no your weren't." Luna's reply had the same tone one has when talking to their family in front of a guest. She then turned to me and introduced me to her mate Supernova and their daughter, Nidra. Supernova had an easy going and relaxed feel to him. Nidra seemed like an energetic little troublemaker who only wanted to have fun.
"Sorry to interrupt your discussion but my wife and I had previous plans tonight." Supernova took control of the conversation. "I just came here to inform Luna that I couldn't find a babysitter for little Nidra and that we're probably going to have to cancel for tonight." he said turning guiltily toward Luna. Nidra filled the space before Luna's response with as many words as she had in her little vocabulary.
Instantly I decided to do a favor for the couple. Nidra seemed to be a touch of a handful but I've dealt with enough kids to know how to work with her. I was confident I could easily keep care of the little one. Morphing alicorn I levitated her from her fathers grip to the bed. Turning I offered aloud "You two just found him, I'll keep the little cutie occupied til you return.".
With a few profuse "Thank you"'s and a curt nod from Nova the couple headed off. Nidra was busy tearing apart a teddy bear and hadn't seemed to notice her parents leave. "This might be easier than I thought." I sighed as the silence in the room grew.
Then all tartarus broke loose. Nidra, noticing her mom and dad had left, began throwing a fit. As soon as the tears began I had a strategy in motion. I began whistling Homeland and instantly Nidra's tears began slowing. Soon she was barely sniffling on the bed.
"Alright, young one how's about you sit tight while Uncle Dan tells you a story?" I inquired as I sat down beside the baby bat alicorn. Hopefully, a story would be enough to keep her attention for a good while. There was only one story that I knew could have such strong effects on the minds of the young and I was going to tell it.
"No." Nidra bluntly refused. Then she jumped off the bed and ran straight for the bedroom door. She had it open and was gone before I could snap out of the shock she'd put me in. Within seconds screams could be heard coming from the halls of the castle. I took instant pursuit of the tiny horror, morphing straight into a wolf for both speed and tracking.
After a couple hallways, I caught up to little Nidra in a dead end hallway and blocked her only escape.
Nidra lunged as I reached with a forepaw, sinking her tiny fangs into my leg. As I yelped and flinched from the instant pain, Nidra ended up landing on her haunches a few feet away still blocked in. I examined the injury to gauge the importance of treatment. After deciding it was severe enough to wait a bit before tending I turned toward my attacker, shrinking my morph's age, and growled
The fight lasted until Tia arrived on the scene. I knew we were both in trouble as soon that golden aura pulled us apart and sat us beside each other. I was definitely more so in trouble.
"You two ought to be ashamed of yourselves, fighting like that." Began Tia's scolding. "Especially you, young colt, fighting with a baby of all things." the scolding turned in my direction. Before she could say more Nidra suddenly cuddled up to my now human form like we were best buddies. This confused Tia immensly. For me, Nidra's behavior was more of a facepalm.
Brushing myself off I defiantly turned toward Tia and offered "Before you go telling Luna that I viciously attacked your niece, take into consideration that maybe that in order to get her to listen to her sitter, me, was for me to gain her respect.". I followed that with "Now that I've got her respect maybe she'll behave for me, if not I'll have to call her parents and endure until they arrive.". It was pretty much a plea to allow me to continue to babysit Nidra.
"Fine, if you can prove your theory." Tia challenged stoically. Her expression was full of skepticism. It wouldn't end well if my theory was proven false. The chips were down and the cards were on the table. There's no better feeling than beating odds uberly stacked against you and this was one of those stackings.
"Nidra, if I asked you to go back to mommy's room and lay on the bed while I put in a movie, would you do as I ask?" Were the words that replaced the sound of a dice roll. This was one risk that was either going to pay off or end tragically. Luckily My theory was based on seen behaviors and documented facts.
Nidra instantly placed me on her back and marched in the direction of Luna's room while I used a slight healing spell to scab over the scratches before they could get a chance to make her cry in pain, as well as keep them slightly cleaner than if I left them open. Tia escorted us mainly to keep an eye on the situation until we reached our destination. It was surprising to see Nidra one-eighty from the rebellious terror into the happy to oblige little cutie she was now. I still had to figure out how to tend to Nidra's scratches without starting another fight with her. I knew how much rubbing alcohol as well as soap and warm water hurt in scratches.
As soon as we reached the open door to Luna's room Tia bid us goodnight. Nidra proceeded to do as instructed, letting me off before the entertainment center before she got onto the bed. There she waited patiently for me to put in the movie I'd promised.
Halfway through the movie, Nirda's stomach growled loud enough to send me into a fit of chuckles. Looking around for a sign of a mini fridge or a bottle I confirmed with Nidra that I heard correctly, asking "Hungry there shorty?". I finally spotted a bottle on a nearby dresser. I quickly retrieved it for her and gave it to her, while vocally thinking "I hope your mom doesn't send me to the dungeon for forgetting to get a few details from her.". With that, we were able to finish the movie in peace.
As soon as the movie was over I decided it was time to get the hardest part of the night over with. I knew Nidra wasn't going to be happy with me for what she was about to endure but it had to be done to remove any infections that had gotten in. "Alright, little one we're gonna give you a small bath." I grimly informed Nidra of my intention.
Some soap and warm water later poor Nidra was wincing at every little scratch that was touched. I was keeping her at bay with a song, otherwise, she'd be throwing one legendary fit. I couldn't blame her though as I was feeling the same pain she was from the soapy water getting into my cuts as well. The only difference was that I was a bit more used to it. Soon the bath was over and Nidra was using the towel I'd dried her with to lay on.
The sun was coming up as Nidra rolled along the floor in the towel. That meant that somepony was going to get tired soon. "K, Nidra time for us to got to sleep." I sing-songed to the still energetic filly.
Putting a batpony filly to bed was going to be an educating process for me. I knew bats hung upside down and the young clung to their parents. Taking an educated guess I next had to figure out how to keep Nidra hanging while also keeping her safe from falling. A quick bit of thinking and I had the solution. Admittedly it was a bit creative but I knew it would work for it's purpose.
I morphed an ariados and began my work on a safety net. When that was finished I wrapped Nidra in a sleeping bag like half cocoon and proceeded to hang her from the ceiling over the webbed safety net. Within minutes, the tyke was out cold.
It wasn't long until Luna and Nova came gliding onto the balcony. The first thing Luna did was check on Nidra. Seeing my handiwork Luna's expression became priceless. All she could manage to say was "Creative". Upon further inspection, she took notice of the scratches all over Nidra and her expression darkened.
Seeing his mate's expression, Nova walked over and inspected their daughter himself. To both Luna's and my own amazement, he grinned, chuckling, at the slight injuries, after noticing the same on me. "Looks like our new babysitter had to earn our daughter's respect before she game him her approval." He laughed turning toward his stunned mate.
Luna's expression softened as she thanked me for taking care of Nidra. She offered for me to stay in a room a few doors down. Nova requested I babysit Nidra whenever I was available. I agreed to Nova's request but I had to refuse Luna's. Prepping to poof over to my own castle I said: "I've got a week of training a kirin to deal with starting in the morning.".