Working For Her

It was near midnight and I was fixing one last thing for Mr. Cake. It was the bridge to an old acoustic guitar. He found it in the garage and it used to belong to his great great grandfather. I gave a yawn as I glued down the broken piece. A desk lamp right next to me made it hard to not keep my eyes open. Bright light plus tired eyes equals a bad sight line. I was lucky to glue the bridge on straight before setting it down and shutting the light off. I went back to Pinkie's room where she had the light on for me to find my way back. As I entered I saw her making up a little cot for me. "Hey... Done fixing that guitar..." I said alerting her.

Pinkie looked up at me as she set a pillow down. "That took a lot longer than it should've didn't it?" She asked. I gave a nod sitting on her bed.

"I had to loosen each tuner key to get the strings off, then I had to look on my phone how to take the strings off the broken bridge and that took a while and ooh... that was about two sodas, a water and maybe a shot of whiskey I don't know..." Pinkie came over and sat next to me.

"All that sounds like a potty break to me! I'd never be able to get through one soda without running to the bathroom! You still feeling okay from earlier?" I gave a nod and a yawn.

"...Gave me a reason to smile about how lucky I am to have Scoot... I actually have a question Pinkie..."

"Go on and ask it." I looked over at her.

"Did you uh... Did you ever have contact with Scootaloo after I left that night... they... died...?" Pinkie nodded.

"Applejack and Rarity called me after you got arrested... I heard Scootaloo crying in the background when AJ was talking... I had to go to visit with Scootaloo in the hospital. Dash called me and told me to meet her at the hospital in the middle of the night, I got there, saw Scootaloo in a bed, wet, shivering and covered in puke... After Dash told me what AJ told her I felt so bad for her and spend the entire next day with her... Gave her a few things to play with but when I kept her here in my bed I had to diaper her up to keep her from wetting the bed... She slept almost soundly next to me.... Almost because she woke up crying and wet..." I put my finger on her mouth to keep her from saying anymore. I saw tears come to her eyes.

"C'mon... Let's just go to sleep but... You want me in your bed or you think you're good by yourself?" She looked down at her bed blushing and back up at me. I already knew what that meant without her saying anything. "Alright... Lets just get settled in... Later we stay up the less we'll be doing tomorrow." Pinkie nodded. We got up both feeling a bit shaky nervous about sleeping in the same bed with one another. Well... That was mine since I had AJ and I didn't wanna lose her. Pinkie's was.... WAY different....

"D-don't turn around.... I need something..." I heard her drop her pants but I didn't really know what she was doing until I heard a plastic package being ruffled through and something almost equally as plastic sounding crinkle. "Just a second.... P-please don't laugh when you turn around..."

"...I promise I wont..." I heard a drawer open and shut along with the mini rattle of a loose zipper flipping around. I heard a grunt and a sigh.

"...Okay... I'm uh... I'm ready... You can turn around now..." I hesitantly turned around blushing thinking I'd see... well I didn't know what i'd see. What I did see was Pinkie in a candy pink adult size footy pajama's with the zipper all the way down where you could see the waistband of a diaper. Yes A DIAPER! She blushed hard and averted her gaze. "...Th-the cakes know I w-wear these... I have to when I tell stories like that.... Or when I see stuff like that on TV... I actually tinkled in my sleeping bag when Fluttershy invited me over and well... She's the only one that knows from our friends... You'll keep this secret wont you?" I nodded hesitantly not being able to avert my gaze from her crotch area. "...You know you're welcome to use one if you like..." I thought for a moment. I put my hand on my stomach.

"Well... I'm really tired but... I really gotta go... But... then there's the fact of being caught with one on by the Cakes..." I yelped and shoved my hands between my legs blushing insanely as I felt a leak. "Just give it here please! I don't wanna piss my pants again..." She pulled another diaper from the package and handed it to me. I yanked my pants and boxers down and opened the diaper between my legs and... Well that's not important... All I can say is I slept next to Pinkie dry as a bone after that.

As I slept I was dreaming. Dreaming about my little sister. She was sitting around with me on the couch, we were playing some games on my C-Sphere. All this game was, was a family friendly racing game with other characters from different games. Of course we both picked the same character. As much as I wanted to pick another I had to do this to 'play fair'. It was just a phoenix behind the wheel of a car. Suddenly the TV went black. A figure started to come from the TV and I tried protecting Scootaloo. All she did was fade away. "Thy must really have feelings for thy sister just as I do..." A familiar voice said. "Is that why thou hast abandoned training?" The figure made from the darkness of the TV was Princess Luna. Her color faded in. She was much more beautiful this time. Wearing a silky looking dress. I shook my head.

"...No... I abandoned my training because that 'head of the guard' bullshit Shining is pulling..." I replied hanging my head. Luna sat next to me.

"Thy hast brought news to my ears. What hast thy friend been doing?"

"...That asshole is NOT my friend! I don't mean to yell princess but... He scared me so bad I just.... Well... I didn't go to bed dry..." I blushed and looked away.

"Thy can share what he did. Couldn't be that bad can it?" I stayed silent. "...Oh right... Thou hast been swimming in bed.... Would thy still consider telling me?" I hesitantly nodded.

"...Well... Everypony reacts different ways to different things... The reaction, passing out and pissing myself.... The thing.... A fake kidnapping for Princess Twilight... I don't take sudden scares well... It's why I don't go to scary movies with anyone...." Princess Luna sighed.

"...Shining thought that was his training but it was just the other guards playing a prank on his wedding night... but that's no way to treat thy friends! Thy training must still go on!" I looked up at her.

"Sorry Princess but there is NO WAY I am going back to him after THAT! If I go back I want something BIG for an apology.... Had to talk it over with Applejack and Big Macintosh and they suggest I get a big rank up in the guard. The other option was Cadence but.... Too much to go wrong with that..." Luna shot a smile my way.

"Thou hast good judgment and friends in that department. Sleeping with a princess against her will, whether it be a gift from her husband or be it against her own will she's entitled to have you locked up. She's the princess of love but what ever you call it to her it's rape."

"...Exactly the way I saw it... Well... After... Applejack and Big Mac said something..." I averted my gaze again. "...Can I speak to you about one more thing.... Princess?" She rested a hand on my shoulder and brought my chin up.

"You can talk with me about anything you'd like whether it be about another problem or maybe it's a level on a video game because thy princess of the night has hobbies in her free time." I chuckled a bit and smiled. I didn't really know she played video games being a princess and all. But something else struck me.

"Princess you're talking more different than before... Are you still trying to fit in?" She nodded.

"Why yes Ryder. My vocalization has been rather hard to change since some of the natives of Manehattan could barely understand my dialect. Now what were you going to ask?" I sighed.

"Well... I wanted to ask why you want me to become part of the guard...? Princess Celestia didn't want me in the guard after what happened when I was jailed.... I nearly shot myself when Shining brought me into a shooting range..."

"I would say something but perhaps ask Celestia that question herself. Twilight called Celestia telling her of Shining's shenanigans. She's coming to Ponyville to discuss it with him since Cadence is on business trying to fix a Saddle Arabian Leader's marriage and cant punish him. They have to go to neutral territory being Sugarcube Corner. Neither Celestia or Shining have ties there. Well... I'm pretty sure Pinkie wouldn't take either side unless one of them bought something."

"...I'm not sure Pinkie would even side with Shining after what he did. Of course... I might have to step in since I'm at Sugarcube Corner... Let's just hope I can keep my cool..."

"Dont worry Ryder... I'm very sure you will. Now... I have to go deal with a little colt in Fillydelphia. Take care now." I gave a nod and she stood up. "Oh and... Before I go I must say this is a beautiful house you have here. If you become a guard you may just get a visit from me so I can see the real thing." I smiled nervously.

"...Well you may still visit if I don't become a guard... It would really be an honor...." She giggled a bit and faded away along with everything else. I now sat in darkness. An alarm clock went off echoing in my ears. I opened my eyes and saw nothing but Pinkie's mane covering my face. She was cuddling me again. "Pinkie! Pinkie wake up!" I nudged her a bit. Nothing. That's when I started to struggle a bit. "Pinkie I swear if you don't let go of me right now...."

I would've said something about the diapers and Twilight but she did end up letting me go. "...Okay Mr. Candycane... You can go pet the puppy..." She mumbled still asleep. I rolled out of bed and onto the floor giving a thud. I got up wearing only my boxers and went to Pinkie's side of the bed and slammed my hand on the top of the alarm clock ringing off its hook. Yes she kept her alarm clock on an actual hook. It shut right up giving me a minute to actually think.

I got dressed in a white tshirt and a button up with jeans and stepped out into the hall just in time to see Mrs. Cake and Mr. Cake both sitting in their foals room feeding them. Mrs. Cake had Pound, Mr. Cake had Pumpkin, both parents had bottles in their hands. Mrs. Cake looked up at me and smiled as I came in. "Well it's good to see you awake. You sleep well?" She asked. I gave a nod. Hesitant but more sure of it than anything. "Pinkie was cuddling again wasn't she?" I nodded again. "Well she'll do that. Why don't you wait downstairs? We'll be down after we get these two fed and changed." I gave a nod and backed up.

"Well... What about Pinkie? She gonna be up soon?" I asked stopping at the door.

Mr. Cake looked up at me. "Just go in there, mention a party and she's up like THAT." He said. "If she uh.... goes... Just promise her a party for later and have her invite her friends." I gave another nod and went back to Pinkie's room.

I didn't have to do much to get her up. I did as Mr. Cake said. Mentioned a party and she was up. She got changed and we went downstairs and sat at the dining room table. She sat next to me and I yawned a bit. "Sorry again I cuddled you Ryder... It's just so warming feeling somepony next to me and I just cant help but hug them!" I gave a sigh.

"Dont worry I'm a bit of a cuddler too but... only when I actually need to cuddle like during a thunder storm.... I always keep a stuffed rabbit near my bed just for that reason." Suddenly my phone went off. I pulled it out of my pocket and saw it was Rarity calling. "'Scuze me I gotta take this." She nodded and I answered it. "Rarity morning!"

I heard a heavy yawn. "...G'morning... Ryder..." Rarity said. She was REALLY tired. I mean REALLY REALLY TIRED. It's like she slept for a minute and stayed up the rest of the night. "...Scootaloo.... Wanted me to call you this morning and I just haven't had my morning espresso... Well... Here she is... Sweetie Belle! Have room service give me a coffee!"

I heard a rustling and a little bit of a laugh. "Ryder!" I heard my sister say. I smiled and laughed a bit. "Ryder thank you for letting me go with my friends to Manehattan! Applebloom got her uncle to let us sleep at her cousins place! She's got a game room, a full service massage parlor and get this: next years Bass Baddie! It's not even out yet! I wish you were here to play it! You at home at all?"

I gave a sigh. "...Sorry Scoot I haven't been home for the past few days..." I replied looking over at Pinkie. "...I tried napping after you left but... it was just too quiet for me to even stay there... I miss you sis and... I kinda want you home soon... You are coming back soon aren't you?"

"Yeah Ryder I'll be home tonight but... You think I can stay at Rarity's or Applebloom's? Please?"

"...Okay but I... I want you home tomorrow morning alright?"

"Alright! Maybe I'll see if Rarity or Big Mac can have you sleep over too!" I smiled tearing up a bit.

"....O-okay... I gotta go now Scoot... Love you sis..."

"...Love you too Ry... See you soon!"

Pinkie rested her hand on my shoulder as I hung up and set my phone back down. "Hey come on don't cry!" She told me. "Scoot's coming back soon isn't she?" I gave a nod. "Why are you crying then?"

"...I-it's just liquid pride...." Liquid pride. That's what HE called it when HE cried. 'He' being Shining Armor. A name I didn't even wanna say, let alone hear.

Suddenly Mr. Cake came rushing down stairs getting his bow tie on. "C'mon c'mon we need EVERYONE out there NOW!" He said. Pinkie looked up at him.

"Why? We haven't even had breakfast yet!" He stopped at the door going into the shop.

"Because Pinkie Princess Celestia is outside right now waiting to come inside!"

My heart stopped... Either that or it just sped up to machine gun rate. Either way this was sudden. I didn't realize that it would be THAT soon for them to show up! It's like ordering a pizza and getting all the ingredients from the delivery guy. Maybe that wasn't the best analogy but just know it sucked. I went out into the shop area with Pinkie and Mr. Cake. I had to stand in front of the counter with Pinkie as Mr. Cake unlocked the door. I saw Princess Celestia standing there in her white dress with golden designs on it with- you guessed it- Shining Armor standing armorless next to her with a bunch of guards surrounding her cutting off access to anyone else for entrance into Sugarcube Corner. Shining looked like shit. Like he slept drunk. He wore a button up shirt that looked sloppy. Not to mention stained with sweat and something else. Didn't know what but I didn't even wanna know. Mrs. Cake came out of the back just as The Princess and Shining were let in and we all bowed in respect to her. "Welcome princess! It is such an honor for you to be here!" She said as we all stood back up.

My eyes locked onto Shining. He just looked away looking defeated. Princess Celestia looked to me. "You there!" She said. I jumped and pointed to myself. "Yes! You come here! I need to speak with you as well as him!" She pointed to Shining. I hesitantly walked over but sat at a table away from Shining. "Come closer!"

I sighed. "Princess I'm sorry but I need to stay here." I said. "Any closer and he's on the ground bleeding! I'd like to keep my cool and my fresh job here!" I crossed my arms giving Shining a death stare. He whimpered and sat down at a table a few feet away. Princess Celestia sat next to me.

"Ryder it has come to my attention that Shining Armor here has done something after you joined the ranks behind my back! I didn't want you to become a guard after that little stunt you pulled in the range! But Shining here keeps vouching for you after the things that you've done and the things that happened to you. The murders of your parents, the shooting of your criminally insane ex-marefirend, you having to work to pay off debts to your friends after they help you and having a sister, whom you've had to care for like a father for a month or so. Maybe what Shining did was enough to prove you aren't guard material!"

Shining stood up. "PRINCESS! I know he can do something for the guard and for his sister!" He said. "I admit my idea was the worst way to show Ryder how easy the job is! That was just an idiotic attempt to test Ryder's capabilities with a sudden scare which I forgot he doesn't take well.... Tirek's rampage... I'll explain that later but he has potential! I know he does he protected his marefriend AND himself from death by his ex not to mention he saved the cakes from getting shot from a robbery a few days ago! I DIDNT MAKE HIM PROTECT ANYONE HE DID IT HIMSELF!" He breathed heavily with Celestia looking at him a bit shocked. She looked to me.

"I want you to explain to me why you keep trying for a spot in the Royal Guard even AFTER I told Shining not to let you after what happened!"

I took a deep breath and sighed. "Princess... I do this because my little sister only has me to protect her." I said. "I'm in Shining's position. I have a little sister who looks up to me just like Twilight to Shining. Shining messed up and something tells me Princess Twilight wont even talk with him." I looked over to him. "Right?" Shining gave a nod. I looked back at Celestia. "May I ask a question Princess?" Celestia gave a hesitant nod. "Princess Luna. Does she or does she not look up to you?"

"Well... Yes but I don't see why-"

"What if you lived in my life and had to provide for her?"

Mr. Cake came over seeing my face. I was getting angrier. "Ryder why don't you go into the back and I'll send Pinkie to give you something to eat okay?" He said. "I want to save you from saying something you shouldn't... Stay calm and we'll handle everything out here." I gave a nod feeling my own rage building. Like I could snap at any moment.

Right as I was walking away I heard Shining speak up. "Princess... If I may I'd like to speak with Ryder alone..." He said. I heard no answer as I went back into the Cakes personal area. But I did hear him follow. I sat down at the table and waited. Just waited. Silence felt great before hearing that door open again. "...Hey... Ryder can I uh..." I looked back at him. He had a few donuts and a soda in his hand.

"Sit with me?" He nodded. So did I. He gave a smile and came over sitting next to me. As he set the donuts and soda down I looked up at him. "You look like shit dude. How bad did Twi rip into you?" He sighed.

"...Pretty bad... She took my armor and got Celestia to agree I wont get it back until I apologize and bring you as proof we're friends again... I mean... What I did was just too much... I've known you since I was just a little colt... Cadence introduced us, we played together and... Well I just... I didn't wanna lose that friendship we had." I cracked open the soda and chugged half of it.

"Well.... I say we haven't lost our friendship... We just lost touch with each other. You've been busy and you just kinda well... I feel as if you and I lost touch..." He sighed averting his gaze.

"...Maybe we have... I could probably get a day off soon for us to spend some time together.... That is if my sister, the princess and Cadence give me a break... But being the head of the guard has a lot of responsibility like being a full time guardian for a filly. Of course you don't have to deal with domestic disputes over something stupid almost every day. I had to go to a home just down the road from your place just because they were fighting over a fucking spot on their cable box. I mean can you believe this shit?" I shook my head giving a smile.

"Believe it or not they brought me in to the debate on who was getting their show on the thing about a week and a half ago. I really didn't answer I just left them to deal with it like civilized adults after I gave a few choice words on why they shouldn't be bringing my ass into something at four in the morning. They were lucky it was a weekend or else Scootaloo would've been on my ass for being late for school... Just to get something straight tomorrow is Monday... Right?" Shining gave a nod. "Good... I must've bounced when you had me faint."

"Let's just get done here and get going. I feel naked without my armor..." I gave a nod and hurried finishing my breakfast.

Shining and I did go see Princess Twilight but I ended up leaving there with a gift basket from her apologizing for her brothers awful joke. It had a bottle of wine, a nice box of assorted cheeses and crackers, chocolates, a few wine glasses and a little something from Shining. A new game for my C-Sphere. The new Alley Brawler with DLC character Socket from that Socket n Junk series. Two different games come to one. Anyways I went home, moved my C-Sphere into the living room and played it the whole day until I got a knock at the door. I sighed pausing the game and got up. I opened the door and was instantly met by my little sister! "Ryder!" She said laughing.

I laughed and looked up as Rarity came to the door with Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. "Well it seems someone missed their big brother!" Rarity said. "How was the alone time?"

I sighed. "Honestly it was quiet with her not around." I said picking Scootaloo up. Her little wings fluttered with excitement. "I know I okay'd the little weekend trip but I actually didn't stick around here... Too quiet and I just went crazy with all the thoughts about... You know... Going through my head." Rarity sighed as Sweetie Belle and Applebloom went and sat on the sofa.

"She wasn't too happy being away from you the first night. She actually thought you wanted to get rid of her and didn't want to speak with her Saturday night. What happened?"

"Well... It's a long story. You uh... wanna stay for a drink? We could talk about it over a glass of wine." The purple maned mare in front of me laughed.

"Oh Ryder I didn't know you drank wine! Such a sophisticated colt!" I blushed and set Scootaloo down.

"I actually don't drink wine... I'm more of a beer from a can kinda guy." Rarity entered the house and I closed the door.

"Well come now why else would you invite me inside?" I said nothing as I picked my C-Sphere controller up and quit my game saving the progress before shutting it down and turning it back to the TV for my sister and her friends.

"I just uh... I just need somepony to talk with alright?" Rarity gave a nod and followed me into the kitchen. I had the bottle of wine sitting in the middle of the table with the wine glasses along with a lot of the other stuff from Princess Twilight. I hadn't gotten to putting them away because... Well laziness is my thing when it comes to new games. I actually finished an entire zombie game set in a busted down Canterlot in about 12 hours. I sat down and dug into a nearby drawer pulling out a wine cork remover thing... These things have a name but I don't remember it. She used it and popped the cork out. She poured us both a glass being ladylike.

"Well what would you like to talk about?" I sighed and sipped my wine. It tasted like shit but I didn't wanna be rude.

"...About Scoot... I feel like I made a bad decision letting her go with you... Sure she was happy where you went but there's a lot of memories here with our parents including the one I came a bit too late on... She's a little filly and just lost her parents... I'm an adult thinking I'd be rid of my parents just... Not like that!" She hummed smelling the wine.

"Ryder let me share something with you. I had to take care of Sweetie Belle for about two years. She actually cried for about a week knowing our parents just left her here with me thinking they didn't love her. They've moved out to Fillydelphia and they did think about Sweetie Belle not wanting to be separated from her friends. I'm sure your parents would've wanted you to take care of Scootaloo after they had passed. Do you think you're a good care taker for Scootaloo?" I hesitantly gave a nod. Honestly I had no fucking clue what I was doing except for the fact I was living life with Scootaloo. I cooked all the meals, I had to work.... I mean I had to pay... Okay I had to do things just to keep her from going hungry or getting sick!

We continued to talk after that. I had only had about one glass of wine before stopping. Rarity had three and I had to lie her down in... their room... to have her take a nap or something. I even allowed Sweetie Belle and Applebloom to stay the night. Of course I had to call AJ and Big Mac to get their permission but they agreed as long as Applebloom didn't come home with anything coming out of her mouth swear wise. I expected something less but what I got was a bit shocking. I got a call from a restricted number. I didn't answer it but they called back. Again I declined. Again they called and I just answered. "Is this Ryder?" Some mare said.

"...Yeah... Who's asking?"

"Princess Celestia! That's who!" My heart dropped.

"...P-princess? Forgive me!"

"Yeah yeah cut the crap. I need you over at Twilight's castle tomorrow. We need to talk." That's all I heard from her because after that she hung up. Something told me it was going to be hell to pay or more gifts from Shining. Had to wait and see.