Author's Note
So, this is a story I said I'd be working on even before we found out which story won the vote. Another surprise story will show up soon. Also, this story was originally supposed to be about Capper and Captain Celaeno. However, since the season 10 comics started coming out, I had to change plans. With that out of the way, enjoy the story.
Four Stories to Go
And Hazy Makes Three
The sun’s shining, the crystals from the treehouse sparkle, birds chirping, everything was all peaceful and quiet. It was a pretty average day for these six students, who’re already at the treehouse, doing their activity. Ocellus was with her friends at their treehouse doing that. Gallus was playing cards with Silverstream and Smolder, while Sandbar was helping Yona with her homework. The changeling was simply reading a novel on her own, interested in the plot, characters, and setting. One moment, Silverstream, who was holding her deck of cards, spoke up to Gallus and Smolder.
“So, have you guys heard anything from Peter?” Silverstream asked.
“That little griffon?” Smolder said, Silverstream nodded. “Nope. We haven’t heard anything from his sister as well,” she noted. “So, I think she’s still in control despite the punishment from his parents.”
“Yeah. I really hope Peter can stop by at the school,” Gallus admitted. “I’m eager to meet him again, so does the other griffons, and maybe I can give him more advice on being a griffon.”
“Who knows,” Silverstream said, “Maybe he’ll be enrolled there.”
“That’ll be good news for me.”
“That’d be great,” Sandbar commented. “He’s the first creature that’s been adopted by a pony home.”
“Wait,” Yona asked. “Doesn’t Spike count?”
“Oh, yeah. Almost forgot. Make that second.”
“I wonder how he’s doing,” Smolder questioned. “I bet that he’s having a good time to be with his new family.” She nearly placed down her cards, making them visible to her friends. She tried to correct herself, but Gallus had seen enough. He now had a smirk on his beak, making Smolder realize that she wasn't going to win now.
“You ever wonder about other creatures moving into Ponyville?” Silverstream asked.
“I do hear a couple of changelings before, saying that they might move here,” Ocellus responded. “If the ones whose children are enrolled at the school will move here, that would be a good benefit.”
“I'm not sure if the yaks, though, would be that good in Ponyville,” Gallus said, then turned to Yona. "No offense, Yona, but their pride is a little more than some creatures can handle." Yona shrugged as she also remembered how the yaks tried to stop Winter Wrap Up not too long ago.
“Have you guys also… you know… picked up on the stereotypes?” Smolder asked. This confused her friends a little bit. “I mean, they've got stereotypes for us. Greedy dragons, tricky griffons, big dumb yaks…”
She was about to continue until Yona stopped her. "Okay. Friends get it," Yona spoke up.
“Where are you going with this?” Sandbar asked Smolder.
“I'm talking about pony stereotypes,” she explained.
“Oh, so you mean like snooty, fancy-looking, heads-up-while-walking-with-their-eyes-closed, upper-class Canterlot high horses?” Gallus asked. He said this in a British accent which was slightly exaggerated. It made Yona and Silverstream giggle a little bit.
“Yona been to Canterlot already,” Yona spoke.
“We all have,” Ocellus noted. “That’s when we tried to help Silverstream.” This made Silverstream feel uncomfortable. “Though, you and I went there twice for a friendship mission.”
“And I would've paid so many bits to see that stallion's face,” Gallus added. Yona grinned as she remembered how she and Ocellus helped one of Twilight's old friends catch a sneaky stallion red-hoofed.
“I still have that feeling about the one with Dragon Lord Ember was… more interesting,” Smolder admitted. “It's so weird knowing her softer side.”
“Sort of like your tea parties?” Smolder glared at him who was just smiling.
“It's nice that some creatures are having experiences outside of their comfort zone,” Ocellus spoke. “It helps them learn new things.” Everyone agreed.
As they go back to do their own thing, something just interrupted them. Glowing light from both Ocellus’ wings and Sandbar’s cutie mark. You know what that means, it’s another friendship mission.
“Ooh, the map's calling them,” Silverstream cooed. “I wonder where’ll they go?”
They all got up and raced towards the castle to see where they would need to go. Once they got there, they could see the changeling's head and colt's cutie mark circling around Canterlot.
“Canterlot, again?” Ocellus questioned.
“I wonder what we'll be going to do there,” Sandbar commented.
"Just make sure to show up at any snob you meet," Gallus smirked, jokingly. Sandbar just rolled his eyes at this.
“I hope I’m not gonna deal with that stallion again,” Ocellus murmured to herself.
Sandbar and Ocellus rode the train to Canterlot, wondering what their mission could be. “So, what kind of situation would the map require us?” the changeling questioned.
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s a relationship problem,” Sandbar guessed. “I date Yona and love is kind of changelings’ bread and butter.”
Ocellus giggled a little bit. “It’s more true than you think. Though we both are in relationships, so it would make sense.”
“It could also be about a redemption problem. I was kind of the only pony that tried to give you a chance." The changeling felt like this was true. They soon felt the train coming to a stop as they had arrived in Canterlot. The two students left the train station and wandered around trying to find any pony that needed help.
"This is always the hard part." Ocellus looked around and couldn't see any problem would be having. They were either just walking around, talking with a friend, or other things like having a good meal. The changeling had been here before so she would have an easier time figuring out what to do.
Sandbar was keeping an eye out too and found a stallion who looked miserable. The stallion was a unicorn who had a blue mane and mustache which were kind of messy. His suit was a little undone and he was exhausted given the bags under his eyes and he was lying his head on a table. Thinking this might be the pony that needed help, Sandbar approached him.
"Excuse me, sir," the young colt said, "Are you okay?"
The stallion glanced at the visitor and lifted his head off the table and put his monocle back on. "Afternoon," he said. "I'm Fancypants. And you?"
"My name is Sandbar and this is my friend, Ocellus." Sandbar gestured to the changeling that stood beside him.
Fancypants managed to smile. "It's very nice to see other creatures other than ponies."
"It's nice to meet you too," Ocellus responded. She looked at the stallion's bad stated. "Are you okay? You look like you haven't slept properly."
"I haven't. Fleur and I have gotten a problem that I'm not sure if we can deal with."
"We can help with that," Sandbar stated.
"You can? But... You're just teenagers."
"This isn't our first time doing this," Ocellus stated. "Besides, we're from Princess Twilight's school. Just take us to your home and we'll help fix whatever you have."
Fancypants smiled and led the two visiting students to his home. Where the stallion lived was very fancy. It looked to be a two-story mansion with snow-white walls and a purple roof. The windows had golden trim and a set of stairs leading to the top floor so somebody could entire the second floor from outside.
When they got close to the building, the three could hear the sound of a crying baby. Ocellus was surprised by this. "You have a child?" she questioned.
Fancypants gave a frustrated sigh before responding. "Now we do," he answered. He led his guest inside his home, where the inside was much messier than the outside was. Towels and dishes were left all over the place and the crying was much louder now. From upstairs, a white mare with a pink mane and unicorn's horn walked downstairs. Like Fancypants, her mane was a mess, her eyes had bags underneath them.
What caught the visitors' eyes was the baby colt the mare was carrying. It was a pine green earth pony with a little bit of a teal mane. However, the most noticeable feature of the baby was its white faded eyes. Ocellus could tell this colt wasn't biologically related to either the mare or Fancypants.
"Fancy," the mare sighed. She walked over to hug the stallion as the baby seemed to finally stop crying. "Oh... Now you calm down." A groan of frustration soon escaped the mare's mouth.
"Fleur," Fancypants spoke, "This might be not what it seems, but we have some students from Princess Twilight's school who are here to help." He showed Sandbar and Ocellus to the exhausted mare who was just pleased for any kind of help at this point.
"Nice to meet you. I'm..." The mare let out a yawn before continuing. "Fleur de Lis. And you are?"
"Sandbar," the colt answered.
"Ocellus," the changeling added. She looked at the baby playing with Fleur's mane. "How long have you had this baby."
"Only for a week," the tired mare answered. Fancypants simply showed the two teenagers a small basket that had a note sitting in it. Sandbar picked it up and read it.
I can't take care of this kid.
He's your problem now.
"Someone just abandoned a baby?" he gasped. "Who would do that?"
"We don't have a clue," Fancypants admitted. "What we do know is that we're likely not capable of being parents." The colt starting to cry again, much to the stallion and mare's frustration. Sandbar decided to stop in and try to comfort the infant, which surprisingly worked. The colt giggled even though it wasn't even looking at Sandbar.
That got Ocellus curious about the colt's eyes. White wasn't an eye color she really saw before and the fact they weren't moving around was also questionable. The changeling waved her hoof in front of the baby's face and he did not react to it. "I don't want to sound mean for saying this," Ocellus spoke, "But... Is this colt... Blind?"
"Sadly yes," Fancypants confirmed. "We figured out that's why he was abandoned on our doorstep. Still, we can't just leave it now."
"Nothing started out easy for the first time," Sandbar stated. "We both have younger siblings so maybe we can help give some experience."
"We would love that," Fleur admitted. "And a shower would also be nice." The baby colt was happy to be held by Sandbar, however, once he was put on the teenager's back he tried to reach for Sandbar's mane. Since the student's mane was much shorter than Fleur's, he had to feel around until he could touch it. This nearly made him slipped of Sandbar's back if it wasn't for Ocellus moving further back.
Unable to touch Sandbar's mane, the colt started crying. Sandbar took him off his back and tried cradling him. "Come on," he muttered. "This always worked with my sister." Fleur couldn't stand the bawling and quickly grabbed the baby from Sandbar. In her hold, the infant was able to grab onto her mane and stopped crying.
"I think we have our work cut out for us," Ocellus commented.
"Hold on," Sandbar said, "I know what he wants now." He helped the baby back onto his back and made sure it was in a secure position to touch his mane. "Alright, now I think you can take your showers."
"Thank you," Fancypants sighed. The guests were left alone with the colt while Fancypants and Fleur went to clean themselves up.
"It can't just be a baby that would be giving them trouble."
"That true," Ocellus agreed. "Maybe it's the relationship between them that's why the map had called us."
"I did help with Dragon Lord Ember and King Thorax. This doesn't sound so farfetched." Sandbar then felt the colt nibbling on his ear. While it didn't hurt, he didn't like it.
After about ten minutes, Fancypants and Fleur had clean themselves up. They found Sandbar had lied down on the sofa with the baby colt resting beside him. "You clean up fast," Ocellus commented.
"I wish we could be fast with how to understand this child," Fancypants admitted.
"About that," Sandbar spoke, "Do you have a name for him, or do you just call it 'The Baby?'"
"We've thought about naming him Hazy," Fleur responded. "It was the only name we could think of through this chaos."
"Alright then," Ocellus commented. "Now, just show us how your day usually is with Hazy." The two upper-class unicorns did so, leading their guess into the kitchen. Opening their fridge, they took out some baby food and placed Hazy in his high chair. The blind baby didn't like being sat down and started making a fuss, especially when Fancypants tried to feed him some food.
"This is challenging because he can't see the food coming," the stallion sighed. "Hazy, keep your mouth open." Ocellus and Sandbar watched as they struggled to feed the young colt.
"Maybe he's not liking the flavor," Sandbar guessed. "My sister often refused to eat her food because of the flavor it. What do you have?"
Fleur took a look at one of the containers and read the label. "Squashed peas," she read.
"How about you try something like carrots? They're pretty sweet."
"If you say so," Fancypants said. "You know more about this than us." He failed to feed the food to the blind colt.
"What else is there?" Ocellus asked.
"How about Hazy's room?" Fleur suggested.
"Good idea," Sandbar commented. The baby was picked up and was carried upstairs to a room that had been prepared just for him. It only seemed to have a crib that only had a pillow and a blanket. Other than that, the room was pretty dull. Sandbar didn't like the look of this. "I don't think this enough for Hazy."
"What are we missing?"
"A change station, maybe a toy that plays music for Hazy to listen to. Maybe even a teddy bear so he has something to hug." Fancypants got a notepad so he could start writing things down.
"Why does this have to be so complicated?" groaned Fleur.
"Babies aren't easy," Ocellus commented. "Our friend Smolder told us about has her brother has a hard time raising Cynder."
"Is Smolder a changeling too?"
"Nope. She's a dragon."
"That's... Interesting," Fancypants commented. "Anything else we need for Hazy?" A foul smell soon filled the air and it was coming from Hazy. "Oh, dear." Fleur started gagging knowing what needed to be done with the colt. She levitated over to her husband who now started levitating him. "I know what to do." He handed the mare the notepad and went to change Hazy's diaper.
"Okay, we can add some diapers onto the listen," Ocellus commented.
"This is going to be a challenge," Sandbar added. Both of them looked towards Fleur, who was wiping her mouth from almost vomiting. She and Fancypants were going to need a lot of work.
After cleaning Hazy up, Ocellus and Sandbar went to the shops with Fancypants and Fleur. The baby was riding on the mare's back, which Sandbar felt wasn't safe enough for a colt Hazy's age. He insisted that Fleur held Hazy with her arm, as he didn't seem to be comfortable with levitation.
"Ugh, there has to be a better way of carrying this kid," Fleur spoke.
"We could get a baby carrier," Sandbar noted. "You could get one that's on your chest or as a saddlebag." That sounded pretty handy to the mare. Fancypants could see a couple of ponies looking towards him and Fleur, quite surprised to see them with a colt that didn't look like either of them. They began whispering to themselves about where the colt came from, some of them coming up with rumors about Fleur.
"Let's get this shopping trip over with quickly," Fancypants suggested. "I... Don't think Hazy would like to be around so much noise." Ocellus and Sandbar couldn't hear anything that would disturb the baby too much, though they weren't too sure about Hazy's senses either.
Eventually, they reached a shop containing several items, the ones they were interested in were the baby supplies. They got a cart and started placing in several items, such as baby food, fresh diapers, but also some stuff that the upper-class ponies had yet to purchase. Such as more sheets for the crib, a couple of plush toys such as a classic teddy bear. They also got a baby carrier and a book to read.
"Are you sure we need all of this stuff?" Fancypants asked.
"It's just some starting supplies," Ocellus noted. "Sandbar, what do you think?"
"We came here for the essential stuff," Sandbar stated. "Try not to get carried away with extra items."
Fancypants took note of this but was a little distracted by the sound of crying. It wasn't coming from Hazy, it was another foal that was being denied a toy. After hearing the crying, Hazy broke into tears as well, much to the annoyance of Fleur. "Oh, what is it now?" she questioned.
"It's just another foal," Ocellus explained. "Just try to ignore it and focus on Hazy." Fleur tried to do so, though it seemed like Hazy was crying because another foal was crying. It only seemed to stop when the guardian of the other crying foal simply gave them to the toy to shut them up. Since Hazy was still crying, Fleur was tempted to use the same method until her mane got into the colt's face.
Hazy hugged it and he started giggling to the relief of both her and Fancypants. "Soft things seem to calm him down," Ocellus noted.
"It's true," Fancypants confirmed. "Whenever he has a hold of her mane, he always hugs it and gets happy."
"I'm pretty sure he'll love the teddy bear," Sandbar guessed. He took the bear they got out of the cart and handed it over to the blind colt. Hazy hugged the stuffed toy and giggled with joy. Fancypants was happy with this. Eventually, they gathered the supplies that they needed and began checking out.
Once they had purchased the baby strap, Fleur put it on and placed Hazy inside of it. Her mane was able to reach the strap so the colt was still able to hug her mane. "Okay, this is easier to carry you around," the mare commented. "Now what?"
"Back home," Ocellus answered.
"Right then. Follow me," Fancypants spoke. The group walked back to the house with the upper-class ponies feeling a little better knowing they wouldn't have so much stress on their shoulders. Walking home, however, they heard a couple whispering between each other with their gossip.
"Why on earth do they have a foal?" a stallion questioned, "Let alone an earth pony." Fancypants didn't like rumors that were forming about him, Fleur, and Hazy. He didn't say too much until they made it back home.
Taking the foal into the kitchen, Hazy wt down in his high chair and tried the carrot-flavored baby food. The foal sniffed the food and was interested in the taste. Hazy soon started consuming the mushed carrots. "See, he likes it better," Sandbar commented.
"It should make mealtimes easier," Fancypants commented.
"How about we get these toys to Hazy's room?" Ocellus suggested.
"Fleur, you go help them with that. I'm going to stay here with Hazy." The mare did so, helping to carry to supplies they bought upstairs with the guests.
"So, you think we should've started glowing by now?" Sandbar asked.
"Maybe," Ocellus responded. "There's probably still a problem with these two." The changeling looked towards Fleur, who despite getting the help she needed, looked rather upset. Sandbar placed the new teddy bear in the foal's crib while Ocellus checked with Fleur. "How are you feeling right now?"
"Um... A little better," Fleur responded. "Still, I can't help but worry about raising a foal. Let alone one that's blind."
"I didn't think that I would do well at a pony school. Yet, I'm in my third year." That help with Fleur's confidence a little bit, though she still had a sinking feeling.
Sandbar placed the teddy bear next to the pillow in the crib before he noticed that the mattress was simply bear. "Do you have any spare bedsheets?" he asked.
"Oh, don't worry," Ocellus reassured, "I bought a few while we were shopping." The changeling left the room and returned shortly with a couple of bedsheets. They were soft to the touch and they began placing them over Hazy's mattress.
Fleur watched the students and got that sinking feeling again. "You finish up here. I'm going to check on Fancy," the mare noted. She walked away and allowed herself to frown.
She returned to the kitchen, seeing Fancypants cleaning Hazy up. The foal had some food all over his cheeks. "Fleur, how's the bedroom coming along?" the stallion asked.
"Just fine," the mare responded. She took a deep breath before continuing. "Fancy, are you sure we should even keep Hazy around?" The stallion was rathered surprised when he heard this. "I didn't mean it like this. Look, we've been struggling to take care of Hazy by ourselves. We had to have teenagers been called out and come here to help us."
"Listen, Fleur, I know how you're feeling. Both of us have been under a lot of stress, but these two will help us and Hazy get along with our lives. Just give it some time and we'll get through this." With that, Fancypants picked up Hazy, who was feeling a little drowsy after eating. Even with the words from her husbands, Fleur still wasn't confident with their situation.
With the young foal fast asleep, this gave the guests and unicorns time to talk about how they were going to work this out. "Okay, so we've got more stuff for you to help make Hazy happy," Ocellus spoke, "Still, you'll need a plan for the long run."
"The only thing I've thought out is getting Hazy a seeing-eye dog in the future," Fancypants admitted. "Though, that's not going to happen for a very long time."
"Let's try and see if we can get him to kindergarten," Sandbar spoke. "Still, I feel that you'll have to learn by yourselves. We've given you some help so I think you should have a good chance now."
"I think once Hazy's awake you could take him to a preschool," Ocellus spoke.
"He's pretty young," Fancypants admitted. "Are you sure about this?"
"I think since he's blind, we should start soon so we can have some prep time."
The stallion thought about this before responding. "Fair point. I'm willing to take any bit of help."
"Me too," Fleur agreed. "There should be a good preschool a little bit downtown. We'll just wait for Hazy to..." She paused when they heard the sound of a foal bawling. The mare groaned as she was getting tired of this. "I'll go get the strap."
Hazy giggled as he rode in the baby strap on Fleur's chest while he played with her mane. Ocellus and the ponies arrived at a preschool that was loaded with plenty of fillies and colts running around at recess. They took their time to find one of the ponies in charge and soon found a mare carrying a couple of books. She could see the two unicorns walking up to her with Hazy.
"Oh, can I help you?" the mare asked.
"Pardon us for asking this," Fancypants spoke, "But we have a bit of an issue we wish to discuss with you." They showed Hazy and explained his condition. The mare looked to be concerned about this.
"I see. Well, you made the right choice about getting a head start. It's understandable about getting your foal a propper education despite his... Limitation. Wait here." The mare walked away, leaving the two unicorns to wait. A short while later, she came back with two other ponies, one a stallion and one a mare. They talked about the situation for a while as Sandbar and Ocellus waited outside.
Hazy didn't understand what was going on. He was just happy to be able to feel Fleur's mane. "Look, this isn't new to us," the stallion explained. "We've handled children with physical disabilities before."
"That's good to hear," Fleur commented.
"Um... I feel like I should address the elephant in the room," the mare spoke. "Do you know about the foal's origins?"
Fancypants and Fleur both looked at each other before explaining what they had told Sandbar and Ocellus. This caused a bit of disgust to the ponies working at the school. "How could somepony abandon a helpless foal?"
"A part of me doesn't want to know," Fancypants responded. "What's important is that we set Hazy up for his future." The ponies working at the school agreed and showed a couple of papers that the two surprise parents would have to sign. As Fleur helped get Hazy prepared for his future, the sinking feeling was starting to return.
She had a theory why she was feeling like this, though she didn't want to say it. Preparing Hazy for his future lesson took quite a while. Fleur was in deep thought for most of this and soon they had gotten the foal signed up. "We should have plenty of prep time for your foal," the stallion commented. "If you have any more questions, feel free to ask us."
"Thank you, sir," Fancypants responded. The conversation was interrupted by the sound of Hazy getting upset. "...We should get going now."
"Do what you need to do," the mare responded. The upper-class ponies walked out of the school with their foal beginning to bawl. Sandbar and Ocellus, who were still waiting outside, could hear Hazy's crying and stepped in to see if they could help. Fleur had the foal hold her mane, but that didn't seem to be calming him down.
"Hazy, don't you want to play with my mane?" Fleur questioned. She pushed her mane so the foal in the baby strap could reach it, but the bawling baby wasn't interested in it for some reason. "Ugh. Why is he crying? His diaper isn't dirty and we fed him before we left."
"Sometimes babies cry for no reason," Sandbar informed. He picked up Hazy and tried cradling him. It didn't seem to be helping too much so the colt handed Hazy over to Ocellus. The changeling turned herself into a sheep so she could put Hazy on her soft back. The foal kept on crying and they had no idea what to do.
"Do we just let him... Let it out?" Fancypants questioned.
"It seems to be the only thing we can do for now," Ocellus commented. She picked up Hazy before giving him back to Fleur and changing back into her base form. Fancypants tried to do what Sandbar did. Surprisingly, once Hazy was in his arms, the foal had calmed down.
"Oh, thank goodness."
"I guess he just wanted some attention," Sandbar commented. A small laugh was shared, though Fleur's laugh didn't quite sound real.
Walking around Canterlot, Sandbar and Ocellus were making sure what else they could do to give the unicorns an easier time with Hazy. "Maybe they could hire a nanny," Ocellus suggested.
"That could help," Sandbar commented. "Still, I feel like they should learn some common parenting tips. Maybe we could've to ask Shining Armor and Cadance for some help."
"You think they should've been called?" Both of them looked back at the unicorns, who were trying to keep an eye on Hazy, not entirely sure what he would do next. "Maybe we just to get them some confidence."
"That's a great idea. Now, how do we do that?"
"How about we ask them about some other challenges they've faced. That should get them started." The two walked back so they could be side by side.
"You come up with a plan?" Fancypants asked.
"We wanted to ask you a few questions about your achievements," Sandbar said. "Like... How did you get to such a high ranking?"
"Really? If you insist, I was started around your age when my father was passing down his investments to me."
"How did you handle that?" Ocellus asked.
“I happened to find a nice mare willing to stand by my side.” The two unicorns both looked at each other regained their smiles.
“See, you managed to take care of businesses that would take multiple ponies,” Sandbar said. “I think you could take care of a foal.” Fancypants and Fleur looked at Hazy, who was happily giggling while hugging the mare’s mane.
"You know, you're right. I don't see how taking care of a foal will be that much of a challenge." Fancypants beamed and Fleur... Smiled. Both students were happy with this plan working. Sandbar looked back at his flank, which wasn't glowing, meaning that their mission wasn't completed.
This was on their minds until they got back to the home of the unicorns. Neither student could understand why the mission wasn't completed yet. Fancypants looked like he was ready for whatever problem he would face with Hazy. Fleur, on the other hand, still looked to be worried.
"I think I know who the problem is," Ocellus guessed.
Sandbar looked at the worried mare and sighed. "I was afraid of this," he muttered. "Well, we raised Fancy's confidence, we can do the same thing to Fleur." The two students walked over to the mare, who had given the foal over to her husband. "Fleur, do you have a minute?"
"Go ahead," the unicorn responded.
"Okay. Why do you worry so much about Hazy?"
Fleur looked across the room to her husband, who was nuzzling the blind foal. "Think about it," she spoke. "You two, who are teenagers, no offense, had to show up to show two full-grown ponies how to take care of a foal."
"One that's blind," Ocellus reminded.
"Exactly. If we struggled before you got here, how long will we last after you leave?" The earth pony and changeling both looked at each other thinking about what they were just told.
"Look, we know what it's like when you're missing confidence. We have plenty of friends that are like that and it's okay."
"I mean... I heard Princess Twilight had plenty of freakouts in the past," Sandbar added.
"I get what they're saying dear," Fancypants spoke. He had joined in with the conversation while holding Hazy. "The reason we had struggled with Hazy for so long is that we didn't know what we were doing. Now that we do, we'll be able to give Hazy a bright future." The foal giggled a little bit when he heard his name.
"Plus, you could meet other parents," Ocellus added. "If they have foals maybe Hazy could make some friends."
"Hmm, they could help make him happy," Fleur commented. "Maybe when they grow up they could try some activities." Her smile this time was genuine and her husband could tell.
"See, dear. There's a smile," the stallion commented. "If you keep up a good spirit, Hazy will have a great future." Handing the foal to his wife, Fancy wrapped his arm around Fleur, who held Hazy so he could hold her soft mane.
Suddenly, Sandbar's cutie mark and Ocellus's wings started glowing. Both students smiled as they knew their job was done. The unicorns were a little surprised by what they were seeing. "Yeah, this is a long story," Ocellus admitted. "Long story short, we're done here."
"Well, then we hope you have a safe trip home," Fancypants spoke.
"Thank you," Sandbar said. The earth pony and changeling left the home just as they could see the sun was setting. They both hurried to the station to catch the last train to Ponyville for the day. On the way home, the changeling began thinking about something. Her friend noticed and ask her what was up.
"Sandbar, have you noticed a pattern from the last three missions?" Ocellus asked. "Think about it. First, Yona and Silverstream go help Terry with Iron Will becoming his step-dad, next Gallus and Smolder help Peter getting adopted into his new family, and then we helped Fancypnts and Fleur with a blind foal that was just thrust upon them."
"They all have something to do with families," Sandbar commented.
"Exactly. I wonder why though."
"Who knows. I'm just happy we were able to help them." Ocellus knew that her friend was right. They both sat back and waited for their train to get them back to the school.
While they rode home, Fancypants and Fleur carefully carried Hazy back to his bedroom. They placed the sleepy foal in his crib and covered him up with his blanket while making sure he could reach his teddy bear. With the foal sound asleep, the two unicorns slowly stepped out of the room and quietly shut the door.
