The Beginning of A Fun Night
“Now make sure he doesn’t eat too much sugar. His bedtime is at six-thirty sharp, Smarty Pants is in his bag and just please make sure he stays out of trouble.” A purple alicorn instructed towering over the white-pink alicorn in front of her. The girl’s horn let off a magical yellow glow as her tongue stuck out the side of her face; focusing her magic on a notepad frantically trying to jot down every detail. The young alicorn had been trying to keep track of the hoard of rules the adult was giving her. Though she was sure she had missed a few amongst the twelve pages she had written.
“Gotcha Aunt Twili!” The girl chirped, moving her pencil and pad away from her face before giving the Princess a salute. Furrowing her purple eyebrows, she attempted to radiate forth her overwhelming maturity and seriousness in front of her aunt and uncle. “And thank you for trusting me to babysit!”
“It’s no problem, Flurry Heart” The girl's Aunt Twili, or Princess Twilight Sparkle as the rest of Equestria knew the purple alicorn, responded with a warm smile. Though a twinge of worry in her squinted eyes betrayed the reassurance she was trying to give to her niece. “Just be careful with him…Gleam might insist that he’s ready to take on the world but he’s still just a foal.” She pleaded with motherly concern, shaking her head. It was clear that she had gone through multiple related ordeals in the past.
“Babe, I think she’s got it.” An orange pegasus, her Uncle Flash, said from beside Twilight. He wore a black dress coat, white dress shirt, a formal red rose pin and a black bow tie tied around his neck. “The girl is going to be the ruler of the Crystal Empire one day. I’m sure she can handle one energetic unicorn colt for one night.” He said, chuckling a bit as he reached down and grabbed his wife’s hoof. “Now come on, we don’t want to keep the others waiting. Last time Spike almost tore the castle apart looking for you worrying that something had happened since we were late.” Flash reminded her as he began to tenderly pull her away. But the princess’s hooves dragged along the floor as she was led to the exiting doors of the castle. Which didn’t look easy as his alicorn wife was almost twice his size. Though being pulled away didn’t stop Twilight from yelling more instructions as he dragged her, leaving scuff marks along the crystal floor.
“Don’t let him use color outside of the line, we’re trying to work on following instructions! Make sure that he brushes his teeth in a clockwise manner! And don’t let him eat peanuts! He’s not allergic but he might become allergic while we’re away!!!” She desperately called out as she was dragged out of the castle; frantically waving one hoof in the air as they left and the door slammed shut. Flurry sighed in relief as the tension she was holding for a while finally melted away. Holding that stoic pose of maturity had been a bit harder than she had imagined. Turning around to go check on her baby cousin, she was suddenly spooked when her aunt materialized in front of her having teleported back into the castle in a sparkly purple flash. “Don’t let him teleport! He gets motion sickness!” The Princess of Friendship said once more before her uncle zoomed through the door in an orange blur and dragged his wife out the door again.
“You got this kid, we trust you,” Her uncle assured her before he gave his niece a wink, ducking out and shutting the door again.
“Oookay…?” Flurry said, raising an eyebrow looking at the door with mild concern. Slowly backing away from the door, Flurry stared at the door for a few seconds to make sure her aunt wasn't going to barge back in to continue her motherly lecture. Otherwise, she would have spent the whole night being in one spot listening to Aunt ramble on and on about proper foal-raising etiquette. Thank goodness her uncle was always there to help keep those obsessive tendencies in check. With the silence reassuring her that a second sneak attack of purple rules would not come, the little princess sighed in relief.
“I don’t know why Aunt Twili is so worried. I am more than capable of taking care of my baby cousin.” She scoffed to herself as she proudly marched to where her cousin Twilight Gleam or just Gleam for short, was waiting.
Her Aunt Celestia and Aunt Luna were holding some sort of important festival or party that night to celebrate the return of her Aunt Luna many moons ago. She couldn't really remember the details since she had not paid much attention. Every foal was told the tale of how Celestia had once been forced to seal Luna away on the moon for a thousand winters. Something about her having been corrupted and turned evil…but she found the tall tale hard to believe. Her aunts had always been the best of friends and always had each other's back no matter what. They were the coolest aunts anypony would ask for and had even helped take care of her at a young age. How could anyone believe that her Aunt Luna had turned into the boogeymare known as Nightmare Moon? ‘Must be some bedtime story told to foals in order to scare them into behaving’ Flurry giggled pondering it to herself. The idea that her Aunt Luna could be considered scary was just plain silly.
But despite what the young alicorn believed, the festival was still a formal event, and all the princesses needed to be there. Despite having attended the event herself when she was younger, it had been mostly boring aside from the banquet of delicious food. She had been invited again this year, but she had decided against it wanting to relax at home this year. She would much rather watch her little cousin than pretend to know what a ‘winter solace’ or ‘lunar eclipse’ was since those were two of the many boring topics brought up at the festival. Having to listen to adults drone on endlessly about stuff she found boring filled her with immense dread. Plus staying home meant that she could spend quality time with her baby cousin and be free once he fell asleep.
This wasn’t the first time that he had watched the little foal as her cousin had stayed at the castle before. It was, however, the first time she was doing so on her own without her mom or our aunt being a call away. But how hard could it be? The boy hadn’t even made a sound since he was dropped off and his mother began to bombard her with instructions.
“Ok Gleam, it’s just the two of us,” Flurry announced, throwing the door to the library open revealing the maze of bookshelves and tables that was considered a room. She had last seen the boy at one of the wooden tables busy coloring away in one of his books. But when she arrived at his last known location, Flurry did a double take since Gleam was nowhere to be found.
The only evidence that he had ever been there was a piece of paper with a picture on it and a chair pulled away from the table. The picture was of an apple that had been perfectly colored in. Which impressed Flurry since it had taken her ages to learn to color within the line. Though she had always been a bit of an artistic rebel.
“Gleam? Where did you disappear to?” She called out, shutting the door before the colt could manage to get out of the library without her knowing, and started looking for the boy. He was still young so she wasn’t sure the amount of mischief he could get in. More worrisome was the fact that he was an unicorn…meaning that if he had started learning magic then the boy could get himself into some serious mishaps. Especially if he inherited Twilight's innate ability to learn powerful spells. Flurry’s mom still told stories about her when she was a baby and all of the mischief she caused with her out-of-control spells. Especially the one where she may have…accidentally shattered the crystal heart. She shuddered at the memory and hoped that Gleam was more behaved than her at that age. A foal's magic wouldn't be as strong as a full-grown adult or an alicorn’s… but a fire started by magic was still a fire nonetheless.
“Fwuuuuuuuwwwy!” A high-pitched voice whined from the bookshelves, making the girl stand straight up as she immediately darted toward the direction of the noise. Peaking into every aisle as she rushed down through the library, Flurry soon found a small purple filly with a dark blue mane surrounded by a dozen books. All opened to the first few pages, with the boy spinning in a circle, and reading a few lines of each book before going to the next one.
“Gleam, what are you doing?” She asked, trotting over, a smirk on her face seeing the little boy looking at all the books.
“I’m tying ta lean spells.” The boy said, grabbing a book in his hooves and turning it to his cousin. “What spell is dis one?” Gleam asked, showing Flurry the picture of a loaf of bread and the list of ingredients to make it. It would definitely make the afternoon go by faster if she showed him how to bake bread, but it wouldn’t lead to anything magical.
“That's not a spell, buddy.” Flurry giggled, taking the book and checking the cover which read ‘Cooking For Beginners’ on it. Something her dad could probably benefit from learning from since he insisted on cooking for the family on tabletop nights playing Dungeon & Discords. Meaning both her family and their respective characters would avoid suffering from severe poison damage during their adventures. “I don’t think any of these are spell books.” She informed Gleam with a warm smile. Her horn glowed with a faint yellow light as all the books lifted in the air and placed them back into their corresponding homes.
Of course, Flurry knew where the actual spell books were; they were hidden away on the second floor of the library all the way in the back. But she wasn’t going to reveal that to her cousin since that would spell disaster. She was pretty sure “Don't teach him new spells” was on one of the twelve pages of rules her Aunt Twili had listed for her.
“Why don’t we play a game or something? I’m sure you don’t want to hang out in a dusty old library all night.” She said, her attention returning to the little colt who now had another book on the floor. Frantically looking over the pages with sheer determination. If anyone had any doubt that Gleam was Princess Twilight’s son, then the overzealous fascination for books should squelch all such doubts.
“Gleam, can you even read?” She chortled, walking beside him and looking at the book, which showed the picture of a cupcake. It seems that Gleam had chosen the library's cooking section by mistake in his adorable pursuit of magical knowledge.
“Uh…. Nope! But I tee da picture n I just do what dey do.” The purple unicorn said, looking up with a beaming smile. His innocence and cute honesty made Flurry shake her head while an entertained smirk grew across her face.
“Oh, and what spell do you think this page is trying to teach you?” She asked poking at the page with her hoof, making the brown aged page crinkle slightly.
“Dat spell makes cupcakes appear when you want! You just go Zap! Bam! Boom! Cupcakes and then they appear!” The foal cheered, bouncing in place as Flurry shut the book and put it back in its place. That sounded like a spell her Aunt Twili’s friend Pinkie Pie had either mastered or maybe even created. She was known as the pink pony who somehow always had little desserts ready at a moment’s notice…and for her ability to break the laws of physics.
“Well, you don’t have to worry about learning that spell. We have a royal cook here that makes the best cupcakes in the world.” She informed her cousin, the foal getting covered in a sparkly yellow light as he was lifted and put onto her back. “Why don’t we see if she has some ready?” She asked, immediately trotting out of the library and down the bright blue crystal hallway.
“Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” Gleam cheered, bouncing on the girl's back. Gleam began licking his lips at the prospect of getting one of the sweet desserts, without having to finish eating a hefty dinner place full of vegetables first.
The two ponies quickly made their way to the kitchen, the castle halls practically empty of guards and other members of staff. Most of the castle guards would have escorted her parents to the festival and left only a handful of guards to watch over the kingdom and castle. So there would have been no need for the majority of butlers and maids to work for the day maintaining the palace in pristine condition. Which left the vast castle pretty much deserted except for Gleam and Flurry. Her hoof stomps echoed throughout the hall in reverberating CLOPS as they walked over the blue crystal flooring and soon burst through the black double doors leading to the kitchen. Upon opening the door, the two young rulers' noses were overwhelmed by the smell of fresh baked goods coming from the blazing stone oven. The enormous regal kitchen was filled to the brim with a wide variety of spices, ingredients, and cooking ware that would make any chef's dream come true. The only soul present in the kitchen was a lone pony attempting to wash a mountain of dishes by the sink singing a merry lullaby to themselves.
“Oh, Ms.Cheeeeef!” The small alicorn called out in a sing-song tone. Trying to get the attention of her favorite chef, who was busy with dishwashing. Making the light purple unicorn jump in surprise, sending out a wooden spoon she was cleaning flying through the air.
“Miz Flurry, what have I told ze about startling me! My goodness…ze will cause me un crise cardiaque one of these days,” sighed the unicorn in a thick flowery accent, frowning at the young princess.
“Oh, sorry,” Flurry said, compensating for her yelling by dropping her voice into a whisper as she walked over. “I was just wondering if you had any–.” She started to ask before a plate of brown cupcakes with white frosting floated in front of her face.
“I already have zem ready for vous.” Ms. Chef said, having prepared some ahead of time. Knowing that with the girl’s parents gone for the evening, her sweet tooth would have driven her to the kitchen at some point. “Zis batch is Apple Zinnamin with a cream cheese frozsting and sugar sprinklez.” She explained as Flurry used her magic to lift one and took a big bite out of it.
“Mmmmm!” She squealed in delightful bliss. The cupcake practically exploded in her mouth in a heavenly symphony. The sweet apple and cinnamon danced in a waltz of love amongst her crowd of taste buds cheering them on in tears of joy. Making her pop the rest of the cupcake into her mouth, unable to resist gulfing it down anymore. The crisp crunch of apple bits echoed in her head in a grand finale as she swallowed the rest of the cupcake ambrosia. “My compliments to you, Ms. Chef,” Flurry said with a bow, grabbing another one and floating it to her cousin. Who immediately shoved the cupcake delicacy into his face with his tiny hooves.
“Merci, Mz Flurry.” The chef said, bowing her head. Smirking a bit as she watched the two younger ponies enjoying her baked goods. “Now don’t eat zo much sucreries or you parentz will be mad at me.” She said, levitating a couple of cupcakes off the pile and sitting them on the counter before pulling the rest of the plate away.
“Don’t worry, this will be our little secret.” Flurry said with a wink, “Right, Gleam?” She asked, looking back at the little filly whose face was completely covered in the light brown cream cheese frosting. “I’m gonna take that as a yes.” She said giggling at her cousin's mess.
“Ok good, now why don’t zou try one of zee Peanut Butter petits gâteaux.” Ms. Chef said, making a new plate of cupcakes appear. Unlike the last ones, these were lighter in color and had little bits of peanuts on them.
“Nudder! Nudder!” The boy cheered, clapping his hoofs together as one of the newly exposed cupcakes was enveloped in a blue magical glow aura and hurtled itself towards him. The tiny unicorn held his mouth wide open as the cupcake flew in it, splattering his face with more frosting and crumbs.
“Ah, no!” Flurry yelped, having quickly remembered the no peanuts rule; maybe the only one she remembered since Twilight had emphasized it with panic. However, it was far too late since the dessert had been swallowed whole and scattered all over the kitchen. Flurry watched in abject horror as her baby cousin licked the remains of the supposed delicious and virulent sweet. Cold sweat ran down her face as she felt time slowing down, praying that he hadn’t suddenly become allergic to peanuts and gone into anaphylactic shock. Holding her breath, Flurry peered into Gleam's face expecting the worst but relaxed a bit seeing him attempt to lick frosting from his nose. Though moments later she tensed back when Gleam began coughing and hacking. “NO! Gleam are you–?!?” She began to ask apprehensively, dread beginning to quickly envelop her. But when she was abruptly hit in the face with peanut crumbs and Gleam cleared his throat, she sighed a wave of relief washed away her anxious thoughts.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” She chuckled nervously, taking her cupcake and quickly eating it before her little cousin had the chance to snipe it away from her. “Bye Miss Chef! Thank you again for the wonderful treats” She said, giving the royal cook a warm smile before dismissing herself from the kitchen. “Itz no problem princesse, just don go causing mischief around ze castle. “Ok?” Ms. Chef called out as the two future rulers exited her kitchen.
“Ok Gleam, we got a snack now what should we do?” She asked, feeling the boy jump off her back and begin walking beside her.
“Hm….” The young unicorn paused, holding his hoof up to his chin. Imitating the mannerisms of his mom when she had to ponder on a difficult question. Gleam wanted to show her big cousin that he was just as smart as his mom and tried to think of what else they should do. He already had glanced over those ‘spell books’ with all the yummy-looking food in them and now he had eaten some yummy food. Using his inquisitive mind, he deduced that there was only one other logical thing they could do...and that was: “Play!” He cheered, prancing around Flurry in a circle.
“Yep, I figured that much ya goof.” She said with an eye roll, reaching over and ruffling the boy’s head. “Play what?” She asked, making the small foal to imitate her sarcastic gesture with a cute pout. ‘I thought bigger ponies always knew the best games to play’ Gleam thought in bewilderment, now being forced to come up with a “Totally Awesome Game”. Just like his cool heroic aunt Dash had shown him once.
Returning his hoof to his chin, he started to pace in a circle around the girl, another trait he picked up from his mom. ‘Awww…it's like seeing a mini version of Aunt Twilight. He is so darn cute~!’ Flurry mused watching him deeply reflect on the question. There were so many different games for him to choose from, how could he just choose one? Plus if he chooses wisely, they could stay awake past his bedtime since his mom wasn't around. Besides, it was a rare opportunity that he got to spend time with his older cousin, and he wanted to enjoy every second possible. This called for only the best of the best game he knew by heart. “Save Eqwestwia!” The boy cheered, suddenly pausing and throwing his hoof into the air as he announced the game. “I pway da super awesome and cool hewo and you play da nasty viwwan!” He explained, saving his cousin from having to ask about that game. “You can be da viwwan Cwistawis!” He declared with a bold smile. Though his enthusiasm faltered slightly after he realized that Flurry had cringed at the idea, making him a little doubtful.
She had heard stories about the ex-queen of the changeling from her mom and all of the horrible things she had done to her family in the past. How Chrysalis had once trapped her mom in the mines under the Canterlot Castle, attempted to manipulate his dad into marrying her, nearly succeeded in her plot to kill her Aunt Celestia & Aunt Luna, and worst still almost succeeded in taking over all of Equestria multiple times. The wounds that Queen Chrysalis had scarred her parents with were still quite a bit of a sore spot for her. However, ever since her Uncle Thorax had taken over the hive and reformed the Changelings to embrace love and kindness, there had finally been peace within the realm. Having to act as someone so evil from her family's past, even if it was for a game, still made her feel quite uncomfortable.
“How about I be someone else? I could be The Infamous Nightmare Moon, The Trickster Discord, or The Ferocious Tirek?” She said attempting to change his mind. At the mention of some of the most ferocious monsters known to Equestria, the boy’s little eyes grew wide with excitement, especially at the mention of Tirek. Of course, to a little unicorn, a monster that would eat his magic would be scary. Noticing his reaction to the name, she put on the most devilish and evil smirk she could manage. Crouching down like a predator preparing to pounce on its prey, Flurry began to take menacingly slow steps toward Gleam. Sensing the impending danger, Gleam began to cower as he attempted to slowly distance himself from Flurry, AKA The Ferocious Tirek. “Mmmhhh~! It's been a while since I've eaten and I am ever so hungry~...Snif Snif…Where is that lovely magical smell coming from? I think that yummy yummy magic is coming from…YOU!” She said with a deep gruesome voice as her wicked smile doubled in size. Spreading her wings, she lunged at her prey fully intending to gobble up the young hero. Marking the beginning of the epic battle between the valiant hero Gleam and the monstrous Tyrek.
Author's Note
Heyo all, hope you all enjoyed this part. Huge thanks again to Xowatle for editing this for me and looking it over ^^
The Great Game and Afterwards
“Aaah!” The little hero yelped skillfully evading the monster and darting down the hallway. “No dwon’t get my magwic!” He valiantly cried out hearing his nemesis give chase.
“But it smells so yummy! Like an apple cinnamon cupcake with EXTRA frosting!” She bellowed menacingly, pursuing the young hero down the halls of the great castle. Their hoof stomps echoed down the empty halls like giant drums of war as they ran. Gleam’s squeals and Flurry's deep evil laugh only added more to the symphony amidst the imaginary battle. “Drats you’re too fast. Guest I’ll have to go and find someone else's magic to eat, cuz I’m reeeeeeaaaaally hungry.” She said, stopping on a dime and turning to head back. “I think I’ll go after Ms. Chef's magic! If it tastes half as good as her cupcakes then it’ll be super sweet and delicious!” She said with macabre insinuation.
Hearing this made the mighty hero stop in his tracks and turn to face Tirek. He couldn’t just run away while she went to take the magic away from somepony else, especially not the unicorn chef. If she was drained of all her magic then how would she be able to make more yummy cupcakes?
“No! Top ight there monsther!” Gleam fearlessly demanded turning around and stomping down one of his hooves, making Flurry abruptly pause and turn her evil gaze towards the boy. Noticing that he now had the full attention of the monster, a small very unhero-like whimper escaped his mouth. It seemed that the boy had a huge imagination since at that exact moment he wasn't able to distinguish the white-pink alicorn with taffy-colored hair from the red-horned magic-eating monster. All four of his legs wobbled with pure fear as Gleam attempted all of the bravery he could muster. Though he was shaking so violently that he could have passed out from the pure adrenaline, he stood his ground like a true hero of legend. “I’m da hewo of aw Eqwestia and yo no steal magic!!!” The hero of legend roared in defiance against his mighty foe.
“Oh, you are?” Flurry asked with evil amusement, stomping her hoof in return, “And how will you stop me oh~ glorious~ hero of Equestria?!”
“By bwasting you with magic and topin you!” He said, forgetting the fact that the real Tirek would simply eat whatever magic was thrown at him. But Flurry wasn’t going to be a stickler for the rules. Besides, “accurate magical combat tactics and foe identification” hadn't been on the twelve-page manuscripts of rules Twilight had given her…or maybe it was. Flurry's memory of all the rules got hazy after the second page thinking that they were never going to end. But for now, she wasn’t going to worry about that.
“You can try silly colt,” She dared, trying to give her best evil cackle, though it sounded more like her giving an excited giggle. “But I will defeat you and steal ALL of the magic in Equestria!” She declared, holding a hoof up to her chest and trying to pose dramatically.
“Nooooo!” The boy clamored enraged, courageously charging to meet his destiny in battle. Slamming his mighty body against Tirek, our hero began to relentlessly attack the monster not wanting to give it time to retaliate. In reality, Gleam was flailing his tiny body against Flurry in the cutest display of “violence” ever witnessed in Equestrian history. “No! No! No!” Gleam squeaked out in a tantrum as if he had just been told to do something he didn’t want to do. Flurry could only roll her eyes and giggle watching the tremendous valiant effort her baby cousin was putting into “defeating her” in the cutest way possible. It was taking all of her willpower to not sweep him up in a giant loving hug amidst the ensuing battle. If the boy wanted to be a true hero like his mom one day, he was going to have to work on his fighting skills or at least learn how to tackle somepony twice his size. But seeing as how she had been truly impressed with his cuteness, she decided that Gleam would be victorious and toppled over onto her side dramatically.
“Oh no you got me!” She wailed, immediately feeling the foal climb onto her side and proceed to jump on top of her.
“Stop! Stop! Stop!” He demanded as he continued to use his cousin like a trampoline. It seemed that the hero was going to make sure that Tirek never terrorized Equestria ever again. Especially the most amazing culinary wizard in the world, Ms. Chef, and her holy cupcakes.
“Gleam you did it! Hahaha…ow…ahaha Gleam stop you defea–” Flurry said giggling before her voice was snuffed out when Gleam landed directly on her stomach. Enveloping her still-flailing cousin with her yellow magical energy, she floated Gleam off of her to catch her breath again and stand back up. Not wanting to dampen Gleam’s victory, Flurry wrapped her hooves around her cousin in a tight ursula minor hug of love. Seeing that Gleam no longer was fighting the imaginary battle, she began tossing him in the air cheering his name. air.. “Yay, the hero of all Equestria, Twilight Gleam has defeated Tirek the terrible Monster! May his name be praised all throughout the world, Gleam! Gleam! Gleam! Gleam!” She cheered, tossing the tiny unicorn into the air over and over again. Surprised by his sudden ability to fly, Gleam began laughing with pure joy posing like a superhero midair. “Good job taking down, Tirek! I’m sure Auntie Twili would be proud of you for being so brave!” She assured the boy sitting him on the ground and ruffling his head. A beaming smile spread across the boy's face as he excitedly shook like an earthquake and seemed as though he would have exploded like a firework at any moment. “Wahoooooo!” Gleam shouted in an explosion of joy bouncing around Flurry at mach speed, which would have made Aunt Pinkie Pie ever so proud.
“I’mma hewo wike Mama!” He chirped happily as he continued to circle the girl before stopping right in front of Flurry. “Can I have anudder cupcwake?!” He immediately asked with the biggest puppy eyes he could manage, figuring that saving everyone's magic was worth at least another sweet treat. Flurry would have even agreed that had he actually saved Equestria from Tirek he would have been allowed to have a whole mountain of cupcakes…or maybe just two more knowing his mother. Besides, they had already broken the no sweets rule left by Twilight once, and getting in trouble meant having to spend several hours getting lectured by her.
“I don’t think so, buddy maybe next time. Your mom told me you weren’t even allowed to have any sweets so be glad we got to enjoy some of Ms.Chef’s deluxe cupcakes.” She said, watching the boy's expression sadden while looking down dejected. “But don’t worry we still have time to have a bit more fun before bedtime at the very least. We still have another half an hour.” She said, pulling the boy close in a comforting hug as she looked at one of the clocks that hung in the hallway. , “
“Hmmmph…oookkk” He said dispirited, clearly not happy about getting his hero’s rightful sweet reward denied. But he also knew that there would be trouble if his mom found out and besides he wanted to continue having fun past his bedtime if possible.
“How about we instead…color for a bit?” She offered him, figuring it would be something simple for them to do and it would hopefully get Gleam relaxed enough to get ready for bed.
“Hmmm…” He started to think again, holding his hoof to his chin as he slowly began to walk from Flurry in the direction of the library. His coloring was indeed a good idea to pass the time, but more importantly, there were still a ton of magical spells yet to be discovered. “Ok!” He chirped as he dropped his hoof and began running back to the library at full speed.
“Well wait up for me you goof!” She said, glad that he was already out of his funk, and chased after him. When she arrived at the library moments later, Flurry saw that Gleam was already attempting to scavenge through every book possible, most likely in search of magic shenanigans. Using a strong illusionary spell, she discreetly blocked the way to the second library floor with a maze of endless shelves. She needed to prevent him from actually finding the magical spell books and most likely blowing up the castle. “Come on buddy we can learn some magic later, let's have some fun drawing,” Flurry said as she picked up the books that had been scattered on the floor once again. Giggling nervously at being caught red-hoofed, Gleam went right to where his coloring book and crayons were. Climbing up into the chair, he immediately began flipping through the pages and landed on a drawing of a guard pony dressed in the standard Crystal Empire armor that you would expect to see them in. Wasting no time, Gleam used his magic to raise a couple of crayons and started to color in the picture. “Remember to be careful and stay insi–” Flurry had begun to say, rejoining her baby cousin at the table and sitting beside him before interrupting herself. She had still been quite surprised at how good Gleam was at coloring between the lines and for all she knew he could very well become a masterful artist one day if he wanted to. She was glad that they were not going to break another one of Twilight’s rules after having the whole “no eating peanuts” thing. She was quite happy that the fiasco had not ended in a disaster, Faust only knows how angry his mother would have been. Flurry had even heard from her Aunt Pinkie that she had once combusted into a raging inferno from pure rage.
Unaware of her older cousin's internal turmoil, Gleam had colored the armor gray, the earth pony an amber color, and aqua green for the mane & tail. “Ta-duh! I’m all don!” He chirped in delight, showing off his newest creation with pride and handing the drawing book to Flurry. “That's awesome buddy, you really did a spectacular job! I love the colors that you chose for the guard.” Flurry said, getting a better look at the picture, noticing that there wasn’t even a tiny bit of coloring outside the lines. She had also noticed that the coloring book itself was quite unusual since it was enormous and resembled some of her own school textbooks. Filled with curiosity, she started to flip through the book’s countless pages trying to see the other pictures. Each of the dozen of pictures she flipped open was immaculate and perfectly colored with some even having proper shading. “You do a good job at coloring, Gleam. Have you ever thought of becoming an artist one day?” She praised the boy, getting a beaming smile from him as she shut the book. “Ummmm…nope! I dunno yet” Gleam responded with a grin, happily fidgeting in his chair.
Returning the book back to him, Flurry looked at the clock and seen it was six twenty, close to the boy's bedtime. “Ok, Gleam it’s almost time for bed. Let's go brush our teeth and get ready” She informed the boy in a kind motherly voice, standing up from her chair and standing beside Gleam.“Hmph…no wanna!” He pouted in response, popping his bottom lip out, and turning away from his cousin. Gleam had always wanted to stay up later since it meant more time for fun and games but had never been allowed to.
“Aw come on, Gleam don't be like that.” Flurry said, a bit worried this was going to be where the babysitting job got hard, “If you’re good and listen I’ll read you a bedtime story.” She said, which just got a displeased ‘hmph’ from the boy in response. “Aannnddd…I’ll make sure Ms.Chef makes you an extra special cupcake tomorrow. How does that sound?”
“Wid Pe-nut?” He immediately asked, apparently having taken a liking to Ms. Chef’s Peanut Cupcakes. “Yeah, sure.” She attempted to compromise, but Gleam only continued to pout as he held his hoof up to his chin thinking on the deal. “Alright then…um…What about two cupcakes? But only if we keep this a secret from your mom, do we have a deal?” She asked hoping that this would placate his tantrum and seal the agreement. Upon hearing this, Gleam’s sullen mood instantly disappeared, nodding in agreement and holding up his hooves wanting to be carried. Flurry obliged the boy and scooped him up with one of her hoofs, happy that the little troublemaker had given in. Using her magic to carefully put away the coloring book and crayons in the bag Twilight had given her, they both then exited the library without further interruptions.
Making their way down the quiet castle, Flurry slightly smiled when she noticed that Gleam was beginning to yawn in the cutest way possible despite his previous apprehension at wanting to sleep on time. Soon the two were in one of the spare royal bedrooms reserved for other members of nobility or family members when they came to visit. Helping him brush his teeth and wash his face of any evidence of cupcake sweets, Gleam was soon dressed in a pair of blue footie PJs excitedly bouncing on the mattress while Flurry flipped through a storybook trying to find the right story for the boy. “Storytime! Storytime! Storytime!” The little unicorn cheered happily, stopping his bouncing only when Flurry called his attention after finding a story that wouldn’t be too scary for the boy. The book her Auntie Twili had left them contained the many tales of Starswirl the Bearded and though he had been an epic hero during his life, he also had overcome many scary adventures.
“Ok goofball,” She said, her horn glowing with yellow magical energy as she lifted the foal up, moved the blanket, and tucked him into bed making sure his stuffed animal Smarty Pants was securely held in his arms. “Tonight, we’ll be reading the epic story of Starswirl & The Sirens.” She said, smirking a bit as she heard an excited squeal from the boy. Apparently, it seems that either Gleam had liked this story in particular or admired Starwhirl for his heroism just like his mother. Flurry herself had heard this particular tale directly from Starwhirl when she was younger, but couldn't remember whatever happened to the trio of siren sisters.
“Once there was a mighty and strong unicorn named Starswirl the Bearded.” She announced as she began to retell the epic saga to her baby cousin. She went on to explain how the unicorn had long ago been the teacher of Princess Celestia and Luna and was considered the most important conjurer of the pre-classical era. In the story, Starwhirl had once been asked to rescue a village from a mysterious threat, just to find out the ones responsible had been a rare race of creatures in Equestria named Sirens. The sirens were creatures of malice that would feed off the negative energy of others by enchanting them with their song. Their wicked melodies would enchant anypony that heard them driving them into violence and mayhem. Had it not been for one of the villagers, named Stygian, escaping from their evil control Starswirl and the Pillars would have never arrived just in time to save the day. With great emphasis and dramatization, Flurry described the epic battle that soon ensued. Gleam had been so drawn in by the story that his eyes twinkled with child-like wonder and amazement. Despite the brutal battle, Starwhirl and the Pillars had come out victorious over the evil sirens by banishing them into a different dimension where they would hurt nopony ever again.
“And with the sirens gone everypony in the village was safe and lived happily ever after, the end.” She said, closing the book with a smile seeing that Gleam had been lulled to sleep. Although she thought that he would have stayed awake for at least a few more stories, it seemed that Gleam had been whisked away into Luna's peaceful dreamland. Flurry's heart melted seeing Gleam curled up in a ball snuggling Smarty Pants tightly as he snored softly and drooled a bit.
“Sweet dream, Gleam.” She whispered to the boy as she kissed his forehead and quietly began to leave the room as she put the storybook back in his bag. Taking the extra time to go back to the library and kitchen to clean up any mess they had left behind, she made sure that everything would be perfect by the time the adults arrived back from the festival. She had even taken a couple of cupcakes from Ms. Chef’s special batch and put them in a little bag, planning on honoring her side of the bargain she made with her little cousin.
“Ok…everything should be perfect.” She sighed in relief, walking back to Gleam's room in order to hide the bag of goodies she was carrying. But as she was passing through the main room she was stopped when she heard the door burst open.
“Honey, slow down! I’m sure everything is ok!” Her Uncle Flash said as he rushed into the main area, his wings fluttering a thousand miles per hour. Flash looked around worried when he abruptly stopped noticing that Flurry Heart had been standing there instead of Twilight. “Uh, hi sweetie…have you seen your aunt anywhere? I was trying to catch up to her since she left at near mach speed back here once the party was over?” He asked the small alicorn, panting as he attempted to regain his breath.
“No sorry Uncle Flash, I haven’t seen her. I'm sure I would hear her coming in…” She informed the pegasus while shaking her head, “So how was the party? Did anything exciting happen?”
“Oh well yeah, of course, it’s always an interesting time when all the princesses get together. The festivities can always get a bit wild when they finally bring out the hard cider at the end of the night” He said with a chuckle as he flew over and landed next to the girl. “What about you, did you kids have a fun night?”
“Yeah of course. I made sure to follow everything on the list and get him to bed on time” She said with a slight nervous giggle as sweat began to form on her forehead. In all honesty, it has been a good night for them…aside from breaking several rules like giving the boy sweets, almost having “poisoned” her cousin with peanuts, making a mess of the library & kitchen, and running around the castle terrorizing Gleam by pretending to be a giant magic-eating monster. ‘So…yeah it had been quite the interesting night for them, but I should probably not mention that’ she nervously thought as she continued to maintain her poker face in front of her uncle.
But before she could say anything else, her Auntie Twili walked down the hall as she held a sleeping Gleam in one arm, using her magic to carry his bag and look at the boy’s coloring book. “Good job Flurry, you made sure he colored in the lines!” Twilight praised, turning around to show the picture of the knight the boy had drawn in. Though Flurry felt undeserving of such praise since Gleam seems to already have a natural talent for it and she hadn't even done anything. “I’ll be honest with you honey, I was kind of worried about you babysitting since you are still so young. But your uncle was right…I had nothing to worry about and was worrying over nothing.” She said with a warm motherly smile that made the girl's pink cheeks tint red with pride. “I almost thought that you had thrown away all the rules I gave you after we left hahaha! Silly of me, right?”
“Ha…haha…um thanks, Auntie Twili. It was quite fun and thank you for trusting me” She said with a dry laugh as she shifted and suddenly remembered the secret bag of goodies she was carrying. “Oh, these are for Gleam. I promised I would give him since he behaved so well and didn't break any of the rules. I was going to leave it in his room since I never break promises.” But before she could turn and head away from the impending danger she was sensing, the bag was wrapped in a purple glow, Twilight took the bag with an inquisitive look in her eye. Flurry began sweating nervously when upon and took a sniff inside, her smile quickly faded into a frown. “Are..these peanuts???” She asked in a serene tone, looking over at her niece with a raised eyebrow.
Panicking, Flurry attempted to deflect the accusation,“Waaaaaa…cough cough…noooo of course not they are…uumm…walnu–”
“Peanu budda…” Gleam muttered in his sleep as he started to drool a bit more at the naming of that sweet ambrosia, reaching a hoof out towards the cupcakes still half asleep. “Budda good…” Hearing this made the older alicorn loom over to her niece waiting for a darn good explanation.
“Oh look at the time!” Flurry said, giving a fake yawn as she gave her uncle and aunt a quick hug, “Gottahitthehayloveyoutwobye!” She said, her words mushing together as she spat them out, before rushing away to her room.
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Author's Note
Heyo hope you all enjoyed this reupload, again I will not get into the habit of reuploading things. But figured all these changes warranted it.
