“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 ^^