“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.