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Chapter: 1 No means no651 words
Chapter: 2 Clean Mission Statement668 words
Chapter: 3 Shot in the dark (Re-written entirely jul 2 2015)1,848 words
Chapter: 4 Office Hours687 words

Chapter: 3 Shot in the dark (Re-written entirely jul 2 2015)

Twilight Velvet cautiously eyed Shining Armour's shrinking uncertain grin. Beside him Rose puffed herself out with pride and enthusiasm. Velvet couldn't tell if Shining was trying to get out of work by presenting his friend as a possible babysitter, if Rose had seized upon the idea without any explanation and caught Shining up in her enthusiasm, if he honestly thought Rose was up to it but was worried how his mother would react to this. If it was the last possibility, that was worrisome. It implied that Shining thought Velvet either didn't trust him, or was racist against gryphons. Neither were impressions she wanted to leave upon her son, but the second option was also a danger as it could negatively impact her son's relationship with this friend of his. She needed more information.

She took a deep breath to calm herself, expanding her barrel greatly. Both of the youth had the grace to flinch slightly at her casual dominance display. "Miss Tarsal, have you undertaken a risk-benefit analysis using the proper factors?'

"Um... what?" Rose asked uncertainly. She wasn't entirely sure what Shining's mom had said. She'd never heard his mom talk like this before, though from Shining's lack of reaction to the complicated statement, she must talk like this all the time when she wasn't entertaining Shining's friends. Rose quickly realized two things.

One, Shining's mom wasn't who Rose had thought she was. This was normal, most parents behaved differently around their foal's friends than around other people. (Compart themselves differently, Velvet would have pointed out dryly had she been able to hear Rose's thoughts).

This lead directly, and more worryingly to two. Twilight Velvet was not thinking of Rose as her son's friend right now.

"Have you undertaken a risk-benefit analysis using the proper factors?" Velvet repeated. The look of incomprehension on Rose's face told Velvet the problem was not difficulty hearing. She rephrased. "Have you determined whether or not this posting is a beneficial option for you vis-a-vis the loses threatened by this action, the rewards you are anticipating, the potential success/failure states and the probability of each based on your capabilities and the special conditions these circumstances impose?"

Rose flattened her ear tufts against her head and swallowed nervously. Then she noticed what she was doing. No. Twilight Velvet might be a powerful woman, but Rose refused to be intimidated. She carefully re-puffed her chest feathers and settled herself. "I'm going to be honest with you Missus V. I think I know what most of those individual words mean, but they don't make sense to me strung together in a sentence like that."

Twilight Velvet paused a moment, ducking her chin almost imperceptibly while sighing at a similar threshold. She was impressed by the girl's willingness to stand up for herself in a way that was almost polite. However, Rose's lack of education was clear and present."Right. Are you sure you're able to babysit my daughter, and have you considered what may happen if something goes poorly. Also, what skills do you bring to the table and how much compensation do you want for your servi-... How much money do you want and why do you think you should be the one to babysit my daughter?"

Rose thought a moment, taking her time to form her answer. "I'm a middle griflet, so I've done my fair share of sitting. I'm not a complete stranger, so Twilight's less likely to take poorly to me. Also, I'm not prone to freaking out at surprises. I'm expecting 50 bits an hour? That's negotiable, but I have heard that she's rough to handle."

"And have you considered the harm it might cause your relationship with my son should anything go wrong?" Velvet enunciated carefully, trying to wrap her tongue around a simpler form of conversation.

"It... shouldn't? If it doesn't work out, I'll get help and won't ask to do it again." Rose said "I'd never let something go wrong enough to actually hurt her."

Twilight Velvet was more worried about Twilight Sparkle frightening Rose away from associating with Shining, but didn't say so. "You've been briefed on her special circumstances?" Velvet pressured slightly, giving Rose a solid glare.

"Yes." Rose said with an exaggerated nod. "Beastly powerful with magic, generally friendly."

"That's not really a full briefing on what to expect." Velvet frowned. "She will burst into flame when upset, and likes to teleport. Other than that expect strangeness."

"And what do I do when she catches fire?" Rose asked carefully.

"Douse her, we keep buckets of water for that." Velvet responded.

"Alright. I think I can handle this." Rose nodded.

"Very well. See you tomorrow, at 4:00. We'll be back by 10." Velvet finalized.

In the corner of her eyes, she saw Shining Armour let out a breath he was holding in.

Rose had arrived on time, and well groomed, her feathers smoothed down sharply. The door opened revealing Twilight Velvet, Shining Armour, and Night Light in the entry hall. Velvet was garbed within a flowing midnight purple gown, Night Light was wearing a simple brown jacket and vest, Shining had donned a formal black saddle, blue bowtie with white collar and matching cuffs. He fidgeted and tugged at the straps and cuffs.

They had exchanged fairly simple greetings, with none of the wrestling Rose normally visited upon Shining, though she desperately wanted to. Instead she simply gave him a hug hello, squeezing tighter than was strictly necessary to cover her urge. Then Twilight Velvet had guided Rose into the room where Twilight Sparkle was playing with blocks.

Actually, saying she was playing with blocks was understating the situation. Twilight Sparkle had produced a small city of blocks, though they were arranged in an oddly haphazard looking fashion. Stacked on one another, forming chaotic bridges and patterns across the floor. At the moment she was coloring them in scribbly patterns of fractal complexity with a collection of wax pencils held in her mouth, and a look of stolid determination.

They had discussed contingency plans, who to contact in case of emergencies, the location of the cookies intended for Twilight's good behavior, and then the family had left, leaving Rose alone with Twilight.

"Hello, stinker." Rose kneeled into a pouncing position so that her face was close to Twilight's. She eyed Twilight's blocks carefully. "Whatcha building?"

Twilight stared back into Rose's eye with a profound lack of interest in the world beyond her blocks. Then she turned back to the blocks.

Rose scowled slightly. "Hello? Gryphon speaking here?" She knocked on the floor with a knuckle. "Knock knock, anybody home?"

A thread lifted from the carpet and wrapped itself around Rose's beak. "Shhhhh" Twilight murmured, then returned to her blocks with intense concentration. The string hadn't tied itself, and the pressure of it wasn't great, but it had startled Rose into silence. She was used to foals being somewhat rude, but this little filly really took the cake.

"So... that's the way it's going to be then?" Rose demanded, stomping the floor. While unintentional, the stomp caused some of the blocks to fall from their precarious perches.

Twilight watched the blocks tumble and fall with limpid eyes, then turned to glare at Rose. "Bad." Twilight told Rose.

"Oh yeah? I'll show you bad! Gwrar!" Rose grabbed for the filly, clutching her in one talon and tickling her with the other.

"Glehehehe!" Twilight squirmed and shook trying to get away, scattering blocks across the room. Suddenly, the foal vanished from Rose's grip with a pop.

Rose blinked hawkishly, pupils narrowing to points as she searched for the errant foal. "Where are you?" She whistled. "Come out come out wherever you are!"

A giggling came from the ceiling, followed by a torrent of milk, drenching Rose's feathers.

"Ach. Pthbbb. I'll get you you little stinker!" Rose shouted, blundering into a table and upturning it onto a small grey doll.

Twilight's pupils shrunk to pinpoints and she burst into flame. "'Marty Pant!" Twilight shouted as she charged the Gryphon.

Six hours later when the Twilight Velvet, Night Light and Shining Armour returned, they found the house in shamble. Scorch marks, water marks, upholstry torn up by claws. In the center of the mess a pink colored gryphon, purplish unicorn foal, and grey stuffed doll were curled in a napping ball.

Twilight Velvet took in the scene carefully, her eye twitching as she surveyed the damage. There was Auntie Mab's priceless, and tasteless, lamp shattered. Her favorite sitting table was now so much kindling. They would certainly need new carpeting. And worst of all, tattered pages from books were scattered around the room.

"Well, at least they got along well?" Shining ventured.

Velvet shot him a glare.

"I.I.I mean, that's more than any other babysitter has managed."

Velvet continued to glare. Night Light gently poked Rose awake. "Shh." he said simply handing her a coin pouch. "Get out before things get shouty."

"Mmm... what? Oh... ohkay..." Rose muzzily tried to blunder out of the room, bumping into Twilight Velvet, who whirled on the griphon with a snarl. "YOU!"

Night Light facehoofed, then began quietly humming to himself, cleaning up the room and trying to mend what he could with mending spells.

"Of all the irresponsible, inconsiderate!" Twilight Velvet began, her head sliding between Shining and Rose rapidly, as though she could not determine at whom she was angrier. Flickers of blue fire danced around her mane and eyes.

Twilight Sparkle stirred in her sleep. "Fuzzy pink..." She murmured.

Velvet shot a glare at her sleeping daughter, then grabbed Shining and Rose by the ears in her magic, and began to drag the struggling youth out into the garden.

Night Light watched them go, tsking softly. He quietly picked Twilight and Smarty Pants up, carried them to their room, and tucked them into the bed, reinforcing the soundproofing spells on the house as he did so. A reasonable precaution, as the lights slowly came on in neighboring houses in a slow spread, like a malicious ring of mushrooms supplanting one of Night Light's gardens.

"Best of luck son." He quietly told no one, as he returned to fixing up the damage done by one playful and over-eager griflet and one equally over energetic filly.

Author's Note:

Thank you Merriek for helping inspire me to rewrite. Original chapter 3 now in slash and burn folder.

My gryphonic naming theme is "Metals" by the way. Rose is named after Rose-gold. I realize that MLP uses 'all gryphon names start with G', but I did not pick up on that, instead taking "Gilda" to be from "Gilded". Didn't remember Gustav.

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Vates Despero

Vates Despero #1 · Jul 3rd, 2015 · 1 · ·

"Very well. See you tomorrow, at 4:00. We'll be back by 10." Velvet finalized.
In the corner of her eyes, she saw shining armour let out a breath he was holding in.

So that is six hours then?
So... Shining Armor has been downgraded from a person to a thing? Also, you're British?

Four hours later when the Twilight Velvet, Night Light and Shining Armour returned,

So, it wasn't six hours then? Only 8:00pm huh?

A reasonable precaution, as the lights slowly came on in neighboring houses in a slow spread,

Isn't 8:00pm a little early for most of the neighborhood to be asleep?

Blind Gardener

Blind Gardener #2 · Jul 3rd, 2015 · · ·

6163566
Ehheh... six hours, not four. I miscounted somehow. I fixed the capitalization error and the time error, but I think it's important to spell Shining Armour's name consistently, and I like the british flavor it gives Twilight's family. I'm pretty sure I spell it Armour everywhere. If I tried to spell it armor, I'd have to change it everywhere in all of my stories. That's a lot of work. And it's a name anyway. And I like the spelling armour better.

Vates Despero

Vates Despero #3 · Jul 3rd, 2015 · · ·

6163742

I'm pretty sure I spell it Armour everywhere. If I tried to spell it armor, I'd have to change it everywhere in all of my stories.

Eh? That wasn't an error. The only error I was pointing out in the name was the caps issue. Other than that I was just deducing that you might be British from the spelling and added the underline for folks who didn't get the reference. Personally I'm not one of those snobs who really care about British vs American spellings. The only reason I favor 'Armor' when I type it is because the show is American and he has an 'American surfer dude' voice. If he sounded like Pipsqueak I'd use an 'u' myself.

AyanamiRei