//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Babysitting Blues // by Aqua Drops //------------------------------// Dear Luna, There's been a horrible accident... I attempted an age spell and it has gone wrong, very wrong, please help! From your most faithful student Twilight Sparkle Luna threw down the letter and flopped down on her bed. Why did Twilight want her instead of Celestia? Last time Luna got mixed up in one of Twilights mishaps, (needless to say) it did not end well. Actually, it ended with Timberwolves storming through Twilights castle and.... Well, it didn't end well. Luna looked at the letter again and sighed. If it was really dangerous, there was nothing for it. She had to go (however reluctant she was). Blue flames roared up around her and disappeared for dramatic effect. Twilight's horrified face peered down at her. Luna stepped out of the flames and brushed herself down a bit, quite pleased with herself for that epic entrance. Twilight didn't care about the entrance. "Thank Celestia you came!" Twilight cried. "I tried to write to Celestia but my letters weren't getting through and Spike was getting annoyed at me because he doesn't like sending letters over and over but I had to..." "What is the emergency?" Luna interrupted, not wanting to have to sit through one of Twilight's lectures. She was still annoyed that Twilight didn't notice her dramatic entry into the castle. Twilight blinked. "Oh. Right. The emergency." She smiled sheepishly. "Well, I, uh, hehe, attempted an age spell because last time I failed it..." "Let me guess," Luna interrupted, smirking. "You've turned Spike into an adult dragon and now he's too big for the castle." "Well," Twilight said. "No. You see-" "He is now a baby dragon and he has escaped?" Luna suggested, completely at a loss as to how an age spell could be an emergency if it did not involve enormous, rampaging dragons. "Um," Twilight said anxiously, "No again. See I-" "He has burnt down the castle," Luna guessed. "It's Shining Armour!" Twilight blurted. "Shining Armour has burnt down your castle?" Luna said, confused. "What? No! Ugh, come here." Twilight led Luna to a bedroom where there was a big bed. There was a baby sitting right in the middle. "Who is this?" Luna thundered. "Well...." Twilight decided she was going to be banished when Celestia heard about this. "The age spell worked!" Luna cursed the good name of Faust and advanced upon the baby, levitating him up and inspecting him. "You mean to tell me," Luna bellowed while inspecting the mane, "that THIS baby is Shining Armour?" "Don't kill me," Twilight squeaked. "But... yes..." Twilight rather expected Luna to have a fit right then and there, though in her rather over reactive imagination it included Nightmare Moon and her castle being destroyed completely while she was in a cage of vines in the Everfree forest. What she was not expecting was for Luna to turn around calmly and say: "Well, shit. You messed up didn't you." Twilight didn't comprehend what she said as she was still trying to get her head around the fact that the Princess of the Night had just said a swear word in front of a baby. "You are going to have to wait for Celestia then," Luna continued, ignoring Twilights stunned and dazed look, "As I neither know nor can preform that sort of advanced magic." "You mean to tell me," Twilight said, snapping out of her stupor, "that one of the Two Royal Sisters can't perform an age spell?" "Age spells are not my strong point!" Luna said angrily, her temper flaring up again. "Celestia can do age spells like she has been doing them all of her life but I have other strong points!" "Ok ok," Twilight said nervously, dancing on her hooves. "You have other strong points, yes yes, but what do we do about the baby?" "What do you mean?" Luna frowned, beginning to get a very bad feeling in her stomach. "The baby, the baby!" She said impatiently, glaring at Luna like it was her fault she messed up so bad. "Shining Armour! What can we do about him?" "You mean you haven't even attempted to turn him back already?" Luna moaned in exasperation. "I did!" Twilight huffed, then looked sheepishly at Shining Armour again, who was sucking his tail. "But I sort of... Well... Turned him into a girl." "What?" "Look, I turned him back, didn't I? What I'm trying to say is, well, can you babysit him?" "WHAT?" Luna yelped. She was already considering a dramatic exit. "While I go and fetch Celestia," Twilight said desperately. "Please Luna, please, I-" "Fine!" Luna yelled, sick of the conversation. "Go and track Celestia! I'll baby s-sit!" "Thank you, Luna, thank you," Twilight lit up her horn and went to teleport when Luna shouted out. "Wait! Where's Spike?" "He made a run for it when he heard Shining Armour crying," She smiled ruefully, then departed with a flash of magenta light looking immensely relieved. Luna turned to the baby she was now responsible for. "So," she announced, thoroughly pissed off at Twilight's abrupt exit. "So." Shining Armour took no notice of her and continued to suck his tail. "What do I do now?" The baby ignored her and made some happy (and adorable, Luna grudgingly admitted) gurgling noises. Luna smiled involuntarily then stopped herself and frowned. She supposed she should be glad he wasn't shooting lasers at her. "Are you hungry, or-" The baby interrupted her with a loud fart. "You disgusting little beast! I should send you to the sun for your rudeness!" Shining Armour giggled loudly and Luna remembered that it was a baby she was talking to. She let out a breath and tried again. "So, are you hungry or something? Because you aren't crying yet. I suppose that's a good thing." She still got no answer but suddenly caught a whiff of something on the air. Luna almost fainted. "Oh my Moon!" She gasped through watering eyes. "What did you have to eat?" Shining Armour started crying loudly. Luna eyed him with disgust. "You want me to change it? Are you kidding me?" He cried even louder. She wondered if he could understand her. She didn't want to do it but she had no choice. Cringing slightly, Luna edged over to him very slowly as if Twilight would come back before she had to do such a gruesome task. No such luck. Gingerly, she opened it up only to have an enormous stream of pee arc over her head. Ducking, she couldn't decide whether to laugh or make her dramatic exit. Luckily, Twilight appeared with Celestia at the right moment. "It's ok Luna, look, I found Celestia! It turns out she was-" They both got hit in the face by the yellow arches. "Just," Twlight spluttered. "In her room..." She stared in disbelief at Luna as she received an early bath. Again, Luna was torn between the decision to laugh or make her dramatic exit. "Luna," Twilight said looking livid. "WHAT is-" Celestia, looking most displeased, wasted no time in changing Shining Armour back to his old self, mostly to stop him from flooding the castle. And probably to shut Twilight up. Standing up, Shining looked Luna directly in the eye and said; "We will never speak of this again."