ed yet?”Cherry shuts the front door and gently plods down the hallway. “Mom! I’m home.”
Cherry’s mom pokes her head out from the kitchen. “Good morning honey, good night at work? How did lil’ Mare like those manga of yours?”
“She likes them a lot, but I think they made her homesick, she had another breakdown. I’m letting her keep them,” Cherry says, walking past.
“Poor dear, maybe I should have a look at her someday. Going to right to bed?”
“Yeah, tonight was rather exhausting,” says Cherry, walking up the stairs.
“Alright but don’t forget we are having…” Cherry’s mom says, but Cherry sort of starts tuning out at the thought of her nice soft bed.
She kicks the door to her room shut behind her and secures the curtains so not a sliver of sunlight can make it through. She quickly checks the sleep shifter to check if it was tuned right, before crawling into bed, curling up in preparation for a nice few hours of sleep.
Unfortunately that few hours turn out to be about fifteen minutes, as her bedroom door slams open and something lands on top of her with lung emptying force.
“Hiya Cuz!” says the tiny filly, “Why are you in bed, It isn’t bedtime come on, come on!”
“Whuh?!”
“Mom! Why is Fizz here?” says Cherry as she walks into the living room, filly in tow.
“I tried to warn you, dear,” says Mom, who was sitting opposite Auntie Laurel. “My sister is visiting, and little Fizz ran off before I could tell her you were sleeping.”
“Out on the town last night were we?” says Auntie Laurel, “Ahh, what it is to be young…”
“Oh no, My daughter’s got a job up at the castle, she is a maid on the night shift,” says Mom proudly.
“Oh, that explains the way she’s dressed then,” Laurel says cheekily. “I just assumed she had a bit too much fun last night.”
Cherry blushes profusely. “Oh no no no, this my uniform… I just realised I forgot to take it off before I went to bed.”
“Just teasing, love,” says Auntie Laurel. “Nice to hear you found some work, having fun?”
“It has some ups and downs,” says Cherry. She suppresses a yawn. “But it can be really tiring, so I think I might go back to be…”
Cherry turns around right into the face of Fizz. “Aww come on, you're up now, come on play with me! Play with me!”
Cherry looks down into those big pleading eyes. “Well, um, You see, my job… I guess I can play for a bit…”
“...And that's why I haven’t had any sleep today,” says Cherry, trying to keep her head from drooping. “I am so sorry.”
“Don’t worry, Cherry, it can’t be helped.” says Celestia, massarging her temple. “Just take a nap in your breakroom until you feel up it, I’ll send someone else to pick up Mare for supper. Might as well get some use out of that hammock.”
“Thank you, Princess,” says Cherry, struggling to her hooves and walking out the room.
Well that was unexpected, still it can’t be helped. And luckily, Celestia has some plans for tonight. She had been toying with the idea of expanding Mare’s social circle for some time now, having more people might make her feel more comfortable and help her take her mind off things.
With that in mind, she has taken it upon herself to introduce Mare to a member of her own extended family…
There is a knock on the door. “Come in.”
Cadance comes in. “You asked to see me, Auntie?”
Celestia smiles, it also helps that she was one of Equestria's best foalsitters, “Hello Cadance, you wouldn’t happen to have a free evening, would you?”
From the first star of evening, I’m slightly on edge. Where is Cherry? She’s usually here by now, hovering awkwardly. Yet I am alone in my tower.
I cross my arms, not that I need her or anything. I’ve just grown sorta used to her is all.
Just me on my lonesome.
Alone.
I quickly shake my head and make my way over to the new bookshelf that had been installed and grab a manga at random. I throw myself at my bed, drape myself over it in such a way that my head dangles off the edge, and start reading.
Damn, I’ve already read this one.
My arms flop to either side. I could get another one, but that would require some degree of effort. At least this bed is comfy, and it's not as if I will ever get to properly sleep on it.
And then someone knocks on the door.
I raise my eyebrow. Must be someone new, no one I know still knocks on that door. “It's open!” I call from across the room.
The door opens and that pink winged unicorn from a few nights back comes in. “Hello, Mare, right?”
“Yeah, that’s me,” I regard her upsidedown form. “Who are you supposed to be?”
“Well, hi, I’m Cadance. Your maid Cherry is a bit under the weather and is sleeping it off, so I’m gonna be looking after you until she wakes up.”
“Okay, but what are you?” I ask again. “I mean you got both wings and a horn like Celestia and Luna, Does that make you a princess too or something?”
“What? Well, yes, I am a princess, but you don’t need to worry about that...”
“Did you get the extra bits because you became a princess, or were you just born into princessing?” I ask, tilting my head, there seems to be rather a lot of princesses about lately. I mean I’ve known that Luna technically exists for centuries, but it it was rather different to meet her and see that yes she was another winged unicorn. I’ve always assumed Celestia was some sort of god empress, and now there is a pink one too.
“Curious, are we?” says Cadance. “No, I wasn’t born an alicorn, I was born a pegasus, and to be honest, I’m not sure if I got the horn because I became a princess, or I became a princess because I got the horn, Auntie was never clear on that.”
“Neat, I guess,” I say, “but if you are a princess, why are you looking after me, doesn’t a princess have better things to than play babysitter?”
“Well, I am rather fond of foalsitting, and Auntie asked me if I was free for evening,” Cadance says.
I sense an opportunity here. I roll on my stomach and rest my head on my fists. “So you like playing with little children huh?”
“Well I guess…” Cadance stops and suddenly looks at me suspiciously. “That better not be implying what I think you are implying.”
“And what might that be?” I say, trying to feign innocence.
Cadance does not seem convinced. “Nice try, but Celestia already warned me about your sense of humour.”
“Tsk!” I turn my head in disappointment.
“What I want to know is how a little girl like you ended up with such a dirty mind. I didn’t even believe it until you tried to pull that just now.”
“It's a secret~” I singsong. It’s also the fact that I can’t remember it myself, but I vaguely recall it being funny.
“Well… never mind then,” says Cadance. “Come on, Auntie wants you to come to supper.”
“And what if I don’t want to~?” I singsong again. This is fun, she is way more fun to mess with than Cherry, no guilt whatsoever.
Then I felt myself being picked up by magic.
“Well that's just too bad~” Cadance singsongs back.
Oh right, horns. Damn.
“Cheater,” I mutter.
“Say what you like, but I’ve foalsat more difficult kids than you,” Cadance says.
I decide to take that as a challenge, and vanish.
“Huh?”
I lie on the bed again, and re-appear, and flash a defiant look her way.
“Oh so we want to do this the hard way?” Cadance, says grinning wickedly, using her magic to undo the ribbon in her hair.
I get the strange feeling that I’m gonna regret that decision.
A few minutes later…
“Hmm, Cadance is a bit late, isn’t she?” Luna says, “I do hope Mare isn’t giving her too much trouble.”
“I am not sure, Mare enjoys being unpredictable,” Celestia says, “nevertheless, Cadance has had a lot of experience handling foals, I’m sure she will be fine.”
Cadance’s voice floats in from the window. “Auntie, we are here.”
“Ah there you are, we have been waiting…” Celestia trails off when she catches sight of her adoptive niece.
She looks like she has been in a slight scuffle, with her mane and coat ruffled, her hair ribbon missing, and wearing a very smug expression... especially when compared to Mare, who is quietly seething, slung across Cadance’s back, wrapped shoulders to ankles in ribbon.
“Funny thing, if you wrap her in lightweight ribbon it disappears with her,” Cadance says conversationally. “She wasn’t very happy when she found this out.”
Mare’s seething intensifies.
“I take it you had some… difficulties?” Celestia asks carefully.
“No, not really,” Cadance says, setting Mare down on her feet, “I’ve dealt with worse. Now Lord Rust’s colt, that one’s a monster. You won’t see me near that one for under triple my usual rate. it's his poor sister that I feel sorry for.”
“A professional babysitter, how could you?” Mare says accusingly, glaring daggers at Celestia.
“And… here... we… go!” Cadance says, pulling on the end of the ribbon so hard that Mare spins like a top.
“WAOoooohhhh…” Mare says as she slows down and begins staggering on the spot. Cadance catches her before she falls over and helps her over to her seat. For a moment Mare is wearing a goofy grin, but goes back to a pout as she regains control of her eyes. She crosses her arms and looks at the floor. “I’d like crepes with white chocolate and strawberries, please.”
Celestia just sighs and moves on. “Very well then.”
“Mind if I sit in?” Cadance says, sitting down.
“Not at all,” says Celestia, smiling at her niece.
They all order, and wait.
“So you really do this every night?” Cadance asks, who had simply asked for a milkshake.
“Yes, since we have different sleep cycles, it's a good way to touch base,” Celestia says.
“And Mare comes every night?” Cadance says, looking at me. I try to ignore her and consume my crepe in peace, this is rapidly becoming one of my favourite foods. I wonder if anyone else can see the glitter or is it some sort of sugar induced high. “She seemed kinda reluctant in the tower.”
“That's just her troublesome personality,” Celestia says, waving a hoof dismissively. “She usually doesn’t put up this much resistance.”
“Well it's not as if she is as moe as Cherry,” I mutter under my breath between mouthfuls.
“If I may ask... Cadance,” Luna says, seemingly not one hundred percent comfortable with her niece yet, “I notice you are not wearing regalia today, is there a reason?”
Cadance laughs. “Not really. You need a reason to get me in the regalia in the first place, I’d rather a ribbon in my hair than a crown on my head any day, It’s not as if I have much in the way of duties, and it only makes my clients nervous if I show up full royal mode.”
“Ahh yes, you foalsit, how did that exactly come about? it's not a common profession for a princess to have, even on the side,” says Luna, “I admit I have been curious.”
“Oh that's easy,” says Cadance, “It started when Auntie… I mean Celestia, asked me to watch out for Twilight when she was a filly. She was the most adorable lil’ angel ever, and we hit it off pretty well, so much so that Twilight Velvet, that’s her mother by the way, asked me to come watch her again sometime. After that, I was her go-to foalsitter for years until Twilight was old enough to look after herself. And after that, I just started taking more foalsitting jobs, it just turned out I had a knack for looking after kids. It's a lot of fun too, and now I’m known as Equestria's best foalsitter.”
“Speaking of Twilight and her family, how are you doing with young Shining Armour?” Celestia asks.
If I had pony ears, they would have just perked up.
“Auntie~,” Cadance whines, “I’ve asked you to keep it quiet.”
“Don’t worry, we are all family here,” says Celestia. “And Mare, but I doubt she will even be interested.”
‘Wanna bet?’ I think, leaning in slightly.
“You have a relationship with the young captain?” Luna asks. She seems to think about it, and then nods her head, “He seems like a fine sort, dutiful, loyal and chivalrous, good qualities to have in both a warrior and a partner, I would say you have made a good choice.”
“Thanks… I guess,” says Cadance, blushing profusely.
“But why keep it quiet?” Luna asks, “Is there some sort of new taboo I am unaware of?”
“Nothing like that.” Cadance says, giving a nervous laugh, “It's just that we want to make sure it really works before we let it go public.”
“Really works?” Luna says.
“Yeah.” Cadance says, “This is the first time for both of us to be in a relationship, and we do like each other, but we are not sure how long it might last. If it does end up falling apart, or we decide we prefer each other as friends, we didn’t want to make it awkward for our friends and family, He hasn’t even told his parents or sister yet.”
“How long have you been dating?” I ask after finishing my crepe, surprising everyone at the table.
“Why do you want to know?” Cadance asks, looking surprised at my sudden involvement.
“It's relevant to my interests,” I say, cupping my head in my hands. “Don’t worry, it's not as if I have anyone to tell anyway.” I wait for a moment. “Are you gonna tell me or not?”
“Oh, it will be our two year anniversary sometime this year,” Cadance says, “I think Shining has something special planned this year too.”
“Seems like a pretty long time to be in a secret relationship if you ask me, sounds like it's working well enough. Props for keeping it up for so long, secret relationships aren’t that easy,” I say.
“Well now don’t you sound like a little expert,” Cadance teases. “What makes you so knowledgeable?”
I shrug, “Like I said, it's relevant to my interests.”
I sense an opportunity here, I try not to let my cheshire grin get too big as Cadance takes a long drink of her milkshake.
“So, have you two fed yet?”
Milkshake sprays across the table, followed by desperate coughing as Cadance tries to get it out of her lungs and nose.
“MUHAHAHAHA, REVENGE!” I cry in victory as I leap out of my seat, do a victory twirl, and dive out the window.
On my way down however, I feel something wrap around my ankle and I come to a sudden stop. I am lifted up by the ribbon to come face to face with a rather unamused Cadance.
“In my defence, it was totally worth it,” I say.
“Noted,” says Cadance, before mummifying me in ribbon again.
“I’ll admit,” Cadance says, leaving Mare bound and gagged by the window, though still radiating smugness, “she may not be the most difficult kid, but she certainly is a hoofful. Are you sure you don’t know how you ended up like this?”
“As with most parts of her personality, not even Mare knows anymore,” Celestia sighs.
“I must admit, Cadance, you are very capable with that ribbon,” Luna says, “I have never seen one used like that.”
“I’m all for practical accessories.” Cadance says. “But more importantly, I think we need to talk about how you are raising Mare.”
Celestia gets a mild sinking feeling.
“I admit that I have only encountered her twice, but both times, she was wantingly causing mischief, and seems to show no regret or hesitation. While I usually encourage free spirit in children, I think she is borderlining a total wildchild. I think some form of parental intervention is necessary.” Cadance says
Celestia droops slightly. “She doesn’t have parents, I don’t think she wants them either, she is a very independent girl, fragile mentality aside.”
“Well I think she needs them. and if you ask me, even she doesn’t know what she wants. This kind of behaviour is usually attention seeking, this could be her subconscious crying for help.” Cadance puts her hoof on Celestia’s wither.
“Whether I try and be a parent for her or not, I doubt she will accept it, she has spent too long alone to be happy with any sort of authority I could try to assert over her. Besides…” Celestia sighs. “I’m not sure I am fit to be anyone's parental figure.”
“Don’t be like that, you are great with kids, you are a wonderful teacher.” Cadance says. “And hey, I turned out fine.”
“You give me too much credit, you raised yourself. You were a wonderful filly when I found you and you are a wonderful mare now.” Celestia says. “Other fillies in my care have not always been so fortunate.”
“Are you talking about Twilight? I know she can be a tad neurotic, and has some unhealthy levels of mentor worship, but she had both before she even met you. I don’t see why that makes you any less…”
“Sunset.” Celestia says quietly.
Cadance couldn’t help but cringe, and follows with a sigh. “Look I’m not saying you have to be her mother right off the bat, just try and spend a little more time with her okay? She needs more than once a night. Try and find a common interest, something you can both have fun doing together, or better yet, you like teaching, try to find something she is willing to learn. I know you are capable of missing a few nights of sleep without being affected.”
“I think our young niece speaks wisdom.” says Luna. “While it could be simple wishful thinking on my behalf, I believe she did enjoy stargazing with me, I think she could do with some more of your presence in her life.”
Celestia looks between her sister and niece, and nods slowly. “Very well, starting tomorrow I will attempt to spend some time with her, if she will have me.”
“I think it will be a good start.” Cadance says.
Cadance looks back at Mare. “You think I should untie her now?”
Celestia watches Mare, who is oblivious to the conversation that just took place, and smiles. “No, I don’t think so, I think she had that one coming.”
“My thoughts exactly,” says Cadance.
‘Crap, my nose is itchy,’ thinks Mare.
Cherry wakes with a start at the sound of something crashing loudly upstairs. She clambers out of the hammock and makes her way outside.
This time she hears a loud thump, and she quickly makes her way up to Mare’s level. She opens the door.
“You ready?” Cadance says, holding the end of the ribbon.
“As hard as you can!” Mare says, wrapped in ribbon.
With a mighty tug, Mare was sent spinning across the room. “WOOOOOO!”
And ran right into Cherry.
“Owww!” came Mare’s voice from the tangle of limbs.
“Ditto to that,” says Cherry. “Not how I expected to wake up.”
“Are you alright, you two?” says Cadance as she crosses the room.
“I think so…” Cherry says.
Mare quickly untangles herself. “I’m fine, again please!”