John and Liz sat down inside the Crystal Empire. It was their first day on their community service routine, and both were, while not freezing, felt a bit chilly.
“Freaking hate the cold...” Liz grumbled, rubbing her arms as fast as she could as she wishes whoever gave them these clothes also made a hoodie, still being in a white shirt and black pants
“Relax, it's still morning,” John replied. “And today's gonna be easy.”
“Not exactly,” Shining spoke, walking down some stairs in a nice looking suit. “My wife and I need some time for ourselves. You two are going to be watching over Flurry Heart for the entire day.”
“Flurry Heart? You ponies have really weird names. And seriously? Babysitting?” She said, already dreading the idea of taking care of a bratty kid or a baby constantly crying.
“Hey, remember last time we were here?” John asked before turning to Shining. “Anything we should know?”
“She likes her mashed peas. If she cries, give her her Wammy; the snail toy in her room. And if you need any help, please feel free to ask the guards on anything you need help with, or to answer any questions you may have.”
“So, where is this Flurry Heart pony anyway?” Liz decided to ask, figuring that they might as well meet the pony if they’re going to take care of it.
“Right here.” The voice of a mare spoke. Walking in and holding Flurry was another pegacorn, a pink one with a mane that looked like it came from a candy factory.
“Cadence! There you are!” Shining spoke, nuzzling her before picking up Flurry. “And how you, my little princess?” Flurry giggled, blowing a raspberry at her father.
“... Why is this so cute!?” John asked.
“Wait a minute… that’s the baby pony we shared coca with!” Liz realized, surprised that she couldn’t put two and two together since they were in the same palace they found each other in.
“Well duh! I figured that.”
“How!?”
“They have the same eyes.” Flurry flapped her wings and landed on John's head, smuggling with his scalp before taking a nap.
“Seems she remembers you both,” Shining concluded. “See you both tomorrow!” He walked away. However, Cadence stood.
“Excuse me, a word with you?” She motioned to Liz.
“Hmm?” Liz was caught off guard when the mother wanted to chat with her, seeing John being distracted with Flurry, she shrugged and approached the mare. “Uhm, yeah? Is there something you want to say?”
“Listen… I'm sure my husband has good reasons for trusting you two… but I swear to Celestia, if something happens to my daughter, Tartarus is going to be considered to be Elysium with what I'll do to you! Got it!?” For being a pony that looked like they were trying to be a Disney princess, there was rage in her eyes.
Thankfully, Liz knew a thing or two about overprotective mothers. “Don’t worry, your highness. Seeing how much we left an impact on our first meeting, I’m sure that we’ll keep that smile on her muzzle the whole time you’re gone.” Liz promised. “Just… if anything weird happens to her or the castle, it’s probably a magic thing since we are basically powerless without our suits.” Cadence glared at her.
“I've got my eyes on you.” She used her wings as fingers, festering her eyes to Liz as she backed away.
Liz only rolled her eyes, figuring that she was very overprotective. She decided to go back to John and Flurry to see if the filly was just going to rest on his head all day.
“Do not provoke the baby,” John said, slowly reaching to pick up the sleeping filly. “We're just gonna deliver her to her room… wherever that is.” He picked up the filly, before starting to cradle her. “Aww. Look at her. She really sticks out with those huge wings, don't ya think?”
“Reminds me of Dumbo in a weird way,” Liz said, not having much of a choice to hide the smile as she wanted to feel the feathers, but wasn’t sure if ponies were sensitive to that. John began to pet the filly’s head, with Flurry making a relaxed, near purring noise.
“It's a kitty!”
“This cuteness… it’s too much.” Liz said, biting her knuckle as she felt that if this kept going, she might fight John for the filly’s attention and cuteness. Flurry woke up with a tired look.
“Ahh!” John began to rock Flurry. “Sing something!”
“Wh-what am I supposed to sing?” Liz said, kind feeling as if she was put on the spot for no reason.
“Oh god! Anything!”
“Three, six, nine. Dang, she’s fine. Na na na na na na na one more time,” Liz said, singing the first song in her head.
“Get low. Get low, get low, get low.” John continued.
“To the window!” The two sung, clearly not having any idea why they were singing that song instead of a lullaby. Flurry began to cry loudly.
“Ahh! It's not working!!!” John yelled. Flurry's stomach growled loudly, looking to them with the most miserable look she could muster. “Oh… Get the mashed peas! To the kitchen!”
Liz didn’t need to be told twice as she was quick to run to the kitchen, easily finding the stack of mashed peas baby food and grabbing it, taking a rubber spoon as well that was clearly meant for infants to use. Coming back, she opened the small container and put the spoon in, picking up a good amount before she brought the mush over. “Here Flurry, your favorite.” John set Flurry in a baby seat.
“Come on, here comes the airplane,” John added, making some whooshing noises… right before Flurry's horn glowed, flinging the mashed peas into his face. The sight made her laugh.
Liz couldn’t help but laugh as well, it being a moment she wished she could put on replay. “Love the face mask, John.” She jokingly said, making her laugh more since it looked just like one… only darker and lumpier. John huffed as he wiped the peas off his face.
“Let's try this again.” He grabbed another spoonful. “Here comes the airplane!” Some more whooshing noises, followed by Flurry using her magic to make John put the spoonful into his own mouth. He quickly spat it out. “THE TASTE!!! IT'S HORRIBLE!!!” He ran to the fridge and opened a can of soda, drinking it immediately, before shaking himself off. “Alright... you feed her, Liz.”
Liz placed a finger on her chin, feeling that perhaps the reason why she ‘likes’ it is cause her parents made her eat it. She snapped her fingers as she went back to the fridge, grabbing a container of applesauce and using a different spoon. “How about this Flurry? Do you want applesauce instead?” She asked, secretly having another plan up her sleeve. Flurry jumped in her seat, ready to eat it. “Ah ah, I need you to close your eyes and open your mouth.” She instructed, figuring that the filly would do anything for some sweet applesauce. Flurry followed.
“... How come I didn't think of that.” John spoke.
Going the extra mile, Liz made it seem as if she was going to feed her the applesauce, the spoon hovering over the filly’s nose so she would think she was getting it. But in a quick switcheroo, she put the spoon of mashed peas in her open muzzle instead, a rather devious smirk on her face as Flurry fell for it hook, line, and sinker. The filly made a disgusted face as she ate, but continued with it.
“Don’t worry Flurry, I promise that once you eat all of this, then you can have some applesauce for dessert. Does that sound like a fair deal?” She said, not wanting to promise the filly she would get some, and not give any at all. Flurry huffed but continued.
“And speaking of which.” John opened the refrigerator and looked inside. “Salad, salad, a cupcake, more salad… where's a burger when you need one!?”
“Did you forget that the population is mostly herbivores?” Liz asked, serving another spoonful for when Flurry finished the mashed peas in her mouth.
“Oh! Hold on!” He reached in and pulled out a corndog. “Yes!!! Food!!!”
“Don’t keep your hopes up.” Liz simply said, feeding Flurry the second spoonful.
“We shall see.” He placed the corndog in a microwave and cooked it for a minute. When it finished, he pulled it out, shook it to cool it down, and took a bite. He stopped as corn fell out of the sides. “Oh… it's a CORN dog… HA!!!” He tossed it away, sitting in from of Liz. “Think we should explore this place a bit?”
“Maybe after Flurry finishes eating,” Liz said, only going a quarter through the container of mashed peas before she started serving the applesauce, recalling how little a babies appetite was.
“I think we can take her with us. Put her in a stroller, explore both this castle and kingdom in general. See what they've got and whatnot.”
“Ugh, fine. But you're carrying the baby bag… if they have one, that is.” Liz said, serving Flurry a spoonful or two before she stopped and figured that they should get ready for when they head out.
“Fair enough.” He picked up Flurry. “You want to leave to this castle for a bit, Fwuwwy?” Flurry made a happy sound, reaching to him. “Heh, I'll take that as a yes.” He walked but stopped. “Where's the stroller at?”
“Probably in her bedroom closet.” Liz guessed, figuring that it would make sense to leave the baby stuff in the baby’s closet.
“And where is their bedroom?”
“You think I know that?” Liz asked, it being obvious that she didn’t, being in the same room as the two.
“Only one way to find out then; split up and search for clues upstairs. And yes… like Scooby-Doo.”
“Or maybe see if the little foal knows where her room is? I mean, she does understand what we’re saying.” Liz suggested kind of questioning how smart babies in this world is.
“... You're no fun. I was hoping we could find some secret room or something.”
“Well, we aren’t here to find secret rooms. We’re here to take care of a baby.” She simply said, getting up from her spot and heading off to see if she could perhaps find it easily instead of going on a wild goose chase just to get the stuff ready to leave the building. John followed, with Flurry reaching to Liz, probably wanting to pull on her hair.
“It would most likely be close to the parent’s room, and since one of them is royalty, that means the fanciest looking door that isn’t the throne room is most likely where we should start looking,” Liz explained, thinking it might work the same way as every other castle, oblivious as to what was happening behind her.
John opened a random door, which was followed by an avalanche of various cleaning equipment, some maid outfits, and shoes. “Found the closet!” He announced. “Do ponies wear these?”
“Probably.” She said, not looking back as she looked through another door and saw that it was just a guest bedroom. “Nothing in here.” Both began to open doors.
“Random Bathroom here.”
“Music room.”
“Another bathroom.”
“Storage closet.”
“A washroom.”
“Library.”
“... I think this is a dungeon of sorts.”
“Uh… keep Flurry out of there.”
Both went to the last door at the end of the hallway. As soon as they opened it, a pony was standing by the front door with an unamused look.
“GAH!!!” John jumped and grabbed onto Liz from the sudden appearance. The pony standing in the doorway was unique looking, compared to the other ponies. It was a mare, judging by its eyes, having a scar over its right eye, and a broken horn on its forehead. Said pony was wearing a rather unique armor set that looked like it was tight, having latex over its body, with some metal pieces covering important parts of its body.
“And where do you both think you're going?” The pony asked in a rather calm, but displaced tone.
“Uhm… why do we need to answer that to a complete stranger?” Liz spoke up, not seeing why they should tell a mare that seems like the definition of edgy.
“Why does she sound like Emily Blunt?” John asked.
“I appreciate the comment,” The mare replied, walking to them “but flattery won't take you anywhere. And the name's Tempest Shadow, or, just Tempest, if you'd like.”
“I don’t think your parents would name their foal something so… edgy.” Liz commented, figuring that it was a name she came up with herself cause of that moment where she became edgy.
“And how would you know that, Wasp?”
“Well, I don’t know. The only pony names I’ve heard is Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia, Shining Armor, and now Flurry Heart.” She said, picking up the foal from John’s arms. “And do you think you can give this foal a super evil sounding name?” She asked that before Flurry made a cute raspberry sound with her mouth. “I don’t think so.”
“You're so naive; there's plenty of ponies with names that aren't as lovable as you think, namely, the tyrant himself, King Sombra.” The name made Flurry shiver, curling into a ball and hiding, using Liz's hair as cover.
“Bah, that’s just a name. And I think he made that name himself before he became ‘king’.” She said, making air quotes when she said it. “And since you thought that I already knew that was a fake name, mind telling us your real name?”
“No.”
“Excuse me,” John interfered. “But can we get Flurry's stroller so we can-?”
“No.”
“So you don’t want Flurry to enjoy the outside world?” Liz asked.
“I've been tasked to keep an eye on the both of you, starting with making sure you don't run outside and try to escape.”
“So, can’t you just come with us so that won’t happen?”
“I would, but Princess Cadence said otherwise.”
“So she wants to keep her own foal cooped up in the castle… great.” She said, sarcasm in her voice as she rolled her eyes as well. “Sorry Flurry, but your mother wants to keep you stuck in the castle.” She told the filly, pulling her out from under her hair.
“And you do realize she is royalty? Plenty of figures who'd want to kidnap her and demand millions of bits.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I think me and John can take care of her well enough. Even without the suits.” Liz said, seeming to let her ego do the talking.
“You sure about that? I can already come up with at least twenty-six ways to subdue you and your partner at the same time.”
“And I would suggest that doesn’t include your horn,” Liz said, lightly poking the broken horn. Tempest slapped her hand away.
“DON'T touch, or mention, about my horn.” As she said that, electricity sparked out it, crackling with her intensity, but went away as she calmed down with a deep breath.
“You know that telling someone not to do something only makes them want to do it more.” She said, poking it again once the sparks were gone.
“Flurry… get off and look away.” The baby jumped right off and turned around, using her wings to cover her sight even more. Tempest grabbed Liz's hand and threw her into the room, jumping inside and closing the door behind her. John could only hear what sounded like punching with some stuff breaking, and Liz screaming. The door opened and Tempest walked right out, panting a bit, but kept her composure. She dragged out an unconscious Liz behind her. John raised his hands to surrender.
“We'll stay! I'll clean up the room.”
“Good. And I hope your friend here learned her lesson.” She strolled right past him. John leaned down and poked Liz’s face. Flurry followed, shaking Liz's face with her hooves.
“If you can hear me, Liz, next time, don't tease a pony that looks like Kylo Ren.” He picked her up and set her on the, somehow untouched, bed, and with Flurry's help, began to clean the destroyed room. Some of the other ponies that maintained the place entered without saying a word, helping make the place clean and fixed.
After what felt like half an hour, Liz started to wake up, lightly groaning as she felt a throbbing in her head. A small wince once she tried to touch it before she asked the obvious. “What just happened? I felt like I blacked out for five seconds.”
“You got knocked the fu-!” John replied, but was interrupted by a pony.
“So sorry about that.” The pony interrupted. “Ms. Tempest is not too fond of anyone pointing out her… disability.”
“Ugh, she’s so sensitive,” Liz said with an eye-roll. “If you don’t want anyone to mess with you and your disability, she should just accept it as part of you. Kind of ruins the fun for people who really mess with her.” She said, figuring that such an ‘edgy’ mare would already know that.
“Well, she's had it rough when she was young. Lost her horn after a fatal attack by an Ursa Minor, and became the captain to the Storm King’s army.”
“Storm King?” John asked. “Sounds like a boss in a JRPG, up there with Fire Lord and Sea Ruler.”
“Well, she shouldn’t act as if her tragic backstory gives her any reason to be the way she is,” Liz said, crossing her arms. “There is always someone who has it worse than you.”
“Like you?” The pony asked.
“Worst Liz ever got was a rejection from her date,” John replied.
“To be fair, I was never searching for anyone at that time, and you convinced me to ask him out,” Liz said, feeling hurt in the inside, but didn’t want to show it.
“Only because you asked me if one of my friends was still single and you wanted to show Brittany how cool you were. I thought George was still single and didn't have the guts to ask out Tiffany.”
“I only asked out of curiosity, he wasn’t even that good looking anyway.” Liz huffed, crossing her arms. “He wasn’t my type anyway, seeing how he acts just normally.”
“Oh? And what's your type?” The pony asked out of curiosity. “Were you interested in a stallion? Maybe a griffin? I think a changeling can help; they can turn into practically anything you want!”
“Thanks, but no thanks. My kind doesn’t do bestiality since it’s rather… weird.” Liz said, not interested in any other creature that she hasn’t even seen yet. “And if you don’t know what that is, it’s like trying for a baby with your pet dog.” She explained, trying to explain it to the talking pony.
“So… you're not into Diamond Dogs?”
“What's a Diamond Dog?” John asked. “Is it like the description in that David Bowie song? Hiding in the trees and abducting you for their mine?”
“That's… pretty accurate.”
“Look, I said pet dog for a reason,” Liz said. “The animals you take care of and doesn’t talk.” She tried to explain it better.
“... But I don't have a dog. And my pet parrot does talk to me.”
“Just leave it, Liz,” John spoke. “I think they're looser in their animal laws because… well… they're animals.”
“We're not animals!”
“Then why are you all naked?” An awkward pause came.
“Maybe it’s not taboo here.” Liz simply said. “Besides, they have fur and all that, so I would assume it’s like putting layers of cloth on something you can’t really remove.”
“Not really.” The pony replied. “It's just normal. Why are you always in clothes? Not proud of your bodies?” A blush came to the human's faces, unsure how to exactly respond.
“Uhh… look at the time! It's time to read Flurry a bedtime story!” John quickly picked up the filly and ran out of the room.
“I really don’t see how that was a hard question to answer...” Liz mumbled, glancing at the mare before she decided to answer for him. “Simply put, where we come from, it’s against the law to be naked. We don’t have fur to keep us warm or to cover some more… personal parts. So that’s why clothes were made.”
“... So you're embarrassed about your body?” She asked. “Sounds like a rule a leader would make if someone commented on their body and didn't want their subjects to point it out to them.”
“No. We aren’t. Like I said, we don’t have fur to keep us warm, so clothes were made for that reason alone.” Liz said, starting to get ticked off that this mare was only listening to the stuff she wanted to hear. She patted her leg.
“It's ok. We're embarrassed about something physical about ourselves. I actually have tail extensions.”
“We aren’t embarrassed about our body!” She shouted, now getting really pissed off that this mare was assuming this.
“Uh, Liz, baby,” John spoke, peaking in with Flurry watching the scene. “We need to help her sleep.”
“Don’t call me baby, and fine,” Liz said, getting up and out of the bed as she waited for him to lead the way to the foal’s bedroom.
“I meant Flurry, not you.” He turned back to the ponies inside. “You're all really fast workers. And don't mind her, she gets cranky from time to time.” Flurry landed on his head. “Aww. Want us to wead you a bedtime stowy this afternoon?” Flurry only giggled after a yawn. “So adorable.” He turned and walked into Flurry's room.
The baby's room looked like a typical toddler’s room. Large, stuffed animals littered the place with some blocks and balls, the walls were painted pink, and overall, it looked inviting. John handed Liz Flurry as he looked in the nearby cabinet, filled with books.
“Hmm… Equestrian fairy tales?” He asked himself. “Eh, too cliche. Guide to Being A Princess? Not sure if that's reliable. Wait… Alien Alicorns vs Space Pirates!? … I'm gonna have to read that on my own spare time.” He turned to Liz. “You got any stories that you think will help Flurry fall asleep?”
“We can tell her a story back in our world,” Liz suggested, figuring that nothing here would be interesting for the little foal. “But what exactly..?” She mumbled, putting a finger to her chin as she thought on what she could tell the little filly.
“Hmm… I think I know just the solution.” John picked up Flurry and set her on his lap. “This is a story that I hope, one day, you will tell to your kids, and hopefully, not be ruined by this world's George Lucas.”
“You're seriously not going to-?”
“I am! This is the story of Star Wars! A simple, but effective story of Good vs Evil, in space!”
“Good grief.”
“A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…”
~-~-~
Shining Armor and Cadence entered their castle once again. Their day out was them relaxing with Princess Twilight, with the Alicorn getting a good look at their suits, telling her discoveries with Starlight as her assistant. It was fascinating, to say the least, and as much as Twilight wanted to, Shining insisted she didn't tamper with their suits’ technology. It took some convincing, even with the counterarguments.
“... Where is everypony?” Cadence asked, looking around the empty foyer.
“Huh… it's usually busy at this time.” Shining added. A huge collective gasp was heard from Flurry's room. The two ran up to only see practically all of the staff members and a few guards standing in the hallway, looking into Flurry's room. They could hear John telling a story inside.
“Now… go… my son.” He spoke as if he was an old man. A collective gasp and screams of “No!” came from everypony. Shining and Cadence scooted past the crowd, seeing John was holding some puppets that looked like other humans, with some monsters thrown on the side. Liz was on the floor, sleeping herself, as Flurry was sleeping on her chest.
“What's going on?” Cadence asked.
“Shh!” One of the staff shushed. John continued his story.
“With one final kiss, Luke brought his now deceased father back to Endor, as the rebels and ewoks began to celebrate the fall of the Empire. As the final act, Luke burned his father's body, an honorable warrior's burial, but he was not truly gone.”
“Does he become a ghost!?” One of the guards asked.
“Yes.” A gasp from everypony. “Just as Luke was going to back to his friends, he stopped to see the spirit of Anakin Skywalker stood beside the spirits of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Yoda himself. Peace had been restored to the galaxy once more, and balance in the force. And that… is the end.” A huge applause came the crowd, though Shining and Cadence had a confused look on their faces.
Even with Liz's eyes still closed, she moved her hands to cover the foal’s ears, not wanting Flurry to wake up like she did cause of the loud clapping. John realized Shining Armor and Cadence were in the room.
“Oh… uh, hi.” John awkwardly introduced. “You missed out on a grand story.”
“I can see that,” Shining spoke, turning to everypony. “Alright! Back to work! All of you!” Various groans came as the ponies walked out. Cadence used her magic to pick up Flurry and laid her in bed.
“You seem to have a knack in taking care of Flurry,” Cadence spoke. “Even if your partner is… well, asleep.”
“Eh, Liz has heard the story of Star Wars so many times,” John replied.
“Not anymore.” Liz only said, opening her eyes and sitting up from her spot. “And I can see how much you trust us and your husband by inviting some edgy unicorn to keep us trapped in the castle.” She said, it being clear that she wasn’t fond of the pretty pink alicorn.
“Oh, Tempest?” Shining asked. “Yeah, sorry if she's a bit… well… mean.”
“She had me imprisoned in stone and you weren't there Shining,” Cadence spoke through gritted teeth.
“I was busy with the baby!” He turned back to the two humans. “She's not a bad mare, just had it a bit rough and takes her job very seriously. And, y’know… can't risk it, especially since Equestria seems to be attacked by an unknown force every year.”
“So, you trust a unicorn that imprisoned your wife, over two humans that only took a tiny piece of that crystal heart, only for us to save an entire city from a dragon attack?” Liz asked, not seeing how they were more untrustworthy than Tempest.
“I trust both parties equally. You both need some work. And speaking of.” He pulled out their suits. “I had to keep Twilie from tinkering your suits and helmets.”
“SUITY!!!” John squealed happily, hugging his suit and helmet. “Oh, how I miss you!”
“If she wanted to know about the suits, she could’ve just asked us… after apologizing for the accusations that we were evil.” Liz said, only taking her suit and folding it neatly to not take up so much space.
“She actually wants to apologize to you tomorrow.” Shining Armor informed Liz. “And perhaps the both of you can help out with Tempest in a field trip for her class.”
“We're gonna be teachers?” John asked.
“Supervisors,” Cadence answered.
“Another community service job?” Liz simply asked, knowing what the answer would be.
“Yep,” Shining replied.
“Great.” She said, the one word being elongated to show her ‘excitement’ at the new job they were assigned to do.