//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Daybreak // by Leafdoggy //------------------------------// “You’re sure you can handle this?” Applebloom nodded excitedly. “I’ve got it, Twilight. She loves me, there won’t be any problems.” The two of them were at the farm, standing in the doorway with Daybreak in a carrier between them, surrounded by a mountain of bags. Daybreak stared up at them idly as they talked. Applebloom was practically dancing in place. This was the first time she’d ever been asked to babysit, and she knew how big of a deal that was. To think that Twilight, a Princess, trusted her enough to leave her daughter there left Applebloom’s heart all aflutter. “She’s been flying a bit,” Twilight said. Her mane was frizzy and she had bags under her eyes. “Try not to let her get too worked up. You can’t catch her if she flies away from you.” “Not a problem,” Applebloom told her. “I’m tougher than I look. I can handle whatever she throws at me.” “And remember,” Twilight went on, speaking as though she had this all scripted, “you’re the babysitter. It’s fine if the other girls come help out, but this is your job, not theirs.” “Uh-huh.” Applebloom shifted in place, starting to feel awkward standing in the doorway. “Thank you again,” Twilight said, finally done with her spiel. “I’m sorry to put so much on your shoulders, but practically everypony has to go to this summit. The only one who isn’t is Pinkie, and she…” Twilight thought about the way sadness and negativity could cling to Pinkie and shuddered. “That’d be a bad idea.” “Twilight, you’re gonna be late.” “Am I?” Twilight looked up to see where the sun was and jumped with shock. “Oh no! I am!” Hurriedly, she grabbed all the bags with her magic and put them inside, then leaned down to give Daybreak a kiss. “I’ll be back soon, okay sweetie? Mommy loves you.” Daybreak let out a happy squeal, and Twilight stood back up and turned to leave. She turned back a moment later. “Oh! And don’t let her feed on anypony’s emotions. If you let her, it’ll just encourage the behavior.” “I know, I know,” Applebloom said. “Bye, Twilight. Have fun.” “I’ll try.” Twilight gave her an appreciative grin, then vanished in a flash of light. Daybreak stared at where she’d been for a moment, then looked up at Applebloom and made a questioning noise.” “She’ll be back soon, buddy,” Applebloom said as she picked up the carrier and brought Daybreak inside. The door clicked shut quietly behind her. “You’re gonna hang out with me for a bit!” She set the carrier down by the bags, scooped up Daybreak in one leg, and made her way into the living room. She sat down heavily on an old, deep, well-used sofa and sighed. “Been a while since I had the place to myself,” she said. She spent a second getting comfortable, repositioning herself so she could lie down with Daybreak curled up against her chest, and grabbed a book from the coffee table.  “Just you and me ‘til either the girls show up or Scratch gets outta work,” she said as she flipped the book open. Daybreak watched the pages flip slowly past for about a minute before she started fidgeting. Applebloom let her, assuming she was just getting comfortable, but after Daybreak managed to flip herself over she reached out and smacked Applebloom in the face. “Ow!” Applebloom winced and dropped the book. “What’s the big idea?” “Mm!” Daybreak frowned and smacked her again. “Hey, quit it! Geez, I don’t speak baby, what’s the problem?” Defiantly, Daybreak squirmed her way away from Applebloom and stood up uneasily on the couch. She stretched out her thin, featherless wings and flapped them once, sending her about a foot into the air, from which point she slowly glided to the floor. “Okay,” Applebloom said, getting up,” show me, then.” Daybreak looked up at her for a second, then turned around, stretched her wings out for balance, and dashed into the hallway and around the corner. Applebloom gasped and ran after her. When she got to the hallway, Daybreak was already turning off into the kitchen. “Daybreak, slow down!” She skidded around the corner to find Daybreak looking back at her from on top of the table. “What’s your deal?” “Ba!” “I don’t know what that means.” Daybreak let out a giggle and flapped her wings again, this time bounding straight towards Applebloom. Applebloom flinched and, without thinking, ducked just enough for Daybreak to soar right over her head and back into the hallway. Daybreak was determined to run like that for as long as she could. Applebloom chased her all over the house, from the attic to the basement, without ever managing to get close enough to nab her. “Consarnit, girl!” Applebloom grumbled. She’d been chasing Daybreak for almost an hour, to no avail. “Why won’t you sit still and—” She was cut off by the sound of the front door opening. “Hello?” Diamond Tiara’s dainty, practiced voice echoed through the house. “Applebloom? Are you—” “Close the door!” Applebloom leapt down the stairs and into the front hall, but she wasn’t fast enough. By the time Diamond Tiara could process what was going on, a little green blur blasted over her head and out the door. “What the—” “No!” Applebloom growled in frustration. “Stop her, Scratch!” “Huh?” She glanced behind herself and noticed the speck making a break for the road. “What am I supposed to do about that?” “Ugh!” Applebloom leapt over Diamond Tiara, only managing to clear her and get out the door thanks to her thin stature, and landed on the porch. She ran as fast as she could, and on the way out grabbed a rope that always hung on one of the porch banisters. Out in the open, Applebloom was much faster than Daybreak and started to catch up easily. The gap between them quickly closed, and Applebloom loomed over her far before they got close to the road leading to Ponyville. At the last moment, just as Applebloom made a grab for her, Daybreak jumped into the air and started trying to fly away. She was unsteady and unpracticed, but she was at least able to escape Applebloom’s reach. “Oh, no you don’t,” Applebloom muttered under her breath. She pulled up the rope and tossed it at Daybreak, lassoing it easily around one of her hind legs. She was careful not to pull too hard, but she held the rope firm, and Daybreak very quickly hit the end of her leash and wasn’t nearly strong enough to go any further. She pouted as she was dragged slowly back down to the ground. Eventually, she stopped flying and greeted Applebloom with a nasty frown as the older pony walked up to her. Panting, Applebloom wiped sweat from her forehead. “Geez Louise, girl, you ain’t even been here an hour. How can you be so ornery?” “Ba!” Daybreak grumbled crankily. She sat on the ground and stuck her legs out like she wanted to be picked up. “Eat.” “Yeah, I bet you’re hungry,” Applebloom said. She scooped Daybreak up and started to walk back to the house. “I could use a bite, myself. Maybe a sandwich? Or—” Daybreak shook her head. “Eat!” “Yeah, I heard ya,” Applebloom said. She met up with Diamond Tiara halfway back to the house and rolled her eyes. “We’re gonna eat.” “No! Eat!” With an angry glare, Daybreak lit up her horn and started to focus on Applebloom. It took her a second to realize what was happening. Once she did, she quickly shoved Daybreak into Diamond Tiara’s grasp and dashed away. “Gah!” Once she was far enough that Daybreak couldn’t reach her, she stopped and put a hoof to her chest, trying to calm her racing heart. “Bad girl!” Diamond Tiara raised an eyebrow. “What’s going on?” “She’s tryin’ to eat me!” Applebloom paused for a moment, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She gave herself a minute to calm down, then walked back over to them and looked down at Daybreak sternly. “That’s not nice.” Daybreak pouted and turned away from Applebloom, deciding instead to bury her face in Diamond Tiara’s chest. Diamond Tiara frowned and squeezed her. “Care to explain what’s going on?” “In a sec,” Applebloom sighed. “I gotta get some food in me.” A few minutes later, Applebloom was greedily devouring a sandwich while Diamond Tiara fed Daybreak. She’d already finished one sandwich while she caught Diamond Tiara up on everything, and was well into her second. “I just don’t get it,” Applebloom said, mumbling through a full mouth. “Twilight said she was calm.” Diamond Tiara gave her a funny look. “Dear, can you please… Swallow your food before you talk?” “Huh?” Applebloom swallowed the bite and grinned. “Oh, heh, my bad.” “Mm.” Diamond Tiara turned her attention back to Daybreak. “She seems perfectly calm now. Maybe she was just hungry.” “Yeah, hungry for Apples.” “Are you insinuating that she was working you up on purpose?” “We don’t know that she wasn’t.” Applebloom leaned forward to be face to face with Daybreak. “Well? Were you tryin to make me mad?” “Mm?” Daybreak looked at her and tilted her head quizzically. “Mm-hm.” Applebloom nodded and sat up again. “I’m onto you.” “Applebloom, you’re being silly. She’s just a baby.” “I’m always silly,” Applebloom said with a smile. “That’s why ya like me.” “Well, I suppose that’s as likely a reason as any.” Applebloom laughed. Having finished her meal, she got up and started to clean the dishes. “So, how was work?” “Ugh, exhausting.” Diamond Tiara let out a long, exaggerated sigh. “Those animals are so needy! I don’t know how Fluttershy did it, how can anypony put up with being asked for things day in and day out?” “Couldn’t imagine.” “Har har.” Diamond Tiara stuck her tongue out at Applebloom. “I’m not that bad. I could be way more of a—” She was cut off by a loud knock on the door. All three of them looked that way, and Applebloom quickly dried her hooves off and scurried out into the hall. “Who could that be? Scoots and Sweetie Belle wouldn’t knock.” A little apprehensively, she cracked the door open. “Hel— Oh!” On the other side of the door, Twilight waved sheepishly. “Uh, hey! I’m back.” “I thought the summit was all weekend, though.” “It was,” Twilight said. “I may have, um, kind of, maybe, snuck out?” Applebloom raised an eyebrow. “Twilight, you literally run Equestria. You can’t just bail on stuff.” “I know!” Twilight sighed. “I know, I just… I missed her so much! I couldn’t stop worrying about her. Where is she, by the way? Is she alright?” “Yeah, she’s… Why don’t you come in.” Applebloom opened the door the rest of the way, and Twilight graciously walked in with an embarrassed look on her face. “She’s in the kitchen.” “Oh, okay!” Twilight hurried down the hall and into the other room. As soon as she saw Daybreak, she smiled wide and visibly relaxed. “Oh, there’s my baby! Come here, you.” She gently took Daybreak from Diamond Tiara’s hold and sat down at the table so she could dote on her, kissing her face and fussing with her mane. Daybreak smiled and giggled throughout it, thrilled to see her mom again. “Hello, Princess,” Diamond Tiara said. “I was just feeding her.” “Thank you, Diamond Tiara. I hope she hasn’t been too much trouble.” “Oh, not at all. She’s an angel.” Applebloom walked in and rolled her eyes. “Well, she did try to eat me.” Twilight gasped. “Really? But she’s been doing so good!” “Yeah, she gave me the run-around for a bit then tried to nip me when I got annoyed.” Applebloom shrugged and took a seat. “Not a huge deal since I caught it, but she tried.” Twilight huffed and turned Daybreak so they were looking at each other. “That was very naughty,” Twilight said. “You know better.” Daybreak frowned. “Eat!” “No! That’s not how we treat others!” Twilight sighed. “I’m sorry, Applebloom. This must’ve been a horrible first babysitting experience.” “Oh, naw, it was great,” Applebloom said. “Rough, sure, but that’s just how kids are. I’ve had worse.” “Well, that’s good to hear,” Twilight said. “Still, hopefully we won’t need to drop this on you in the future.” “Oh, I’d be happy to babysit again!” Applebloom grinned. “I mean, it’d be better for her to have a babysitter she knows well, right? You could count on me!” “That’s so much to ask of you, though,” Twilight said. “I couldn’t possibly.” “Twilight, she was here for, like, two hours. I doubt I’d need to do it all that much, and I wanna help!” “Are you sure?” “Positive.” “I… Thank you, Applebloom.” Twilight smiled softly, then turned to Daybreak. “What about you? Would you wanna come back here?” Daybreak looked at her for a second, then looked over to Applebloom, then looked back again. She grinned and shot her legs up in an excited gesture. “Eat!” Diamond Tiara stifled a laugh. Applebloom put her head in her hooves. “I, uh, think that’s a yes.”