One night, Twilight received a phone call from one of her old friends.
“Hello?” answered Twilight.
As soon as Twilight answered the phone, noisemakers and party sounds were heard from the other line. For Twilight, this meant one thing: Pinkie Pie was calling her.
“Pinkie, is this you?” Twilight asked.
“Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeees, it’s meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Pinkie replied.
“Okay then, what’s up?” Twilight asked.
“Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllll, Cheese and I are going to a comedy show tonight and we need someone to watch over Lil’ Cheese while we’re gone. And we know that the beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeest babysitter in Equestria lives wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiith you!” Pinkie replied.
“Really? Who?” Twilight asked.
“Gallus!” Pinkie replied.
“Gallus?” Twilight asked.
Pinkie mmm-hmmed.
“But he’s never watched over anyone yet. He’s been a royal guard for only two days” Twilight said.
“Don’t worry. I’ve planned eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeverything out! I’ll give him a few pointers when he gets here. Besides, royal guards make the best babysitters, riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight?” Pinkie asked.
“No, Pinkie, my guards have better things to do than watch over my friends’ children. But, if you really want Gallus to come over and look after Lil' Cheese for a couple of hours, then I suppose I can send him over” Twilight said.
“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! You’re the best, Twilight!” Pinkie cheered before she hung up.
Twilight sighed. “I guess that guards can be good babysitters, but why Gallus? He hasn’t been able to do much yet?” she thought as she went over to Gallus’s room.
Gallus was in the middle of a Fortneigh match with Sandbar when Twilight knocked on the door.
“Hang tight, Sandbar. Gotta answer the door for a few seconds” Gallus said before he took off his headset to answer the door.
“Hey, mommy. What’s up?” Gallus asked.
“Just got off the phone with Pinkie Pie. She and Cheese Sandwich will be out for a couple hours and they want you to watch over Lil’ Cheese” Twilight explained.
“Babysitting? No offense, but I always thought my first job as a royal guard would be cool and dangerous, like defeating monsters and stuff, not babysitting a little foal!” Gallus retorted.
“You just became a royal guard. You’re nowhere near ready for something dangerous like that. I think that babysitting is a wonderful opportunity for new guards like you to develop skills that you would have to use later in your career” Twilight replied.
“Sounds lame” Gallus replied.
“Gallus, I know that babysitting isn’t what you might be interested in, but I promised Pinkie I’d send you over. Besides, you know how she gets when someone breaks a pinkie promise. It’s only for one night. Please?” Twilight asked.
Gallus let out an annoyed grunt. “Fine! Will I have to put on my armor?”
“Not at all. You’ll just be watching Lil’ Cheese for a couple hours, nothing fancy” Twilight replied.
“Ok, well, I’ll find her house or whatever. I’m in the middle of a Fortneigh match with Sandbar so you can play for me. He’s expecting me to come back” Gallus said as he walked off.
Twilight came into his room and put his headset on. “Sandbar, are you there?”
“Headmare Twilight? What are you doing playing Gallus’s game system?” Sandbar asked.
“Pinkie wanted him to babysit her daughter for a couple hours, so I guess I’ll be playing this game with you. How do you play?” Twilight replied.
A short while later, Gallus finally arrived at Pinkie’s house and knocked on the door.
“Gallus, you’re here!” Pinkie cheered as she hugged the griffon.
“Yep, sure am! So, what’s the plan?” Gallus replied.
“Ok. First, you and Lil’ Cheese can play a quick game that she wants to play. Then, you give her dinner. She loooooooooooooves cake! Then, you give her a bath and it’s off to bed after that! Is that easy to follow?” Pinkie replied.
“Playtime, dinnertime, bath time, bedtime! Got it!” Gallus replied.
“Good, let me call her down now. Lil’ Cheese, Gallus is here!” Pinkie called, prompting Lil’ Cheese to come down the stairs.
“Alright, Lil’ Cheese! Be good for Gallus and we’ll be back in a couple hours” Cheese Sandwich said to his daughter.
“Have fun, you two!” Pinkie called as she and Cheese left.
“Alright, Lil’ Cheese. We get to play first! So, what do you wanna play?” Gallus asked.
“Come up to my room and you’ll see!” she replied as she led Gallus to her room. When he saw the game that Lil’ Cheese wanted to play, he died a little inside.
“She wants to have a tea party? Oh brother, what have I got myself into?” Gallus thought to himself as he took a seat at the table.
Although unamused, Gallus tried his best to play along so that Lil’ Cheese wouldn’t be disappointed.
“Herbal tea, one lump, no cream…please” he requested.
“Comin’ riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight up, Mister Gallus!” Lil’ Cheese sad as she “made” Gallus’s [pretend] tea.
When he received his tea, Gallus pretended to take a sip out of the tea and tried his best to put on a happy face. “Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, this is the best tea I’ve ever had! Thanks, Lil’ Cheese!”
“You’re welcome! I knew you’d like it!” Lil’ Cheese replied.
Gallus took out his list and crossed off Playtime. “Alright, now that we’re done playing, it’s time for dinner. Is there anything in particular you want to eat?”
“I want cake for dinner!” Lil’ Cheese replied.
“You can’t have cake for dinner, but if you’re good, you can have a slice for dessert. Come on, let’s go in the kitchen and see what you have” Gallus sad as he led Lil’ Cheese to the kitchen.
He looked in the kitchen and saw nothing but cakes, cupcakes, and other sugary treats.
“Is this really all your family has to eat?” Gallus asked, prompting Lil’ Cheese to nod.
“Well, eating that for every meal isn’t healthy, so how about I make something different. How would you like to try a salad?” Gallus offered.
“What’s…a salad?” Lil’ Cheese asked, feeling confused.
“You’ll see” Gallus said as he chopped up some lettuce, spinach, kale, carrots, cucumbers, onions, and chicken for a dinner salad.
“Here ya go!” Gallus said as he presented the salad to Lil’ Cheese and sat at the table to eat his salad.
“What’s this, Mister Gallus?” Lil’ Cheese asked, picking at her food.
“It’s a salad. Try it and you might like it” Gallus replied.
“Looks yucky” Lil’ Cheese retorted.
“But you haven’t tried it” Gallus replied.
“I don’t want it” Lil’ Cheese retorted.
“Lil’ Cheese, if you don’t eat your dinner, you won’t have dessert” Gallus said sternly.
Lil’ Cheese let out an annoyed grunt. “Fine!”
Soon, she finally ate her salad. “Hey, this is good! Thank you, Mister Gallus!”
“I knew you’d like it! Thanks for trying the salad, sweetie! Now, are you ready for dessert?” Gallus replied.
“Yes please” Lil’ Cheese replied as Gallus took a chocolate cake out of the fridge and took two slices: one for Lil’ Cheese and one for himself.
After their meal, Gallus checked off Dinnertime.
“That was great, Mister Gallus. I should talk with mommy and daddy and see if we can have salad every day” Lil’ Cheese said.
“That’s good. It’s good for you. Keeps you healthy and strong like me!” Gallus replied.
“So, what’s next?” Lil’ Cheese asked.
“Bath time!” Gallus replied.
“Aww, do I have to take a bath, Mister Gallus?” Lil’ Cheese complained.
“Yep. You wanna be squeaky clean for bedtime, right?” Gallus asked.
“I guess you’re right” Lil’ Cheese replied.
Soon, the two went to the bathroom where Gallus got Lil’ Cheese’s bath started. He put his talon in the water to see if the water was just the right temperature.
“Perfect. Not too hot, and not too cold. Ok, Lil’ Cheese, time to get in” Gallus said as Lil’ Cheese climbed into the bathtub.
“I have bath toys in my room if you want to go get them” Lil’ Cheese said.
“Good idea! I’ll be right back!” said Gallus as he went into Lil’ Cheese’s room to get her bath toys and put them in the bath.
“Hmm, what can we play with in the bath? We got a rubber ducky, a sailboat, and a shark. Maybe, we can pretend that the sailboat is a rescue ship and the crew onboard is trying to save the rubber ducky from being eaten by the shark” Gallus said as a thought bubble formed over the heads of him and Lil’ Cheese. They imagined that they were the crew working on a rescue ship.
“See anyone in need of rescuing, Captain Lil’ Cheese?” Gallus asked.
Lil’ Cheese searched far and wide for anyone who needs rescuing. Then, she saw a rubber duck swimming as fast as she can in order to escape a mean, hungry shark.
Lil’ Cheese let out a gasp. “Look, Captain Gallus, that duck is in trouble!”
“Uh oh! We better bring down the net and bring her to safety!” Gallus said as he ran over to get the net and sunk it into the water.
“Okay, Mrs. Duck! Swim into the net and we’ll bring you up!” Gallus called.
“Okay!” the duck swam as fast as she could into the net before the shark could catch her. Gallus pulled her up.
“Oh, thank you for saving me!” Mrs. Duck praised Gallus.
“No problem, Mrs. Duck! Lil’ Cheese and I are rescue captains and it’s our job to help!” Gallus replied.
Suddenly, the shark swam up to the boat.
“You’re a very naughty shark for chasing me like that!” Mrs. Duck said sternly.
Then, the shark began to cry. “I’m sorry! I just wanted someone to play with! And I’m hungry!”
“Oh, the shark just wanted a friend to play with” Lil’ Cheese added.
“We’ll be your friends, Mr. Shark, but only if you promise to be nice from now on” Gallus offered.
“I promise!” Mr. Shark replied.
It was then that the four friends began playing together and lived happily ever after.
“That was fun, Mister Gallus!” Lil’ Cheese cheered.
“Sure was! Now that you’ve had your bath, it’s time to get ready for bed” Gallus replied.
“Okay, Mister Gallus” Lil’ Cheese replied as the two went into her room to get ready for bed.
As Gallus tucked Lil’ Cheese into bed, she made another request. “Mister Gallus, can you read me a bedtime story?”
“Sure can, my dear!” Gallus said as he looked through Lil’ Cheese’s bookshelf. “Aha, here’s one! This is my favorite story, The Very Hungry Breezie”
Gallus sat beside Lil’ Cheese and began reading. “Once upon a time, there was a breezie. And this breeze was very hungry. Very hungry indeed!”
A few moments later, Lil’ Cheese fell asleep as Gallus made it to the end of the story. “And all the breezies had a big feast and lived happily…ever…*yawn*…after” Suddenly, Gallus fell asleep.
Right on cue, Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich came back home and went up to Lil’ Cheese’s room to check on her and Gallus, only to find the two of them sleeping.
“Aww, look at them, fast asleep” Pinkie whispered.
“Gallus has done such a great job” Cheese added as he and Pinkie themselves went to bed.
In conclusion, Pinkie Pie was right: royal guards really can be excellent babysitters.