//------------------------------// // Daddy's Girl // Story: Daienu // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// Daddy's Girl Fluttershy smiled happily down at her little bundle of joy, curled up fast asleep in the basket she had arrived in. Little Yaazi was a deep sleeper, thankfully, so she didn't wake Fluttershy in the middle of the night, save for the first few nights when Yaazi had woken with nightmares. Those had stopped when Fluttershy had moved the basket into her own room. Yaazi hadn't grown all that much yet, so she was still just an adorable little black bundle. Carefully, Fluttershy scooped Yaazi up in her wing. Yaazi's green eyes opened, and she stared up at her. "Good morning, Yaazi," Fluttershy said happily. "Time to start the day." Yaazi smiled up at her, and extended her forelegs. "Hug?" Chuckling, Fluttershy hugged her tightly. Yaazi's mental development was obviously much faster than that of ponies, since she had already mastered a few words, and seemed to understand what was said to her to a certain extent. Her personality was also quite distinct already. "Come on, Yaazi, bath time." Yaazi giggled happily, wriggling in Fluttershy's embrace. Yaazi enjoyed bathing, as apparently the water and soap passing through the holes in her body tickled. Also, an inner membrane closed over her eyes while in the water, preventing any soap from getting in. Of course, Yaazi's favorite part of bathing was splashing, which was why Fluttershy always had plenty of towels ready. With the bath finished, Fluttershy placed Yaazi in her high chair as she prepared meals, both for Yaazi and the animals. Angel, in the meantime, had hopped up onto the table at his own place. He glanced towards Yaazi. His feelings for the half-Changeling baby were mixed. On the one paw, her presence made Fluttershy very happy, which was a good thing. On the other paw, she took attention away from Angel, which was a bad thing. However, he aired on the side of caution...mostly because Yaazi already had her two razor sharp front teeth. Angel may be a spoiled brat at times, but he was no idiot. Besides, any hostility directed towards Yaazi earned the perpetrator 'The Stare' faster than they could blame Nikolai Ivanovich Lobovochevski... Angel wasn't sure who that was, but there was a song that said everything was his fault, so he went with that. Fluttershy, having placed down food for the other animals, brought out the fruit and vegetable salads she had prepared. "Here you go Angel," she said, setting his salad in front of him. She watched until he began to eat, then turned to Yaazi. "Here you go, Yaazi. Eat up for Mommy." Yaazi looked up at her. "Nnnaaa..." she started to say, then turned away, looking sad. Fluttershy didn't really understand. However, she wasn't dissuaded. "Come on Yaazi, eat up. You're half pony, so you need fruits and veggies, just like a pony. Eat up." Yaazi reached out a hoof and poked the salad, then looked up at Fluttershy, her eyes sad. "Aww, Yaazi, what's wrong?" Fluttershy came over, hugging Yaazi again. "Do you not like your salad?" Yaazi grabbed a leaf and stuck it in her mouth, chewing slowly, half the leaf sticking out. Her teeth were already developed enough to be on solid food. Fluttershy thought for a time, trying to find a way to encourage Yaazi. Then she remembered one thing that would be certain to excite her. "Yaazi, the sooner you finish your salad, the sooner we can go see Twow." Yaazi's eyes lit up and she grinned widely. "Da! Da! Da!" Fluttershy smiled. That had been the first word Yaazi had said, and it was obviously her favorite word. Even as small as she was, she was already her daddy's girl. Fluttershy was a little sad that Yaazi hadn't said 'Ma' yet, but she pushed that from her mind. It would come in time. "You need to finish your salad first, Yaazi." Yaazi dove face first into her salad, devouring it rapidly with an adorable 'snarf' sound. When she reached the bottom of the bowl, she lifted her head, smiling happily, bits of lettuce and apple sticking out of the holes in her face. "Da?" she asked excitedly. Fluttershy chuckled. "We need to clean you up a bit first." ------------------ Twow sat in his lab, tinkering away at his latest invention. It was going to be a gun of some sort. He hadn't decided what kind yet, or what it would fire. He'd figure that out later. He hadn't been inventing as much as he used to. He had been distracted lately. As the door to his lab opened, he turned, and smiled at the two biggest distractions. "Da! Da! Da!" Yaazi cried happily, reaching out of her basket towards him, nearly tumbling over the side. Happily he walked forward, scooping the little one into his arms. "There's my girl!" he said happily, snuggling her close. Yaazi burrowed into his embrace, hugging him tight. Fluttershy smiled happily. "She really likes you," she said warmly. Twow could only chuckle. "I don't know what she sees in me." "Probably much of the same that I do," Fluttershy replied, leaning in to kiss Twow on the lips. "I'll be back a bit later, I need to take care of a few things, and it's Market Day." "Okay, Shy," he said, embracing her with one arm as he held Yaazi with the other. "We'll see you later. Say bye to Mommy, Yaazi." Yaazi turned and waved one hoof at Fluttershy. "Aye!" Fluttershy chuckled. "Bye Yaazi, I'll see you later." She turned and headed out. Twow smiled at Yaazi. "Looks like it's you and me, Yaazi." Yaazi smiled happily. "Da! Da! Da!" Twow chuckled, feeling warm inside. "Alright. What would you like to do today?" Yaazi tilted her head and looked around the lab. Then she pointed towards the TV. "Hlay!" Twow had learned to interpret some of her baby talk. "You want to watch me play video games?" Yaazi nodded happily. "Alright. Let's get in position." Grinning, Yaazi gripped his shirt collar with her forehooves and pulled herself up, slowly climbing up to rest on top of his head, one of her favorite positions. Sitting down, he loaded up the Gamestaion. "Alright, let's see what we can play today." He was always extra careful when playing games with Yaazi. Not only did he only play games rated 'E', so as to reduce her exposure to foul language or violence at this age, he also had to be careful about some of the content. A distressingly large number of the games for children available in Equestria had Changelings cast as the bad guys, and Yaazi could already recognize her own species that way. He loaded up one of the games, which he thought of as the pony equivalent of Mario Party, called Pinkie Play. Having loaded up story mode, play went quite well, and Yaazi was enjoying herself...up until Twow landed on Chrysalis' Corner, the equivalent of Bowser Time. From the moment Chrysalis appeared on the screen, chuckling wickedly, Yaazi started to whimper. Twow didn't even bother letting the scene finish. Turning off the console, he put the game disc back in the case and dropped the case into a box labeled 'Insensitive'. The box was already half full. He glanced up at his daughter. "What say we read a story instead?" Yaazi pointed at a shelf. "Ook! Ook!" Twow chuckled. "Alright." He pulled book of foal's stories off the shelf. "Let's see what we can find." This, too, progressed quite well, with Yaazi sitting in his lap, curled up in the crook of his arm as he read. She smiled happily as the story progressed. Then they reached part of 'Filly Red Trotting Hood' that made things go wrong. "But when Filly Red reached the Everfree Forest, a handsome stallion awaited her. He asked her where she was going, and she told him, 'I'm going to see my grandmother.' And the stallion, who knew the ways of the woods, directed her to a shortcut. Despite warnings she had received about staying on the path, she trusted the stallion and followed his directions. As she walked out of sight, the stallion grinned wickedly as green fire-" He paused reading. He could already see where this was going, and Yaazi was already whimpering. Snapping the book shut, he tossed it into the box labeled 'Insensitive.' "Maybe we should do something else." Yaazi looked up at him, her face a picture of dejection. He held her close, running a hand through her mane. "It's okay, Yaazi. Those things aren't about you. The world is just full of idiots, that's all." Holding her out from him a little, he began to sing. "My beautiful Yaazi, Let me wipe all your tears away, Some ponies are nasty, But with Daddy you'll be safe." Yaazi giggled happily, curling up to him. "And if anyone tries to harm you, I'll simply-" He froze, sensing something nearby that shouldn't be there. Without thinking, he pulled his black hole gun from its holster and fired in the direction of the presence. The temporary quantum singularity impacted against an empty wall, which was quickly sucked in and crushed into non-existence before the singularity faded. As Twow and Yaazi watched, a new wall started to grow in. Yaazi looked up at him with awe. He smiled. "Because you're Daddy's girl." Yaazi smiled up at him. "Da! Da!" Happily, he held her close. Then she yawned. "Nap time already?" he asked with a smile. Yaazi nodded, blinking her eyes sleepily. Smiling, he reached over to a more recent invention of his and strapped it to his wrist. It beeped as it came on. He thought of it as Yaazi's teething ring. She often needed to feed on love, and while the love Fluttershy gave her didn't drain Fluttershy at all, it did drain Twow, and for some reason Yaazi much preferred to feed off her Daddy. The wrist bracer monitored his vital signs. If they dropped below certain levels, the bracer would generate a field that would negate any magic currently active on him and block further magic effects for a predetermined period of time. This taught Yaazi how much she could safely drain from him, as well as control of her feeding, and where the limit was for how much someone could be drained. That done, he lay down on his bed, Yaazi in his arms. "Sleep well, Yaazi." Smiling, Yaazi rested her head on his shoulder, closed her eyes, and with a last whispered, "Da," fell fast asleep. Her horn immediately started to glow, and he felt the drain begin. He watched her happily as she slept. The reason he'd laid down - beyond that she slept best when close to one of her parents - was because her feeding off of him always tired him out. He found it more convenient to just lay down with her. He didn't really understand why, but he felt happiest when she was near. It had all started when she had first thrown her forehooves up to him and called him Da. Right then, he knew he was lost to her, as an overwhelming surge of fatherly love had filled him. Since then, he had had...a sort of sense of where she was relative to him. He could always find her. It was like there was a door in his mind, and she was always just on the other side. He could tell she wanted to come through the door, but he kept it shut. If he was right, if the door was opened they'd be able to hear each others thoughts...and he wasn't ready to let her see his mind. There were things in there he didn't like seeing. There was no way he'd expose her to that. And so, for now, the door stayed shut. As his energy left him, he let his eyes close. Such thoughts were for another time. For now, it was just this perfect moment with his daughter. ----------------- Out behind Derpy's house, there was a spectral sigh. "That was close," a voice seemed to whisper. Not really, a voice replied. Gravity does not effect souls. A shadow seemed to turn. "I didn't know that," it replied. At any rate, what is your judgment? There was another spectral sigh. "You chose well. She is happy, and healthy...and he loves her so much. They both do. But still...I worry." Why? You know how safe she will be. You read him. Is there a limit to what he will do for her? "...no, there isn't. But still, I will remain, and watch." How long? "...until her first born is safely in this world." There will not be much left of you by then. "...I can be dead with that." Have I kept my promise to you? "You have. More fully than I would have believed possible." ...I will keep an eye on her as well. Until my promise is fully kept, and you may rest in peace...Chrysalis. There are few who would cross between dimensions as a spirit for any reason. Both of you are...unique. There was a snort. "She is all I have left. She will survive. She will thrive. Whatever the cost to me." --------------------- As Twow awoke, he noticed Yaazi was not curled up against him. She was at the edge of the bed, her eyes closed in concentration. "Yaazi?" he asked. "What are you doing?" Yaazi let out a yelp, and green fire passed over her body. Instead of a foal sized Changeling, a black unicorn filly with sea green eyes, mane, and tail sat there, blinking up at him. "Da!" she said happily, bouncing up to hug him. He hugged her back. "Did you sleep well?" he asked happily. "MmmHmm!" Yaazi replied. Then she paused. "Mmm," she said, pressing her lips together. "Mmm. Mmm." her eyes widened, and her whole face lit up. As the door slid open and Fluttershy entered, Yaazi raced over to her across the floor, crying, "Ma! Ma! Ma!" Fluttershy stared, shocked. "Wha...Yaazi?" Twow smiled. "Her first shape change. Looks like she did in the story. She's been making 'mmm' sounds since the change." Fluttershy scooped her up. "Oh, you couldn't make the M sound as a Changeling, could you?" Fluttershy asked. Yaazi shook her head. "Is that why you hadn't said Ma before?" Yaazi nodded happily. "Ma! Da! Ma! Da!" The both of them smiling happily and holding back tears of joy, Twow and Fluttershy embraced each other and their daughter. As strange as they were, they were family, and none of them would change a thing.