A repeating knocking assaulted Shimmering Sparks' ears, drawing her from her slumber.
“Umgh...” she mumbled, her light teal eyes looked at the clock on her nightstand.
'3:24, who the hay is up at this hour?' Shimmering Sparks thought as she slid/fell out of bed, half stumbling and catching her reflection in the mirror, a tan coated unicorn mare with a two toned, slightly puffy yellow and light-brown mane (currently with a very severe case of bed-mane) stared back at her.
'Ugh, I look like somepony just dragged me out of bed,' Shimmering Sparks thought as she stood up properly, all the while the knocking had been going on uninterrupted, she gave off a annoyed snort, 'probably due to that somepony did '.
As Shimmering Sparks made her way down the stares the uninterrupted knocking began to really get on her nerves, “I'm coming, don't get yo- *yawn* your tail in a knot,” she said as she made a u-turn at the bottom of the stairs and making her way to the door, all the while the knocking continued.
'I swear if its another salespony I'm hitting him with the umbrella stand,' Shimmering thought as she lit up her horn, grabbing the handle with her magic and yanking the door open. “WHAT!” she shouted in at the... empty air? “...wha?”
What Shimmering Sparks had expected when she ripped open the door (apart from getting a hoof in the face) was somepony trying to sell her brooms, a new kind of soap, hoof-polish or -Faust forbid- kinky socks. What she found instead was nopony at all, 'left?' she looked left 'no, right?' she looked the other way 'nope, pegasus?' looking up gave the same result, then her sleepy mind got a brilliant idea.
She looked down.
On Shimmering's doorstep was a box with a note on, picking up the note in her magic Shimmering read it... or tried to, the text was kind of small and it was dark out.
After a few seconds Shimmering gave of a small grunt of frustration, 'oh buck this,' she thought as she picked up the box and went inside, giving the door a kick to close it.
Going into her living room Shimmering turned on the electric lights, (Shimmering was quite proud of installing the cables herself, she only got a jolt twice doing the whole house) put the box on the coffee table, ('mmm, coffee... I could use that about now') sat down in the couch and gave the note another look over.
Equine being Shimmering Sparks, you are to take care of being located in the carbon fiber storage unit, you are to follow the following rules, 1: you are to provide the being with its needs. 2: you are not to harm the being. 3: you are not to show the being to other equine beings, avian-feline hybrid beings, bovine beings, simian-bovine hybrid beings or reptilian beings. Inability to follow or direct breakage of said rules will be met with punishment from Us. We are aware that beings like yourself preform optimal when given given and/or is promised large amounts of the soft, heavy metal, therefore the storage unit the being resides in contains the following amount of said metal.
33.33333-(the three's took up a whole line on there own and considering the small size of the text that was a lot!)-3334%
Preform well and We shall provide more of said metal, break the rules We have written down on this unit of pressed plant matter and you will be punished.
Signed- The Watchers
Simmering blinked, read the note again and came up with the same thought as the first time she read it, which went something like this.
'What the buck did I just read?'
Shimmering put the note down next to the box while massaging the sides of her head, 'It’s too darn early in the morning for this,' she thought, looking at the box, wondering if this was some kind of weird joke or wrong deliverance- and was the lid on the box moving?
As Shimmering watched the lid bent slightly once, twice, three times under the assault of... whatever was in the box, but held firm by the twine around the box... that is until the assaulter pushed itself out by the corner.
“Hugghnn!” the being grunted as it pushed itself halfway out, revealing itself as a... pony?! “Almost, got, it, let, go, stupid, not-let-go-y, thingy!” it said before it slipped out of the box, revealing the rest of it.
It looked like a miniature pony, perhaps a hoof and a half tall, it got a pink coat and a white mane, from its head stuck a pair of fuzzy antennas in the same color as its coat, on its back two pairs of dragonfly wings beat the air and its tail... well, it looks like that of a griffin, ending with a white, teardrop shaped turf of hair.
It didn't have a cutie mark.
“Yay I'm out!” the being called out happily as it fluttered in the air next to the box before spinning around, revealing yellow eyes as it pointed a hoof at the box, “take that you not-let-go-y thingy.”
Then it looked up, seeing Shimmering Sparks.
The two ponies stared at each other, one slack-jawed, the other big eyed and hovering.
The silence lasted for almost a minute before the being spoke.
“Wow, your really big, you must eat a lot.”
This got Shimmering out of her stupor. 'D-did it just call me fat?' she thought as the being started talking.
“What is that pointy on your head- hey, where did the trees go? There was a lot of them arou- is this a cave? It doesn't look cave-y or smell cave-y or sound cave-y or- ooh, what’s that?” it said rapidly before fluttering of to a neigh-pon tea set on a shelf, sniffing it before starting to poke it.
“DON'T TOUCH THAT!” Shimmering shouted, causing the miniature pony to hide behind the teapot. She wrapped the tea set in her magic and quickly, but carefully, pulled them to her, giving the now cowering mini-pony a glare, “they belonged to my grandmother.”
The mini-pony was slowly backing away from the edge and out of the unicorns view.
Shimmering let out a breath, 'smooth Shim, good first impression,' she thought as she put the tea set down on the coffee table before turning back to the shelf, a pair of pink antennas where the only indication there was a living being up there, 'okay, lets try this again,' Shimmering thought, clearing her throat.
“Um hey,” Shimmering said, looking up at the shelf, “sorry about yelling, you just caught me a bit off-guard, that tea set is a bit fragile.”
For a while, silence ruled.
“...whats a 'fra-gill'?” the little being asked as it slowly poked its head over the edge, tilting its head a bit.
“Fragile means it breaks easily,” Shimmering said, giving it a tired smile, “would you like to come down?”
The dragonfly-pony lowered its head a bit, “are you gonna yell at me again, 'cus I don't like the yelly part.”
'Don't give me a reason to then,' Shimmering thought as she shook her head slightly, “I won't.”
The griffin-tail pony ('brain, pick one synonym and stick with it') was quiet for a little bit again “...is that 'I won't yell again' or 'I won't not yell again'?” it asked.
Shimmering face-hoofed.
'Its too early for this crud,' she thought at she lit up her horn and engulfed the mini-pony in her magic, picking it off the shelf.
“What's this sparkly stuff- Hey, I'm flying without flapping my wings! Oh, hey Biggy, your pointy is sparkly too!” it exclaimed, waving its hooves around as Shimmering put it down on the coffee table before picking up the tea set in her magic and carefully putting them back on the shelf.
Shimmering let out a little breath, “now then, lets-”
“Hey Biggy, are there any tasties in this not-cave cave?” the little being interuppted, starting to once again flutter around, “there weren't any up there, I didn't see any down here and those cold-hard-not-eat-y thingies in the not-let-go-y thingy weren't tasty at all.”
Shimmering was having a hard time getting her sleep deprived mind to understand what the little being meant.
“...tasties?” Shimmering asked, scratching her ear, “what do you mean by 'tasties'?”
“You know, tasties,” the mini-pony said, waving its hooves around, “crunchy tasties, sticky tasties, hard tasties, soft tasties, stingy tasties, sour tasties, sweet tasties- I like the sweet tasties~” its gaze went dreamy at the end, a bit of drool started forming in the corner of its mouth.
The gears in Shimmering's head managed to grind forth a reply, “...food, you mean things you eat.”
The little being shock itself out of its stupor and nodded, “yeah, tasties,” it started to flutter closer to Shimmering, “so do you have any tasties? I'm really, really, Really hungry.”
It was a mere inch from Shimmering's eye.
'Ever heard of personal space?' Shimmering thought as she leaned back a bit, “um, I might have something in the kitchen,” 'and coffee' her mind added, “if you'll just follow me,” Shimmering said as she began walking into the kitchen, making sure to keep an eye on the little being.
Upon entering the kitchen the little being began zipping around, “Where are the tasties?”
“I'm getting them, just sit down in a cha- um... on the table,” Shimmering said as she got two carrots out of a bag, 'this should be more than enough for somepony that size,' she thought as she looked back at her... house guest.
She (Shimmering thought it was a 'she') was currently sniffing the tablecloth before giving it a quick lick, 'okay, gross,' she thought as she put the food down on the table, “Here, have some carrots.”
“Thanks Biggy!” the little being said, grabbing one of the carrots and taking a surprising large bite out of it, “ooh, crunchy tastie” it (she?) exclaimed before going pirranah on the rest of it.
'Well, now that our guest is fed lets make some coffee,' Shimmering thought as she opened the cabinet where she keeped the coffee, but found no coffee, 'WHERES MY COFFEE?!' she thought in part rage, part despair that only the true addict understands, '... oh right, I forgot to buy more... horseapples,' she gave herself a half hearted smack between the eyes.
“Hey Biggy!” the little being called out again.
“What?!” Shimmering called out a bit sharper than she intended as she spun around to face the... slightly cowering mini-pony, “...uh, sorry.”
The little one gave her the stink-eye, “you said you weren't going to yell again Biggy, you big-Biggy-meany.”
Shimmering sighted, “I know and I'm sorry,” she said, keeping her voice calm and soft, “I was just... what was it you wanted?”
The little one's ears perked up again, “do you have any more tasties? I'm still hungry.”
If the mini-pony had been as big as Shimmering, then the carrots would have been as tall as she was long, unless her caffine-starved mind was wrong one carrot should have been enough, let alone two. But there the little one sat, big eyed and wings fluttering, not a trace of the carrots to be seen, not even the greens were present.
Shimmering's eye twitched a bit, (do to lack of caffine) “your... still hungry?”
The mini-pony nodded, its wings fluttering some more, “uh-huh, so do you have any more tasties?”
“Ugh, sure, let me just...” Shimmering said, levitating the bag of carrots over to herself before giving the fluttering pony ('you know what brain, lets just refer to it as a Flutterpony for now, okay?) another carrot, “here, you can have one more.”
“Thanks Biggy!” the flutterpony exclaimed happily and started devouring the carrot.
“My name is Shimmering Sparks, not 'Biggy,'” Shimmering said, watching the flutterpony scarf down half of the carrot in only a few bites.
“I'm Sweet Tooth, nice to meet you Biggy!” the flutterpony -Sweet Tooth- said after downing the greens and giving off a loud burp, “do you have any more tasties Biggy?”
Shimmering's eye twitched again, (do to flutterpony... and lack of caffine) “y-you just ate three carrots, how can you still be hungry?!” she said with a bit more volume than intended.
Sweet Tooth folded her ears back and tilted her head slightly, “...'cus I still am?” she said as she leaned forward a bit, giving Shimmering a big eyed stare, “can I have some more?”
'Ugh, why does it have to look so... innocent when asking that,' Shimmering thought, rubbing a hoof between her eyes, “okay, fine, you can have one more,” she levitated one more carrot to the flutterpony, “but thats the last one, okay?”
“Thanks Biggy!” Sweet Tooth said happily as she (Shimmering decided it was a she until proven otherwise) made short work of her latest victim.
“My name is- oh forget it,” Shimmering said with a shake of her head, beginning to levitate the bag back towards the cabinet.
“Hey Big- wait, wheres the thingy with the tasties in it?” Sweet Tooth asked, looking around until she spotted Shimmering opening a cabinet, “Biggy, can I have more tasties?”
“No Sweet Tooth,” Shimmering said, growing annoyed, “I said that that was your last one.”
“B-but you didn't say it was the last last one!” Sweet Tooth pleaded, fluttering up from the table, “can I have one last more?”
“I said no,” Shimmering said with a bit of anger in her voice as she put the bag away, not looking at the flutterpony, “I'm not going to have some miniature pony eat me out of home.”
“But, but, tasties!” Sweet Tooth exclaimed, darting towards the 'tasties' at full speed, “Nooooo!” only to smack head first into the closed cabinet door, “...owie~” she rubbed her head before starting to scrape at the cabinet door, “tasties, please let me have the tasties Biggy.”
“ENOUGH!” Shimmering cried out, she had had enough of this, she grabbed Sweet Tooth with her magic, pulling the flutterpony to her, “listen here you... you, I'm woken up at this Faust forsaken hour by some unknown ponies, leaving a weird number of orders they seem to expect me to follow,” she took a breath, “and then there's you, who haven't shut up about 'tasties' since I gave you some-”
“B-but, Biggy-”
“MY. NAME. IS. SHIMMERING. SPARKS. NOT BIGGY!” Shimmering practically roared, “How hard is it to get that!?”
Sweet Tooth stared at the big pony in fear, ears flat on her head, legs, wings and tail close to her body, “b-but-”
“No. buts,” Shimmering said with a slight growl in her voice before taking a deep breath, “I'm too tired for this, I'm going to sleep for a few hours more, then I'll take you to the nearest guardstation ('or pound') and let them sort this out, either way you'll be out of my mane.”
One of Sweet Tooth's antennas twitched a bit and the flutterpony tilted her head slightly, “...is the sparkly stuff a mane?” she asked, “'cus your the one who put me in it.”
Shimmering's eye twitched again before putting the flutterpony down on the table again, “Just... just stay here until I get you,” Shimmering said as she made her way out of the kitchen before spinning around and pointing a hoof at Sweet Tooth, “and don't touch anything!” she warned her before walking out into the hallway.
'Yelling at a pony smaller than me, I wish could say that was a first,' Shimmering thought as she made her way towards the stairs, only to find a note stuck to her hallway mirror, 'what the-?' she grabbed it and looked it over.
Equine being Shimmering Sparks, you have broken the following rule; 1: you are to provide the being with its needs. You have denied the being sustenance, therefore. you are to be punished; the object known as a 'mirror' shall be broken.
Do not break Our rules.
Signed- The Watchers.
“B-Biggy, I-” Shimmering heard Sweet Tooth say before there was a ear-splitting crack, causing Shimmering to jump back in fright, looking at her mirror she saw it was covered in hundreds of small cracks, even the frame had cracks in it and next to it fluttered Sweet Tooth, who looked between her and the broken mirror, fear eminent in her eyes.
“I-I didn't touch it, honest.”
“OK, that tears it!” Shimmering screamed, stomping into her living room, 'I'm getting that thing out of my house this instance, now where is that box?!'
“B-Biggy, are you angry?” Sweet Tooth asked, fluttering after the fuming unicorn.
“Quiet,” Shimmering said, spotting the box on her coffee table, quickly picking it up with her magic, “now get in th-” 'wait, was this box really this heavy?' Shimmering stopped herself before opening the box and looking in it, her eyes went big.
Almost half of it was filled with bits, gold bits.
“...wha?” Shimmering half-said as she brought the box back to the table, tilting its contents out over it.
'T-thats a lot of bits,' Shimmering thought, dropping the box, her eye twitching rapidly.
“...Those cold-hard-not-eat-y thingies are shiny.” Sweet Tooth said, fluttering over the table.
*Thud*
“Biggy?”
Shimmering had fainted.