As much as I love spending time with my paramour, I must admit that I am glad to be taking a break from all of that. There is a certain comfort in the simplicity of one's home. Plus it will give me more of an opportunity to get to know my new sister. From our limited interactions I can tell she's an odd sort, but Mother and Father do love her, I can tell that much.
However, that doesn't mean that I particularly care for getting stuck with foalsitting duties.
"Now, we're just going to be gone for a few hours. I've made you some sandwiches and put them in the fridge, so you shouldn't get hungry. If you need anything and can't find us in town, go find Twilight or one of her friends. We've asked Twilight to pop on by in an hour or so to check on you."
"Yeah, yeah, Dad, it's fine," Comet says, a confident grin on her face. "You and Mom go have a fun date. Me and Oswald are gonna be fine, aren't we Oswald?"
She turns her confident grin to me as if expecting that I'll give some sort of confirmation to her statements. Well she won't get any. If I could throw her to Canterlot, I still wouldn't trust her as far as I could throw her.
"We're giving you a lot of responsibility, Comet," Mother says. "We're trusting you here."
"And I'm not gonna abuse that," Comet replies, nuzzling Mother's side. Ooh, she's trying to butter her up. I sense some ill intent from her. I'll give her a chance, though. Perhaps I'm merely reading into things.
"Well good," Father says. "If you get hungry after dinner, there are a few apples in the fridge, too. Help yourself."
"I will, Dad." Comet's smile is a little too wide for my tastes. She's up to something.
"But don't touch the chicken."
Comet gasps and raises a hoof. "I wouldn't! Princess Luna hasn't talked to you yet about how bat ponies react to chicken."
"Sounds good." Father kneels down and hugs Comet. "You be good, and we'll be back in a little bit."
"Just go, lovebirds," Comet says, poking Father in the chest. "I'll still be here safe and sound when you get back. It's Ponyville! Nothing bad happens in Ponyville."
Content that Comet will behave herself, Mother and Father say their goodbyes to me. I assure them that I will successfully "hold the fort" as it were. They leave a few moments after, leaving me and this bat winged foal to our own devices.
"Welp..." Comet yawns and scratches her chest. "I think they'll have fun. Time for dinner, wouldn't you say?"
"I suppose so, though I have already eaten."
Comet hops on over to the refrigerator and opens it up. As promised, two sandwiches rest on a plate inside. Comet carefully takes them out, along with an apple, and brings them over to the dinner table. She forgets to shut the fridge door afterwards. A rookie mistake when dealing with them, I've noticed. With some effort, I close it in her stead.
Comet eats silently, occasionally glancing at me while I sit on the back of a chair, observing her. She finishes one sandwich and takes the apple. She bites into it with her fangs and, to my surprise, sucks the whole thing dry with one gulp. She tosses the dry core next to her plate and shoots me that grin again.
"Most ponies think that's why we have fangs: to suck fruit dry. I dunno. I think they were used for hunting before."
"Yes... quite," I reply, studying the apple. I've never seen such a thing.
After a few more minutes, Comet finishes up her remaining sandwich and pushes her plate to the side. She stretches and cracks her neck with another yawn.
"Well gee, Oswald. That was a feast, wasn't it? Gotta say, I'm still a little hungry. I'm a growing filly, after all. I need nutrients."
I don't like where this is going.
Comet hops off her chair and makes her way back to the fridge. "Maybe a little bite of chicken wouldn't hurt. It's not like Mom and Dad are gonna notice if I just take a little piece."
Oh no you don't!
I take wing and intercept her before she reaches the fridge, igniting my wings and hissing at her. That should scare her away. Or so I thought. Instead, she spreads her own wings and hisses right back at me. If she thought she could intimidate me like that, she is sorely mistaken. I'm reasonably sure that she can't even light her wings on fire!
"Come on, Oswald, don't be a spoilsport! It's just one little bite of chicken. Lighten up!" She smirks at her poor joke.
"Never!" I reply. "Mother and Father gave their orders, and since I'm in charge, you will follow them to the letter! No chicken for you!"
Comet scoffs and rolls her eyes in a way that only a young one can. "I can't understand you, Oswald."
"That's because you are a numskull!" I narrow my eyes at her. "You'd best return to your room and think about obeying our parents."
Comet takes a step forward, but I give her another mighty hiss. She glares, but doesn't make any more attempts to go past me. She rolls her eyes and groans. "You never let me have any fun."
"If your idea of fun is to purloin uncooked farm animals, then I worry about you!"
Comet flicks one of her ears in irritation then, to my surprise, she moves to a spacious spot in the kitchen and looks back at her tail. It flicks aimlessly as Comet crouches down in a pouncing position. Before I can comment on the absurdity of her actions, Comet pounces, reaching out to her tail as if it's some insect she wants for dinner. As expected, the movement of her lower half means that Comet's tail moves out of reach. Undeterred, Comet pounces again, snapping at her tail.
I must admit, watching my sister chase her tail is an oddly adorable experience.
Unfortunately, her motives are not entirely pure. She leaps after her tail and misses it, as expected, but I miss the true nature of her jump. She spreads her wings, stopping herself in midair, before twisting and jumping in the direction of the fridge. I barely react in time to block her. We exchange a few more hisses, but I do not budge.
Comet groans once more, but turns around and leaves the kitchen. At least she had the sense to not duel me for the right to the fridge. She'd have to prematurely trigger my rebirth cycle for that, and I'm certain she'd be rather surprised at my ability to regenerate in front of her. Thankfully she sees the folly in such actions and chooses to return to her room.
Or not.
Within a few moments, she comes down with her copy of Father's book in her mouth. She sets it down on the floor just outside the kitchen and lays down in front of it. She opens it up to a presumably random page and begins reading.
"Whoa! So cool!" She puts a hoof up to her forehead. "Unbelievable!" She turns to me with a large grin and points down at the book. "Hey Oswald, did you know that Dad fought a minotaur and won? Then he went and fought griffins!"
"I do know that, you dunderhead, I was there for all of it! I saved Father's life several times!" I perch on the back of a chair in the kitchen and smile smugly at her. "How many times have you saved Father's life?"
"I think it's awesome." Comet picks the book back up and sits down at the kitchen table. She points to some random passage. "I mean, those silly turkeys tried to kill my dad, but he sure beat them!"
I suppose she thinks that she's being terribly clever by scooting her chair towards the fridge an inch at a time. Well, she's not. I take wing once more and put myself between her and the fridge. She growls and snaps the book shut before getting to her hooves.
"Come on, Oswald, you're being ridiculous!" She flares out her wings. "You can't stop me forever!"
"I don't need to stop you forever. Just for a few hours," I respond coolly. "By that point Mother and Father will be home and we'll put this ridiculous business behind us."
She resumes glaring at me for a few moments, but eventually she sighs, closing her eyes and bowing her head. "Okay, Oswald. You win. I don't want Dad's chicken anymore. I think I'll just have another apple."
"Ooh that is absolute poppycock, you deceitful rapscallion! You will not beguile me with your blatant attempts at delinquency, Little Miss Scofflaw! You shall not pillage this cooling device for any ill gotten gains!
Comet growls at me and bares her teeth, making sure to show off her fangs. "Just one bite of chicken, Oswald. That's all I'm asking for! We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way!"
"I was just about to say the same thing to you!"
* * * *
I will give her some credit: she's a slippery little thug. She took to the air immediately, or at least, as much as one can inside, and dove towards the fridge. The poor fool forgot that I, too, possess wings, so I blocked her. She actually had the gall to tackle me! It didn't hurt, but I found it annoying. It stunned me enough that she found herself in a position to throw open the fridge and take out the entire packet of chicken! I recovered my senses in time to see her tear it open with her fangs and take a big bite out of one of the pieces!
A pox upon her! I admit that half of my anger came from my damaged pride, but Mother and Father would hear of this!
I couldn't really do anything at that point, much to my dismay. She shot me that smug smile once more and returned the chicken to its rightful place, commenting that she found it to be "okay." She promptly returned to her room.
I must admit that I felt like a failure. I had a single job: make sure Comet didn't get up to any mischief. She is a slippery foe, and I resolved to not be fooled by her ever again!
Twilight checked on Comet soon after, not knowing of her trickery. She seemed to think Comet was some sort of little angel. It sickened me, but Comet ensured that I wouldn't be able to speak with Twilight on the matter of Comet's thievery by speaking with her the entire time she was there. Though now that I reflect on the matter, I don't suppose that Twilight had the power to punish Comet, even if I had successfully communicated the truth of Comet's foul deeds.
To make matters worse, Mother and Father didn't listen to me when I tried to explain the situation upon their return. Perhaps they were merely tired from the events of the day and would have preferred to deal with Comet's disobedience the next morning. Now that I reflect on the matter though, the sounds of their rambunctious lovemaking implied that the day hadn't worn them out as much as I originally suspected.
Fortunately for me, fate seemed to have other plans. One that would restore the balance of justice. Granted, it began its plans the next day.
* * * *
"Hgurklguh!"
"That's it, Comet. You're okay," Mother soothes.
"Hugrrrguh!"
Sweet justice, and I'm not even taking into account the additional punishment that Mother and Father will soon bestow upon her.
"You seemed fine last night," Father says as he rubs his daughter's back. He frowns and taps his chin. "Maybe it's something you ate?"
"It most certainly is!" This will be delightful. I fly over to father and nudge his shoulder. He smiles at me and scratches my head feathers.
"Don't you worry, buddy. Comet's gonna be fine. I think it's just some kind of stomach bug."
"Yeah, I think so t-- hgurbrlguh!" Comet groans and leans her head on the toilet seat.
I poke Father's shoulder again before flying out of the room. When Father doesn't follow, I repeat the process.
"What's up with him?" Mother asks, frowning at me.
"Dunno," Father says with a shrug. Comet manages to stop vomiting long enough to glare at me.
"Don't you dare," she growls.
"Don't he dare what?" Mother asks.
"Nothing! Nothing at all!" Comet gives Mother an unconvincing smile. "I didn't say that."
Aha! What poetry! She provided the means for her own downfall!
"I think I'd better go see what Oswald wants," Father says, standing up. "I'll just be a minute."
"I'm sure it's nothing, Dad!" Comet groans. "He's just dumb bird!"
Say what you will about me. The hour of your doom is upon you. I can handle any insults you sling at me. Nothing you say will change your fate, dear Comet.
I lead Father to the kitchen and nudge the refrigerator door. "So it was something she ate?" Father asks. "I don't know what that would have been."
"You will soon, Father!" I did try to keep the glee out of my voice, but at times my will is weak.
Father opens the fridge and scans it for a few moments. He doesn't seem to understand what I'm getting at, so I fly down and nudge the meat cooler. He opens it up and takes out the packet of chicken I direct him toward. Even though the bag is closed, it's easy to see one of the pieces has a chunk torn out of it. It does not take much brainpower to deduce the culprit! Father grimaces and sighs.
"I see."
"Tattleta--brrghlugh!" Comet roars/vomits from the bathroom, but it is too late.
"Comet, we need to have a talk," Father says as he puts the chicken back in the fridge. “Partially about how you have to cook meat before you eat it."
Busted.