Rise of the Element Gang, Book 2: Friendship Adventures

by Power of Six

Chapter 9: Stare Master

Had you ever thought what it was like to be a foalsitter? Well, it’s definitely hard, but I don’t think anypony could’ve got it harder than I did when I first tried it. Nopony could say that the first night led to protecting three young fillies with your soon-to-be girlfriend from a monster in the Everfree Forest. I bet you’re wondering how me and Fluttershy got into this mess. Well, I’ll tell ya. It goes back to this morning…

---

That day, me and Flutters were walking over to Rarity’s to drop off her cat, Opal. The reason for this is because she asked Fluttershy to give her a grooming session. Of course, I tried to help, but…well, it isn’t easy when you’re grooming an animal who practically hates you. I swear that cat scratched me like eight times when I even tried to get a brush near her fur. Of course, that was only when Flutters left the room to help the rest of the animals living with us. For some reason, Opal actually behaved around Fluttershy. Never did I thought I had ever seen that furball actually be nice to someone. Though I was glad we were gonna get her back to her proper owner. I don’t think I can take another scratch from her. I was also glad that Rarity gave us that basket to carry her in. Better than to have sinking her claws into my side the whole walk there. There was even a cover for it. Rarity said it was “to preserve Opal’s beautiful fur” after the grooming and make sure it stayed that way until we got her back to the boutique.

“Woof! That was the toughest grooming I ever did in my life.” I said as I held the basket Opal was in. “At least we can now give Opal back to Rarity.”

“Oh, it wasn’t that bad.” Fluttershy said to me.

“Um…no offense, Flutters, but you weren’t the one this cat was swinging her claws at.” I said to her, trying not to sound mean.

“But you still managed to do a good job.” Fluttershy said as we finally got to the Carosel Boutique. “I really appreciate you for helping me with Opal.”

“Oh, it was no problem, Flutters.” I said, smiling from the thanks.

From seeing the “open” sign, me and Flutters just went right on in, ringing the bell on the door. When we heard her voice upstairs, we went to the next floor and found her in her room. No doubt she was working on a new design again.

“Rarity!” I said as I opened the door, putting the basket gentle on the floor.

“Ohhh! What now?!” Rarity said, sounding a little angry.

“Oh, sorry.” Fluttershy said after she entered the room, taken back by Rarity. “We thought the ‘open’ sign meant you were open, but we must have been mistaken.”

“Fluttershy,” I gently said to her as I stopped her from leaving, “I think Rarity is just blowing off some steam. It has nothing to do with us being here… at least, I don’t think so.”

We looked to Rarity as she gasped when she saw it was us.

“Fluttershy! Leon! Forgive me.” She said to us, actually looking sorry for what she said as she came over. “I was so wrapped up in my work that I had forgot you two were bringing Opalescence back from her grooming.”

“No worries, Rare. We get it.” I said before pointing to the basket, where Opal poked her head from under the basket. “It wasn’t easy, but we managed to get her nice and tidy. We left her there in the basket just like you said.”

Just after I said that, Opal hopped right out of the basket and sat in front of Fluttershy, sitting much like how Rarity would sit. Now to give you a clear view of Opal, she was this white cat wearing a purple jewel-encrusted collar and a purple bow. With her eyes closed, you can see the purple eye shadow she wears. (Don’t ask about that. It is a very long story that I can’t even tell, especially with how Rarity said it.) Boy, did Rarity love that cat. Opal was almost like her best friend. Though I would have to say Rarity spoiled Opal as she acts like a brat at times.

“Oh, she looks great!” Rarity said, impressed by how well-groomed her cat was.

“Well, I did have some help from Leon.” Fluttershy said.

“And I say he did an excellent job.” Rarity said.

“Well, it wasn’t easy, but I managed.” I said to her, feeling quite proud of myself.

“I just don't understand how you’re able to do it, Fluttershy.” Rarity said. “I can’t get near her without getting a swipe from her claws.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think anypony could with how she is.” I said as I lowered my head to look at Opal, who was rubbing her head against Fluttershy’s foreleg. “I’m just glad Fluttershy made sure she didn’t jump on my face and claw me like last time.” From hearing the cat hiss, I quickly dodge a swipe from her claws. “Ahhh!” I just glared at Opal as she continued to rub against Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy, did you use…” Rarity said to my fellow animal-lover, looking a bit scared, “the stare on her?”

“Oh, no! I wouldn’t! I couldn’t!” Fluttershy said, looking just as worried as Rarity was.

“What? What stare?” I asked, not really seeing what was going on here. “What are you girls talking about?”

“You haven’t told him?” Rarity said with surprise, causing Fluttershy to hide behind her mane in shame.

“Tell me what?” I asked. Was there something that Fluttershy hasn’t told me about?

“You see, Leon,” Rarity said to me as I looked at her, “Fluttershy haves this sort of…ability that she uses to control her animals.”

“What kind of ability?” I asked, curious what she meant.

“Oh, I’m not sure how to describe it, but it is something that one should be worried about.” Rarity said, really sounding scared.

“Flutters, you can actually do something like that?” I asked, surprised that Fluttershy was even able to do something like that.

“Yes—I mean, no! I mean…” She said to me, sounding pretty nervous. “I-I don't really have any control over when that happens. I-It just happens.” She then looked to Rarity with a smile. “And no, I didn’t use it on Opal. I’m just good with animals. It's my special gift, you know?”

“Yeah, but it’s amazing you can do so well with Opal.” I said to her. “That’s my gift too and I can’t touch her without her hissing and clawing at me.”

“Well, you should have a picture of Opal as a cutie mark instead of those butterflies.” Rarity said, forgetting about what she just said.

“I think the butterflies suit her better than a cat.” I said, actually making Flutters blush.

“Ooh, ooh, oh, oh, oh, oh!” somepony said as we looked to see Rarity’s little sister Sweetie Belle as she came over to me and Flutters, looking to her big sister. “Maybe I can be good with animals, too!”

Just when she said that, Opal took a swipe at her and cut off some of Sweetie Belle’s mane. With that, I watched as Sweetie Belle’s smile turned to a frown while that cat gave her a smile.

“Or not.” Sweetie Belle said as she got as far away from Opal as possible.

“Yeah, probably not.” I said as me and the girls had a little laugh, Opal walking away. Seeing Sweetie Belle there, I then talked to Rarity about the filly. “I see Sweetie Belle’s been keeping you busy.”

“You don’t know the half of it. I’m sorry I can’t invite you and Fluttershy to stay and chat, Leon.” Rarity said to us. “I’ve bitten off a bit more than I can chew with this order.”

“But you’re not eating anything.” Sweetie Belle said to her, making me laugh a little bit.

“No, Sweetie, it’s an expression. It means that I’ve taken on more work than I can handle.” Rarity said as she walked over to her little sister. “I’ve got twenty of these special robes to make tonight! They’re due in Trottingham tomorrow morning!”

“What’s so special about a few robes?” I asked her.

“This is what’s so special about them.” She said as she pulled out this yellow fabric that looked like it was made of gold. Needless to say, both me and Flutters were impressed by it. “See? I’ve lined them in a special gold silk. It took so long to make, but I think it adds just the right touch, don’t you?”

“Yeah, that stuff actually looks like it’s made of gold!” I said as me and Flutters walked over to her.

“These are lovely, but twenty by tonight?” Fluttershy said. “How will you get it all done?”

“Well, I…” Rarity said before Sweetie got in front of her.

“Oh, oh, oh! Maybe I could…” Sweetie said as her sister glared at her. “Just… just stand over here and watch.”

“Oh, come on, Rare. Let the kid help.” I said to her, knowing that she would need some help. “She’s your sister. She might be good at it. Plus you’re not really good when you work alone like this. I mean, it’s not like Opal is gonna be able to help.”

“I appreciate your concern, Leon,” Rarity said, trying to sound confident in herself, “but I believe I’ll manage.”

“If that’s how you want it, then I guess we’ll leave you to work.” I said as I walked to the door, where Flutters was waiting for me. “Come on, Fluttershy. Let’s get out of Rarity’s mane. Whoa!” Just when I was about to leave, somethings ran past me and made me do a turnaround.

I was able to hear a few fillies’ voice saying hi to me, Flutters, and Rarity as whatever ran past me went over to Sweetie Belle.

“Hello, uh…girls.” Rarity said as I finally got myself steady and looked to see it was Sweetie Belle’s friends, Applejack’s little sister AppleBloom and the little pegasus Scootaloo.

“Hi, Sweetie Belle!” The girls said to Sweetie Belle, who was sitting on the floor and looking quite sad.

“Scootaloo! AppleBloom!” Sweetie Belle said as she regained her usual smile and stood up.

“You ready for tonight?” Scootaloo asked her.

“Yep! Cutie mark planning session is a go!” Sweetie Belle said to her pegasus friend.

“Tonight is the night we each try to find our own special talent.” AppleBloom said before Scootaloo spoke up.

“Even if it takes us all night!”

“I’m ready! You ready?” AppleBloom said.

“Very ready!” Scootaloo said.

“Cutie Mark Crusader sleepover at Rarity’s! Yay!” The girls shout, being so loud that I wished I had brought my earmuffs. I could see that Rarity and Fluttershy wished they had some earmuffs for this too.

“And…look what I made us.” Sweetie Belle said as we looked as saw her wearing a hoofmade cape with some blue patch with a yellow shape of a filly on it, something that impressed her friends.

“What does that patch on your cape mean?” Fluttershy asked as we walked over to the girls.

“The Cutie Mark Crusaders! Yay!” The three of them yelled out.

“We’re on a crusade, a mission!” Scootaloo said to us.

“To find our cutie marks!” AppleBloom said, finishing her friend.

“Yep.” Sweetie Belle said before she lifted her cape a bit to show the other side of it. “And look, I lined them with this special gold silk. It took sooo long to make, but I think it adds just the right touch, don’t you?”

Though her friends were impressed by it, both me and Flutters were shocked to see the gold silk there. We both had a good idea where she got that material from. With seeing Rarity’s eye twitch, me and Flutters backed away as we knew this wasn’t gonna end well.

Rarity found the gold silk she was planning to use for the robes on her work table and we all saw some pieces missing from it.

“Sweetie Belle! What have you done?” Rarity said, making her little sister give a guilty smile. “That was the last of the gold silk! Oh, now I’ll have to make more! Oh, I hope I can make more. I’m gonna have to work all night! Which means…” Right there, with a sorry look on her face, she spoke to the three fillies. “Sorry, girls, I'm afraid the Crusaders sleepover is cancelled.”

“What?!” Sweetie Belle said with shock.

“I just won't have any time to watch you if I want to get these robes delivered on time.”

“But…” Rarity stopped her little sis before she could argue.

“No buts this time. I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle. It’s just the way it has to be.”

“Awwww!” the three groaned in disappointment.

“Girls, why don’t you have your sleepover somewhere else?” I said to them, trying to cheer them up by showing them they had other options. “You know, like the Apple Farm or at Scootaloo’s house?”

“We would, but…” Sweetie Belle started before her friends told the rest.

“My family can’t watch us neither.” AppleBloom told me as I then remembered that Dog and the rest of the Apples would be busy with either harvest, chores, or whatever else they were doing there.

“And my house isn’t really a good place to have a sleepover.” Scootaloo said as the three of them continued to sulk.

I felt really sorry for them. Being a guy who’s had bad news like this coming his way, I know the feeling of not getting what you wanted.

“Hmm…” I then came up with the perfect idea. “I got it! Rarity, why not ask somepony else to watch these little Crusaders? That way, you can be able to finish your order and these girls can have their sleepover.”

“That’s a great idea!” Sweetie Belle said to me as she and her little friends brightened up. “If we can’t have the sleepover here…”

“We’ll just have it somewhere else!” AppleBloom spoke out, finishing what Rarity’s sister was gonna say.

“Awesome!” Scootaloo exclaimed before Rarity spoke out.

“Leon, darling,” Rarity said before getting to questioning the idea, “while I do see this idea as beneficial, where am I supposed to find somepony to take these three for a single night?”

I was gonna point out the obvious pony for the job before Flutters spoke out for me.

“Well…” Fluttershy said as she walked over. “I, uh… I suppose Leon and I could take them for the night.”

“What?” I couldn’t believe what she just said.

“Oh, I couldn’t ask you two to do that.” Rarity said and I was gonna try to say something…

“Oh, it’s no problem at all.” Fluttershy said, not letting me say a word.

She and Rarity started a little argument with Rarity trying to avoid burdening us with watching the Crusaders and Flutters pushing on with saying we could do it.

“Have you met my sister and her friends? A problem is all it would be.”

“Did we have a problem with Opal? You’ve seen how well we handle small creatures.”

“Yeah, but I had a problem with that cat.” I said, making sure Flutters didn’t hear me.

“I suppose that’s true.” Looking at Rarity, I saw she was starting to give in. “And I do have a lot of work to do.”

“Come on, it'll be fun.” Flutters gave Rarity a smile saying to trust her.

“I assure you, they’re quite a handful.”

“These sweet little angels?” With that, I then watch those fillies but on the “little angel” act to get Rarity to agree.

“Well…” I tried to give Rarity signals to turn down Fluttershy’s offer, but she smiled and said “All right.”

“Cutie Mark Crusader sleepover at Fluttershy’s cottage! Yay!” The fillies yelled out.

“Hold it right there!” I said as I stopped those fillies from running off, giving them the stern look. “There will be no sleepover at the cottage!”

“What?! Why?” Sweetie Belle asked me.

“Because there are dozens of animals living with us.” I told her, remembering that one time me and the guys helped Dusk with foalsitting. “The last time I tried to watch a foal while I had that kind of living situation, I ended up getting bandages all over me! One filly is trouble enough, but three mixed with so many animals being cared for is a disaster!” After seeing that I was being too harsh, I then took a deep breath and calmed down before I started talking again. “Look, what I’m trying to say is that, with all the animals me and Fluttershy take care, we’re too spread out to watch you, especially tonight.”

“Then where are we going to have our sleepover?” Scootaloo asked me.

“Well, before Flutters decided to just volunteer us,” I said, the pegasus I was living with looking away from me with shame. “I was gonna tell Rarity that she already knew somepony who can watch you girls.”

“Really?” Rarity asked me. “And who pray tell is that?”

“Who else do you think I’m talking about?” I said before getting to the point. “Dusk!”

“Dusk?” Rarity was a little surprised by this. “You’re saying that my cousin is who I should have watch Sweetie Belle and her friends?”

“Yeah, Dusk loves kids.” I told her, showing how Dusk was perfect for this. “Dusk has always been the pony who always gets along with foals. I’ve seen him do it. Guy’s like the perfect foalsitter. I’m sure he can watch these three while you get to work.”

“Well…” Rarity said as she looked like she was doubting it.

“Rarity, trust me.” I said to her with reassurance. “If anypony can do the job, it’s Dusk.”

“Oh… alright.” Rarity said, accepting the idea.

“Great! Come along, little Crusaders.” I said before I got to walking out of the boutique with Fluttershy walking beside me, hoping for the fillies to follow. “Let’s get you three over to Dusk’s house.”

“Cutie Mark Crusader sleepover at Dusk’s house! Yay!” the three yelled before they ran right past me and Flutters.

“So cute.” The pegasus said before I shook off the dizziness.

“Girls, wait for us!” I said before me and Flutters tried to catch up to them.

“Leon, are you sure it’s okay to leave them with Dusk?” Fluttershy asked me as we went after the running fillies. “It’s not that I don’t think Dusk can take care of them. He is really nice. It’s just…”

“Flutters, relax.” I told her, knowing there was nothing to worry about. “Dusk will be fine. Foalsitting is a breeze to him. Like I said before, he likes kids. Plus, Sweetie Belle is his cousin, so he’ll gladly watch the girls tonight.”

Though that is what I believe what was gonna happen, but when we got to Dusk and told him about all of this…

---

“What do you mean you can’t watch them?” I asked after Dusk told me and Flutters that he couldn’t foalsit the Crusaders that night.

“I mean I can’t.” Dusk said as he packed his saddlebag. “I’m going with Twilight to visit Zecora tonight.”

“Zecora?” I asked as I didn’t who he was talking about.

“Zecora. She’s a zebra that lives around the area.” Dusk answered.

“A zebra?”

“Yeah, I met her yesterday.” With that, he was all done packing before he walked over to me and Fluttershy. “I’m surprised Fluttershy didn’t tell you about her, especially with that incident with the Poison Joke.”

“Poison Joke?”

“Oh, I remember that!” AppleBloom said as she explained what Dusk was saying. “My sis, Fluttershy, and the rest of their friends accidently went into a patch of Poison Joke.”

“Seriously? How did they get into a patch of those flowers?” I asked her.

“They did while they were trying to get me away from Zecora.” She told me, looking down as if she was guilty or something.

“You see, Leon,” Dusk said to me as he walked up to us, his saddlebag all packed, “a while back, everypony in town used to think Zecora was this evil sorceress.”

“Why did they think that?” I asked him.

“Because they didn’t really know much about her. They mistook what was part of her native culture as voodoo. In truth, she was just a healer, who helped them get cured from the Poison Joke.”

“Oh. So what did the Poison Joke did to the girls?”

“Oh, lots of stuff!” AppleBloom said as she told me what happened. “It made Twilight’s horn all wobbly, Pinkie’s tongue all huge, covered Rarity in hair, Rainbow Dash crash into everythin’, my sis tiny. It even made Fluttershy sound like a stallion!”

With that last part, Fluttershy hid behind her mane, no doubt embarrassed about the whole “sounding like a stallion” thing. Hearing all that, me and Dusk just couldn’t help but have a laugh at it. We tried to hold it in, but we ended up laughing with it.

“I-I’m sorry, Flutters!” I said as I couldn’t stop laughing. “We’re not laughing at you or any of that!”

“Yeah! Ha-ha!” Dusk said, not being able to stop laughing either. “It’s just… ha… what happened to you… and Twilight… That happened to us!”

“Really?” She said, coming out of her mane and looking at us with surprise.

“Yeah! A few years back, us, Dog, and Shield accidently went through some Poison Joke!” I said to her. “We were all a mess because of it!”

“Yeah!” Dusk said, telling her all about it. “I ended up with a numb horn, Dog got shrunk to the size of a mouse, Shield was bumping and crashing into everything, and Leon got the voice of a mare!”

It wasn’t long until Fluttershy joined us and started laughing herself. It lasted for about 3 minutes until we all had our fill of laughs.

“Yeah.” I said as we all stopped laughing. “So I get the whole voice thing.”

“I suppose so.” Flutters said. “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it.” Dusk told her. “At least we now have ponies to laugh about it with.”

“Yeah. Now what were we talking about again?” I said as I forgot what we were talking about.

“You were asking Dusk to let us have our sleepover at his house.” Sweetie Belle remind me.

“Oh, yeah.” I said before I looked back at Dusk. “Dusk, you have to do it. You’re the only pony I know who knows how to foalsit and I already told Rarity you would look after them.”

“Leon, I can’t.” Dusk said to me, putting his saddlebag on. “I told you, I got plans.”

“Oh, that’s a load of crud!” I said with that cuss, shocking him. “Excuse my Prench, but all I see is you making an excuse to go on a date with Twilight!”

“It’s not a date! We’re just going over to Zecora’s to have some tea.” He walked out of his house with a glare, making me, Flutters, and the three fillies to back away. He then lost that glare with a sign before he talked again. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I would love to do some foalsitting, especially if it means I can enjoy some company from Sweetie Belle. But I just can’t do it tonight. I already promised Twilight I would go with her to see Zecora. Foalsitting these three means I have to leave them alone until I get back and you know I can’t do that.”

“Then why not take them with you? You’re just going for tea, right?”

“I can’t because Zecora lives deep in the Everfree Forest, which isn’t a place for fillies to go to and get lost.”

“Oh.” I said, getting depressed by what this meant.

“Okay, how about this?” Dusk said to me. “You and Fluttershy watch Sweetie Belle, AppleBloom, and Scootaloo while I’m out. Once I’m done visiting Zecora, I’ll come by the cottage and take them back to my house. Sound good?”

“Yeah, I guess.” I said to him, seeing as there was no way to change this.

“Good. Now, if you excuse me,” He said he closed the door and locked it. “I’m going to over to the library to meet up with Twilight. I’ll pick up the girls as soon as I can. Just watch them until then.”

“Fine.” I said, not really liking this whole deal.

“Well, I think it’s wonderful you and Twilight are going to see Zecora.” Fluttershy said to Dusk. “Just be careful in the Everfree Forest, okay?”

“Don’t worry, we will. See you both tonight.” Dusk said before he walked to towards library, going past Sweetie Belle and her friends. “See you later, girls. Have a good time with Fluttershy and Leon!”

“Bye, Dusk! Have fun on your visit!” Sweetie Belle said as she and her friends waved goodbye to the stallion.

As they did, I just sighed and hanged my head down with knowing what I was gonna deal with.

“What’s wrong, Leon?” Fluttershy asked me. “Why are you so sad?”

“Oh, it’s just…” I said before looking directly at her, admitting the truth about me. “I don’t think I can be able to do this.”

“Why not? You’ve done so well in helping me taking care of my little friends.”

“Yeah, but that’s because it’s my talent. I can be able to take care of any animal, but I have no idea how to be a foalsitter. I was barely able to foalsit one foal. To be foalsitting 3 fillies…”

“Don’t think that, Leon. I’m sure you’ll do great.”

“Thanks, Flutters. But I’m more worried about you. I mean, taking caring of three fillies? You sure you’re going to be able to handle it?”

“What? These sweet little angels?” When she said that, we looked and saw those “little angels” smiling at us. “They’ll be no problem at all.”

“Okay, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I said as we looked back at each other.

“Oh, won’t this be ever so fun?” She said as she flew off the ground. “We can have a nice little tea party, and braid each other’s tails, and sit quietly and color, and tell each other fairy tales, and…”

“Yeah, Fluttershy, I’m afraid the girl stuff is gonna be without me. Let’s just get these girls back to cottage. We’ll figure things out from there.” I said before I turned to look at the girls. “Okay, girls, let’s…” When I looked, the Crusaders were gone. “Where’d they go?”

Hearing their giggling, I looked and saw they had ran off again.

“Girls, wait! Girls!” Fluttershy said as she flew after them.

“Ugh! Something tells me this is gonna be a long night.” I said to myself before I ran after those fillies. “Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo! AppleBloom! Slow down!”

---

That night, after managing to bring the Crusaders to the cottage, I closed the door so we could start having some fun with the girls for their sleepover. Though Fluttershy’s idea of sitting quietly with them went out the window as those fillies tossed their bags away and were all over the place. It had only been a few seconds and they already spooked the more sensitive critters in the cottage.

“Well, looks like sitting quietly is out.” I said as those fillies kept running around before I talked to Fluttershy. “You sure you’re not gonna have a problem with this?”

“No…problem at all” She said to me before talking to the girls, looking a little nervous. “Okay, girls, uh… what should we do?”

“I’m gonna get my mark first!” Scootaloo said, not hearing a word Flutters said.

“Uh, girls?” She said, trying to get their attention.

“Nuh-uh!” Sweetie Belle said, ignoring Fluttershy.

“Should we…”

“I am!” AppleBloom didn’t listen to Fluttershy either.

“Girls, okay, now settle…” Fluttershy tried to get them to listen, but those three kept ignoring her.

“I’m staying up all night!” Scootaloo said, jumping onto Angel’s bed and scaring the little rabbit away.

“Me, too!” Apple Bloom joined her pegasus friend.

“Me, three!” After Sweetie Belle joined them, Fluttershy gotten more nervous.

“I-I know you're excited, but…” Looking back, the girls were gone. “Girls!”

“AppleBloom, careful with the chair!” I said as I stopped Applejack’s sister from tilting it.

“Oh!” Flutters yelped as I looked and saw Sweetie Belle had somehow got her head stuck in one of the bird houses. “Ah, girls!”

Seeing how things were getting out of hoof, I decided to step in and get these girls to settle down.

“Girls! Get over here!” I said and all three of them came over and stood in front of me and Flutters. “Okay. Good. Now, Fluttershy, you were saying?”

“Thank you, Leon.” She said as she blew some of her mane out of her face before speaking to the girls. “So… what do you wanna do? Play a game?”

“We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” Scootaloo said to us.

“And we want to crusade for our cutie marks!” AppleBloom added.

“And-and… and we, um…” Sweetie Belle tried to come up with something to add before she just said “Yeah! What they said!”

“Mmm, I don’t know.” Fluttershy said to them, starting to sweat a little. “How about a nice quiet little tea party?”

“Or… we could go adventuring in the Everfree Forest!” Scootaloo suggested.

“Yeah!” Her friends said in agreement as they started running to the door.

“Oh, no!” I told them, getting in front of the door and stopping those fillies. “You heard what Dusk said, it’s too dangerous for you to go out there. Especially at night. It’s full of all kinds of weird creatures that come out when it gets dark!”

“But you could go with us and we could catch those creatures.” Sweetie Belle said. “We could be, um… creature catchers!”

“Yay! Cutie Mark Crusader creature catchers!” The three of them yelled.

“Girls, we don’t catch them. Animals come to me and Fluttershy because they want to. Also…”

“Arrrr! I am a dangerous creature from the Everfree Forest! Rrrarr!” Scootaloo said as I saw her and AppleBloom using a basket and a carpet to pretend to be a monster.

It took Sweetie Belle a second before she figured out what her friends were doing.

“Halt, dangerous creature of the Everfree Forest.” The filly said as she walked up to the “creature”. “I am Sweetie Belle, the creature catcher, and I’m here to catch you!”

“You can never catch me! I am far too powerful and dangerous!” Scootaloo said.

“You cannot run from me!” Sweetie Belle said before she running with her friends around the cottage.

“And they’re not listening. Great.” I said to myself.

“Um… Leon is right, it’s probably not such…” Fluttershy said, trying to get their attention again. “Now, girls, how about we do some nice coloring? Aah!”

After seeing Sweetie Belle jump on and off her like that, I helped Flutters back to her hooves before looking at the fillies running amok around the cottage.

“Come back, dangerous creature, so I can catch you!” Sweetie Belle said as her and her friends playing began to tip things over.

“Never!” Scootaloo said before I then stepped in again.

“Girls, be careful!” I said as I tried to stop them. “Watch it! Stop, you’re gonna…” It was already too late as they broke the table, “break something.”

“Sorry.” Sweetie Belle said as she and her friends gave us worried looks.

“Yeah, sorry.” Scootaloo apologized.

“I guess we aren’t creature catchers.” AppleBloom said as the three of them looked at the broken table.

“Oh, it’s okay, girls. We…” I said before AppleBloom interrupted me.

“I know! We could be Cutie Mark Crusader carpenters!”

“Carpenters?” I said before the girls ran off and grabbed some tools we had. “Girls, wait a second!”

But they didn’t listen and just grabbed hammers and got working on the table, making a ruckus out of it. Whatever they were doing to the table was so loud that me and Flutters had to cover our ears just to block it out. When it was over, what we saw wasn’t a table anymore. The girls turned it into… I don’t know what they made, but it looked like one of those weird sculptures Dusk told me about.

“Um… that doesn’t look like a table.” Sweetie Belle said as her and her friends looked at what was once a table.

“We were making a table?” Scootaloo asked.

“Somepony needs to put this thing out of its misery.” AppleBloom said and I had to agree.

“We are definitely not Cutie Mark Carpenters.” Scootaloo said as the three started walking away, Fluttershy grabbing the table and taking it away.

“Who wants a picture of a hammer on their flank anyway?” Sweetie Belle said as they hung their heads in depression.

“Girls, on the couch! Now!” I said and all three fillies sat on the couch. “Good. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, how about a game?”

“A game?” AppleBloom asked.

“Yeah and I think I know the right one.” I said to them. “It’s called ‘Shhh!’”

“Oh, good idea.” Fluttershy said to me, no doubt appreciative that I found a way to get some peace and quiet.

“What’s that?” Scootaloo asked.

“Well, it’s a game about who can be quiet the longest. Sound fun?” Fluttershy said as she explained, the fillies weren’t exactly thrilled. “I’m the world champ, you know. I bet you can’t beat me!” She then took a deep breath and we wait for the girls to join in.

But it wasn’t long until Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and AppleBloom said…

“I lose!”

“Me too!”

“Me three!”

With all of them running around, both me and Fluttershy sighed as we failed to get these girls to calm down.

“Okay, now what can we do?” Scootaloo asked as she jumped on Angel’s bed.

“Oooh! How about Cutie Mark Crusader coal miners?” AppleBloom suggested as she came out of the chimney, covered in soot.

“Yeah!” Her friends yelled.

Before they could even say anything else…

“No!” Fluttershy snapped, surprising me as I didn’t think she would actually snap.

“Awwww!” the Crusaders groaned in disappointment.

“I mean, it’s time for bed, don’t you think?” Flutters said as the girls got off the couch and walked off, returning to her normal self. “Aren’t you excited to get all toasty and warm in your snuggly-wuggly widdle beds?”

“Snuggly-wuggly?” AppleBloom said. “But we have more crusadin’ to do!”

“We've got plans!” Scootaloo added.

“And capes!” Sweetie Belle said, holding one of the capes she made.

“Girls, we know you want to go on your crusades, but right now is not a good time.” I told them. “It’s been a long day.”

“Leon is right.” Flutters said as we got the three upstairs. “Maybe the crusading can wait until morning? When it’s light? And not so… dark?”

“Okay, girls, off to bed.” I told the fillies. “Time to get some sleep.”

“How are we gonna find our special talent in our sleep?” AppleBloom asked as she and her friends got in bed.

“Maybe you’ll have a lovely little dream about your special talent.” Flutters said after she blew out the candle.

“But we’re not even tired!” Scootaloo said as I tucked them into bed.

“How about I sing you a lullaby?” Fluttershy suggested as she walked over, the Crusaders agreeing to it.

Fluttershy cleared her throat before she started singing in that beautiful voice of hers.

Hush now, quiet now.

It’s time to lay your sleepy head.

Hush now, quiet now.

It’s time to go to bed.

Just when the girls were about to go to bed, Sweetie Belle spoke up and said “I know this one!”

“Oh, how wonderful!” Fluttershy said and I smiled with her. “Why don’t you sing it with me?”

After she got ready to sing, what I thought was gonna be a lullaby was instead a song that kept her and her friends awake.

Hush now! Quiet now!

It’s time to lay your sleepy head!

Said hush now! Quiet now!

It’s time to go to beeeeed!

“Okay, Sweetie, that was…” Fluttershy tried to stop her, but the filly just kept on singing.

Drifting!

Off to sleep!

Exciting day behind you!

Drifting!

Off to sleep!

Let the joy of dream land find you!

“Okay, thanks, Sweetie. Now…” I said but I couldn’t stop Sweetie Belle.

Hush now! Quiet now!

Lay your sleepy head!

Said hush now! Quiet now!

It's time to go to beeeeed!

Ow!

“What is that?” Scootaloo asked as we heard the panicking clucks of chickens.

Looking out the window, I was shocked to find the chickens all running around.

“Fluttershy, we got a problem!” I said as I turned back over to Flutters as she looked at me. “Looks like Sweetie spooked the chickens. They all fled the coop and are running around!”

“Oh, dear. Girls…” Fluttershy said as we turned to the girls, only to find them gone. “Girls?”

Looking to the window, we had a thought that they went outside.

“Girls, what are you doing out there?” I said as we saw them out there with the chickens.

“Fluttershy, Leon, your chickens are on the loose!” AppleBloom said.

“I wonder what could have caused that.” Sweetie Belle said, not realizing she was the cause of it.

“Don't worry! The Cutie Mark Crusaders will handle this!” Scootaloo said to me and Fluttershy.

“Cutie Mark Crusader chicken herders! Yay!” Sweetie Belle said before the three of them ran off.

“No, I don’t think that’s a…” Fluttershy said before I then spoke out.

“Girls, get back here!” I yelled before we went over to stop the girls from making the situation worse with me teleporting over there and Flutters flying in. “Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo! AppleBloom! Stop! You’re making it worse!”

“Leon is right. The chickens are fine.” Fluttershy said before a chicken got on her head and she then yelled “Girls!”

That got the girls to stop and allowed me and Flutters to get all the chickens together, calmly and gently like it should’ve been done. I even did the call to tell the chickens to get together.

“That’s it. Everybody back to the coop.” I said as we got all the chickens in front of the coop.

“Come on, in you go.” Fluttershy said as she motioned them to head back in the coop, but those chickens just stood there.

I was gonna get them moving when they looked all spooked. Looking to see, I saw Fluttershy giving them this look that scared them back into the coop. It was like a serious glare, the kind Dusk would give when he’s angry. I actually felt a chill up my spine from seeing it. I had to bet that this was “The Stare” Rarity was talking about. Right there, I saw why Flutters got all worried when Rarity talked about it back there. That look in her eye was terrifying.

“There’s some good chickens.” Fluttershy said after all the chickens were in the coop, stopping The Stare and going back to normal. After that, I shook off the shock and walked with her over to the Crusaders. “Okay, you three. Isn’t it about time you got into bed?”

“But…?” They said before Fluttershy stopped them.

“Please?” She asked.

After they nodded, Fluttershy smiled at them before we then got them back inside and back into bed.

“Okay, no more crusading tonight, all right?” I told the girls.

“Yes, Leon!” Scootaloo said to me.

“We promise!” Sweetie Belle said to us.

“Good night, Fluttershy! Good night, Leon!” AppleBloom said to us.

“Great.” I said to them before speaking to Fluttershy. “Now we better get ourselves to bed, huh, Flutters?”

“Yeah. Good night, girls.” Fluttershy said before we walked out of the room with me closing the door.

“Oh, that was exhausting.” I said as we walked down the stairs. “I thought we never get them to bed.”

“I guess so.” She said before she yawned. “Okay, maybe a little.”

“Good thing is finally over.” I said before I plopped myself on the couch.

When I saw Fluttershy trying her best to get herself to her room, I then decided to have her sleep on the couch instead of trying to get herself up the stairs. I teleported myself to the floor before teleporting her to the couch.

“There. Now you can get some rest quicker.” I said as she looked at me with surprise. “Don’t worry, I can sleep down here. As long as you get some sleep, I’m fine.”

“Thank you, Leon.” She said with me with a smile.

“Geez! I knew foalsitting was hard, but not like this.” I said, seeing how hard it was to do this job. “How did Dusk do this?”

“It really wasn’t that hard.” Flutters said to me. “I mean, all we needed to do was just show them who’s in charge. Nothing’s gonna get past Fluttershy and Leon! Good with animals, good with kids.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” I said to her before I put my head down to go to sleep. “Good night, Flutters.”

“Good night, Leon.” Fluttershy said, getting to sleep too. “Mmm! Peace and quiet.”

“Yeah.” I said before I then realized it, getting my head off the floor. “Wait, it’s too quiet.”

Wondering why it got so quiet around the cottage, me and Fluttershy got up and went upstairs to find the girls gone, making Flutters gasp.

“They’re gone!” I said before I then teleported us outside, hoping they were still around the cottage.

“Girls? Girls?” Flutters called out.

“Scootaloo? Sweetie Belle? AppleBloom?” I said as we both looked for them. “Where did they go?”

“Girls?” Fluttershy said as she checked the chicken coop. “Elizabeak! She's missing! Girls?!”

“Fluttershy, over here!” I said to her as she then came over and saw the hole I found in the fence around the coop. “Elizabeak got through the fence! She must’ve ran off when Sweetie spooked her and the others!” I gasped when I saw a familiar cloth on a post of the wooden fence we had. Getting over to it, we both knew where it came from. “It’s some of the cape the girls had!”

“Oh, no!” Fluttershy gasped. “They must have gone looking for my missing chicken!”

“Judging by the tracks, it looks like they're now in…” I said as I gulped, worried of where the girls ran off to. “The Everfree Forest!” Flutters began shivering in fear for what might happen to the girls. “Oh, those girls have really done it this time! They’ve really bitten off more than they can chew!”

“Oh, just like me!” Fluttershy said to me with a look of worry. “You were right, Leon! I never should have offered to watch them!”

“It’s not your fault, Flutters.” I said to her, trying to comfort her. “Neither of us knew this was gonna happen. Let’s just find the girls before something else finds them.”

“Okay.” She said as she took a deep breath and we went off into the Everfree Forest to look for the girls.

---

After a while of searching, we still couldn’t find the girls and Fluttershy was getting really worried about them and was also pretty scared. I wouldn’t blame her. The Everfree Forest is filled with all kinds of dangerous beasts, ones that go out on the prowl at night. With this, I tried to comfort her so she would feel less afraid as we kept looking for the girls.

“Girls?” Fluttershy said with a gulp. “Girls?”

“Scootaloo! Sweetie Belle! AppleBloom!” I called out.

“Oh, Leon! How are we ever going to find them?”

“Calm down, Fluttershy. We’ll find them. We just need to keep our heads.”

“You’re right.” She then got herself moving again. “Just have to put one hoof in front of the other.” With the snap of a twig, she got spooked. “Ahh! What was that?”

“Fluttershy, take it easy.” I then showed her the twig she stepped on. “It’s just a twig.”

“Oh.” She looked at for a minute before she looked forward and pointed to something. “Leon, what is that?”

Looking over, I saw somepony out in the distance. For a second there, I thought it was the one of the Crusaders, but I saw this pony was too big to be them. Though who I saw there was actually somepony who could actually help.

“It’s Dusk! Come on!” I said as we ran over to Dusk who was just standing there. “Dusk, is that you?” When we got close enough, we saw it was Dusk. “Dusk! Boy, are we glad to see you! We need your help. The girls ran out here into the forest! Can you track them down?” Dusk didn’t answer me. “Dusk, didn’t you hear me? Sweetie Belle and her friends are out there alone! We need to find them quick!” he still didn’t say anything to me. Right there, I knew something was wrong. “Dusk? Are you okay?” Put a hoof on him, I felt a chill as his fur was all cold. “Whoa! Dusk, how long have you been out here? Your fur is so cold. Feels like I’m touch a… A… Ah-ah-ah! Aaaaaaaah!” I screamed when the moonlight and showed me why Dusk was so cold and why he didn’t say anything. Looking like he saw something scary, he was now a stone statue! “Dusk?!”

“Leon, look!” Fluttershy said as we looked past him and saw Dusk wasn’t alone.

“Oh, no! Twilight!” I said as I saw Twilight was a statue just like Dusk.

“Leon, what happened to them?” Fluttershy asked me.

“They’ve been turned to stone!” I said before I then figured out what could have done this. “I’ve seen this before. If what I think it is did this, then that means… Oh, no! The girls!” With that, I then decided to have us split up. “Fluttershy, you go this way! I’ll go that way! We need to find Sweetie Belle and the others before they’re turned to stone too!”

“Okay.” Fluttershy said before talking to our turned-to-stone friends. “Don’t move. We’ll be back for you.” Me and her then rushed into the forest, looking for the girls as fast as we could. “Girls!”

After getting deep enough into the forest, I then tried calling out for the girls.

“Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo! AppleBloom!” I yelled out, looking everywhere for them. “Where are you?”

“Leon?” I heard Sweetie Belle say and looked to find her and her friends.

“Girls!” I said as I ran over to them, relieved that they were okay. “Thank goodness I found you!”

“Leon, what…” AppleBloom started before I started getting them back to the cottage.

“Girls, we need to get back to the cottage!” I said, looking around to make sure that monster wasn’t around.

“But we haven’t found the chicken yet!” Sweetie Belle said to me.

“There’s no time to look for that! We need to get out of this forest!” I told them. “There’s a cockatrice on the loose!”

“A cocka-what now?” AppleBloom asked.

“A cockatrice!” I then told them what the beast was. “It’s a terrifying creature with the head of a chicken and the body of a snake! Now, come on!”

“The head of a chicken and the body of a snake?” Scootaloo said as her and the girls walked away in the wrong direction. “That doesn't sound scary, that sounds silly!”

“Why, if I ever saw one of them cockathingies face-to-face, I'd laugh at how silly it was.” AppleBloom said, shocking me.

“No! Never look at it in the eye!” I said as I teleported in front of them. “That’s the last thing you want to do! If you look a cockatrice directly in the eye…”

“The chicken!” AppleBloom said before those three ran off.

“Girls, wait! Stop!” I yelled as I ran after them.

Somehow I managed to lose them but found them again when I heard Sweetie Belle’s voice.

“There he is!” hearing her I ran over and I found them standing in front of some bushes, a chicken’s head popping out of one of them.

I was relieved to find them, but that relief turned to fear when I saw another chicken head pop out of the bushes and realized what that second chicken head belonged to.

“Two chickens?” Scootaloo said, surprised by the second chicken head.

“I thought only one escaped!” AppleBloom said, neither her or her friends realizing what that “second chicken” really was.

“Grab them both!” Sweetie Belle said as AppleBloom tried to grab one of the heads, luckily it being Elizabeak as she then ran off.

“AppleBloom, no! Get away from that thing!” I told her, stopping her from grabbing that beast. “That’s not a chicken! That’s the cockatrice!”

The cockatrice then went back into the bush before he rose back out, showing its snake body in front of the girls, scaring them as it then flew off. I then watched in terror as it got in front of Elizabeak, giving the poor chicken a stare that turned her to stone.

“Girls, run!” I told them before they started running, screaming as the cockatrice chased them. With them running past me, I then followed up behind, making sure I didn’t lose any of them and that they didn’t look back at the cockatrice. “Girls, don’t stop running and, whatever you do, don’t look back! If you stare at that thing directly in the eye, you’ll turn to stone! We need to get out of here before that thing catches us!” Just when I thought we would escape, one of the girls tripped on something and the all piled up together. I managed to avoid, but was soon met with screaming as the girls saw the stone bodies of Dusk and Twilight. “Girls, calm down!” The girls continued to scream as they ran around in fear. “Girls, listen to me! Girls, please!” I then looked and saw that the cockatrice had managed to catch up to us. “Girls! Get behind me! Now!” With that, all three of them then got behind me. “Avert your eyes! Don’t look at it!” On instinct from having the cockatrice over us, I then turned around and grabbed the girls into a huddle, trying to protect them from the beast. Right there, I was completely afraid. I didn’t know what to do! There was nowhere to hide, nowhere to run! We were trapped! Just when I thought it would be over…

“You! Leave my friends alone!” Fluttershy yelled as I saw her fly in behind the cockatrice, actually looking pretty mad.

“Fluttershy?” I said as I was surprised by what she was doing, the beast turning around to face her.

“Just who do you think you are, going around turning others into stone?” Fluttershy said to it, actually looking at right in the eye.

“Fluttershy, run!” I told her, not wanting her to turn to stone. “Get away from it!

“You should be ashamed of yourself. I have a mind to find your mother and tell her what you've been up to, young man.” Fluttershy said, not backing down even as she was starting to turn to stone. Right there, I was actually surprised as the cockatrice fell flat on its butt and started shaking like it was scared. Looking at Fluttershy, I saw that she was using her stare on it. “Now you go over there, and turn Elizabeak and my friends Twilight and Dusk back to normal, and don't ever let me catch you doing this again!” I was just shocked that the beast started backing down, actually being afraid of her. Right there, I then watched as he legs and tail turned back to normal, the cockatrice canceling its power. “Do you understand me?” Just like that, the cockatrice nodded and ran off. I knew that stare was strong, but I didn’t think she could scare a cockatrice like that. “Leon, are you alright?”

“Fluttershy… That was amazing!” I said as I went over and grabbed her into a hug. “I can’t believe you stood up to that cockatrice like that! I was actually kinda worried.”

“Oh, thank you, Leon.” Fluttershy said as I put her down, blushing a little with a smile.

“Girls, are you okay?” I said as I remembered the Crusaders.

“Yeah, fine!” Scootaloo said.

“Thanks to Fluttershy’s stare.” Sweetie Belle said, compliment Fluttershy.

“Yeah! You're like the queen of stares.” Scootaloo said to her fellow pegasus. “You’re the…”

“Stare Master!” Her and her friends said together.

“Well, I hope you girls learned your lesson.” I said to them. “What were you thinking, running off like that? You had us worried.”

“We know.” Sweetie Belle said to us. “We’re sorry we snuck out of the house and into the forest.”

“Yeah. We’ll listen to you from now on.” AppleBloom said, adding on to it.

“We promise.” Scootaloo said, finishing off what her friends were saying.

“Oh, you do, do you?” Fluttershy said as she walked up to them. “Well, you better or I’ll give you… the Stare!”

After she said that with one eye, we all had a little laugh about it.

“Oh, my head!” We heard a groan and saw Dusk and Twilight walking over to us, now freed from being stone.

“What…what happened?” Twilight said before we heard some squawking and looked to see Elizabeak back to normal and struggling to get out of the ground.

I teleported over and helped the chicken out of the ground, putting her on my back before teleporting us both back over.

“Okay, everypony. Let’s head back to cottage.” I said before all started walking back home.

“Leon, what’s going on?” Dusk asked me.

“We’ll tell you everything back at the cottage.” I told him.

---

The next morning, me and Flutters were telling Twilight and Dusk the whole story of what happened with Dusk writing it all down in a letter for Princess Celestia.

“…and that’s when I brought you back from stone.” Fluttershy said, finishing the story.

“This is gonna make quite a letter to the princess.” Twilight said as Dusk was getting the last part down.

“I still can’t believe you actually did that, Fluttershy.” Dusk said to the pegasus. “I’ve always read of ponies intimidating a cockatrice, but never looking one in the eye and scaring it. That stare of yours is incredible.”

“Well, I guess that’s just one of the things that makes her special.” I said before speaking to Fluttershy. “Looks like I was wrong to worry. You certainly do know how to handle those girls.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t go that far.” She said to me.

“Huh? What do you mean?” I asked her.

“Well, I assumed that I’d be just as good with kids as I am with animals. Boy, was I wrong.” She said, Twilight writing down the lesson she learned. “I really learned the hard way not to bite off more than I could chew.”

“Well, that’s just one of the harder lessons to learn.” I said to her. “I had to go through the same thing.” I then looked to Dusk. “Though now we both know what being a foalsitter is like. You make it look so easy, Dusk.”

“I understand.” Dusk said to me. “But I think you’re giving yourself too little credit there, Leon.”

“Hmm? How so?” I asked him.

“When Fluttershy wasn’t able to, you actually stood up to get the situation under control. You took charge and got those fillies to listen to you.” He said to me. “Even when you doubted yourself, you overcame that doubt in order to help your friend and keep those kids out of trouble. I say that you’ve proven yourself to be quite the foalsitter, my friend.”

“Thanks, Dusk.” I then smiled at Fluttershy. “Though I don’t think I could’ve done it if Flutters didn’t encourage me to do it.”

“And I’m guessing you’ve learned something from it?”

“Yeah.” Looking back at him and Twilight, I then told them what I learned. “I learned that, just because the first time you do something didn’t go right the first time around, it doesn’t mean it’ll always be that way. As long as you got friends who believe in you as well as got your back, you’ll have the courage to get through the most difficult situations.”

“Wow! Two lessons in one day.” Twilight said after Dusk wrote down what I said, the Fire Dragon unicorn rolling up the letter. “It seems you two have learned a lot.”

“Yeah, we did.” I said as me and Flutters smiled at each other.

“And I think Rarity might’ve learned the same thing about biting off more than she can chew.” Dusk said before I looked behind us. “Speaking of which, hey, cuz!”

“Good morning, Rarity.” Twilight said to the fashionista as she walked over.

“Hey, Rarity.” I waved at her.

“Did you finish all those capes?” Fluttershy asked.

“Oh, just delivered them.” Rarity said as she smiled at us. “I have to admit, if you hadn't come along, I might not have. Thanks again.”

“No problem, Rare.” I said to her. “We were glad to help.”

“Won't you stay for some tea?” Fluttershy offered.

“I would, but I really must get back to the shop and clean up.” She then looked to her little sister and her friends. “Girls, Get your things. Time to go.” Me, Flutters, Dusk, and Twilight smiled at each other until we looked back to see Rarity having some trouble with getting the girls to listen, the three fillies playing around in the yard. “Girls! Girls, time to—Girls!” When it looked like Rarity was getting close to snapping, I was gonna step in before Flutters stopped me and walked over to her. “Your things! Girls! It’s time to—Girls!”

“Allow me.” Flutters said before she cleared her throat and kindly spoke to the Crusaders. “Girls?”

“Yes, Fluttershy.” AppleBloom said as she and her friends stood in front of her and Rarity.

“You called?” Scootaloo asked.

“Go and get your things.” Fluttershy told them. “Rarity is here to see you home.”

“Of course, Fluttershy! Right away!” Sweetie Belle said before the three of them ran off to get their things.

“Ah, huh! Ah!” Rarity said as I walked over and stood next to Fluttershy, the fashionista just shocked by this. “How did you… how did you do that?”

Me and Flutters then winked at Dusk and Twilight, making those two smile at us.

“I guess I’m just as good with kids as I am with animals.” Fluttershy told Rarity as I came over. “Though I couldn’t have done it without a little help.” With that, I then gave her a wink, making the pegasus smile and blush just as the Crusader came running by and said goodbye to me and Fluttershy.

“Ah, uh, speaking of which,” Rarity said, looking a little nervous. “I could use your help with Opal.”

“Of course.” Fluttershy said to her.

“Yeah, sure. How about later today?” I said before I heard the cat and soon found out where Opal was as Rarity turned around.

“How about now?” Rarity said as she flinched from having her cat stuck to her side.

With Dusk and Twilight coming over, me and Flutters had a little laugh with them before the pegasus went on to help Rarity with Opal.

Well, that was my first hoof at foalsitting. It was pretty hard, tiring really. Though I came to see why Dusk enjoyed it so much. Sure, the kids you watch can drive you nuts, but that’s just part of it. It just feels great that you can give them a fun time. Sure, it was just for a sleepover, but I did enjoy watching those three, especially with Fluttershy. It’s because of it I understand her more than I thought. Needless to say, I think I’m gonna like the foalsitter life.

Author's Note:

Well, it seems as though Leon and Fluttershy's first attempt at foalsitting had come to be quiet the experience for the two animal caregivers. With Fluttershy learning when not to take on a task that is too much for her and Leon overcoming his self-doubt to help a friend in need, the two have now grown closer as friends. More lessons to be learn and experiences to come next time!

Hey, guys! Sorry it took me so long for this update. You have no idea what had to get through just to get the time to do it, especially with the unexpected weather change. And if you come to see Leon and Fluttershy in a certain way, just wait until you see what will happen next! In the next chapter, we go back to Dusk as he is dealing with a special problem of his as he deals with how feels about Twilight and he's got a little help from a certain cousin of his to help him figure it out. I can tell you this is something you don't want to miss! Well, that's all I got for this chapter! Don't forget to comment and rate the story to tell me what you think!