(Collab with Latecomer, takes place after "The Hearth's Warming Club".) When Sandbar has to unexpectedly foalsit his baby sister, Coral, he decides to enlist his friends as back up. But none of them are familiar with how baby ponies are raised.
(Collab with Latecomer who suggested the idea. Takes place after "The Hearth's Warming Club".)
Even though he and his friends are staying over the holiday break to be with Gallus, Sandbar has made his own plans for Hearth's Warming. Those plans get upended when his parents have to leave and unexpectedly task him with foalsitting his baby sister, Coral.
Despite Sandbar having some prior foalsitting experience, he decides to rope his friends into helping him with his important assignment. Which is quickly complicated by the fact that none of them know how ponies raise their young.
To complicate things further, Sandbar is soon hospitalized after hitting his head against a tree. So his friends have to take turns checking up on him, and keeping Coral under control. A problem when she is going through "potty training" which is something Sandbar's friends know very little about.
While it was nice to get to spend the holiday of Hearth's Warming together, Sandbar and his friends did still have to finish cleaning up the mess Gallus had caused with his prank. With the six of them pitching in it wasn't too difficult (Gallus told them how goo powder worked, so now they had a better idea of what they were dealing with). But it still took longer than the six creatures would've liked. At last, however, they were finished and the rest of the holiday break was theirs to spend.
Or that would have been the case, had Headmare Twilight not poked her head into the room just as soon as the cleaning was done. Her eyes soon fell upon Sandbar as she called out to him. "Sandbar?"
Thinking that he must've unintentionally done something wrong, Sandbar gulped a bit as he trotted up to the alicorn. "Yes, Headmare Twilight? Am I in trouble?"
Twilight smiled as she shook her head. "Oh no, of course not. You're a model student, Sandbar."
"Then, why did you call for me?" Sandbar questioned.
Twilight explained as the smile on her face faded. "Your parents came by just a minute ago. They said they needed to talk to you right away. And it sounded urgent."
"What?! But we just got done cleaning!" Silverstream pouted as she unintentionally knocked over an empty bucket. "That's so unfair!"
"Ah, relax, everycreature. I'm sure they were just wondering why I haven't come home yet," Sandbar replied without concern. "Just hang out for a bit, I'll be right back. Promise."
Yona stomped a hoof down in protest. "Yona not want Sandbar to go. Yona want to spend holiday with all her friends, Sandbar included!"
"Aw come on, guys, I'm not gonna be gone forever," Sandbar waved a hoof in reply. "We'll still have the entire rest of the break to spend together after I get done talking to my parents." And he trotted away to do just that.
Gallus let out an unhappy sigh as he watched Sandbar leave. "Well, at least he has a family to go home to. Grandpa Gruff never really cared whether I came home or not. If Gilda and Gabby weren't breathing down his neck all the time he probably would've just left me to fend for myself. Says it builds character."
"Oh, you poor thing," Silverstream chirped. "You know, Gallus, you could've just told us you had no family and didn't want to be alone for the holidays. You didn't have to set up this elaborate prank just so we'd all stay together. We'd have been happy to let you borrow one of our families."
Gallus shook his head. "It would never work, I already feel like a stranger just living here. There's so many things about ponies I don't understand. Like this holiday, for example. We in Griffonstone don't really do holidays, the Blue Moon Festival's the closest we've got."
"Yes, you told us already," Ocellus commented as she hovered close. "But we changelings didn't have holidays until Headmare Twilight introduced us to them."
"And we dragons never really had holidays, but you don't hear us complaining about it," Smolder retorted as she puffed out her chest, only for her friends to look at her with glares. "I mean, quit being such a gloomy Gus, Gallus. What matters is we're all together now, and we get to spend the holiday break with you like you wanted. Isn't that what counts?"
The griffon reluctantly sighed. "Sure, I guess. And I'd be lying if I said Ponyville wasn't starting to grow on me. If it has this school and ponies like Sandbar, it can't be all bad I suppose. Don't... uh... don't tell Sandbar I said that. He'll get the wrong idea."
"Ah, there's no need. I totally understand. We ponies can be a lot to take in at first." The familiar voice of Sandbar declared as he came trotting back into the room.
Yona was the first to rush over! "Sandbar came back!"
"Yona, I was only gone for a couple of minutes," Sandbar responded. "You don't have to be like this every time I go away."
"But Yona just really happy to see friend!" Yona happily declared. "Now all friends get to celebrate holiday together! This will be best Hearth's Warming ever!"
But Sandbar seemed to have a pronounced frown upon his face as the earth pony colt replied. "Well actually, I have to get home right away. Mom and Dad are going out of town to look after a sick relative, and they need me to foalsit my baby sister," Then he got an idea. "Actually, why don't you guys come with me? You know, for back-up?"
All of the colt's friends blinked in surprise! No, they hadn't misheard. Sandbar did indeed want them to help him watch over his little sister. A sister that until a few hours ago they had not been aware of.
Smolder was the first to speak up in response to the proposal. "Why would we help you with something like that? We don't know anything about babies."
"I have, we all take turns grub sitting back at the hive!" Ocellus declared as she proudly buzzed her wings.
Smolder snorted as a puff of smoke escaped her nostrils. "I meant baby ponies. All I know is that they cry all the time, slobber on things, and sometimes they smell."
Silverstream only giggled. "It can't be any worse than when Terramar was a hatchling. You would not believe how hard it was to keep him under control! But he was just so adorable, all babies are adorable!"
"And you'll have me. I've foalsat my sister many times before, sometimes when my parents aren't around to help," Sandbar boasted with a bright smile. "Come on, guys. It'll be fun, I promise! And this way we can all be together."
Gallus groaned and put a claw to his face. "Great, now if we say no we're going to feel guilty. You're way too good at that sort of thing, Sandbar."
The little earth pony just grinned. "No idea what you're talking about, dude. You guys don't have to come along. But it'd mean a lot to me if you did," Then he happened to glance up at a nearby clock, and he gasped! "Oh my gosh! Is it that late already?! I'd better get home now, it's not good to leave a baby all alone!" Without waiting for a reply he dashed out of the room and soon he had left the school grounds!
The other creatures soon made up their minds about their friend's most unusual proposal. Despite the reservations some of them might have had, they really did want to stay together with Sandbar. The six of them had become inseparable as of late.
Despite his initial dash out of the school, Sandbar wasn't travelling at that fast a rate of speed. So his friends catching up to him while he was en-route to his house wasn't a surprise to him. "I knew you guys would come!" He happily proclaimed. "I can't wait for you to all meet my little sister, she is absolutely adorable!"
"Does she have a name?" Ocellus questioned. "Most changelings don't get a name when they first hatch, or at least that's how we used to do it." Had one been paying close attention they might have seen the changeling shudder ever so briefly.
Sandbar didn't notice as he answered. "Her name's Coral, it's a really pretty name if you ask me."
"Meh, it's alright, pony names are really weird," Smolder remarked as the six drew near to a modest house tucked into an otherwise isolated part of Ponyville. "So, how do we get inside? Spare key? Trap door? Secret compartment?"
"Ooh! I hope it's a trap door! Maybe one with a slide! That would be fun!" Silverstream chirped.
Sandbar only giggled as he trotted up to the door. "None of the above. Mom and Dad always leave the door unlocked."
"You're lucky, no griffon in Griffonstone would be caught dead leaving their door open all the time. It's a guaranteed way to get robbed." Gallus quipped, though secretly he was a bit envious of such lack of hostility among ponies (from what he could gather anyway).
The door opened as soon as Sandbar had pressed a hoof to the knob and turned it. The earth pony led his friends inside and promptly shed the hat, boots, scarf and earmuffs he had worn on his way home. He flicked on the lights a few seconds later. "Well guys, welcome to my house," He greeted in as a cheerful tone as he could manage. "Kind of wanted your first visit here to be more grand though. Oh well, can't have everything," He promptly informed the others. "I'll go get Coral, the rest of you just wait here and have a look around."
The interior of the house consisted mostly of carpeted floors, several rooms, a small couch, and a fireplace with logs and pictures on frames that hung above it.
Smolder immediately flew over to the fireplace, which drew the attention of the others. "What Smolder doing?" Yona asked.
"Starting a fire in the fireplace, this place is so cold!" Smolder protested with a shiver.
Yona only giggled. "Yona not care, cold not bother yak."
"Well, not all of us have wool coats to keep us, or can transform into something that does. I'm not gonna freeze my scales off! Besides, I know what I'm doing. I'm not gonna burn the house down." The stubborn young dragon declared, before she inhaled deeply, and breathed a scorching flame out onto the logs. Soon the fire was crackling away and radiating warmth throughout the house.
An unexpected and audibly coo drew everyone's attention away from the fireplace a moment later. Sandbar had returned, and standing beside him was a filly with a pale, almost olive green coat. She sported sea green eyes and had a wavy mane and tail that had the same light green colors seen in Sandbar's, but with some very light pink parts on the left side. Most unusual of all though, was what the little one had around her rump. It looked kind of like a diaper, but there was an absence of tapes or pins and the whole thing was a lovely shade of pink as opposed to a plain white. None of the other creatures knew what it was though.
"Guys, I'd like you all to meet my baby sister, Coral," Sandbar smiled as he proudly showed her off. "Go on, Coral, say hi."
"Hi." Coral replied on cue and waved her hoof in an adorable fashion.
Silverstream was the first one to respond! She immediately flew up to Coral and happily squealed! "Oh my gosh! Sandbar wasn't kidding! You are just so adorable, Coral! I'm Silverstream, by the way, nice to meet you."
But Coral didn't reply, she had covered her ears with her hooves. Sandbar was quick to scoop her up. "Silverstream, too loud. You're gonna scare her," He scolded and then locked eyes with his sister. "It's okay, Coral. Silverstream's a bit loud but you'll get used to her. She just loves to make new friends."
Coral reluctantly uncovered her ears and then turned to face Silverstream. She had never seen anything like her before, a creature that looked partially like a bird and partially like a pony. And neither had Coral had ever truly seen the likes of Gallus, Ocellus, or even Yona. She sort of recognized Smolder: she was like those creatures from the stories her parents always read to her (except Smolder was much shorter and nowhere near as ferocious). "You Sandbar friends?" She asked the other creatures.
"Uh... yeah," Smolder responded, finding herself unsure of what to say around a little one. "I guess he's told you about us?"
"He tell me that you guys fun, but you not from Equestria," Coral commented. "But he like you all. And he really like Yona."
Yona innocently and happily replied with a stomp. "Yona really like Sandbar too! Yona really like all her friends! And Yona love to make new friends!" She quickly got an idea. "Where Yona come from, friends and family play in snow. Yaks play in snow all the time. Coral want to play in snow with Yona?"
"Yeah! Yeah!" Coral cheered, bouncing up and down in Sandbar's hooves in excitement.
Yona immediately trotted over and took Coral from Sandbar without even asking. "Great! Yona take Coral outside now! Maybe Yona and Coral build snow fort together?" She began to take the little filly towards the front door, ready to head out.
Sandbar quickly dashed over! "Yona, wait! You can't take Coral outside like that!"
"But yaks no wait, yaks play in snow with nothing on!" Yona protested. "Yak fur keep them warm." And she stomped away before Sandbar could say anything in protest.
The colt rushed after his stubborn yak friend, watching his baby sister bounce up and down on Yona's back! "Yona! Coral doesn't have yak fur!" He shouted!
Yona just replied. "But ponies still have fur, fur keep you warm. Yaks no need silly hats or scarves, why ponies need them if they have fur too?" And she set Coral down near a snowbank. "Now, Coral want Yona to show how yaks build perfect snow fort? If Coral do good job Yona show Coral how to smash it!"
Coral clapped her hooves! That sounded a lot like whenever she would play with her blocks and stack them into towers. The funnest part was always knocking them over with her hooves when they got too big.
Sandbar's dash grew increasingly frantic, especially since he himself had been in too much of a rush to put on his scarf or his hat. And because he was running so fast he forgot to pay attention to his surroundings. A mistake he realized far too late when his hooves made contact with a patch of ice. Immediately they gave away, and the helpless colt began sliding across the path. Instead of a snowbank, however, he ran smack into a tree!
Coral and Yona were stricken with horror and let out gasps! The sound of the impact also drew the other creatures, and all saw Sandbar lying beneath the tree!
"Big brother!" Coral screamed in horror as tears began to well up in her eyes.
"Yona, what did you do?!" Ocellus accused. "Sandbar could be seriously hurt because of you!"
"Yona just want to play with Coral, Yona not mean for Sandbar to get hurt." Yona whimpered and shrank.
However, Gallus noticed something as he looked closer at his friend that lay face down under the tree. "Guys, he's waking up! I don't think he hit his head that hard."
Sure enough, Sandbar was able to rise to his hooves. He appeared dazed but otherwise unharmed. "Whoa. Why's everything spinning?" He remarked.
"Sandbar, are you alright?" Ocellus questioned the colt.
"What kind of silly question is that? Of course I'm alright. Now just put the apple in the hay and eat the candle, hmm?" Sandbar responded. And all his friends exchanged glances of worry.
Gallus spoke up to voice their concerns. "We'd better get you to a hospital, Sandbar. Just to be safe."
"Dudes, I'm totally fine. I just need to lie down for a while until everything stops spinning," The colt protested. "I haven't felt this dizzy since I rode Admiral Fairweather's Wild Ride at Pony Island. Ugh, just thinking about it makes me feel dizzy." But the moment he took one step forward, his legs wobbled and he fell to the ground.
Smolder and Silverstream were quick to prop their friend up. "That settles it. You definitely need to go to the hospital, Sandbar," Smolder snorted. "We're not taking no for an answer."
"But what about Coral? You can't just leave her out here, she'll freeze!" Sandbar protested.
Yona simply bent down and lifted Coral up, pulling the little filly close to her chest. "Coral stay safe and warm inside Yona's thick fur. Yaks best at braving cold!"
Coral said nothing, she just nuzzled deep into Yona's fur. It felt like a warm blanket.
The rest of the creatures helped Sandbar to his hooves and they all set off for the hospital. They could only hope that their friend's head injury wasn't as serious as it seemed to them (though considering none of them knew pony medicine it was hard to be sure).
Nurse Redheart was certainly no stranger to having patients and those close to them come bursting through the front doors of the hospital, especially when it was this close to Hearth's Warming (the winter holidays always seemed to be a time for increased injuries and accidents). But even she was not expecting to be flooded by five creatures that she only vaguely knew of from Princess Twilight's school.
"Is there a doctor?! We need a doctor, now!" Silverstream screeched at the top of her lungs!
"Guys, I'm totally okay, I told you. It's not like I'm dying." Sandbar retorted even as it was clear that the colt had a rather nasty bump on his forehead that was impossible to overlook.
Yona let out a gasp! "Sandbar becoming delusional! Sandbar need help, now!"
Ocellus just approached Nurse Redheart at the desk and tried not to blush. "Sorry for the commotion. Sandbar hit his head against a tree, and we kind of rushed over because we weren't sure what to do. Do ponies hit their heads a lot? Is that a normal thing?"
Coral, meanwhile, let out a whimper. "Big bro be okay. Somepony make sure he okay."
Nurse Redheart tried her best to keep a straight face. "Well, head injuries are not abnormal. Ponies seem to hit their heads on things more times than I can recall, especially trees," She trotted over to Sandbar. "But I never would've expected a colt like you to get injured in such a fashion. You were always good at staying out of dangerous situations. And you never made a fuss when you had to get your shots."
"Somepony has to be brave for my little sister," Sandbar responded as he shook his head. "Look, this is all a big misunderstanding. My friends just panicked and rushed me over here because they thought I might be hurt."
"You most certainly are, Sandbar," Nurse Redheart frowned. "A head injury is no joking matter. I'd say you're quite fortune that your friends decided not to take chances and brought you here. That bruise looks especially nasty."
The colt was anything but convinced. "So what? One bruise isn't gonna affect anything."
Nurse Redheart simply turned to Sandbar's friends. "How did this happen? What caused the injury?"
"He slipped on a patch of ice and hit a tree, I think. Only Yona was there when it happened," Gallus explained. "He got really freaked out when Yona took his little sister out to play in the snow without a hat or a scarf."
"Ah, I see. Well it's quite fortunate that it doesn't seem like he broke any bones with that impact," Nurse Redheart observed. "Still, that bump is hard to overlook."
"Yeah, he was out cold for at least a minute. But I think he was just doing that to be dramatic or something," Smolder insisted. "He got up just fine but he said he felt dizzy and needed to lie down."
Nurse Redheart's frown only grew. "That's not a good sign. I'm afraid your friend is going to have to stay here to be inspected. At least until a doctor can look at him."
"What?! No, no no! I can't go to the hospital!" The young earth pony suddenly shouted as his eyes widened! "I'm supposed to watch my baby sister for my parents!"
Ocellus spoke up. "We can watch her for you, Sandbar. And we can take turns checking on you here, so you won't have to worry."
"Really?" Sandbar questioned, surprised to see all of his friends nod. "Well, okay I guess. Just please don't take Coral outside in the snow again. I don't need her to get sick on top of all of this."
Smolder puffed her chest. "Not a problem, we can handle her. There's five of us. We can handle a baby pony for a few hours."
But at that very moment, Coral happened to look down at the pink undergarment she was wearing. "Uh-oh," She declared as she appeared to realize something. "I wet!"
"So what?" Gallus innocently inquired. "Ponies get wet all the time."
However, Silverstream spoke up. "Um, I think she means a different kind of wet. Not the kind you get when you're in water."
"What do you mea-oh!" Gallus realized. "W-well, what are we supposed to do about... that?"
Nurse Redheart looked across to Coral. "Sandbar, how old is your sister?" She asked, looking back to the colt now in her care.
"She's three, and she's in potty training. She's already in pull-ups." Sandbar answered, sounding quite proud of that fact.
"I see," Nurse Redheart commented. "Well, lucky for her we have some pull-ups here at the hospital. Mostly for medical purposes. but they should fit her." And no sooner had she so when another nurse came by to take Coral away to get changed.
Sandbar's friends all stood there with puzzled looks on their faces. They had not been expecting things like "pull-ups" and "potty training", more because they had no knowledge of such things and Sandbar hadn't mentioned it to them. But it was clear to them that they would have to learn about them, if they were to care for Coral in light of the unexpected events that had just transpired.
In spite of the recent development giving them room for concern, Sandbar's friends were still determined to take care of Coral for him. And when Coral herself came back, now in a plain, white pull-up (if not for the lack of tabs it probably could've been mistaken for a diaper), all were set and ready to go.
Well, except for one not so small detail: Who was going to stay at the hospital with Sandbar, in case anything came up?
Yona decided to volunteer. "Yona stay with Sandbar. Sandbar not hurt himself if not for Yona."
Gallus immediately offered. "Well, I think I'll stay too. You know, just to make sure Yona doesn't accidentally smash something important." That was what he was saying, but the way he carried himself made it clear that the real reason behind his decision was his uncertainty over caring for a little one of any kind.
"Whatever, we can take turns," Smolder snorted. "Probably every hour or so. Now come on, let's go."
"Wait a minute!" Ocellus protested in realization. "How are we gonna get Coral back home? We don't have Yona's thick, yak fur to keep Coral warm."
Smolder tried not to roll her eyes. "You're a changeling, remember? I'm sure you can easily turn into a yak or something else that has thick fur. If you can turn into a seapony, you can turn into anything."
Unable (or perhaps just unwilling) to argue with that, Ocellus concentrated and soon she had transformed herself in a yak similar in build to Yona: Except this yak's coat color was the same as Ocellus', and her eyes were the same as Ocellus' for that matter. Still, it was close enough to have Coral snuggle into it deeply, ensuring her security against the cold of winter.
The girls made their way back to Sandbar's house in silence. The fire was still crackling away in the fireplace as they came inside, lighting up the place and providing its immediate surroundings with an immediate warmth.
Smolder blushed a bit in realization. "I thought I was forgetting something. At least the house didn't burn down while we were gone."
Ocellus just groaned as she transformed back to her normal, changeling self. "You're lucky, Smolder," Then she sighed. "So I guess now we just keep Coral entertained until Sandbar gets out of the hospital or her parents come back."
"Or until it gets late and we have to put her to bed," Silverstream pointed out. "Ooh, and we can't forget about that 'potty training', whatever that is. Although, I feel like I've heard that phrase before somewhere."
Smolder shrugged her claws. "Heck if I know, they don't teach early pony development at the school."
"Not to worry," Ocellus commented. "It looks like there's some kind of note on the fridge. Sandbar's parents must've left it out for him," As she read over it the changeling told her friends. "In addition to the 'potty training' we have to play with Coral, feed her, and if it gets late give her a bath and put her to bed. Sounds simple enough. Kind of reminds me of the time I volunteered at our hive's nursery."
"Or when I helped Mom look after Terramar," Silverstream cooed. "Ooh! He was such an adorable little seapony! He's the cutest baby brother ever!"
Smolder simply rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I guess we just play with her for now. We can figure out what 'potty training' is later. It must have something to do with that... thing she wears on her rump."
Meanwhile, Coral had waddled over to Ocellus. Something about the changeling drew the little one's fascination. Perhaps it was because of that transformative prowess she had displayed earlier.
Ocellus looked down at Coral. "Oh, hi, Coral. What's up?"
"You transform?" Coral innocently asked.
The young changeling nodded. "Yeah. That's why I'm a changeling, because I can change shape. Get it?"
Coral just blinked. She didn't really understand the concept. All she knew was that Ocellus could magically turn into other creatures, seemingly at will. And there was something that the little one was most curious. "You turn into my brother?" She asked Ocellus.
"Huh? Oh, sure, sure. I mean, if you want me to," Ocellus replied and did just that. Pretty soon, she had transformed herself into an exact replica of Sandbar. Almost as if someone had cloned the colt. Even her voice when she spoke sounded exactly like him. "Hey there, Coral. It's your big brother, Sandbar. You like me, right?"
Coral giggled and clapped her hooves, nuzzling the replica. "Uh-huh, ya the bestest big brother ever!" She didn't seem to be bothered when the replica sneezed. Instead of Sandbar, there was now the yak that Ocellus had turned herself into earlier.
"Oops!" Ocellus commented with a slight sniffle in her tone of voice. "Hold on, let me try again." But her concentration was interrupted by another sneeze. This time she transformed herself into a griffon, a female one at that.
Upon looking at the griffon, and noticing the wings that were also on the other creatures currently with her, Coral started to feel something tug at her deep inside. A few tears came into her eyes as she started to whimper. "I no can fly! I wanna fly! I wanna fly!"
Ocellus turned herself back to normal, even as her normally small and unnoticeable wings buzzed outward. "No, no, no! Please, Coral, don't cry!" She pleaded with the little earth pony. "I didn't mean to make you upset."
Luckily, Silverstream seemed to intervene. "You wanna fly, Coral? Auntie Silverstream can help you with that," She flew over to the little filly and carefully scooped Coral into her arms. "You ready to fly?" She asked Coral, who nodded in response. "Okay then, we're clear for take off! Here we go!" The young hippogriff lifted Coral up and made whooshing noises, much to Coral's delight!
"I am now," Ocellus nodded. "I think it was just all that love I felt from Coral. The love she has for Sandbar. It was quite overwhelming. And to changelings, too much love can make us do crazy things. Thorax says he once went berserk when he was surrounded by love in the Crystal Empire."
"Yeah, Spike always like to talk about how he's a big hero there, and how he met Thorax," Smolder remarked. "I suppose that's interesting, if you like that sort of stuff. At least he seems to have no trouble fitting in with ponies," Then she added. "But I thought you changelings don't feed on love anymore?"
Ocellus shook her head. "We don't really. I mean, technically we could if we really want to. But Thorax says that's not how we do things anymore," With a blush she added. "Besides, all that love I was feeling would've probably made me fat."
"How can you get fat off of love?" Smolder questioned.
Ocellus' blush deepened. "It's a long story, I... really don't wanna talk about it."
After a little bit of further playtime (Ocellus learned to exercise more caution with her transformations, so as to avoid turning into anything that might make Coral upset), Coral was set back with a smile on her face.
But to the surprise of the three creatures Coral started to suddenly shift about uncomfortably. Though only Silverstream seemed to know what that face meant. "You gotta go potty, Coral?"
Coral's exact expression was unsure and difficult to read, but Silverstream took it as a yes. "Okay, let's go!" Silverstream chirped and led Coral away.
Silverstream wasn't exactly sure what a "potty" was, but she suspected that whatever Coral needed to do involved the bathroom. She had read up on pony plumbing recently (mostly just a few diagrams) and knew from school that the bathroom was were ponies tended to their bodily needs.
Just like at school, it seemed that the object known as a toilet wasn't much more than an elevated trench with flowing water beneath it, and a colored pedal off to one side and some kind of nozzle off to the other. But Coral didn't seem to go towards it, even though she probably could stand over such an object.
Instead, Coral pulled out some kind of plastic, bowl shaped object that was the same pink color as the pull-up she had worn earlier. Strangely enough, the object was vaguely familiar to Silverstream. "That looks like the pots we used to have back on Mount Aris." She remarked in amazement.
"You use potties?" Coral questioned.
The young hippogriff uncertainly replied. "Sort of. I don't think we had anything like this. Ours were more old, beat up pots of some kind. We got rid of them once Mount Aris had all of its plumbing restored," Looking at Coral she then commented. "I guess this... potty works the same way as those pots?"
Coral nodded. "Uh-huh, but I gots to take off my pull-up first. And I needs help."
"What do you need me to help you with?" Silverstream asked of Coral.
The little filly gestured to the sides of her pull-up, specifically to a small strap that seemed to hold the entire thing in place. Silverstream appeared to understand, though she had to be careful with her paws not to pull too hard. The pull-up was soon pulled down and right off of Coral, set aside.
Everything else about the entire potty training process came and went relatively easily, even the emptying out of the potty afterward. And when it was over, both Coral and Silverstream washed their hooves and paws respectively. Then they both exited the bathroom.
By the time Coral and Silverstream came back, Ocellus was nowhere to be seen and in her place was Yona. "Ocellus say she need to step out for a bit. Gallus want to stay with Sandbar," Yona explained. "Yona want to stay too, but Gallus say Yona too clumsy and Sandbar want Yona to be with Coral."
Coral didn't mind, she was happy to see Yona again. "You have nice fur." She told the yak.
"Yak fur is best fur!" Yona declared as she stomped a hoof down. "Coral want to play in snow with Yona again? This time Yona make sure Coral dressed for it like ponies dress."
"Nu-uh." Coral protested with a whimper. The memory of her brother skidding across the ice and crashing into a tree was still fresh in her mind. It didn't quite occur to her that such an event probably wouldn't be repeated (especially with Sandbar still in the hospital). There had to be something else she could do. Something that wouldn't involve having to go outside.
Smolder seemed to interpret Coral's remark a little bit differently. "Yona, you need to do something Coral wants to do, not something you want to do. Besides, you already had your turn," Then the little dragon turned to Coral as she reluctantly asked. "So, little Coral, what do you wanna play?"
To the little one, the idea of being able to pick what she could do wasn't entirely a foreign concept. She was already used to having a little bit of freedom within the household, so long as she stayed with the boundaries her parents and her big brother set down.
But Smolder's proposal was most definitely a new one. Hardly ever did anyone ever ask Coral what she felt like playing. Under most circumstances she would probably settle for something simple: Like playing with blocks or even a game of hide and go seek. However, in light of the fact that Smolder was a dragon, and Coral remembered dragons mostly from the stories her parents read to her, a rather naughty idea came to her mind. "Gonna play dragon and knight. I be the knight!" She declared with a giggle.
"Uh, but who's going to be the princess?" Silverstream questioned. "Isn't there supposed to be a princess the knight rescues?"
"Maybe in the stories," Smolder retorted. "But if Coral wants to play without a princess that's fine by me, princesses are overrated."
Coral just giggled as she pointed at Smolder. "You be the dragon. I the knight who slay ya!"
At that the dragon blinked. "What? You're gonna slay me? I'm more than twice your size, kid."
The little filly shook her head. "Nu-uh. I a big, brave knight who saves the day. And you a big, mean dragon who gets slayed. I even gots a sword." She trotted off and soon came back with a paper sword and hat.
The dragon wasn't impressed. "That's your sword? I could burn that thing to a crisp in five seconds."
"Smolder, you're supposed to play along," Silverstream encouraged. "Like this!" She proceeded to put on a display with herself. "Grr! I'm a big, scary dragon and I'm gonna eat ya! Oh no, you've got a sword! Oh, have mercy on me!" The hippogriff promptly fell to the ground in exaggerated fashion, pretending to be slain. "Oh, you got me!" Then she stuck her tongue and made it hang off to the side. "Now I'm dead, bleh!"
Smolder snorted. "Really? I have to do all of that?"
Yona nodded her head. "Smolder want Coral to be happy, Smolder have to play the way Coral want Smolder to play."
"Play! Play!" Coral eagerly brandished her fake sword and swung it back and forth.
Reluctantly, the teenaged dragon obliged. "Oh, alright, just this once," Looking across to her friends she added. "Tell anyone, and you're dead. Got it?!" Both Yona and Silverstream nodded with goofy smiles on their faces.
The entire play session lasted less than Coral would've preferred but longer than poor Smolder would've liked. It all ended with the brave knight "slaying" the mighty dragon and living happily ever after.
Unfortunately there was one not so small problem that occurred when Smolder pretended to be "dead". She let out a small puff of smoke and flame from her nostrils, which wouldn't have been so bad if not some very flammable curtains that were nearby. The nostril flame wasn't very hot, but when it caught the edge of the curtains the results were still catastrophic!
Fortunately, Silverstream was able to improvise a quick solution! She hurriedly filled a bucket with water and then transformed into a seapony and dove into the bucket! She couldn't fit into it even if she tried, but that wasn't her intent. The water that splashed out of the bucket was able to hit the flaming curtains and put out the fire. The curtains were still noticeably singed though, now a dark, charcoal black in color whereas before they had been a lovely shade of red.
"Well this is just great," Smolder groaned. "How are we gonna explain that to Sandbar?"
But Silverstream had an idea! "Professor Rarity can help us! She can probably make curtains just like these," Pulling down the curtains she declared. "I'll take them to Professor Rarity's boutique and it'll be like it never happened!" Before anyone could say anything in protest, the young hippogriff had snatched up the curtains and departed for Carousel Boutique.
Gallus returned a moment later. "Hey, guys, just checking in to see how things are going. Everything good? Okay. I'm leaving."
But Smolder grabbed Gallus by the ear and pulled him inside! "Hey, we all agreed to help foalsit Coral! You need to start doing your part!"
"But I don't know anything about babies, especially not baby ponies," Gallus protested. "And I certainly don't remember anything from when I was a little one."
"Well none of us really know about baby ponies, but we've all been trying our best anyway. So now it's your turn to start helping," Smolder demanded. "I'm not taking no for an answer. I'm serious, you try to run and I'll toast your backside!"
Gallus knew Smolder wasn't one to make idle threats, so the griffon realized that he had no choice but to try and help as best he could. However, there was one detail that he noticed right away. "So, where's Coral? Isn't she with you?"
"What do you mean? She's right-" Smolder began only for her sentence to be cut off as her eyes noticed a lack of a little filly near her legs.
Gallus groaned and put a claw to his face. "You don't know where she is, do you? You lost her."
"I didn't lose her!" Smolder protested with a snort. "I just... don't know where she is at the moment. But she couldn't have gotten far. She's gotta still be around this house somewhere."
At that moment there came a flushing sound from the bathroom, and a series of giggles. The two creatures made their way over to the bathroom in time to see Yona and Coral exiting. "Coral do good job making it to potty." Yona commented with praise that was hard to determine if it was sincere or not.
Coral just hugged Yona tightly. "Thank you for helping me, Yona. I see why big brother likes you so much."
Yona just replied. "And Yona like Sandbar, he good friend. All of Yona's friends good."
Just then, there came an audible rumble that originated from Coral. It didn't take a genius to figure out what that noise meant. It was feeding time.
Smolder scooped Coral into her arms and carried the little one to the kitchen. There was a high chair that had seen better days at one end of the kitchen table, and it looked like it barely fit its intended charge. Still, it was suitable enough for Smolder to plop Coral down into it.
Gallus, meanwhile, was looking through the fridge. "What kind of strange foods are these: Mashed Peas, Cream of Carrot, Sweet Potato Surprise? Isn't there anything normal in here?"
"What do you define as normal?" Smolder remarked. "Worms?"
"Sometimes, but I don't think ponies eat worms. Besides, worms are only if there's absolutely nothing else to eat," The griffon grumbled. Then something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. It was some kind of substance in a jar, it looked like the strangely labeled foods but it didn't quite have the weird names to them. He pulled it out. "Aha! Here we go!"
Yona blinked, not recognizing the jar or what was inside it. "Gallus feed Coral... that?"
Gallus nodded. "Apparently it's called 'Applesauce'. It looks kind of like how griffons sometimes mash apples into little bits to feed to their young. It's really good for them too."
But although Coral was hungry, she didn't seem to be particularly thrilled with the applesauce. Or maybe she was but she just didn't like being offered it on a spoon. In either case she kept her mouth shut as Gallus approached her.
"Okay, Coral, time to eat." Gallus encouraged in the sweetest tone he could manage, nudging the spoon closer to the little filly.
Coral appeared to cooperate as she opened up her mouth, swallowing the entire spoonful of applesauce. Then she gestured over to the jar.
"Oh, you want more?" Gallus questioned and received a reply in the form of a nod. "Okay."
But Coral spoke up. "I don't need spoon. I can eat with my hooves."
Yona smiled. "That the best way to eat. No pony utensils or silverware!"
"Yona, don't give Coral any ideas. She's not a yak." Smolder protested.
Gallus simply brought over another spoonful, and set the jar of applesauce down next to Coral on the table. He didn't seem to pay attention to her efforts to try and reach out towards the jar. In fact he seemed to be quite surprised when little Coral grabbed the spoon and tried to flick it! He held on tightly!
Coral wouldn't let go though, eventually she had her way as the spoon slipped out of her grasp and Gallus briefly shot backwards, tipping over the jar. Coral was then able to wiggle out of her highchair and towards the applesauce, happily devouring as much as she could get into her hooves each time.
Gallus just sighed as he looked at the unfolding scene. "I give up."
When feeding time was over, Smolder wiped Coral down with a rag while Gallus cleaned up the spilled applesauce. "And this is why I didn't want to come back. I told you I'm not good with foals." He complained to Smolder.
"Well you're not the only one who's had trouble," Smolder complained back. "Now come on, it's almost time for her bath. Let's just focus on that."
But Yona whimpered a bit. "Yak not like water. Yona not gonna get wet!" She still hadn't fully gotten over that experience she'd had on that field trip. And swimming lessons in the spring were not something she was looking forward to. In a rather unusual display, the yak waddled away rather quickly.
Fortunately, just as Yona left Silverstream came back, and so did Ocellus. "The good news is, Professor Rarity is going to have new curtains ready very soon. The bad news is, Sandbar's going to be on his way home soon. The doctors said he'll be fine." Ocellus informed them (Silverstream had told Ocellus what had happened while she was away).
Smolder puffed out her chest. "Just leave him to me, I'll slow him down! I'm good at creating distractions. You guys just make sure Coral takes her bath and the curtains are ready." And she left to intercept Sandbar on the path from the hospital.
Silverstream, meanwhile, smiled brightly. "I can help with bath time! I know how to make it fun! I can make anything fun! Come on, little Coral, it's time for your bath! You wanna get all nice and squeaky clean, right?" Coral happily nodded, she loved taking baths.
Gallus got the bath water flowing and made sure it was just the right temperature, while Ocellus kept watch from a window for any signs of Sandbar, Smolder, or Rarity.
Soon, the bath was ready. Gallus carefully lowered Coral into the tub (after Silverstream had again removed Coral's pull-up). Then, Silverstream clutched her necklace and transformed into her seapony form. She landed in the tub across from Coral with a splash. Fortunately, several towels had already been placed down to catch any overflowing water.
"I love doing that!" Silverstream chirped at Coral. "Now, do you have any toys you like to play with?"
Coral nodded, gesturing to a small rubber ducky that bobbed up and down in the tub. She nudged it towards Silverstream, seemingly unaware of Gallus holding a bottle of mane shampoo in his claws.
"Ooh, what's this? A new friend of yours?" Silverstream playfully replied as she nudged the rubber ducky back towards Coral.
Coral nodded again. "I never take bath without rubber ducky. It take me on all kinds of adventures."
The seapony smiled. "Ooh! That reminds me of the adventures I'd go on all the time in my coral reef. Let me tell you about them."
The stories did their part of keeping Coral entertained. She hardly noticed as she went through all the usual bathing rituals (much to her dismay). And while she did get to stay and play in the tub with Silverstream a bit longer, Coral was eventually lifted out and dried off.
The new curtains arrived a moment later and with Rarity's help they were installed so that it looked like they had always been there. One would've never guessed the old ones had been burned.
But several more minutes passed after that, and yet there was no sign of Sandbar. Coral began to worry all over again. "Something happened to big brother." She remarked with concern.
"Sandbar tough, Sandbar fine," Yona insisted to Coral. "Maybe Sandbar stay overnight so he not have to walk home in cold?"
"Maybe Smolder got them lost? This town can get kind of confusing. Even I still get lost sometimes." Ocellus admitted.
But just then Silverstream chirped. "Ooh, I see them! They're coming right up to the front door!"
Sure enough, Sandbar was leading Smolder back to his house even as the dragon seemed to be trying to get ahead of him. The door knob turned and Sandbar trotted inside. "Coral, I'm back," He called. "How was everything?"
Coral immediately crawled over to her older brother and let him scoop her into his hooves. "Big brother! I miss you!"
Sandbar smiled, nuzzling Coral's mane. "I missed you too, Coral. Did you have a good time with my friends?"
Coral nodded. "They great fun, and they all have funny stories to share. And they help me use potty. I make it twice!"
Sandbar's smile grew wider. "Aw, such a good girl. You're growing up to be a big filly, you know that?"
The little filly shrunk a bit. "But, I had accident."
"So? One accident versus two successful trips to the potty. I'd say that's a winning record for today," Sandbar told his little sister. "Definitely worth a gold star on your potty chart. Wouldn't you agree?" Coral nodded. "Well, we'll put on it, then you need to go to bed. It's getting late."
"Okay." Coral yawned.
Meanwhile, Sandbar turned to look at all his friends (including an exhausted Smolder). "Thanks for taking care of Coral for me. I knew I could count on you guys. Was she any trouble?"
"Uh..." The other creatures all began, not sure of whether or not to tell Sandbar the truth. They especially weren't sure if they should mention the curtains.
