Chapter 27: Twilight Babysits

Spring was arriving in Canterlot City. The sun was staying out later, buds and plants were starting to grow again, and the animals were coming back. Twilight was biking through the park with Spike, enjoying the new season.

"(Sighs), I love springtime." she said.

"Me too." Spike told her.

As they biked down the path, Twilight's cell phone rang. Twilight pulled off the path, and answered her phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Twilight?"

It was her mom.

"Oh, hi Mom. What's up?"

"I was wondering if you could swing by the store and pick up some peas? Shining Armor and Cadance are coming over."

"Sure Mom, no problem."

And Twilight hung up the phone.

"What's going on, Twilight?" asked Spike.

"Shining Armor and Cadance are coming over, so we have to get peas."

"Are they gonna bring Flurry Heart?"

"Of course they are." "Great, this'll be my first time meeting her."

Spike wasn't able to meet Flurry when she was born, because being a dog he wasn't allowed inside the hospital. On the way back, Twilight got the peas, and headed home.

Back at her house, Twilight helped her mom cook dinner, and then the doorbell rang. Night Light answered the door, and Twilight heard the voices of her brother, sister-in-law, dad, and the babbling of her baby niece.

When she finished her task, she quickly went out to greet them. But when she went into the other room, she was surprised at what she saw. Shining Armor and Cadance looked to be frank, awful. Both of them had bags under their eyes, both of their hair slightly messy, and she could see that Shining Armor hadn't shaved in a while.

"Cadance, Shining Armor...how nice to see you guys." she told them.

"Hey, Twily." greeted Shining Armor tiredly.

The two hugged, and then Twilight went over Cadance, who was holding baby Flurry, who was wrapped in a blue blanket.

"Hi, Cadance. And there's my favorite niece."

She then ticked the baby's cheeks, and Flurry Heart giggled.

The evening went well, and Spike was happy to meet the new baby. He wanted to kiss her, but they told him it wasn't a good idea yet.

"So how's life with a baby?" asked Twilight Velvet.

"Oh, it's great. But also very tiring." Shining Armor told his mother.

"I can understand. Maybe you two need a little break." Night Light suggested.

"A day to ourselves does sound nice, but don't have a sitter." Cadance mentioned.

"Do you think you guys could do it, maybe next week?" Shining Armor asked.

Night Light and Twilight Velvet looked at each other.

"Well we would, but unfortunately I have to get ready for a meeting at work." Twilight Velvet told.

"And I have to help out Hondo Flank with his sink." Night Light informed.

"I could do it." Twilight offered.

Everyone looked at her.

"That's very generous, Twilight. But are you sure you can? You've never babysat before." Cadance wondered.

"Don't worry, I can handle her. Besides, you do want a day off right?"

Before they could answer, Flurry tugged on Cadance's hair, and Shining Armor suddenly got a whiff of her dirty diaper.

"Okay, you're hired." Shining Armor replied.

Twilight smiled happily.

At school the next day, she told her friends about babysitting her niece for the first time.

"That's great, Twilight." Rarity told her.

"Thanks, I can't wait to watch Flurry." Twilight said.

"You think you can handle it? Babies can be a handful." Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"I should be, Flurry's supposed to be a good baby."

"Besides Flurry's just one baby. I have to babysit the Cake Twins and those are two babies at once." Pinkie mentioned.

"That's a point." Fluttershy piped up.

"Don't worry, I can take care of Flurry." Twilight replied confidentially.

"Well if you need any help just give us a call." Pinkie told her.

When the day came, Twilight was ready. Her parents were waiting for Shining Armor and Cadance to arrive before they left.

"Are you sure you'll be handle to things, Twilight?" asked Night Light.

"Why does everyone think I can't handle babysitting a baby?" Twilight wanted to know.

"It's just that taking care of a baby is a big responsibility." Twilight Velvet replied.

"I'm responsible."

"It's true, I mean taking care of puppy is a big responsibility but I'm here living the best life." Spike piped up.

"That's true." Twilight told her parents.

Night Light and Twilight Velvet had to agree on that. Just then, the doorbell rang, and Night Light answered it. Outside stood Shining Armor, Cadance, and Flurry Heart.

"Hello everyone." greeted Cadance.

Flurry Heart babbled happily in her arms.

"You two ready for your day off?" Twilight Velvet asked.

"You bet, are you ready to babysit, Twilight?" Shining Armor wanted to know.

"You bet."

"All right, here's her baby bag there are at least 20 diapers in it, a container of baby formula, a couple bottles, some jars of baby food, extra baby clothes, her blanket, a couple of her toys, and anything else you'll need." Cadance told her.

And she set the big bag on the floor.

"Don't worry, I got this covered." Twilight assured, as she took Flurry from her.

"We're going to lunch, and then downtown. If you need anything just call us." Shining Armor told her.

"The same for us, Twilight. If anything at all happens or if you need help you can give either one of us a call." Night Light added.

"I will."

After some hugs and kisses, the adults left leaving Twilight alone with Flurry and Spike.

"All right, Flurry it's just you and me now." Twilight said to her niece.

"And me." Spike piped up.

Since Flurry was being pretty quiet, Twilight decided to just watch a little TV while Flurry lied on the floor on a blanket. Things were going well, but then Flurry started crying.

"What's wrong, Flurry?" Spike asked her.

Twilight picked her up, and cradled her.

"Are you hungry? Or do you need to be changed?" But Flurry continued to cry.

First Twilight whipped up a bottle, and put it into her mouth. To her relief, that's what she wanted. After she finished her bottle, Flurry started fussing. Luckily Twilight knew that Flurry just had gas, so she grabbed a towel, put it on our shoulder, and started patting Flurry's back.

After a minute, Flurry burped but she left a mess on the towel. She carefully put her niece down, and carefully took the messy towel away.

"Gross." she whispered as she threw it into the laundry basket.

Then she went back to the living room, and saw that Flurry was spitting up and had gotten her clothes, and she could smell something, and it didn't smell good.

"Time to change your diaper and give you a bath."

She grabbed Flurry, and took her upstairs to the bathroom. And Spike followed behind, dragging the handle of the diaper bag in his mouth.

In the bathroom, Twilight filled the sink with warm water, and then got Flurry out of her diaper and clothes, and got her cleaned up. Flurry smiled and cooed as Twilight got her cleaned up.

"You like this, huh Flurry?" Twilight asked.

"How's she liking the bath, Twilight?" Spike wondered, as he walked into the room.

"She sure is."

After getting her clean, she put a diaper on her, and got her in some clean baby clothes.

"There you go, Flurry. All clean up."

She then took her out of the bathroom, and went back downstairs. Flurry was quiet for a while, and Twilight and Spike decided to watch some TV. Things were going well, and then the phone rang.

"Hello?" asked Twilight, as she answered it.

It was Cadance.

"Hey, Twilight. I was just calling to check in."

"Oh everything's going fine."

"Flurry's not giving you any trouble?"

"No, no trouble at all."

"That's good, but fair warning when it's time for her nap she can be a little difficult."

"Don't worry, I can handle it." Twilight assured, and then hung up.

A while later, Flurry was hungry again, so Twilight fed her some mashed peas.

"All right, Flurry. It's all gone now."

She threw the empty jar in the trash, and then cleaned up her face. Then Flurry yawned, and started fussing.

"Looks like it's time for a nap."

Twilight knew that babies had to fall asleep on their own, and that it was supposed to be difficult. But Twilight was confident she could get the job done.

But after five minutes, things had gone south. Flurry was crying her head off, and nothing seemed to calm her down.

"Come on, Flurry, please go to sleep." Twilight begged.

But Flurry just kept crying. Spike was under the coffee table, holding his paws on his ears.

"When is she gonna fall asleep?" he asked.

"I'm trying to get her down."

She tried bouncing, rocking, and even singing.

"This isn't working."

Then she remembered something, Pinkie babysat she could help her. So she quickly got on her phone, and rang her up.

"Hey, Twilight? How's babysitting going?" asked Pinkie over the line.

"Listen Pinkie, I need your help."

"Tell me everything, Twilight."

"I'm trying to get Flurry to take nap, but she just won't fall asleep."

"Did you try bouncing?"

"Yes."

"Rocking?"

"Yes."

"Singing?"

"Yes."

"All right, then it's time for the one thing that'll make a baby sleep."

"I'm all ears."

"When all else fails, speed walking."

"What?"

"You hold Flurry in your arms, and just bounce and walk around with her until she falls asleep."

"You really think that'll work?" "Twilight, it's full proof."

"Thanks, Pinkie."

And then she hung up.

"All right, Flurry you're going to take nap now."

Flurry just fussed some more.

So for the next 15 minutes, Twilight walked around bouncing Flurry in her arms. Spike was following her all the way. Completely tired, Twilight looked down, and to her surprise Flurry was asleep.

"She's finally asleep Spike." she whispered.

"(Sighs), finally." Spike sighed, as he fell to the floor.

Twilight then carefully and quietly put Flurry in her little portable crib, and let her nap. She collapsed on the couch, and then fell asleep herself.

When she opened her eyes again, Flurry was awake, and cooing happily at Spike.

"Oh my gosh, Spike how long was I asleep?"

Spike looked at her, and answered,

"About thirty minutes. Flurry woke up about five minutes ago."

Twilight got up, and picked Flurry out of her portable crib.

"Did you have a good nap, Flurry?"

Flurry smiled and cooed at her. Just then, the front door opened and her parents, Shining Armor, and Cadance came in.

"We're back, Twilight." announced Night Light.

"Welcome back, everyone." Twilight greeted.

Shining Armor and Cadance happily went over, and took their baby.

"Flurry, we missed you very much." cooed Cadance.

"She wasn't too much trouble was she?" Shining Armor wondered.

"Oh, she wasn't too much trouble. For my first time babysitting."

After a little more talking, it was time for Shining Armor and his family to go.

"Thanks again for watching Flurry Twilight." Cadance told her.

"No problem, Cadance." Twilight replied.

Flurry then reached out to Twilight.

"Looks like your niece wants to say goodbye." observed Shining Armor.

Twilight took Flurry, and hugged her.

"I love you too, Flurry." she whispered.

That's chapter 27