Jane

[colour=#e00004]Free-For-All and Crossover Only[/colour]

[colour=#CCA9d1]Princess Twilight Sparkle[/colour]

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Threads:

Twilight. Princess. Alicorn. Babysitter for a day.

Status: Active

((Link to OOC))

"Oh, and I must thank you again for opening your home to us like this. The spare room will certainly be good enough for me - I know nothing of music at all I'm afraid except that I like stuff that sounds good, so don't worry, I promise not to touch your equipment."[/colour] She fluttered into the room and deposited her saddlebags and her small valise on the small bed in the corner. [colour=#498995]"Looks like you've got quite the set-up in here! I'll just set my bags on the bed here and then we can get on with our trip then, can't we?"[/colour]

She flew back out of the room and saw that Light had opened the door to the balcony for Flashbomb to see out. [colour=#498995]"Oh oh oh, Songbird, the view from this balcony is simply splendid! You can almost imagine yourself being a pegasus when you're up here, can't you? Oh, I love it, I just love it! I think Flashbomb is right - you've got a lovely little life made out for yourself, haven't you? Of course, it's always great when you're doing something you love for a living, isn't it? Do you play many live shows? Have I asked that already? I probably have - I can never remember what I have and haven't asked. Do you think I ask too many questions?"[/colour]

As for Flashbomb, she thought her little pep-talk had done the trick, but she couldn't be sure. He mentioned his love of Techno music more than jazz, as their host was interested in, and Whirly could sort of understand. She didn't really stay on top of any music and didn't really know the DJ Flashbomb was referring to.

All that same, that didn't mean she objected to music. How many nights had she spent in the pubs on Clousdale's main street looking for a great time and good music? Of course, being a city mainly concerned with aerobatics and weather making, the music scene in Cloudsdale was rather lacking - especially considering that it was really only prepared to cater for Pegasus musicians. But this was Las Pegasus! Not only was there plenty of music, but there was gambling and live entertainment and half of a clouded city to see!

Oh, just looking out the window at the view of the city was enough to get her riled up! She almost didn't even want to bother going back to the stairs - she just wanted to fly out the window and see as much of the city as she could from above. Indeed, if Light Harmony and Foghorn could have sprouted wings and followed suit, she would have legitimately suggested it! Instead, she just spun around in the air, creating a small whirlwind on the balcony with her wings, and let out an excited squee.

[colour=#498995]"Come on you guys, let's go explore the city!"[/colour] She exclaimed rather impatiently, ready to drag the lot of them out of the apartment if need be. [colour=#498995]"We leave tomorrow night, and I want to get as much Las Pegasus in as I possibly can!"[/colour]

Or maybe he was just nervous. He decided that was probably more likely. How long had it been since he'd seen her? Several years, by his estimation, and as exciting as these past years have been, he was anxious to see her again. He scanned the crowds coming in, knowing that the one he sought would stand out among the throngs of ponies on account of there being one major distinction: She was a dragon.

He hoped there wouldn't be any objections from the higher ups to him inviting his adopted sister. After all, family was welcome, and the sergeant was used to arguing on Sierra's behalf - he'd been doing so since he was a colt in cadets, after all.

He'd sent her the invitation weeks ago - she lived a rather nomadic life, but the two of them communicated using magic. Indeed, although it had been years since they'd seen one another face to face, the two of them kept in touch rather religiously via correspondence. And learning that he would be seeing his sister at an event so illustrious as the Army Ball was both exciting and nerve-wracking. What would his superiors think of him dancing with a dragon?

Well, he'd decided, Sierra had been no secret. Eventually his comrades asked if there was a mare he was writing to so faithfully, and he had told them the truth (and endured several weeks of being mockingly called Dragon-boy as a result). If his bringing a small dragon to such an event as this would pose any problems with the officers, he would deal with the problems civilly and respectfully as they came along. But tonight was meant to be a special night for the soldiers to enjoy themselves and spend time with their families. And Sierra was family, nopony would dare argue with him over that. Mares came and went, but the dragon was as steady a friend and sister as any stallion could ask for.

Finally, he caught sight of her in the courtyard - the scaly, reptilian head rising above the heads of the other ponies. She had grown some in the years since he'd last seen her, but was still small for a dragon. Of course, Hammer Spark knew better than anypony that what she lacked in size she made up for in strength, courage and wit. Oh, how good it was to see her again! A wave of emotions rushed over him and very nearly swept him away - it took all his carefully-disciplined self-restraint not to gallop across the foyer. Instead, he trotted as quickly as was socially acceptable under the circumstances, giving quick polite nods to the ponies he passed as he went and saluting to those he recognized as higher-ranking officers in the army.

[colour=#7f0000]"Sierra!"[/colour] he called out when he reached the courtyard, though there were still several bodies between the two of them. [colour=#7f0000]"Sierra, my sister! At long last, you're here!"[/colour]

He'd heard about the crisis, of course - perhaps even sooner than many, since his mother was one of the first to go down and was still, as far as he knew, recovering from the dreaded feather flu. And he was eager to do his part to help out, even though he'd tried and hated working at the factory.

Everything was set for him to be on time. The milk was fresh, the alarm was set, there was no weather schedule to worry about. But at the last minute, before he was about to leave, Stormwing remembered that he had an old hardhat from his factory days in the closet. Oh, and Vanilla Latte had given him some croissants yesterday for him to share with Whirligig and his mother. Where had he put those?

Next thing he knew, fifteen minutes after he was meant to leave for Cloudsdale, he was still rummaging through the clutter in his closet looking for the stupid white helmet that he knew must be in there.

[colour=#00333E]"Oh, forget it!"[/colour] he announced aloud, realizing that there would be spares there he could use. He grabbed the brown paper bag between his teeth, stretched his wings, and set off as quickly as he could over the rooftops of Trottingham, over the Great Nimbusgait Lakes, and towards the shining city of his childhood to assist with the crisis.

It wasn't a long flight, and so within an hour Stormwing came crashing into the weather factory, his wild red mane mussed and windswept, and the brown paper bag filled with Latte's croissants for mother was ripped in three places. He was a bit exhausted, having tried to fly faster to make up for lost time, and not terribly excited to start factory work in his present condition.

He stumbled into the main area of the factory where he saw some of his team from Trottingham glaring at him. Breezyblue especially looked rather annoyed his tardy arrival - but his cousin was always annoyed with Stormwing. He also saw that Princess Luna was addressing the group in a loud and authoritative voice. Oh sweet Celestia, he hoped she wouldn't notice him slipping into the back of the group. He had no idea what was going on - something about her never having seen anything more capable of great feats of strength than a pony. Good good, all he was missing was the obligatory pep talk. He made sure to cheer extra loud at the end of the Princess' speech.

Oh no, now he had Whirligig's attention - the cornflower blue pegasus turned around at the sound of his voice - and gave him a rather condescending look. Stormwing sometimes wished that he couldn't communicate with his sister using facial expressions alone - maybe then he would have been able to pretend that he didn't know she was trying to tell him that he was an idiot and how dare he be late for something like this when Equestria needed him. And also, in his rush to get here on time, he'd forgotten to don one of the Factory Uniforms. It figured, considering trying to find his old uniform was the reason for his tardiness. Sheepishly he snuck out of the crowd, brutally aware of his bright red, unhelmeted mane sticking out like a sore hoof.

He returned to the room full of eager pegasi in the proper attire this time, and plastered a smile on his face. He was used to rocky starts to mornings - unfortunately they were far too common an occurrence in Stormwing's life and he was used to laughing them off and getting on with his day. Putting the morning's events behind him and avoiding a certain pair of green eyes that looked exactly like his own, he focussed his attention on the purple mare who seemed to be in charge of the operation and awaited further instructions.

Whirligig rubbed her hoof against her temple to try to clear her head, and suppressed yet another cough, but it wasn't really working. She wasn't sick - she couldn't get sick. Not when the factory needed her.

Whirligig realized she probably didn't really need to be around for the orientation either - vaporization may not be her main department, but she'd been working in there for a few weeks now and didn't need to go through the same training again. But she wanted to get to know some of the volunteers she'd be working with.

So many ponies from all over Equestria seemed to be gathering in the factory today - plenty of volunteers, and even Princess Luna herself, but there were so few of the regular factory workers present that Whirly was starting to worry. She was also worried because Stormwing had yet to make an appearance, though she did recognize a few of the other ponies from the Trottingham weather team. Now Whirligig was starting to get anxious. No, anxious wasn't the right word - Stormwing would turn up, probably midway through Princess Luna's motivational speech or something just to be extra-rude. Annoyed was a better word. Even when things were important he could never seem to make much of an effort. She exchanged irritated glances with one of Stormwing's local teammates and realized that she only had to put up with his tardiness every once in a while. They had to put up with him every day.

She tried to put her irresponsible brother to the back of her mind and turned her attention to Sugar Apple, who was giving out more instructions to the rest of the volunteers. Eventually, the purple mare paused and asked for questions from the crowd. Whirligig had one - actually, she had several, in usual Whirligig fashion, but she decided to limit herself to just one.

[colour=#498995]"Oh, I have a question, Apple-bird, ma'am! Are you in charge of all the volunteers? Cause if you are, then who's gonna be in charge of vaporization? That usually -"[/colour] she stopped, realizing that talking a lot made her want to cough. Covering her mouth with her hoof, she tried not to draw too much attention to her present state, but since all eyes were already on her, she failed at that rather miserably. With a few feeble wheezes, she finished her sentence [colour=#498995]"That's usually your job."[/colour]

She hoped against hope that they wouldn’t try to send her home now. Surely, if she was here she could work, and they needed ponies who could work. Maybe she could wear a mask - one of those masks doctor ponies wore so as not to get their germs on other ponies. She would look rather silly, of course, but she wouldn't mind too terribly if it meant she still got to help out. She shifted her hooves beneath her anxiously, hoping nopony would say anything about her small relapse. She would be fine, she knew she would be fine. She just had to think positive - think positive, yeah?

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Then the griffon reached up and grabbed hold of Care Package's ear in his sharp claw. Twilight winced, expecting the pegasus foal to let out a cry of pain. Instead, the foal batted at the griffon with his hoof until the griffon let go, then looked up at Twilight with big, blue eyes. The alicorn princess nearly melted as she stared into them.

[colour=#002b54]"Oh, did that mean old griffon hurt you? That wasn't very nice, Razor. You should be nice to other foals."[/colour] she said. She clapped her hooves together joyously. Oh, this would be such a fun way to spend the stormy afternoon. She could foalsit for a bit, then when the storm ended and it was time for them to leave, she could turn them back to normal, take a few notes on what they remembered about the experience, and send them on their way! Sure, the ethics behind the whole thing were shoddy at best, but they had consented, right? She should be fine!

Her horn glowed momentarily as she conjured up some baby toys; a blanky or two, some blocks and rattles and a teddy bear. Oh, this would surely be a fun way to spend an afternoon - just like helping with the cake twins, but different.

She looked around the library for some children's books. She was sure she had some fun stories with bright pictures, or a board book or two to share with the little ones. She found a simple one about ponies of all sorts of different colours and smiled.

[colour=#002b54]"How would you two like it if I read you a story?"[/colour] she asked.

All the same, the city still carried itself with an air of being a place where, potentially, dreams could be made and come true. As she and her brother arrived at the city early in the morning, she couldn't help but feel a buzz of excitement that came whenever she travelled throughout Equestria. Of course, as she often poked fun at the city for being big a snooty, she tried not to let on that she was excited to be here. Her brother, however, read her like a book.

[colour=#498995]"So Stormwing, remind me why I bothered to come to Canterlot with you?" [/colour]

[colour=#498995]"And why not?" [/colour]

Whirligig's playfully taunting laugh rang out through the empty cobblestone streets. Little sisters – sometimes, no matter how kind you were to them, they could be so very cruel. Stormwing, who had never been a very good actor, tried to look hurt, but this only made his sister laugh harder.

Whirligig suddenly became solemn. The ball actually made her nervous - she was a factory worker and a bit of a nerd - the idea of a grand and fanciful social gathering caused butterflies to form in her stomach. Oh sure she'd be attending with her brother, her most favourite Stallion in all of Equestria, but she was still a little anxious about it. He'd told her to bring her most fanciful dancing dress, only for her to discover that the one worn to her senior prom was not only a bit outdated, but it didn't fit her very well and had a few irreparable stains and rips - apparently the evening had been a little bit wilder than she's remembered.

[colour=#00333E]"Proper ballroom attire certainly is a must. I'm sure we'll find a boutique around here with a style that's well within our price range, Whirly-bird. What sort of dress are you thinking of?"[/colour]

He'd been offered a job with Canterlot's weather crew when he finished school, but ultimately chose Trottingham so that he could keep a closer eye on his family. He had to admit, the Canterlot ponies had some technique, though Stormwing couldn't help but think the air was a bit too still - perhaps a light breeze would make the morning a bit more pleasant, and a few more soft fluffy clouds in the sky above certainly wouldn't hurt. He would have put one over there, above that library, and another over there behind the rows of shops. What was that in one of those store windows anyways?

[colour=#00333E]"Look, Whirly-bird, a grand-opening in that shop over there. Let's go check it out - it looks like an interesting little store.”[/colour]

[colour=#498995]"Oh, Ducky, this shop is adorable! It's so very quaint and country - it looks just like a little frontier town. And such beautiful dresses! I love that hat, oh, and the silky shine on that one is beautiful! I wonder if I might be able to find my dress here! Oh, wouldn't that just be perfect? If the first shop we visit has the perfect dress?"[/colour]

He turned apologetically to the shopkeeper and immediately regretted not paying her any attention before. The raspberry mare was a beauty to behold - a true southern belle if he ever did see one, and suddenly the rustic décor of the boutique made absolute perfect sense. He suddenly had a though that maybe, just maybe he should take up this 'shopping' thing that mares seemed to value so much as a more permanent pastime.

[colour=#00333E]"Sorry about my sister,"[/colour] he said, careful to enunciate the word 'sister' as clearly as he could, just in case the eyes and mane-colour didn't give enough of an indication about the relationship. [colour=#00333E]"This is a nice little store you have here and she has the tendency to get a little bit over-excited. You’ve clearly put a lot of work into the place – I hope a little beauty such as yourself had some good strong hooves around to help you with setting it up." [/colour]

[colour=#498995]"Stormwing is right - your boutique is absolutely lovely-dovely. It's so very quaint, such a breath of fresh air when compared to the rest of Canterlot, I think. Would you could you maybe help me find a nice dress to wear at a ball tomorrow night, miss? I would need something of course that suits my colouring, and something elegant and classy without being snooty and frilly. Maybe something like that one there, but not such a full skirt, and ruffles more like the ones on this one here? Or, actually, whatever you think might work would be wonderful, too - you're clearly a fashionista of excellent taste wheras I am but a humble factory worker from Cloudsdale. Also, money isn't a problem since my brother here is taking care of the bill."[/colour] She winked at Stormwing, who gave his sister another playful scowl the moment the earth pony had her back turned.