>You need the money, you need the money...
>That's been your mantra for the last fifteen minutes now.
>It's 10:30 in the damn morning.
>You shouldn't be forced to deal with this...
>"Anonymous! Are you listening?!"
"Hmm? What's that?"
>You snap back to reality, that shrill voice making sure your attention is solely on her.
>Silver Spoon.
>This filly is doing a damn fine job in working your nerves.
>What with this...tea party nonsense.
>Silver has you dressed in an apron and frilly hat that belongs to her mother.
>And she had you seated in a chair small enough to where your knees are in danger of breaking your nose with one wrong jolt.
>"I said why aren't you drinking you tea!"
>Because there's nothing in the damn cup.
>That's what you -want- to say.
>But...you have to "humor" children, don't you?
>Especially if you want to make those sweet, sweet bits for this babysitting gig.
>So you smile, more like sneer, and bring the tiny teacup to your lips and down the imaginary beverage.
"Ahh.", you say as deadpan as possible.
>Silver puffs out those gray cheeks and glares daggers at you.
>"You are a bad party guest!"
>You grit your teeth and force a pleasant demeanor.
"...The tea is exquisite, Silver Spoon."
>"-Miss- Silver Spoon!"
"-Miss- Silver Spoon."
>Chokin' here, you're chokin'...
 
>How much longer can this tea party go on?
>Silver is doing her best to imitate a high-society socialite.
>"I just have -no- idea what she was thinking! That fashion was soooo last year!"
>The filly giggles and sips her fake tea.
>You just nodded and grunt "yeah"s and "uh-huh"s.
>Silver glares again.
>"I'm hungry! Make me lunch!"
>Lunch? It's only... Holy shit, it's 12:10.
>You've been playing make-believe for far too long.
"And what do you want?"
>"Hmm...", she purses her lips and thinks. "I'll have a daffodil sandwich on rye with the crusts cut off with a lentil soup of carrots, potatoes, celery, parsley, tomato, and onion. And for a drink I will have fresh squeezed lemonade with a slice of lemon."
"...One daffodil sandwich, coming up."
>"Anonymous!"
>Silver whined but you ignored it. You were already taking off that ridiculous apron and hat and making tracks towards the kitchen.
>"W-Wait for me!"
>You can hear Silver's hooves clopping after you on the hardwood floors.
>You had to admit, Silver's place was nice. Damn nice. I guess when your name is literally "Silver Spoon" it's to be expected.
>After a short walk you find the kitchen and all it's immaculate cooking utensils.
"So...one sandwich, right?"
>Silver grunts as she clambers up a chair at the dinning table.
>"I'm watching you..."
 
"Watching me? For what?"
>"To make sure you don't do anything funny, of course!"
"...Funny? Funny how?"
>"Poppa says to always watch the servants when they make food, because they could do something to it!"
"Uh...huh. Well, I'm not going to do anything funny, Silver, just relax."
>The filly scrunches her face in response.
>You just roll your eyes and set to make her and yourself something to eat.
"Here."
>You slide her a sandwich. She looks at it like it's about to start tap dancing.
>"Is it safe?"
"Of course it is. Sheesh, what has your father been teaching you?"
>Silver harrumphs and turns her nose up.
>"And where's my soup? And lemonade?"
"Pfft, I ain't making all that. Just eat--"
>"I want soup! Now! Soup, soup, soup, soup, soup!"
>She starts slamming her hooves on the tabletop as she shrieks.
>You cover your ears and shout back.
"Fine! Christ! I'll make some damn soup! Stop screaming!"
>She immediately stops and smiles brightly.
>"I figured you'd see it my way."
>Stuck-up little twerp...
>With a furrowed brow you start gathering the ingredients for Silver's soup.
>The princess herself is taking small bites out of her sandwich.
>"I thought I said I wanted the crusts cut off."
>Just bite your tongue, Anon. Just bite your tongue...
 
>The soup comes together quickly enough.
>Silver was nice enough to provide running commentary.
>"That carrot isn't right. This potato is lumpy. The tomato has a bruise on it."
>-So- helpful that one...
>Finally you present her with a piping hot bowl of lentil soup.
>"About time", she snorts and picks up a spoon.
>Ssssssssssllllllllllurp
>Of course she'd slurp her soup...
"Well? How is it?"
>"...It...it's good..."
>Is she...blushing?
>There's definitely some pink on her face, that's for sure.
"Hmm. Good. Glad you like it."
>Silver nods quickly and eats in quiet.
>You do the same.
>Damn, this soup -is- good. You impressed yourself. Good for you, Anon.
>Afterwards, once the two of you were finished, you put what little dishes there were in the sink. You'd get to them later.
>Silver was still happily licking her lips.
>"That really was good. Really, really good."
"Happy to hear it. But now what do you want to do?"
>"Well, a jog would be nice. To make sure that yummy soup doesn't go right to my hips."
"Aren't you a little young to be worrying about that kinda stuff?"
>That pink color creeped into her cheeks again.
>"I-I'm a big filly! I'm very mature for my age!"
"Okay, fine, stop getting huffy. Geez. Go. Jog. Just stay in the backyard."
>"Y-You're not going to join me?"
"Exercise is for fat people and women. I'm neither."
>"You...! You...! Ugh!"
>With an exaggerated pout, Silver stormed out the door.
>Time to get a few minutes of peace on the couch.
 
>Such a pleasant dream you were having.
>All sorts of pretty mares were there.
>Oooh, there's Twilight in a sexy librarian outfit.
>And there's Rainbow Dash in a tight-fitting Wonderbolts suit. It's hugging her in just the right place.
>Lordy, Miss Applejack, you didn't know they made Daisy Dukes for ponies...
>Wait a minute.
>This -is- a dream!
>Snort!
>You awake on the couch, a stream of drool trickling down you chin.
>You wipe it away and glance around and see the clock on the wall reads 9:00 on the button.
"Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssshit!"
>You're off the couch in an instance and looking for a window that'll let you see into the backyard.
>One is found and to your horror Silver is nowhere to be seen.
"Ffffffuck!"
>You're about book it to town for help when you hear a noise come from the kitchen.
>A burgler too? This just isn't your day!
>As quietly as possible you sneak towards the kitchen. When you get there you peer around a corner and see...
>Silver Spoon doing her best to make something to eat at the stove.
"Silver?"
>The sudden voice scares her and she eeps.
>"A-Anonymous! Don't do that! Nearly caused my heart to stop!"
"Uh, sorry. What...are you doing?"
>"M-Me? Um..."
>She starts blushing once again.
>"I was...making dinner."
"You should have woken me up. Shoulda done that hours ago actually."
>"You looked so peaceful though. And...I was making dinner for you."
"Me...?"
>She bashfully nods looks to the floor.
 
"Heh... That's...really sweet of you, Silver. It really is."
>Maybe she wasn't -such- a stuck-up princess as one would believe.
"Tell you what, how about we make dinner together?"
>"O-Okay!"
>Silver perks right up and wags her tail.
>With a chuckle you join her at the stove and help her make...whatever it was she was trying to make.
>Turned out to be a vegetable stir-fry of some kind. Really hit the spot, actually.
>You patted your belly, Silver Spoon mimicking you as you did so.
"Silver, you really are a good little cook."
>"R-Really?! I-I mean... Of course I am. I...taught myself."
>The mood in the room kinda drops, but just for a minute.
>"I'm just glad you liked it! I was so afraid I'd ruin it!"
"No fears on that front, kiddo."
>Sudden gongs chime and you see it's 10 o'clock.
"I think it's about time for bed, don't you?"
>"Well... I am a bit tired."
>She yawns and pushes her glasses back up her snout.
"I can see that. Uh, do you need me to tuck you in or something?"
>"Puh-leaze! I'm a grown filly. I can do it myself!"
>She snorts and sticks her nose into the air again.
>"But...if you wanted too...that'd be fine with me."
>You smile and pat the filly on the head.
"Alright then, come kid."
>Silver smiles backs and leads you to her bedroom.
 
>You whistle when you enter Silver Spoon's bedroom. It was almost as big as your place.
>The filly herself has already made her way into bed, taking off her glasses and bead-necklace.
>You get to the tucking, which takes a minute as Silver's bed is about the size of a small car.
>Lucky kid...
"There we go. All tucked in. You sleep well, okay?"
>She nods sweetly.
>You turn to leave and her hear speak up.
>"A-Anon? Um...could I...get a kiss on the forehead?"
"A kiss? I dunno, Silver. That might be overstepping my bounds."
>"Pleeeeeeease?"
>Fucking...those damn puppy dog eyes.
>You sigh, but relent, going back over to the bed and planting a soft kiss on the fillys forehead.
"Sleep tight, Silver."
>You get up to leave again, and again, she speaks up.
>"I'm...sorry if I was mean earlier. I...hate when my parents just leave me with some sitter. I didn't mean to take it out on you. They're just never here and I get mad and...lonely..."
>Frowning you go back and sit on the edge of the bed.
"Kid... You know your parents love you, right?"
>"I know..." she's heading her face under her blanket. "But it feels like they never have time for me..."
>You pet the part of her head you can get at.
"Sounds like you need a friend."
>"That would be nice... Diamond Tiara's...well, we're friends, but...yeah."
"I get it. I ain't much but, I'm willing to kick around with you a bit."
>"...You are?"
"Sure am."
>You can hear her sniffling and trying her best not to cry under her sheets.
 
>"Anon...thank you."
>Her voice is at the breaking point.
>You smile sadly and pet her head again.
"Whenever you need me, kid. I'll be here. Okay? I mean it."
>You really do.
>She's tugged your heartstrings in a hurry...
>Silver answers with another shaky nod.
"Get some sleep okay?"
>"Okay..."
>You push off the bed and head for the door.
>"Goodnight...friend.
"Goodnight, friend."
>With that you shut the door behind you and let Silver Spoon drift off into a peaceful slumber.
>This is one babysitting gig you'll never forget...
>And you're happy about that.
 
The end.