Cutie Mark Crusaders Emergency Response Team

by Loopy Legend

Rating: everyone
Tags: Scootaloo, Winona, Sweetie Belle, Twilight Sparkle, Apple Bloom, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy
Length: 13270

All Ponyville is in trouble, and only the specialised team of the Cutie Mark Crusaders can save it. Celestia help us all!

An explosion in Twilight's lab causes a huge disaster all over town. Communications with Canterlot is broken, making it impossible to call for any help before time runs out for the citizens of Ponyville.

The only chance anypony has is the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Can they save Ponyville from its own doom. Celestia help us all!

Thanks to my special friend Bad_Seed_72 for all her wonderful editing work.

Published 2013-09-20 17:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-09-20 17:30:02 UTC

Cutie Mark Crusaders Emergency Response Team

Cutie Mark Crusaders Emergency Response Team

Never judge a filly by her coat!

Celestia had made her sun extra bright today, gracing all Equestria with beautiful, warming morning rays. One particular dragon was enjoying his regular extra morning nap. All his chores were complete and Twilight was busy down in the laboratory.

A loud knock on the door to Golden Oaks Library would be Spike’s undoing. He got up from the couch, cranky his nap had been interrupted. “This better be good, or somepony is going to get it,” he grumbled to himself.

Spike opened the door to see Applejack and three excited fillies behind her. “Hey Applejack. What brings you ‘round here?”

“Howdy Spike,” she greeted, tipping her trademark hat. “Twi asked me ta come ‘round an’ help wit’ somethin’. Is she in?”

Spike yawned and rubbed his eyes while holding the door open for Applejack and her company. “Sure is. She is down in the basement. Come on through.”

“Thanks kindly, Spike. Think ya could keep an eye on the fillies fer me, please?” A “woof” came from behind Applejack, demanding to be included. “An’ Winona too, please?” she corrected.

“Sure…I guess I could,” he deadpanned. Applejack rolled her eyes and went down the stairs to the basement.

“You guys can play by yourselves, right?” Spike asked, signalling he wanted to fall asleep again by hoping back up on his favourite couch.

Apple Bloom waved him off with a hoof, not even bothering to look in his direction. “Ya, ya. Sure we can. Sweet Dreams.”

Spike slowly fell back into dreamland as the members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders plus one dog went about entertaining themselves in the library’s main room.

“So, anypony got some ideas to kill the time? Your sis did say she could be a few hours, didn’t she?” Sweetie Belle asked, looking around the library trying to come up with an idea to kill said time.

It seemed Scootaloo already had an idea. She was pulling several books off the shelves and placing them in some pattern on the floor. “How about some fun, girls?” she teased, putting another book to the pattern.

“What ya have in mind, Scoots?” Bloom asked.

“How about, Cutie Mark Crusader Sumo Wrestlers?”

Both Scootaloo’s friends came to life at the idea of some fun. Sweetie Belle finally figured out what Scootaloo was making. “You’re making a ring! Right?”

“Yup!” Scootaloo declared, all finished. “Now! Who wants to be my first victim?” she teased.

Apple Bloom flexed out her hooves, giving Scootaloo a confident smile. She slowly and confidently made her way into the makeshift arena. “Ya don’t think ya have any chance o’ beatin’ me now, do ya?”

“Anytime, anywhere,” Scootaloo taunted, waving a forehoof for her fellow Crusader to bring it on.

Sweetie Belle waved a hoof to start the match, and it was game on. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo started going at it, hoof for hoof to force each other out of the ring.

Sweetie Belle and Winona cheered them on with shouts and woofs. Much to Spike’s disappointment, he was awakened, unable to enjoy the bliss of slumber land. ‘What I wouldn’t give for a silence spell right about now!’

~~~~~~~~~~

“Howdy, Twi. What did ya need ta see me ‘bout?” Applejack asked, trotting down the stairs into the state-of-the-art laboratory.

The lab was full of beeping machines, strange liquids, more books and notes then Applejack cared to count, and a pony too obsessed in her studies to notice Applejack had entered the room. “Twi? Oi, Twilight,” she called again.

Since her friend was not responding, Applejack knew just what to do. Lucky for her, Twilight was a pony of habit. She could exploit this fact about her friend, and have some entertainment while she was at it. Applejack slowly crept up to some of the books stacked up on one of the tables and pushed a few off.

Twilight imminently came to life, like she had a ‘something is out of place detector’ installed in her brain. “Ah!” she cried out, scared half to death.

“Applejack! Oh, thank Celestia it is only you.” Her horn lit up as the books in question were levitated back into a neat pile on the table. “If it was Rainbow or Pinkie…let’s just say they would have done a lot worse.”

“Ah bet they woulda.”

“Anyways, thanks for coming. I could really use your help with something I need to test.” Twilight pushed some of her current work aside and used her telekinesis to show Applejack a book she was reading not long ago.

“Wait, wait, wait. Yer not gonna do what Ah think ya gonna do. Are ya?”

The book in question was labelled “Time Alteration spells”, and the displayed page showed how to age living things.

“What! No! Of course not! Why do you think I asked you to bring a few pot plants,” Twilight reassured, pointing to the saddle bags Applejack had brought.

Applejack unpacked the two pot plants out of said saddle bags and placed them on the floor while she addressed Twilight. “Well, it jus’ afta what happened wit’ Trixie returnin’ an’ all. Can’t blame me fer bein’ a lil’ worried there, Twilight.”

Twilight seemed to become a little more excited at the mention of Trixie. This did nothing to make Applejack any less worried. “That’s why I decided to look into this. Trixie doing an age spell was beyond belief, but it gave me ideas.”

“Ideas?” Applejack inquired flatly.

“Why, yes. Don’t act so worried. I only want to try this theory out on plants. Think of what we could do if we could speed the growth of plants. Getting medical herbs and food faster could benefit all ponies.”

“Ah don’t know, Twi. Messin’ wit’ nature an’ all jus’ don’t sit right wit’ me.”

“Well, I think we can both agree no harm could be done from testing this theory. Wouldn’t you agree?” Twilight asked hopefully.

“Ah guess yer right there. Okay, Twi. Give it a shot.” Applejack took a few cautious steps back, not wanting to be in the range of any after-effects. ‘If this ends up wit’ her lab explodin’…again, Ah will kill her all ova’…again.’

“Okay. Stand back.”

“Ah am standin’ back, believe me.”

Twilight rolled her eye before she started her spell. She concentrated hard on the first pot plant, which was a simple bulb of a flower. She poured a considerable amount of magic up in her horn, making the purple aura around her horn get bigger and bigger.

Applejack started to sweat, worried that something would go wrong…scratch that. Something will go wrong. Applejack had seen one of Twilight’s spells go up in smoke one too many times.

Twilight was about to release all the energy she had built up into the plant sitting right in front of her when the door to the lab slammed open and two fillies came rolling in. The sudden interruption scared Twilight enough she missed her intended target. Instead, the powerful blast of magic hit one of the active machines located in the back of the lab.

The machine started to make funny noises and shake violently. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked on in horror from the pathway above as the machine even started to glow.

“Hit the deck! She’s going to blow!” Twilight yelled, all ponies heeding and ducking for cover.

A bright light consumed the room. Sweetie Belle and Spike finally peered into the door to see what was happening. But it was too late for anypony to do anything. The machine finally gave way and exploded in a huge collection of bright light, loud bangs, smoke and one entire lab size explosion.

After what seemed like an eternity—which was actually only five minutes—the dust finally settled and the racket ceased. Three fillies slowly dared to finally open their eyes and come out of hiding.

“Everypony alright?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Present,” Sweetie Belle called out. She walked towards Apple Bloom’s voice, attempting to make sure her friends survived the blast.

“Ya, we’re fine Bloom,” Scootaloo reassured.

“Good ta see ya girls okay. But, what ‘bout Twilight and’ ma sis?”

The three Crusaders looked down into the lab. Most of the dust had cleared, showcasing all the damage. They couldn’t quite make out the two ponies who remained unaccounted for. But a strange noise drew even more of their attention.

“Hey! You two hear that?” Scootaloo asked, perking her ears up and leaning down towards the bottom part of the lab. Her friends followed suite, trying to discern what the noise was.

“Is that…no way…it can’t be!” Sweetie blurted out, taken aback and tripping over her own hooves as she retreated backwards. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo soon followed suite. Before them on the lab floor were two little foals. More precisely, foal versions of Applejack and Twilight.

“Oh no, no, no, no! This can’t be happening!” Scootaloo exclaimed in panic. She stumbled back, not paying attention to what was behind her. She tripped over another object that was near the lab door. A baby, purple dragony object.

“Oh no! Not Spike too!” Bloom cried, following Scoot’s example and panicking.

After a few more panicked seconds of nothing but wishing this was all a dream, Scootaloo and Bloom both received a rude reality check. “Wake up, girls!” Sweetie Belle slapped both her friends across the face to snap them out of panic mode. “How is panicking going to help us out of this situation?”

When both of her friends could provide no answer, the only pony with her senses still working answered for them. “Listen, we need help! So stop horsing around and let’s go get some!”

~~~~~~~~~~

What had started out as a perfectly normal and peaceful day had been turned upside down. Unlucky for three fillies, it was about to get a whole lot worse.

The fillies barged out of the library in an attempt to find somepony who could help Applejack, Twilight and Spike. Winona followed them as the galloped off down the street.

They didn’t make it far, grinding to a halt just round the nearest bend. “Oh no! Please, not here to!” Sweetie shrieked, completely flabbergasted.

What they all saw was a foal version of many ponies they recognized from around town. A foal Rose Luck near a bed of flowers. Foal versions of Aloe and Lotus stuck under a saddle bag. There was even—much to Scootaloo’s horror—a foal Rainbow Dash.

Scootaloo raced over to her hero and mentor. “Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo picked the baby foal up to make sure she was okay. “Rainbow Dash, not you too,” she sobbed, starting to cry.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle took this time to properly assess the situation. Taking note all the ponies who were adults are now foals--foals who were only a few months old to boot.

“Jus’ what in tarnation happened?! Ah ain’t neva seen anythin’ like this in ma whole life!”

“I know right? Like it or not we have to do something to fix it,” Sweetie agreed, taking Apple Bloom’s approach to the situation.

“Rainbow Dash, please come back! Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo was close to a mental breakdown, which her friends knew was almost inevitable now. “NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” she screamed, holding onto the foal Rainbow Dash.

“Give me a break,” Sweetie face-hooved.

“C’mon Scoots! We need ta fix everypony, not jus’ Rainbow Dash,” Bloom ordered, as Sweetie dragged the distraught pegasus away from her idol and down the street.

“Let me go Sweetie, I must be with Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo sobbed.

“Girls! Oi Girls!” a filly yelled, galloping right towards them.

“Hey, look. It’s Twist. Twist isn’t a foal!” Sweetie squeaked, in a high-pitch voice.

Twist finally made it to where the Crusaders were and collapsed in a heap on the ground, clearly exhausted from her marathon run. “I…finally…found…somepony…who is not…a foal,” she gasped.

She looked up at the three with a smile. “Well, at least not baby foals,” Twist corrected.

“Yeah, that’s strange. How come you’re not only a few months old, Twist?” Sweetie asked.

Twist simply shrugged, clearly as confused as the Crusaders were. “I could ask you lot the same thing.”

“More importantly, we have ta get all these foals off the street an’ taken care o’.” Apple Bloom’s insight was right on the mark as per usual.

All the fillies quickly began to round up the foals like the Apples would a herd of cattle, taking them all into one of the nearby houses. This happened to be Lyra’s and Bon Bon’s home. A foal version of Bon Bon lying on the floor confirmed this.

They had just gathered all the nearby foals when Featherweight and Pipsqueak arrived at the door, both carrying several foal versions of Ponyville citizens themselves.

“Dear Luna, are we glad to see you guys!” Pipsqueak exclaimed, panting to catch his breath from galloping around so much. He put the foal in his mouth down while also unloading several more off his back.

“Bring those foals in here,” Scootaloo ordered, making some room for the new additions in the makeshift daycare.

Sweetie Belle leaned in to whisper to her friend. “You think she will be alright? I mean, after seeing Dash like that an all.”

“Sssshhh, don’t remind her,” Bloom quickly hissed back.

“You know, come to think of it…the only ponies who got affected by whatever it is that happened are all adults. All the fillies and colts seem to be unaffected,” Sweetie Bell informed, waving a hoof at all the fillies and colts in the room to showcase her point. ‘Yeah, change the topic, good idea Sweetie Belle.’

“Ah think ya may have a point there,” Bloom agreed, every other foal in the room nodding to support the claim.

“Listen everypony!” Apple Bloom announced, standing on the couch above the others. “Ah may know what caused this. Ah’m gonna take Sweetie Belle an’ Scootaloo wit’ me. Y’all reckon ya can round up the rest o’ the foals an’ bring ‘em here?”

“I think we can handle that,” Featherweight volunteered, Pipsqueak agreeing with a mock salute.

“Good. Girls, let’s hurry back ta the library.” Apple Bloom raced out of the house, Scootaloo and Sweetie in tow.

“Wonderful. We’re on foalsitting duty,” Twist deadpanned, rolling her eyes.

“It could be worse,” Featherweight replied.

“It could be?”

“Yeah. We could be the ones who have to save Ponyville.”

Twist stood there for a few seconds staring blankly at Featherweight. “I’ll go find some bottles.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The three Crusaders burst back into the library. They quickly rushed down stairs to check on Twilight and Applejack and to see if they could do something to sort this mess out.

They found Winona sitting with a sad expression next to Applejack. The dog somehow knew this was her Applejack, despite her being a little foal. “Winona, how’s Applejack doin’?” Bloom asked the dog.

Winona could only whimper in response. Applejack and Twilight were past crying. They had done it so much while the fillies went out for help they had both since fallen asleep.

“We better at least put them to bed,” Sweetie suggested. She picked up Twilight while Apple Bloom got her sister.

They quietly and carefully went up to Twilight’s room and put the two foals to sleep on her bed.

“Okay y’all, we need ta think o’ somethin’ an’…” Apple Bloom trailed off when a constant beeping noise caught her attention.

“Need to what?” Scootaloo asked, becoming increasingly impatient.

“Shush a sec!” Apple Bloom piped her ears up to try and find the accusing sound. A steady beep was coming from the study down stairs.

“Y’all hear that?”

Scootaloo’s keen senses kicked in. Now she was actually concentrating enough to use them instead of becoming frustrated. She also heard the accusing noise coming from down stairs.

“Ya. Let’s go check it out.”

Scootaloo and Bloom made their way downstairs to investigate the sound. “What sound? I don’t hear a thing.” Sweetie squeaked, looking down at them from the top of the stairs.

“C’mon, Sweetie! Stop yer fussin’ an’ jus’ follow us!” Bloom called out from down the staircase.

The three fillies plus a dog trotted into the study to investigate. As they suspected, the beeping was coming from in here, the fact it got louder as they entered the room was confirmation.

“Sound like some kind of alarm system. A magical one at that,” Sweetie said.

“How in the hay would ya know what it even is?” Scootaloo accused. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were not buying Sweetie Belle was right.

“Because, my sister has similar things in her shop. They will go off is somepony robbed one of her dresses.”

Sure enough, as they walked around the wall near Twilight’s study desk, the alarm was there, and beeping loudly.

“What’s this?” Scootaloo looked at the glass case on the wall that was under the magical alarm. Some writing under it was instructions on what to do with the crystal ball looking thing inside the glass. “In case of emergency, or if Twilight Sparkle is unable to help, please follow these instructions. One, break glass. Two, place orb on the ground. Three, touch orb to commence subconscious soul transfer.”

The three fillies looked at each other with dumb found expressions. “What’s a subconscious soul…whatsa-mi-doobie?” Bloom asked, directing the question at Sweetie in the hopes she would know.

Scootaloo joined in, waiting for Sweetie Belle to provide an answer.

“What?! I got no idea what that thing is!” Sweetie protested.

“Ya gotta know! Ya knew what that there alarm thingy was,” Bloom objected.

“I have only just learned how to use basic telekinesis! I’m not a magical guru!” Sweetie snapped back.

“Can it, you two. Let’s just do what the instructions say. We all know Twilight is like really smart and all. That, and we got no other ideas, right?” Scootaloo gave her friends a second to see if another plan was feasible.

When it became clear it was the only plan they had, they all sighed. “Okay, go ahead, Scoots,” Bloom said.

Scootaloo used the hammer near the glass and smashed it to pieces, rather enjoying the whole glass smashing ordeal. She pulled the orb out and placed it on the floor in the middle of the study.

After a few minutes, nothing at all happened. The Crusaders were circled around the orb, trying to figure out what to do next. “Ya think it’s broken?” Scootaloo pondered.

“Well, the instructions say we gotta touch it,” Bloom mentioned, pointing back to the instructions.

Awkward silence befell the study. All three fillies were thinking the exact same thing. “I’m/Ah’m not touching it!” They all declared, only to fall silent again, stunned they all blurted that out at the same time.

The three fillies continued to argue over who should touch the orb first, neither letting up on their points. While they were distracted with arguing, Winona walked over to the orb and gave it a curious sniff. She wolfed to Apple Bloom to indicate something, before sniffing it again.

Apple Bloom turned around to see what the dog was barking over, when she saw it.

“NO WINONA DON’T!”

It was too late. Winona’s paw touched the orb out of her curiosity. The orb started to shine as bright magical light consumed the whole room.

After a minute of bright light and screaming fillies, the whole ordeal was over. The orb was right back on the floor were the fillies had left it. Winona laid next to the orb, unconscious.

Bloom rushed over and picked the dog up. “Winona! Oi Winona! Ya okay girl?”

“Looks like what ever happened got her pretty good,” Scootaloo blurted out, earning cold stares from her friends.

“What!” she defended. “Just, stating the facts.”

“Is she still…” Sweetie Belle gulped and finished, “Alive?”

Apple Bloom put her ears to the dog’s underside and listened for a few seconds. A smile came to her face when she heard the steady beats of a heart still working. “Ah think she will be fine. Her heart is still beatin’,” Bloom confirmed. The other Crusaders let out sighs of relief.

“Well, what now, girls? We’re back to square one. That orb was a complete bust.” Sweetie crossed her forehooves in disappointment. Nothing was working, and they had a huge problem on their shoulders.

“We need help,” Scootaloo said.

“Ah know we do. But all the adults are now baby foals. An, the nearest town is more then a couple of days gallop away. Without the train or a pegasus we can’t really go fer help. There is nopony left in the area who can help…” Apple Bloom trailed off her speech as a sudden realization came to her. It also seemed Sweetie and Scoots both also caught on.

“ZECORA!!!” they all screamed.

“We could ask Zecora fer help! She will know what to do,” Bloom declared.

“For sure she would,” Sweetie agreed.

All the noise the Crusaders were making woke a certain dog up from her slumber. She let out a slight groan as she took in her surroundings and finally managed to stand up.

“Winona! Ya okay girl?” Bloom asked, coming to see if the family pet was any better.

“Winona? I’m no Winona,” the dog said, rubbing her sore head with a paw.

The three fillies were so scared they ran backwards as fast as their little hooves would allow for, smashing into the side wall.

“SHE CAN TALK!” Sweetie screamed.

“TALK! TALK?! SINCE WHEN CAN WINONA TALK!” Apple Bloom yelled.

Scootaloo was too taken by the whole ordeal she couldn’t muster the strength to say anything.

“Sheesh. Would you three settle down? It’s just me. And please stop calling me Winona. This joke has gone on far enough,” the dog said, scaring all the fillies again.

All three fillies clammed up. They could only look on with horror as something that was supposed to be impossible was happening right in front of their very eyes. “By the way, why does my head hurt so much?” The dog looked at the Crusaders, waiting for them to answer.

She grumbled a little, annoyed the fillies were keeping up this charade of her being the Apple family dog. Her head was still hurting, but it was also working, recalling the events that happened last. It finally clicked in her head and she became horrified. “OH NO! The lab! “Oh, I hope Applejack is okay!”

“Apple Bloom, when were you going to tell us your dog could talk?” Scoots asked.

“Ah didn’t know she could!” Bloom answered.

“Girls! Enough! This joke has gone on long enough. I’m Twilight, not Winona. Now, we must get to the lab and check on Applejack,” she ordered.

The three scared fillies dropped their jaws, adding shocked to their fear. None obeyed or could even move to Twilight’s order.

“Would you three stop this already! Applejack is going to tan all your hides at this rate!”

The three fillies still said nothing, instead pointing to a mirror on the wall to Twilight’s left.

“What?” Twilight said, frustrated she was getting nowhere with the girls.

“If ya don’t believe us, see fer yerself,” Bloom stuttered, barely managing to speak at all.

“Honestly, what is the deal with you three…” Twilight stopped accusing the girls when she saw her own reflection in the mirror. She couldn’t believe what she was looking at. Instead of a lavender coloured unicorn, she was staring at the Apple family dog.

It took a few seconds for her new body to register with her head. But once it clicked, Twilight let out a huge scream and fainted to the floor.

~~~~~~~~~~

Rays of the afternoon sun penetrated the bedroom window of Golden Oak Library, gazing its beams right onto a sleeping Twilight’s eyes. ‘Good thing that was all a nasty dream. I mean, me turning into Winona? Yeah, how crazy!’

She slowly opened her eyes to take in the first rays of morning sunshine. “Hey y’all, Ah think she is finally comin’ ‘round,” a familiar voice called out.

“Yeah, look, she’s moving,” another familiar filly’s voice added.

“Well, it’s about time. We really got an emergency on our hooves here,” a third familiar filly commented in a rather impatient manner.

Twilight groaned a little in a slight bit of pain. “Err, girls. What are you all doing here so early?”

“Early? Ah think ya need ta open yer eyes an’ ‘member what jus’ happened,” Bloom commented.

Slowly and groggily, Twilight opened her eyes, expecting to see three Crusaders doing pony-knows-what in her room. The first thing she saw were two baby foals, one orange with a familiar mane, the other lavender with a purple… “WHAT! What am I doing over there!” she panicked, completely freaking out while she moved back.

She fell off the bed with a ‘THUD’ on the floor before continuing her panic attack. “Why am I a foal?!” She lifted her paws to cover her face in an effort to comfort herself, before quickly recoiling them. “Why do I have paws!?” She was totally starting to lose it and needed answers, right now. “GIRLS!”

“Hey, don’t go blamin’ us for this situation!” Scootaloo defended.

“Why not?!” Twilight shot back.

“Cause, it was your stupid orb thingy that did this to you when Winona touched it!”

“Wait! Orb thingy?” Twilight did a quick double take on what she clearly knew now wasn’t a dream. “The explosion…the orb…wait, you don’t mean…” Twilight looked at the three fillies to see if she was wrong in what had transpired earlier that day, really hoping she was wrong.

“Wow!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “She put all that together rather quickly.” Distracted by the fact Twilight had comprehended the situation so fast. She forgot the main reason she was even in this whole mess.

Apple Bloom whacked her clueless friend upside the head with a forehoof, giving her an annoyed stare. “Focus, Sweetie Belle!”

She gave a cute, sheepish smile while blushing a little. “Sorry.”

“Not helping!” Twilight yelled, still freaking out.

“Well, it’s not our fault…sorta,” Scootaloo admitted, earning a not impressed stare from the pony-turned-dog. “Well the explosion might have been.” She stopped and hesitated a little, before quickly blurting out her trump card. “But you turning into Winona is not!”

Twilight finally was able to take a deep breath and settle herself down. Using a paw to make the fillies come towards her, she gestured for them to sit down while she began to give instructions. “How about we start from the beginning?”

The three fillies nodded while starring into the floor.

“If I remember correctly, I was in the middle of casting a spell on the pot plant in the lab. That’s when you girls,” pointing a hoof at the three fillies, who were playing innocent, “came barging into the lab, making me lose my concentration, and causing some kind of explosion.” She eyed the girls skeptically, making sure they were paying full attention. “Is this correct so far?”

The three fillies nodded in union, none of them wanted to verbally answer the question.

“Well, obviously me and Applejack were knocked out by this, during which time we are both turned to foals, and I end up in Winona’s body. Care to explain anything I missed?” Twilight sarcastically asked, clearly quite upset with the Crusaders.

Again, with no audible answer, the three all shook their heads.

“Girls! This is not funny!”

“But it is hardly our fault, Twilight,” Apple Bloom protested.

Twilight sighed, annoyed the girls were beating around the bush. “Listen, your fault or not, I need to know what happened so I can fix it. We can decide whose fault it is later. Okay?”

The fillies glanced at each other, considering the offer. “This is not an optional question, girls.” Twilight gave the fillies another stern glare. They pulled their act together real quickly and nodded a definite yes to Twilight’s non-optional question. This must be Twilight’s version of a Fluttershy stare--at least the scared fillies thought so.

“Good, now start explaining.”

The fillies quickly glanced each other over to determine who would spill the beans first. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo visually agreed it should be Sweetie Belle, both staring her down.

Sweetie was annoyed she had to be first. She made a mental note to get her fellow Crusaders back for selling her out like this.

“We was playing pony sumo wrestlers up in the main room when…” She quickly pointed a hoof at Scoots and Bloom to make sure she wouldn’t take any of the blame and continued, “Scoots and Bloom tackled each other too hard and ended up rolling into the lab.”

“DID NOT!” the two accused ponies denied.

“DID TO!” Sweetie retaliated. ‘Payback in full, HUH!’ she thought, poking her tongue out at the girls.

The three fillies continued to argue amongst themselves as to whose fault it was when Twilight started to growl. The Crusaders quickly about-faced and put their forehooves up in defence. “Enough, girls! Remember, don’t care whose fault it was! Just tell me what happened!”

“Well, afta that…accident,” Apple Bloom said cautiously, “we all woke up an’ found y’all were foals. Even Spike is a baby dragon again!” Apple Bloom started to cry at the idea her sister might never be normal again. Her fellow Crusaders quickly picked up on this and gave her a hug.

Since Apple Bloom was down for the count, Sweetie Belle continued, still giving her friend a hug. “We all galloped into town straight after we finally came to and put everything together. What we found…well, let’s just say it’s pretty bad.”

Twilight was now on edge. She partly didn’t want to know, but had no choice if she was to fix it. “And…?”

Sweetie Belle hesitated, “Well, let’s just say anypony who is an adult is now like you and Applejack.”

“WHAT!”

“We found Twist, Featherweight and Pipsqueak as their normal selves, so we think it only affects adults. Every other pony was a baby foal. We let them take care of rounding up all the foals while we rushed back here to try and see if we could fix things.”

Scootaloo took over for the last part of the explanation, leaving Sweetie to comfort Bloom. “Once we got back here, we heard a strange beeping sound. We followed it to your study and found a weird orb. It told us to use in case of an emergency and…”

Twilight cut her off as everything finally made sense. “And used my subconscious soul transfer device. That explains…Hey, wait! No it doesn’t! How did I end up in Winona’s body?!”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo covered their muzzles with both forehooves to try and stifle their laughter.

Twilight face-hoofed and exclaimed angrily. “Girls! What happened?!”

“Well, sorry to say, Twilight, but when the orb flashed we were a little scared and took a few steps back. Winona, on the other hoof, went to investigate the orb. By the time we realised what happened, she had touched it.” Sweetie Belle tried her hardest not to completely lose it now that everything that happened made a little sense.

“Wonderful!” Twilight deadpanned. She took another look at herself in her new form. “Least I know my emergency device works.”

The fillies finally settled down enough to ponder what step was next. Apple Bloom pondered with them, full of renewed determination to get her sister back to normal.

“I don’t want to be like this any longer then I have to,” Twilight sighed, showcasing her new canine form. “So, let’s get to the lab so I can start working on a solution to fix this.”

“What can we do to help? We don’t know the first thing about how to fix a magical mishap!” Sweetie squeaked, her fellow Crusaders a little down on the idea of being useless as well.

“Hey now. I’m a dog. It’s not like I have magical abilities at my disposal right now. So you three will have to help me fix this emergency disaster.” Little did Twilight know she would soon come to regret offering the Crusaders the chance to help.

The three fillies piped up at the mention of being able to help, Scootaloo especially who seemed to have an idea. “We could be ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders Emergency Response Ponies’!” she yelled, sending her friends into a frenzy.

The fillies danced around and screamed at their new found brilliance while Twilight was left to contemplate what just happened. “What have I done?” she asked nopony in particular.

The fillies raced out of the bedroom, heading for the lab, not wanting to wait another second to gain their cutie marks.

Twilight was left alone to think about her doom, and that of the entire town of Ponyville. “Celestia, kill me now!”

“Hurry up, slow poke!” Scootaloo exclaimed, grabbing Twilight by the tail and pulling her out of the room.

~~~~~~~~~~

The lab was in a mess. Broken machines and discarded books and papers everywhere, not to mention a big hole in the ground where the machine that blew its top once stood. Twilight almost fainted at the sight.

“Oh looky, my lab is a huge mess,” Twilight said with a sarcastic laugh, twitching.

“Yeah! It was one awesome explosion!” Scootaloo chirped, way too excited.

Bloom and Sweetie slammed the back of Scootaloo’s head, sending it into a dive bomb, destination, the floor. “HEY! What did ya do that for?!”

The two fillies who did the whacking pointed a hoof each towards Twilight, who was a little upset over her lab looking like a war zone.

Scootaloo let her most innocent blush appear on her face as she adorned a smile. “Um…sorry, Twilight.”

Twilight put a paw to her chest and took a deep breath, then exhaled loudly before repeating the process. She completed her typical coping mechanism for when situations went south. “For now, let’s forget the mess. We really need to get Ponyville back to normal.”

“So, how we goin’ ta fix this problem?” Apple Bloom asked, thinking of her sister.

“First, we need to determined what exactly happened. Only then can we fix it.” Twilight bit her lip, not really wanting to ask her next favour of the girls, but she was left with little choice. “Um, girls. You will have to come over here and help me put the machine back together.”

“Ya mean…”

“We get…”

“To help?” the Cutie Mark Crusaders tag teamed.

Twilight took the deepest gulp she ever made in her life. “Yes.”

It was party time and the Crusaders were here to party. They all cheered with joy. They got to help Twilight fix the machine and save Ponyville from a terrible, foal-filled fate!

Twilight knew this was going to be a long day.

“So Twilight, what’s First?” Scootaloo perked up, impatient as always.

“I think if we can fix that machine, then we could reverse the effect that spell.”

The fillies now went from excited to confused. They showcased this point to Twilight in the only way they could, blank stares.

Twilight huffed. “It’s a magical amplifier machine. In short, it is used to measure, enhance, or decrease the magical level of a unicorn. I have the only one in Equestria. I made it for an experiment I wished to test at a later date.”

The Crusaders still stared blankly at her.

“It makes a unicorn’s magic more powerful,” Twilight deadpanned, upset that once again nopony understood her.

“Oh, that makes more sense,” Scootaloo admitted with a little too much pride. Her friends agreed with a nod, acting like they were now experts on the topic.

“Yes. Once we fix the machine, I should be able to cast the reverse spell into it…which some little fillies made me miss,” Twilight accused, directing her attention towards the now guilty-looking Crusaders. “Hopefully, it will reverse the process if we reverse the setting the machine was on to start with. In theory, of course.”

“Can we really fix it, Twilight? Can we really turn ma sis back ta normal?” Bloom sobbed and cried into Twilight’s fur.

Twilight put a comforting paw on the sobbing filly’s head. “I sure hope so, Apple Bloom. I sure hope so.”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo came over and gave Bloom another hug. She really needed the support right about now.

“Let’s get started, girls.” Twilight motioned for them to follow her to the broken machine. They didn’t resist. Apple Bloom was determined to help along with the others. “It will be hard for me to fix this without my magic, so I hope I can count on your support?”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Scootaloo, try and give it another turn,” Twilight said, popping her head out of the machine for the hundredth time.

“Okay, Twi.” Scootaloo gave the lever on the other side the machine a push, sending it down.

The machine started to make some noise, and for a moment Twilight thought she had the machine right where she wanted. As the machine hummed, it sounded weird and different. Before anypony (or dog) could do anything, the machine started to smoke, and a small bang could be heard in the interior of the once humming-mess of steel and wires.

Twilight threw her paws up in protest, giving off an angry groan. “That’s it! I give up! I just can’t fix this without my magic!”

“But if you can’t fix it, how will Ponyville and everypony get back to normal?” Sweetie asked, thinking all hope surely can’t be lost.

“Nah, not at all,” Scootaloo casually reassured.

“Yeah, we can handle it,” Apple Bloom agreed.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo made their way towards the machine and had a look inside. Twilight was a little skeptical. “What exactly can you two do?”

“Fix it, of course,” Scootaloo replied, not really paying the dog any attention, too glued to checking the machine out.

“Don’t be silly. How can you two fix it?” Twilight asked, rolling her eyes.

“It’s simple, Twi. Who do you think helps Applejack fix everythin’ on the farm?” Apple Bloom boasted.

“That’s farm equipment, not top-of-the-line magically infused, custom machinery, Apple Bloom.” Twilight sat down and started rattling on in one of her usual speeches about her machine and how it worked, going right over the heads of the two fillies who were looking over it. “Hey! Are you two listening?”

“Yeah, yeah. We’re listening,” Scootaloo waved a hoof. “Hey, Bloom. Ya think that Iron-bind cog is cracked a little?”

Apple Bloom picked up the cog in question, having a closer look at it. “Yer right on the money Scoots. There’s a crack right down the right side.”

Twilight walked closer to the two fillies to investigate just what they were doing. She saw them tinkering and taking pieces out of the machine, displaying great knowledge and even knowing the name of some of the parts they were tampering with. “Since when do you fillies know anything about complicated machinery?”

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom finally put the parts down an gave Twilight their full attention. “Me an’ Scoots have been tamperin’ wit’ machines fer a while now. How do ya think we built that float, o’ make all those cool thin’s fer our crusadin’?” Apple Bloom was full of pride about their skills, putting her hoof to her chest, much like a proud pegasus would.

Twilight smiled genuinely. For the first time since this whole incident begun, she had hope. “Well…think you girls could help me fix this machine?”

“Of course! See, we do make a good emergency response team! Don’t we, Twi?” Scootaloo teased.

“Yeah, yeah. Keep rubbing it in. I will never hear the end of this, will I?”

The two repair fillies gave Twilight a cheeky smile. “Oh, don’t worry Twilight, we plan to,” Scootaloo chirped.

“Hey, how can I help?” Sweetie asked, not wanting to be left out.

It was Twilight’s turn for a cheeky grin. “How do you think I will supply this machine with the needed spell, Sweetie Belle?”

Sweetie Objected, “But I can’t cast magic that powerful.”

“Girls, make a start on this machine and see what you can do. You can’t do any worse than me, so tinker away. I will come check on you later. I need Sweetie to help me with something else. Think you can handle it, girls?”

“YES!” they both screamed, turning quickly to commence work.

“Sweetie, come with me. I may have something that might work.”

“But Twilight, I can’t do anything apart from some basic telekinesis,” Sweetie argued.

“Just trust me. I do know what I’m doing when it comes to magic, right?” Twilight reassured, putting a paw around the scared unicorn.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sweetie Belle followed Twilight up to her bedroom, getting even more nervous the closer they came. “Twilight, you sure this will be safe?”

Twilight opened the door to her room, motioning for the little filly to follow her in. Sweetie slowly came in and noticed Twilight rummaging around in a trunk on the far side of the room. Sweetie Belle sat down on her rump and waited for Twilight to give her an answer.

Twilight finished looking and found what she was after, producing several purple glowing containers. “Well, to be honest, I’m not too sure sorry, Sweetie.”

“Then why would we be doing this?”

“Because we have no other choice.”

“Can’t we go and get the Princess then?” Sweetie asked, losing hope and crying a little.

“It might be too late by the time our little legs take us to Canterlot, so we have to try and do what we can. And right now, that means you have to help me.” Twilight sat next to a sobbing Sweetie and put a comforting paw around her. “You have at least a basic idea of magic from your sister, which is good. But I’m sorry to have to ask so much of you.”

Sweetie let up long enough to give Twilight a hug in return, embracing her for comfort and support. She needed all the support she could get for what was to come. “Do you really think I can do whatever it is I need to?”

“You will have to, and I know you can rise to the challenge. You are one of the legendary Cutie Mark Crusaders, are you not?” Twilight encouraged.

Sweetie Belle all of a sudden got a burst of confidence, jumping up to all fours and beaming with a smile. “I can so do whatever it is I need to! Bring it on Twilight I can…what is it I need to do exactly?”

Twilight giggled. “This tube contains stored magical energy of mine, and can be used by any unicorn to tap into the power and cast a spell with it.”

“So I can use your power to cast a spell?”

“That’s correct,” Twilight affirmed. She went over to her book shelf and started perusing the contents. “Say, could you get that book down for me please?” Twilight pointed out a green book, just out of reach of her paw. “I’m kind of at a disadvantage here.”

Sweetie Bell concentrated hard. Green flashes of magical energy sparked out of her horn as she concentrated on the book. Twilight paid particular attention to Sweetie’s magical aura. This was the only reason she faked not being able to jump up and grab the book herself, Winona’s body had the dexterity to pull off a feat like that.

Sweetie levitated the book down for Twilight, straining a little in the process. “Thanks,” Twilight said, flipping the pages of the book as Sweetie finally got to rest a little. Lifting that big book was not easy, and it showed, Sweetie sweating a little while catching her breath.

“No problem, was easy,” she lied.

Twilight continued to paw through the pages till she found the one she needed. “Sweetie Belle, how much magical theory did your sister teach you?”

“A bit. She wanted to make sure I understood what I was doing before I,” Sweetie made a posh face and changed the pitch of her voice to imitate her sister best she could, “blow up her shop.”

Twilight chuckled a little at the filly’s antics. She turned the book around to face Sweetie, pointing a paw to the indicated part. “Think you understand the theory behind this spell then? You will have to cast it to help save Ponyville.”

Any sense of fun and warmth just flew out of the room. Sweetie Belle took a big gulp and peered onto the page pointed out by the paw. The spell was labelled, “Growth Declining Spell”, and the page placed its difficulty at “medium to high.”

Sweetie lost her marbles, flipping out and unable to speak any form of English to Twilight as she started to pace back and forth.

“Settle Down Sweetie. Let me explain a little.”

“But…you…spell…to hard…no way!” she shrieked.

Twilight smiled and patted the floor next to her. Sweetie slowly and begrudgingly obeyed and took a spot on the floor next to Twilight. “It’s okay, Sweetie. The stored magic in the tube should give you all the power you need. You only need to understand and perform the spell.”

Even with Twilight reassuring her, Sweetie Belle found it hard to muster any confidence. “But what if I screw up, or don’t fully…”

Twilight cut her off with a paw softly over her mouth. Twilight turned her head ever so slightly so they were face-to-face. She wiped some tears that started to form in Sweetie’s eyes, and drew her into a hug. “You can do it. I know it is so very unfair to suddenly ask so much of you, but this is what we all need to help save all the ones we love.” Twilight broke the hug to again look Sweetie in the eyes. “It’s situations like this that often make a true hero. If for nothing else do it for your family and loved ones. I’m sure Rarity would be so proud of you right now.”

Sweetie Belle’s confidence started to rise a little. She was no silly filly, fully understanding the situation. But at the same time, she was only little. Could she really pull this off?

“Okay Twilight, I will try.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The sound of tools clanging and bolts being tightened dominated the lab. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo putting their knowledge of machinery to good use, fixing the machine that blew up hours ago.

“Think we can fix this here hunk o’junk Scoots?”

“Not completely. I don’t get the whole thing. But if Twilight helps too, we might.”

“Somepony say help?” The girls looked behind them to see an excited Twilight wagging her tail.

The fillies smiled. Twilight had read their minds. “You bet. We’re good an all, but even me and Bloom can’t complexly fix this machine,” Scootaloo said.

“Well move over and let me take a look,” Twilight said. She got up on the stool the fillies were using and peered inside the machine. “Find anything wrong with it so far?”

Apple Bloom chirped up holding a few broken cogs and screws in her hoof, “We sure did! Several o’ these here parts where bent, cracked or broken.”

Twilight went a little sheepish. “Wow! How did I miss that?”

“Seems like the reason your machine didn’t work before is because the pieces got ruined in the explosion. We can’t fully fix this machine, but we can help you with some of the parts.” Scootaloo pulled a few more parts from their little scrap pile to demonstrate her point. Several fixed cogs and gears lay in small pile.

Twilight smiled, pleasantly surprised by the skill of these two fillies. “You girls continue to surprise me. I think you all deserve something special if all this turns out okay.”

“WE DO?!”

“Well…yes. After we sort out your punishment for causing all this first.” Twilight snickered a little, pleased it was her getting the fillies for a change.

“No fair Twi! Afta we’ve been helpin’ ya an’ all.”

“Well, whose fault was it in the first place? Oh, that’s right, a pair of sumo-wrestling Crusaders, if my memory serves.” Twilight gave the fillies a deadpanned stare, shaking her head a little to rub it in.

Any argument the Crusaders were about to put up were quashed instantly, both now sporting sobbing faces. They looked Twilight in the eyes and slowly turned around to go and mope in the corner.

Twilight sighed. “Okay girls, tell you what. Help me restore Ponyville to normal, and I will make sure your sisters don’t kill you over this whole mess.”

Bloom and Scootaloo yelled with an approving “YAY!” happy for the not getting in trouble part of this whole ordeal. Twilight was quick to put in one more piece of key information. “But girls, you will still have to take responsibility for this mess.”

As quickly as the “Yay” had come, a sad and disappointed sigh followed. Twilight jumped down from the stool, took a deep breath, and addressed the girls. “This whole mess only happened because you lot goofed off. Now I’m not mad at you. In fact, I’m so proud of you girls for taking control of the mess that followed. After this is all over, trust me, anything you want from Sugar Cube Corner, is on me. But you all know you will still have to take responsibility for this, right?”

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom gave Twilight accepting glances. “Yeah , yeah. We know,” they groaned.

Twilight giggled a little, enjoying the moment. She gave both the fillies a pat on the head, then heading back for the machine motioned a paw for them to follow her.

~~~~~~~~~~

“There, all done. Pretty good if I do say so myself,” Scootaloo bragged, pumping her chest up like the pegasus she was.

“An’ jus’ who ya think did most o’ the repair work?” Bloom asked, a little annoyed at her credit taking friend.

Scootaloo could only “um,” and “err,” in response, trying her hardest to climb out of the hole she just dug herself in.

Twilight in response could only snicker at the pair of arguing fillies. “Okay you two, that’s enough. Let’s keep it together…”

Twilight cut herself short as the door to the lab slowly creaked open. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo stopped arguing long enough to take notice as well. Sweetie Belle trotted in, a worried expression of something dire spelt her tone.

‘Just when everything was starting to finally come around...’ Twilight started up the stairs, hoping and praying it was not all that bad. “What’s wrong, Sweetie?”

Sweetie Belle pushed the door open a little more revealing an equally-concerned Twist. “Twi, we may have a small problem.” At this, Twist looked around the room a little more hopeful, but spotted no Twilight. She turned to Sweetie Belle to raise a concern as Winona came ever closer to them.

Twilight looked Twist up and down. Besides her concerned look, she was also sweating, much like a foal does when they know they are in big trouble. “Twist, tell me, what’s going on?”

Twist nearly jumped out of her body, her soul making it part the way out. “IT CAN TALK!”

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes, giving herself a hoof palm to the face. “Oh…yeah. I knew I forgot to explain something.”

Twilight came closer causing Twist to retreat behind Sweetie Belle. She pleaded with Sweetie to explain this situation, as it seemed the little unicorn knew what was going on.

“How could you forget to explain that?” Twilight demanded.

“Sorry Twi, she came barging in just as I was coming down to see you. Didn’t exactly have time to spell everything out for her.”

Twist grabbed Sweetie from behind and started shaking her. “Sweetie Belle! What’s going on?! Why can Winona talk?! Why are you calling her Twilight?!”

Twilight sat down a few meters from where Sweetie was having the wind shaken out of her and started to explain. “Because, for now, I am Twilight.”

The shaking stopped and Twist could only stare at the Apple Family pet, mouth agape. She looked at the dog, then back to Sweetie for clarification, still shocked at this sudden and surprising turn of events.

Sweetie sighed, this was all too much for her right now. “Listen, Twist. This will take too long to explain, and given all the craziness already going on, I will make this short. Twilight’s soul got transferred into Winona.”

Twist was still confused, unable to mutter any clear form of a word.

“Twist, think of it like this, I’m Twilight in Winona’s body.” Twilight came up to and sat beside Twist, putting a paw on her hoof. “See, it’s me Twist.”

Twist shut her eyes, closing them for a few seconds before opening again, thinking she might be dreaming. “So, this is not a freaky dream I’m having?”

Sweetie Belle answered but whacking her upside the head. “Nope!”

“Sweetie Belle!” Twilight scolded.

Sweetie started arguing that they don’t have time to beat around the bush with the whole “Twilight is in Winona’s body” thing. Twilight agreed, but insisted there was a less aggressive way to achieve that.

Twist by this point, couldn’t really take this anymore, and simply wanted out. She put one hoof in Sweetie’s mouth and one in Twilight’s, stopping the argument and leaving both offenders stunned. “Okay, okay! I believe you two! I do! But can we just get on with it? I really have a problem on my hooves here!”

By this time, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom had come up the stairs and on the walkway overlooking the lab, both on their backs in laughter at the whole ordeal.

Twilight turned to the laughing fillies and let the true Winona take over for a few seconds, uttering a low growl that made them freeze in their hooves. Once she had put the fear of death in Bloom and Scootaloo, she again addressed the whole reason this all started in the first place. “Okay Twist, tell me what’s going on?”

Twist went on to explain how it was now night time and this whole ordeal had been happening for nearly twelve hours now. Her and the other fillies and colts had rounded up all the ponies in town and were foalsitting them at Town Hall. But the foalsitters were starting to get tired, and taking care of foals was something they were not well educated on.

Twilight took a minute to take in this information. As the only adult—in mind only—left in Ponyville, the others were all looking to her for guidance.

“Can’t we send for help somehow? Please, Twilight?” Twist pleaded, taking into mind her friends still at town hall.

Twilight shook her head in shame. “No sorry. As I told the girls before, without any pegasus, the train, or my assistant Spike, it will take too long to get any form of message to the Princess. Even if we hoof it there, with all of you only fillies and colts, it will take too long. The ponies in town might not have that much time.”

Twist started to break down into tears, thinking all is lost. Her friends all came around and gave her a hug. “Don’t worry, Twist. The Cutie Mark Crusader Emergency Response Team is on the job! We an’ Twi already have a plan in place,” Apple Bloom reassured her.

The feeling of impending doom came upon Twist. “You sure we all will be okay?”

“HEY!” three Crusaders protested.

“Yeah, I thought so at first too, Twist.” The three fillies were still not impressed. “But I have to admit…really admit, that without their help…well, we probably wouldn’t stand a chance. I mean, without them, I would still be a little bouncing baby foal, unable to help fix any of this.”

“That’s not really nice of you two,” Scootaloo protested. “Were just as reliable as Rainbow Dash.”

“Indeed you are,” Twilight confirmed, her and Twist taking a giggle.

Twist finally stopped laughing when three scolding pair of eyes told her enough was enough. “Anyway, what do we do, Twilight? We need some help.”

Three Crusaders and a dog turned Twilight all looked a little upset. They all knew the answer, and it wasn’t pleasant. “Sorry Twist, me and the girls have to stay here, we're the only chance Ponyville has got. You and the others will just have to rise to the occasion and try your best.”

It was now Twist’s turn for a few sobs, crying a little with such a burden. Twilight put a paw to her chin and lifted her face up to meet her eyes. “I know it is not fair to ask so much of somepony who is so young, but I know you all can pull this off.”

‘Isn’t that the same line she used on me?’ Sweetie thought.

“Really?” Twist sniffled.

“Really,” Twilight agreed. “And I will tell you what. Once we are all through this mess, I will have Pinkie throw all the little heroes of this town a huge party. Sound good?”

“YAY! We get to be heroes!” Scootaloo yelled.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Not yet, oh impatient one. You have to save the town first.”

“Oh…right. I knew that,” Scootaloo corrected, making her orange coat go a little red.

Twilight put both paws on Twist, one on each of her shoulders. With pleading eyes, she looked the little filly directly in the face. “Think you can handle this, Twist?”

Twist, with her now boundless confidence accepted without a second thought, giving a salute to show her resolve to her new mission for Ponyville.

“Good filly. Now go and tell the others.” Twilight turned a determined eye to the Crusaders. “We got work to do.”

“Right!” The Crusaders yelled, followed by a high five to seal the deal.

~~~~~~~~~~

Apple Bloom made her final check to make sure Twilight’s work was ready. Twilight still impressed she got some of her original mistakes from before. While Apple Bloom was checking the machine, the unicorn-turned-dog went and double checked to see if Sweetie Belle was ready. “So, think you got all this down?”

Sweetie Belle again had a quick glance over the book, just to make sure she had what she needed memorized. “Well…” she stumbled off a bit to find the right words, “…I think I do. I understand the principle behind it, and get how adding your power works…sorta. But, I’m still not sure I can do this, Twilight.”

“Just try your best Sweetie. I can ask no more than that,” Twilight reassured her.

“Okay, I will.”

“Good. Now, next thing. Apple Bloom, ready to save Ponyville?!” Twilight yelled across the room.

“Yup! Ready as Ah will eva be!” she called back, Scootaloo waving an affirming hoof in agreement from her side of the machine.

“Good! Flip the switch Apple Bloom!”

The little filly swung her nose, flipping the switch down. The machine coming to life with lights and funny noises. Temperature gauges and monitoring lights signalling all systems were a go.

Twilight popped the cork on her magic storage device and stuck it to Sweetie Belle’s horn, the tube of purple magical energy glowing bright atop her horn. Sweetie Belle flexed her hooves out and got ready for what would be the moment of her life, a spell this complex and under such situations would be a big feat for a little filly.

“Okay Sweetie Belle, just like we practiced. Go whenever you’re ready.”

“Okay Sweetie, hit it wit’ yer best shot!” Bloom cheered.

“Kick that machine's flank, Sweetie!” Scoots also cheered.

Sweetie Belle concentrated and focused her magic into the bottle on her horn. She closed her eyes and thought of nothing but the task at hoof. Energy in the room began to swell as Sweetie Belle started to connect with Twilight’s stored power, feeling its very essence course through her body.

After several minutes of building the connection with Twilight’s magic and focusing on the enchantments needed, she opened her eyes and shot a purple beam out towards the lightning-rod like receiver on the machine Twilight had added for this purpose.

“That’s it! Keep it up, Sweetie! You’re doing marvellous!” Twilight encouraged.

As beams of purple energy swelled into the machine, it grew in power and noise. The gauge near Apple Bloom started to climb up. “Ten percent, twenty percent,” she counted, the bar slowly kept crawling up.

Twilight raced over to have a look herself and check the machine wasn’t buckling under the pressure. “Looks like all systems are staying stable!”

“Twilight, look. The turbine is goin’ faster an’ faster!” Apple Bloom moved out of the way so Twilight could get a look inside, seeing the turbine starting to spin at blistering speeds.

“How high we now, Apple Bloom?”

“Forty-five percent, an’ holdin’ it seems!” Bloom tapped the speedometer—as Twilight called it—to see it wasn’t broken.

Scootaloo quickly ran over and bounced Bloom out of the way with a swift bump to the flank. “Sure this thing ain’t broken?”

Twilight finally came over for a quick look, seeing it was indeed stuck on forty-five percent. She turned her attention to Sweetie Belle, who was now struggling under the pressure to race the turbine’s speed any higher. She also noticed her container of stored magic was almost depleted.

Before anypony could do anything, the energy supply from the stored magic ran dry, shooting Sweetie Belle backwards into the wall. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Twilight all rushed over to help her.

“Sweet horse apples! Yer okay, Sweetie?” Apple Bloom was first to Sweetie’s side, helping her to her hooves and making sure nothing was broken.

“Yeah, I feel fine. But I’m sorry I couldn’t help much.” She pointed to the machine that was in the process of powering down to make her sad point. Sweetie Belle burst into tears at her inability to power the machine enough, all hope in her eyes was truly lost.

“Come on now, Sweetie! We’ve got one more chance. There is still one more container of my stored magic left. We just need to try again.” Twilight wiped the tears away with a paw and gave Sweetie a hug.

“But…but…I just can’t get the magic powerful enough to power the one turbine, Twi.” Sweetie moped.

Scootaloo thought for a moment, taking in all the calculations that she needed from their failed attempt. “Let me get this straight. The machine by itself can produce about ten percent, which means Sweetie added another thirty-five on top of that, right?”

“Yes Scootaloo. But without more magical power, we simply won’t be able to get that turbine rotating fast enough for the spell’s effect to activate. When I accidently hit it before, its two turbines were going at fifty percent each. Now one of them is useless and the other will only go for ten percent after the patchwork repairs we gave it.”

Scootaloo thought about the rotating turbine for a second, lost in deep thought. Apple Bloom came over and gave her thinking friend a few taps on the head. “Hey, Scoots! This is no time ta be spacin’ out! Sweetie is hurtin’ ova’ here!”

She completely ignored Apple Bloom’s statement, lost to the world of imagination, when it all clicked. Her trade mark scooter giving her the inspiration she needed. “So, all we need to do is make that turbine spin faster, right?” Scootaloo asked Twilight.

Twilight spotted the smug expression on Scoot’s face and wondered what she could be thinking. “That’s right. Why?”

“What if I could add more speed to the turbine without using magic? Would that give Sweetie Belle the extra percentage-thingy-numbers she would need?”

Twilight was now more confused than anything. How else could one add more power without magic? “But…how?”

“Spike still got that old treadmill around from when he ate too much ice-cream a while back?” Scootaloo asked, practically already tasting victory with her new idea.

“Yes, it’s in the storage cupboard. But, why?” Twilight asked.

Scootaloo ignored Twilight’s questions and objections, too excited at her new idea. She dragged Apple Bloom out of the lab and upstairs to fetch the treadmill in a flurry of hasted dust.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay Sweetie, what helps you concentrate more?” Twilight asked, or more so nearly yelled. The noise from Apple Bloom and Scootaloo on the machine was making it a little hard to hear anypony talk, let alone think.

Sweetie Belle came and sat next to Twilight so she could hear her better. “Well, when I do my homework, I find singing to myself helps me to think better.”

Twilight was about to continue when a rather large bang was heard from Scootaloo and Apple Bloom on the other side of the lab. She groaned to herself before turning to address the noisy Crusaders, who seemed to not know the meaning of work in peace. “Would you two keep it down, you been at it for two hours now! Isn’t it finished yet!?”

“Nearly, Twi! Just gotta hook up these straps an’ were all done!” a grease-covered Scootaloo answered.

Twilight picked up a baby Applejack to try and nurse her back to sleep. Since things were taking so long, they decided to foalsit Applejack, Twilight’s body, and Spike in the lab while they finished up preparations for the next—and hopefully final—attempt. She looked the new addition to her machine over, hoping the fillies know what they were doing.

Apple Bloom picked up on Twilight’s concerned look and reassured her. “It’s simple, Twi. Scoots idea is ta make this here turbine go fasta’ by usin’ her scooter on the treadmill. As she makes it go faster, the straps will transfer all that speed inta the turbine.”

“You think that will really work?” Sweetie asked, still not completely sold on her friend’s idea.

Scootaloo spat the wrench out of her muzzle to answer. “Course it will. My ideas always work,” she spoke with confidence. Everypony else in the lab giving her a flat stare in response.

“…What!”

“Just get things ready you two,” Twilight said. Bloom and Scootaloo giving mock salutes, Scootaloo adding a raspberry with hers, as they got her idea ready to roll.

Twilight returned her attention to Sweetie Belle. “Okay, once you start concentrating, see if some singing will help you do so a little better.”

Sweetie Belle still had reservations. “I’m just not sure it will be enough, Twilight. I mean, we only got one try left,” she panicked, pointing to the last container of Twilight’s magic.

Twilight put a paw around her neck and drew Sweetie into a side hug. “Hey now, some of the greatest ponies in Equestrian history made their mark when they had their flanks to the wall with hopeless odds. I know you can do this Sweetie.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.” Twilight put baby Applejack down and gave Sweetie a reassuring full hug.

“If nothing else, think of how proud Rarity will be off you for rising to the occasion,” Twilight motioned for the other two fillies to join her and Sweetie, “how all of us will be proud of you fillies.”

They all smiled, thankful somepony…dog believed in them. Twilight held a paw into the middle of the circle, looking at the others to follow. Sweetie Belle added her hoof in. “For our sisters.”

Scootaloo was next, “For Ponyville, and Rainbow Dash”

Apple Bloom was last. “Fer all those we love.”

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS GO!!!” they all yelled in union. Even Twilight joined in, so proud of the fillies for truly rising to the occasion.

Apple Bloom raced over to the machine and powered it up, checking all the work her and Twilight did was holding and stable.

Scootaloo picked up her scooter and quickly put her helmet on, clicking it in place. She took a deep breath, them jumped onto the treadmill on top of her scooter.

Twilight added the last container of reserve magic atop Sweetie’s horn, as the filly started to think and concentrate. She started singing a song they had been recently practicing for the school play to come soon.

((This is the song that Sweetie Belle is singing. I thought it a cool idea that you could listen to it for this bit of the story.))

“I’ve got myself a notion,
It’s one I know that I you’ll understand.
To set the world in motion,
By reaching out for each other’s hooves.”

Twilight gave Scootaloo the signal, as she started flapping her little wings to make the scooter start moving along the treadmill. She powered up really fast, gaining and gaining more speed. Twilight joined Apple Bloom by the monitor to see the progress. “Okay girls, here we go.”

“Maybe we'll discover,
What we should have known all along!
Yeah.”

“We already up ta thirty percent, Twi!” Apple Bloom cheered, as she watched Scootaloo getting faster and faster.

“One way or another,
Together's where we both belong!”

Again, magical energy in the room began to swirl as Sweetie Belle was really concentrating. Lost completely in her song and focusing on the magic, it started to flow through her body, admitting a glow from her horn through the container of purple magic.

“If we listen to each other's heart,
We'll find we'll never cheat and fall apart,
And maybe love is the reason why,
For the first time ever we're seeing it, eye to eye!”

Twilight noticed the change in atmosphere, sensing the shifting change in her magic. It was more focused and powerful than before. And something else about it felt different to Twilight.

“If a wall should come between us,
Too high to climb, too hard to break through.
I know that love will lead us,
And find a way to bring me to you.”

Scootaloo built up to full speed, blazing her wings like fire in the wind. They were whipping faster than she ever could remember herself doing. Smoke started to build on the treadmill as the fast exposure of rubber on rubber was starting to take its toll.

“So don't be in a hurry,
Think before you count us out, ho!”

Twilight could literally feel the passion all three Crusaders were putting into their respective roles. She branded a smile as she looked at the gauge, now showcasing sixty percent, thanks to a rapidly-blazing Scootaloo.

“You don't have to worry,
I won't ever let you down!”

The magical energy in the container turned a brilliant glowing green, Sweetie’s natural colour. She had completely enveloped Twilight’s magic into her own. A huge green sparkling beam of passionate pure magic blasted out from the container, hitting its mark in the machine.

“If we listen to each other's heart,
We'll find we'll never cheat and fall apart,
And maybe love is the reason why,
For the first time ever we're seeing it, eye to eye!”

The machine went into overdrive, dials and lights going out of control. “Twilight, look!” Apple Bloom yelled, grabbing Twilight’s head and making her look at the gauge. It was soaring higher and higher till it surpassed one-hundred percent.

“If we listen to each other's heart,
We'll find we'll never cheat and fall apart,
And maybe love is the reason why,
For the first time ever we're seeing it, eye to eye!”

Scootaloo upped the speed even more, passing any known record she’d ever made, driven by nothing but pure determination for the ones she loved. Apple Bloom’s construction held fast, a testament to her skills at building this machine with Twilight. While the glow in Sweetie’s magic could be psychically felt across the whole lab, glowing brighter and brighter.

“Seeing it, eye to eye!
Seeing it, eye to eye, baby!”

Twilight’s machine roared, overflowing with energy. Humming and herring for all it was worth. Brimming with power, as it started to glow the same green as Sweetie’s magic.

“For the first time!
For the first time!”

Sweetie Belle sung louder as she hit the climatic high note right on the end.

“Eye to eye.
Eye to eye.
Eye to EYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

On the pitch of her high note a booming surge of magic added to the already-streaming beam of green, sending a shockwave into the machine, completely overpowering it.

A bright flash consumed the whole lab as the machine went into overdrive. Twilight grabbed Apple Bloom and dived for cover behind a table just before the machine exploded and sent a bolt shockwave throughout all of Ponyville.

~~~~~~~~~~

It took about ten minutes for the light in the room to return to normal, and the dust to settle. Apple Bloom finally stirred, waking up from the explosion that knocked everypony in the room out cold.

She shook the dog next to her. “Twilight! Twilight, wake up! Ya okay?!”

The dog slowly opened her eyes, coming to. She gave Apple Bloom a lick across the face followed by a few barks. “Twilight? What happened? Where did Twilight go?” she asked the dog, who only responded by barking again.

Apple Bloom looked up as she heard other ponies stirring under the rubble, lifting themselves up to see what happened. “Apple Bloom? Twilight? What in tarnation jus’ happened?”

Apple Bloom almost lost her marbles when she saw her sister, who was now back to normal, dusting herself off and looking around the lab lost as a pony in the middle of the desert. She raced over to her big sister, tackling her back into the debris on the floor and smothering her in a huge hug. “Sis! Yer back ta yer old self!”

“What do ya mean back to ma old self?”

Twilight finally came to, back in her original body rising herself out of the rubble. “Trust me Applejack, that is one story that right now, you don’t want to know.”

Applejack was now more confused than if she was trying to understand Pinkie Pie speed talking. “Last thing Ah ‘member is…” she finally was able to take in the lab in all it’s explosion entangled messiness, “…well, this lab going up in an explosion.”

“Let’s just say, if it wasn’t for your sister, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, Ponyville might forever have been a foalsitting daycare.”

“Maybe ya should tell me later, Twi,” Applejack asked, feeling sick to the stomach.

All CMC members finally came to and all plopped down in front of Twilight. Spike too had finally come around, managing to pry his head free of a jar that seemed to of found itself stuck to his head.

“Girls, I’m so proud of you all. Couldn’t of saved Ponyville without you three.” The girls were about to answer when Twilight scooped all them up into a huge hug, snuggling them so tightly. She simply couldn’t express her gratitude enough for what they did.

“Well, colour me impressed. What ever y’all managed ta pull off, Ah’m sure it will make fer one hay o’ a story over dinner…this mornin’? Twi! Jus’ how long was Ah outta it fer?” Applejack noticed it was now morning, wondering how many days it had been since she was last awake.

“Been a whole…” Twilight had no time to finish her answer, a bright blinding light from the three fillies caused her to drop them in order to shield her eyes. Three Crusaders landing on the ground with an “oomph” as the blinding light consumed them.

“Twi! What in tarnation ya do to ma lil’ sis?!”

“I didn’t do anything! I assure you AJ,” Twilight defended.

As quickly as the blinding light came, it went again. The Crusaders stood to all fours, still rubbing their eyes to wipe away the effects of the blinding light. “Y’all okay girls?” Apple Bloom asked, blinking and rubbing her eyes.

“Ya, I think so,” Scootaloo answered.

“Me to. Don’t feel anything out of place,” Sweetie agreed.

“Sis, yerself an’ Twi okay?”

No response came from the older mares. Apple Bloom finally opened her eyes and looked to her sister to see why no answer came.

“Sis?”

Again no answer.

“Applejack, what in Celestia ya starin’ at?”

Applejack, Twilight, and even Spike were all staring the three fillies down, jaws fully agape at the spectacle taking place before their very eyes. None of them able to form any semblance of their own language, instead mumbling half-words or static slurs.

Scootaloo was growing inpatient. “Just spit it out already, will you!”

“Che…check…check your flanks girls,” Twilight finally manage to mumble.

The three turned their heads to see new marks adorning all three of their previously blank flanks. The shocked fillies could hardly contain their excitement. “WE GOT OUR MARKS!!! WE GOT OUR CUTIE MAKRS!!!” They all screamed, deafening Applejack, Twilight, and Spike.

Apple Bloom sported a bright glowing red apple with a hammer and two nails for her cutie mark, a testament to her building skills and family heritage.

Sweetie Belle had a bright pink heart with a musical staff going through it, a double musical note on the staff right in the middle of the heart. Her ability to sing and play music was obvious, but her heart was something more. She could use her singing skills to write such emotional songs that it can affect and change whole crowds who heard her sing.

Scootaloo had a striking blue comet with trailing purple fire, two purple pulsing rings surrounded the comet itself. The comet and trailing purple fire her ability to fly and go fast with trailing fire behind her, while the rings spoke of her ability to break the sound barrier.

Applejack came and gave her sister a huge hug. “Ah’m never been more proud o’ ya than right now, lil’ sis!” She swung her sister around and threw her up and down in the air.

“Congratulations girls, this is surely a day nopony will ever forget!” Twilight was about to follow Applejack’s example on the other two Crusaders when a knock on the front door interrupted them all.

~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight opened the door to see the rest of her friends standing there with bewildered faces. She opened the door fully and motioned for them to come in. “Come in, girls. I will explain what happened.”

“Forget that!” Scootaloo yelled. She raced across the room to her hero and presented her flank so she could inspect it. “Well, what do ya think Rainbow?”

Rainbow almost lost her marbles, surprised that her number one fan had finally gotten her own mark--one to rival her own at that. “Well squirt, looks like you got yourself quite a cutie mark there!” Rainbow gave her little friend a high-hoof before sweeping her up into a playful hug.

“Me too, me too Rarity!” Sweetie Squeaked. She hopped over to her sister and showed off her musical mark.

“Sweetie darling, I’m so proud of you!” Rarity knelt down and opened up her forehooves for Sweetie to jump into, to which she wasted not a second in doing.

“Ah say it’s time fer a right ol’ celebration!” Applejack declared, showcasing her little sister’s cutie mark as Apple Bloom was riding on her back.

“Not only did they get their cutie marks, but saved all Ponyville. If it wasn’t for them…let’s just say you could have all been baby foals forever.” Twilight looked towards Pinkie as she knew what was needed next. “Pinkie, think you could quickly whip up a party for the newest heroes of Ponyville, and also one for their amazing cutie marks?”

“You know I can!” Pinkie confirmed, racing out of the library to plan the biggest party Ponyville would ever see.