Restless in Hoofington

Morning comes as it always does, but to those with nothing in particular to get up for, it comes slowly. A certain grey-furred batpony resists as she first feels the sign of awakening, taking what little consciousness she has and snuggling what feels to be something small and furry to her as she tries to go back to sleep.

Soon, however, the small and furry thing she has been cuddling begins to squirm, a quiet yawn coming from it, followed by a quiet voice. “Morning...”

Not quite awake, Night pats the thing in her grasp. “Dizzy… quiet, you don’t talk…”

The thing goes quiet for a moment before speaking again. “...I’m not Dizzy, Night...”

Ears flicking as her brain connects voice to identity, the batpony raises the form up to her, blindly nuzzling it. “Autty…”

“Ow!” The form squirms further. “Night, stop!”

“Huh? Why?” The thestral finally starts fluttering her eyes open, looking at the blue form in front of her.

Much to her surprise, the pony she identifies as Autumn appears much smaller than the previous night. Her mane and tail are quite a bit shorter, her voice resembles that of a much younger filly, and her cutie mark is gone. The unicorn rubs her eyes. “Your fur feels like sandpaper...”

“...are you sure?” Night is still as she looks over her marefriend in her new form.

“It definitely feels...like...” Autumn stops squirming and blinks. “...why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because… you are the single most adorable thing I’ve ever seen at the moment… and if I do feel like that, I can’t cuddle you.” Her eye twitches.

Autumn blushes. “I...what do you mean? I don’t look very good in the mornings...”

“You’re so… tiny!” Night’s hooves gingerly curl around the foal, not bringing her in but the tense muscles clearly say she wants to.

“I’m...what?” The unicorn looks down, seeing her new form...and screams. Loudly.

The high pitched scream forces Night to relinquish her hold in favor of covering her ears, scrunching her eyes and curling up into a ball. The pegasus sleeping nearby jumps instantly up onto her hooves. “What’s going on?!”

“I don’t know!” Autumn cries, now curled up into a ball similar to Night’s.

The batpony slowly uncurls, peeking out at the blue filly and forcing herself not to hug her to make her feel better. Alloy puts a hoof on Night’s shoulder comfortingly, only to yank it away. “Ow!” Night’s eyes shimmer at this as she lets out a small whine.

“What happened?” Autumn asks in a whimper.

“I don’t know...you’re a kid, and Night’s become part cactus.” Alloy stands up, raising an eyebrow as a loud squeaking sound echoes out from her hooves as she does so. “...and either I just stepped on a mouse, or I’m a squeak toy now.”

The batpony can’t help but giggles, peeking out of her ball again. “Better not let you near any dogs…”

The pegasus takes a few more steps around the tent, similar squeaking sounds coming out whenever her hooves touch the ground. “This is weird...if it was just Night’s condition, I’d say she just got some sort of skin rash from one of the plants around here, but...I don’t think any plants around here cause squeaky hooves and de-aging.”

“W-Was it something in the lake?” Autumn asks, her childish voice eliciting a snicker from the pegasus.

“I don’t know… Alloy said she’s swam in it before…” Night uncurls herself and stands up.

“I haven’t seen anything new on this trip compared to previous ones...” Alloy taps the ground as she thinks, a quiet squeak coming from each tap. “Except that flower Night found...could that have been it?”

Giggling from the squeaks, the thestral shrugs. “I don’t know… spores in very magical plants can do things, but something this varied? I have no idea…”

“We should head back home and get help,” Alloy suggests. “We’re not going to figure anything out by just staying out here.”

“Yeah, maybe your mom can help? This does seem fairly magical,” Night offers, looking to Autumn.

The filly’s eyes widen. “After how much she was telling us to be careful, you want to go back to her and say we weren’t careful?!”

“But we were careful!” Her bat-winged friend exclaims. “We didn’t do anything wrong, stuff just happened!”

“B-But...” The filly whimpers. “What if she gets upset at us?”

Sighing, Night flexes her wings. “Okay, well… if we don’t go to her, what else do we do? I don’t really wanna go around like this.”

“Neither do I,” Alloy comments. “And I imagine you don’t exactly want to go back to school looking like a kid, Autumn.”

“...I don’t...” she admits, sitting down and covering her face with her hooves. “I don’t know what to do...”

Groaning, the thestral stomps her hooves on the ground. “Alloy, please hug her and make her feel better in my place. The cute sad face is killing me…”

Alloy walks over and does just that, scooping the filly up into a squeaky hug. “Autumn...I think your mother will understand that it was all an accident...” The filly mumbles something, but doesn’t respond other than that. “There’s nothing else we can really do anyway. It’s our only option.”

Autumn goes quiet for a moment before mumbling, “Fine…”

Pounding her hooves into the ground in agitation, Night starts to try and fold everything up. “Then let’s hurry up and get back before I cover myself in this stuff just so I can hug you both.”

Nodding, Alloy joins in helping to put everything away. Autumn does her best, but her apparent new age leaves her with little in the way of both physical and magical strength, and she eventually just gives up and sits beside her bag to wait.

They quickly get everything gathered and put away, even stowing Night’s new flower in her bag. Looking over at the filly, the batpony asks, “Do you want to ride on the way home?”

Autumn smiles. “I’d like that...but who’s gonna carry my stuff?” She looks over at her bag, which is now far too big for her to carry alone.

“Umm…” Night looks to the other winged pony. “Think there’s an easy way to split this between us?”

Alloy glances at Autumn’s bag. “She brought the least out of us, and I brought the most...I’ll carry her stuff and yours, you carry my stuff and her. That’s probably the most even we can get it. Besides, we’re all headed to the same place anyway.”

“Fair enough.” A few quick bags swaps are made before Night crouches down next to Autumn. “Hop on, little Autty.”

The filly climbs on top of the batpony, looking nervous. “Please don’t drop me...”

“I would never do that.” Her wings extend, standing straight up on either side of her to make walls for the filly. Autumn smiles and relaxes, but still holds on tight just in case.

“Alright, let’s get going,” Alloy says, leading the way. “Hope Mrs. Rune can help us...”

Looking up from her book, Rune marks her place, setting it on the nightstand. Stepping off the bed, she walks over to the door as she muses to herself aloud, a habit she noticed she picked up ever since she had her daughter. “I wonder who that could be… probably the girls. I hope they had a good time.” Reaching the door, she unlocks it and opens it with a bit of magic. Seeing Night and Alloy on the front porch, she smiles. “Hey there, you two. Where’s Autumn?”

The filly slowly peeks up from her spot on Night’s back, where she had been trying to hide behind the bag joining her for the ride. “...h-hi, mom...”

Blinking at her foal again child, Rune’s mouth falls open. “Autumn? But… how… are you?” She reaches out, instinctively picking up the filly and cradling her to her chest. “What happened?”

“We don’t really know...” Alloy says with a sigh. “She woke up like that, and Night and I have our own problems too.” She taps her hoof on the ground, several squeaking noises coming out. “Don’t touch Night. Her fur feels like cactus needles.”

The thestral whines, looking up with shimmery eyes. “I can’t hug anypony…”

“Oh dear… oh dear oh dear… come inside, let’s see what we can do.” Rune stands to the side of the door. The two quickly walk in. “Okay, now I have to check, but… were you girls sure you were careful? This is definitely magic of some kind, so did you see anypony casting spells nearby, or…”

“There was nopony else around that we saw,” Alloy answers. “And I made sure we kept away from any dangerous plants...though Night did find something that might have caused this.”

“Hmm?” The mare quirks an eyebrow as she rubs her filly’s back.

“Yeah, it’s right here…” Night fetches the blue plant from a side pocket in her bags on Alloy. “I didn’t see it spew spore or anything, but… it is the strangest thing we saw.”

Just in case, Rune doesn’t touch it, but she gets a good look. “Never seen anything like this before… certainly pretty, but… here, come with me. Maybe I have something that can help us.” She walks down the hall, heading past both bedrooms and the bathroom to another door. The girls follow her, curious.

“Guess you probably shouldn’t plant it in your garden after all, Night,” Alloy remarks.

Night pouts. “But I liked how it looked… oh well…”

Rune opens the door to what is revealed to be her office. A desk is the centerpiece while a filing cabinet, bookshelves, sketches, and a few boxes surround it. “My mother always told me to hang onto these just in case…” Walking over the shelf, her magic pulls out one of many thick tomes. “Guess she was right.” The title, Medical Dictionary, glints for a moment before the pages start turning. “Let’s see… what would they call this…”

“I don’t know...the effects vary from pony to pony, apparently, so that’s not much of a clue...” Alloy sighs as she rubs her temple.

“Something common perhaps; age regression? Though her mind is intact, so whether it truly is that, I’m not sure.” The mother’s face is serious even as she still holds Autumn. As she flips through more pages, she looks to the filly. “Are you doing okay?”

Autumn nods. “I-I think I’ve calmed down a bit...I just don’t like being so small and weak...”

Patting her back, Rune nuzzles her. “It’ll be alright sweetie, I promise.” She gets to her desired page. “Here we go… always surprising how many things can cause one effect.” She goes over them, eliminating them one by one until she comes to one referencing a hoofnote. “See poison joke… hmm…” Pulling out another tome, she sets it down on the first, flipping faster this time. “Ah, poison joke: a rare plant only found growing naturally in areas in or bordering the Everfree forest. This bright blue plant doesn’t look dangerous, nor is it injuring or life threatening in any direct way, but it’s effects are usually so varied and distressing that most cure them as soon as possible. After emerging, symptoms can be cured with the following ingredients…” She trails off as her eyes glance over the list. “Looks like I’ll need to go shopping.”

“I’m sorry for all this, mom...” Autumn whimpers, her ears drooping.

“Shh…” Rune speaks softly as she gives Autumn a kiss on the head. “It’s not your fault. None of you could have known about this realistically. At least it can be cured simply, I’ll just need to get a few things.” She looks at the other two. “I’ll need you two to watch over my baby while I’m gone.”

“Can do, Mrs. Rune!” Alloy replies, saluting playfully.

“Yes ma’am!” Night steps forward towards Autumn, but cringes and backs away a moment later.

Seeing this, the mare frowns sadly. “Poor dear… if you look in the hall closet, there’s a number of blankets if you want to pad yourself. You look like you’re suffering hug withdrawal.”

“I am…” Night quickly runs into the hall, finding said closet and diving in.

“Is there anything else we can do?” Alloy asks. “I can talk to my parents about trying to pay you back for the ingredients...”

“I can cover it easily, Alloy, but thank you.” She smiles, leaning down and nuzzling her. “It helps you girls, so it doesn’t even matter that it costs money. What matters is you girls are fine.”

Alloy nuzzles back. “A-Alright...thank you.” She smiles, still looking a little worried.

Tilting her head, Rune questions her. “Is something still wrong?”

She shakes her head. “N-No, nothing’s wrong...it’s fine.”

“Hmm…” The mother raises an eyebrow, but lets the issue drop for now. “Alright… here, hold Autumn for now.” She passes the filly over. “I need to go get all these ingredients for you all to bathe in.”

Alloy nods, hugging Autumn. “We’ll make sure she doesn’t get into any trouble.”

“Good girl.” Leaning down to the filly’s height, Rune nuzzles her daughter once more. “Try not to be mopey, okay sweetie? Mommy likes her little filly to be happy.”

Autumn nuzzles back, but a small groan escapes her throat. “I’m not a little filly...I’m not supposed to be, at least...”

“You’ll always be my baby… just more so right now than usual.” Rune giggles, kissing her once more before standing up and fetching her bags.

Alloy giggles as well. “Should I spank her if she starts acting up?”

“Of course not, I never spanked her and she turned out fine.” Rune sniffs. “Just give her plenty of love, make sure she doesn't make a mess when she gets something to drink, and if you come across her old onesie PJs, do not hesitate to put them on her and take pictures.”

“Mooooom!” Autumn whines, her face going a bright red.

“Sweetie, you know as well as I do that you are adorable, so excuse me for wanting a souvenir.” She giggles. “It’s either that or spending all evening cuddling you.”

The filly pouts. “I wouldn’t mind the cuddling...”

“I know dear, but you’re with your friends at the moment and we can always cuddle later when one of them isn’t around pining for it too.” She heads towards the door. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Alright...” Autumn relents, sighing.

“Take care.” With those words, Rune leaves, shutting and locking the door behind her.

Night, or what is assumed to be Night, emerges from the closet. More of a vaguely equine mass of blankets than anything else. “I have come for hugs…” she says in a zombie-like voice.

Alloy shrieks playfully and holds Autumn in front of her. “Take her, not me!”

The blanket monster grabs the filly, holding her close and nuzzling her. After a moment, Night’s voice comes through again. “It helps… but it’s not the same…”

“Don’t worry. You’ll be able to cuddle her normally pretty soon. At least for now you can enjoy her being pint-sized.” Alloy grins. “Want to start looking for her old onesie?”

“I do… but I don’t wanna let her go either.” Shaking a bit, Night’s head pops out of the blankets.

“Then you hold her, and I’ll go digging through her stuff.” Grinning wickedly, Alloy ignores Autumn’s protests and hops off to her friend’s room, hooves squeaking the whole way.

Holding her mini marefriend, Night whispers quietly. “This isn’t how I imagined spending our time at your house together.”

Autumn gives up on yelling at Alloy and just sighs, relaxing into Night’s hold. “It’ll get better when we’re cured and Alloy goes home...trust me.” She smiles.

“I’ll hold you to that.” The blankets hug her tighter. “Is it bad I still want to kiss you right now?”

“Not really...but try to wait a bit, just in case.” The unicorn snuggles into the blankets. “We still have to explain...us...to Alloy and mom, anyway...”

“I know… I wanted to be able to enjoy it first though. We just started.” Sighing, Night settles into the blankets. “I’m new to this kind of thing… I don’t want to answer questions yet.”

“Then we’ll wait a bit,” Autumn says. “Just until we’re more comfortable talking about it.”

“Thanks, Autty… you’re the best.” She tries to make the hug warmer, but can only do so much.

The filly smiles. “Now we just wait...hopefully Mom gets back before Alloy finds it.”

“Why? Is it so bad?” Night giggles. “I thought it would be cute… even if I can’t enjoy it as much if you aren’t full sized.”

“There’s cute, and then there’s humiliating,” Autumn grumbles.

Turning off the tap, Rune pours the final bag of ingredients into the hot tub, the dust mixing seamlessly. “At least it stays colourless so it won’t stain the tub…” She calls back over her shoulder. “Girls! The tub’s ready for whoever wants to go in! All at once or one at a time, it’s up to you!”

After a few seconds, Alloy and Night enter the bathroom. “Autumn will be here once she gets her onesie off,” Alloy says with a wide smile.

“Aww, I was enjoying seeing her in her little bunny outfit…” Rune sighs. “At least I have the picture. Thank you, Alloy.”

“Anytime, Mrs. Rune!” the pegasus replies as she sets about to removing her leg.

“Do you want some privacy, Alloy?” Night asks sincerely.

Alloy shakes her head. “I don’t see a problem with us bathing together. The tub seems big enough for all three of us.”

“Oh good,” Rune says happily as she stands up. “I was worried about Autumn bathing herself with her new… old… young body.”

“I still know how to bathe myself,” the filly replies as she walks into the bathroom. “My mind didn’t de-age too, mom.”

“I know… I just worry, sweetie.” She sighs as she walks over and nuzzles her. “It just makes me nostalgic for when you were this little…”

Autumn sighs too. “I don’t remember enjoying being this little...so the nostalgia doesn’t really affect me the same way.”

“I know, sweetie… don’t mind me.” She turns around as she gets to the door. “Do you girls need anything else before I leave you to it?”

“I think we’re fine,” Alloy replies with a smile as she shakily stands back up, minus one leg. “Thank you again, Mrs. Rune.”

“Not a problem dear. I look forward to when you all get cured.” With that, she walks out, shutting the door behind her and heading to the kitchen.

The pegasus props herself up on the edge of the tub with her front legs and pulls herself in. “Night, can you lift Autumn up and place her in?”

“Of course.” Gingerly, using only her wings, Night picks up the tiny unicorn and lowers her into the water. “Didn’t stick you, did I?”

Autumn smiles up at her. “No, it was fine. Thank you.” She looks around. “So...do we just bathe like normal?”

“I guess, she just put all the stuff in so maybe we just cover ourselves in it?” Night shrugs and steps in herself, settling in the water. “I didn’t expect us all to be splashing around together again so soon.”

Autumn takes in a deep breath before dunking her head into the water; with her size, she is easily able to submerge her entire body. She comes up a second later, rubbing her eyes. “Am I big again yet?”

Night shakes her head. “No, I’m pretty sure we’ll know when you are. Maybe we do have to wash…” She looks around, spotting the soap bar and grabbing it with both hooves.

“Wash the little one up first,” Alloy says. “Easiest job to do.” She ignores the glare she receives from the unicorn.

“I’d love to.” The batpony turns to Autumn, smiling. “So, where do you want it first? Shall I get your little hooves… or your stomach, or your mane…”

Autumn sighs. “Mane and tail first, please...”

The bar slips from her hooves and into the water. “Probably best…” She looks instead to the bottle of shampoo, finding it much easier to grab. “Alright, here we go.” She puts a bit on her hoof before she starts washing the small mane.

The small unicorn smiles, sitting still and letting her work. “That feels good...”

“Glad you’re enjoying it… but I’m actually done already.” She shrugs apologetically. “Sorry. Big hooves, small mane. Now then… turn around and let me at that tail, please.”

Autumn nods, turning around and crouching down, lifting her rump up. “Is that good?”

Night giggles, patting the flank lightly. “Still adorable…”

“You’re supposed to wash her tail, not cop a feel,” Alloy jokes, currently washing her own body with the recovered bar of soap.

“Fine…” She starts washing the tail, giving it a tiny playful tug when Alloy isn’t looking.

Autumn gasps lightly, looking back at Night with a small blush. She quickly shakes her head.

The thestral just winks before gently washing her tail, no other playful antics. “There we go.”

Autumn sighs in relief. “I guess washing the rest of me, now?”

“Aww… still so cute…” She starts washing the filly once more, soon having her all lathered up. “There you go, should be all squeaky clean once you rinse.”

With a thankful nod, the filly dunks herself under the water once more. She comes up after a couple of seconds, but no longer a filly; she has miraculously returned to her proper age and size.

“Good to know it works,” Alloy says with a sigh. She finishes soaping herself up and begins rinsing off as well, not being able to just dive under the water like Autumn.

Night moves to hug the newly grown mare, but stops herself just in time as she pouts. “Right… still can’t hug yet…”

Autumn rubs her eyes and looks down. Seeing herself back to normal size, she smiles and relaxes. “Finally...this feels so much better.”

“Just start soaping yourself up, Night,” Alloy says. “Then you can snuggle all you want.”

“You aren’t gonna wash me?” She flutters her slightly damp eyelashes.

Alloy shakes her head. “You’re still prickly, remember?”

Huffing, the batpony quickly starts lathering herself up. “Stupid prickles… won’t let me do anything fun…”

Now all cleaned up and cured, Autumn begins climbing out of the tub. “That is not an experience I want to relive...”

Washing herself at lightning speed, Night nods as she scrubs her mane. “I’m not good without my affection fix.”

Alloy starts climbing out as well, her hooves now silent. “I think I’ll head home soon. Mom told me to be back before noon, and that tent isn’t exactly light.” She picks up a towel and starts to dry herself, as Autumn has already begun doing. “Hope you two can have fun without me.”

As she finishes her tail, Night pauses to answer knowingly. “Oh, I’m sure we’ll find some way…” She dunks herself, swishing around in the water.

Autumn grins. “Yeah, I think we’ll find something to do.” She giggles. “Don’t worry about us.”

Smiling, Alloy finishes drying off and begins reattaching her leg. “I’ll tell your mother that you’re both cured on the way out. Don’t forget your stuff when you go home, Night.” She stands up and heads for the door.

As she shakes herself off in the tub, Night mutters. “Home, right…”

Autumn smiles. “Don’t worry, Night. I’ll help you remember.” Once Alloy’s out of the room, she adds in a quieter voice: “I also plan to help you forget...”

Still wet, the now soft thestral steps out of the bath, closing the distance and giving Autumn a kiss. As she breaks it, she speak as she starts to dry off. “You have no idea how much I was looking forward to that…”

The unicorn giggles. “I think I do have an idea...I was looking forward to it just as much.” She blushes as she looks over the batpony’s dripping wet body. “W-Wow...”

Halting her towel movements, Night blushes as she covers herself. “What?”

Autumn pouts. “Aww...don’t cover up...you look amazing like this.” Smiling, she steps forward for a nuzzle. “It’s not like anypony else is around, you know...”

“True… I’m just not used to looks like that…” She takes the towel away, still dripping on the rug. “Do I… look nice?”

“Nicer than nice.” The unicorn hugs her. “Adorable, beautiful, and sexy all at once...I think that goes beyond ‘nice’.”

Night squeezes her marefriend tightly, nuzzling her. “I’ve never been called sexy before… You know this is just getting you wet again, right?”

“Worth it. Completely worth it.” She kisses her on the cheek. “Not like I can’t just dry off again anyway.”

“Yeah…” She smiles as she looks into the blue filly’s eyes, but her thoughts are interrupted a moment later as a knock comes through the door.

“When you girls are finished in there, I made some dinner. It’s on the counter and it’s still warm. Will you be joining us, Night?”

“Yes, Mrs. Rune.” She pauses. “And umm, is it okay if I stay the night?”

“Of course, dear. I’ll be sure to leave you two alone so you can have your fun.”

“Thank you!” Waiting a moment as she hears the hoofsteps fade, Night kisses Autumn once more. “Well, it was a small interruption, but it should be the last one after we eat, right?”

Autumn nods. “I think so.” She smiles. “Which is good, because I don’t want to wait much longer.”

“Good… one last kiss before we dry off and eat?” Night smiles hopefully.

The unicorn grins and nods. “Fine by me.” She leans in, pushing her lips against the thestral’s happily.