Rainbow Dash and Applejack settled onto stools in the Punch Bowl, Ponyville's premiere – and only – bar. Berry Punch, standing behind the counter, knelt down and stood back up, a mug's handle slid into her forelegs. “Two hard ciders, extra foam!” she said, slamming them onto the hardwood top.
Rainbow Dash eyed the cider and licked her lips. She darted her head around the mug, taking in every drop of condensation and every ripple of foam. She tapped the glass, ducking her head low to hear the ting of hoof meeting glass. “Good composition,” she observed. One eye trailed a bubble as it rose through the pale amber-colored liquid. “Still fizzy, excellent!”
Applejack eyed her before sliding a foreleg into the handle, raising it up and downing the entire mug in one long sip. She slammed it down and looked at Berry. “Real nice, Berry. One more, please.”
Rainbow Dash glanced at Applejack out of the corner of her eyes and groaned. “You have no appreciation for the finer things in life, you know that? I mean look at this mug of cider, Applejack! It's a thing of beauty, not something to be guzzled down. It must be savored!”
Applejack and Berry Punch exchanged a glance. “Did she sneak in here before and guzzle down some ciders?” Applejack asked.
Berry Punch shook her head. “No, but I'm somewhat tempted to cut her off after that one.” A sly smirk crossed her muzzle. “I might even cut her off before that one if she keeps it up.”
Rainbow Dash's eyes narrowed. She slid her foreleg into the mug's handle, lifted it up and took a sip from it. She swished it around in her mouth before swallowing. Her wings fluttered slightly and she sighed contentedly. “Ah, hits the spot!” She suddenly tilted the mug back and drained the rest of it in one, long gulp before slamming it down onto the counter. “Now that is a good mug of cider!”
“Buzz, buzz, buzz, I fly around and my legs have fuzz, fuzz, fuzz...”
Rainbow Dash and Applejack looked around as tiny tapping and soft singing filled the air. “Anyone else hear that?” the pegasus queried, her ears waggling.
Applejack glanced at a jukebox sitting in the far corner. “Is tha music machine fixed?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.
Berry Punch shook her head. “Doctor Whooves won't be able to fix it until next week, maybe. Said something about the parts not being invented yet, or something.” She shrugged. “I swear he's got his own still in that blue shed of his,” she said, chuckling.
Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to respond, but the tapping and singing grew louder. She turned her head to the right as a large moth-like creature fluttered into view, bobbing and weaving in the air. The wings were colored red, blue and yellow, the rest of the body pink. Front legs pounded on a pair of bongos strapped around its thorax. And feathery antennae jutted from a head bearing an uncanny and very eerie resemblance to Pinkie Pie.
It landed on a mug of cider and dunked half its body into it, drinking half of it in one long sip. It then floated back up and wobbled in the air before flipping upside-down and flying off ninety degrees from its original course.
Applejack's eyes followed the moth as it flew off, her mouth dropping open. Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, looked down at her mug. She then looked to Berry Punch and waved her other foreleg at the mug. “Berry, what the hay did you serve us, exactly?”
Berry looked down at the mugs she had served the pair. “Ask Applejack,” she replied. “It's Sweet Apple Acres brand, after all.”
Rainbow Dash looked to Applejack, who could only sputter. “I-I don't know what that hay's going on with it! That wasn't no hallucination either, Dash.” She slammed some bits on the table and doffed her hat to Berry Punch. “'Scuse us,” she said before sliding off her stool and galloping for the door, her friend right behind her.
The two reached the door at the same time, neither one slowing down for the other. They quickly lodged themselves in the frame, legs and wings kicking and beating at the air, respectively. “Rainbow Dash, get outta mah way!”
Rainbow Dash wiggled her body back and forth. “I would if someone hadn't packed on a few pounds since Nightmare Night!” she yelled, flapping a wing in Applejack's face.
Applejack's face turned red. “I am so gonna make you pay for that later on!” she said. She snorted and bucked back and forth, straining the wood and splintering it. She reached a hind leg forward and kicked against the frame, sending her flying forward while sending Dash back into the Punch Bowl. She landed on the ground and took off in a straight gallop.
Rainbow Dash flew back, crashing into an unoccupied table and breaking all four legs on it while also destroying the chairs under it. She shook her head and flew back up into the air before flying after Applejack.
Berry Punch stared down her muzzle at the damaged door frame and the destroyed table. She let out a sigh before reaching down and pulling out a ledger, quill and inkwell. She opened it up, gripped the quill with her teeth and dipped it into the inkwell before writing in a column marked 'Damages caused by Applejack and Rainbow Dash.' “Thanks, you two. I think with this I can secure Pinchy's collegiate future.”
Applejack suddenly skidded to a halt in the middle of Mane Street. She looked around before throwing her hooves into the air. “Horse apples, I think we lost her!”
Rainbow Dash slowed down, sliding past Applejack before doubling back to her friend. “How? She's tiny, has barely any speed and is probably drunk out of her gourd!”
Applejack threw her forelegs into the air. “Well, did yah see her at all? Shucks, we probably overshot her and she's back at tha Punch Bowl!” She whinnied and dropped back to all fours. “And ah was having such a nice, slow day too.”
Rainbow Dash scratched her forehead. “Well, if that was Pinkie Pie.”
Applejack arched an eyebrow at her friend. “In this town, with that party pony and a certain unicorn we both know, who else could it be?”
“Okay, got a point.” She flew back up. “So, Golden Oaks then?” At Applejack's nod she took off once more. “Golden Oaks it is!”
The two quickly arrived at the Golden Oaks Library and barged in. “Twilight!” Applejack called out, looking around. She quickly found the unicorn in the main foyer, along with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. All four had bug-catcher nets cradled in their forelegs. “Ah think we reached the right spot,” she said to Dash.
Twilight Sparkle trotted over to her friends. “I'm guessing you two had an encounter with a small pink moth playing bongos that had an uncanny resemblance to Pinkie Pie?”
Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchanged a look. “Dang, I was hopin' I was wrong,” Applejack said. She looked back at the four, focusing on her little sister. “Okay, so lemme guess. Crusaders tryin' tah get their cutie marks in somethin' and it backfired?”
Apple Bloom looked to the floor and sniffed. “Ahm sorry, Applejack. It happened all so suddenly and boom! Pinkie Pie was a tiny moth!”
Sweetie Belle cantered over and patted Apple Bloom on the shoulder. “No, Apple Bloom, it was my fault. I'm the one who should take the blame, not you!”
Silence fell over the group as everyone looked to Scootaloo. The filly shrugged. “Hey, don't look at me! I was upstairs reading Power Ponies comics with Spike.”
Twilight's horn glowed as she floated over nets to Applejack and Rainbow Dash. “No, girls. Neither of you were to blame for what happened. And neither was I,” she added quickly at the end.
Applejack grabbed the net with her teeth. “So what did happen with Pinkie, precisely?”
Twilight tilted her head to the side as they all left the library. “Well...”
Sweetie Belle's horn glowed, building up power. She sat in front of an apple, staring down at it in concentration. Across the room, Apple Bloom carefully poured a flask of liquid into a beaker, mixing the contents together. There was a puff of smoke as she stirred them together.
Twilight stood between the fillies, looking back and forth between them. “Alright, then. Apple Bloom, is your transmutation potion ready? Sweetie Belle, what about your shrinking spell?”
Apple Bloom looked the amber-colored liquid over. “Ready fer testing, Twilight!”
Sweetie Belle bit her lip. “It's ready... I think.” She sighed. “I don't know, Twilight. I'm a little nervous about this.”
Twilight stepped over and gently wrapped a foreleg around Sweetie Belle's shoulders. “Don't worry, Sweetie Belle. You've performed admirably with the testing and energy-gathering phases. All that's left is practical application.” She looked to Apple Bloom. “Same with you, Apple Bloom. You've both grown and learned so much over the past few months. I have every confidence in the both of you.”
Both fillies glowed with pride. “Thanks, Twilight,” Sweetie Belle said. She narrowed her eyes. “Okay, counting down for shrinking spell test in three, two...”
The front door slammed open and a panting, sweaty Pinkie Pie barged in, startling everyone in the room. “Oh, next time I have to remember to hydrate before a twenty-four party marathon!” she gasped out, dropping a pair of bulging saddlebags onto the floor. She stumbled up to Apple Bloom and her beaker. She looked down at it and grinned. “Oh, cider? Thanks!” she said as she scooped it up and downed it in one gulp.
Apple Bloom, caught unawares, could only stare in shock at Pinkie. Two seconds too late she raised her hooves. “NO!” she cried out, but it was too late.
At the same time, Sweetie Belle looked over in surprise at the commotion. “What's going... oh, no!” she cried out as the magic in her horn burst out, enveloping Pinkie Pie in a silver-white blob of energy.
Pinkie Pie's eyes widened. “Oh, horse apples,” she muttered. Her body shivered and shimmied. Her withers, back, loins and hips suddenly elongated into an insect's thorax and abdomen as wings burst from her shoulders. Her nose and muzzle sharpened and antennae unfurled from below her mane. All the while her body shrank down, down until it was only a few inches long.
Twilight's jaw dropped and part of her mane stuck up. “Okay... that's not good.” She trotted over to th the tiny Pinkie and knelt down in front of her. “Pinkie, are you okay?”
Pinkie looked herself over before flying up, bouncing off Twilight's face and rebounding out of the library. “Yahoo!'
Twilight winced at the impact, but quickly recovered. She galloped out of Golden Oaks and looked around, but could see no trace of her friend. “Oh, this is NOT good.” She turned and went back inside. “Okay, girls! Let's get those reversions ready a little ahead of schedule!”
Applejack rolled her eyes at Twilight's tale. “So she barged in, downed a potion and got hit with a shrink spell.” She bit her lip before shrugging. “Sounds like her, alright.” She looked back at Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. “Sorry fer assumin' tha worst, girls. That was wrong of me.”
Apple Bloom trotted up to Applejack's side and gently bumped into her. “It's alright, sis.” She looked around. “So, any idea where tah start looking?”
Twilight looked up at the sun. “Well, we'd better figure it out. We've got less than twenty-four hours to find her!”
Rainbow Dash dropped from the sky and buzzed Twilight's horn, ruffling her mane. “What happens if we don't?” She gulped. “Is it... permanent, then?”
Twilight rolled her eyes to the pegasus. “No. It's just if we don't, I will have to foalsit the Cake Twins while Mister and Missus Cake go to the theater.” She shuddered slightly. “I substituted for Pinkie once with that. Once!”
Apple Bloom and Applejack exchanged a glance. “Okay...” Applejack drawled out. “So, does anyone have any idea where tah look fer her?”
“I think I should mention she downed about twice her weight in cider at the Punch Bowl before flying off,” Rainbow Dash said. “So her train of thought is even more derailed than usual.”
Scootaloo, buzzing along on her scooter, looked up at her idol. “That's the last place you saw her, right? Well, if she had that much of Berry Punch's cider, she couldn't have gotten that far!”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and waved her off. “Nice thought, squirt, but we already looked around the Punch Bowl for her. She just seemed to disappear into thin air!”
Sweetie Belle's brow furrowed. She suddenly waved both forelegs in the air. “Oh! Oh, oh!” she waited for everyone to turn to her. “Did you check the alley on the side of the punch Bowl?”
Applejack slowly looked to her, then up to Rainbow Dash. “Did we... do that?” She scracthed her forehead. “I think we just kinda... looked around a bit before running fer tha library.” Her cheeks suddenly turned red. “Ho, boy.”
Twilight thrust a foreleg into the air. “To the Punch Bowl, everyone!”
Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom all high-hoofed each other. “Alright!”
Twilight looked over her shoulder. “Only to look, you three!”
“Aww!”
Berry Punch was outside, hammering a piece of wood into the frame when they arrived. She eyed Applejack and Rainbow Dash as they slowed down to a trot. “Here's your bill for damages,” she said, reaching back and pulling out a scroll from her saddlebag. “Payment in full by the end of the week, thank you!”
Applejack took the scroll. She chuckled nervously at Berry Punch. “We'll have it fer yah, Berry. Right, Dash?”
Rainbow Dash groaned, but nodded. “Yeah, yeah. Say, Berry, is it alright if we check the alley for Pinkie Pie?”
Berry Punch smirked at her. “No need,” she said. She trotted inside, beckoning the others to follow her. She walked up to the bar and waved at the tiny Pinkie, fast asleep and curled up under a napkin. Her bongos were set on a coaster beside her.
Applejack's jaw canted to the side. “So... where'd yah find her?”
“She was passed out at the mouth of the alley to the right.” She handed Applejack another scroll. “And when she's big again make sure she pays for that drink, too.” With that, she walked back to the door and began hammering once more.
Twilight telekinetically lifted the still-sleeping Pinkie and her bongos up off the bar. She turned and walked off, the rest following her. “Okay, let's get her back to the library to turn her back to the closest we can get to 'normal' for Pinkie Pie.”
Back at the library, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Twilight stood around Pinkie. She was awake, but her eyes were half-closed and she was rubbing her temples. “Oh, my brain...” she groaned out.
Rainbow Dash snorted. “I guess a mug of cider for such a small body equals one hay of a hangover.”
Twilight held up a hoof. “Quiet, everyone. I don't want anything to happen like last time.” She looked to Sweetie Belle. “Alright, you're up first, Sweetie. Just like we practiced, okay? You can do it!”
Sweetie Belle's face scrunched up. “I can do it!” She suddenly gulped. “But what if I can't?”
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were suddenly by her side. “You've got this!” Scootaloo shouted, pumping a fist in the air.
Sweetie Belle's head bobbed up and down. Her horn glowed silver as she concentrated. After a few seconds the magic flowed out, enveloping Pinkie. The small moth slowly expanded, finally reaching the approximate size of Pinkie Pie after two minutes. Sweetie Belle ceased casting her spell and the glow faded. She looked Pinkie Pie over before springing into the air, legs waving in the air. “I did it!' she cried out.
Twilight wrapped a foreleg around her in a hug. “You sure did, Sweetie Belle. We all knew you could!” She looked to Apple Bloom, who had a beaker filled with a clear liquid cradled in her foreleg. “Ready, Apple Bloom?”
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked to their friend. “You got this one, Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo cried out, wings buzzing.
Apple Bloom nodded. “Ahm ready!” She trotted over to Pinkie Pie and held the beaker up. “Okay, Pinkie, drink this one up. And no funny business, yeh hear?”
Pinkie's antennae drooped. “Oh, but funny business is the best kind of-”
“PINKIE!”
“Okay, okay, sorry!” Pinkie took the flask in her legs and downed the contents. She let out a burp before her entire body began shaking. “Oh, hohoh!” she cried out as her wings and antennae retracted back into her body. The third pair of legs disappeared and her thorax and abdomen shrank and changed shape back into the torso of a pony. She looked herself over. “Wow what a supperific time I had! This call for a-”
Twilight trotted forward and placed a hoof over Pinkie's mouth. “I think you owe Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom an apology, first,” she said rather sternly.
Pinkie's shoulders slumped. She nodded and trotted around Twilight to the three fillies. “You're right. And I'm sorry for ruining your experiments. I shouldn't have barged in like that or drank your potion like that,” she said, her ears flattening against her skull.
Apple Bloom looked to Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo, then smiled at her. “It's alright, Pinkie. We forgive yah!”
Pinkie grinned and began to throw her forelegs into the air, but stopped and looked behind her shoulder at Twilight. “Good time for a party now?”
Twilight hesitated for a moment before shaking her head. “There's a bit of catching up to do with their lessons. Sorry, Pinkie.”
Pinkie pursed her lips before nodding. “Okey-dokey-lokey, but I'll be back for a... 'congratulations on getting your lessons done' party after!” She walked forward, up to Applejack and Rainbow Dash. “So, the Punch Bowl?”
Applejack shrugged. “Why not, but first, there's this.” She fished out the bill Berry Punch had given her. “Might wanna settle up, first.”
Pinkie took the bill and looked it over. “Say, either of you got ten bits to loan me?” she asked. “I don't paid until tomorrow.”
Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchanged a glance before looking to Pinkie. Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs and glowered, but her expression quickly softened. “Alright, Pinkie.” She motioned to the door. “Let's go.”
The three waved bye before walking out. Twilight suddenly spoke up. “Hey, don't forget about your own bill for the damages!”
Rainbow Dash's wings shot straight out. “Oh, son of a–“
Twilight slammed the door, cutting off the last word. She looked to her three charges. “Ready for some more learning?”
Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle all lined up in front of her. “Cutie Mark Crusader Learning Lessons, YAY!”
Twilight tapped the side of her head before shaking it. “Okay, good to hear... anything after that.” She slid a chalkboard over and floated a piece of chalk up to it. “Now, then. I think we should learn about...”
