A Few Years At Sunsetby Swordguy00ChaptersSometimes Events OccurA Mess Of FiveA Day Of RuinTurn Back TimeSometimes Events Occur"It's a waste, and a darn shameful one at that." Applejack protested as Twilight set the apple on the crate, preparing for her first master level spell as an alicorn she had a book of spells out, though they treated it as a kind of celebratory party the day after the coronation and decided to spend a day outside near Fluttershy's cottage, as she had asked that she be able to look after an irritable Angel if need be while still wanting hang out. "It's just one apple AJ." Rainbow Dash laughed as she raced drifted past, trying to pass the time as she practiced a new routine she was making up. "Hey Twilight, you up for a race after this? Stretch out those new wings of yours?" Dash asked, as she curved around a cloud. "Fruit destruction notwithstanding, I'm keen to see if Twilight can really pull this off." Rarity, being meticulous as she was, had worn a plum colored raincoat, though she had modified the ordinary design to have the sides drape further down her legs than normal, so as to not get mud on her pristinely white coat. Twilight looked over her shoulder and smiled at her friend's over zealous attention to what-ifs taken on by her choice of outfit. "Why are you wearing that? The apple won't explode Rarity." She tried to be reassuring, but this only served to make Rarity lower the built-in hood Twilight didn’t even realize was there until just now. "I'm taking no chances." Rarity was almost as stubborn as Applejack when it came to making her mind up about something. The eighty degree heat was doing her no favors. So she sat in silence for the next minute or so, just trying to ignore that she was sweating bullets, hot and miserable. "I suppose it couldn't hurt to take it all off until twilight is absolutely ready to cast the spell." She tried to play it off. Nopony bought it for a second. "You don't need it at all Rarity, this is an aging spell, Twilight's just going to zap it and it'll start to mold super fast, nothing messy and no explosions… I promise." Spike affirmed with a smile. "Well…" Rarity began thinking over Spike's words, now physically frowning in thought. "You are a dragon of your word after all." "I've never seen advanced magic like this performed by a unicorn without some sort of magical aid." The small voice of Fluttershy seemed like a gentle breeze, as was her way, but her tone was laden with excitement, as she idly fed a couple of nearby squirrels some sunflower seeds. "Except by Trixie." Applejack added. “Well actually Trixie had-“Fluttershy was cut off before she could explain further. "Or excuse me." She cleared her throat, and for the first time ever since Twilight met her, AJ took off her hat and untied her mane, and now they all knew why she kept it tied up. It draped over her front legs and shoulders with a silky straight sheen billowing by her shoulders at her slightest movement, her mane at eye-level covered most of her face naturally and she peeked through the thin strands. She laughed shyly as everypony including Rarity had their eyes glued to her in astonishment at her transformation. Who was this mare? Rarity caught herself musing. Applejack scooped the majority of her mane in one hoof and draped it just below her eyes. She did her best, albeit unpolished impression of Trixie. "The GREAT AND POWERFUL, ALL-KNOWING AND ABNOXIOUS TRIXIE!" At this they all burst out laughing to the point where Rainbow Dash had tears streaming down her face and Spike was rolling on the floor holding his ribs. After everypony settled down and got back to what they were focused on beforehand, just then they heard Spike call out, "Okay all set." Though for some reason Twilight was nowhere to be seen he then blew smoke out of his nostrils, enough to cover his whole body. Emerging dramatically he waved his arms about to add to the mysticism of his speech. "Ponies one and all, prepare to be amazed, prepare to be dazzled by the mystic and unmistakable talent of-” Rarity then cast a quick spell, making Spike’s voice echo in true boxing ring announcer fashion, with Spike not missing a beat, he elongated each syllable for the ultimate dramatic effect. Twiiii.liiight. Spaaar.klllle." Just then Twilight popped into view by way of teleportation, her sudden presence pushed the billows of smoke outward in all directions making her seem larger than life. They all cheered, as Twilight blushed, not used to so much attention but simply getting used to it bit by bit an apparent demand of her new title. . Rarity leaned to Applejack, who was still preoccupied with tying her mane back to its unassuming state. "Why don't you let your mane down more often? It's so plain when tied up," Rarity commented with a coy smile, it seemed so alien to her, keeping beauty locked away like that. "With the amount of work I do outside, I'd bake like a potato before getting it half done," She began. "Tying it up keeps it out of the way though mainly, it’s been like that for so many years I'd never thought about it much." Applejack explained. "Well take it from me when I say you're very pretty." Rarity gently nudged her in the shoulder with her hoof. The golden-maned pony nudged her friend back with what looked like the same amount of gentleness, but it sent Rarity flying sideways a couple feet. Applejack quickly apologized, as she helped her friend off the ground. "Sorry 'bout that Rare, guess I don't know my own strength." Applejack cringed with embarrassment. "It's quite alright Applejack." Rarity floated a handkerchief out of the pocket of the purple coat she had on earlier and wiped her face of the earth, "So where's Pinkie Pie?" She continued. "She had to back home to get something, but she said she'd be back soon." Applejack told her, still tying up her mane, even minutes later. At this Rarity simply nodded. "Thanks girls, sorry for the wait, we needed to wait until the sun was halfway down over the horizon." Twilight acknowledged her friends support. "Twilight fifteen seconds or the spell won't work." Spike’s tone was all business. "There's no time to waste then, everypony watch the apple." Twilight then turned from her captive audience who sat slightly the left of twilight and about five feet back. Spike then began counting. "Seven, six, fi-" "Wait, I'm coming WAAAIIT!" Pinkie Pie galloped towards her friends, but with the tunnel vision of wanting not to be late came obliviousness of the rock that caught her hoof. The next few seconds that Twilight remembered was her finishing the spell's incantation, and casting the beam towards the apple, then being knocked aside as the rest of the magic drained from her horn, not sure what she was aiming at as the smoke caught the wind and darkness took her as she blacked out. A Mess Of FiveTwilight awoke a few minutes later, dazed, as she stood up too fast. "Twilight you're okay." Spike reached a claw out to her as she fell sideways in a dizzying state. "How's everypony else?" Twilight sighed. "I just woke up myself; they're all breathing, just unconscious." Spike replied quietly. "What do we do Twi?" When Twilight didn't answer his question he looked over to see her slowly trotting over to the heap that her five friends ended up in. They were covered in some sort of sparkling yellow goo. Twilight recognized it from the illustrations in the masters level spell book. But something was off. "Oh no." "Twilight?" Fluttershy's voice called out softly. She stood up slowly and looked around somewhat confused. "What happened?" Fluttershy then stopped instantly and with a look of mild surprise as she noticed the change in her voice, her size, both were delicate and immediately summarized her personality as the gentle pony she was. She then looked back at her flank, not in fear, but in a calm and collected way one would when fact-checking a theory. As soon as she looked at her flank her theory was confirmed, her cutie mark had vanished. "So we're all fillies again?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight and Spike both nodded. "Well that's not so bad." The three of them smiled as the others began to rouse from unconsciousness. "Well ain't that something." Applejack proclaimed. "My hat got bigger." She laughed as her hat hung over her whole head lazily, as she tried to buck it off she bucked a nearby oak, causing all the leaves to fall at once and making a small fracture in the wood near the trunk. Just as Applejack poked her head out of the mess of foliage Twilight heard a voice scream with delight. "LEAF PILE!!" Pinkie screamed at the top of her lungs, laughing as she did a cannon ball into the pile. Too late to get out of the way, all Applejack could do was watch as the pink ball of energy and joy descended. "No. Wait. PINKIE!" Applejack hollered too late as her friend landed right on top of her. "I must say Twilight, the absence of my cutie mark is a small price to pay to looking this adorable." Rarity and all of the ponies for that matter had shrunk to half their original size, and were now imbued with all youthful energy and talents they had as phillies. "Not to mention beautiful." Spike fawned over Rarity with a new set of eyes, taking in every detail of her younger and more slender form. Her mane and tail didn't have as much curl or volume as he was used to, and in fact was almost as straight as Fluttershy's. But even in her plainer, more down to earth look she was still a sight to behold. "Oh Spike," She laughed, blushing slightly. "You sure know how to sweet-talk a lady." "Ahem." Twilight cleared her throat. "Spike please try to focus." "I can certainly do that Twilight." Spike was now visibly drooling, as he seemed to be in some sort of trance. Twilight nudged his head with her flank. "I meant about reversing the spell." Twilight told him with a slight firm undertone, obviously annoyed by the dragon's dismissive attitude. "Reversing the spell are you nuts? I feel fantastic!" All anyone saw was a flash of primary colors as Rainbow Dash completed a sonic rainboom on her first pass, and then did a second one only a few seconds later. "I don't see a problem with this, if anything it's a serious improvement." Applejack told her worrisome friend. "Trust me Twilight, everything will be fine." Fluttershy chimed in happily. Finally Twilight Sparkle's anxious thoughts subsided. It seemed even Fluttershy's power of persuasion had been improved a great deal. "Alright, maybe it won't be so bad, the spell should wear off in a day or so anyway." Twilight thought ahead just in case. "If any of you have problems with this, will you promise to come seek my advice?" Twilight asked sweetly. "Yes, for Celestia's sake, yes!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she zoomed by for a fifth time. A Day Of RuinThe next day as Applejack awoke and came down for breakfast. She raced down the stairs and flew past her brother. "Now hold on there girl," Granny Smith stepped in front of the front door, looking stern and ready to push back if her granddaughter tried anything . "You're not gunna go work till you eat." "Applejack," Came Applebloom's voice from behind. "You're so small, what happened?" She cried, seeking answers too numerous to fathom. "Happy accident with Twilight and her magic is all." She explained as her sister circled her. She then let out a blood curdling scream, which made Granny Smith, and Applejack both go wide eyed with fright. "What is it, parasprites? Is my tail not brushed?" "You don't have your cutie mark, which means you can be a crusader!" Applebloom squealed with delight at the prospect of her sister joining the club. "Well it's only temporary; I'll be back to ma normal self in a day or so." Applejack ruffled her sister's mane as they both trotted to the breakfast table. Where they were greeted to a glorious spread, as it was Big Mac's turn to make the morning meal and he always made a little too much. There were hardboiled eggs, toast with marmalade, pancakes and applesauce with fresh orange juice. "Big Mac you have done it again. This looks amazing'." Applejack proclaimed. A few minutes later Applejack and Big Macintosh were off to bucking the apple orchard. Granny had settled on making lunch for the two of them early, so that it’d be ready by the time they had finished their first few hours of work. Suddenly she heard several loud cracks in a row. "AJ stop!" Came Big Mac's voice full of distress, Granny looked out the window to what was causing the normally calm stallion to have such an outburst. Applejack had bucked nearly seventeen apple trees in the last two minutes but had shaken them so hard that the leaves fell from the trees as well as the apples. "Oh darn it all!" Granny Smith exclaimed as she ran out of the house and after Applejack. Taking in a deep breath Granny Smith yelled her granddaughter's name. The filly turned timidly and walked over, and as she came to her senses and looked at her handiwork, she knew she was in deep trouble. "Look at this girl, you've made a fine mess, do you know what happens to apple trees that don't have any leaves in season?" Granny said sharply her brow furrowed. "They can't get the nutrients they need from the sun and can't produce fruit." Applejack recited, knowing what it meant for their harvest as well she hung her head. "I don't know what happened, I’m sorry." Applejack knew it wouldn't make the situation go away. "You can start by cleaning up the leaves. Maybe that'll put your head on straight." Granny then went back in the house. AJ dragged her hooves solemnly as she went over to her brother. "Sorry, I messed up good huh?" "Yep." was all Big Macintosh had to say before he trotted off to finish bucking the tree he had begun working on. "Now remember Pinkie, this cake needs to be ready by tomorrow night… It's Pound and Pumpkin's 1st birthday and we want it to be big and special!" Mrs. Cake told her star baker, giddy with excitement. Mr. Cake then popped his head through the swinging door his wife held open while she spoke. "And to make sure it's extra surprising; we don't want to know what sort of cake you'll make." Mr. Cake then got back to the register, a line of a few ponies waiting to get their orders filled. "Ohhhh… I'm excited, are you excited dear?" Mrs. Cake tapped the floor with her hooves, barely able to contain herself. "Oh yes! It's going to be so much fun to make; I won't let my favorite niece and nephew down!" She shrilled with exuberance. Mrs. Cake then exited the kitchen with a mild giggle. And Pinkie Pie got to work. Immediately spinning to each side of the room, Weighing her options at to what sort of cake to make On the walls were numerous types of chocolates crèmes and frostings tons of every kind of hard and soft candy. In her head she went over a dozen recipes that she could make in a timely manner. "hmm, chocolate mouse? Too rich for babies we don't want tummy aches at a party do we?" Pinkie though and thought of qualities that'd be suitable, but also something clever to reflect each of them. "Something simple to make and easy to chew huh?" Pinkie Pie had a spark of inspiration. "Pumpkin… pound. THAT'S IT! Pumpkin Pound Cake!" Immediately she raced at a blinding speed to the spice rack. "Pumpkin spice…" She surveyed the shelf and as she found it, just above the honey on the next shelf down with the creams and sweeteners. She then found a hunger she had not felt in years. A deep longing that had been buried and suppressed… she quickly ignored it and got back on task. "Let's see the vanilla extract is here." "Pinkie." Her name was called in a hushed whisper. She turned around with a start. "Hello?" Pinkie called. "Over here… next to the caramel sauce." "Well that's just silly that would make you the…" The pink pony trailed off as she slowly backed away from the sweet filled shelves. For there was the chocolate sauce bottle moving around on a skinny pair of legs. "Oh look at that." Pinkie Pie laughed hysterically. "It's walking!" As the bottle spoke, its flip-open cap closed and opened rapidly. "You know Pinkie, you've been working so hard. Why don't you sit for a moment, have a snack?" The bottle mused sweetly. Pinkie Pie then felt that hunger deep inside once, the absolute need to eat without end, anything… everything. "Oh I couldn't do that, Mr. and Mrs. Cake pay for supplying the bakery with-" Pinky was interrupted as a small bag was flung off the shelf she took one look at the bag and bit her lip. "Chocolate chips." she said with a delicious sigh. "Just a few, you deserve it." Pinkie Pie then reached over and got a small 3 ounce sauce bowl and plopped it down on the table. "Just a few." Pinkie Pie repeated to herself as a kind of promise that she would maintain her composure. Though as soon as she tipped a handful into the bowl, it spilled and overflowed onto the table. "Oh that's alright... you could eat those too, you wouldn't want to waste any would you?" Pinky could feel her knees buckle at the suggestion. "No." She agreed with the hallucination’s suggestion, but at the same time pleaded with herself to stop. "Dear Celestia, no." she said weakly, sounding more and more like Fluttershy every second. She then nibbling each of the chocolate drops one by one taking minutes to let each one melt completely before eating another. "They’re all yours, Pinkie Pie." Said the voice, now disembodied from the bottle, it seemed to bounced off the walls, in a raspy seductive tone, egging her on. Which seem to trigger something fearful in the young pony and she began eating like her life depended on it. She devoured the entire bag of chocolate chips in a single mouthful, "Mine, it's all mine!" She screamed as she raced over to the shelf she was at before and chugged a 12-ounce bottle of maple syrup and about a pound of pecans. She then went for the fridge that was on the opposite wall containing assorted fresh fruits for decorating the cakes and pastries. She was now breathing with an almost dog-like pant as her eyes twitched in sugar-induced spasms in random directions looking for a new target independent of where Pinky's true focus was. Pinkie hesitated for the briefest of moments, trying to focus on the tummy ache that now consumed her and now radiated to every muscle, to gain control of herself. anything to keep from this almost feral feeling. "The fruit won't be good for very long Pinky, the Cakes will inevitably buy more as the weeks wear on, you'd be doing them a favor by getting rid of it all," The voice taunted. She opened the fridge and saw the glory of her find… melons of every type, fruits from Saddle Arabia she had a hard pronouncing, berries as pink as her own coat and some just as plump as she was beginning to feel. Without a moment's hesitation ate everything down to the last blueberry. Twenty minutes later, the stores of powdered sugar were contaminated with the juices of all the fruit, the crushed nuts a total of twenty pounds of cashews walnuts and almonds, were gone. The next few hours became a blur of ice cream and caramel apples. Pinky awoke in a daze, just in time to see Twilight walk through the door. She tried to cover her face to avoid her friends gaze, but found that she somehow couldn’t, she also noticed the crick in her neck from her head being pushed to the side. Am I taller? "PINKY PIE?" The pink earth pony had become a literal ball of sugar and now was a diameter of about ten feet. "Pie, where?" was all Pinky could utter, as she couldn't move on account of her legs had become comically stubby. "Twilight?" Pinky then began to cry. "I didn't mean to, the chocolate bottle made me do it." Twilight remembered Pinky Pie's story of her family life before her cutie mark, her loneliness and solitude on the rock farm drove her to eat irregularly large meals, unable to stop, the reason she remained skinny however was that she was able to do it once or twice a year on account of the farm’s money troubles. "It's okay, you're going to be fine, we just have to get you out of here." Twilight then began to wonder if any of her other friends were having trouble as worse as this. Then she heard Rarity's voice ring in her ears. "Somepony help!" Twilight then turned wide-eyed towards the source of Rarity's yelling. Turn Back TimeTwilight ran towards Carousel Boutique, where she ran past several ponies. "Have you heard about the cutest filly in Equestria?" One of them said as she trotted happily towards the rapidly amassing crowd. They bottlenecked through the front door and several of them pressed their faces against the shop's floor to ceiling windows. Twilight begrudgingly nudged past practically every pony in town, Ms. Cheerilee, Mayor Mare and even Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara who were shoving each other violently. "I want to see her first!" Silver Spoon declared. "No me." The other screamed. "Rarity." Spike's lullaby-like hypnotized voice was unmistakable. He was one of the many folks packed against the window, except that his entire belly was crushed against the glass as other ponies began to pile on top of the window, uncaring that they themselves were being stepped on or that they may be stepping on others, creating an image of a vine crawling up a tree. Finally negotiating her way to the front of the horde and finding Rarity standing on top of a stool that she had placed on her sewing table. "Who wants to roast marshmallows after this?" Pinky Pie muttered as she got punted and rolled as pony after pony bumped into her getting to the entrance. "Oh Twilight! Thank Celestia. You've got to help! Everyone thinks I'm too adorable!" She was trembling in fear as they got closer and closer. "YOU ARE, YOU ARE!" Everypony chanted together. At this both Twilight and even Rarity rolled their eyes. "Some ponies would do anything for this sort of a fan club." Twilight quipped with a smile. "You're hilarious my dear, now please get me out of here." She looked around the room for a solution. As hooves reached for her tail and mane Rarity began to get nervous as the precarious tower of furniture began to wobble "Um… Twilight." She laughed nervously. Just then Berry Punch head butted the sewing table, shaking it and knocking it off balance. All Twilight could do was watch as Rarity fell. But a second or two before she hit, something thought impossible occurred. The shrieks of the ponies stopped, Rarity was silent with her mouth open in mid scream. For a brief inconceivably small attosecond, time had stopped and then in almost the same time there was a loud boom and Rainbow Dash appeared on the stairs with Rarity slumped across her back. "Twilight come on!" She said as she put her friend off her back. "Where did you come from?" Twilight asked as she ran alongside Rainbow Dash and Rarity. "Just waiting for my grand Daring Do style entrance." Rainbow grinned. "Glad you're having fun Dash." Twilight remarked as they ran for cover in Rarity's bedroom. Twilight paced, trying to think of a solution. She then pulled the long queen sized white sheet off her bed. "Here Rarity, put this on!" Twilight commanded as she threw the oversized sheet at Rarity's feet. Rarity just looked at it and tilted her head in confusion. "I don't understand what's going on… it's so strange." Rarity was on the verge of tears. Twilight walked over to her friend turned filly and hugged her. "It'll be okay, for now we have to get back to the library." "How's a blanket going to help that?" Rainbow Dash asked raising an eyebrow to Twilight's nonsensical plan. "It has to do with how everypony sees her right, well what if they can't see her at all?" Twilight grinned and then nodded to Rarity. Rarity dried her tears and hummed a tune to herself as she wrapped herself comfortably in the blanket making sure she was totally covered "Winter… wrap up, let's finish our holiday cheer." She stuttered through the torrent of emotional stress all this was. "Now get on my back Rarity, you'll just look like a bunch of sheets if you stay still." Rarity, now looking like a cross between a toilet paper mummy and a cheap excuse for a Halloween ghost costume, nodded at Twilight and she levitated the filly onto her back, folding her wings back over her friend to ensure she didn't fall off. "Okay, everypony ready?" Dash nodded with a confident smile and Rarity gave a muffled yes. "Let's go then." They opened the door and Twilight noticed something right away, there was a calm quiet, except the slightest shuffling of anticipatory hooves, like they had been waiting for them this whole time. "Okay Rainbow." Twilight whispered. "Go in front of me." Rainbow nodded and took the lead as they slowly descended the stairs. As they came into view of the first floor, everypony froze and stared wide-eyed and unmoving at Twilight and Dash's sudden presence. "Uh, hey everypony!" Rainbow laughed nervously but tried to keep her composure. "Where is Rarity?" Spike asked at once, climbing on top of Derpy's back to get a better view of his friends. "She asked us to do her laundry!" Rainbow spat quickly. “Yeah!" Twilight nodded following the lie quickly. "But if you wait here she'll be down to greet all of you… she's just fixing her mane and putting on her most formal attire for the occasion… she said you all deserve it." "Laundry, huh? That's odd. I know for a fact that Rarity does her laundry on Saturdays." Spike leered at the bundle. "Today is Friday!" The dragon pointed accusingly at Twilight as if he'd just cracked this mystery wide open. "She wanted us to get a head start on this stuff, Bad stain you see." Twilight smiled innocently, holding her smile a little too wide and too long to seem genuine. "Got lots to do, bye now!" Rainbow added as she walked out the door of the boutique with Twilight not far behind her. The two started to walk towards the library, quickening their pace as they got farther and farther away, though having to magically carry Pinkie Pie didn't help their escape attempt. As the library came into view, Rainbow Dash felt a rumbling beneath her hooves. A din of growls and snarling got louder and louder until they started to hear a faint voice call out. "Gain way!" It was Applejack and Fluttershy seemingly running for their lives. A moment later Twilight and Rainbow knew why, a massive stampede of forest animals was running right at them. "That's not good." Rainbow noted as she bolted towards the library at break-neck speed. "What's…oof… going… on out there?" Rarity asked as her voiced trembled and skipped with every stride Twilight took as she followed Rainbow’s pacing. As the five friends dashed as quick as they could into the library, Pinkie Pie was too bulbous to fit through the door. Twilight enveloped Pinkie in the soft fuchsia of her magic and pulled as the rest of her friends pulled on her legs. With only seconds to spare before the multitude of woodland creatures, normally so docile and well-mannered because of Fluttershy's motherly influence and care, had their fangs bared with looks of rage that Twilight hoped she could forget when she next slept at night. They all pulled together and Pinkie popped out of the wedged space sailing forward and hitting the opposite wall which held a bookshelf, sending books dropping to the floor, some with more prominent thuds than others based on their size. Twilight then turned and put her back towards the door as she breathed heavily. "Fluttershy," Twilight was barely able to catch her breath, "What happened?" Fluttershy mouthed some words but spoke in a raspy tone. "Here." Twilight rolled up a piece of parchment and made a cone, putting it up to Fluttershy's mouth. "I'm sorry Twilight, The bag of animal feed I usually use,” She took another breath; visibly struggling “I couldn't hold onto it, I dropped the bag. As I tried to catch it before it hit the floor, it landed on my neck… and now the animals won't behave at all.” “Oh this is all my fault,” she continued. “Without my counsel and nurturing voice they've become wild again." Fluttershy lamented as she spoke with her gaze toward the floor. "Twilight how do we fix this, there's a stampede outside tearing up Ponyville." Rainbow was pressing for answers. Rarity then popped out of the sheet that had saved her life and jumped off Twilight's back. "Not to mention a mob of Rarity worshippers." Rarity chimed in sweetly, she was starting to remind everyone of Sweetie Bell, including herself. "We can't fix anything until-." Twilight's eyes then went wide with horror. She then raced about the room in a panic searching for the tome that contained what she feared. As she found and opened it up she turned with the same look on her face except now she raced to window. "Okay everypony get together, we have to reverse this spell before it's too late." Twilight commanded. "Too late for what exactly?" Rarity asked as she huddled in between Fluttershy and Applejack. "If we don't get you all back to normal by sundown then you'll be stuck this way, and have to grow up again." Twilight answered not looking up from her book, trying to find the counter spell. "Well it almost is sundown." Pinkie commented, for once with a worried look on her face. "Okay, everyone together, here goes nothing!" As Twilight finished the spell there was a bright flash of light as her friends turned back to their older selves, with Pinkie Pie reverting to her original shape. "I thought you would have planned for this, why didn't you reread the book at some point, check the spell's parameters?" Rarity narrowed her eyes at Twilight. "Because she took it from the Canterlot Castle Archives, and had to put it back before anypony could find out." A voice came from behind Twilight, everyone froze. Twilight sheepishly turned to see the flawless pink coat and multi-faceted mane of Princess Cadence sitting poised on her sister-in-law’s bed. “But the spell doesn’t wear off,” she continued as the princess in pink descended the knotted, rough wood of the staircase “And so didn’t allow for her to sneak it back in a timely manner.” As Twilight lowered both her ears and head, she spoke softly "I'm sorry, this would never had happened if I-" Twilight then looked wide-eyed at the princess who suddenly had a grin on her face. "Wait a minute!" Twilight reacted with a furrowed brow and then a look of astonishment. "Why else you be here at this exact moment?" Cadence just laughed as she lifted a hoof to ruffle Twilight's mane. "Just because you go to steal something from the castle in the night doesn't mean Princess Luna didn't know." Twilight and her friend’s jaws then hit the floor in disbelief. "With how far you've come in your studies Twilight Sparkle, I would have thought you knew to ask either me or Celestia or Luna for help." "I guess I learned a lesson in not letting my pride get the better of me." Twilight admitted as she laughed a little, bashfully blushing as she did so. "She learns quickly." Cadence said as she peeked behind her shoulder to the rest of the ponies who just stood in shock at the blatant disregard for their safety in order to teach Twilight a lesson.
Sometimes Events Occur"It's a waste, and a darn shameful one at that." Applejack protested as Twilight set the apple on the crate, preparing for her first master level spell as an alicorn she had a book of spells out, though they treated it as a kind of celebratory party the day after the coronation and decided to spend a day outside near Fluttershy's cottage, as she had asked that she be able to look after an irritable Angel if need be while still wanting hang out. "It's just one apple AJ." Rainbow Dash laughed as she raced drifted past, trying to pass the time as she practiced a new routine she was making up. "Hey Twilight, you up for a race after this? Stretch out those new wings of yours?" Dash asked, as she curved around a cloud. "Fruit destruction notwithstanding, I'm keen to see if Twilight can really pull this off." Rarity, being meticulous as she was, had worn a plum colored raincoat, though she had modified the ordinary design to have the sides drape further down her legs than normal, so as to not get mud on her pristinely white coat. Twilight looked over her shoulder and smiled at her friend's over zealous attention to what-ifs taken on by her choice of outfit. "Why are you wearing that? The apple won't explode Rarity." She tried to be reassuring, but this only served to make Rarity lower the built-in hood Twilight didn’t even realize was there until just now. "I'm taking no chances." Rarity was almost as stubborn as Applejack when it came to making her mind up about something. The eighty degree heat was doing her no favors. So she sat in silence for the next minute or so, just trying to ignore that she was sweating bullets, hot and miserable. "I suppose it couldn't hurt to take it all off until twilight is absolutely ready to cast the spell." She tried to play it off. Nopony bought it for a second. "You don't need it at all Rarity, this is an aging spell, Twilight's just going to zap it and it'll start to mold super fast, nothing messy and no explosions… I promise." Spike affirmed with a smile. "Well…" Rarity began thinking over Spike's words, now physically frowning in thought. "You are a dragon of your word after all." "I've never seen advanced magic like this performed by a unicorn without some sort of magical aid." The small voice of Fluttershy seemed like a gentle breeze, as was her way, but her tone was laden with excitement, as she idly fed a couple of nearby squirrels some sunflower seeds. "Except by Trixie." Applejack added. “Well actually Trixie had-“Fluttershy was cut off before she could explain further. "Or excuse me." She cleared her throat, and for the first time ever since Twilight met her, AJ took off her hat and untied her mane, and now they all knew why she kept it tied up. It draped over her front legs and shoulders with a silky straight sheen billowing by her shoulders at her slightest movement, her mane at eye-level covered most of her face naturally and she peeked through the thin strands. She laughed shyly as everypony including Rarity had their eyes glued to her in astonishment at her transformation. Who was this mare? Rarity caught herself musing. Applejack scooped the majority of her mane in one hoof and draped it just below her eyes. She did her best, albeit unpolished impression of Trixie. "The GREAT AND POWERFUL, ALL-KNOWING AND ABNOXIOUS TRIXIE!" At this they all burst out laughing to the point where Rainbow Dash had tears streaming down her face and Spike was rolling on the floor holding his ribs. After everypony settled down and got back to what they were focused on beforehand, just then they heard Spike call out, "Okay all set." Though for some reason Twilight was nowhere to be seen he then blew smoke out of his nostrils, enough to cover his whole body. Emerging dramatically he waved his arms about to add to the mysticism of his speech. "Ponies one and all, prepare to be amazed, prepare to be dazzled by the mystic and unmistakable talent of-” Rarity then cast a quick spell, making Spike’s voice echo in true boxing ring announcer fashion, with Spike not missing a beat, he elongated each syllable for the ultimate dramatic effect. Twiiii.liiight. Spaaar.klllle." Just then Twilight popped into view by way of teleportation, her sudden presence pushed the billows of smoke outward in all directions making her seem larger than life. They all cheered, as Twilight blushed, not used to so much attention but simply getting used to it bit by bit an apparent demand of her new title. . Rarity leaned to Applejack, who was still preoccupied with tying her mane back to its unassuming state. "Why don't you let your mane down more often? It's so plain when tied up," Rarity commented with a coy smile, it seemed so alien to her, keeping beauty locked away like that. "With the amount of work I do outside, I'd bake like a potato before getting it half done," She began. "Tying it up keeps it out of the way though mainly, it’s been like that for so many years I'd never thought about it much." Applejack explained. "Well take it from me when I say you're very pretty." Rarity gently nudged her in the shoulder with her hoof. The golden-maned pony nudged her friend back with what looked like the same amount of gentleness, but it sent Rarity flying sideways a couple feet. Applejack quickly apologized, as she helped her friend off the ground. "Sorry 'bout that Rare, guess I don't know my own strength." Applejack cringed with embarrassment. "It's quite alright Applejack." Rarity floated a handkerchief out of the pocket of the purple coat she had on earlier and wiped her face of the earth, "So where's Pinkie Pie?" She continued. "She had to back home to get something, but she said she'd be back soon." Applejack told her, still tying up her mane, even minutes later. At this Rarity simply nodded. "Thanks girls, sorry for the wait, we needed to wait until the sun was halfway down over the horizon." Twilight acknowledged her friends support. "Twilight fifteen seconds or the spell won't work." Spike’s tone was all business. "There's no time to waste then, everypony watch the apple." Twilight then turned from her captive audience who sat slightly the left of twilight and about five feet back. Spike then began counting. "Seven, six, fi-" "Wait, I'm coming WAAAIIT!" Pinkie Pie galloped towards her friends, but with the tunnel vision of wanting not to be late came obliviousness of the rock that caught her hoof. The next few seconds that Twilight remembered was her finishing the spell's incantation, and casting the beam towards the apple, then being knocked aside as the rest of the magic drained from her horn, not sure what she was aiming at as the smoke caught the wind and darkness took her as she blacked out.
A Mess Of FiveTwilight awoke a few minutes later, dazed, as she stood up too fast. "Twilight you're okay." Spike reached a claw out to her as she fell sideways in a dizzying state. "How's everypony else?" Twilight sighed. "I just woke up myself; they're all breathing, just unconscious." Spike replied quietly. "What do we do Twi?" When Twilight didn't answer his question he looked over to see her slowly trotting over to the heap that her five friends ended up in. They were covered in some sort of sparkling yellow goo. Twilight recognized it from the illustrations in the masters level spell book. But something was off. "Oh no." "Twilight?" Fluttershy's voice called out softly. She stood up slowly and looked around somewhat confused. "What happened?" Fluttershy then stopped instantly and with a look of mild surprise as she noticed the change in her voice, her size, both were delicate and immediately summarized her personality as the gentle pony she was. She then looked back at her flank, not in fear, but in a calm and collected way one would when fact-checking a theory. As soon as she looked at her flank her theory was confirmed, her cutie mark had vanished. "So we're all fillies again?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight and Spike both nodded. "Well that's not so bad." The three of them smiled as the others began to rouse from unconsciousness. "Well ain't that something." Applejack proclaimed. "My hat got bigger." She laughed as her hat hung over her whole head lazily, as she tried to buck it off she bucked a nearby oak, causing all the leaves to fall at once and making a small fracture in the wood near the trunk. Just as Applejack poked her head out of the mess of foliage Twilight heard a voice scream with delight. "LEAF PILE!!" Pinkie screamed at the top of her lungs, laughing as she did a cannon ball into the pile. Too late to get out of the way, all Applejack could do was watch as the pink ball of energy and joy descended. "No. Wait. PINKIE!" Applejack hollered too late as her friend landed right on top of her. "I must say Twilight, the absence of my cutie mark is a small price to pay to looking this adorable." Rarity and all of the ponies for that matter had shrunk to half their original size, and were now imbued with all youthful energy and talents they had as phillies. "Not to mention beautiful." Spike fawned over Rarity with a new set of eyes, taking in every detail of her younger and more slender form. Her mane and tail didn't have as much curl or volume as he was used to, and in fact was almost as straight as Fluttershy's. But even in her plainer, more down to earth look she was still a sight to behold. "Oh Spike," She laughed, blushing slightly. "You sure know how to sweet-talk a lady." "Ahem." Twilight cleared her throat. "Spike please try to focus." "I can certainly do that Twilight." Spike was now visibly drooling, as he seemed to be in some sort of trance. Twilight nudged his head with her flank. "I meant about reversing the spell." Twilight told him with a slight firm undertone, obviously annoyed by the dragon's dismissive attitude. "Reversing the spell are you nuts? I feel fantastic!" All anyone saw was a flash of primary colors as Rainbow Dash completed a sonic rainboom on her first pass, and then did a second one only a few seconds later. "I don't see a problem with this, if anything it's a serious improvement." Applejack told her worrisome friend. "Trust me Twilight, everything will be fine." Fluttershy chimed in happily. Finally Twilight Sparkle's anxious thoughts subsided. It seemed even Fluttershy's power of persuasion had been improved a great deal. "Alright, maybe it won't be so bad, the spell should wear off in a day or so anyway." Twilight thought ahead just in case. "If any of you have problems with this, will you promise to come seek my advice?" Twilight asked sweetly. "Yes, for Celestia's sake, yes!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she zoomed by for a fifth time.
A Day Of RuinThe next day as Applejack awoke and came down for breakfast. She raced down the stairs and flew past her brother. "Now hold on there girl," Granny Smith stepped in front of the front door, looking stern and ready to push back if her granddaughter tried anything . "You're not gunna go work till you eat." "Applejack," Came Applebloom's voice from behind. "You're so small, what happened?" She cried, seeking answers too numerous to fathom. "Happy accident with Twilight and her magic is all." She explained as her sister circled her. She then let out a blood curdling scream, which made Granny Smith, and Applejack both go wide eyed with fright. "What is it, parasprites? Is my tail not brushed?" "You don't have your cutie mark, which means you can be a crusader!" Applebloom squealed with delight at the prospect of her sister joining the club. "Well it's only temporary; I'll be back to ma normal self in a day or so." Applejack ruffled her sister's mane as they both trotted to the breakfast table. Where they were greeted to a glorious spread, as it was Big Mac's turn to make the morning meal and he always made a little too much. There were hardboiled eggs, toast with marmalade, pancakes and applesauce with fresh orange juice. "Big Mac you have done it again. This looks amazing'." Applejack proclaimed. A few minutes later Applejack and Big Macintosh were off to bucking the apple orchard. Granny had settled on making lunch for the two of them early, so that it’d be ready by the time they had finished their first few hours of work. Suddenly she heard several loud cracks in a row. "AJ stop!" Came Big Mac's voice full of distress, Granny looked out the window to what was causing the normally calm stallion to have such an outburst. Applejack had bucked nearly seventeen apple trees in the last two minutes but had shaken them so hard that the leaves fell from the trees as well as the apples. "Oh darn it all!" Granny Smith exclaimed as she ran out of the house and after Applejack. Taking in a deep breath Granny Smith yelled her granddaughter's name. The filly turned timidly and walked over, and as she came to her senses and looked at her handiwork, she knew she was in deep trouble. "Look at this girl, you've made a fine mess, do you know what happens to apple trees that don't have any leaves in season?" Granny said sharply her brow furrowed. "They can't get the nutrients they need from the sun and can't produce fruit." Applejack recited, knowing what it meant for their harvest as well she hung her head. "I don't know what happened, I’m sorry." Applejack knew it wouldn't make the situation go away. "You can start by cleaning up the leaves. Maybe that'll put your head on straight." Granny then went back in the house. AJ dragged her hooves solemnly as she went over to her brother. "Sorry, I messed up good huh?" "Yep." was all Big Macintosh had to say before he trotted off to finish bucking the tree he had begun working on. "Now remember Pinkie, this cake needs to be ready by tomorrow night… It's Pound and Pumpkin's 1st birthday and we want it to be big and special!" Mrs. Cake told her star baker, giddy with excitement. Mr. Cake then popped his head through the swinging door his wife held open while she spoke. "And to make sure it's extra surprising; we don't want to know what sort of cake you'll make." Mr. Cake then got back to the register, a line of a few ponies waiting to get their orders filled. "Ohhhh… I'm excited, are you excited dear?" Mrs. Cake tapped the floor with her hooves, barely able to contain herself. "Oh yes! It's going to be so much fun to make; I won't let my favorite niece and nephew down!" She shrilled with exuberance. Mrs. Cake then exited the kitchen with a mild giggle. And Pinkie Pie got to work. Immediately spinning to each side of the room, Weighing her options at to what sort of cake to make On the walls were numerous types of chocolates crèmes and frostings tons of every kind of hard and soft candy. In her head she went over a dozen recipes that she could make in a timely manner. "hmm, chocolate mouse? Too rich for babies we don't want tummy aches at a party do we?" Pinkie though and thought of qualities that'd be suitable, but also something clever to reflect each of them. "Something simple to make and easy to chew huh?" Pinkie Pie had a spark of inspiration. "Pumpkin… pound. THAT'S IT! Pumpkin Pound Cake!" Immediately she raced at a blinding speed to the spice rack. "Pumpkin spice…" She surveyed the shelf and as she found it, just above the honey on the next shelf down with the creams and sweeteners. She then found a hunger she had not felt in years. A deep longing that had been buried and suppressed… she quickly ignored it and got back on task. "Let's see the vanilla extract is here." "Pinkie." Her name was called in a hushed whisper. She turned around with a start. "Hello?" Pinkie called. "Over here… next to the caramel sauce." "Well that's just silly that would make you the…" The pink pony trailed off as she slowly backed away from the sweet filled shelves. For there was the chocolate sauce bottle moving around on a skinny pair of legs. "Oh look at that." Pinkie Pie laughed hysterically. "It's walking!" As the bottle spoke, its flip-open cap closed and opened rapidly. "You know Pinkie, you've been working so hard. Why don't you sit for a moment, have a snack?" The bottle mused sweetly. Pinkie Pie then felt that hunger deep inside once, the absolute need to eat without end, anything… everything. "Oh I couldn't do that, Mr. and Mrs. Cake pay for supplying the bakery with-" Pinky was interrupted as a small bag was flung off the shelf she took one look at the bag and bit her lip. "Chocolate chips." she said with a delicious sigh. "Just a few, you deserve it." Pinkie Pie then reached over and got a small 3 ounce sauce bowl and plopped it down on the table. "Just a few." Pinkie Pie repeated to herself as a kind of promise that she would maintain her composure. Though as soon as she tipped a handful into the bowl, it spilled and overflowed onto the table. "Oh that's alright... you could eat those too, you wouldn't want to waste any would you?" Pinky could feel her knees buckle at the suggestion. "No." She agreed with the hallucination’s suggestion, but at the same time pleaded with herself to stop. "Dear Celestia, no." she said weakly, sounding more and more like Fluttershy every second. She then nibbling each of the chocolate drops one by one taking minutes to let each one melt completely before eating another. "They’re all yours, Pinkie Pie." Said the voice, now disembodied from the bottle, it seemed to bounced off the walls, in a raspy seductive tone, egging her on. Which seem to trigger something fearful in the young pony and she began eating like her life depended on it. She devoured the entire bag of chocolate chips in a single mouthful, "Mine, it's all mine!" She screamed as she raced over to the shelf she was at before and chugged a 12-ounce bottle of maple syrup and about a pound of pecans. She then went for the fridge that was on the opposite wall containing assorted fresh fruits for decorating the cakes and pastries. She was now breathing with an almost dog-like pant as her eyes twitched in sugar-induced spasms in random directions looking for a new target independent of where Pinky's true focus was. Pinkie hesitated for the briefest of moments, trying to focus on the tummy ache that now consumed her and now radiated to every muscle, to gain control of herself. anything to keep from this almost feral feeling. "The fruit won't be good for very long Pinky, the Cakes will inevitably buy more as the weeks wear on, you'd be doing them a favor by getting rid of it all," The voice taunted. She opened the fridge and saw the glory of her find… melons of every type, fruits from Saddle Arabia she had a hard pronouncing, berries as pink as her own coat and some just as plump as she was beginning to feel. Without a moment's hesitation ate everything down to the last blueberry. Twenty minutes later, the stores of powdered sugar were contaminated with the juices of all the fruit, the crushed nuts a total of twenty pounds of cashews walnuts and almonds, were gone. The next few hours became a blur of ice cream and caramel apples. Pinky awoke in a daze, just in time to see Twilight walk through the door. She tried to cover her face to avoid her friends gaze, but found that she somehow couldn’t, she also noticed the crick in her neck from her head being pushed to the side. Am I taller? "PINKY PIE?" The pink earth pony had become a literal ball of sugar and now was a diameter of about ten feet. "Pie, where?" was all Pinky could utter, as she couldn't move on account of her legs had become comically stubby. "Twilight?" Pinky then began to cry. "I didn't mean to, the chocolate bottle made me do it." Twilight remembered Pinky Pie's story of her family life before her cutie mark, her loneliness and solitude on the rock farm drove her to eat irregularly large meals, unable to stop, the reason she remained skinny however was that she was able to do it once or twice a year on account of the farm’s money troubles. "It's okay, you're going to be fine, we just have to get you out of here." Twilight then began to wonder if any of her other friends were having trouble as worse as this. Then she heard Rarity's voice ring in her ears. "Somepony help!" Twilight then turned wide-eyed towards the source of Rarity's yelling.
Turn Back TimeTwilight ran towards Carousel Boutique, where she ran past several ponies. "Have you heard about the cutest filly in Equestria?" One of them said as she trotted happily towards the rapidly amassing crowd. They bottlenecked through the front door and several of them pressed their faces against the shop's floor to ceiling windows. Twilight begrudgingly nudged past practically every pony in town, Ms. Cheerilee, Mayor Mare and even Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara who were shoving each other violently. "I want to see her first!" Silver Spoon declared. "No me." The other screamed. "Rarity." Spike's lullaby-like hypnotized voice was unmistakable. He was one of the many folks packed against the window, except that his entire belly was crushed against the glass as other ponies began to pile on top of the window, uncaring that they themselves were being stepped on or that they may be stepping on others, creating an image of a vine crawling up a tree. Finally negotiating her way to the front of the horde and finding Rarity standing on top of a stool that she had placed on her sewing table. "Who wants to roast marshmallows after this?" Pinky Pie muttered as she got punted and rolled as pony after pony bumped into her getting to the entrance. "Oh Twilight! Thank Celestia. You've got to help! Everyone thinks I'm too adorable!" She was trembling in fear as they got closer and closer. "YOU ARE, YOU ARE!" Everypony chanted together. At this both Twilight and even Rarity rolled their eyes. "Some ponies would do anything for this sort of a fan club." Twilight quipped with a smile. "You're hilarious my dear, now please get me out of here." She looked around the room for a solution. As hooves reached for her tail and mane Rarity began to get nervous as the precarious tower of furniture began to wobble "Um… Twilight." She laughed nervously. Just then Berry Punch head butted the sewing table, shaking it and knocking it off balance. All Twilight could do was watch as Rarity fell. But a second or two before she hit, something thought impossible occurred. The shrieks of the ponies stopped, Rarity was silent with her mouth open in mid scream. For a brief inconceivably small attosecond, time had stopped and then in almost the same time there was a loud boom and Rainbow Dash appeared on the stairs with Rarity slumped across her back. "Twilight come on!" She said as she put her friend off her back. "Where did you come from?" Twilight asked as she ran alongside Rainbow Dash and Rarity. "Just waiting for my grand Daring Do style entrance." Rainbow grinned. "Glad you're having fun Dash." Twilight remarked as they ran for cover in Rarity's bedroom. Twilight paced, trying to think of a solution. She then pulled the long queen sized white sheet off her bed. "Here Rarity, put this on!" Twilight commanded as she threw the oversized sheet at Rarity's feet. Rarity just looked at it and tilted her head in confusion. "I don't understand what's going on… it's so strange." Rarity was on the verge of tears. Twilight walked over to her friend turned filly and hugged her. "It'll be okay, for now we have to get back to the library." "How's a blanket going to help that?" Rainbow Dash asked raising an eyebrow to Twilight's nonsensical plan. "It has to do with how everypony sees her right, well what if they can't see her at all?" Twilight grinned and then nodded to Rarity. Rarity dried her tears and hummed a tune to herself as she wrapped herself comfortably in the blanket making sure she was totally covered "Winter… wrap up, let's finish our holiday cheer." She stuttered through the torrent of emotional stress all this was. "Now get on my back Rarity, you'll just look like a bunch of sheets if you stay still." Rarity, now looking like a cross between a toilet paper mummy and a cheap excuse for a Halloween ghost costume, nodded at Twilight and she levitated the filly onto her back, folding her wings back over her friend to ensure she didn't fall off. "Okay, everypony ready?" Dash nodded with a confident smile and Rarity gave a muffled yes. "Let's go then." They opened the door and Twilight noticed something right away, there was a calm quiet, except the slightest shuffling of anticipatory hooves, like they had been waiting for them this whole time. "Okay Rainbow." Twilight whispered. "Go in front of me." Rainbow nodded and took the lead as they slowly descended the stairs. As they came into view of the first floor, everypony froze and stared wide-eyed and unmoving at Twilight and Dash's sudden presence. "Uh, hey everypony!" Rainbow laughed nervously but tried to keep her composure. "Where is Rarity?" Spike asked at once, climbing on top of Derpy's back to get a better view of his friends. "She asked us to do her laundry!" Rainbow spat quickly. “Yeah!" Twilight nodded following the lie quickly. "But if you wait here she'll be down to greet all of you… she's just fixing her mane and putting on her most formal attire for the occasion… she said you all deserve it." "Laundry, huh? That's odd. I know for a fact that Rarity does her laundry on Saturdays." Spike leered at the bundle. "Today is Friday!" The dragon pointed accusingly at Twilight as if he'd just cracked this mystery wide open. "She wanted us to get a head start on this stuff, Bad stain you see." Twilight smiled innocently, holding her smile a little too wide and too long to seem genuine. "Got lots to do, bye now!" Rainbow added as she walked out the door of the boutique with Twilight not far behind her. The two started to walk towards the library, quickening their pace as they got farther and farther away, though having to magically carry Pinkie Pie didn't help their escape attempt. As the library came into view, Rainbow Dash felt a rumbling beneath her hooves. A din of growls and snarling got louder and louder until they started to hear a faint voice call out. "Gain way!" It was Applejack and Fluttershy seemingly running for their lives. A moment later Twilight and Rainbow knew why, a massive stampede of forest animals was running right at them. "That's not good." Rainbow noted as she bolted towards the library at break-neck speed. "What's…oof… going… on out there?" Rarity asked as her voiced trembled and skipped with every stride Twilight took as she followed Rainbow’s pacing. As the five friends dashed as quick as they could into the library, Pinkie Pie was too bulbous to fit through the door. Twilight enveloped Pinkie in the soft fuchsia of her magic and pulled as the rest of her friends pulled on her legs. With only seconds to spare before the multitude of woodland creatures, normally so docile and well-mannered because of Fluttershy's motherly influence and care, had their fangs bared with looks of rage that Twilight hoped she could forget when she next slept at night. They all pulled together and Pinkie popped out of the wedged space sailing forward and hitting the opposite wall which held a bookshelf, sending books dropping to the floor, some with more prominent thuds than others based on their size. Twilight then turned and put her back towards the door as she breathed heavily. "Fluttershy," Twilight was barely able to catch her breath, "What happened?" Fluttershy mouthed some words but spoke in a raspy tone. "Here." Twilight rolled up a piece of parchment and made a cone, putting it up to Fluttershy's mouth. "I'm sorry Twilight, The bag of animal feed I usually use,” She took another breath; visibly struggling “I couldn't hold onto it, I dropped the bag. As I tried to catch it before it hit the floor, it landed on my neck… and now the animals won't behave at all.” “Oh this is all my fault,” she continued. “Without my counsel and nurturing voice they've become wild again." Fluttershy lamented as she spoke with her gaze toward the floor. "Twilight how do we fix this, there's a stampede outside tearing up Ponyville." Rainbow was pressing for answers. Rarity then popped out of the sheet that had saved her life and jumped off Twilight's back. "Not to mention a mob of Rarity worshippers." Rarity chimed in sweetly, she was starting to remind everyone of Sweetie Bell, including herself. "We can't fix anything until-." Twilight's eyes then went wide with horror. She then raced about the room in a panic searching for the tome that contained what she feared. As she found and opened it up she turned with the same look on her face except now she raced to window. "Okay everypony get together, we have to reverse this spell before it's too late." Twilight commanded. "Too late for what exactly?" Rarity asked as she huddled in between Fluttershy and Applejack. "If we don't get you all back to normal by sundown then you'll be stuck this way, and have to grow up again." Twilight answered not looking up from her book, trying to find the counter spell. "Well it almost is sundown." Pinkie commented, for once with a worried look on her face. "Okay, everyone together, here goes nothing!" As Twilight finished the spell there was a bright flash of light as her friends turned back to their older selves, with Pinkie Pie reverting to her original shape. "I thought you would have planned for this, why didn't you reread the book at some point, check the spell's parameters?" Rarity narrowed her eyes at Twilight. "Because she took it from the Canterlot Castle Archives, and had to put it back before anypony could find out." A voice came from behind Twilight, everyone froze. Twilight sheepishly turned to see the flawless pink coat and multi-faceted mane of Princess Cadence sitting poised on her sister-in-law’s bed. “But the spell doesn’t wear off,” she continued as the princess in pink descended the knotted, rough wood of the staircase “And so didn’t allow for her to sneak it back in a timely manner.” As Twilight lowered both her ears and head, she spoke softly "I'm sorry, this would never had happened if I-" Twilight then looked wide-eyed at the princess who suddenly had a grin on her face. "Wait a minute!" Twilight reacted with a furrowed brow and then a look of astonishment. "Why else you be here at this exact moment?" Cadence just laughed as she lifted a hoof to ruffle Twilight's mane. "Just because you go to steal something from the castle in the night doesn't mean Princess Luna didn't know." Twilight and her friend’s jaws then hit the floor in disbelief. "With how far you've come in your studies Twilight Sparkle, I would have thought you knew to ask either me or Celestia or Luna for help." "I guess I learned a lesson in not letting my pride get the better of me." Twilight admitted as she laughed a little, bashfully blushing as she did so. "She learns quickly." Cadence said as she peeked behind her shoulder to the rest of the ponies who just stood in shock at the blatant disregard for their safety in order to teach Twilight a lesson.
