Chapter 2:

“Nope,” said Big Macintosh as he entered the kitchen, with the Cutie Mark Crusaders trailing behind him.

“Please!” whined Sweetie Belle.

“Nope!”

“But you promised!” whined Apple Bloom.

“Land Sakes! What’s all the commotion I’m hearing down here!” said Granny Smith as she entered the kitchen with Applejack, Twilight, and Spike.

Apple Bloom trotted to Granny Smith’s side and said, “Granny! Big Macintosh is not keeping his promise!”

“Eh? What promise was that, Big Macintosh?”

The pink returned to Big Macintosh’s cheeks as he downed his head and said, “Well, you see… I didn’t understand what they…”

Applejack trotted out from behind Granny Smith and cried, “Oh c’mon Big Macintosh, you know I ain’t the patient sort! Just tell me what you promised them.” Big Macintosh leaned in and whispered into Applejack’s ear. A moment later Applejack was laughing hysterically and wiping a tear from her eye as she exclaimed, “A baby?! You promised you’d dress up as a baby for them?”

Granny was confused and she turned to Apple Bloom for an explanation. Apple Bloom said, “We figured if Big Macintosh played pretend with us, we’d see if we have any natural talent at being mommies so that we could get our Cutie Marks.”

Granny turned to Big Macintosh and said, “Big Macintosh, I’m surprised. All yer little sister wants is to play with you and you’re being so difficult about it? You hardly spend any time with the little filly as is because of yer work on the farm! Furthermore, you made a promise! We Apples are only as good as our word, and I won’t have no promise breakers in this house.”

Big Macintosh downed his head in shame and sighed, “Yer right, Granny. I’m sorry.”

“That’s a good boy. Now be nice to yer sister and her friends,” said Granny Smith.

Spike approached Big Macintosh and gave him a cajoling pat on the side as he said, “Yikes, tough break bro. I’d argue on your behalf, but then they might decide to use me instead!”

Twilight added, “This is an awfully kind thing to do for your sister. It could prove to be an invaluable learning experience for her.”

“Yay!” cried Sweetie Belle, “We’ve our baby back! Uh… now what do we do?”

A mischievous smile appeared upon Applejack’s face as she said, “Well girls, it appears your youngin’ is missing the one thing every lil’ baby pony needs.”

The three little fillies thought about what she meant for a moment before Scootaloo exclaimed, “Ooh! I know! Baby ponies need diapers!”

Big Macintosh let out an audible groan but his ears perked up with hope when he heard Scootaloo say, “But I don’t think that there is a diaper out there big enough for Baby Mac.”

While not too happy about his new name, Big Macintosh smiled and said, “Nope, guess not. Well too bad.” Big Macintosh started to head to the door, believing himself scot-free when he heard Applejack say, “I think I may have a solution fer yer problem there.”

The group migrated outside to the laundry line, where some of the Apple family’s pure white bed sheets were hanging to dry. Applejack held one of the sheets with her hooves and said, “This ought to fit just right.”

Big Macintosh groaned and murmured, “You’re enjoying this aren’t you?”

“Eeeeyup! Hehe, sorry Big Macintosh, but this is just too funny to miss,” chuckled Applejack.

“Uh Sis?” said Apple Bloom, “Do you have any idea of how to diaper a baby pony?”

Applejack’s face fell as Big Macintosh let out a triumphant, “Nope!”

“Oh don’t worry honey, I’ll show how to do it. It’s something every mare has to learn to at some point or the other,” said Granny Smith warmly.

Big Macintosh’s ears drooped in disappointment as he followed Granny Smith and the three fillies inside with the white sheet. Granny Smith instructed Apple Bloom to get some talcum powder, Scootaloo to get some safety pins, and for Sweetie Belle to get a blanket. The fillies each took a few minutes to find their items, but eventually everything was gathered.

The first thing Granny Smith did was lay the blanket down, as she explained that one should never change a baby pony on the bare floor. The next thing she did was take the sheet and began to fold it. She first folded the sheet into a perfect square, and then brought two opposites corners together so that the sheet now had a kite shape. She then folded the top of the sheet down and folded the bottom of the sheet up so that it looked like a long trapezoid.

At that, Granny Smith nodded her head and Big Macintosh groaned as he sat down upon the diaper. Granny then took the talcum powder and liberally sprinkled talcum powder below Big Macintosh’s waist and explained to the fillies that it was necessary to prevent the baby from getting a rash. Finally, she brought up the sides and the front of the diaper and used two of the largest pins Scootaloo had brought on each side.

Granny Smith beamed at her handy work, but then Scootaloo poked her on the shoulder and whispered something her ear. Granny Smith let out an embarrassed chuckle and she asked Apple Bloom to bring her a pair of scissors. Apple Bloom quickly returned with them, and Granny Smith asked Big Macintosh to turn around. As he lay upon his belly, the old mare cut a small hole with the back of the make-shift diaper that was just big enough to let Big Macintosh’s tail out.

Applejack, Twilight, and Spike entered the room and upon seeing Big Macintosh’s padded state they all let out a collective giggle, causing him to flush bright pink again. Applejack chortled, “You look adorable Big Macintosh!”

Twilight turned to the fillies and asked, “So did you little ponies learn something about taking care of babies?”

“We sure did! Granny Smith taught us a lot about diaper changes,” said Sweetie Belle.

“Yeah, but she was one who did most of the work, and we still don’t know that much about taking care of baby ponies,” noted Scootaloo.

“Well I’m sure she has more information…” said Twilight, but when she turned to face Granny Smith, she saw that the old mare had fallen asleep in her recliner.

“Oh no,” cried Apple Bloom, “This one of Granny’s mid-day naps! Sometimes these can last until dinnertime! Now we can’t learn anymore about taking care of baby ponies.”

Just when Big Macintosh was finally getting optimistic, Twilight said, “Don’t worry girls, I think I have an interesting idea that can help you.” She then turned to Spike and said, “Could you head upstairs and bring one of books I had brought over to show Applejack.”

“‘Magical Modifications’ or ‘1001 Ways to Make an Apple Fritter?’”

“The first please.”

With that Spike headed upstairs and quickly retrieved the book. Twilight turned and explained to the fillies and Big Macintosh that she had recently shown Applejack a spell that could be used to lighten the weight of heavy baskets of apples, thus making harvesting season easier. She continued that the spell could also be used on living things and could help the fillies by making Big Macintosh light enough so that even they could lift him with ease, just like they could with a real baby pony.

Big Macintosh asked if there wasn’t a spell that could simply make him look younger, so that at least having to be treated like a baby colt would be less embarrassing, but Twilight responded that transformation spells on ponies did not usually last a long time and required a lot of magic. The lightening spell would be much easier and would probably wear off by the next day.

Big Macintosh sighed and relented. Twilight Sparkle then had Spike turn to the correct page and she began to focus intently. Her horn began to glow a warm magenta color, which seemed to grow until it formed into a spherical shape. The magical energy then floated off her horn and travelled through the air like a bubble in the wind. The magical ball then landed on Big Macintosh’s nose and popped.

The entire group looked around the room to see if anything else had happened. Finally, Applejack asked, “Uh, did it work?”

Sweetie Belle cantered up to Big Macintosh and without any hesitation, she grabbed Big Macintosh by his waist and hoisted him into the air. Big Macintosh let out a surprised yelp, but Sweetie Belle simply smiled and said, “Yep, I think it worked.”

“Whoa, Awesome! Let me try that,” said Spike, who took Big Macintosh and began to bench press the stallion as if he was a seasoned weightlifter.

“Spike! You’re setting a poor example! You have to be gentle when holding a baby pony,” scolded Twilight.

“Gosh Twilight, you sure seem to know a lot about taking care of baby ponies, maybe you could teach us about them instead of Granny Smith?” asked Apple Bloom.

“I’m sorry girls, but I really don’t know that much about taking care of baby ponies beyond a little common sense.” The three little fillies seemed disappointed, but then Twilight continued, “However, I do happen to know one pony with a lot of experience taking care of others… Fluttershy!”

“Oh yeah!” cried Scootaloo, “She takes cares of all those animals and she even watched over us that night we had a sleepover, she must know a ton about baby ponies!”

“Well, I’m not sure if she knows quite that much, but I do believe that she would be your best bet.”

A look of terror appeared on Big Macintosh’s face that had nothing to do with the fact that he was tenuously balancing in Sweetie Belle’s hoofs. Big Macintosh tended to be a very private pony, and thus far he had managed to hide any romantic inclinations he had towards any of the mares of Ponyville, but Big Macintosh could not deny to himself that he found Fluttershy’s beautiful, kind demeanor appealing.

Despite this, Big Macintosh’s fears were not noticed as Sweetie Belle began carrying him out the kitchen door, but Twilight suddenly cried, “Wait!” Big Macintosh silently prayed that somepony had finally come to her senses and would call off this embarrassing endeavor, but Twilight simply continued, “I just realized, young colts aren’t simply carried in one’s hooves. You three will need something to carry him in.”

Applejack scratched her chin for a moment before her eyes brightened and she said, “I’ve got an idea!” She trotted out to the barn and everypony heard her rummaging through the equipment stored within. She returned a minute later, pushing a wheelbarrow out before her. She brought it to the door and said, “We use this to gather bucket-loads of apples every season. It’s got more than enough room for him.”

Twilight inspected the wheelbarrow and said, “That was very astute of you, Applejack. Though I must admit that it doesn’t look very comfortable. Maybe a transformation spell would be appropriate in this case, since this is an inanimate object and would require less magic.” Twilight lowered her horn to the wheelbarrow, which began to glow the familiar magenta color of Twilight’s magic. With a flash of light, the wheelbarrow had been transformed into a large baby buggy.

The buggy was powder blue, with a soft padding covered by a blanket that matched the external color of the buggy and even a pillow in case Big Macintosh needed to be put down for a nap (which he highly doubted)! Sweetie Belle on the other hand, was completed elated by the sight of the buggy. She squealed, “Oh, it’s adorable! Let’s see if it works.”

She trotted over to the buggy with Big Macintosh in tow and carefully placed him inside with all the tenderness of a true doting mother. Big Macintosh shifted around upon the padding, resentfully finding himself actually quite comfortable. He drew the blanket over his waist and thankfully found that it covered his diaper rather well.

Applejack let a sly smile spread across her face as she teased, “Gettin’ comfy there, Baby Mac?” Big Macintosh shot her a glare, but Twilight had already adjusted the handlebar on the back of the buggy so that it was at a height where the three fillies could grip it within their mouths with ease. The three new caretakers proudly wheeled their new charge out of the Apple Family’s kitchen and began to long journey to Fluttershy’s cottage.

Author's Note

Hey all, here's the second chapter! Thank you to all the people who favorited, commented, and gave a thumbs up for the first one. The third chapter comes out next Friday, and I wonder who the CMC and Baby Mac will encounter next on their way to Fluttershy's? Feel free to share your guesses and general thoughts on my work. I'll do my best to get back to you as soon as I am able. Have a great week. :)