A Foalish Mistake

Twilight Sparkle paced around the library, trying to find books to remove the curse that she’d accidentally saddled herself with. Finding the books was the easy part of the process; at least, finding books that she knew contained tables and charts that would point her in the direction of books that might contain some mistranslated ancient text about the obscure fields of magic she would need to become an expert in before she could create a cure.

Finding the books was the easy part. She knew her library so well, and she knew straight away which were the first few books she would need to consult. She could go straight to them, and tell Mom which books she needed. Because that was the first hurdle, she couldn’t lift the books off the shelf. She could reach out with her hoof, but it just wouldn’t go where she wanted it to. It took her more than one attempt to even get her hoof on the right book, but gathering enough coordination to grasp the book was out of the question.

Normally this wouldn’t bother her. She was a unicorn, so normally she would just use her magic to pull books towards her without even needing to look at them. But for the last ten minutes, every time she tried to use her magic, her horn glowed in a pale lavender colour that matched her coat more closely than the pink of her eyes, and nothing else happened. She was sure that hadn’t been the case when the curse first took hold, because she could remember using her telekinetic powers to splash around in the bath, dumping a bundle of soap suds on Mom’s head and then laughing so hard. But then she’d tried to read a book, and found that the words all turned into a shifting, confusing mess of blurred letters that she couldn’t quite make out.

Mom was wonderful about it, as helpful as a filly could hope for. She’d offered to read to Twilight, but she wanted to read an easier book first. They’d started with what was clearly a book for children, with brightly coloured pictures of the princess and the three knights on every page. But the story had been surprisingly good, and Twilight wondered if she’d missed out by skipping a few grades when she was first in school. She couldn’t believe just how  rich and vibrant the stories were, especially the impossibly over-the-top posh voice that Mom put on to whisper the third knight’s lines. It was hilarious, and it took Twilight a few minutes to stop laughing every single time she did it.

Then she’d gone looking for books that might be less entertaining, but she knew would be a whole lot more useful. She hadn’t been able to move them at all. She couldn’t even read the heavy golden lettering on the spines, and only knew the books she wanted because she’d referenced them more  than enough times to recognise the size and colour of every one, as well as being intimately familiar with their location in the library.

Eventually, Mom caught up with her and smiled endearingly.

“Did you find a book you want to read? Which one is it?”

“An Essay On Methods for the Analysis and Theurtography of an Unknown Enchantment, by Star Swirl the Bearded,” she said, pointing to a thick text in a burgundy-grey cover. At least, that’s what she tried to say. By the time it emerged from her cursed and clumsy lips, it was completely unintelligible. Talking was even harder than walking right now, and after three attempts she ended up settling for repeating “Star Swir” and “The wed one!” while pointing at her desired tome.

It really was in a high place, and even Mom had some trouble stretching up that far, and the closeness of the ceiling meant that her pretty wings were little help. For reaching the top shelf, it turned out, unicorn magic was better than hooves in ways that Twilight had never even stopped to consider.

“Is this the right one?” Mom eventually asked, the weighty volume held out in front of her. Twilight nodded, but had no idea how she was going to explain which sections she needed to look in. She was aware that she was finding it harder to think as well, which frustrated her more than she could express. She had to do her best not to think about it, because under the effect of this curse every emotion was magnified to be so intense that she couldn’t think clearly. She didn’t want to find herself bawling again, worrying Mom.

Fluttershy.

The pegasus mare with the golden-yellow coat and adorable cutie-pink mane was her friend Fluttershy. It was a real effort to remember that, when every instinct wanted to think of her as ‘Mom’. She assumed that was a part of the spell too, though it was hard to figure why. It seemed to go in waves, able to think for a few minutes and then all attempts at cognition washed away by a sudden wave of interest in something totally inane like a cute image in a picture book, or something brightly coloured. Maybe that’s what it was: a curse of constant distraction. Even something as simple as hunger; she hadn’t eaten all afternoon, and she couldn’t even complete a simple thought without her mind drifting back to her tummy. She’d have to ask Mom for food, and see if that made her any more rational.

“Awawe bama Mama behama?” she mentally cursed as the babble came out of her mouth. She couldn’t even express a simple request, and with just the slightest feeling of disappointment she felt tears start to form in her eyes.

“Aww, is something wrong Twily?” Mom immediately picked her up, and the warmth of her hugs was enough to dispel a moment’s worry, “Do you need something?”

Twily rubbed her tummy, giving up on speech for now. She found herself babbling a little more, but thinking aloud was no embarrassment when the words weren’t even comprehensible. She didn’t mind making stupid noises involuntarily, it was only when she couldn’t communicate that the frustration pushed her over the edge into tearful despair.

“You’re hungry?” Mom asked, ruffling Twilight’s mane, “Well, that’s not a problem. Let’s fill up your tummy and then we can keep on reading.” She made it seem so easy. The little problems that drove Twilight to the edge of panic in her current state were no challenge to Mommy, who could change plans and make everything right again just as soon as she knew what was wrong. A snack took quite some time, with Twilight’s coordination slowing her down at it would with everything else, but eventually she was sitting on the library floor again, looking up at Mom as she spread the book out in front of her.

“There are many situations in which it may be necessary to discern …” she started reading from the book Twilight had chosen, stumbling a little over archaic words that it took her a moment to work out the modern pronunciation of. She was surprised how many words had once been spelled differently, and reading without pauses was more difficult than she’d expected. She was more familiar with an abridged version of this book, translated to be easier for modern students of magic, but from the fact that it had been open on the table earlier, Fluttershy could assume that the unicorns had already checked the shorter version to see if it contained anything relevant to this curse. “… can be deduced by systematic principles, using both crystalline, dynamic, and conventional theurtography to extract different traits.”

As she spoke the words Fluttershy didn’t really understand what they were about, but she was content to keep on reading as long as her foal was happy. It was calming in a strange way, knowing that she could do something useful without needing to think about it too much. But after just a few minutes, she started to wish again that one of her friends was here to help. She didn’t want to leave Twilight alone, even for a minute so she could use the bathroom.

The sound of the door opening made her look up suddenly, and she completely lost her place in the text. She wondered if it might be Rarity and Applejack, back already from their shopping trip, but a momentary glimpse of pink told her otherwise.

“Oh my god, Twilight, you’re so cuuuuuuute!” Pinkie Pie squealed as she barrelled into the library, dropping the bags she’d been carrying and rolling with the adult-sized foal into a chaotic pink-and-purple cuddle pile. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here this morning, I came straight away when you called but my eye started twitching just as I got to the door and reminded me I’d forgotten some important things, and I didn’t want to forget anything again so as soon as I was home I went round the whole house making sure I’ve got everything we need!” She wasn’t even short of breath at the end of that sentence, itself an amazing achievement in Fluttershy’s eyes.

“Be careful with Twilight! She’s only…” Fluttershy realised that the instincts of an overprotective mother had led her to raise her voice, and she forced herself to return to her normal quiet tone. She knew that Twilight was still a fully grown pony, she could see the evidence right before her eyes, but those treacherous instincts still wanted to believe she was looking after a fragile child. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean… Anyway, it’s good you’re here now. A dark magic spell went out of control, and Twilight seems to be acting like a foal in some ways. I keep thinking she is, it’s so hard to see what’s really there!”

“Well don’t worry yourself any more, because I’m here to help out! I love looking after little foals, it’s so much fun to play!”

“No foal!” Twilight protested. She needed to get them to understand that she was still a grown mare, while she had the coordination to at least speak a few words. Then Pinkie  Pie tickled her under the chin, and any chance of thinking evaporated. In seconds she was flat on her back, writhing in a desperate attempt to back away as the pink mare tickled anywhere she left exposed. She didn’t even notice straight away when Mom joined in too, tempted by how much fun they were obviously having. Twilight couldn’t help herself, every touch filled her world and for a moment she couldn’t think of anything except trying to shield herself from the giddy, amazing torment.

Eventually Pinkie Pie took her hooves away and stepped back, one eye twitching nervously.

“We should stop–” she said, but her words were lost under Twilight’s carillion of laughter. Fluttershy redoubled her efforts, finding that if she was careful she could use her wingtips as an extra pair of hooves. They were perfect for tickling, it turned out. She wanted to have fun with the little one as well as being the responsible adult. Twilight was asking her to stop, she knew, but the foal’s pleas weren’t too clear and the huge smile and laughter made it clear enough that she really wanted to continue.

She did stop soon enough, though. Twilight was going wild, every part of her body twitching like some kind of terrible, enjoyable dance. She couldn’t stop it, a feeling of helplessness stronger than any tickling she’d had in the past. And then when she was least expecting it, one of Mom’s wings glanced her side, feathers eliciting another involuntary twitch that made her even more acutely aware of how full her bladder had been. She tried to hold it but she just couldn’t stop, even after Mom realised and stepped quickly away.

“Oh, I’m sorry Twily!” Fluttershy gasped in shock, “I didn’t know you…”

“I told you it was time to stop!” Pinkie didn’t seem to be even slightly embarrassed, but then it was hard to recognise a blush against her pink coat at the best of times, “Don’t worry, you need to get yourself cleaned up and I’ll take care of Twilight, I think she’d better wear a diaper as long as this curse lasts. Is that okay Twilight? We know it’s not your fault, don’t worry about it. I brought foal powder and everything too, because I noticed a while ago you haven’t got any here. So just calm down and let Auntie Pinkie take care of everything. Okay?”

Fluttershy knew there was no point asking how much the hyperactive pink pony knew about the current situation, and Twilight didn’t even think to. But she seemed confident, and that was all it took for them to follow her instructions without question, for now at least.

By the time Fluttershy had finished in the bathroom – again – Twilight and Pinkie were tossing a balloon back and forth in the middle of the room like perfectly normal children. Fluttershy smiled as she watched them, and didn’t interrupt until there was another knock at the door. She still knew this was a curse, but she was starting to realise that it wouldn’t be all bad if the situation could continue.