A Little Monsterby Shadowmane PX-41ChaptersThe AftermathExplanationsPlaytime with MidnightTension LiftedA Magical ReunionMidnight's MagicGoing AwayCamp EverfreeThe Wolf of CanterlotA Castle for MidnightA Magic Baby's ImaginationPlaydates and ParadoxesHome in Time for the SurpriseLittle Gaia EverfreeGaia and the WolfA Flower in the Everfree ForestLeaving Camp EverfreeThe Cutest of the LittleboltsNew PlaymatesThe Road AheadLemon's Plan and Twilight's InterventionBabies and Pixies Don't MixLittle HelpUnleash the MagicThe Wrong Everfree ForestThe AftermathSunlight streaked through the clouds as the Games came to an end. The students had all calmed down and taken down the bleachers and banners for their separate schools. The events of the last event had been completely forgotten about as two students retrieved the pennants and handed them back to Luna and Cadence, who took them and laid them down on the ground. The Rainbooms and Shadowbolts were all huddled around Twilight Sparkle, who was now sitting and learning how to crawl. Everything that their former friend had used to be had now been washed away with the magic and now she was back at square one with this infantile stage. She slowly put her hand on the ground and did the same with the other, learning how to crawl. "So, now what are we going to do with a baby Twilight?" Indigo was the first one to break the silence as Sunset picked Twilight back up. "She can't stay like this forever, right? We're still besties!" "Well, I'm sorry to break it to you girls, but we can't fix her." Sunset Shimmer petted Twilight, combing her pillar of black, purple, and pink hair as she slid her fingers through and across it. "Whatever she—whatever Cinch did, there's no way we can turn her back without the Magic of Friendship." "So? Then call it out or something and change her back!" Sour Sweet demanded. "This whole baby thing is going to make me die! Of fangirling, that is!" She pinched Twilight's cheeks. "She's soooo cute!" Twilight giggled at Sour Sweet's actions and clapped her hands, reaching out for the Crystal Prep student and flailing around in Sunset's grasp as she did so. "It doesn't really work like that." Sunset shook her head and handed Twilight over to Sour Sweet. "We used to have the Magic of Friendship before the Games began, but one by one Twilight sucked it out of us with that weird locket thing over there." She pointed her thumb over her shoulder towards the empty and powerless device. "Without it, we're just as normal as you five are. And all of that magic now lives in Twilight Sparkle." "So... does that mean we can't fly anymore?" Rainbow Dash hobbled up to Sunset and looked into her eyes, putting her hands together. "I'm sorry, Dash, but you'll never see those wings of yours ever again." Sunset put her hand on Rainbow's shoulders and began to wipe the tears from Rainbow's eyes. "Not unless a miracle happens and Twilight learns how to control and share the magic inside herself." "Aww, man! That really sucks!" Rainbow Dash slumped down onto her butt and curled up into a ball. "And I was really enjoying flying in the sky like pony-me does..." "I'm more interested to see what you girls are going to do now that Twilight Sparkle's been turned into a baby." Sugarcoat's eyes were locked with that of Twilight's who reached out and stole her glasses, rattling them in her hand. The teenage girl took them back and slipped them back onto her head. "The sensible thing is definitely to contact her parents, of course, but what you've said about magic could put them all at a potential risk. They might not be ready for the newfound power that their once-more infant daughter has." "And with that magic in the hands of a baby, it could come up at any given time..." Rarity took Twilight and gently rocked her in her arms. "Even if we are able to keep her happy and healthy, something as small as a sneeze could unleash some truly horrible magical powers. She might look adorable, but she does have a lot of demonesque features about her." "Rarity hit the nail on the head there." Sunny Flare spoke up and cast her gaze down on Twilight, who eagerly reached out to play with the hairclip on Sunny's hair. "Twilight's not only been age-regressed, but she's got all of the stolen magic that we all wanted to be released. Now, I'm no expert on the subject, but I'm definitely sure that with all of that magic, it's going to be very unpredictable what will happen when she uses it." "So, what are we gonna do, then?" Lemon Zest leaned over Twilight's face and almost bumped into her. "If she's got those freaky-deaky magical powers, then we should leave her in the hands of someone who knows all about it, right?" "Well, there isn't anyone here who knows about magic more than we do." Pinkie bounced over to Lemon Zest and took Twilight out of Rarity's arms. "Sure, the other CHS students have been told about it, but they're not really as smart as me, Sunset, and the others. Plus, Pound and Pumpkin could use a new playmate back home." She brought Twilight to her face and made silly faces, sticking out her tongue at the infant in the hopes of trying to amuse it. "Who's a cute demon baby? You are! Yes you are! Yes you are!" Twilight laughed vigorously at Pinkie Pie's whimsy and grabbed onto her face. Her giggles illuminated her horn and hands and caused magic to spring up around them. Black and blue auras grabbed Pinkie and lifted her up into the air as Twilight's wings glided her down to the ground. As she shook her limbs around, Pinkie was shaken like a ragdoll for a few seconds before the baby put both of her hands to the ground, causing her teenage captive to smash into the ground and ingest some grass and dirt. "Whoa. I did not see that one coming..." Indigo Zap took a few steps backward when Twilight's magic faded away. "Hello, girls. Am I interrupting anything?" Luna walked up to the group of girls and looked down at Twilight. "I trust that Twilight Sparkle is doing alright?" "Yeah. She's been doing pretty good," Sunset lied as the thought of an infant Twilight using magical power began to seep into her mind. "So, what's gonna happen to her now that she's been turned into... this?" Fluttershy picked Twilight up and brought her to Luna. "She can't stay here forever and we don't know how to change her back without magic." "Hmm..." Luna took a close look at Twilight, mainly raising interest at the sight of the wings sprouting out of her back, and the illuminated face mask and horn that shone a gentle shade of cyan. "I've already alerted her parents about the whole thing. They'll be coming to collect her shortly." "Are you really sure that's a good idea, Luna?" Sunset tilted her head and eyed up the baby Twilight Sparkle. "We just saw her lift Pinkie Pie in the air like a toy and shake her around before throwing her down into the ground!" "To be fair, though, the grass at Canterlot High is super yummy." Pinkie Pie plucked out a few more blades of grass and slipped them into her mouth like potato chips, swallowing after chewing them thoroughly. "A baby with magic?" Luna's brow shot up as she touched the tip of Twilight's horn and began to rub it. The result of her actions caused her fingers to be afflicted with a burn as the light shone brighter. "Gah! Well, I can't entirely say she's an ordinary infant, that much is clear." "So, what should we do about it, then?" Cadence walked up to the group of girls. "Twilight's parents are coming down any second now and we're dealing with some kind of weird super-baby with weird magical powers. How are Mr and Mrs. Sparkle going to be able to handle something like this?" "If they were to be given that baby, a number of different outcomes could happen." Sugarcoat crossed her arms and looked at Cadence and Luna. "Twilight might end up killing them with her power, for one. That much magic in that tiny body could be catastrophic if not tamed. And without parents, Twilight would probably die of other means shortly after. Secondly, if her parents found out, they could call the authorities to take Twilight away and have her cut open and experimented on. And three, her parents and family might even abandon her once they hear the whole story." She took her glasses off and rubbed them on her tartan skirt. "In each of these possibilities, it's a lose-lose for Twilight. As much as it is cruelty, her parents are unfit to raise a demon-like magical baby." "But then, what can we do?!" Applejack shouted as she swung her arms over to Twilight. "If Twi's parents give up on her, die, or have her taken away by the cops, then it's gonna be sad for all of them!" "I don't think that there's anything we can do if Twilight goes off with her mom and dad!" Indigo shook her head. "Someone's gotta take care of that kid and it's gotta be someone who knows how to use magic!" "But who? No-one in Canterlot High or Crystal Prep knows the slightest bit about this whole magic stuff!" Cadence's resolve shattered as she looked out at the girls warning cries of desperation. "Whoever's going to have that baby is in for a whole world of trouble and chaos! They might never lead a normal life ever again!" Both the grown-ups and the teens slung words back and forth between each other as they discussed the best course of action on how to raise Twilight. Many of their words clashed with each other as they tried to get their views out and what should be done, but all in all, their words were getting them nowhere with their words. Sunset looked back and forth between the two groups. Sugarcoat's points still stood proud and Twilight's parents would have a real hassle trying to deal with their magical daughter. But at the same time, she knew that the magic inside Twilight could still be tamed and controlled. She took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts before walking in between the two groups. She pushed both of her arms out and took Twilight away from Luna, silencing the bickering humans. "I'll do it," she spoke confidently as she leaned Twilight's head back. "Sunset? Are you perfectly state-of-mind right now?" Luna broke the momentary silence as she looked deeply into Sunset's eyes. "That little one might be the Twilight Sparkle of Crystal Prep, but she's still taken in a lot of magic since the Friendship Games." "I know that. But you're all right." Sunset looked back and forth between the teenage girls and the principals and dean. "Twilight's new powers need to be controlled and tamed before any of this spirals out of hand. Her parents won't be able to learn how to do it, but I've dealt with this stuff before." "Are you sure that you're up for this, Sunset?" Rarity inquired as she stepped forward. She was within range of both Twilight and Sunset and had to avoid being poked in the chest by Twilight's horn as the baby now looked to the ground below her. "This is a far cry from both your tantrum at the Fall Formal and the Battle of the Bands. Magic is being wielded by a newborn; a baby. Who knows what kind of madness might ensue from this?" "I know the stakes, but we don't have a choice in the matter." Sunset brushed Rarity's chest and took a deep breath. "There's too much at stake here, and besides, we've already pointed out the risks of giving her back to her parents. If anything, I'd say that this is the best shot we have of being able to control Twilight and her new magic." "I'm sure that I don't have to remind you, but you've never even considered the prospect of having children, Sunset Shimmer." Celestia pointed out and looked down at her student. "Raising them is a lot of hard work. And you don't even have the knowledge or education needed to take care of one, let alone the toys, furniture, and food that can feed her." "That's why, with all due respect, Principal Celestia, I would like to enroll in your Sex Ed course as well and use Twilight for my test." Sunset rubbed Twilight's belly, hearing her blow a raspberry and slide a chuckle out of her tiny lips. "I'm fully aware that I'll also have to take her in every other day just to make sure that my grades aren't falling behind either." "Not many teenage mothers are seen in this country in times like these, but if you're willing to take up responsibility for Twilight Sparkle and her well-being, I will make sure that you are not overwhelmed with other school work." Celestia smiled and tousled Sunset and Twilight's hair. "Only if you're willing to commit yourself to looking after her, though." "I promise, Principal Celestia." Sunset nodded and gave the staff a grin of her own. "Twilight's in good hands." Before anyone could say or do anything else, a purple sports car rolled up at the statue to Canterlot High. From inside, a man and a woman climbed out and walked over to Celestia and the group. The woman had white and purple hair with lavender skin, while the man had both dark blue hair and skin. "Dean Cadence, we got a call that Twilight Sparkle had suffered from something terrible," said the man. "We've called her brother, Shining Armor as well. As soon as he's done with his job, he'll be coming here as well." "Night Light. Twilight Velvet. I'm not sure that the two of you will understand me when I say this, but your daughter, Twilight Sparkle, has changed." Dean Cadence stepped aside, revealing the baby Twilight in Sunset's arms. "We are still unsure on what to do, but we do know that magic has overwhelmed your daughter and turned her back into a newborn." "Twilight?" Both Night Light and Twilight Velvet chorused at the child and watched her flutter her eyelids as she looked at the two newcomers. "The students also witnessed that even in this infantile state, your daughter has some immense magical powers that I fear could disrupt your family and cause harm to everyone around her." As Luna spoke, she didn't realise that Twilight's horn and hands lit up, causing tiny pieces of the ground around them to float into the air and dance around. "One of the students at Canterlot High, Sunset Shimmer, has agreed to take care of your daughter if you two are unwilling to look after her yourself." "Unwilling? Why would you ever think we'd want to give Twilight up?" Night Light picked Twilight up and turned her towards him. "It's like you said. We wouldn't get it, but we're not about to just throw her away just because she's somehow turned into this... thing." "We were all just worried that Twilight's power could become a bit too much of a problem to deal with." Celestia walked up to the parents and saw Twilight hurling the rocks out over to the houses on the other side of the road. They smashed into the glass and against the walls of the rooms that they had infiltrated. "As you can see, her magic is a bit unstable in this form." "What are we going to do, honey?" Twilight Velvet's eyes flew over Twilight Sparkle's and linked with her husband's. "We can't take care of a magical baby." "True, but I'm also not about to lose Twilight either!" Night Light brought Twilight close to her chest and hugged her. "Sure, she's our little shooting star again, but how do you think giving her up makes any of this OK?" "If I may, I might have a solution that might please everybody." Sunset Shimmer raised her finger and came back up to Twilight and her family. "I've already said that I would take care of Twilight if you didn't want to, but if you feel that you'll both crack under the pressure of handling a baby with magic, then I'd gladly volunteer to be your personal caretaker." "Caretaker?" Both of the parents parroted and exchanged glances before letting Sunset continue. "What this means is, that as a caretaker, I would be able to stay at your house and help you raise Twilight back into a teenager again." Sunset tipped and tilted her hands as she addressed both Night Light and Twilight Velvet. "In addition to being an extra pair of hands to keep the house tidy and clean, I could also look after Twilight while you can't and help her to control her magical powers. Furthermore, I would eliminate the need for a babysitter in case the entire family needs to go out somewhere and leave her alone, so that's an extra benefit." She gently lifted Twilight up and patted her back, causing a little burp to escape from the infant's mouth. "Of course, you don't have to accept. It's just a suggestion." Both of Twilight's parents were deep in thought after Sunset had posed the offer to them both. They were still having a lot of trouble being able to come to terms with the fact that their own daughter had been transformed into a baby with otherworldly powers that none of them had heard of before, but at the same time, they were also beginning to see just how Sunset's help would lessen the stress that they would potentially have. "Well, as much as I'm scratching my head with this whole thing, I'd say you've got a deal." Night Light held out his hand and saw Sunset take it and shake it. "You can start right now, if you'd like." "Thank you, sir. You won't regret this." Sunset smiled and let go of Night Light's hand, giving him back Twilight. "I promise that Twilight'll grow up just how you want her to." As everyone watched the whole event, they just now saw that the buses from Crystal Prep were beginning to pick the students up and take them back to their school. Many of the uniformed students had already began making their way back towards the buses, leaving the Shadowbolts for last. "Well, as much as this is a heartwarming scene, I'm afraid we must be going now." Sugarcoat walked towards the bus and gathered her personal belongings. "I'll be sure to stay in touch about little Twilight." "Gotta go. This school hates us being late, Cinch or no Cinch." Sour Sweet followed after Sugarcoat and clambered up the steps. "Catch ya on the flipside, Pinks and friends!" Lemon Zest slid on up to Twilight and rubbed her cheeks one last time. "And a super-special goodbye to you, Twi!" And with that, she ran back onto the bus, letting the sound of her headphones cut out the world around her. "This is the beginning of a new Crystal Prep." Sunny Flare nodded as she too began to climb onto the bus. "Hopefully, things won't be so tense between our two schools. Have a good day, Rainbooms of Canterlot High. May our paths cross again soon." "See ya!" Indigo Zap ran on board and sat herself on one of the seats on the front row, waving back at the girls as the vehicle closed its' doors and departed Canterlot High. "I guess I'd better get going as well." Sunset Shimmer walked towards the car and climbed into the back, holding Twilight gently in her chest. "Her magic's gonna be wild if I'm not there to protect her." "You're doing the right thing, Sunset." Applejack came up to Sunset and gave her a warm smile and a nod. "We'll be sure to help out however we can as well. Just give us a call if something comes up and we'll be raring to go!" "Thanks, girls. You're the best." Sunset grinned back and closed the car door, buckling herself and Twilight into the seats as Night Light and Twilight Velvet walked up to Shining Armor. "I came here as soon as I heard what had happened!" Shining had to catch his breath as he stopped at Twilight Velvet and Night Light's feet. "Where's Twilight? What happened to my little sister?!" "We'll explain when we get home, Shining Armor." Twilight Velvet got in the car and rolled down the window. "But just so you know, Twily's safe. She's with us now." "Just make sure to get home as soon as you can and we'll fill you in on the details." Night Light nodded as he ignited the car's engines and drove off down the road. Shining Armor could only watch as his parents left him behind. He shook his head and took in some deep breaths as he looked up at Dean Cadence, Principal Celestia, and Vice-Principal Luna. "Do any of you know what happened?" "Honey, as much as I can feel your concerns, I don't think you'll understand it without Sunset Shimmer's help." Dean Cadence slid the back of her hand across Shining Armor's face and looked into his eyes. "You see, Twilight Sparkle isn't really herself anymore..." Author's Note That button up there is a Patreon button. If you click on it, you can donate to my Patreon Page and get a whole slew of great rewards for pledging. You can see behind-the-scenes thoughts and sneak peeks of new stories and chapters being developed, you can earn free story editing and a free one-shot or story of your choice, but most importantly, you can support me and help me by pledging at least $1 dollar a month to keep me going. As always, have a very nice day and I'll be seeing you all soon! ExplanationsThe Sparkle family car drove up the path and stopped outside the garage doors. The engines cut off as the car came to a scraping halt at the end of the line. The doors opened on all sides and Twilight Velvet, Night Light, and Sunset all climbed out, making sure to take Twilight with them before they shut the doors and locked the vehicle. The house itself was a wide two-story detatched building with white brick walls and five windows on the front. There was a normal wooden door with a golden knocker perfectly placed in a simple square arch. The pathway leading up to the door was made out of cream-coloured tiles with a vibrant garden stretching out to the left. Flowers of all different shapes and sizes grew around the walls of the front yard, and a plain doghouse for Spike sat daintly at the corner. "Twilight? I'm not sure if you remember this place, but you're home." Sunset gently poked Twilight's nose and heard her giggle as she walked up the path towards the door. "No-one's ever going to hurt or push you ever again. You're with your family now and they're going to take good care of you." Twilight could only babble baby talk as she looked at the house and garden. Her hands drifted off towards each direction and she constantly tried to reach out and grab whatever she could lay her eyes on. At times, she would also struggle and shake around in Sunset's hold to break free and crawl over to each object of interest, but Sunset made extra sure to keep a tight hold on her so that she didn't wander off or get hurt. The family all walked in and Sunset carried Twilight through the door and shut the door behind her with the tips of her shoes. She saw a small kitchen to her left and a large lounge with a widescreen TV on the right. Trophies, photos, and other keepsakes could be seen in a nearby glass display while books and coasters were neatly laid out on a small black coffee table. "So, where's her room?" Sunset turned to Night Light and Twilight Velvet as she held their daughter gently in her arms. After the events of the Friendship Games, she wanted Twilight to get some rest and relaxation as soon as possible. "Go upstairs, first door on the right." Night Light pointed towards the staircase. "Just take a look at that room when you get up there, because once we've got everything sorted out, it's going to be completely re-decorated." "Alright. Thanks." Sunset gave Night Light a small nod and slowly walked up the stairs, balancing Twilight in her arms. Her short trip up to the next floor ended with her opening the door by pushing the handle down with her arm. Sunset walked into Twilight's room and was met with a sight that she should have seen coming from the first time she had met her. Scientific formulas and equations were scribbled down on paper sprawled all across the desk. She had a bright window which poured in sunlight onto her bed and the middle of the room. There was a large mirror at the side of the wall and a computer at the far end. As for the bed itself, it was a simple shade of white with blue bed sheets and a plain pillow. "I know it's not really your style now, Twilight, but you used to love this stuff when you were all grown up." Sunset brushed Twilight's hair as she laid the baby down on the ground. "Don't worry, though. Your mom and dad are gonna fix this place up as quickly as they can." Twilight's eyes darted around the room, shooting across from the desk, to the bed, and the computer. She let more infantile gibberish spill from her mouth as she put her hand to it. Then, she giggled and lit up her hands and the tip of her horn, glowing as her wings flapped and lifted her into the air. "Uh oh. This isn't good." Sunset watched Twilight conjure her magic and fly into the air. She was already backing up to the door in case the baby unleashed a lethal and destructive spell. "I just hope it's not too bad..." With a loud squeal, Twilight clapped her hands, causing a massive flash to consume the room and leave Sunset blinded by the magic's radiance. When the light began to fade, Twilight's room had undergone a drastic change. Everything that used to be in it had been completely removed from existence and replaced with stuff to cater to Twilight's new form. There were baby toys littered across the pink-padded floor, bright and colourful cartoon animals on the walls, a changing table where the computer used to be, and a pink crib in place of the massive bed. A large chest could be seen where the mirror used to hang and even more vibrant toys could be seen inside. "What the...?" Sunset rubbed her eyes and almost popped them out when she saw the new room. She knew that Twilight was now a magical baby, but she still had no idea of the lengths of her power. "How did you do that, Twilight?" She ran over to her and knelt down to her tiny head. Twilight merely crawled off towards a nearby stuffed animal in the shape of a ragged blue horse with button eyes and blue polka-dot pants. She brought the plush to her face and gave it a cuddle, wiggling around on her butt as she did so. Sunset could only crack a smile smile as she watched the infant Twilight playing with the doll. The more and more she looked at her former opponent, the more her guard was let down. Despite the fact that Twilight's body was now home to all of the stolen magic at the Games, she had rarely seen her do anything destructive with it since she came home with her family. Her thoughts then shifted to what Twilight could actually do with the magic if she had more control over it. She initially dreaded to think of what would happen if that magic found it's way into the former Crystal Prep student's teenage body and overwhelm her, but the idea of the Magic of Friendship being inside a baby's body instead of a teenage or adult body now piqued her curiosity. "Sunset? Are you alright?" Night Light opened the door. "We heard a loud noise coming from upstairs. Is Twilight al—" He barely even had the time to finish his sentence as he saw Twilight's newly-transformed nursery "—right?" "Mr. Night Light!" Sunset jumped when she saw him standing in the door. "I can explain everything!" "Well, I don't really think that there's a need for that now, is there?" Twilight Velvet looked around at the room. "I mean, I'm still eager to know what happened to suddenly turn Twilight's room into this, but there's still no harm in it, right? We needed a nursery to house the little one, so there's no point in questioning things that help our situation." "I'd like an explanation too, if that's alright with you." Night Light walked towards Sunset and looked her in the eyes. "Do you know what happened to Twily's room?" "Well, I suppose I could explain everything to you and the family, but it's a bit of a long story..." Sunset rubbed the back of her head and began to blush lightly as she brought her right hand to her chin. "You may not even understand most of it. Just thought I'd let you know right now." Before anyone else could say anything, Shining Armor bolted up the stairs and put his hand on the door as he leaned down and wheezed for breath. "I'm home!" He barely mustered up a shout with what little air he had in his lungs. "Now, what happened to Twily?" "Shiny, you shouldn't run up the stairs like that." Dean Cadence followed Shining up the stairs and stood by his side. She was still wearing the clothes she had on since the Friendship Games. "It's not good for you to strain yourself—even if you're Canterlot PD's best officer." "Sorry. I just heard that something terrible happened to Twilight, but I was busy taking Cinch in that I barely had time to check my messages." He got back up and brushed himself down, taking off his jacket. He folded it up and walked into the room, looking around at all of the new colours and designs. "Alright. First of all, what happened to her room? We're not due for another child, are we, Cadence?" Cadence could only let a tiny chuckle slip. "You never know, Shining. Love's a complicated thing." Shining Armor raised a brow at Cadence before he looked around the room. It didn't take him long to find Twilight sitting by the blocks, proceeding to place them around herself to spell out a word. "Twily?" He reached out his hand towards the infant and gently tapped her shoulder. "Mr. Armor, this is probably going to sound confusing to you, but—" "I know. I know." Shining's voice deepened as he took a look back at Sunset. "Something horrible's happened to my little sister." He turned back to the baby and picked her up, turning towards him. When he looked into her glowing eyes, he knew just who he was holding. "T-T-Twilight?!" Shining almost dropped his sister in surprise when he saw her wings, mask, and horn. The coos that Twilight spewed didn't give him as much of a shock as the rest of her body did. "What in the name of God happened to you?!" "I suppose I should start from the beginning." Sunset took Twilight from Shining Armor's hands and showed her off to the family. "The Friendship Games were going as planned. The students were getting rallied up to compete in the events and everyone was getting ready for another year of heavy competition," she paused as Twilight gave off a high-pitched giggle. "But Twilight Sparkle had some weird locket in her possession on the day of the games, and one by one, she sucked the magic out of me and my friends as we Pony-Up'd." "Pony-Up?" Cadence raised her left hand. "What does that mean?" Sunset let a groan slip. "Like I said, it would be confusing and you probably wouldn't understand it. But basically, after what happened at the Fall Formal and Battle of the Bands at Canterlot High, me and my friends discovered that we could grow pony ears, wings, and tails by using something called the Magic of Friendship." "I think you're going to need to simplify this a bit, Sunset." Shining Armor put his hand on Sunset's shoulder. "You lost me after you mentioned Canterlot High." "I'm afraid that I can't really simplify it for you anymore, Mr. Armor." Sunset shook her head and held onto Twilight as she began to get restless. "I'm not even from this world. I'm from a pony-filled world named Equestria." "Wait, wait, wait." Twilight Velvet pushed her hand out towards the ground. "You're telling me that you're some kind of weird alien?" "I suppose." Sunset shrugged at Velvet. "So, what? Does this mean you're going to probe us and cut us open now?" Night Light meekly lifted his finger. "What?! No!" Sunset stumbled backwards. "Where in the world did you get that idea from? I'm not an alien from outer space! I'm an alien pony who walked into the human world with a magical mirror that stands outside Canterlot High!" "What?" Shining Armor was still unable to grasp anything that Sunset had said. "You know what, just forget it. We have magic, Twilight stole it from us, that's all that matters." Sunset let out an exasperated huff and put Twilight down, watching her crawl away towards another part of the room before continuing. "The Games were tied, and Cinch and the other Crystal Prep students heard about what Twilight did to us. They took the opportunity to push Twilight against the wall and force her to cough it up," she said. "They were probably afraid of losing and wanted to use it as a last resort, but I can't help but think that there's something else that Cinch never mentioned..." "Well, Twilight did mention she had plans to move on to the Everton Independent Study Program when I saw her in Crystal Prep." Cadence nodded and walked up towards Sunset. "It's a place where students were devoid of classes, and were able to teach themselves any subject on the most advanced degree possible. But at the same time, I was concerned that Twilight would be all alone in taking that next step, as technically, there aren't any rooms or social places for her to make any friends." "Well, whatever the case, I don't think she's gonna be able to go there anymore." Shining looked down at his baby sister, who now poked her head into the toy chest and scraped her horn against the wood as she did so. "At least, not at her current age." "Maybe Twilight took part in the Games because she was forced into it." Sunset put her hand to her head and looked down at the ground. "It all makes sense. She didn't have the physique to take part in any of the events, and she struggled a lot in the relay event. Perhaps Cinch abused her power as principal and threatened to blacklist Twilight from going to Everton." "The charges do say that she's in prison for blackmail, so it's entirely possible." Shining Armor looked back at Sunset and tipped his hand. "And to think, I used to be on good terms with her. She's not the Abacus Cinch I remembered from my days at CPA." "Hold on a sec. You used to go to Crystal Prep?" Sunset jabbed a finger at Shining Armor and raised one of her brows. "And graduated valedictorian." He puffed out his chest and gave a smug grin. "Crystal Prep can make anyone's dreams come true, just so long as you pay your dues and respect the gift you're given." "Alright, alright. Let's not get carried away here, Shiny." Cadence massaged Shining Armor's shoulders and pushed his chest back in. "We've still got to hear about how Twilight got turned into a baby and just how strong her supposed magic is." "Thank you, Cadence." Sunset nodded and took a few steps back to the corner of the room. "When Twilight fell to Crystal Prep's peer pressure, we all tried to swoop in and stop her. But it was too late. The locket was opened, and magic took Twilight over. She was consumed, and turned into what she is now." Sunset pointed to the baby Twilight, who now poked her head out of a puddle of toys and blankets. "Crystal Prep had to concede defeat, and Cinch was absolutely furious about it. Then you came along to arrest her, didn't you, Mr. Armor?" "Please, Sunset. When I'm off-duty, just Shining Armor is fine." He waved his hand in front of his badge. "But I still don't get how a baby like Twilight has magic inside of herself." As if to answer his question, Twilight fluttered her wings and lit up her horn, grabbing the toy animal she had been playing with earlier. She reached out for the plush and a pink and blue aura appeared around it. She magically lifted it up to her chest and gave it another cuddle as she floated back to the ground. "Whoa..." Shining was in awe at his little sister's minute accomplishment. He had seen many things in his job as a police officer, but he had never seen a winged baby pick up a doll with magic and play with it like that. "How did she do that?" "Simple." Sunset sat down by Twilight and petted her head as she found a pacifier laying by her legs. She picked it up and popped it into Twilight's mouth, seeing her suck on it rhythmically. "Twilight has all of me and my friends' magic inside. It's raw and uncontrolled, so I'm not entirely sure what she could do with it if it gets stronger." She gave the baby a gentle pat on the back. "That's why I chose to be your caretaker. I'm going to try my best and keep Twilight's magic in check so that it doesn't get too out of hand." As Twilight continued to suck on the amber nipple of the pacifier, a small, yet audible hissing noise could be heard from her crotch. Her dress became warm as a dark patch appeared on her pants. She looked down and poked at it, feeling the moisture on her little fingers. "Did she just pee herself?" Sunset examined the damp patch and picked Twilight up off the ground. She saw that the patch had spread to the floor as well. "Oh, boy. Do any of you know how to handle a baby Twilight that peed herself?" "I believe I do." Twilight Velvet took Twilight Sparkle out of Sunset's hands and carried her over to the changing table. She laid the baby down on the aqua-coloured padding and slipped the shoes and pants off, revealing her tiny legs and toes. "Whenever she pees or poops like that, make sure that you change her as soon as possible." Velvet retrieved a diaper and baby powder from the drawers and proceeded to apply both of them to Twilight's bottom. "I'll do it this time, since you don't have any experience with children." Sunset watched on as Twilight Velvet powdered her daughter's bottom with the baby powder and slid the diaper underneath her. She took all three ends and stuck them all together, tightening the waistband around the side and applying an adhesive strap so that the diaper wouldn't come undone. She then took a tiny safety pin and slid it into the fabric so that Twilight wouldn't be able to tug on the padded undergarment and pull it off. "There we go." Velvet picked Twilight up and lifted her into the air, hearing another chuckle fall from her lips. "And that, Sunset Shimmer, is how you change a baby." "Good to know." Sunset watched Velvet put Twilight down onto the floor. "We'll give her one more hour of playtime." Velvet looked out at the sunset and placed both of her hands behind her back. "After that, she's got to go straight to sleep." "OK, well how do I do that?" Sunset asked, showing a feint bit of eagerness as her gaze drifted back to the baby Twilight. "I'll give you a helping hand with putting Twilight to sleep," Cadence's voice was as soft as butter as she addressed Sunset. "I've been handling babies and kids for many years. I'm sure that we can put to sleep when the time comes." "Well, we'll leave her with you now, Sunset." Velvet walked through the door and down the stairs. "Come on, honey," she said as she passed by Night Light. "We've still got a lot of things to do before we go to bed." "Coming, dear." He walked out the door and turned back to Sunset, Shining Armor, and Cadence. "There's gonna be so many subscription cancellations tonight. I don't think I can keep up with it all..." Shining Armor and Cadence walked out of the room as well, taking one last look at Twilight and Sunset. They both held hands and looked each other in the eyes, mentally asking each other about the future of both themselves and their daughter. They closed the door and walked down the stairs, leaving Sunset alone with Twilight. "Well, Twilight. Guess you're with me now, huh?" Sunset sat down and put the baby on her lap. She felt the diaper pressing against her as she sat Twilight up. "What do you want to do now? Auntie Sunset's here to make sure you're alright." Twilight sucked on the pacifier for a few more seconds before she took it out and dropped it. She crawled over to Sunset, put her hands on her face, and climbed up to her ear. Babbling peacefully, she leaned in and whispered a single word, "Mama." Playtime with Midnight"Wh-what did you call me?" Sunset tumbled onto her back once Twilight had whispered into her ears. Despite her jerky movement, she managed to keep Twilight from falling off and hurting herself. "Mama! Mama!" Twilight babbled and crawled over to Sunset's face. She slapped her hands on Sunset's cheeks and wiggled them around as she laughed loudly. "No, Twilight. I'm not your mama." Sunset picked Twilight up and got back up onto her feet, bending her legs as she stood upright and rubbed her back. "Your mama and dada are downstairs. I'm just their caretaker. If anything, I'm more like a nana than a mama." Twilight shook her head and reached out for Sunset. "Mama," she whined again. "Twilight, let's just focus on you playing for now." Sunset began to carry Twilight over to another part of the room and stopped at a small bookcase. "Look, Twilight. Books! Don't you like reading these?" She reached in and pulled out a small book with bright baby-appealing colours on it and showed it off to Twilight. "Do you want to read this one?" Twilight tilted her head at the book and put her hand in her mouth as Sunset showed the book to her. Her mind was still only developing, so many of her abilities of speech and cognative thought had vanished into thin air. Sucking tenderly on her hand, she used her other one to reach out for the book and take it out of Sunset's hands. "Alright then. I take that as a yes on the books." Sunset sat Twilight down on the padded floor and opened the book up for her. "Heck, if you want, I could even read it out for you." Twilight's eyes scrolled over the first page of the book. There were pictures of coloured shapes inside ranging from triangles, to circles and a few squares. She brought her hand out of her mouth and laid both of them on the ground as she flopped onto her stomach. Another chuckle escaped her mouth as she looked at the beguiling shapes and colours inside. Man. Even as a baby, Twilight sure does love reading... Sunset thought to herself as she watched Twilight independently flip the page over once she got bored of the first lot of pictures. I wonder just how many books she would be able to read once she grows back up. Twilight cooed as her attention was well and truly captured on the book. She dragged her right index finger across the sides of the shape and poked the middle, not even noticing that she was bringing her left thumb back into her mouth. Her lips pursed around her finger and she once more found herself sucking on it as she turned the page once again. Then, Twilight illuminated her horn and fired a single bolt down on the book. The magic hit the pages and caused them to ripple. She reached into the pages and pulled out a shape that was identical to the ones she had been examining in the book. She clapped her hands and fished out more shapes, until she had picked out each and every one of them. I still don't know how her parents are gonna be able to handle her when I'm not here... Sunset simply stood by and observed Twilight playing with her new plastic shapes. She saw her bash them together and levitate them into the air, her smile never fading as she manipulated her toys. I mean, sure, she hasn't done anything really bad, but who's to say that that'll change when I go back to Canterlot High? Before Sunset could continue, Twilight dropped her toys and flapped her wings. The baby flew into the air and illuminated her hands and horn once again. She put them altogether, causing a small magical orb to appear in front of her and grow in size. "Uh, Twilight?" Sunset poked her head around from the orb and saw Twilight feed it magic as it flied off of her body. "What are you doing?" Twilight only smiled and made the orb as big as her body. The magic streamed off of her body and bore itself into the core of the ball of light. Once it took in enough magic, it exploded in a small burst of light and blinded both Twilight and Sunset. Once the light died down, Twilight fell to the ground and bounced on her diapered butt. She crawled forward and saw a small purple rattle with a pink star on it appear in front of her. The new toy glowed and shimmered faintly as it floated a few inches off of the ground. She reached out for the rattle and picked it up, giving it a tiny shake. "What was all that about?" Sunset pulled her arm from her face and readjusted her eyes again. When she could see normally again, she saw Twilight lightly shaking the rattle in her hand. "All of that magic for just a rattle? Why? Why would she charge up a powerful spell just to get a rattle out of it?" As if to answer Sunset's question, Twilight shook the rattle more vigorously and spun it around in a circle. Magic gathered and coiled around the top half as her horn glistened. With a loud cheer, Twilight flicked her wrist and swung her rattle down, shooting another magical beam at the wall. Once the beam struck the wall, it caused a small purple portal to appear in place of it. On the other side of the portal, it showed a gateway towards a large room with crystalline pillars and six equally shiny thrones. Each one of the thrones showed the Cutie Marks of Twilight Sparkle and her five friends. "What the heck?" Sunset slowly stepped towards the portal, leaning in to get a better view of the room. "Is that... Equestria? But, it doesn't look like any place I've ever seen before." Just as Sunset was beginning to take the throne room in, Twilight shook her rattle again, causing the portal to close. Sunset almost had her head chopped off as she pulled it out of the vanishing portal. She turned back and watched Twilight shaking the toy lighter this time. "Hmm. So that rattle can make portals to Equestria?" Sunset walked closer to Twilight and reached out for the rattle. She watched Twilight crawl off to another toy in the room before she could touch the rattle. "I'd better make sure to tell her parents before I go. I don't want them to have to deal with a magic baby that can also open portals to another world." Suddenly, a knocking noise came from the door and Sunset went off to open it. She pulled down the handle and saw Dean Cadence standing on the other side, dressed up in a simple pink t-shirt with a pair of navy blue jeans. "Oh. Hello there." Sunset opened the door and let her walk inside. "You must be Shining's, uh..." "I'm his wife. My full name is Mi Amore Cadenza, but you can just call me Cadence if you want." She said, tousling Sunset's hair as she walked into the room. "I know that you come from Canterlot High, Sunset. Am I right?" "Y-yeah..." Sunset was hesitant to say as she watched Cadence walk over towards Twilight. "Why did you want to know that?" "Because I was always told that Canterlot High students were nothing more than loud, obnoxious, and disruptive according to Cinch." Cadence knelt down and saw Twilight stacking blocks into a tower. "Now that she's in prison, I want to see if she was wrong all this time. So far, you've been very supportive and helpful when it came to this whole magic crisis, so that is a good start." "Well, first of all, I want to say that everything Cinch thinks of Canterlot High and its' students is one-hundred percent wrong." Sunset crossed her arms and looked out the window. "She's nothing more than a witch who was afraid of losing, was boastful in her victories, and had absolutely nothing good inside of her. She deserved everything she got back at the Friendship Games. All that was missing was a broomstick, her green-wart covered face, a magic wand, and an oversized cauldron." Cadence chuckled at Sunset's joke and sat down beside Twilight, crossing her legs. "You know, Sunset, I have to commend you for your maturity and kind heart. Normally, a teenager would be reluctant when it comes to taking care of a kid. Whether it was some kind of early pre-twenties pregnancy, doing it for money, or if they were doing a favour for one of their friends. But for you to take care of Twilight, who's not only a baby, but a magic-infested baby who could potentially re-shape the world if her powers got unleashed, now that is some real devotion." She gave Twilight a pat on the back, hearing her let out a tiny burp. "The students of Crystal Prep could learn a lot from you and your friends." "Yeah. There were five in particular who stood up against Cinch when Twilight turned into a baby at the Games." Sunset nodded and walked over to Cadence. "Indigo Zap, Sugarcoat, Sunny Flare, Sour Sweet, and Lemon Zest, I think." "Oh! I know those five." Cadence's face lit up when she heard the names. "They've got the highest marks in their classes. The other Crystal Prep students are having trouble just keeping up with them. Especially Sugarcoat. She spends all of her free periods in the library, so she's very well educated." "I'd say she's more hyper-educated, if that means anything." Sunset nodded. "She seems to be just as smart as Twilight, only, much more monotone. She doesn't have a problem with her emotions, does she?" "No, no. She's part of CPA's drama club, so she's very capable of showing some emotion." Cadence carried Twilight over towards the toy chest and pulled out a teddy bear. "But we're not here to talk about the Crystal Prep girls now, are we?" "Yeah. We're here to care for Twilight. Make sure her magic doesn't get too out of hand." Sunset sat down by Twilight and closed her eyes. "And to do that, we've gotta make her... Smite!" She stuck out her tongue and scrunched her cheeks together, making a silly face. Twilight squealed and reached out for Sunset as she pulled the corners of her mouth out and continued to contort and flex her face in various different ways, all of which pleased the baby even more. All of her laughter made Twilight's horn light up and cover Sunset in a magical aura. "Uh oh..." Was all that Sunset could say as Twilight began to shake her around the room, waving her arms around and kicking her little legs. "Twilight! What are you doing?" Cadence snapped her head at the baby, who was undeterred by the grown-up's words. "Put Sunset down right now! We were having a lovely conversation before all of this." "Try to calm her down!" Sunset instructed as she was dunked into the toy chest and then pulled straight out. "And do it fast! I don't think I can last like this!" "Alright!" Cadence nodded and began to rub Twilight's belly in a circular motion, pulling up the clothes around it so she could reach her arm inside and reach the flesh. As she rubbed, she did hear Twilight's guffaws whittle down into giggles. "There, there, Twilight. You've worked yourself so hard today. Now it's time for some rest..." Cadence reached down and found a pacifier, popping it into Twilight's mouth. She watched her begin to suck on it and stop moving. Sunset's aura vanished and she fell to the floor, crumpled up like a ragdoll. She groaned and winced at all of the pain she had accrued from Twilight's magic and snapped the bones in her back into place as she stood back up. She came back over to Twilight and saw her calmly sucking on her pacifier. "Talk about a live wire. That was crazy." "Are you alright?" Cadence came up to Sunset and checked out her bruises. "You look pretty bad. Should I get a first-aid kit?" "No, no. It's fine." Sunset looked down at the black marks on her skin where Twilight's toys had dug into the most. "Compared to the stuff I've seen at Canterlot High, this is nothing. I'm more concerned about Twilight's energetic behaviour." "I see you've still got a lot to learn about babies, huh, Sunset?" Cadence immediately felt Twilight begin to wet her diaper, so she carried her over towards the changing table. "I'm meant to be taking Principal Celestia's Sex Ed class once I get back to Canterlot High, seeing as how I'm Twilight's caretaker." Sunset stood next to Cadence so she could get a better vantage point on how to change a diaper. "Hopefully, it should help me with how to look after her." "Well, the thing with babies is that it's complicated to know just what's going to happen." Cadence powdered Twilight's bare butt and slid a new diaper beneath her, disposing of the old one straight away. "Because their minds are just developing, it's physically impossible for them to keep a single thought for long. Ergo, they jump from so many different things that it's almost like playing a game of leapfrog with them sometimes." "How much experience do you have with kids?" Sunset asked as she watched Cadence wrap the diaper around Twilight's waist and secure it properly with the adhesive strap and pin. "Oh, I've had a lot." Cadence picked Twilight up and laid her down in the crib. She pulled the blankets over Twilight and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. "Before I worked at Crystal Prep, I took up a job as a part-time babysitter. First, it was for the money, but over time, I learned just how wonderful kids can be, so I decided to look after them for the memories too." "Do you have any kids of your own?" Sunset looked up at Cadence once Twilight had been laid to bed. "Well, recently, I took a pregnancy test and it came out positive." She nodded and walked back over towards the teddy bear. She picked it up and gave it back to Twilight, who wrapped it around her arms. "As soon as it comes, I leave my job as dean of Crystal Prep so I can take care of my new son or daughter." "Speaking of which, we've still gotta put Twilight to bed." Sunset gave Twilight a rub on the forehead and saw her eyelids flutter. She let out a yawn and stretched her arms up into the air before giving her bear another cuddle. "Aw. Aren't you just an adorable little monster?" Twilight lightly smacked her lips together as she snuggled up into the bed. Her face mask and horn vanished as she began to snore, and the rattle that she had been using earlier disappeared as well, along with all of the shapes that she had taken out of the book. Tiny snores found their way out of her mouth this time as she fell deeper and deeper into a state of slumber. And when she sleeps, all of her toys disappear too? Sunset turned her head to see the things Twilight had made vanish completely. But then, why does the room still stay baby-like? Shouldn't that turn back into her normal bedroom as well? I really need to figure out just what little Twilight can do... "Isn't it a wonder to see a sleeping baby?" Cadence asked, looking down at the sleeping Twilight. "It just makes you wonder what sort of fun-filled adventures they're having in their dreams, doesn't it?" "Yeah, I guess so." Sunset shrugged but couldn't take her eyes off of Twilight. "Well, it's been great and all, but it's getting late now and I've gotta get home." She walked over towards the door. "I'm sure that you don't want me to overstay my welcome, so I'll just be on my way. "Well, actually, since you're a caretaker and all, I wouldn't mind it if you stayed in our house until she's grown-up." Cadence followed after Sunset and quietly turned off the lights, shutting the door behind her as she followed after Sunset. "Do you live somewhere, Sunset?" "Well, yeah, I do. But I have to pay rent every month or the landlord kicks me out." Sunset looked back at Cadence as she followed her down the stairs. "And as kind as your offer sounds, I don't want to seem like too much of a burden..." "Not at all. We'd love to have you around." Cadence nodded and clasped her hands together. "Twilight's a baby now, and her father has a job. Not to mention Shining Armor being on the force and me working as Crystal Prep's dean. I'm sure that you'd be a great choice to keep her happy, healthy, and safe while we're gone." "But I've also got my own work at Canterlot High to attend to as well." Sunset tipped her hand. "I might be your caretaker, but I've also gotta make sure that my grades don't fall behind either. I can't take Twilight into school with me, either, as handling an infant and schoolwork at the same time is physically impossible." "You don't have to worry a thing about that, Sunset." Twilight Velvet had been listening to the conversation from the living room and now joined both her and Cadence. "I'll be sure to take care of Twilight on your school days, then when you stay here, you can help me out." "Well, thanks for the offer, but I'm not really sure that I'd be much help, really." Sunset shook her head and turned away from Twilight. "I appreciate the offer, but I'd just be another mouth to feed. I don't want you to deal with that and all of the stuff you've got already. That'd be too much—even for all of you." "Sunset, I'm not going to force it on you, but the offer's still there if you choose to stay with all of us." She watched Sunset gather her stuff and open the front door. "And besides, the landlord you've got is already eating a large chunk of your money each and every month. With us, there wouldn't be any of that. You'd get a nice home, a great family, and you'd be able to look after Twilight as well. It's a great offer. What would be the point of turning it down other than a harder life and constant payment, when that money could be going towards stuff that you really like?" As Sunset looked back at the Sparkle family, she felt a weird sensation writhing in the pit of her stomach. She wanted to say no to them all, but something inside of her was telling her to accept the opportunity. She then thought about her real mother and father. Considering that she hadn't seen her real family since she ran away from Equestria, she began to feel a pang of loneliness well up inside of her. Eventually, tears began to fall from her eyes as she dropped the bag, took off her coat, turned around, and threw herself into Twilight Velvet, giving her a massive hug. "Thank you. Thank you so much for this. I promise that I won't be a hassle." "I'm sure that you won't be." Twilight Velvet hugged Sunset back and looked her in the eyes, wiping away the rest of the tears. "Welcome to the family, Sunset Sparkle." Author's Note You know, I was considering whether or not to make Sunset Shimmer stay over at the Sparkles' household and have them take her in when making this chapter. I had a little bit of a battle with myself as I jumped from the two options. In the end, I decided to make it so, and voila! Sunset is now Sunset Sparkle. As for the Rainbooms and Shadowbolts, they are going to be in the next chapters, so don't you worry if you think I've made them character tags for nothing. They're going to get to know each other better and become better friends as time goes on, as well as show just how much things are going to change between the two schools. And, as for Pony Twilight, I'm sure that I can find some way to weave her into this little story of mine as well... Have a great day, everyone! Tension LiftedThe next day, the Wondercolts were all gathered at the portal of Canterlot High with a large wicker basket. Pinkie Pie set it down and opened it up, pulling out a large towel with a red and white checkerboard pattern. She flicked it and set it down gently on the ground before plopping her butt down on it with her legs crossed. "I still can't believe you girls want a picnic after all that's happened." Sunset carried Twilight in her arms and put her down on the towel before sitting down as well. "It's like you've completely forgotten about the events of the Friendship Games." "Oh no, Sunset. We haven't forgotten." Rarity shook her head and put her hand by her side as she sat down as well. "How could we ever forget the day that an adorepulsive little monster was born?" She bent herself down and pinched Twilight's cheeks. "Isn't she just the cutest?" "Totally!" Pinkie Pie couldn't take her eyes off of Twilight as she fished out some plates and food from the basket. "I mean, I was gonna invite her anyway as a show of good faith between Canterlot High and Crystal Prep to show that there's no hard feelings, but now that she's super-duper itty-bitty and young, I thought that this'd be a great day for her to meet her aunties instead!" "You're still gonna find a way to fix her though, right?" Rainbow Dash tapped on Sunset's shoulder and pointed over to Twilight, who was now beginning to play with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. "I'm really starting to miss my wings..." She slumped her shoulders and used her other finger on her back, rubbing it across where the wings would have been if she had been able to use her magic. "Rainbow Dash, I don't think you'll ever see those wings again unless Twilight just happens to learn all of her magic and use it to fix you and the others," Sunset's tone of voice sounded calming, but she too did miss having magic of her own. Now that she was just as mortal as the rest of the people in her world, she was now unable to handle Twilight as safely as she thought. "All we can do now is pray that Twilight's baby magic doesn't get too out of control." "Oh, I don't think it's all that bad." Fluttershy smiled as she patted Twilight's belly and tickled it, hearing laughter fall from her little lips. "She's got all of our magic, yes, but she's still a baby. As long as we take care of her properly and raise her up to control it better, we should all be fine." "Yes. Provided that you know how to deal with a baby demon's magical powers." The girls all turned to see Sugarcoat and the rest of her friends approaching the Rainbooms. Instead of wearing their Crystal Prep uniforms, the five of them wore bright and expressive clothes with similarly coloured shoes. They all looked down at the girls with smiles and all squatted down around them. "Sup, girls?" Indigo asked as she poked her head through Pinkie and Fluttershy's shoulders. "How's the kid doing?" "She's fine." Sunset nodded and turned towards Indigo. "What are you all doing here?" "Ah, c'mon, Sunset. We would never leave you and the other girls with a magical baby on your hands." Lemon Zest threw herself onto the ground and almost touched her nose against Sunset's with how close she was to her. "Besides, we're friends, aren't we? The Friendship Games are over. Crystal Prep and Canterlot High aren't on bad terms anymore." "I... suppose." Sunset backed off and saw Lemon's head retract back. "Plus, you haven't even had time to get to know us yet." Sunny Flare sat down beside Applejack and Rainbow Dash. "We're probably still total strangers from CPA until now. So let's start with the introductions, shall we?" "Ooh! Ooh! I love making new friends!" Pinkie squealed and beamed as the other Crystal Prep girls sat down to form a large circle of eleven girls. "I suppose I should start, since I brought up the idea. My name is Sunny Flare." She held out her arm and began shaking the other girls' arms. "It's a pleasure to meet you all, dears." "Very nice to meet you too, Sunny Flare." Rarity shook her hand, reaching over Twilight to do it. "My name is Rarity. A pleasure to make your acquaintance." "Uh, girls, I hate to interrupt, but I'm not gonna sit here and listen to us all saying our names for this long." Sour Sweet raised a finger and grabbed the attention of the whole group. "Besides. We've still got an adorable little baby to take care of and I want to start playing with her as soon as possible!" "What a way to kill the moment, huh?" Indigo shot a mini-glare at Sour before she turned to the girls and stretched out her hand. "Hi. Name's Indigo Zap." "Rainbow Dash." She began to bump fists with Indigo. "Sugarcoat." She adjusted her glasses. "Applejack." She tipped her hat and grinned at the girls. "Pinkie Pie!" She threw confetti into the air. "Lemon Zest!" She crossed her arms and laid her chin on them as she pointed her middle and index fingers out. "Sour Sweet," Her voice seemed to be both strong and tough, yet kindly and calm at the same time. "Fluttershy," she whispered just loud enough so that the others could hear them. "And I'm sure you all know me by now. My name is Sunset Shimmer." She smiled and picked Twilight up, giving her a gentle cuddle as she patted her diaper. "Or, if you like, you can call me Sunset Sparkle now." "Huh? Sunset Sparkle?" The group all spoke in perfect harmony as they cocked their brows at Sunset. "Yeah. Twilight's mom and dad took me in last night." Sunset's smile grew as she began to talk about her new family. "Actually, after the picnic, I was going to take all of my stuff from my old apartment and bring it all over to their house. If you'd all like to come, I could really use a helping hand." "I'm sure that we can work something out," Sugarcoat said with eagerness in her voice. "Crystal Prep's been closed until the board finds a new principal, so we've all got plenty of time on our hands." "Cinch was arrested on such short notice, that the head honchos are having to work overtime to find the right replacement." Lemon Zest nodded and shuffled forward slightly. "Really, anyone we get is going to be better than that old fart—even if they're a really dark and brooding or big-muscled and loud-mouthed guy, they're gonna be miles better than Cinch." "I just hope so." Sugarcoat's brows twitched as she looked around the courtyard. "Because at least our new principal won't be some someone who blackmails, pressurises, and makes the students feel miserable and compete in the Games just to try and save their winning streak." There was a brief silence from the group before Pinkie broke it by saying, "Wow. That's a lot to take in when you say it all at once." "I know. I get that a lot." Sugarcoat cracked a small smile and looked over at Pinkie Pie. "I hope that it doesn't bother you or your friends that I'm straight to the point." "Oh, it ain't no bother, Sugarcoat," said Applejack as her eyes met with that of the Crystal Prep girl. "If anything, I'd say you're like another me, minus the whole cowgirl attitude." "Really?" Sugarcoat leaned in towards Applejack. "Then in that case, I wouldn't mind getting to know you over some sandwiches and cheap juice from concentrate." "Speaking of food, who wants some?" Pinkie Pie pulled out almost the entire contents of the basket with both of her hands and laid them out in a circle around the girls. "Sorry I didn't make extra. I didn't account for our new Crystal Prep friends joining us today." "It's no trouble at all, Pinkie Pie." Sunny Flare gave Pinkie a small smile and took a single cheese sandwich from the centre of the towel and placed it in front of her. "You weren't to have known we were coming today, so we'll let you off of the hook." She tore the sandwich in half and handed out one of the halves to Rarity. "Come on, girls! Tuck in!" Indigo Zap pulled out a packet of potato chips and ripped it open, beginning to pick out the contents inside before handing the bag to Rainbow Dash. "Want some? Anything for a new friend." "Nah. I'm good." Rainbow Dash picked up a cupcake and bit into it. She wiped the mess off of her face and licked it off of the back of her hand as she looked at Indigo. "Thanks for the offer, though." The girls then began to eat the rest of the food, sharing stories with each other as Pinkie and Lemon Zest began to pour the drinks into cups and hand them out. They also took turns in taking care of Twilight, playing with her body and giving her little nibbles of the food as she was passed around the group. Eventually, the portal behind them all rippled and a full-grown version of Twilight came running through, grinding to a screeching halt in front of the girls. "I'm so sorry I didn't get her sooner! I didn't get your messages until just now because I was stuck in this crazy time-travel loop and honestly, it was the weirdest thing that ever happened to me!" Twilight then took a look at the girls, who all stared at her bug-eyed as she took deep breaths and brushed her dress down. "What happened? How has the girls' magic changed?" "Uh, hello?" Sugarcoat tilted her head at the grown-up Twilight. "Who are you?" "I'm Twilight Sparkle." She looked over at Sugarcoat briefly before her gaze turned towards Sunset and her friends. "I'm sorry to rush this, but I'm a friend of Sunset Shimmer and her friends. I'm sure that we'll have time to meet again once we're done." "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down, Twilight. Everything's fine." Sunset put her hand on Princess Twilight's chest and looked up into her eyes. "No-one died at the Friendship Games, there wasn't any monsters to fight, and everything's just fine." She then heard baby Twilight's whines as she kicked around in Fluttershy's hold. "Except for one small thing..." "What the heck...?" Adult Twilight squinted her eyes and looked closely at the baby, making sure not to stab herself on the tip of her horn. "When did you get a kid, Sunset? Have I missed something big?" "Well, actually, I can explain everything." Sugarcoat stood up and walked over to Princess Twilight. "But I'm not even sure that you can explain how there are two of you." "Oh, I'm sure that I can—" Twilight stopped when she realised what Sugarcoat was saying "—wait, what? What do you mean there's two of me?" "OMG! She's totally clueless!" Lemon Zest gawked at the other Twilight. "She doesn't know about the other her that attended Crystal Prep Academy?" "Crystal Prep Academy? Other me? What in the world is going on here?" Pony Twilight was unable to comprehend everything that the girls had said. But before she could say anything else, baby Twilight let out a sneeze that fired a large blue beam of magic into the sky and pierced a whole in the clouds, causing them to break up and dissipate into nothingness. Pony Twilight jumped at the sight and almost fell back through the portal that she had come out of. "Sunset? Why does this baby have magic?!" Twilight was unable to maintain her composure any longer. "Twilight. This baby is the human you. I'm sure that you've managed to figure it out by now, right?" Sunset Shimmer held baby Twilight up close to her full-grown pony counterpart. "Anyway. At the Friendship Games, she sucked the Magic of Friendship out of us using some weird locket and was forced to use it to try and win it for Crystal Prep." "None of us could've guessed what was going to happen and then, boom!" Rainbow Dash clapped her hands together and threw them out wide, barely missing Pinkie Pie and Indigo Zap in the process. "Twilight of Crystal Prep went from being the shy egghead she used to be into that cute little demon baby in Sunset's hands." "I can see that!" Twilight had to rub her eyes just to make sure that she wasn't seeing things as she examined baby Twilight's mask and horn. "But how in the heck does using stolen magic equate to being turned into a baby and having that magic live inside of you? It makes no sense!" "I don't know either, but we can't use our magic to Pony-Up anymore, and now we're just as normal teenage girls as when you first met us back at the Fall Formal." Sunset tipped her hand and made sure not to drop the baby. "We can't fix this unless we get our magic back, and knowing what a baby's like, I'm not sure we'll ever get it back." Twilight could only watch as her baby doppelganger put her hand in her mouth and began to suck on it, cooing as the eyes of the two counterparts locked with each other. "Hmm... Well, there's nothing I can do in this world, considering that my magic doesn't come out like yours does. Without your magic to work in sync with mine, I can't use my own to restore my other self back to normal." "Ah, don't worry about it, Twilight. We've been pretty good handling the little baby you." Pinkie Pie bounced over to Pony Twilight and wrapped her arm around her shoulders. "And besides, it's not like Equestria has any super-babies like this one." "Y-yeah. I suppose you're right, Pinkie," Twilight lied, remembering all too well the incident with her niece, Flurry Heart back in the Crystal Empire. I just hope that Sunset and the girls keep her magic in check. The last thing we need is another crisis like that in this world. It would be almost impossible to repeat what we did back in Equestria... "Pardon me for potentially forcing you to make a return home, other Twilight, but I don't think that having two of you in the same world is a good thing." Sunny Flare took Twilight and held her away from Pony Twilight. "Two of the same person meeting each other is a paradox, whether or not they're different ages. A paradox could cause the world to break apart, or cause this world's version of you to get even stronger. And either one of the outcomes might be too much for this world to handle." Sunset's eyes dilated to pinpricks when Sunny's words sunk in. "She's right, Twilight. I'm sorry to say this, but I think it's time for you to go. We can continue this conversation later through the book, alright?" "Oh. I see." Twilight hung her head and slid the tips of her toes across the ground. "I guess I'll be going then." She turned towards the portal and took one last look back at the girls. "Twilight, don't say it like that. You're gonna make us feel bad." Indigo Zap walked over to Twilight and slid her hand down the princess's cheeks. "No. No, you're all right. I don't want to be responsible for making the situation worse..." She stood through the portal, vanishing into the rippling glass. "Feel free to talk to me any time or pop over to Equestria if you want." And with that, she disappeared, leaving nothing behind her as she left. "Twilight. No... Please come back." Sunset reached out for the portal but pulled her hand down as she saw the ripples begin to stop. "We didn't want you to leave like this." "Sunset, I know that you wanted to see Equestria's Twilight again, but Sunny Flare does make a very valid point." Rarity massaged Sunset's shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. "We've already got a magical baby version of her to deal with, so a paradox would just cause everything to get worse." "Don't worry, Sunset. The only thing you've got to worry about now is loud wailing at night, poop-ridden diapers, and some bruises and cuts from dealing with that little snot-nosed kid." Sour Sweet's expression switched on the fly during her sentence. "Aw, don't worry about it. I'm sure that you've got this all under control." "Not to mention, you've got the ten of us to help out." Lemon Zest nudged Sunset's arm with her elbow. "Trust me, Sunset. Together, we've got this." "Yeah, but I still kinda feel like we kicked the other Twilight out like that..." Sunset hung her head and looked back at the portal once again. "I didn't want her last trip to this world feel like a bad one. Now she's gonna have to think that we forced her out without letting her say goodbye." "If it's possible, I can make sure that we make a trip to Equestria and give her an apology." Sugarcoat walked over to the portal and pushed her finger through it, watching it disappear in the light. "If it's where this whole magic thing came from, then I'm sure that it could also warrant some answers on how to control it as well." "Yeah. We never meant to give Twilight the bum's rush, but we were just concerned about the fate of the world with both of them being here at once," Indigo added. "She'll get over this, right?" "Yeah! Y'know, I'm sure that Twilight'll be eager to talk once we make it up to her." Rainbow Dash walked over to Sunset. "In fact, do you have that book on you, Sunset? I wanna say sorry now." "I don't have the book on me right now, Rainbow Dash, but I'll be sure to let her know that we weren't being cruel to her when I write the note." Sunset looked up and pulled her head out of its' slump. "Still, I would say that we've all still got some things to learn about friendship—even if there's two Twilight Sparkles we've got to take into account." "Especially when one of them's a super-baby with magical powers that other babies would only dream of!" Pinkie Pie chimed and held Twilight high, looking like she was ready to score a touchdown in a football game. "Pinkie! Be careful with her! You don't know what she'll—" before Sunset could finish, she saw the diaper begin to turn brown at the bottom "—do." The infant Twilight felt the poop in her diaper and began to tear up. She whimpered and snuffled as she looked at the group of girls and let out a high-pitched whine that resonated across the school. The noise was so loud that all of the windows shattered like glass and even the glass dome at the school's roof broke into millions of glass shards and cascaded down onto the room inside. "Does anyone have a fresh diaper?" Sunset tried to shout over Twilight's loud cries but none of her words were audible over the noise. She could only watch as Pinkie Pie set her down and began to dig into her basket for one. "I'm just glad Equestria's Twilight doesn't have to deal with this kind of stuff..." A Magical ReunionThe Rainbooms and Shadowbolts all walked towards the park, with Sunset holding Twilight gently in her arms as they stepped across the rock-strewn path. They all saw luscious green grass shimmering in the sunlight, with the leaves on the trees rustling gently in the afternoon wind. There was a fountain just up ahead, with many benches surrounding it. Most of them were already occupied by other people talking to each other about many different topics. Many of them paid no mind to the eleven girls as they walked around the fountain and made their way towards the grassy knolls. "I'm still not sure how you were able to do that back there, Pinkie." Sunset turned her head towards Pinkie Pie as she bobbed Twilight in her arms. "How did you know to pack extra diapers in case Twilight used hers?" "Well, after being Pound and Pumpkin's caretaker for many long and stressful months, I've learned to be extra-careful when it comes to dealing with babies in the outside world." She flashed a grin at Sunset as she gently swung the basket in her hand. "Heck, if I can, I end up changing anyone's diapers when I'm not working. Save the parents the trouble, if you know what I mean." "Is she always prepared like that?" Indigo Zap asked, whispering in Sunset's ears. "She's Pinkie Pie. It's best not to question it." Sunset gave Indigo a gentle grin. When Twilight laid her eyes on the grass, she babbled and pointed it out, waving her arms and tugging at Sunset's chest as she tried to grab her attention. "What is it, Twilight?" Sunset bent her neck down and stared at her. She watched her point towards the grass again and looked out towards it. "Do you wanna be put down here?" She walked over towards the grass and slowly lowered her arms, placing Twilight down on the grass before sitting down herself. "Now, don't run off. Your aunties still want to spend some time with you." "Yeah, kid. We've still gotta play with you more." Indigo Zap sat down with Twilight and rubbed her tiny belly, making her giggle loudly. "Aw, aren't you just a little bundle of joy?" "Hey, Indy. Stop hogging all the fun!" Lemon Zest jumped down and landed on her butt next towards Indigo. She flopped onto her stomach and gave a goofy smile to the kid, sticking her tongue out at her. "Such a cute little girl like Twily doesn't need the love of one auntie. She needs all of 'em!" "Ooh! I wanna play with Twily too!" Pinkie landed on her chest as well and bent her legs so that her toes were pointing skyward. She picked the laughing baby up and tickled her. "Who's a good super-baby? You are! Yes you are. Coochie-coochie-coo!" "Don't give her too much stimulation, girls." Sugarcoat walked over towards the girls and squatted down on the tips of her toes. "An over-excited baby usually pees themselves very quickly. And I'm sure that despite Pinkie Pie's smart thinking and resourcefulness, not even she can keep up with Twilight if you give her too much fun." "Sugarcoat, for a baby, when is it EVER too much fun?" Sour Sweet raised a brow and tipped a hand towards her. "Hey! At least one of us has to be responsible, right?" Sugarcoat eyed up Sour Sweet as she stood back up again. As they all clamoured around Twilight, they sat down or got onto their knees as they formed another circle around the baby. They all looked down on her with harmless wide eyes as they watched her try to stand up but wobble and fall onto her diapered butt repeatedly. All of them grinned and a few shared laughs as they watched her try to stand up again and again. After a few minutes more, the girls all watched Midnight begin to flap her wings, gradually getting faster and faster. Soon, they were flapping just fast enough to lift her off of the ground and almost up to the heads of her mother and aunts. She chuckled again and brought her hands to her chest as she flapped around the girls. "Y'know, it's weird how she can fly properly, but she can't stand up or walk." Rainbow Dash's eyes were glued to Twilight's circular motions as she finally landed in Rainbow's laps. She began to blush as she scooped her up and brought her to her face. "Gotta say, though, I do find it a little cute." "Looks like someone's becoming smitten, aren't you, Rainbow Dash?" Rarity teased and let a small chuckle escape. "Wh-what?! No I'm not!" Rainbow jumped at Rarity's words and almost dropped Twilight as she fumbled around with her. "I'm just... proud of her is all." "Admit it, Rainbow. You did blush as you picked Twilight up." Applejack grinned and crossed her legs and snickered under her breath. "Girls!" Rainbow whined as she watched the other girls begin to share a laugh with each other. "I'm not good with kids, you know that!" "I dunno, Rainbow. You look pretty good with Twilight." Sunset couldn't help but suppress her own laughter as well. "Maybe I should invite you to my house as a babysitter when I can't take care of Twilight." "Sunset! You too?" Rainbow's eyes shot open at the sight of Sunset joining in with the rest of the group's merriment. "It's not funny! Stop it!" As if to answer Rainbow Dash's prayers, Twilight lit up her horn and began to channel magic around it. As she giggled, her hands began to light up as well. She toddled into the middle of the circle and sat down just as her horn crackled. With a last little giggle, lightning shot out onto the chests of all eleven of the girls, turning their laughter into cries and groans as the energy struck them in their chests. The magic seeped into all of their bodies and auras of light appeared around them. All of a sudden, they grew pony ears on the tops of their heads and hair extensions that streaked out of the backs. Tails grew out of their butts and stuck out like sore thumbs. Finally, some of them grew wings while others grew horns. As they tried to stay awake, the energy made them feel heavy, and they all collapsed onto their chests as the spell finally came to an end. "Ugh... Did someone catch the number of that truck?" Indigo Zap came too and felt something make her fingers wet. The moisture knocked her awake instantly and she yanked them out of Twilight's mouth. "Ew! Baby spit!" "What happened?" Fluttershy came to next and looked around, not noticing her new pair of wings that flapped idly in the wind. "Did Twilight do something?" "I'm not sure what happened, Fluttershy, but I feel incredibly light-headed..." Sunset rubbed her forehead and felt the horn that had grown out of her forehead. She immediately noticed and stumbled backwards, squashing her new tail underneath her weight. "Whoa! When did I Pony-Up?" "Pony-Up?" Rainbow Dash threw herself forward and checked her back by giving it a few taps. Surely enough, she felt the blue feathers sprouting out of her shoulder blades and pumped her fist into the air. "Yes! I can fly again!" She shot up into the sky, doing a forward roll before landing back down by the others. "Woohoo!" "Pony-Up? Is that what you did back at the Friendship Games?" Sugarcoat got up to her feet and looked at all of the Rainbooms. She examined all of their new body parts and came up to them, not even noticing the horn popping out of her own head. "How is this even possible? Didn't you say that Twilight drained you of this sort of magic?" "Yeah. But from the looks of it, she decided to give it back." Pinkie Pie was brushing her new hair gently with the tips of her fingers. "And from the looks of things, she decided to give some magic to you girls too! You all look great!" "Share it? What are you on abou—" Lemon stopped once she felt the wings on her back. She turned her head to get a better look at them and gave them a test shake "—whoa. That. Is. So. AWESOME!" "Magic?" Sour Sweet took a good look at her back and saw her own wings grow out of them. "No! I can't look like a circus freak! I'm too good to be a monster! Although, I guess that on the plus side, at least I've still got my looks..." Her face softened the more she touched and poked at the feathers. "So, Indigo and Sour get wings? What do I get?" Sunny Flare began to feel around herself and eventually felt the tip of her brand new horn. She turned her eyes up and looked at the horn. "A unicorn horn? Interesting. What does it do?" "Wait, since when did we get horns in a Pony-Up?" Sunset gave her horn a few gentle knocks with the back of her finger. "I don't remember that..." Twilight simply spoke incoherent gibberish as she crawled up to Sunset and pulled at her legs. She was trying to say something to the girls but didn't have the teeth necessary to properly convey her message. "Huh? What's up, Twi?" Rainbow Dash asked, picking the baby up and handing her back to Sunset. "What're you trying to say?" "She's saying that she wanted to play with us some more, and so she gave us all a bit of her magic so we could make it even more fun." Pinkie Pie bounced over and stretched her arm, showing Twilight off to the group. "More fun? I don't see how—" Indigo stopped herself when she realised what Pinkie had said "—wait. You speak baby, Pinkie?" "Yep. After babysitting Pound and Pumpkin back at Mrs. Cake's place, I know enough to get by." Pinkie raised her finger and turned back towards Twilight and bent her knees. "Ga. Goo-goo, bah, a pabawa appa Pinkie Pie. Ga goo wah ba boo woo wah?" Twilight giggled at Pinkie's baby-esque language and spoke some more, leaning in close so that she could heard everything that she was saying. Once she got out what she needed to say, she put her back against Sunset's chest again and gave an innocent smile to the group. "She says that her magic's very unstable as a baby and she doesn't even know how to control it properly," Pinkie said as she walked back up to Twilight and heard her whisper some more. "In fact, Twilight just uses whatever magic comes to her at random. She could make us big, small, open portals to other worlds, do a weird role-reversal spell on families to switch their ages around, all kinds of weird and wacky things." "How did you get all of that from random baby nonsense?" Sugarcoat tilted her head and stared at Pinkie with her jaw wide open. "She's Pinkie Pie." The Rainbooms all spoke in perfect sync at Sugarcoat. "Don't question it." Twilight cooed and babbled some more to Pinkie, who did the same in an attempt to make a proper communication. For the first time since she had unleashed the magic and transformed into the magical infant she was today, she had never had someone who understood her language and knew what she was saying. She was lost in her conversation with Pinkie, who's grin was just as wide and silly as hers was. "Y'know, now that I think about it, I wouldn't mind playing with that kid with my new pair of wings." Indigo flexed her wings and prepared to take flight. "Plus, I'd like to see just what you and the others can do with those horns, Sunset." "Well... it has been a long time since I've actually used my horn." Sunset looked up and began to gather some magic into it. "Sure. Why not? Let's see if I can still remember some of my old tricks." "Twilight! Where are you?!" The girls stopped what they were doing and saw Spike approach them, looking around while calling out for his old friend. His muscles were twitching and his tail swung back and forth rapidly. "Spike?" Sunset walked towards the dog and tapped his back, causing him to yelp and turn on the balls of his paws. "Whoa, there. Easy, boy. We're not gonna hurt you." "Spike!" Twilight squealed and used her magic to pull him into the air. She gave him a big hug, squeezing him as tightly as she could as she began to nuzzle his neck. "Twilight? Is that you?" Spike wiped his eyes with his paws and saw an infant version of Twilight sitting before him. They shot wide open as he leaned in closer to her. "What happened to you? How did you get so young?" "I think the better question to ask is where were you, Spike?" Sunset asked as she picked the dog up and set him back down on the ground. "And why aren't you with the other Twilight back in Equestria? Doesn't she need you to clean the castle?" "Castle? I'm sorry. I don't really follow." Spike scratched the back of his ears, scraping out a nit as he did so. "Who are you, anyway? I remember you from the Friendship Games, but I never really got your name before." "It's Sunset. Sunset Sparkle." She put her hand on her chest and sat down, letting Twilight crawl off towards Spike. "So, I take it that you're this Twilight's Spike, right?" "I'm not sure what you mean by this Twilight, but my name's definitely Spike." He nodded, prancing up to Sunset. "We never got our questions answered, though. What's Twilight doing looking like a baby? And why does she have that weird horn and glowing mask?" "You mean you don't remember, Spike?" Sunset cocked a brow. "The Friendship Games? Cinch pushed Twilight against the wall, right?" "Oh, I remember that, but that large white burst was so powerful that it knocked me against the wall of Canterlot High." Spike rubbed his head, wincing as he felt the pain he had accrued. "I was unconscious for a while and the next thing I knew, it was nighttime. Everyone had gone home and the Friendship Games were over." He sat down and curled his tail. "I spent the whole morning looking for Twilight. But I didn't think that she'd be back home with her family—or with someone just as kind." "You've been out for a while, little doggie, weren't you?" Lemon Zest roosted down by Spike's side. "Let me fill you in. Twilight got turned into a magical baby with kooky powers. Cinch got real mad and we had to forfeit the Games to Canterlot High. Cinch lashed out and got arrested, and Sunset here became Twilight's new big sister and caretaker thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Sparkle." She pinched his cheeks. "I wish I could explain it in more detail, but you are just so adorable! I just wanna eat you right up, Spikey-wikey!" "I... guess?" Spike felt uncomfortable around Lemon Zest and went back to looking at Sunset. "Anyway, It's good that Cinch got what she deserved in the end, but at the same time, I feel bad for Twilight. She didn't deserve to go through this; not when she was so close to going to Everton." "Well, it's good to have you back, Spike." Sunset gave him a gentle rub on the top of his head, sifting her hands through his fur as she did so. "Twilight could always use some new friends to play with. Plus, I'd like to see you round the house some more myself." "Also, I think we deserve to say sorry to you, Spike." Sunny Flare walked up to Spike with the other Shadowbolts behind her. "We were so focused on winning that we didn't take anyone else's feelings into account on that whole magic situation. I just hope you can forgive us for our actions back at the Games." "Hey, if Cinch got thrown in jail for what she did, I'd say that you're all forgiven in my books." Spike pushed his paw off of his chest and grinned at the Shadowbolts. "Plus, I think it's better to get to know who you're up against better than just having to beat them without thinking about it." "Yeah. It's been much better getting to know they Canterlot High Wondercolts than it ever was to play against them." Indigo crossed her arms and nodded, looking back at Sunset's friends. "They're great pals outside of Canterlot High and I'm really gonna enjoy our new friendship with them." "Me too." Sour Sweet walked up to Indigo. "Sure, they're just runts from Canterlot High, but they're much better than those other weaklings there. Plus, some of them are actually pretty nice once you get to know them." "With some proper guidance from a level-headed and sophisticated Crystal Prep student such as myself, I'm sure that these six girls will leave their school feeling much more successful." Sugarcoat pushed her glasses closer to her face as she looked back at the Rainbooms. "Further, now that the bad blood between both of the schools has been metaphorically washed out, there's much more opportunities opening up for the students of our two schools to bond better." "Plus, that Pinkie Pie girl is actually pretty funny." Lemon Zest pointed over to Pinkie. "I mean, she's bubbly like me, she's got some real funny moments of herself, and just a few moments ago, she spoke fluent baby to Twilight and had a real conversation with her. How cool is that?" "Huh." Spike stared at Pinkie, who shook her arm violently at him. "And they say kids today haven't got any skills." "Anyway, Spike, we're so glad to have you back." Sunset walked Spike over to the Rainbooms. "Let me introduce you to the rest of my friends. I'm sure they'll all be happy to see you." "Sure thing, Sunset." Spike followed behind Sunset, with the Shadowbolts all following behind him in turn. "Anyone who's a friend of Twilight is a friend of mine. Even if they almost ended up destroying the world in the process of trying to win the Games." Sunset came back to the Rainbooms and showed Spike off to them. She watched them all gathering around the small and shake his paw, almost forgetting entirely about Twilight as they all focused on him. As the girls began exchanging pleasantries with the small dog, Sunset simply stood back and smiled. Spike took all of the affection as he turned back and saw Twilight gently bouncing in Sunset's arms. After being separated from her at the Friendship Games, he was finally back with her. Even though she was now a baby imbued with the Magic of Friendship, he was still going to try his hardest to stay by her side and make sure that she didn't have to feel lonely anymore. Author's Note Midnight's MagicThe Rainbooms and Shadowbolts were tending to Twilight in the park with Spike sitting right by her side. As the humans all made sure that she was happy and clean, she simply babbled and pulled Spike into a tight hug, pressing him against her belly. "Man, this kid gets excited pretty easily." Indigo smiled as she gave Twilight a little tickle on the belly. "I know that I'm not really a fan of kids, but I gotta make an exception here." "Yeah. You could say that..." Spike began to choke for breath in Twilight's hug and began to shake and thrash about. He felt her grip loosening and he climbed off of her and took a few steps to the side. "I mean, I still don't get how she turned into a magical demon baby, but she's still pretty cute." "Uh-huh! She's the cutesiest little thing I've ever seen!" Pinkie Pie wiggled her butt as she clasped her hands together and fluttered her eyebrows. She dropped down onto her knees and came up close to Twilight. "Boo goo ga liwa, Twilight? Boo goo ga liwa?" Twilight sat back up and pointed over towards the clouds, lighting up her horn for a spell. As she reached out and tried to touch them, she unintentionally launched magic from her fingertips, ensnaring the cloud within a cage of blue energy. When Twilight clenched her fingers again, the cloud disappeared from the sky and then reappeared around the entire group and a decently large portion of the park. "I guess she wants to play with the clouds." Pinkie Pie got back up onto her feet and drove her arms into the cloud mass around her. "Y'know, despite the fact that we all have magic, I've never really touched one of these things before. Are they really as plushy and cuddly as my preschool teacher used to say they were? I must have these answers!" And before anyone else could say or do anything, Pinkie hurled herself into the white mist and almost vanished from sight instantly. "Alright. Now if I could be the one to say the proper response, WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!" Sour Sweet shouted through the clouds and felt the white fluff slip into her lips. "Well, Pinkie Pie did say that Twilight's magic was erratic and unpredictable." Sugarcoat tried to find her way through the clouds but saw nothing but white. She constantly had to keep taking her glasses off and de-mist them with her shirt. "But I do have to agree with you, on that, Sour Sweet. This is bizarre. It's like nothing I've ever seen before..." "I think it's safe to say that the Friendship Games were just the beginning." Sunset Shimmer nodded and brushed the clouds away to regroup with Sugarcoat. "Twilight's gonna have to grow up. And a girl like her concealing all of that magic? It's not going to be easy for her to fit in." "Even so, we should try to learn more about her magic while she's still young," Sunny Flare's voice cut through the air. "She's a baby, so her magic might still be developing in her current state. If we can identify and learn more about it before she grows up, we could have a better grasp on how we can control and regulate it once she becomes a toddler, an elementary school kid, and then when she gets back to our age again." "What's there to learn?" Pinkie Pie burst out of the air and tapped Sunset's back, causing her to jump. "I've been learning pretty fine from the kid herself. She doesn't know what she can do but she's still just as much a baby as little Pound and Pumpkin back at Mrs. Cake's place. And if I've learned something from the eight months I've worked as a part-time babysitter, it's that when kids have fun, it's almost impossible to control them—Kinda like me!" All of a sudden, Twilight's giggles were audible through the cloud-ridden air. The girls heard the shakes of a rattle and the sounds of roaring winds. They turned to face the baby and saw that a portal had appeared in front of her, sucking the clouds into it. They watched her shake the rattle some more, opening more portals all around her with various different landscapes in the centre of the purple vortexes. "Whoa! What the heck?!" Indigo Zap recoiled at the sight of the portals. "What's going on here?" "I saw this before." Sunset walked up to Twilight, who still shook the rattle as she picked her up. "Twilight's magical power also includes the ability to open portals to Equestria. While I'm not really sure how she does it, I do know that these portals don't last long. Just make sure that no-one falls into them in the meantime." "I remember seeing these too. But last time, they just came out of nowhere whenever Twilight sucked the magic out of your friends." Spike walked forward, looking at all of the different portals to Equestria. He saw deserts, forests, snow-capped mountains, and the sea before another portal appeared by his feet. He put his paw down just as the vortex was opening and nearly fell into it. "Whoa, whoa, help!" "Hang on, Spike! I got this!" Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and shot over towards Spike, scooping him up just as his other feet left the ground. She gently patted his head and held him close. "There. Next time, don't step towards a portal, alright?" "In my defence, I didn't know that Twilight was gonna open a portal there." Spike looked up towards Rainbow Dash. "Goo wah wah ba, Twilight?" Pinkie Pie spoke in baby to Twilight once again. "Apa boo woo gah gi lu wa?" Twilight responded with some infant gibberish of her own and showed the rattle off to Pinkie, pointing at her Cutie Mark emblazoned onto it. She gave Pinkie Pie a demonstration, firing a portal onto a tree. "Well, what's she saying, Pinkie?" Sunset asked, leaning in close to Pinkie's lips. "This is a magic rattle that only Twilight can play with." Pinkie Pie pointed towards it and let Sunset get a better look at it. "Twilight says she can do all kinds of wonderful things with it, but so far, all she's ever got out of it is portals to Equestria." "And you got all of that out of a baby's mouth, speaking her language like you've studied it your whole life," Sugarcoat deadpanned. "Why do I get the feeling that if the government saw you with that baby Twilight, they'd take you away for examination and not her?" "Silly, Sugarcoat, I'm Pinkie Pie." She pinched Sugarcoat's cheeks and scooped up some leftover remnants of the cloud and turned it into a little platform for her to float around on. She laid down on it and gently kicked her legs. "I know lots of things. Not the meaning of life, mind you, but I've had plenty of weird and kooky experiences in the past." "That still doesn't explain how your random gibberish infantile prattle can be used to communicate with Twilight." Sugarcoat looked her firmly in the eyes. "What's your secret?" "There's no secret, Sugarcoat. You've just gotta spend a lot of time with these babies." Pinkie drifted over to Twilight and blew a raspberry into the baby's stomach. "Once you listen to them enough, their language is a snap. It's not just the classic goos and gahs like you're probably thinking of. It's much bigger than that!" She threw out her arms to emphasise her point. "Sugarcoat, it's best not to question Pinks." Lemon Zest walked up to Pinkie and wrapped her arm around her neck. She gave the CHS girl a noogie before letting her go. "She's a fun kid. Kinda like me but without the rockin' beats. And it's like she said. When kids have fun, it's hard to control 'em." "Well, whatever she does, as long as we have a way ta talk with Twilight, ah couldn't care less about the details." Applejack crossed her arms and gave Pinkie a smile as she walked up to her and Twilight. "Speaking of which, Pinkie, do ya think ya could get some extra info on that there magic she's got?" "Of course, Applejack." Pinkie nodded at Applejack and turned back towards Twilight. "Ga, Twilight. Boo bah gah hi ooboo wah mawa la ba fa goo, appo loo wa gi ra poowada?" Twilight responded to Pinkie's gibberish with even more baby talk. She crawled over towards the edge of Sunset's arms and climbed onto Pinkie's shoulders, gently pulling her ear open as she gave the girl her answer. Once she was done, she simply dropped her arms and drooled as her smile returned to her face. "Alright." Pinkie took a deep breath and arched her arms. "Twilight's magic is like a freaky-deaky combination of all of our magic. While it's unstable in her super-cute baby form, she thinks that it'll develop over time. But knowing that she's a baby, I think it's safe to say that that topic's still up for debate," she said. "Right now, she just uses whatever comes to her mind. Kid's show? She'll make it into a reality. Shapes and colours? Soon gonna be in her hands. Heck, if she wants to turn any of us into babies, she could do it with the clap of her hands!" "That... sounds worrying." Sunset picked Twilight back up and gently rocked her. After hearing Pinkie's explanation, she wanted to put Twilight to sleep as fast as possible so that she wasn't tempted to do anything major. "Is there any way to control this?" "Twilight said that her magic goes away whenever she sleeps." Pinkie continued, giving Twilight a rub on the head as she did so. "So if she got some new toys, turned any of us into super-duper cute diaper-pooping babies, or even opened some of those weird glowy portals, they'll all disappear once she falls asleep." "Interesting." Sunny Flare walked up to Twilight and placed her fingers on her rattle, feeling that it was warm to the touch and lighter than she had expected it to be. "I mean, the whole magic business at the Friendship Games was strange enough, but here, I feel like we've only just scratched the surface of what your magic is, Rainbooms." "I have to agree with Sunny on that." Rarity came up to Sunny and placed her hand on her shoulder. "I mean, we could Pony-Up out of the blue during the Friendship Games, but we've yet to learn what all of that magic can do in someone who hasn't used magic before." She turned to face Twilight, who was now beginning to droop her eyelids. "Who knows what little Twilight could do when she grows up?" "Well, I don't think we should concern ourselves with the future just yet." Fluttershy reached into Pinkie's basket and pulled out a pink pacifier. She walked over to Twilight and placed the amber teat of the soother into her mouth, watching her suck on it rhythmically. "Right now, we just have to make sure that Twilight's safe and sound. We'll work out the magic part later." "Speaking of which, I need to get her home." Sunset gently brushed Twilight's hair as she turned away from the girls. "It was nice to talk with you all, but I think that Twilight needs to get home. A sweet little girl like her needs her naps, but she also needs them in the luxury of her little crib back home." "Alright. Catch ya later, Sunset!" Indigo waved Sunset off. "If ya need anything else, just give us a call!" "I will, Indigo." Sunset waved back at the group of friends. "And tell your other friends at Crystal Prep that I wish them all well for the future!" "Sure thing!" Indigo called back as Sunset began to walk off towards the road. "Hey, Sunset! Next time we see each other, why don't I teach you how to speak baby?" Pinkie ran over to Sunset and followed her as she left the others behind. "I'm sure you're gonna need it for dealing with that super-cute bundle of joy there." "Y'know... Why not, Pinkie?" Sunset smiled at Pinkie and gave her a gentle nod. "You seem to be quiet fluent in the language so I'm sure that I could learn a thing or two from you." "Okie-dokie-lokie!" Pinkie cartwheeled up to Twilight and gave her a gentle wave goodbye. "Gah-goo, Twilight!" Twilight gave Pinkie a wave of her own before she fell asleep. The horn and mask around her face vanished as she began to snore lightly in Sunset's arms, sucking on the pacifier as she curled up to Sunset's breasts. Sunset gave the girls one more wave as she finally left the park and arrived at a crossing. She pushed the button and waited for the lights to turn green. Once the cars stopped, she walked across the road and began to travel down the street towards Twilight's house. Twilight, your magic never ceases to surprise me. Sunset grinned at the slumbering Twilight and rubbed her belly with the tip of her finger. She pulled up the dress around her chest and made circular motions across Twilight's body, making her suck on the pacifier at a slower rate. Once you grow up, I'm going to have to teach you how to control your magic a bit more. But until then, I'm here for you, twenty-four-seven, three-hundred and sixty-five. Twilight took the pacifier out of her mouth and whispered, "Mama..." before putting it back in and placing her hands on Sunset's chest. "You said it, little sis." Sunset leaned down to Twilight and gave her a gentle kiss. "Mama or big sister, I'll always keep you out of harm's way..." Going AwayThe next day, Sunset and Twilight were playing together in the bedroom. Sunset herself was moving a stuffed animal and imitating a voice for it, causing Twilight to giggle and clap her hands, reaching out for the toy herself. Through the whole game, both Sunset and Twilight looked each other in the eyes and smiled. They both felt the bond between them getting deeper and stronger the more that they spent time with each other and they had a feeling that it wouldn't stop any time soon. "Mama! Mama!" Twilight squealed and crawled over to Sunset, climbing up into her chest. She gave her a big hug, causing the side of the horn to dig into Sunset's chest. "Yeah, Twilight. I'm your mama alright," Sunset lied as she pulled Twilight out of her chest and tousled her hair. "And no matter what, you won't have to face this thing alone." All of a sudden, Sunset felt the phone in her pocket vibrate. She put Twilight down and picked the phone up out of her pocket and opened up an application. Once it had loaded up, she saw a list of messages that she had either sent or received. She saw that the most recent one was from Pinkie Pie, so she tapped on it and the phone enlarged what Pinkie had sent to her. Hey, Sunset. Canterlot High's got enough money to go to Camp Everfree tomorrow thanks to the Friendship Games. Everyone's gonna be going away for the week so that they can get some fresh air and do some cool new stuff. You can choose whether you want to bring little baby Twily with you, but no matter what you do, I bet that we'll all have lots of fun together! See you soon! "Hmm..." Sunset stared at the message for a brief moment and frowned before she closed the phone and put it away. Thing is, would Twilight cope well without me? She bounced the girl on her knees. I mean, ever since that whole outburst at the Friendship Games, she's seen me as her mother. If I just left her like this, she might start crying and won't stop until I come back. And a girl of her abilities, it would make mom's job as a parent much harder. What should I do? Twilight wiggled her legs and cooed as she crawled up to Sunset again. She climbed up Sunset's body and used her hands to pull her cheeks and wiggle them around. She squished them together to make it look like Sunset was going to kiss someone and crawled up to press her face against hers. Once she felt Sunset do a real kiss, she giggled once more. If cuteness was a weapon of mass destruction, Twilight would be wanted by every military force on the planet. Sunset smiled and wrapped her arms around Twilight's tiny body, giving her a small hug. Who knew that becoming an all-powerful demon baby at the hands of your peers at Crystal Prep could be such a good thing? "Sunset? Are you decent?" Dean Cadence opened the door to Twilight's nursery and walked inside. "Don't worry. You're not in trouble. I just wanted to see how Twilight was doing." "She's fine, Cadence." Sunset set Twilight down and let her crawl off. She brushed herself down and stood before Cadence. "What's up?" "It's about Twilight's magic." Cadence walked over to Twilight and watched her begin to play with some blocks. She squatted down and patted the infant on the back as she picked the first one up. "Now, I'm not saying that it's getting out of control or that we're sick of it. I just wanted to know how long she's going to have it is all." "Well, you see, Cadence, Twilight's magic works a lot differently than ours did back at the Friendship Games." Sunset walked over to Twilight and pointed down to her. "We used to Pony-Up out of random and expose our magic, but it didn't really allow us to do stuff like she does." She showed Dean Cadence Twilight's glowing horn, which she was using to take some blocks that were out of her reach. "Twilight can use whatever magic she comes to mind. She can make the things she sees on TV and in books a reality. She can use a rattle to open up portals to Equestria, and she can get everything that she wants without any real effort or concentration. To make it easier for you, her limits are her imagination." "Is it... contagious?" Cadence was hesitant to reach her arm out as she said it. "No. No. Partially." Sunset shook her head and brushed the parts of her body that would change if she did transform. "While others can get a taste of her magic, it doesn't allow them to do exactly what she does. The only changes that the others get are wings or horns, pony ears, a tail, and longer hair. That's all." "So, what do you think I would get?" Cadence asked, leaning in closer to Twilight. "Y'know, when I was a kid myself, I always had dreams that I was a pegasus, flying through the air with such grace." "Well, I guess what you would get depends on your counterpart in Equestria." Sunset turned to face Cadence and tipped her hand towards her. "So whatever pony-you looks like, then that's what you would get. You might even get both wings and a horn if you're lucky." While Cadence and Sunset were talking to each other about her magic, Twilight stopped playing with her blocks and put her hands on the floor. She gave it a little poke and cooed again—this time at the bounciness of the padding. After a few more test pokes, she stood up and tried to jump. She wobbled both as she stood up and tried to land on her feet again. She tumbled to the floor and flopped onto her back, giggling lightly as she did so. Twilight put her finger to her mouth and thought about how she could bounce higher. Once she got an idea, she cooed silently and chuckled, lighting up her hands and horn. With a squeal, she blasted a high concentration of her magic at the floor, causing a bright white light to shine from it. "Hold on, Cadence. What's she doing?" Sunset broke off from the conversation and watched the floor light up. Before she could say anything, she began to sink into the ground. "Whoa!" She exclaimed as she fell down onto her butt and was launched upwards, as if she had fallen onto a giant trampoline. Twilight giggled as she tumbled and rolled down to the middle of the floor. Her horn disappeared and reappeared repeatedly so that it didn't sink into the bouncy surface and rip. Once she made it, she bounced high into the air and laughed wildly as she kept on bouncing on the magical surface. "How is she doing this?" Cadence asked as she threw out her arms to hold her balance. Despite being close to Twilight and Sunset, she was still able to stand firmly without falling over. "Is this what you meant by her limits being her imagination, Sunset?" "Yeah. I suppose." Sunset bounced and tried to reach out for Twilight, but kept on missing her every single time. Whenever she thought that she got close, Twilight's wings flapped, giving her more height before she fell right back down and bounced again. "Whatever Twilight wants to do, she does it. And if she wants to turn her nursery into a giant trampoline then she can." "Someone's gonna have to learn how to control her magic soon..." Cadence said as she stepped back towards the wall to avoid being launched into the air. As Twilight fluttered in the air, she lit up her horn as she fell right back down to the ground. With a quick flash of light, everything else aside from her, Sunset, and Cadence had vanished from the room. With no other toys to keep them from getting hurt, Twilight continued to bounce around, laughing and giggling all the while as she evaded Sunset's hands. "Bouncy! Bouncy!" Twilight said as she continued to play with her trampoline floor. She almost bounced to the roof of the room and banged her head, but her horn kept her from colliding with it every time. "Playtime!" "Alright, Twilight. Just come to mama..." Sunset kept her feet planted on the trampoline floor as she waited for Twilight to fall back down. With a somersault, she grabbed Twilight and landed on her butt, sliding back down to the centre of the room. "Gotcha!" Twilight shook all around in Sunset's hold, laughing like a maniac as her horn and hands lit up once again. As she shook her arms and legs, the floor straightened up and went back to normal, and all of her toys and baby furniture came back as well. "There we go, Twilight. Wasn't that fun?" Sunset gently rubbed the top of Twilight's head and rubbed her belly as she cradled the girl in her arms. "Next time, give me a head's up if you're gonna use your magic, OK?" Twilight was still laughing and shaking her limbs before she felt her diaper turn warm. She immediately stopped and felt the hot mush pressing against her skin. She looked up at Sunset and began to wimper, tears filling her eyes as her lips quivered. "Oh boy... Did you use your diaper, Twilight?" Sunset could already smell the repugnant stench strike her nostrils. She scrambled to her feet and ran over to the changing table. "Don't worry about it. Mama's here. Mama's here..." She laid Twilight down on the table, took off Twilight's tiny trousers and shoes, and ripped the diaper open. The fumes that had come from her poo sprung up and struck her nose. "Oh, sweet Celestia!" Sunset had to hold her nose to cope with the smell. "How are baby poops this smelly? Good grief!" "You might need some help with that, Sunset." Cadence walked over to the changing table and saw Sunset begin to back off as the smell danced around her nose. She immediately took the soiled diaper and opened a bin, tossing the browned undergarment inside. "The stench is revolting the first few times. You'll get used to it eventually." "Sweet goddess. Sweet goddess..." Sunset fanned her nose with her right hand as she tried to shake the smell off. Once it eventually left her, she went over to the door, opened it up, and took in some fresh air before walking back into the room. "How do parents put up with that? It's, like, the worst thing I think I've ever smelt!" "Well, it's something that all mothers and fathers have to put up with." Cadence pulled out a new diaper and proceeded to pick up a bottle of baby powder. She applied it both to Twilight's tiny bottom and to the brand new diaper before she slid it underneath her body. "And it's something that I'm gonna deal with a lot once our new baby gets born." "Have you decided on a name yet?" Sunset walked back over to Twilight and saw that Cadence had almost finished with the diapering procedure. "I was thinking on Gleaming Shield if it's a boy and Flurry Heart if it's a girl." Cadence picked up the edges of the diaper and made them all meet in the centre. She tightened the waistband, applied the adhesive strap, and added a small pin so that it all held together before she picked Twilight up and gave her back to Sunset. "Hey! Maybe she and Twilight could be playmates together someday. Doesn't that sound great?" "Yeah." Sunset smiled and nodded. "It'd be nice for Twilight to have some new babies to play with. Right now, she only has me. Well, that, and Pinkie Pie's trying to arrange a playdate for her and those two twins Mr. and Mrs. Cake have." "Alright," Cadence smiled. "Is there anything else going on with you or Twilight?" At that, Sunset froze up and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She turned it on and showed the text message she had got earlier to Cadence. As she let the dean read exactly what it said, her mind had a million different thoughts running through her head. She and Twilight had been inseparable since the end of the Friendship Games, and now there was something that was going to split them apart. "Well... I'm gonna be going away for a while." Sunset swallowed heavily and put the phone away once again. "Starting tomorrow, to be exact." "I can see. A school-organised field trip to Camp Everfree, is it?" Cadence put her hand on Sunset's shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Hey. Why so down? You're gonna have a great time there. Everyone at Crystal Prep has great memories of that place—even me and Cinch." "Really?" Sunset asked. "Yeah. In fact, when Cinch was in her teen years, she used to love stretching her legs on one of Camp Everfree's nature hikes. She said that they worked wonders on her physique and core strength." Cadence slowly pushed out her arm as she looked Sunset in the eyes. "I'm sure that you and your friends at Canterlot High are gonna have fun." "Yeah, but that's the problem." Sunset looked down at the ground and clasped Twilight harder. "See, if I'm gonna be going away, that just leaves you and the rest of the family to look after Twilight. And correct me if I'm wrong here, but I don't think that any of you have any experience in dealing with magical super-babies like her..." "No, we don't, but that doesn't mean we're not gonna try." Cadence shook her head and patted Twilight's with the palm of her hand. "Don't you worry about it. We'll all take good care of the little one while she's away." "Thank you for your help, but there's something else as well." Sunset turned her head back up at Cadence and held Twilight higher. "Twilight thinks that I'm her mama instead of mom. She might start worrying where I am and start crying if I'm not there. Her magic might go crazy if she starts to cry and I just don't want any of you getting hurt because I left her alone for the week." "Well, I'm not going to stop you from taking her with you to Camp Everfree, but I'm not so sure that you'll have all of the supplies to last a week with her." Cadence patted Twilight's diaper, hearing a small crinkle resonate from it as she did so. "Diapers, baby food, and other stuff doesn't really last long for a whole week when you're out at a place like Camp Everfree, and you might run out before the week's up and need to improvise, so it's not really recommended. But still, like I said, I'm not going to say no and take her off of your hands." "Now that leaves me with a real dilemma..." Sunset turned Twilight around and saw her use her magic. She levitated a pacifier from the ground and popped it into her mouth, starting to suck on it lightly. "Should I take Twilight with me to Camp Everfree, or should I leave her behind with you, mom, and dad?" "I'll happily go with whatever decision you make, but you also need to remember that it's also yourself you need to take into account." Cadence began to walk towards the door. "I'll leave you alone to think about it. With a decision like this, it's best not for me to get involved. But no matter what decision you make, you and your friends are going to enjoy Camp Everfree." "Yeah. Nothing but fun, fun, fun..." Sunset saw Cadence leave the room and close the door behind her. Once silence fell in the nursery again, Sunset walked over towards the tiny bookcase and sat Twilight down on her laps. She went through the different books that she could read to her while she heard her bobbing the pacifier in and out of her mouth with every suckle. She found the book and opened it up, showing both the text and the pictures inside. Oh, Twilight? What am I going to do? She asked herself mentally as she began to read the book to Twilight, spooling her hair around her fingers. Is it really worth spending a week away from you to have fun with my friends? Do I really want to go to Camp Everfree if it means leaving you behind? Help me out here, will you? Friends or family. Which one's more important? Once Sunset came to another page, Twilight turned around and hugged Sunset, still sucking on the pacifier as she dug her head into her chest. The quiet and muffled coos that she made were still audible as she curled her fingers up and latched on to her mother. She did this for a while before Sunset pulled her out and turned her back to the book. Author's Note Well, now. I'm going to leave this all up to you guys to decide. Should Sunset Shimmer leave for Camp Everfree with her friends for the week and leave Twilight behind? Or should she take her with her and go through so many resources and potentially run out? The choice is yours. Also, I do apologise for the pacing in some of these chapters. Sometimes, with Age-Regression fics, you tend to get an idea and focus so much on the cuteness of the baby-fied victim that you forget to stretch it all out and leave some important things melded in there. And with a baby Midnight Sparkle, I get so many ideas for her magical playtimes that I often forget about the important stuff like Pony Twilight and paradoxes, or how the portal just somehow works again or stuff like that. And I promise that I WILL sort those all out in the future. But until then, I hope that you all have a nice day and I'll see you all soon. Camp EverfreeSunset Shimmer sat on a bus with many of her friends from Canterlot High on nearby seats around her. She carefully held Twilight close to her chest as her feet knocked against the backs beneath her as they travelled down the road and into what looked like a forest. As she played with her, she also drew the attention of many of the girls on the vehicle, who couldn't help but glance over towards the two of them and smile. "Are you sure you're gonna be alright fer the week, Sunset?" Applejack asked, tapping Sunset's shoulders. "I mean, Twilight's just a baby. The supplies that Mr and Mrs. Sparkle gave ya might not last that long." "Don't worry about it, Applejack." Pinkie Pie jumped over and opened up one of her own bags, causing lots of other baby supplies to poke out of the top. "I came fully prepared. Nothing's too good for this little cutie. Isn't that right, Twilight?" "I still don't get why they decided to let you take Twilight away for the week." Fluttershy walked over and knelt down before Sunset and Twilight. "Doesn't that seem a little irresponsible?" "Mom and Dad fully trust me with Twilight, Fluttershy." Sunset nodded and tousled Twilight's hair. "Since they recently took me into the family as well, I also count as being her big sister now. And besides, they decided that it was better for me to get to learn more about Twilight's magic so that we can find a better way to control it. Plus, she never gets to go outside these days, so I think taking her along to Camp Everfree with us would do wonders on her." "Yeah. And you're giving her parents a real load off for the week." Rainbow Dash turned her head back from her seat. "Now that Twilight's out of the way, I'm sure they've got plenty of time to do what they like." She saw everyone shoot her miniature glares. "What? It's true, though!" "Apart from that, I'm sure that we're all gonna have a good time. That is, if you don't mind getting dirt under your nails and leaves stuck in your hair." A pink-skinned girl in a yellow jacket and trousers turned back from the front. "For me, camping's always been a nightmare. Even though I come from a rich family, I still find it hard to deal with nature." "Don't worry about it, Di. You've got me with you this week." A girl with silver hair and skin scooted up to her side and wrapped her arm around her. "Besties forever, right?" "Yeah. Thanks, Silvs," she said, turning towards her friend. "I just hope the camp's got some good Wi-Fi. I don't want my boyfriend to think I'm forgetting about him." "What about you, Sunset?" The silver girl leaned over the back of the seats. "Do you have a very special someone in your life?" "Not really, Silver." Sunset shook her head and turned to face Silver. "I mean, I used to have Flash Sentry back when I was a power-crazed ringleader, but now, I'm just fine as I am. Plus, I've gotta take care of little Twilight here when her parents aren't around, so I don't have much time to look for one in the first place." "Well, if you ever have some spare time, just give me and Diamond Tiara a call and we'll do our best to hook you up with someone nice." Silver smiled and handed her a small card before turning back towards the front of the bus. "Heck, we'd do anything if it means we get to spend time with that little cutie you've got there." "Yeah. Thanks, girls..." Sunset Shimmer simply returned her gaze to the windows and held Twilight up so that she could see as well. Trees, plants, and all kinds of wildlife passed by their eyes as the bus continued to drive down the path. Eventually, the bus slid into a parking zone and stopped so that everyone could get a good view of the campsite. Everyone gathered their belongings and walked off of the bus in an orderly fashion, inhaling the scent of the camp through their nostrils as their feet touched the ground. Verdant green trees ringed around a lake that glistened in the sunlight. A line of tents with different gems on the doors could be seen on the left side of the vehicle while a kitchen building was visible on the right. The grass was dew-ridden and freshly cut, with each blade just barely grazing against the girls' feet. Rarity stepped off of the bus and inhaled the fresh air, stretching her arms out as she did so. "Ahh, lovely day for camping, isn't it?" "Yeah. The air smells great." Sunset walked up to Rarity, caressing Twilight against her chest. "I bet Twilight's gonna have a lot of fun here at Camp Everfree, aren't you, Twilight?" Twilight merely looked up at Sunset and giggled, wiggling her hands as she tried to grab her caretaker's chin. Her horn vanished as she tilted her head up and then reappeared as she brought her head back down. "Ah know that we're potentially bringing another magical mishap by bringing that little'un with us, but I'm sure that it's nothing we can't handle, right?" Applejack booped Twilight's nose and heard her laughter continue. "Yeah. We've handled all kinds of magical goings-on before, so I'm sure that taking care of an adorable baby Twilight in the middle of a camp should be a snap!" Pinkie clicked her fingers. "Oh, I'm sure that it'll be easier than what we've done before. And a little bit more fun." Fluttershy walked up to the girls with her hands wrapped around the straps of her backpack. "Twilight's gonna love it here with us in the cool breeze and fresh air." "Plus, there's plenty of nature walks we could take her on so that she could see just how lush this place is." Applejack looked out towards the trees. "Yep, there's all sorts of things we can do here at Camp Everfree." "Yeah! We can roast marshmallows by campfires and tell spooky stories to each over!" Rainbow Dash flexed her fingers and hunched her shoulders. "Or, if that's a bit too much, we could always have a race around the campsite if you're up for it." "I see what you mean." Sunset smiled as the other Rainbooms began to discuss what they could do together at Camp Everfree. "I don't get it!" Sunset's ears picked up on the voice and turned to see a boy and girl have a quarrel. Both of them were dressed in laid back clothing, with the boy wearing a simple shirt and trousers while the girl wore a floral dress around her whole body, with sandals crafted out of trees. She walked over to the quarrelling teenagers and kept her distance so that she wasn't intruding. "honestly, Gloriosa, you don't need these things." The boy reached over and tried to take seven different crystals off of the girl's neck. "I don't care what you can do with those geodes, you can't get any more power from them." "You lie, Timber!" Gloriosa spat back, covering all seven of the gems in the palms of her hand. "I can save this camp. I just need to find more of those things! Surely, if we crack the altar open there'll be more, right? Just give me more time, OK? I got this." "No. You clearly haven't." Timber hung his head and let a small sigh slip. "Look, Glori, I know that you like this camp, but I feel like you're just going about this the wrong way. Maybe if we just tell people about what he's going to do, then people'll surely donate to our cause." "Timber, you have your way of saving this camp and I have mine." Gloriosa turned her back to him and looked down at the gems around her neck. "If you want to get people to send their life savings then that's fine, but I just think of these things as a last resort for if we can't get the money we need..." "Uh, hi." Sunset walked up to Timber and Gloriosa and waved to the both of them. "I'm sorry to intrude, but I heard you two arguing and I thought I might as well see what's up." "Oh, hey." Timber's tension immediately left his face as he saw Sunset and Twilight stand before them. "I didn't see you there. Are you with the kids from Canterlot High?" "Yeah. We just got here a few minutes ago, actually." Sunset nodded and motioned towards the students of CHS as they all chatted among themselves. "I don't suppose that there's a camp counsellor or member of staff that we can see, is there?" "You're looking at one of 'em." He held out his hand for a handshake. "Hi. Name's Timber Spruce. Nice to meet ya." "Wait, you?" Sunset's eyes opened slightly at Timber's gesture. "But you're just a teenager like me. How are you in charge here?" "We're a bit understaffed at the moment. Plus, this place is kinda part of my family's lineage." He shook hands with Sunset. "It'd be a travesty if I left it alone, right?" "I... guess?" Sunset eyed up Timber as she ended the handshake and looked into his eyes. Twilight turned her gaze up to Timber as well and gave him a smile, cooing as she tried to reach out and touch him. "Hey there, kid." Timber came down to Twilight and tousled her hair, taking extra care not to touch her horn in the process. "Who are you dressed up as? Can you speak?" "Oh. That's not a dress-up, Mr. Spruce. This is all real." Sunset said, holding Twilight with both of her arms again. "I'm sure you wouldn't understand." "Oh, I'm sure that I might have some grasp on the situation..." As he spoke, his eyes shifted back to Gloriosa. He gave her a small glare before he went back to Sunset and Twilight. "Sorry about that. You were saying?" "Not to be rude, but I didn't come up to the two of you just so I could tell you about my baby girl." Sunset retracted Twilight from Timber and gave her back a tender rub. "I came to see why you and Gloriosa were arguing. What's going on?" "Well, see here's the—" "Timber. This is mine." Gloriosa slapped Timber's mouth shut with the back of her hand and pushed him away. "Before I get into what happened, I want to know how you got that weird baby there." "As I said with Timber, you wouldn't understand a thing." Sunset Shimmer shook her head. Before anyone could say anything else, Twilight's face recoiled at Gloriosa. She whimpered and shied away into Sunset's body. She let out a frightened coo and pushed her hands out, causing a sudden gust of wind to burst out of her horn and hands. The resulting blast sent Gloriosa careening into the lake, just beyond the edge of the dock. As Gloriosa pulled her head from the water, Twilight was seen laughing. Her illuminated hands and horn were on full display as she made small walls made of water crash into the girl again and again, as if she was being sandwiched by them. This went on and on until Sunset pulled Twilight away and tickled her belly, causing the water to die down. "What the heck was that?" Timber asked, coming up to Twilight and Sunset. Sunset sighed and hung her head. "I was going to try and keep it secret for the week, but I guess there's no point in trying to hide it, is there? Basically, something happened at the Friendship Games that turned a rival school's girl into a baby with magical powers. Since no-one else chose to take care of her, her family picked her up and I'm now her caretaker-slash-big-sister." "That's an awful lot to take in in just one sitting." Timber came up to Twilight and examined her horn. "But... now that you mention it, she doesn't really seem like an average baby playing dress-up..." "I'm sorry that you had to get mixed up in this, Mr. Spruce." Sunset turned Twilight to face her and gave her a little pat on the belly. "I'll take full responsibility for what happened to Gloriosa." "Nah. It's alright." Timber watched Gloriosa climb out of the water and shake herself down like a dog. "Y'know, since you came out with your magical mishaps, I think I should let you in on something. My sister's not entirely normal either." "What? But she's just as much of a teen as you are." Sunset watched Gloriosa get tended to by some of the students. She watched them dry her off and take her to get some new clothes. "How could she possibly have magic?" "Well, those gems around her neck? They're what's causing it." Timber pointed out the seven crystals draped around Gloriosa's collar as she walked off. "She has all seven now, and all that she can do is cause vines to grow around her like some kind of weird comic book character. Nothing like what your baby sister can do, but it's still something out of the ordinary." "Is that what you two were arguing about earlier?" Sunset asked. "Yeah. She wants to stop this camp from being bought out by the mogul Filthy Rich and thinks that those crystals are a last resort." Timber brushed the back of his head as he watched Gloriosa walk inside a boathouse. "When in reality, the best way to get rid of him is to keep on paying him the rent every month. She's just gotten a bit desperate because we're low on funding this month. That's all." "You should definitely tell people that this place is trying to be bought out." Sunset tugged on the back of Timber's shirt. "Think about it. This place is a historical landmark. People will come running to save it, even if it means they have to chain themselves to trees to stop the loggers from cutting down the campsite." "Are you sure about that?" Timber wasn't entirely sold on Sunset's idea. "Trust me, they will." Sunset then saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon out in the crowd of students. "And look. That girl over there is called Diamond Tiara. She happens to be Mr. Rich's daughter. I'm sure that if she hears about what her dad's doing, she'll practically beg him to stop." "Well, nothing too serious has happened yet, but if we do get desperate, I'll come and ask your friends for help." He began to walk off to follow Gloriosa, waving back to Sunset as he left her behind. "I've gotta go. Apart from me, she's the only other member of staff we've got here. Enjoy your time, though. At Camp Everfree, we want to give you an experience you won't forget." "Bye." Sunset waved Timber off and saw that Twilight was waving him off as well. She gave Twilight another gentle cuddle as she walked off with her and regrouped with the rest of her peers. Something tells me that this trip to Camp Everfree's gonna be more interesting than I expected... The Wolf of CanterlotAuthor's Note If any of you are worried about the pacing, then I heavily apologise for that. But you see the thing with stories like this, I find it hard to keep a consistent pace with how much I want to cram the baby stuff in. With stuff like this, you always have to prioritize the shenanigans with the babies/foals that you've made, and that often leaves you very little time to work in some serious crises, or if you do, tell them more than show. And also, I know that some people are going to be negative again, but you know what? I don't even care. This is not meant to be a serious story in any way, shape, or form. It's simply a story about a girl who gets turned into a baby and has lots of magical mishaps. Inconsistencies, differences, and various other changes are made in stories like this. It also helps that this story is also AU, because that also justifies the changes that people make. But anyway, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter and have a great day! The Wolf of Canterlot The CHS students were all picking out cards for which tents that they would be sleeping in during their time at Camp Everfree. One by one, they dipped their hands into the box and fished out a different gem type that was identical to the designs on the tent doors. "Hey, uh..." Gloriosa walked up to Sunset with a new set of clothes and partially damp hair. "I'm sorry. What's your name?" "Sunset. Sunset Shimmer." She said, turning to face Gloriosa as she held Twilight gently in her grasp. "Look, before you say anything, I just want you to know that I'm sorry you got wet earlier. I didn't know that Twilight would want to— "No, no. It's fine, Sunset." Gloriosa shook her head, flicking off some last blobs of water as she swung around the seven crystals around her neck. "I know that we kinda got off on the wrong foot when we started, but I want you to know that I'm sorry for my behaviour. I'm just so stressed out about losing this camp that I kinda overreacted and lost my temper with Timber. I shouldn't have made such a bad first impression on you." "Hey, it's alright, Gloriosa." Sunset held her hand while delicately balancing Twilight in her free arm. "I have to look after a magical super-baby nonstop. And while she is super-cute, her power can be incredibly out of control sometimes. If there's anything that we can do to help you out, just let us know, OK?" "It's just that, these geodes that I found are supposed to contain vast magical energy, but so far, all that I've been able to do is make some small vines grow here and there." She turned towards a bush and raised her hand, causing a single vine to appear out of the top. "See, I love this camp so much and I want it to continue for years on years, but I'm short on money and Filthy Rich is threatening to tear this place down if I don't pay up the rent in time." "Wait, what?!" Diamond Tiara's ears pricked up just as she was about to reach into the box. She walked up to Gloriosa and Sunset and stood before them. "My daddy's going to tear this place down?" "Your... daddy?" Gloriosa cocked her head at Diamond. "I'm sorry, little one, but who are you?" "Diamond Tiara. Eldest daughter of Filthy and Spoiled Rich." She said, crossing her hands. "Listen, I know that my daddy does a lot of things to keep on lining his pockets, but I don't think he would ever want to tear down an official historic landmark. He always listens to what I have to say, so I'm just gonna give him a quick call and see whether or not he's serious about this whole thing." "Are you sure you'll be able to make the call in a place like this, Diamond?" Sunset asked, turning towards her. "I mean, Camp Everfree's pretty far from the mainland and I doubt that Timber and Gloriosa installed any wi-fi here." "Well, I don't think she needs to worry about that." Timber pointed out towards the parking area. "He's right here!" Sunset, Diamond, Timber, and Gloriosa watched as a long black limo with silver-plated doors rolled up and parked itself right next to the bus. One of the doors on the side opened and a pair of black trouser legs poked out of it. From the car, a well-groomed man with luscious black hair and brown skin walked up to the group. He wore a blue business suit and polished black shoes. He wore cufflinks on the wrist parts of his suit and a tight buckled belt around his waist. "Gloriosa Daisy!" He loudly proclaimed as he brushed down his chest with the back of his hand. "Such a pleasure to see you again. I trust that you're working hard to get the money you owe me?" "In case you must know, Filthy Rich, it's hard to come by money these days when people just bring their own camping gear." Gloriosa crossed her arms and stared into his eyes. "Most of the time, our income comes from a few minor sources." "I can tell. This camp's practically falling apart at the seems." He turned towards the docks and saw it collapse as a student laid one of their fingers on it. "Gloriosa, let me tell you a little trick that I learned in the world of corporations. A place is only as successful as it is well-maintained. Whenever something goes wrong at one of my businesses, I simply splash out a few thousand dollars to have the team fix it, and wouldn't y'know it, more moolah comes flooding in." He leaned in close and flashed her a toothy grin. "What I'm trying to say here is that you've gotta spend money to make it, dear." "You're one to talk! Look at you! You're a multi-millionaire!" Gloriosa threw her hands out towards Filthy Rich. "You're practically monopolising every business you've ever laid your hands on! We're out here, working ourselves to the bone, and what do we have to show for it?" "Gloriosa, there's no such thing as a bad business." He tousled her hair and watched her face turn bright red. "But there something called a failed business. You've still got some time, but I do expect you to have the cash in hand when next we meet." And with that, he went back towards the limo. "Daddy! Wait!" Diamond Tiara ran up to him and tugged on his hand. "Diamond Tiara?" Filthy Rich stopped cold in his tracks as he saw his daughter holding on to him. "Why, what are you doing all the way out here?" "I'm here with CHS on a special field trip." She showed off Sunset Shimmer and the other students at Canterlot High as they all began to unload their things by their tents. "Daddy, is it true that you're going to rip this place down if Gloriosa doesn't pay up?" "Diamond, as much as I love you, I'm afraid that you can't argue with money." He knelt down and looked her in the eyes. "Aw, now don't feel so bad, dear. You yourself hate camping, remember? Remember the times when you got attacked by those hornets? Or what about the time the campfire spread too far due to some horrible kid's prank?" He gently massaged her shoulders as she hung her head and sighed. "I'm practically doing you a favour here, darling. Soon, this horrible place'll be gone and replaced with a spa. You love those, don't you?" "Yeah, I know, but I think that what you're doing seems a little bit wrong." Diamond Tiara took in a deep breath and put her own hand on Filthy Rich's shoulders. "Despite how rinky-dink and out of the way it is, this place is still a historical landmark. It's protected by the National Historic Preservation Law that's been going on for well over fifty years now. Aren't you kinda breaking the law by doing this?" "Diamond, Diamond, Diamond. I would never do something like that." Filthy Rich shook his head and looked out to the trees himself. "But you see, that rule only applies to the whole forest. If I were to log every tree and tear this place down, then yeah, it'd be a criminal offence. I'm simply gonna trim the weeds a little. Nothing to worry about." "Daddy. Just please promise me that you don't push Gloriosa too hard in future, alright? She's doing the best that she can and she does sound pretty desperate..." She looked back at Gloriosa and watched her flutter her eyelids innocently. "Just give her and the rest of us some time, alright? We'll make this camp wonderful and raise the money without having to give it up." "Darling, I—" "C'mon! Please...?" Diamond widened her eyes and looked into her father's clasping her hands together as tightly as she could. "Well..." Filthy Rich's mind was abuzz with thoughts. Maybe he had been a bit too hard on Gloriosa and Timber. Given that they were working in the forest and didn't have any reliable or consistent source of income, he could see how they were lacking in funds. He took a deep breath and stood back up. "Alright. I am a bit of a sucker to see just how people pull things off just in the nick of time. I hope that you do me proud, Diamond Tiara." "You have my word." She bowed before him and helped him back into the car. She closed the door and waved him off as his car travelled out of the camp and back towards the city. "That... went a lot better than I had expected." Timber Spruce walked up to Diamond with both Gloriosa and Sunset behind him. "But if I could just ask you something, Diamond, how exactly do you plan on making the money we need in time?" "I've been with my daddy for long enough now to learn all of his secrets. I can practically run a lemonade stand and make it the most successful one of them all." She proudly puffed out her chest and examined her nails. "In the meantime, you should all keep on running the camp. I'll be in touch now and again with all of the details. Same goes for you, Sunset. Twilight especially needs some time to play at Camp Everfree." "Yeah, I think I can see that." Sunset could already feel Twilight squirm and wiggle in her hold as she tried to keep her secure. She eventually couldn't keep up as she opened her wings and flapped towards the ground and began to crawl off. "Well, I'll leave you all to it. I've got a little monster to catch." And she walked off to follow Twilight and make sure that she didn't get herself into danger. "Before you do, Sunset, I just want you to know that I'm always here if you want to talk." Gloriosa followed after Sunset with a feint grin on her face. "If there's anything that you or your friends need here at Camp Everfree, I'm on it. I hope that we give you a trip you won't forget." "Thanks, Gloriosa." Sunset gave her a brief look back. "I might be late to start in the activities, given that Twilight's magic can be a bit cuckoo sometimes, but I know that you'll your best." "Thank you. I won't let you down." She nodded and went back to the other CHS students, rallying them up with Timber as Diamond Tiara followed after them. "Oh, and just so you know, you're free to go anywhere in the camp. Just make sure that you can find your way back as well!" Sunset saw Twilight crawl through a bush and followed after her, breaking through into a dense thicket of towering trees which blotted out the sunlight. She could barely see her, but she heard her giggles and followed after her, deeper into the forest. She snapped a number of twigs and rustled some branches as she chased after the infant, straying further and further off from the campsite with every step that she took. "Twilight? Come on, girl, don't make me have to get lost!" She ran through more of the pathless wood and saw Twilight crawling towards a stream. She watched her put her hand in it and coo, laughing as she began to play with the miniscule trail of water. "There you are. Don't run off like that, alright?" She picked Twilight up and brought her to her face. "You almost had me worried for a second." "Mama! Play!" Twilight pointed down to the stream of water and babbled smiling as she pivoted her body near the edge of Sunset's arms. "Twilight, you can play later." Sunset turned away from the stream and began to walk back the way that she had came. "Right now, we need to get back to the camp. Everyone's waiting for us—even your aunties." "Aw." Twilight hung her head and lit up her horn. She materialized her rattle and gave it a few small shakes as she simply sat back and let Sunset carry her off. "Play..." "And besides, there's much more fun things to do than just splashing around in a stream." Sunset smiled and looked down at Twilight. "I could take you on a boat ride, or go on a long walk with you. There's lots of things we can do together. You've just gotta be patient, is all." "Fun..." Twilight unintentionally groped the air with her free hand as she tried to find something to play with. After giving her rattle a few more shakes, she squealed and pointed her finger up. "Fun!" She vigorously shook her hands as her horn lit up, then, with a flick of her right hand, a portal appeared around Sunset's feet. "Twilight! No!" Sunset tried to reach out for the rattle, but it was too late as a portal now appeared around her feet. She immediately felt the ground around them disappear as their bodies fell through the purple-rimmed vortex to Equestria. "Someone HELP US!" She screamed before they both fell through the gateway and vanished entirely. A Castle for MidnightSunset and Twilight cut through the dense growth that plagued the Everfree Forest, using their magic to illuminate the way. And by they, it was really just Sunset Shimmer using her horn as a light while Twilight slept peacefully on her back, pacifier bobbing in and out of her mouth in a small rhythm. "I just hope we can find a way back home soon..." Sunset looked back and saw Twilight wiggle her hooves in the air as she snuggled into her back, feeling the comfort of her clothes and diaper contorting around her. "Twilight's not meant to be here. It could cause a chain reaction of events if she met her pony self." As Twilight Sparkle cooed and wriggled around in her slumber, a small white wisp flew out of her horn and danced around Sunset Shimmer like a firefly. For a few moments, the tiny ball of light attracted the undivided attention of the yellow unicorn before it shot off ahead, through some more branches and bushes. "What the...?" Sunset slowly stepped forward and followed the wisp's light, completely unshaken by the fact that she had stepped into a small patch of mud. Her pace grew from a single trot to a canter, then to a gallop as she chased after the light, securing Twilight as she charged ahead. "What do you want to show me, little light?" The light swirled around various trees, illuminating the forest in ways that Sunset had never imagined before. Areas that had been once blanketed by darkness were now fully visible and shone like diamonds in a jewellery shop. Flowers bloomed and small streams of water glistened when the small orb hovered over them. Even animals, both predator and prey alike were revealed by the shine of Twilight's little wisp, with the monsters all retreating when the light struck their eyes. Sunset kept up the chase, sweat dripping from her forehead as she continued to follow the light through the Everfree Forest. Leaves and exotic fruits tumbled off of their branches as she darted past them. Roots beneath her feet posed no problem as she gracefully weaved her way over and around them in her pursuit. Her speed shook Twilight around lightly, but a light-blue aura protruding from her horn kept the infant from falling off. Whatever was going on, Sunset Shimmer wanted answers, and she wanted them immediately. Eventually, both of the ponies burst from the forest and now came towards a small path leading out towards a rope bridge that—despite the amount of cracks in the wood and texture of the rope itself, looked sturdy enough to hold a pony and foal at the same time. The light that they had been chasing went over the bridge and spiralled around the ruins of an old castle, sprinkling twinkling specks of light down on it. "Here? Is this where you want me to go?" Sunset asked the light and walked towards the start of the rickety rope bridge. Despite how aged the castle was, Sunset could still see that it hadn't fallen completely into disrepair and that there was a clear entrance to it. "Twily? Wakey-wakey. Mama's got something to show you..." She looked back and gave Twilight a small nudge with her hoof. "Mama?" Twilight yawned and turned over onto her belly, holding onto Sunset's neck as she rubbed her eyes and smacked her lips, almost dropping her pacifier in the process. When she saw the dark and gloomy castle, her eyes went wide and she recoiled, whimpering as she began to shiver and shake. Cooing baby gibberish, her grip on Sunset tightened as she buried her face back into her caretaker's fur. "Aww, c'mon, Twilight. It's not that scary." Sunset pulled Twilight off of her back and gave her a hug, patting her back as she looked into her little sister's eyes. "As long as Princess Sillyface is here to protect you, no monsters are gonna hurt you." And just like that, she stuck out her tongue and lifted the corners of her mouth, blowing a small raspberry into Twilight's stomach. She watched as the baby giggled and waved her hooves around with a goofy grin plastered onto her face, as if all of her previous fears had been washed away entirely. "See? It's not so bad, right? Now you stay with me, and everything'll be just fine." She put Twilight back onto her back and began to walk out towards the first rung of the rope bridge. Slowly, Sunset placed her first hoof on the bridge, hearing the loud, ghoulish noises of the creaking wood ring in both her ears and Twilight's. She began to question how strong it was and whether or not it would be able to hold both of them. Taking a gulp, she put her other hooves on the bridge, hearing an entire chorus of wood under hoof as she bit her lips and anticipated the worst to happen. A few seconds passed, with each one seeming to drag on for an eternity as she awaited her fate. Much to her relief, the bridge managed to hold, and after taking a deep breath, she began to walk forward towards the ruins of the castle. Twilight could only sit and look at the castle, her eyes focused on the crumbling towers and lack of a stable roof as Sunset walked her closer and closer to it. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see a shingle fall from the top of the castle and smash against the ground, breaking into lots of miniature pieces. As all of those sights danced vividly from her spot, she held her hooves to her face, conjuring a bright pink bubble dome around her, shielding her vision from the outside world. Once the dark sights were replaced with the lighter, more peaceful ones from within her magic, her smile instantly returned as she began to try to touch everything she could see. "Oh, Twilight. It's alright." Sunset rubbed the top of the dome spell as she made it to the end of the rope bridge and touched solid ground once again. Using a spell of her own, she plucked the foal from her back and proceeded to walk into the castle. "Being scared is a natural part of life—even for a baby like yourself. But that's why mama's here for you. She's going to protect you from all of these mean and nasty things until you grow up and learn to fight them yourself..." As Twilight felt herself being lifted from her sister's backside, the spell around her dissipated, bringing her back to the castle and the derelict ruins of what it used to be. She could see stairs with faded red carpets, remnants of old tapestries hanging from the walls, and a pair of thrones sitting in pieces at the end of the room at the top of a barely-standing bunch of stairs. All she could do was coo and tip her head to the side as she drunk it all in, putting her hoof right on her lips as the pacified she had been sucking on vanished entirely. "Twily. This is a castle. See? Castle." Sunset held Twilight out and showed her around the place. "Pretty princesses and powerful rulers would sit on these thrones and make important decisions that could change the fate of their kingdom. Princesses like you someday, my little monster." She gave Twilight a playful boop on her muzzle, seeing her squeal and grin once again. "Now, castles also have libraries with more books. They might not be as bright and playful as the ones you're used to, but I'm sure that they'll give us some answers if we just look around. Twilight babbled as she looked around, reaching out for the rocks and rubble that littered the floor. As she reached out towards them, her horn fired a blue and black bolt that struck them, turning the wreckage into large building blocks with an array of colours, letters, numbers, and symbols planted on them. Her magic's pretty strong, even in Equestria. Sunset watched Twilight zap more and more of the destroyed castle, making more baby toys and bright aesthetics that distracted her from her ride on the big pony's back. I don't know what's harder now: Looking after her as a baby, or when she's old enough to attend elementary school again... As she walked off into a corridor, she still heard Twilight laugh and fire off more magic bolts, which in turn made even more of the castle infant-friendly. Sunset and Twilight crept through the cramped corridor before coming towards a library that was barely in a better state than the rest of the castle. Books were still sprawled everywhere with some of them organised in the wrong places, some had been burnt and charred to the point where everything had disappeared on them, and some were buried from the top to the spine in dust and spiderwebs. A large table could be seen in the middle of the room, which spread out to the length of the giant bookcases along the walls. "Alright. Now one of these books should be the one that I need to get us back home." Sunset walked ahead and began to pull book after book from the walls, lining them up on the tables. "You stay right here and don't do anything funny, Twilight. Mama needs to concentrate in getting you back home to your aunties at Camp Everfree..." And with that, she blew all of the dust off of one of the books and opened it up, rapidly scrolling through page after page. Twilight Sparkle watched as Sunset Shimmer skimmed the books rapidly in an attempt to find a transportation spell that could get them back home to the Human World. All of the words on every page made no sense to her and when she tried to read one of them out, she ended up heavily mispronouncing it or just speaking in baby talk entirely. Still, she watched as her caretaker took more of these books and proceeded to toss them away after failing to find the spell. "I know that it's an ancient ruin of a castle, but surely there's gotta be a spell, incantation, or chant here that can get me and Twilight home before the campers begin to worry." Sunset took more books and opened them up wide, jumping her head from page to page as she desperately tried to find what she needed. "I've just gotta keep looking. Now, if I were a spell that could cause me to leave Equestria and go back to a world full of giant apes with clothes on, where would I be?" Twilight reached out for one of the books with her horn glowing once again. As she tried to read out the notes and paragraphs, she ended up sucking all of the words off of the book before transforming it with a white flash of light. As if by magic, the tome from centuries ago had been morphed into a small, yet colourful book for babies like her. She was about to reach out for it, but something else had washed over her mind. She had the urge to play—not just with Sunset Shimmer, but with the castle itself. Looking around, she flapped her wings and floated above the table with her mind already beginning to run wild with ideas. She reached her hooves out in a star formation as her horn began to shine like a spotlight and hum louder and louder. Just as she watched Sunset pull her head from the books, Midnight fired off bolts in all directions, lighting up the walls and floor of the castle elegantly and shooting off into the sky. "Twilight! What are you doing?!" Sunset tried to fire magic bolts at her to try and stop the giggling baby, but nothing seemed to work as they were refracted by Twilight's own magic and were bent out towards the trees. You don't know what your magic's capable of! Twilight! Think before you do anything stupid! Raising her hooves high into the air, Twilight's horn bathed the entire castle in a pillar of radiant white light. The collapsed area around the castle was slowly being filled up with magically-crafted landmass, burying anything that had been visible previously. The rope bridge that once served as the only access point to the castle disappeared in a puff of light blue smoke. As for the castle itself, it began to change colour and wobble like an inflatable toy in the light as Twilight's magic began to transform it. Doodles and child-friendly images appeared on the castle's walls as a roof and front door now appeared. With one last burst of light, the ruins had been fully changed by her magic. Sunset's vision had been turned completely white and her hearing had been severed momentarily as she tried to re-adjust herself to the world after Twilight's powerful spell. She tried to stand up and look around, but the ground beneath her wiggled, as if she was standing on a floor made of jelly. Unable to stand up, she slipped and fell onto her back, bouncing up and down on the floor as she tumbled onto her haunches. The room around Sunset had been entirely changed. Bright hues of yellow, pink, and blue flooded the walls as shapes, numbers, and letters were seen all over the walls. There were baby toys, blocks, and plush animals of all shapes and sizes littered around the place, with some of them pressing themselves against her body. Every book that was on the walls had been made into baby books, some telling nursery rhymes, others that were pop-up books, and some that showed more shapes and colours on each page. Small currents of magic drifted through the air as Twilight's laughter echoed throughout the room. "Twilight..." Sunset's eyes twitched as she looked at the infantile room around her. "What in Equestria have you done?! And for that matter, where are you?!" Twilight was by the end of the room, playing with a couple of small plush toys. Using her magic, she made them all stand up and give her a hug, with her responding in kind to them. Giggling and cooing peacefully, Twilight felt like she was in a state of pure wonder. Her imagination had finally come to life and was now on full display in her newly-transformed castle. "Mama! Pway!" Twilight turned and saw Sunset approach her. Waving her hooves and wings, she flapped high into the air and flew off, ready to see just what else her mind had done to the old castle. "Twilight..." Sunset watched the raven-winged baby fly off and tried to chase after her, but found herself unable to run on the inflatable floor that wobbled with every footstep. For now, she was only able to bounce-walk after the foal, making sure that she wasn't tripping on any of the toys. "What I wouldn't give for a life without magic now..." She groaned and walked out of the room, dreading what her little monster's magic had done to the rest of the castle. Author's Note As of today, I now have Garry's Mod on my PC. It does work, just so you know. Everything's in ship-shape and all hunky-dory peachy clean. I just need to work out a few kinks and learn the ropes of how this sandbox game works and then I should be ready for fun times galore. And also, I've downloaded all of the Equestria Girls packs, with many different character and player models for me to screw around with in the sandbox modes. And while that's all well and good, my favourite ones: the Crystal Prep Shadowbolts, are only character models for now. Until the player models come out, the best things I can do with them is make them have reproduce by pressing them against each other with my physics gun. But soon, Lemon Zest and the others will be Player Models, and the world of Prop Hunt, Guess Who, Deathrun, and Hide and Seek will change forever... As for the chapter, the usual stuff applies. Comments, favourites, upvotes, all that good stuff is welcome here. As is a click on the Patreon button below to donate and support the official release. A Magic Baby's ImaginationWhen Sunset made it to the throne room, her eyes immediately shot open with how drastically Twilight's magic had changed it. The walls around her were now simulating a sunny day in a grassy field with clouds, animals, and even the sun itself bearing a smile at her. The floor was just as bouncy and unstable as the one in the library and was coloured with each colour on the rainbow, with a few extra ones splattered in for more vibrancy. The thrones in the room still stood, but they were inflatable as well, made entirely out of shaped balloons of all sizes and colours. Twilight was seen climbing the wobbly stairs up towards the throne, babbling and mumbling in baby talk as she tried to take a seat on one of the transformed chairs. Whenever she lost her balance and tumbled back down, her horn disappeared as she rolled towards the bottom, her back colliding with the floor once again. "Twilight? Please, just listen to me for once." Sunset walked across the floor, keeping her balance on the wobbly surfaces as she picked Twilight up and held her close. "This castle must be thousands of years old. It's not right just to turn it into a magical world for babies like you." As she rubbed the foal's belly, she looked around and grimaced at the walls and ground. "If Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were here, they'd be very disappointed with you. Now let's get you to sleep so that we can change all this back and find a way back home." Twilight fussed and shook around in Sunset's grip, a frown starting to appear on her face as she unfurled her wings, slapping Sunset in the face with them as she broke free from her sister's grasp. Giggling at her freedom, she fluttered off towards yet another room, curious to know what else her magic had done to transform the other rooms of the castle. "Twilight! No! Bad girl! Come back here!" Sunset chased after Twilight, galloping into the next room after the raven-feathered foal. "Come back to Mama and have a nap!" As Sunset ran through the next corridor, she had to manoeuvre around scatterings of building blocks, balls, open books, and other toys that littered the passage. Where there would usually be torches to illuminate the deeper parts of the castle, there were now bright and colourful rainbow-coloured orbs that shone radiantly and lit up the walls, floor, and even her own skin as she pushed onward. "If this is what Twilight can do as a baby, I don't think I even want to know that she could do as a teenager..." Sunset said to herself as sweat poured down her forehead. As she let the thoughts of Twilight grow up all over again run through her mind, she pushed through a pair of pink foam strips that acted as doors and came into another room. What should have been a tower concealing a spiral staircase was now a cylindrical mess of bright lights and baby-appealing shapes and colours were seen all over the walls as the staircase had been turned into a large slide. Sunset was about to grab Twilight, but because she had been galloping, she crashed into the large purple rubber wall and bounced around like a pinball before sliding down the slide, pulling Twilight along with her as they both shot down the ride, twisting and turning to the left as they picked up speed. "Whoa!" Sunset exclaimed as she got faster and faster before coming to the end of the slide, shooting through another passage with bright lights and baby stuff sprinkled everywhere. She heard Twilight squeal and clap her hooves together as the two of them pushed the toys away and came to a stop outside another door with letters on it. "At least you're having fun, you little troublemaker..." She could only give Twilight a pat on the head as she jumped out of Sunset's hold, laughing like a maniac. Once Twilight calmed down, she looked up at the new door and reached up for it, putting a magical aura onto it. She pushed out to try and open it, and without any effort, the two doors opened up to reveal yet another room that was geared towards her tastes. When she saw what was on the other side of the door, she flew through, leaving Sunset to stand back up and follow her inside. The next room was just as bright and eye-straining as the rest of the castle, with even more shapes, letters, and numbers adorned all over the walls. Only this time, the room seemed to be split in half. On the right side of the room, there was nothing more than balls in an expansive ball pit, ranging from every colour in existence. As for the other side, there were building blocks covering almost all of the ground. Some huge, some small, and some the size of Sunset herself. "So, this is what a baby's imagination can do, huh?" Sunset looked around and saw Twilight chortle even more as she reached out to start playing with the multitude of blocks. She watched her sister build a tower with her hooves while her horn began to construct a small fort made out of them. "I would be impressed if it weren't for the fact that Twilight's turned an old ruin into some weird and wacky world to satisfy her need for playtime." Twilight clapped her hooves together and smiled at her tower, taking more blocks from around her and piling them on top of one another, muttering more incomprehensible gibberish and making mouth farts as she continued her work. Then, just as she was about to place another block on the tower, she instead examined it and put it into her mouth, sucking on it as she flopped onto her back and looked up at the ceiling. "Aw, Twilight, you know I could never stay mad at you..." Sunset walked over to Twilight and squatted down towards her, giving the baby a kiss on the face. "Such a sweet little thing you are. So full of magic but with no idea on how to use it. I just wish we could've gotten to know each other better at the Friendship Games..." "Mama..." Twilight spat out the block and reached up for Sunset, flapping her wings as she lifted herself up and hugged the unicorn. She pressed her face against Sunset's body and cooed gently, rubbing her cheeks up and down against the soft fur. "There, there, Twilight. I'll always be here for you, no matter what happens." Sunset hugged Twilight back, looking her in her tiny pinprick eyes as she looked up and reached out to grab her face. As Twilight's little hooves got close, Sunset gave her a light boop on the nuzzle, hearing her laugh once again. "And for the record, I'm still trying to get you to bed, if that's all the same with you. So, do you want to follow mama back to the library so she can read you a bedtime story?" "Nuh-uh!" Twilight shook her head and looked out towards the room, reaching out for the blocks and ball pit balls again. "Pway! Wan pway wid mama!" "Play? But Twilight, the girls at Camp Everfree miss you!" Sunset rubbed Twilight on the back of the head as she tried to get her to fall asleep. "We should get you to bed, then find a way to get back home in time so that Gloriosa, Timber, Diamond, and the others don't start panicking about our disappearance." "Nuh-uh! Pway wid dem hewe!" Twilight magically conjured up her rattle and launched a magical bolt at one of the blocks. A portal opened, showing a clear way back to Camp Everfree, with the campers gathering at a dock which was beyond repair. "Pwaytime!" With another shake of her rattle, she fired another bolt of magic through the portal which was about to hit the heads of the girls. "Twilight! What are you doing?!" Sunset watched as Twilight hurled the bolt of magic and made it vanish through the portal. "No! Stop it! We don't need to abduct your aunties when we can just go to them! Now c'mon! Let's get out of here while we still can! I'm sure that your magic will vanish once you leave this world and go back home, right?" Just as Sunset was about to take a step forward towards the portal, she immediately felt a strong wind blasting out of it, flinging both her and Twilight's manes back. Even against the strong force of air, she was still holding her ground and inching closer and closer home. "C'mon! We're almost there! We'll be back in time for smores, scary stories, nature walks, everything!" Sunset gritted her teeth and began to struggle as she was now within touching distance of the portal back to the human world. With one last push, she was about to leap through when she saw what Twilight's magic was doing on the other side. At Camp Everfree, the resulting spell that Twilight had fired that caused the strong winds to blow was now trying to suck up the Rainbooms, along with Timber Spruce, Gloriosa Daisy, and Diamond Tiara. The powerful suction ripped up grass, the ruined docks, and even some plants and water around them, but still the humans managed to hold their grounds, clutching onto trees and other objects around the camp to hold them down. "What's going on?!" Rainbow Dash asked as she shouted over the noise of the roaring winds. "I didn't know that Camp Everfree was gonna be hit by a windstorm!" "Neither did I! And we practically run the place!" Gloriosa responded, her body wiggling helplessly in the air as she held onto a tree branch. "Everyone! Get out of here while you still can! Call for some help or someone to get us out of this mess!" "Girls! Look at the vortex!" Pinkie Pie looked back and saw what was happening on the other side. Sunset Shimmer was fighting against the wind as hard as she could with Twilight holding onto her fur as tightly as she could. "It's Sunset and Twilight! They're in Equestria!" "Sunset? Twilight? Whatever are they doing there?!" Rarity looked back at the portal to try and see what was going on, but in doing so, she lost her grip and started flying towards it. "Oh no! GIRLS! SAVE ME! I CAN'T GO TO A HORSE-FILLED WORLD! THEY'LL THINK I'M NAKED!" "Rarity!" Rainbow Dash reached out for her, but as she did, the force of the vortex got stronger and stronger. With the amplified suction, it ripped all eight of the humans from where they were clutching and yanked them into the air and straight into Twilight's new castle. Screams rang out from all of them as they vanished through the portal and disappeared from the face of the human world. Once they left, the gateway died down and the wind instantly reverted back to a cool summer's breeze. "We're almost there, Twilight!" Sunset was about to put her hoof through the portal back to Camp Everfree, but she was suddenly knocked away when Rarity came hurtling out of the other side, transforming into a unicorn with three diamonds for a Cutie Mark as she face-planted into the bright floor. "No!" Sunset slammed against one of the large blocks and rubbed her head as the pain caught up with her. When she came back to her senses, she saw Rarity sprawled against the floor as a pony instead of a human teenager. "Wha? Rarity? What are you doing here?" "Sunset? Is that really you, darling?" Rarity tried to stand up on two legs, but then ended up wobbling as she tried to maintain her balance. "Ooh! What the? Have I put on weight? What's going on here?" Before anyone else could say anything, the rest of the Rainbooms flew through the portal and landed in a heap on top of each other as ponies instead of humans. The pile that they had started was then swiftly brought to an end when Gloriosa, Timber, and Diamond Tiara bumped into them, spreading them out across the floor. "Oh no, oh no, no, no, no, no!" Sunset's eyes shot open as she watched the others all land and readjust themselves to the new world that they had landed in. "No, this isn't right! We're all not supposed to be here! Why are we all together in this castle?" "Pwaytime! Pwaytime! Fun!" Twilight broke out of Sunset's hold and toddled over towards the new group of ponies, lifting them all up with her magic. She sat them all down and let them look around as she closed the portal with her magic. "Twilight! Twilight! Stop it!" Sunset got up and picked Twilight up, scooping her up at light speed as she watched the baby let go of the ponified humans, causing them all to fall to the ground like ragdolls. "I know that you're a baby and you can't control your magic yet, but stealing our friends from the human world is NOT OK! If you weren't so cute, I would be spanking those butt cheeks of yours right now, little missy!" "Stealing? Sunset, I don't really get what you're—" Rainbow Dash stopped when she felt her new wings poking out of her back. She stood up, gave them a little poke, and tried to flap them. "Whoa. This. Is. AWESOME! I CAN FLY AGAIN! WOOHOO!" And with that, she shot into the air and performed a number of loop-de-loops and spins above everyone else's heads. "Fly? What does that mean?" Gloriosa got onto her feet and noticed that she wasn't a human being anymore. Instead of arms and legs, she now had four giant hooves poking out of her new body with a Cutie Mark depicting a large flower on her haunches. "Wh-what?! I'm a horse?! THIS CAN'T BE!" "We're all horses!" Pinkie Pie looked at her new body while everyone else had a look at their own. Everyone that had come through the portal had lost any sense of their humanity and now stood as an equine version of themselves, winged, horned, or neither for Timber, Gloriosa, Diamond, Pinkie, and Applejack. "But I gotta say, we do look pretty good like this." "Good?! I'm some kind of kid horse compared to you!" Diamond Tiara's cheeks burned red as she looked at herself in comparison to the rest of the Rainbooms. "I'm roughly your age, maybe even exactly your age. So why does this world decide that I should be in elementary school again?" "I think the better question would be to decide what you are all doing here." Sunset felt a shiver down her spine as she turned towards the door. She took a heavy gulp and looked up at a pony she knew all too well. There, standing before her and her friends from the human world, was Princess Celestia. Her mane flowed elegantly as she walked up to her and Twilight, before gazing out at the other ponies again. Accompanying her were Equestria's Twilight Sparkle and her five friends, who all looked took one glance at the Rainbooms and immediately took up battle positions. "Changelings. Stay behind us, Princess Celestia. We've got this." Pony Twilight's horn flared up as she charged in front of Celestia and threw her hooves out in front of her. "Oh, Pony Twilight, hi! I... wasn't really expecting to see you so soon. Here. In this nursery castle. Alone. With some friends that baby you pulled here." Sunset let out a meek chuckle and began to sweat, knowing that deep down inside, things had gone from worse, to absolutely chaotic in an instant. Oh, goddess, what do I do?! Author's Note I'm sorry if this chapter feels a little bit jumbled up or if it's a bit too rushed or anything like that. I just had to get my creative juices flowing in order to make a new chapter. Now, let me make this perfectly clear, they ARE going to make it back to Camp Everfree in time. Whether or not Gloriosa-Gaia will happen when they get back is still a mystery, but I do still have something lined up for her and baby Midnight, so make sure that you stay for that when it happens. So, with all that said and done, have a good day! Playdates and Paradoxes"Now, Twilight, before you do anything rash, I can explain everything." Sunset Shimmer trotted up to Pony Twilight as she balanced Baby Twilight on her back. She took a brief look around the giant room and thought about how she was going to be able to explain the rest of the castle to the group of equines. "Okay. Maybe not everything, but most of it. That's good enough, right?" "My first question, Sunset, is how you were able to get back here without any of us noticing." Celestia walked past Twilight and her friends and knelt down before her, brushing her furry cheeks. "And, allow me to go a little bit off-topic here, but you look incredible. You haven't aged a day since you ran off for that other world." "Well... I have been growing up a little in the human world." Sunset blushed and gently rubbed the floor with the tips of her hooves. "Uh, yeah, that's great and all, but I think we still need to get to the point here." Rainboom Rainbow Dash fluttered her wings and flew up to Sunset and Celestia. "First of all, why are there two of us? Who does this imposter think she is anyway?" She glared at Pony Rainbow Dash. "Me the imposter?!" Pony Rainbow spluttered and flew towards Rainboom Rainbow, almost bringing her hoof towards her doppelganger's chest. "You're one to talk, Changeling! Did Chrysalis send you after being upset about the wedding to spy on us? To make sure that we were weak and unprepared for her revenge?" "What are you talking about?!" Rainboom Rainbow shook her head vigorously as she stared down her pony counterpart. "Changelings? Queen Chrysalis? I'm a human girl living in a human world, attending Canterlot High and captaining all the major sports teams! There aren't any queens and kings where I'm from! Only presidents!" The two Rainbow Dashes snarled at each other, their eyebrows lowering every passing second as their internal fires burned hotter and hotter. Their muscles tightened as they wound up their hooves for a fight, and they both flew back and charged at each other. But just as they were about to strike, two magic auras held both of them back and sat them down. One coming from Celestia, and the other coming from Sunset. "Rainbow Dash! Stop!" They both said to them. "What do you think you're doing?" "Trying to put this jerk in her place!" Both Rainbows whined and dropped their forelegs slightly. "Now c'mon, me! Let's go!" The glow from Celestia's horn brightened as two golden webs appeared around both Rainbow Dashes, ensnaring them completely. Once they were scooped up in the magic netting, they were thrown to the ground and shackled down with another spell that prevented them from so much as thrashing in their confinement. "Twilight? Now is about as good a time as any to recap what you've learned." Celestia turned back to her former pupil and looked her in the eyes. "Do you remember when Sunset Shimmer first stole your crown and disappeared to the other world?" "Yes. I was told to go in alone to retrieve it." Twilight nodded and focused her gaze entirely on Celestia. "But I don't see why you would want to bring this up now." "Do you remember why you were told to go alone?" Celestia raised a brow at the humans-turned-ponies that got up and examined their new bodies. "You said that the balance would be altered if me and my friends went with me, creating havoc on a level that not even we could be able to control," said Twilight. "But they're here now. I don't suppose that the whole thing works the other way around?" "Twilight. Sunset. this is very important, so come here." Celestia walked out towards the edge of the ball pit and sat down, beckoning her former students to approach her. She watched both Pony Twilight and Sunset Shimmer follow her and sit down on their haunches. "There is a reason why there are doubles of you and your friends in the other world. A reason that could very well re-shape the fabric of both worlds as we know it." "Believe it or not, you two, but I too made a small voyage to this other world when we first discovered the portal." Celestia let the events of the past play back in her mind. "And much like the both of you, I had trouble trying to come to terms with standing on two legs, acting like those creatures do, and learning how to act normal. I suppose that it's common with ponies who make their first trip to that new world, but I did discover something else on my travels. "When I went into this building, this Canterlot High School as it were, I saw many people there all learning, socialising, and having the same level of friendliness as the ponies of this world do. I simply shrugged it off for the while as I didn't want to be a bother or say or do anything that could upset their peaceful natures. So, most of my time, I spent exploring. "But then I came to an office in this school and saw my copy. Principal Celestia. A bit of a step down from the title of princess, but one that still commanded a high level of authority and leadership in a place such as that." Princess Celestia smiled as she thought back to the first time she encountered her own counterpart. Suddenly, that smile withered down into a small frown. "However, it wasn't all sunshine and happiness for me after that." "What do you mean, Princess Celestia?" Pony Pinkie Pie burst out of the ball pit and rubbed Celestia's shoulders. "No-one, not even you should have to feel like everything's gloomy and miserable. That'd be just terrible!" "When I touched my human self, I caused a rip in the fabric of existence. Giant spacial cracks opened up in this world that began to rip everything apart." Celestia shivered as the sounds of screaming teenagers began to echo inside of her. "I can still remember them fleeing the building and running for help, all because I simply touched my duplicate. It was then that I decided that the balance of the worlds shouldn't be tipped—despite our curiosities." She opened her eyes and patted Pony Twilight on the face. "That's why I sent you alone back then. I didn't want you to meet your human self and cause the same chaos that I did." "Whoa..." Twilight Sparkle watched as Celestia got up and hung her head as the story came to its' climax. She would never have guessed just how big of an issue that it would be if she had taken her friends back when Sunset first stole the crown. "I... I'm sorry for everything that happened, Princess Celestia." "It's alright, Twilight. There's nothing for you to feel sorry for." Celestia trotted past her and Sunset. "The blame was mine to bear alone. I touched my other self. I caused them harm. I should be the one to feel sorry, not you." She mainly looked at Gloriosa and Timber as she walked over to the others. "Now then, knowing that this world already has the Spirits of Harmony, we cannot allow any of you to touch your clones. Otherwise, we end up ripping the fabric of existence like I did before. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack. Can I trust you to keep your hooves to yourself and not touch your Equestria doubles?" "You can count on us!" Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack nodded. "Tch. I guess." Pony Rainbow grunted as the web around her and the human world copy was removed. "Hey! What about us?" Diamond Tiara spoke up, breaking through the legs of the rest of the crowd. "Diamond Tiara. There is a pony version of you in this world, so just like the rest of your entourage, I would advise that you don't come into contact with her if you want to keep this world safe. Understood?" "Is the other me just as much of a pint-size as I am?" Diamond asked, shaking her legs around. "Because I'm clearly seventeen years old, not seven." "Why does it matter if the other you is seven, Diamond Tiara?" Gloriosa shrugged. "It very clearly matters, Gloriosa. I don't want to be represented by some little ball of fluff straight out of kindergarten!" Diamond turned towards Gloriosa and tried to turn her body, but ended up tripping over her own legs and fell onto the inflatable surface. "Look. The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can save your camp from my daddy and forget this ever happened, OK?" "Well, I'm sure that we won't be seeing your double any time soon, Diamond Tiara." Pony Twilight trotted over towards Gloriosa, Timber, and Diamond. "As for your two friends, I don't think that I've ever seen them before. My name is Twilight Sparkle. Princess of Ponyville in this world, and—" She leaned in close to the three of them "—apparently, a magical demon baby thanks to a human version of Abacus Cinch..." "My name is Timber Spruce." He held out his hoof and shook Twilight's. "And this gi—uh, pony" —his cheeks flushed red— "next to me is Gloriosa Daisy." He swallowed some air and took a deep breath. "We both run Camp Everfree in the Everfree Forest. Not that there is one in this world, but it's just good to know, I guess." "Well, it's nice to meet you both, even if I don't really belong in your world anymore." Twilight glided the tip of her hoof on the floor as she looked up at Gloriosa and Timber. "I'm sure that, on a less weird circumstance, we could've become friends." "Yeah. I'm pretty sure that we could've..." Gloriosa saw Baby Twilight fussing around on Sunset's back, looking around at all of the stuff. The more and more that she stared at her—more precisely, at her horn and the rattle in her hands—the more a small smirk formed on her mouth. Well, at the very least, if we can't make the money to save the camp, we at least have a fail-safe for when Filthy Rich decides to rear his ugly head in Camp Everfree again... "Is something wrong, Gloriosa?" Twilight covered her vision of the baby. "You seem a bit spaced out." "Huh?" Gloriosa immediately snapped out of her train of thought and had trouble putting a straight face back on. "Oh! Oh, no, Twilight. I'm fine. No need to worry about me. Totally not planning any kind of plan at all." She gave a weak chuckle as she took a few paces back. "But I am very interested in that little baby you sitting on Sunset's back." "Oh, human me?" Twilight turned back and saw her copy just sitting there babbling incoherently as she tried to think of something to do, wiggling around as she got comfortable on her big sister's back. "Yeah, I'm just as interested as you are, Gloriosa. How does consuming Equestrian magic like that turn you into a baby with magical powers? I mean, when Sunset used it, she became a horrific demon-creature too, but at least she was full-grown. But when Crystal Prep pushed her against the wall, it turned her into a baby demon instead of a teenage one. How curious..." When Baby Twilight saw her pony equivalent, she opened her mouth and let out a long coo. She reached her arms out and tried to grab her, crawling over towards the edge of Sunset's rump as she inched closer and closer towards her. She let out a whine as the pony evaded her grasp once again. "Twilight? What is it?" Sunset picked Baby Twilight up and rocked her gently. "Pway..." Twilight reached out for the pony copy of herself again. "Wanna pway wid pwetty auntie." She struggled out of Sunset's grasp and opened her wings as she flew. As she got closer and closer, her big smile grew wider and wider. "Pwaytime!" "TWILIGHT! NO!" Sunset ran after Baby Twilight as fast as she could on the bouncy inflatable floor. She made a diving leap to try and stop the two Twilights from touching, but as she got inches away from her, the baby wrapped her hands around Princess Twilight's chest, causing her to jump erratically from her spot. The world around the group of ponies rumbled as the two Twilights had their bodies pressed together. The intense vibrations caused everyone to tumble onto their stomachs once again. Baby Twilight herself flapped her wings away just in time to avoid being crushed by the weight of her bigger self. "Oh no!" Celestia's eyes and jaw opened widely as she saw the events unfold before her eyes. "The two Twilights touched! The balance is broken! Our world is about to become wracked with paradoxes!" As if to confirm Celestia's cue, massive purple cracks began to open up in the walls and air around the ponies. Black and blue lightning spat out of the ruptures, transforming everything that they touched. Building blocks and plastic balls rapidly changed from one thing to another as bolt after bolt of lightning struck. While they did eventually revert back to normal, the rips were still open and firing unpredictable blasts in all directions. Baby Twilight looked around at everything that was going on around her. She could see all of the rips opening up and turning her peaceful world into one that kept constantly changing. The joyful and pleasant atmosphere began to fade as her toys began to disappear and get replaced with other objects. She whimpered and toddled around, watching everything fall apart around her before she fell onto her butt. Tears welled up in her eyes and she eventually started to wail loudly. "Twilight!" Sunset heard her baby sister's tears and got back up to her feet, evading the paradox energy that was spilling out of the cracks as she galloped over and picked up the infant in her magic and rocked her gently. "Don't worry. I'm here. I'm here... Mama's going to protect you..." "Mama! Scawy magic!" Baby Twilight pointed to the cracks that launched out more and more black and blue lightning. "Make it go away!" She cried and hugged Sunset as tightly as she could, burying her eyes in her soft yellow fur. "No need to cry, Twilight. I'm right here. Mama's here. No need to cry." She patted Twilight on the back and rubbed her gently as she got back up to her feet and lifted the tearful baby onto her back. "Celestia! How do we break the paradoxes?" "There's only one way we can fix this, Sunset." Celestia began to sweat as she climbed back onto her hooves and struggled to keep her balance on the inflatable floor while also dealing with the many bolts of lightning that were being fired out of the cracks. "We need to get human Twilight back to her own world! Only then will everything go back to normal!" "Then we'd better get going! And fast!" Sunset walked back over to Celestia and fought against the wind as the magic in the room began to spiral out of control. "C'mon, everyone! Let's get us home!" Without another word, the ponies began to file out of the paradox-filled room and climb back up the slide that Sunset and Baby Twilight had slid down in the first place. One after another, they squeezed through the door and ran as fast as their hooves would carry them on the rubber floor, with both Rainbow Dashes and Fluttershies flying as fast as their wings would take them. Gloriosa was the last to leave the room, but a single bolt of lightning struck the necklace with her seven geodes on it and sent electricity coursing through her body. She jittered in place for a few seconds before her mane and tail stood up once the shock died down. "Gloriosa!" Sunset turned back and saw her get struck by the paradox. "Are you alright?" "Y-yeah, I'm fine." Gloriosa struggled to get back onto her hooves and had to hold on to Sunset in order to get back up again. "Let's just get moving. I don't wanna be hit by that kinda stuff again." "Hear hear." Sunset helped Gloriosa stand upright again before her and the rest of the group took off up the wobbly slide and made their way towards the higher floors. As Gloriosa ran, her crystals began to glow slightly as she followed after the rest of her friends. One by one, they all lit up and twinkled briefly as small magical glows appeared around them. The magic trickled out and around Gloriosa's body, gradually getting sucked into it without her noticing. Then, the glowing stopped, and the gems went back to being normal pieces of rock dangling precariously around her neck. Home in Time for the SurpriseThe group of ponies all charged up the wobbly stairs and squeezable walls, nimbly dodging paradox rifts and lightning bolts as they all burst out into the massive rubber foyer. As they came back into the massive hall, they watched as the lightning bolts spit out in all directions, striking every portion of the ground and walls as the noises roared in everyone's ears. "We need to find a way back to Camp Everfree, fast!" Sunset said, stepping towards the front of the group as Baby Twilight cowered on her stomach with her head burrowed into the pony's neck. She looked back at the infant demon and picked her up, giving her a cuddle. "Oh, don't worry, Twilight. Mama's here. Mama's here. She's not gonna let you get hurt..." "We should get back to my castle!" Princess Twilight spoke up as she fired bolts at the open rifts, slowly beginning to close them off one by one. "The portal there should still work if you've kept the book back at your world!" "Do you think so?" Sunset fired a volley of spells from her horn as she began to close up the rifts as well, sweating as she tried to keep up with the opening and closing rips in the fabric of reality. "Sunset, as long as your book's back there, the portal's gonna open up nice and smoothly." Twilight flapped her wings and flew around, casting more and more laser beams at the paradoxes. "And once we get you all back home safe and sound, everything here's gonna go back to normal." "Yeah, if you consider normal being that we're gonna take care of a super adora-cute baby demon with magical powers who could cause something even more worse than these big massive holes in the world." Equestria Pinkie gave an adorable smile as she bounced over towards the blocks and started to hurl them at the cracks. "Take this, you big, mean cracks!" She threw the blocks and watched them disappear into the rifts, only for them to fly back out and slam right into her head. "No. When I say take this, you're supposed to keep them." She rubbed her head and walked over to the cracks, shoving the blocks inside. She watched them fall back out. "No. I said take them. Take them!" All this amounted to was her inserting the building blocks again and again, only for them to come straight out and tumble onto the floor. "You really are meanies, not obeying the 'Take This' rule..." "Pinkie Pie! Stop it!" Rainbow Dash slapped the blocks out of Pinkie's hooves as she pulled her away from the rifts and splits in the air. "We've just gotta get out of here! No time for playing with weird magic stuff!" "Rainbow Dash is right. We must return to Twilight's castle immediately." Celestia brushed some hair out of her face as she struggled to aid the other ponies in sealing the fissures. "Once we get the people from the other world back home, these paradoxes will stop appearing altogether." "That is, if we can get home like this." Sunset Shimmer wobbled on the bouncy ground and almost tripped over the other baby toys as she tried to make it towards the door while also dealing with the cracks. She couldn't do all of the tasks at once and ended up falling onto her face and bouncing forward. "C'mon, everyone! Give me a hand, won't you?" Gloriosa and Timber galloped forward towards Sunset, narrowly skimming the edges of the shooting spells as they rushed forward to give her some aid. They both picked her up and made sure that she hadn't had all of the air knocked out of her from the impact on the floor. As they checked her body and gave her a nod, they all moved towards the door. "Follow us!" Sunset Shimmer beckoned to the rest of the ponies as she, Gloriosa, and Timber charged through the besieging bolts of thunder and energy as they got closer and closer towards the front door. The other ponies stood watching the whole thing unfold before their eyes. Every fissure that closed, only for a new one to open and pick up the slack in terms of magic expulsion. They waited for a clear run to the exit, watching as the electricity coiled through the room, bouncing around on the rubber walls, floor, and ceiling. "Oh, c'mon! I'll go then!" Diamond Tiara grunted and galloped as fast as her tiny body could take her. Making sure that she balanced herself on the rubber pathways that led towards the door, she found herself straight in the middle of a web of paradox energy. "Whoa!" She ducked underneath a bolt and barely managed to jump over one that slid underneath her legs. "That was a close one..." After Diamond Tiara's run through the energy, the other ponies began to follow suit, with the Rainbooms and Main Six pushing through the storm. Close behind them were Celestia and Twilight, who were doing all that they could to hold back the endless streams that spilled out of each and every crack. Ahead of the group, Gloriosa ran next to Sunset and Baby Twilight, not noticing that the geodes around her neck were beginning to pulsate lightly with bright energy. As the sweat ran down from her forehead as she burst out of the rubber castle and down onto hard ground, she galloped off towards the bottom of the hill and far away from the unfurling disarray behind her. As Baby Twilight pulled her head out of Sunset's fur again, she glanced over and saw Gloriosa's gems glowing. Raising a hoof to her cheeks, she wriggled over towards the edge and reached out for the seven glimmering crystals. As her hoof came close into contact with them, her horn lit up and a small stream of baby-blue mist poured out of it and flew up into the stones. She watched as the fog vanished into the seven crystals. The glowing stopped as Twilight finally touched it, babbling something out as she tried to get a good grip on the jewels. "H-hey!" Gloriosa almost jumped at the sight of Baby Twilight touching her, and quickly raised her hoof over the geodes, pressing them hard against her chest. As she did so, the mist poured back out of them and sank into her pores, causing a sudden sharp pain to appear in her chest. She let out a loud groan and almost fell onto her chest as she knelt down and gritted her teeth together. "Gloriosa!" Sunset skidded on the backs of her hooves as she looked at Gloriosa curl up in agony. She turned around and went back to her, putting her hoof on her back as she tried to alleviate the pain. "Are you alright? Can you still walk?" "I... I don't really know, Sunset." As Gloriosa looked up at Sunset, her vision became blurry as the magic inside of her began to dance and curl around her body. "You should just go on without me." "Come on, Gloriosa! Don't give up on us now!" Timber Spruce ran around the other side and picked his sister up, draping her around his body. "Sunset! Give me a hand!" "OK!" Sunset picked up the other half of Gloriosa Daisy and wrapped her around her neck and back, lifting Twilight up as she did so. "Got her! Now let's keep going!" "Let's go!" Sunset turned back and watched as the other ponies fled from the castle and regrouped with them in the afternoon sun. Once they all gathered around, they looked back at the multi-coloured inflatable castle and watched as more and more cracks appeared in the air above it. "Everypony! Come together!" Princess Twilight stretched her hooves out towards the entire group, bringing them close in together. "I'm gonna take us back to my castle in the blink of an eye. Now, if you're new to teleportation, you might feel sick at first, but you'll soon get used to it." "Teleportation? You can't really do that, right?" Diamond Tiara watched as Twilight gathered energy in her horn and closed her eyes. "That's the kind of stuff you'd see in those cheap sci-fi movies where a light beam comes down and the cast all get edited out of the world and down into the new one." But as Diamond Tiara came to the end of her sentence, a bright flash engulfed the whole group, replacing them with nothing but thin air as they vanished. A few twinkles of magical energy lingered, but they soon faded away as quickly as they had appeared. Back in Twilight's castle, another flash, similar to the one in the Everfree Forest, caused the entire group of ponies to materialise at the portal to Canterlot High. Most of the ponies came out OK, but the others had their manes and tails sticking up, with their eyes twitching as they tried to re-orient themselves with where they were. "We're here!" Rainboom Rarity smiled as she looked around the portal room. "And—whoa. This is new. I don't think I've ever seen a place as beau—" before she could finish, she gagged as vomit began to climb up her throat and into her mouth "—actually, hold that thought. I'll be right back." And with that, she charged over towards the door and threw up out of the room, coughing as she brushed the slop from her mouth. "I'm just glad that everyone's back in one piece." Twilight brushed her forehead as she looked at the whole group of ponies, smiling as she saw the frizzy half brush their hairs down and wobble on their feet as they adjusted themselves. "Now then, let's fire up this portal and send you all home." "Even if we go through the portal, isn't that just going to take us back to Canterlot High instead of Camp Everfree?" Rainboom Applejack walked over towards the portal and felt the edge with her hooves. "Everyone there's gonna be worried sick about us if we're not there soon, and Filthy Rich is soon gonna be tearing that place down if we're not fast enough." "There's a Filthy Rich in your world?" Twilight raised an eyebrow at Rainboom Applejack. "Yeah. And for Gloriosa, he's been piling her hard with debt since we couldn't pay him back recently." Timber Spruce nodded and took Gloriosa onto his back, letting Sunset put Baby Twilight on her back again. "If we don't meet his deadline, the whole camp's coming down. That's what we're trying to avoid." "That sounds awful." Twilight sighed as she compared the Filthy Rich of the human world to the one in Equestria. Shaking her head, she swallowed and took a deep breath. "Well, I can't guarantee you anything, but I do hope that you and everyone else at Camp Everfree pulls through. It's just not right for a campsite to be ripped down by someone—even if the place is in debt." "Well, even if we do get taken back to Canterlot High instead of Camp Everfree, I'm sure that someone'll be willing to pick us up once they realise where we are." Sunset nodded as she walked over towards the portal. As she placed her hand on the glass pane, she watched as the whole thing rippled as stars leapt up from the rim around her hoofprint. "Man, it's been ages since I've seen this thing, huh?" "Yeah." Twilight gave Sunset a few pats on the back, making sure not to touch Baby Twilight by accident and cause more paradoxes to appear. "Well, good luck to you, Sunset. I hope that you and your friends save Camp Everfree in the end." "Shame. We were only just getting to see this place and now we're gonna have to go?" Rainboom Fluttershy scrolled her eyes around the room and gave her wings a small flutter. "And I was beginning to like being a pony." "Oh, I'm sure that we can find some way for you to come back and visit some time." Equestria Fluttershy walked up to her double and shot a small smile at her. "That is... after we find a way to stop the paradoxes from popping up." "Thank you. I really appreciate that." Rainboom Fluttershy grinned at her double. "You're welcome. Anything for a good friend," said Equestria Fluttershy. "Gloriosa. Wake up." Timer Spruce waved his hooves in front of Gloriosa's closed eyes and whispered into his ears. "We're soon gonna be back at Camp Everfree, alright? Soon we'll get to save our home from Filthy Rich's grubby hands." "Yeah. Come on, Glori. Wakey-wakey." Diamond Tiara leapt up onto Timber's back and walked all over Gloriosa's back. "No sleeping when we've got a camp to save, right?" "Y-yeah." Gloriosa found opening her eyes to be much more of a labour than usual. Normally, she would be able to shoot her eyes straight open whenever they were closed, but because of everything that she had gone through, and due to all of the magic that had sunk into her body, her eyelids were incredibly heavy, even for her standards. "Hey. Is it weird that my eyes won't open?" She whispered smoothly as she felt the air in her lungs begin to dwindle. "Hey. What's wrong with Gloriosa?" Sunset Shimmer heard Gloriosa's fading voice and walked over. "C'mon, girl. We're about to go home. Can't you wake up?" "Sunset? I... I..." As Gloriosa mustered up the courage to open her eyes, the pain that returned to her chest began to erupt at a colossal rate. She let out a scream as she thrashed her head around and tried to wake up. "SOMEONE HELP ME! GET ME BACK TO CAMP EVERFREE!" She cried. "Gloriosa!" Sunset watched the pony scream and flail on Timber's back, shifting her weight all over the place, almost falling off on a couple of occasions. "We've gotta go now!" As Baby Twilight watched as Gloriosa struggled and thrashed around on Timber's back, she shuffled back and almost fell off of Sunset's back altogether. Grabbing onto Sunset's neck with her left hand, she clenched the fingers in her right hand together. With a little whine, her rattle appeared and charged up energy at the tip. Twilight sat back up and unintentionally swung her rattle down, causing another portal to appear right in front of the mirror. "What the?" Celestia could only watch in awe as a swirling purple hole appeared, showing off Camp Everfree on the other side and the other humans who were running around, looking for Timber and Gloriosa. "Is that the Camp Everfree you're talking about?" "Yes... That's it." Sunset could only stare slack-jawed as she stepped forward towards the portal. "Girls! Jump through quickly! Little Twilight's portals don't last long, and we might not get another shot at a quick ticked back to the camp!" The Rainbooms nodded and barrelled themselves through the portal, waving their goodbyes to their doubles as they burst through the open hole and came out of the other side as humans again. "Timber! Gloriosa! Diamond! Come with me!" Sunset held out her hoof as she watched the other ponies come close to the portal and leap through. She could only watch Gloriosa's tears begin to fall as she went through the other side and came out as a human along with Timber and Diamond Tiara. "Celestia, as much as it's been fun, I really have to go now." Sunset stepped towards the portal and reached her hooves through it. As she was about to fall through the other side, she watched as Celestia gave her a small grin, to which she responded with a smile of her own. "I'll be back someday. I promise." As Celestia watched Sunset jump through the portal with Baby Twilight and saw it close, she whispered, "I know you will. My faithful student." The Rainbooms, Timber, Gloriosa, and Diamond Tiara all fell down onto the grass of Camp Everfree, immediately attracting the attention of the searching students. They all called their names and ran over to them, checking if they had broken anything and that everything was still in place. Some of them even wiped the sweat off of their brows and gave them all smiles as they helped them back onto their feet. Sunset Shimmer landed on her feet, with Twilight holding onto her neck with both her arms and legs. She stood up straight again and saw some of the other students from Canterlot High come over and give her aid, giving both her and Twilight a quick examination before they let them walk off and see how the others were doing. "We're back. In Camp Everfree." Sunset looked at the ring of trees surrounding the lake once again and felt the rocks by her shoes. She pulled Twilight off of her back and held her gently in her arms, tickling her chest. "Looks like I have to thank you for once, you little rascal, you. If it weren't for your magic, mama and her friends would've been gone forever." She heard Twilight giggling as she tickled her stomach with her index finger in gratitude. Gloriosa's screams died down as well to simple groans as she slowly got onto her feet, wobbling as she tried to regain her posture. As she stood back up, magic surged all around her and formed an aura around her. The seven geodes that hung from her neck shone as bright as headlights as they shook around and clashed with each other like clacking balls in an office apartment. "Uh... Gloriosa? Are you alright?" Sunset walked over to her, seeing the magic spill from her body as clear as day. "I don't know anymore, Sunset." Gloriosa opened her eyes at Sunset, revealing that they were bright blue with pure white irises. "Please help me..." "Whoa! What's up with your eyes?!" Sunset recoiled and almost dropped Twilight onto the ground at the sight of Gloriosa's eyes. "I—" before Gloriosa could get another word out, she was consumed by a bright pillar of green and blue light and stretched her arms out to the side as her geodes began to resonate and shine even brighter "—AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" "Gloriosa!" Everyone at Camp Everfree cried out as they watched her become consumed by the light. A small earthquake hit the camp shortly after the pillar of magic came crashing down on Gloriosa, causing vines to burst out of the ground and slither across the ground like snakes towards the girl in the light. They danced around the light and spiralled upwards, forming a cylindrical shape as they began to cocoon Gloriosa inside. "Somebody! ANYBODY! HEEEEELLLLPPPP MEEEEEEEE!" She cried out as the vines finally encapsulated her and began to squeeze her together in the glow of the light. The vines on the outside soon turned into a large sphere, holding Gloriosa on the inside. Every single piece of flora bathed in the light and began to light up just like the jewels on her neck, forming a rainbow of colours. Light shimmered off of every tendril and burst out towards every corner of the lake and forest, illuminating every part of Camp Everfree. "What's going on?" Sunset put her hands to her eyes and fought against the light as she tried to make out what was going on. Just as she could get a glimpse of the events unfurling before her, a massive explosion of magic blew her onto her butt along with the other students of CHS. When everything died down and went back to normal, purple vapours poured down on the group of high-schoolers, with gem pieces tinkling all around them on the floor. The cocoon of vines melted away and broke into ashes, leaving nothing around it. Something burst out of the inside, letting out a small whine that faintly resembled that of an infant. "Wait. You don't mean..." Sunset got back up and walked forward towards the ruptured plants and rubbed her eyes as she adjusted to the light. "Oh no." There was another baby coming out of the cocoon, with long blue hair that resembled the ocean. Her arms were completely covered up with long brown sleeve and glove combos that almost resembled branches. It wore a green dress around it with red flowers growing out at the waist and more vines draped around her chest and hips. She wore long green stockings with more vines curling around each of her legs, with a small daisy coming out of the top of each foot. The last discernible feature was a red mask that hung around the infant's eyes, with nothing more than green dots in pitch-black, looking around at everything around it. "Gloriosa?" Timber slowly hobbled forward towards the baby, squatting down so that he could get a closer look at her. "Is that... even you?" The baby simply blew a raspberry with her lips and babbled incoherent nonsense as she clapped her hands together, crawling out of the cocoon towards the other students. "What happened to her?" Sunset played the question back over and over in her head as she watched the baby crawl up to her and Twilight. "And more importantly, what is she?" Author's Note So. Baby Gloriosa-Gaia. I'll just let that sink in for a while. Now then, I heard that many people were complaining about the whole paradoxes thing in the last few chapters, and I perfectly understand that. Not many people know how to write paradoxes properly, and I will admit to being one of those people. I just did what Doctor Who did when Christopher Eccleston was the Doctor and Rose Tyler was his companion. I wasn't trying to do anything rash or stupid, just follow along with the canon of the movies in the fact that Celestia herself states that bad stuff will happen if the two copies of each other were to touch. But if you liked this chapter and are excited for the debut of little baby Gloriosa-Gaia, then please feel free to let me know in the comments section below. And let me know what you want me to do with her. Whether she sees Timber as her dad now, or Sunset as her mom, or whatever else, please feel free to voice your opinions. And again, sorry if this seems a little bit thrown together, but I was trying to avoid any unsavoury moments involving more paradox butchering. Have a nice day! Little Gaia EverfreeEveryone could only watch in awe as the infant Gloriosa crawled across the grass spouting baby talk as she tried look around the camp. After they had all wanted to get away from the magic, the fact that one of the members of Camp Everfree's staff was now a baby, caused their hairs to stand on end as their eyebrows and muscled tensed up. No-one had any words for what had happened to her, and everyone just stood frozen to their spots as they just gawked at the blue-haired baby. "Hi there!" Pinkie finally broke the silence by sliding up to Gloriosa, squatting down, and picking her up in her arms. "Ba ba goo gaa, Pinkie Pie. Ooo ba ba wa li wi ooo goo gah?" Gloriosa simply looked at Pinkie's eyes and reached out for her nose, gently booping it with her fingers as she waved her arms in front of her. She giggled upon touching the pink teen's nose and babbled some more so that Pinkie could have a conversation with her. "She's Gloriosa, alright." Pinkie Pie turned towards the rest of the Rainbooms and showed her off. "Whatever freaky-deaky magic turned her into a baby, she kinda likes it. Says it makes her feel warm and fuzzy inside." "I'm so confused..." Timber scratched his head as he regrouped with the other girls, looking down at Gloriosa in Pinkie's arms. "First of all, how did she get turned into a baby like this; second, why did she scream in pain when we were bringing her back to Camp Everfree; and third, HOW DO YOU KNOW HOW TO UNDERSTAND BABY TALK, PINKIE PIE?!" He threw his arms out and shook them as he tried to figure out what was happening before his eyes. "Silly, Timber. I can answer all of those questions." Pinkie Pie gave Gloriosa to Rarity and flashed Timber a toothy grin. "One, magic did it; two, magic did it; three, I've been taking care of little babies Pound and Pumpkin for an awful long time now, so baby talk is practically a whole 'nother language for me. You should take it up too. It's a great way to learn how to communicate with your kids at an early age." "Pinkie Pie. The first answers you gave weren't really all that specific." Sunset Shimmer put her hand on Pinkie's shoulders and looked towards Timber behind her. "I have to apologise for Pinkie. She can get a little bit... weird sometimes." "Yeah, but we've gotten used to it." Rainbow Dash put her arms behind her head and grinned. "Besides, she's actually pretty funny once you get used to how random she is." "Anyway, I'm really sorry about what happened to your sister, Timber." Sunset Shimmer's mouth contorted into a frown as she put her hand on Gloriosa's belly and heard her giggling again. "I'm not really sure about whether or not there's a cure for what happened and I feel that I'm partially responsible for all of this." "What do you mean you're responsible for all of this?" Timber asked, watching Sunset Shimmer grow less and less confident as she hung her head and eyed her toes. "None of this was your fault, Sunset. You had problems with magic. I get that. So did Gloriosa. I warned her not to use those stones, but she just took all of 'em anyway. She was going to just get herself and all of the guests hurt if she went too far." "Timber, I appreciate you trying to cheer me up, but just look at what Gloriosa's become now." Sunset Shimmer jabbed a finger at Gloriosa, who fussed and wriggled around in Rarity's hold as she tried to touch the ground. "Now that she's a baby, you're the ONLY member of Camp Everfree's staff left. Filthy Rich is going to be back soon and if you don't have the money in time, everything's going to fall apart. You'll lose the camp, you'll have to move to the city, and most importantly, your family's entire lineage is going to be destroyed without her helping you out." "Sunset, just calm down for a second." Timber watched as Sunset slumped her shoulders down in front of her and flopped onto her haunches. "I get that you're upset and worried about me and the camp, but that doesn't mean the experience has to be ruined for you or your friends at Canterlot High. Even if this might be the last time you ever come to the camp, I just wanted to make sure that your stay was at least enjoyable if not memorable." Sunset didn't respond and merely looked over at Gloriosa, who finally broke free of Rarity's hands and fell towards the ground. Seconds before she hit, vines rapidly burst up from the earth and formed a small slope to cushion the fall. She slid down it and landed before Sunset, looking up at her as she tugged at her trousers. She picked the baby up and handed her back to Timber. "Look, Sunset, we're not entirely out of this yet." Timber picked up Gloriosa and held her in his arms. He put her close to her chest and felt her nuzzle into his chest and coo gently. "We've still got Diamond Tiara with us and she says that she's been with Filthy Rich for practically all her life. I'm sure that we can find some way to raise the money we need in time." He looked down at the baby, who in return, gazed into his eyes and beamed, reaching up for his face with her tiny arms. "And, come to think of it, Glori's actually pretty cute like this." "Yeah. She's super-duper adora-cute!" Pinkie Pie bounced up to Gloriosa and played with her cheeks. "Who's a good Gloriosa Daisy? You are! Yes you are. Coochie coochie coo!" As she tickled Gloriosa's belly, she heard the baby laugh like a maniac as she thrashed around in Timber's arms. "Pinkie Pie's right." Fluttershy stepped forward and put her hand on Gloriosa's chest as she bent down and gave her a smile. "She looks rather cute like this. I almost don't want to see her grow up again." "Come on 'round, girls! Say hi to little Gloriosa Daisy!" Pinkie Pie beckoned to the rest of the Rainbooms flexing her arms in and out to attract the girls' attention. "That's right, c'mon! Give her a little wave, play with her face, try talking in baby if you can, just anything to make her happy, really." The girls all gathered around Gloriosa and looked down on her. All of their faces instantly melted into smiles as they gushed at the sight of the blue-haired infant and began to play with her face and watch her smile with every action they did. As they all saw as she raised her tiny arms at them, they didn't realise that there were vines growing around them all. "Uh, girls?" Timber saw the vines wiggle and squirm around the group of teenagers. "You might wanna get out of there before one of you gets hurt." "Why, Timber? What could possibly..." Sunset turned around and saw the vines fencing the Rainbooms off from the rest of the camp. "Wait, what?!" She stepped back and bumped into Rarity, almost knocking Gloriosa out of her friend's grip as she gazed at the plantlife. "Huh?" Pinkie Pie pulled her head up from Gloriosa and looked at the rings of vines around her and her friends. "What's up with this forest? I don't remember these things being here." "Well, whatever's up, I don't really seem to like it." Rainbow Dash tried to push the vines away, but no matter how much force she put into separating the vines from each other, they wouldn't budge an inch. "Hey! Why won't they move?! Girls! Give me a hand with this!" The other Rainbooms came over to Rainbow Dash and added their strength to her own, putting their own hands on the vines as they tried to pull them apart from each other. Even with all of the added arms and legs being used on the ring of brown vines, nobody was making any process and began to sweat as their efforts proved to be fruitless. Some even grinded and grit their teeth together as they grunted and groaned in their attempts to pry the vines away, but it still didn't help them much. As the girls tried to break free, Twilight fluttered off of Sunset's shoulders and flew down to Gloriosa, who was now sitting in the middle of her walls of flora. She flew down towards her and got on all fours as she tapped on her shoulders and attracted her attention. Once she saw Gloriosa turn to face her, she began conversing with her in infantile gibberish. Gloriosa responded with her own slew of baby talk as she crossed her legs and smiled at Twilight. She tipped and tilted her hands as she had a conversation with the raven-winged baby and giggled from time to time as they let words fly at each other. As she spoke, her hands glowed green and twinkled in the sunlight as she wobbled on the spot and placed her hands on the ground. Twilight saw Gloriosa expel magic into the ground and watched as it sparked all around her and the other Rainbooms. The spread of green lightning in the ground soon struck the vines, causing them to retract back into the earth and disappear from sight altogether. After that, she smiled even wider and clapped her own hands, sending black and blue bolts of magic into the air and into the sky, where they too disappeared from sight shortly afterwards. "Mama! Mama" Twilight called for Sunset and waved her arms around, trying to grab the attention of her big sister. Once she saw Sunset come over and pick her up, she pointed down towards Gloriosa. "Pway!" "What's that, Twilight?" Sunset leaned in closer to Twilight's mouth and almost put her ears to the infant's mouth. "Pway wid hew!" Twilight pointed down to Gloriosa, who was picked up by Timber Spruce. She turned around and wiggled around in Sunset's grip and wiggled her fingers towards her. "Wanna pway wid hew! Pway! Pway!" Sunset smirked at Timber as she brought Twilight over to him and Gloriosa. "Looks like Twilight's got herself a new playmate, huh, Timber?" "Looks that way." Timber watched Twilight fly out of Sunset's hold and flutter up to Gloriosa, holding her tiny hands as they both went back down to the ground and crawled off. "Still, I don't know what to do about this. Gloriosa's my sister, and now she's a baby again. What's gonna happen between me and her? Am I gonna be her dad?" "I wouldn't put it past her, but you know how babies are." Sunset Shimmer watched both Gloriosa and Twilight crawl off towards the tents, planting their hands and kneecaps down one after the other as they moved across the grass. "Once they have a mama or dada, they just get really clingy with them. It's really up to Gloriosa to decide who her mom or dad is." "That's not really what I'm worried about." Timber put his hand on Sunset's shoulder as he looked towards the two playing babies as they sat down and began to play pattycake with each other. "I'm more worried about how this is gonna affect us paying off Filthy Rich's debt. Now that she's a little infant, she's going to need supplies, toys to keep her busy, and lots of other stuff that's gonna rip a lot of money out from under us." "Well, I don't think that you should worry about the supplies for now." Sunset simply smiled as the two infants continued to high-five each other and clap their hands together as they kept their rhythm up. "I can supply you with some of mine for the time that we're here. After all, a problem shared is a problem halved, right?" "Really, Sunset?" Timber asked. "You would really give me some of your stuff because of what happened to Gloriosa?" "Of course I would, Timber." Sunset nodded and took a deep breath. "We weren't to know that Gloriosa was holding magic, or that it would turn her into a magical baby like Twilight is now. But what use is there dwelling on the past when the future's what we have to look forward to?" She turned towards Twilight and Gloriosa and walked up to them, kneeling down as she kept her gaze focused on Timber as the other girls. "Even when all of this stuff's been said and done and even after the Friendship Games happened with Principal Cinch getting locked up for blackmail, there's still gotta be someone to clean up the mess afterwards, right? Maybe it's asking a bit too much to be given a magic baby that isn't like the regular ones we see playing with their parents, but that's doesn't mean that we can just leave them alone, right? Even babies with the power to re-shape the world need all of the love and affection they can get from us, so who are we to deny them their right to grow up and have a good life?" "When you put it like that, you're right, Sunset." Timber grew a smile as he walked up to her and slung his arm around her shoulders. "Y'know, you would make a great president with that attitude." "Yeah!" Pinkie Pie ran over to the two of them and burst out from behind them. "Imagine it: President Sunset Shimmer; the kindest, most forgiving, and smartest person in the White House! You'd be great at it, Sunset!" "Alright, Pinkie Pie, dear. Let's not get too carried away with Sunset Shimmer and her many accolades." Rarity massaged Pinkie's shoulders and pulled her away from Sunset and Timber. "But she is right on what she said. Even if infants could potentially destroy the world, they still need to be raised the right way. That's why we're all trying our best to help Twilight grow back up so that she can be a beloved member of society again." "You're all really that devoted to her, aren't you?" Timber Spruce raised an eyebrow as he looked down at Twilight as she gave Gloriosa a hug and pulled her in close to her chest. He watched as his little sister now gave Twilight a hug of her own before he knelt down and picked her up again. "Well, that's really inspired my confidence as well." He ruffled her hair and saw her look up at him. "Well, sis, looks like I'm gonna be taking care of you for a while, huh?" "Big bwubba!" Gloriosa babbled and planted her face into Timber's body, wrapping her hands around his hips as she brushed her head against him. "Aww... isn't that adorable?" Fluttershy smiled and gushed at how Gloriosa gave Timber all of her affection as the two of them cuddled together with each other. "Big brother? So, I'm not your dad, Gloriosa?" Timber asked. "Nope! Big bwudda forevew!" Gloriosa shook her head and threw her arms up in delight. Everyone could only watch as Timber held Gloriosa and walked off with her, Twilight, and Sunset as they all made their way towards another area of the camp. Now that there were two magic babies, the campers were all beginning to think about the future, and all of the possible outcomes that would come in the future with Timber taking care of Gloriosa, and how she would grow a relationship with Twilight. With their many thoughts running through their minds, they didn't even feel the cold wind blowing through their hairs and blowing the girls' skirts up. Gaia and the WolfTwilight and Gloriosa were playing together in the office, using their unique magical powers to lift themselves into the air while Timber and Sunset looked over the paperwork that had been strewn about on the desk. While the babies were giggling through their playtime together, both of the teens were counting up the numbers to try and find exactly how much that the camp owed Filthy Rich. "I still don't know how you're going to be able to manage the camp, pay off Filthy Rich, then find a way to make the money for the next time he comes around." Sunset twirled a pen in between the fingers on her right hand. "And that's only the start. Gloriosa's been turned into a baby capable of harnessing nature." She pointed towards the two babies and watched Gloriosa lift her fingers, causing vines to burst up through the floorboards and create a small slide for her and Twilight to ride. "Are you sure that you're not biting off more than you can chew here, Timber?" "You could say that again." He let out a weak chuckle and looked at the total cost of Filthy Rich's debt. "How am I supposed to make that much money and keep Gloriosa happy at the same time?" "I can't really give an answer to that." Sunset walked past the desk and picked Twilight up, brushing her hair gently. "I only started taking care of Twilight a few weeks ago and she's still got a lot of tricks up her sleeve. Heck, most of the time, I can't even keep up with the crazy stuff she's done." "Mama." Twilight reached up for Sunset's head and grabbed her chin. "What is it, sweetie?" Sunset looked down at Twilight, almost scraping her eye on the tip of the light-blue horn. Twilight felt a rumbling sensation in her belly and patted it with her left hand. She babbled incoherently at Sunset, but her body language was perfectly understandable. "Oh. You're hungry?" Sunset was quick to identify Twilight's needs. "I'm sure I can handle that." She looked up at Timber, who was still buried within his paperwork. "Uh, Timber? Do you mind if I just take a moment outside? Twilight's a bit peckish." "How long will you be gone?" Timber pulled himself from the documents and watched as Sunset pushed the door open. "I'm just curious, is all. Gloriosa might use some of her new powers while you're out with Twilight." "I'll only be a few minutes." Sunset walked out of the door and carried Twilight out with her. "Just try not to let her get too coo-coo crazy, alright? We don't want an even bigger debt than we already have." "I'll try not to." He let out a small little grin which immediately melted into a frown as Sunset closed the door. He slumped his head down onto the desk and groaned as he rubbed his temples. "What have we gotten ourselves into?" Gloriosa slid down to the bottom of her newly-formed vine slide, giggling all the while with her arms out to the sides. As she rode it, her hands were generating more vines, which coiled around the room, wrapping whatever they could touch up in moss covered foliage. At the end of her little trip, she wobbled and put her hands on the ground, causing more vines to burst up around her and Timber. "How does she have this power?" He grimaced as he leaned over the desk and picked Gloriosa up, listening to her giggle as she was raised into the air again. Sunset Shimmer's friends were all gathered outside with the other Canterlot High students, deep in their discussions about what was to befall the camp. After watching Gloriosa become consumed by magic and shrink down into a baby, their thoughts on the future were very mixed. Some began to sweat as they thought about the end of the world, while others scratched their chins and puzzled how the magic really worked. "I still think that we should give Timber some lessons on how to raise a child." Rarity shrugged her shoulders as her gaze drifted from one Rainboom to another. "Handling a baby is a very time-consuming task—be it a magical one or not." "On top of managing the camp, ah'd say that Timber's gotten himself into a whole heap'a work." Applejack turned her eyes towards the hut and watched as Sunset and Twilight came out of it. "Not to mention Filthy Rich's little debt that needs paying off. Ah reckon this might be the last time we ever come to Camp Everfree, girls." "What?!" Pinkie pushed through Applejack and Rarity. "You can't say that, Applejack! This isn't the way our trip's meant to end! It's supposed to have cake, candy, streamers, and a happy ending! There's no need to be a giver-upper this late into our stay!" "Pinkie, I appreciate the vote of confidence, but do you know how hard it is to manage a baby?" Fluttershy slowly hobbled forward and tugged on Pinkie's shoulders. "Believe me, Fluttershy. I do know." Pinkie lowered her brows. "Back home, Pound and Pumpkin have been driving me and the other Cakes crazy! It's almost like they're born ninjas or something now!" "Oookay?" Flutters lifted her brows and tilted her head at Pinkie's remark. "But you're right, handling kids is no easy feat no matter what they can do. If Timber Spruce can't juggle all of these tasks at once, then the whole camp will have to close down forever." "I highly doubt that it will close down." Diamond Tiara approached the Rainbooms with Silver Spoon close behind her. "Although I will admit that having Gloriosa become altered into some magical baby like Twilight was a bit of a weird turn of events, I've still got an ace up my sleeve for making the money we need." "Trust me, girls. You're gonna love this." Silver Spoon opened up her backpack and pulled out a massive map showing Camp Everfree and some other areas around it. "Me and Diamond Tiara were looking at the map that my dad packed for me, and it turns out that there's a small town not too far from here. If we can raise awareness that Camp Everfree's under fire, the people there will surely swoop in and help." "But how are we possibly gonna be able to let the people know that Camp Everfree's under Filthy Rich's foot in time?" Applejack looked at the map. "I don't know about you girls, but it was still a bit of a ride to get into the woods, let alone to the camp. It'll take a half hour if we're gonna make it to the town." "Plus there's still the question of what method we'll be using to warn them that Camp Everfree's closing down." Rarity raised her finger as she walked up to the two CHS students. "Are we going to be using flyers? A town crier? A little bit of a fashion parade through the town?" "Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! We could use candy and cake to lure them to Camp Everfree and tell them about the trouble that we're all in!" Pinkie Pie waved her arms frantically and pulled out some cupcakes drizzled with frosting and sprinkles. "That always gets me to go places. And half the time, I always accept. Anything for them if they bribed me with candy!" "Uh, Pinkie, let's probably not do that, darling." Rarity patted Pinkie's chest and pulled her arms back down to her hips. "Anyway, it's a good idea, you two, but we seem to be missing the key component to getting to this village in the first place." "Yeah, we need a car of some sort!" Rainbow Dash threw her arms down in front of her. "And we can't just steal the school bus and leave everyone stuck here. It's wishful thinking, kids, but we need to find a way that's super-fast and super-easy to do, alright?" "Kinda digging yourselves a grave here, ladies." The girls all turned around to see Filthy Rich, dressed in his usual blue suit and tie with black shoes. He had a small grin on his face as he crossed his hands behind his back and walked up to the girls with a small hunch. "Hello, daddy." Diamond Tiara turned and waved at Filthy Rich. "What are you doing here?" "Well, seeing that the end of the month's fast approaching, I wanted to see just how Gloriosa and Timber were getting along with their little debt." He tousled Diamond Tiara's hair, almost knocking off the earpieces that she wore. "But I'm sure that with you leading the operation now, there shouldn't be any more problems, right?" "Nope! None!" Her entire forehead turned moist as she waved her hands in front of him and put on a massive fake smile. "Timber and Gloriosa are just going smoothly. Nothing to worry about at all!" "Hmm..." Filthy Rich's smile began to disappear as he watched Diamond Tiara try to fake that there was a problem. "Y'know, Diamond Tiara, whenever I ever see on of my employees do that to my face, it's a sure-fire guarantee that something's gone wrong. Whether it's a paper jam in the printer, a spilled watercooler which caused some injuries, or even if we get audited, that face and gesture just sells me on the truth." He leaned in close to her face. "What's happened? And don't you lie to me, Diamond Tiara. I'm your father and the C.E.O. of some of Canterlot's biggest and most influential companies." "Sunset!" Timber burst out of the hut with Gloriosa in his hands. "You've gotta help me!" "Hey! Timber!" Filthy Rich shouted over to Timber as he run across the camp, causing the ragged teenager to trip and roll forward onto his back, with Gloriosa laughing on his stomach. "What're you playing at, boy?" "Now's not a good time, Filthy Rich!" Timber scrambled to get back onto his feet as Filthy began to walk up towards him. "Gloriosa's just pooped herself and I don't know how to handle a baby!" "Have you finally cracked your skull open on one of those nature walks, Timber? There aren't no babies here at Camp Everfree." Filthy raised his brows as he watched Timber get back onto his feet. "And where's Gloriosa? I think I should be speaking to her instead, seeing as how she holds a grudge for me." "Mr. Rich, with all due respect, we're all kinda busy right—" "Not now, Applejack. I'll discuss your trades with Granny Smith later." He pushed Applejack onto the ground with the palm of his hand. "Right now, I really need to speak with—" He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Gloriosa in Timber's grasp. "Huh. What do you know? There is a baby at Camp Everfree. Since when did you and Gloriosa decide to adopt someone, Timber?" "Filthy, it's not what it looks li—" "For heaven's sake, son. Call me Mr. Rich." He folded his arms in front of him and looked down at Timber and Gloriosa. "Anyway, why would you try and adopt a child when you're up to your eyes in debt? Seems like you've just given up on Camp Everfree as a whole." "No! I'd never give up on my grandparents' camp!" Timber held Gloriosa tightly in his hands. "In fact, I would've paid you back as soon as possible, but one thing led to another and now—" "Boy, I haven't climbed my way up the corporate ladder through debt and problems." He shook his head and looked down at Gloriosa. "Y'know, I was once as weak and smarmy as you were, Timber. Kids at school just called me filthy and didn't use the rich part of my name when I was young. But you want to know how I managed to climb my way up?" "Sir, if you could just let me expla—" "Hard work, punctuality, and not letting myself get distracted by small things like this." He pushed Gloriosa's head back with a single jab of his finger, causing her face to scrunch up. "You've got yourself fourty-eight hours to hand over the debt, or this place is getting logged from the inside out." He watched Timber snarl and tighten up the muscles in his forehead as he balled his hands into fists. "Now, don't look at me like that. I was especially generous when Gloriosa failed to pay up the debt. I gave her more time, what more do you want from me? To do your taxes as well?" As Gloriosa watched Filthy Rich shoot words off and interrupt Timber at every turn, she begin to let out small tinny growls. She pouted and pressed her lips together as hard as she could as magic began to warp around her tiny hands. She opened and closed them, seeing vines curl up around her and Timber. Nodding down at her new weapons, she looked up at Filthy and blew a large raspberry, jabbing her hands at him. The vines instantly barrelled into Filthy Rich and sent him hurtling head-first into his car. The collision of nature against metal caused a massive dent in the side of it, which caused the car's alarm system to blare and attract everyone's attention. Gasps and shocked faces watched as Filthy Rich fell down onto the ground. "Daddy!" Diamond Tiara ran over to Filthy Rich with tears beginning to fall from her eyes. "Gloriosa!" Timber picked Gloriosa up and turned her face towards him. "What did you do?!" Gloriosa spoke in baby talk with her hands shaking as she glared at Timber Spruce. She made fists and banged them together as she went on a long tantrum, finally ending as she turned herself back around and blew another raspberry at Filthy, thrusting her finger out at him. "Gloriosa! We do NOT hurt people! Even if they're trying to shut down the camp!" Timber retorted with a small outburst of his own. "Are you stupid?! First the geodes, now hurting Filthy Rich, you're out of control! You're not the same sister I used to know!" Gloriosa recoiled at Timber's cutting words, raising her hands in front of her face as he looked into the fires in her brother's eyes. Within seconds, her anger had completely disintegrated as she quivered in his grip. Her lips trembled and tears began to fall as she began to let out a small whimper. Soon enough, Gloriosa began to cry as loud as she could, turning away from her brother. "I heard a car alarm!" Sunset Shimmer came rushing out of her tent with a small bottle in Twilight's mouth. "Is anything wro—" She saw what had happened straight away "—Mr. Rich! Oh my goddess!" She ran over to the dented car and watched as Diamond Tiara helped Filthy Rich stand up. "Daddy! Are you alright?" Diamond pulled Filthy Rich's arm over her shoulders. "I can call an ambulance straight away!" She pulled out her phone and began punching in the number to call the hospital. "What happened, Mr. Rich?" Sunset came over to Filthy and picked his other half up from the battered part of the car. "Miss Shimmer..." Filthy Rich gave out a small cough as he got back up on his feet, wobbling from the impact. "I don't know what happened with Timber and that magical demon baby he's got, but I'm calling the police. This whole place is coming down!" "Mr. Rich. Please just reconsider!" Sunset began to tend to his wounds, putting Twilight down onto the floor. "No. No I won't." He limped around the car towards the driver's seat, opened the door, sat down, and turned the engines on. "I hope Timber's said his prayers. Because the courthouse won't be too happy to hear this." He turned towards Diamond Tiara. "Get in the car, sweetie. We're gonna go home straight away." "Daddy, I don—" "Diamond Tiara! Get your ass in this car or you're grounded until graduation day, missy!" Filthy Rich roared, tightening his grip on the driver's wheel. Sighing in defeat, Diamond Tiara climbed into the car and buckled herself in tightly, closing the door as she did. "I'm sorry, Sunset. I didn't mean for this to happen..." "Say your prayers, Camp Everfree!" Filthy shouted back as he drove off down the path and away from the campsite, leaving a cloud of smoke and dust in his wake. Sunset's hands twitched and wobbled at what she had just witnessed. Filthy Rich had been assaulted by Gloriosa Daisy's new magical powers, and now Camp Everfree was going to be charged with a lawsuit. Her breathing became heavy as she turned towards the rest of her friends as they in turn looked towards Timber and Gloriosa. Still crying, Gloriosa wormed her way out of Timber's grasp and curled up into a ball, causing a cocoon of vines to seal her up from the outside world. As she watched the teens all try to pick her up, she turned back towards the ground, causing sharp thorns to materialise on the outside of the web that she had made. "Well, we're screwed..." Rainbow Dash was the first one to break the silence. A Flower in the Everfree Forest"I didn't mean for Filthy Rich to get hurt!" Timber stood with the Main Six around the tiny ball of thorns that cocooned Gloriosa. "I didn't even think that he'd be coming back so soon—or that Gloriosa would've freaked out like that!" "Timber, there's nothing that we can do about any of this now." Sunset Shimmer turned her eyes towards Gloriosa, who was still wailing away withing her thorny dome. "None of us were expecting Gloriosa to go crazy like that and hurt Mr. Rich, but now he's gone and there's no way that we can stop this." "Yes. A court case is hard to deal with—especially if it's a case of assault and battery." Rarity crossed her arms and shook her head gently. "Gloriosa might seem like a baby, but Filthy Rich's testimony is going to bring up a lot of things in the courtroom battle." "You might get some points for being cute and innocent because it was a baby's doing, but still, the big, bad, chief justice isn't going to like having to deal with this." Pinkie squatted down and gave the spiked ball a gentle tap on the non-thorny parts, causing even more thorns to grow around it. "But we can deal with that later. Right now, there's a cute little ball of joy that's being a real frowny-pants right now and we've gotta help her cheer up!" "Pinkie! Don't dodge the issue like that!" Rainbow Dash threw her arms out to the sides as she watched Pinkie stand upright again. "We've gotta stop Filthy Rich from going through with this! It could mean the end of Camp Everfree as we know it!" "Not to mention the fact that since Gloriosa's got magic like Twilight does, she could cause some real harm to the people if they try to take this place away." Sunset held Twilight gently in her arms and felt her long hair tickle her chin as she gave her a gentle rub on the back. "Sure, she can only manipulate plantlife at the moment, but if she keeps this up, she could end up weaponising the entire forest!" "And even if we do manage to win, Filthy Rich could end up buying out Camp Everfree and shut it down immediately." Applejack tugged at her collar and looked out towards the camp's exit. "It's a tough old situation we've got here. There aren't really many options for us in the case of making everything right for once... The girls all started talking to each other at once, shooting words out of their mouths as they tried to figure out a way of handling the situation. But despite their ideas, none of the girls could make either of them out due to the pace of their speech and how their words were intersecting with one another to create a nonstop cloud of noise and incoherent gibberish. "Gah! All this to take in at once. It's... it's too much!" Timber grabbed the sides of his head as his eyes began to dilute. He spluttered and stammered briefly before he let out a massive scream and ran off deep into the forest, silencing the Rainbooms instantly as they turned to see him disappear. "Timber! Wait up!" Sunset Shimmer broke off from the group clutching Twilight close to her chest as she pursued Timber Spruce. "You think we should go after her?" Applejack pointed towards Sunset and Timber. "Nope! First, we've gotta stop little Gloriosa from hurting anyone else!" Pinkie Pie dashed off, then returned one second later carrying some massive garden shears in her hands. "And to do that, we've gotta get this sweet little baby out of these icky thorns and bring a smile back to her face!" And without another word, Pinkie Pie began snipping away at the ball of sharp flora. "But Pinkie, we can't just let Timber and Sunset down!" Fluttershy stretched her arms out in the distance that Timber and Sunset had run to as she kept her eyes fixated on Pinkie. "I'm sure that Gloriosa will calm down soon." "Fluttershy. I've dealt with Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake many times before, and I've come to a scientific conclusion." Pinkie managed to break through the thorns and retrieve a sobbing Gloriosa from within. "Babies only stop crying when they start laughing. We just need to let Gloriosa visit the raspberry monster, and everything should be fine." She bent her neck down and blew a massive raspberry onto Gloriosa's chest. But despite this, she was still crying her eyes out. "Or not..." "Did you really expect it to work like that, Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash cocked her brow and tilted her head. "Kinda." Pinkie shrugged and sat down on the grass cross-legged, rocking Gloriosa back and forth in her arms. "She is a baby, y'know." "A baby who just got shouted at by her big brother." Fluttershy walked over to Pinkie Pie and sat down with her. "She doesn't need fun at a time like this. If anything, what she needs now is someone to love her." She reached over Pinkie's legs and plucked Gloriosa out of them. She brought the crying baby into her embrace and gave her a cuddle. "There, there, Gloriosa. It's not all that bad. I'm here." Gloriosa looked up into Fluttershy's face and saw a warm smile beam down onto her body. Her tears didn't stop, but they were reduced down to little snuffles and whimpers as she babbled in baby talk. She reached around Fluttershy's hips and hugged her as tightly as she could, pressing her face into the teenager's belly. "See, Pinkie? Laughter isn't always the best medicine when it comes to dealing with babies." Fluttershy shut her eyes and felt as Gloriosa's body against hers. She patted the baby and heard her let out a small burp before her coos resumed. "Sometimes, the best thing for someone her age is love and cuddles." "I still stand by the notion that my method is better." Pinkie Pie stood back up as she watched Fluttershy lift Gloriosa into the air. "But whatever method works to get Glori to calm down is fine by me." "Let's just hope that we can keep her that way." Rainbow Dash patted Gloriosa on her head. "We've already got one little monster as it is. Two might just be a little too much for us..." "Hear, hear." Rarity tickled Gloriosa's armpits, hearing her giggle loudly. "I'm all for caring for infants, but I just feel like one magical baby is enough for this life." The other girls all clamoured around Gloriosa, smiling and cooing at her as they tried her best to keep her from having another tantrum of fit of tears. What they were doing worked as Gloriosa tried to give them all a hug, ensnaring them in a massive ring of ivy that got tighter as she pressed herself against them. "Sunset..." Rarity choked for air. "I hope you're back soon." "Timber! Wait!" Sunset burst through each individual bush that Timber went through, trying to keep up with him while also caring for Twilight at the same time. Because of all the roots around the trees, she needed to watch her footing most of the time so that she didn't trip up. "I'm sure that there's a way to fix this!" "No there isn't!" Timber shouted back as his breathing got heavier. "Filthy Rich has won! There's no way we can beat him in court!" "Don't feel so defeated! There is a way that we can make this all right again!" Sunset too began to feel the strain of her pursuit weighing her down. Her entire body felt warm and she felt herself wearing down from exhaustion, but still, she pushed on ahead. "Just give us all a chance and we'll stop him from suing you!" "How are we gonna get him to stop when he's already left?!" Timber asked as he dived through another thick wall of leaves and plants. "Just leave me alone! I'll handle everything else myself like I always do!" Sunset stopped at the towering barricade of leaves and twigs and only caught a glimpse of Timber sink through it and run off deeper and deeper into the woods. She tried to make out where he was going, but because the leaves were so hard to see through, it was impossible to see which direction he went, if he had even decided to move at all. "Darn it, Timber. Don't give up on yourself because of this..." Sunset Shimmer stepped back away from the leaves and looked down at Twilight, who just sat quaintly in her hands. "Twilight? I know that you can't understand what I'm saying, but do you think that you could give me a hand with these leaves?" Little Twilight simply nodded and looked towards the leaves. Cooing, she put her hand in her mouth for a few seconds as she tilted and turned her head. As she looked down at the ground, she saw a group of ladybugs scuttling on the ground. Upon seeing them, she squealed and reached down to grab one of them, unknowingly firing a beam of blue and black energy out of her horn that collided with the massive shrubbery and caused it to implode and burst leaves in all directions—some even into Sunset's mouth, which caused Twilight to look back up at her caretaker and giggle at the sight. Sunset spat out the leaves and looked at the small building at the end of the path ahead of her and Twilight. They both watched as Timber Spruce ran inside and shut the door behind him. "Timber? Why would you want to run all the way out here when we're offering to help?" She slowly walked forward and gently held onto Twilight. She walked up to the building and saw that the forest had done a number on the place. Bricks were missing from the walls and ivy climbed the walls and was creeping its' way up towards the roof. The glass on the front door, despite remaining intact, had gathered so much dust and grime that it was practically impossible to see inside. As Sunset put her hand on the door, she could feel how cold it was straight away. It was as if no-one had touched this place for years. "Timber?" Sunset opened the door and walked through. "Are you in there? C'mon. There's no need to feel bad..." The inside of the place was much different than Sunset had been anticipating. Despite the holes in the wall and the peeling paint, she could still make out bright and cartoon-like worlds for the wallpapers, with many different pictures on each. There were open fields with children playing in them, a city with cars going down the roads, and even a princess's castle with all kinds of fairy-tale related beings plastered on to the walls, with the front door serving as a cupboard that had its' hinges snapped off. Scattered around the floor were toys of various different shapes and sizes that also suffered from a lack of care and were beginning to fade and lose their colours. Despite all of this, they were still usable after all of these years with only a couple of fractured and broken items that people had forgotten to throw away. All of these rested on an even dustier floor, with some blankets and pillows clustered up by the walls. In the middle of it all, Timber Spruce merely sat with his legs crossed and his back turned towards Sunset and Twilight. "Y'know, when I was a little kid, my parents dealt with debts of their own that almost cost them Camp Everfree." Timber sighed but still didn't turn towards Sunset and Twilight. "With inflation, location, and how there were less and less people coming in every so often, it was hard to find a suitable amount of cash to keep the place up and running." He brushed his hand against the floor, collecting a large quantity of dust. "And when my parents gave birth to Gloriosa, things only got much harder for us. Now they had to feed two babies and keep the place from being bought out. "I can still remember this place, even though it's been years since this place had any sort of use." Timber looked around at the toys laden around the room. "When my mom and dad got the idea to open this building up to the public as a small day-care, Gloriosa was a bit concerned. More and more kids came in and they were using all of her favourite stuff. She always hated it when everyone kept taking her toys for the whole day. At least, that's what I heard from my parents. "Then, as we grew up, my parents decided to downsize a bit and decommission this place to try and save some money." Timber slumped his shoulders as he stood back up. "We just left it here to stand for years on end in this part of the woods. We left it be, silent, alone, and with no purpose. And now, this is what's going to happen to Camp Everfree. Once Filthy Rich converts the place into a leisure resort to line his pockets more, the rest of the forest is going to become neglected and silent. The energy and purity that this place once had is going to just disappear. And now, it's completely unavoidable." "Timber. Don't think for a second that we can't turn this whole thing around." Sunset Shimmer walked up to him and gently squeezed his left shoulder. "We've dealt with magical problems before. Back at the Battle of the Bands and Friendship Games, magical occurrences happened that almost ended up doing much worse things than people trying to sue us." "Yes, but Filthy Rich was physically assaulted by Gloriosa and her magic." Timber turned to face Sunset and tipped his hand. "It doesn't care whether or not he's going to be able to prove it with his words. The bruises on his chest are going to be all of the evidence that he needs to get Camp Everfree closed down for good. And now that he's already left, we're finished." He pulled Sunset's hand off of his body and turned to face the walls again. "I might as well just send you and your Canterlot High friends back home now, so that you're not here to see the lawyers when they confirm that there's gonna be a court case." "Timber Spruce," Sunset started, puffing out her chest. "I've faced stuff beyond whatever your imagination could come up with. If Filthy Rich wants to take this whole thing to court, then I'm not going to back down. We'll fight by your side as witnesses in your favour if needs be, but I can't just let you run away and wallow like this while your sister is crying and the other campers are suffering because of it." She set Twilight down onto one of the pillows and squatted beside Timber. "Even if the odds might seem against you, that's no reason for you to throw in the towel like that. Even the most impossible odds can be beaten. I know this because I was there. Even when my friends were squabbling and arguing, I was able to keep them from killing each other and actually helped them come to their senses and save the world. And I know that I can do the same for you, Gloriosa, and Camp Everfree." She held her hand out towards Timber. "Just give me a chance. Would you do that for me?" Timber Spruce looked down at Sunset's hand and turned his head up to see the smile on her face. He thought about everything that had befallen Camp Everfree and what had happened to Gloriosa Daisy. Every event danced through his mind one after the other as he visualised it and the possible futures that could have arisen from taking Sunset's hand. In the end, he finally conceded and let out a big sigh as he slowly reached out a shaky hand and grabbed on to Sunset's. "Alright, Sunset," Timber said. "I suppose that it can't get any worse from here on out, right?" "Yeah. We've already gone through the storm, so we should have a better chance of making this all right." Sunset turned towards the door and picked Twilight up just as she was about to toddle off and play with some of the pale old toys in the room. "And who knows? Once this all comes to an end, you could use this room for Gloriosa again. I'm sure that she'd love it." "Yeah. Provided that we clean the place up a bit first." Timber let a weak chuckle escape his lips. "I'm pretty sure that even as a baby, she remembers this place being much brighter and happier." The two of them shared a little laugh as they walked out the door and began the long trek back towards the campsite, to brace themselves for the future. Neither of them knew what was going to happen, but they both knew that they would face it together. Leaving Camp EverfreeSunset Shimmer was in her tent, packing up all of her things while Twilight sat on the bed, wiggling her tiny legs. Their time had run out for the Camp Everfree trip and a pang of guilt welled up in Sunset's heart. She wanted to have saved the camp had she known that it was in danger, but in between being taken to Equestria, seeing Gloriosa turn into a baby with magical powers, and when Filthy Rich got assaulted, she knew that there was no hope for saving the camp now. "Oh, Timber..." Sunset folded her clothes and stacked them up in her suitcase, flattening them down so that she had enough room for the rest of the supplies she had brought with her. "I only wish that I could've done more to help." Twilight cocked a brow at Sunset and babbled, crawling forward as she reached out and tugged at Sunset's sleeve. "Hmm? What is it, Twilight?" Sunset was pulled from her packing as she picked Twilight up. Twilight tried her best to speak, but it still came out as baby talk that was almost impossible to understand. She pointed towards the exit of the tent and at Gloriosa especially. "You wanna play with Gloriosa?" Sunset took a brief look out of the tent and saw Gloriosa quietly sucking on her thumb as Timber walked by the tents. "Just give me a minute, Twilight. I've gotta get everything packed away." And she put Twilight on the ground. Twilight decided to crawl off out of the tent while Sunset continued to pack her clothes, supplies, sunscreen, and other items away. She pushed through the threshold and out into the sunlight, where she started to chase after Gloriosa and Timber, flapping her wings in order to gain speed. Gloriosa hung in Timber's arms, looking out at the world as she sucked on her tiny thumb. As she looked around, she cooed gently and reached out for it all with her free hand. She didn't even notice Twilight fly towards her as she closed her eyes and groggily continued to suckle. Twilight dive-bombed down onto Timber's shoulders, causing him to jump and fall onto his back. Once he was on his rear end, Twilight crawled over his body and hobbled over to Gloriosa, giggling as she crawled over to her in return. "Twilight?" Timber's eyes widened as she watched her playing patty-cake with Gloriosa. "What're you doing here? Isn't Sunset supposed to be looking after you?" Twilight didn't respond, as she was too busy playing her game with Gloriosa, clapping her hands together with her as they tried their hardest to follow a rhythm, but which ended with them laughing even more. "Aww... Look at the little Twily and Glori." Pinkie Pie picked up both babies and slung them in her arms, blowing raspberries into both of their bellies. "Aren't they just the cutesie-ootsie-wootiest pair of little monsters?" "Oh, hi, Pinkie." Timber stood up again and rubbed the back of his head. "Look, again, I'm sorry that your time at Camp Everfree had to end like this. If there's anything that I can do to make it up to you and your school, I'll do it. "Oh, don't worry about that, Timber." Pinkie nuzzled the two babies and gave them both gentle kisses. "We've dealt with stuff like this before back at Canterlot High, so it doesn't surprise us anymore. Plus, these two little sweethearts are the cutest thing to ever come out of it." She smiled and almost knocked Twilight and Gloriosa's heads together as she brought them close to her chest. "Igga ga baa boo, Twilly and Glori? Igga ga baa boo?" Both of the babies nodded and grabbed onto Pinkie's nose and cheeks, wobbling towards her and planting kisses on her face. "See? They agree with me." Pinkie handed Gloriosa back to Timber while she continued to cuddle Twilight in her grip. "Twilight especially." "Twilight? You out here?" Sunset Shimmer came out of her tent with her backpack and suitcases packed. "C'mon, girl. It's time to go!" "Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Sunset! Over here!" Pinkie Pie ran over towards Sunset but tripped on a branch and threw Twilight over towards her. "Head's up! Flying baby!" Without any time to think, Sunset dropped her cases and was about to grab Twilight, but was met with a wingbeat of black feathers that sent her onto her backside, causing Twilight to fall onto her stomach. Sunset couldn't help but let a small laugh slip too as she picked Twilight up and held her gently. "Hey there, ya little scamp." Sunset tousled Twilight's mane and gave her a little kiss. "Where've you been off to?" "No, silly." Pinkie Pie jumped back onto her feet and slid up next to Twilight and Sunset. "You've gotta speak baby. It's the only language she understands at the moment." "Pinkie Pie, I don't even know half of the stuff that comes out of your mouth sometimes." Sunset cocked a brow at Pinkie. "How am I supposed to speak to Twilight if I end up speaking like a baby?" "Oh, it's simple, really. You've just gotta spend a few months or so babysitting with me. It's a cinch to pick up the language." Pinkie nodded. "I'll give you an easy one to start off." She took a deep breath and turned Twilight towards her. "Ga baa bi wa wa goo, Twilight?" Twilight chuckled again and replied with some more baby talk, putting her little hands on Pinkie's arms. "Alright. To translate what we've just said: How are you doing, Twilight? I'm doing fine, Auntie Pinkie. I made friends with cute little girl over there. Thanks for asking." Pinkie made a squee as she gave Twilight back to Sunset. "I still don't know how you're able to do that." Sunset slipped a carrier onto her chest and slipped Twilight into it, before squatting down to pick her suitcases up. "You're gonna have to give us all a proper lesson in baby talk one day, Pinkie." "Oh, I will. It's a great resource to have when you're caring for uber-cute, super adorable, and really tiny babies like Twily here." Pinkie started to walk off. "I'll see you on the bus, Sunset. I've gotta help Rarity and Fluttershy get their stuff on the bus. And believe me, if you thought that I was weird, you should've seen how many dresses were in Rarity's cases..." "Alright. I'll see you there, Pinkie." Sunset waved her off and watched Gloriosa bounce in Timber's hold. "You need any help with her, Timber?" "No. I'm pretty good with handling kids." Timber Spruce shook his head and watched Gloriosa stick her finger back into her mouth. "I've had to spend some semesters as a clown to entertain the elementary school kids." He sighed as he brought Gloriosa close to his chest. "Still, I just hope that you're right in saying that you'll help me in the courtroom case." "Timber. You NEED to stop being so worried about that." Sunset Shimmer walked towards him. "We've battled monsters worse than this. Beings from another dimension. We're not going to have any trouble with a courtroom case." "And if we do, then we'll just use the Magic of Friendship to set everything right." Rainbow Dash approached from the distance. "Hey, you two. Did I miss anything?" "No. Not really," said Sunset. "Are you almost done packing, Rainbow Dash?" "Already done. The stuff's on the bus. I always get my bag on first so that it's got the coolest place to chill." She put her hands to her hips. "But doesn't that mean it'll also be the last one off of the bus?" Sunset tilted her head. Rainbow froze up. "Uh... I'll be right back..." And without another word, she darted off towards the bus, leaving nothing but dust behind her. "Well. That happened." Timber took a small breath of air. "Anyways, I can't express just how sorry I am that your time here at Camp Everfree was ruined by me and Gloriosa. We didn't mean for Filthy Rich to get hurt like that." "I'm also sorry that Twilight had to take us to Equestria as well." Sunset patted Twilight's hair down and rocked her back and forth. "Her magic can get a little coo-coo crazy now and again. I didn't want to go back there so soon, but she wanted to play with her magic and we didn't have any time to jump out of the way in time. One thing led to another and I just couldn't keep up. I should've just left her home with her parents." Sunset sat down. "I'm such an idiot. I tried to get away from Equestrian Magic for one week, but I brought Twilight with me to Camp Everfree. Now because of her, Gloriosa's a magic baby, Filthy Rich is injured, and Camp Everfree's right in his crosshairs. Some friend I am, huh?" "Sunset. It's not your fault. It's mine." Timber Spruce leaned down and put his hand on her shoulders. "I should've shown Gloriosa that there were better ways to save the camp, but she was so stubborn and adamant in her own ways that we ended up arguing. We should've been working together and closed the camp down until we had enough money to pay off the debt, but now we're both suffering because of it. I'm gonna be in court, and she's gone back to being in diapers!" "No. You're not the one who made the big oopsie. I did." Sunset stood back up and hung her head. "I brought magic to Camp Everfree. I turned Gloriosa into a baby. I'm the one responsible for her using her powers to hurt Filthy Rich. If anyone should stand in court for this, it should be me. Not you or Gloriosa." "Sunset..." "No. Don't try to talk me down, Timber. I know what I did." She started to walk away. "I'll leave you and Gloriosa alone now. You both seem like you need some time together." "Sunset, wait!" Timber began to walk along with her. "Don't be like this! You're not the one to blame for this! I know this because you and your friends are such kind-hearted people!" He watched her toss her suitcases and backpack onto the bus, along with the carrier around her chest. "Look. Before you go, I just want you to know that both of us never meant for this to happen. That's the one thing that we can agree on." He grabbed onto her hand as she started to climb the stairs. "If we can't save Camp Everfree, can we at least become friends? I don't want to face the rest of my life alone. I've lost my mom and dad, I've lost my sister to magic, and now I'm about to lose Camp Everfree too. Please, Sunset." His voice became desperate as he put his hand on his chest. "Just give me something to fall back on. I've already lost too much already..." It took Sunset a few moments to let everything Timber said sink into her mind. After everything that had happened, she still felt guilty for everything. She was the one who brought Twilight with her, yet he was going to break the fall. She thought that he must have been insane, risking himself for her. But the more that she looked into his eyes, the more that she could believe that his intentions were pure and that he genuinely felt sorry for her. Finally, she reached out her hand and gave Timber a small smile. "Timber. I accept your apology." Sunset let a small tear slip from her eyes. "If you ever want to find me, just come to Canterlot High. I'll be there with all of my friends." "Alright. I'll be sure to check it out." Timber put his hand on Sunset's chest and slid his finger down Twilight's chest. "But in the mean time, you shouldn't get yourself down. We're both equally to blame for everything that's happened. But you shouldn't beat yourself up over any of this." "And you shouldn't be too worried about the court case either." Sunset walked up the steps. "No matter what happens, we'll all be fighting your corner and trying our hardest to get you a not-guilty verdict." She heard the bus's horn honk loudly, signalling that they were about to depart. "See you there, Timber." "You too, Sunset." He watched Sunset take her seat on the bus and saw as the vehicle drove away from the camp, crunching the rocks beneath it as it went through the gates, leaving Timber and Gloriosa behind. "You too." Sunset pressed her hand against the window and watched as they broke through the trees of the forest and returned to the road. She sighed again and held Twilight as she took a peak herself and squealed at all of the sights. "Sunset, dear. What's wrong?" Rarity asked, leaning in closer to her. "I just. I wanted to help him out somehow, but... I couldn't." Sunset turned towards Rarity. "I wanted to do something. Anything. But I just felt too defeated to raise my hand to help. I couldn't help out with Gloriosa, to stop Filthy Rich from leaving like that, or just to save the camp in general." "Sunset. Stop being such a downer." Applejack put her hand on Sunset's chair. "None of us knew that Gloriosa was gonna turn into a magic baby; or that she'd get cranky and hurt Filthy Rich like that." "Yeah! None of us could've guessed that she'd go psycho and hit him like that." Rainbow Dash leaned over from her side of the bus. "But we still could've prevented it all." Sunset looked down at Twilight, who babbled some more. "And it's all because I brought Twilight with us. None of this would've happened if I'd just left her with her parents." "Sunset. Don't blame Twilight for even a second." Fluttershy peaked over her chair and gave Sunset a gentle rub on the forehead. "Twilight's just a baby. She can't control herself. Babies do what they want, when they want, and with whatever they want. If she wanted to use her magic, then she wanted to use her magic. And it's all because a baby's mind is so active, that it's almost impossible for them to think—even for a second." "Yeah! And if she wanted to take you to Equestria for a little mini-adventure on the side, that wasn't because she wanted to go, but rather because she was just doing what her little baby mind wanted to do." Pinkie nodded. "It's just like when Pound and Pumpkin play together in their room. I don't know what they're gonna do, but I know that they do it because their little minds want to do it because they think that it'll be fun for them." "And if Gloriosa wanted to use her vines to hurt Mr. Rich, then that was only because she's a baby. She can't control what she does." Applejack crossed her arms. "Heck, when Applebloom was still in diapers, she did some of the most wacky things I'd ever seen. And every time I asked Granny Smith about it, she said that she was just a baby and that she was having fun." "Look, I know that you're all trying your hardest to be supportive, but it doesn't change the facts." Sunset Shimmer shook her head and sank back into her seat. "Now, when I get back home, I'm going to spend all of my time with Twilight. I'm not gonna answer any of your texts, e-mails, or Mystable requests. I need some time alone, so that I can recover from this little trip." "Alright, Sunset. We respect your decision." Rarity nodded and patted Sunset's shoulders. "I respect your decision, Sunset." "It's for the best, anyway. We have been through an awful lot together." Fluttershy put her head back against her own seat. "It's good to have some time off every now and again." "You sure that's the right thing to do, sugarcube?" Applejack lifted one of her eyebrows. "I'm CERTAIN that it's the right thing." Sunset glared into Applejack's eyes. "I NEED some time off from you all. I need some time off from all of this. My life isn't all about Equestrian Magic, you five, or anything that we get up to at Canterlot High. We have our own houses, we have our families, so we should all just respect each others' opinions and move on. "Alright. I'm just asking." Applejack shrugged and slipped back into her seat. The other Rainbooms all returned their eyes to the windows as Sunset Shimmer quietly closed her eyes and drifted off into sleep. After what she had to endure at Camp Everfree, she just wanted to go away from everything. She wanted somewhere safe to be. Somewhere far away from everything where she and Twilight could play together in peace. And as she entered the world of her dreams, she began to visualise the perfect place. Author's Note And with that—much to the delight of a lot of viewers—the Camp Everfree Arc is OVER! The next chapter will involve Sunset and Twilight playing together at the house, with the Crystal Prep Shadow Five dropping around for a visit so that they can see how their favorite Littlebolt is getting on. And, just for clarification, Lemon Zest came up with the title of Littlebolt. See you all then. The Cutest of the LittleboltsThe next day, Sunset and Twilight were playing together. Sunset was giving Twilight all of the toys that she could find, while Twilight cooed and babbled as she used them. She shook them, fiddled with them, and sometimes put them in her mouth, sucking deftly on them. "Oh, Twilight. You're such a cute little baby, aren't you?" Sunset picked Twilight up and booped her nose. "Yes, you are. Yes, you are." She tickled her little armpits, hearing her squeal and laugh, thrashing her arms and legs around. "You know I'm never gonna leave you, right? Mama Sunset's always gonna be here for you, Twilight." Twilight reached up for Sunset's face, grabbed onto it, and spoke in baby talk. She was glad to have Twilight, and her tone of voice perfectly conveyed her feelings towards her. After she was done, she slipped her thumb into her mouth and one of the toys with her free hand. "Well, we've still got a few more minutes before lunch." Sunset took a quick glance at the phone in her pocket. "What do you want to do until then, Twilight?" Twilight turned around and scanned the room with her little eyes. She saw a little pink blanket on the ground and pointed towards it, dropping the toy out of her hand as she tried to fly off of Sunset's arms. As she lifted her finger up, her horn glowed bright, illuminating the blanket and lifting it into the air. As she pulled her arm back by her side, Twilight's magic made the fabric float over towards her. "Aw..." Sunset's heart melted at the sight. "Does my little Twilight want to be wrapped up?" She nuzzled Twilight's face and set her and the blanket down on the floor. "Alright then. Just hold still for a second." Sunset Shimmer grabbed both sides of the blanket and held them high. Then, she pulled both ends around Twilight and began to wrap her up in a soft pink cocoon, making sure to wrap her wings up as well. Once Sunset was done, she picked the now blanketed Twilight up and walked over towards a pacifier, plopping it into Twilight's mouth. "Twilight, if cuteness could kill, you would be considered a weapon of mass destruction." Sunset swooned as she watched Twilight snuggle into her woollen confines, sucking on her pacifier. "You would, wouldn't you? You little devil." She chuckled. Suddenly, a few knocks came from the nursery door. It opened shortly after, with Cadence standing on the other side. "Sunset? Do you have a minute?" she asked. "Yeah." Sunset walked over towards Cadence with Twilight pressed against her body. "What is it, Cadence?" "There's a few people in the living room that want to see you." Cadence turned towards the stairs. "Come on. We'll both go down together." Sunset and Cadence both walked down the stairs together, leaning against the rails. Once they got to the bottom, they turned to the left and went into the living room. Once inside, the first thing that they saw, sitting down on the couches and chairs were Indigo Zap, Lemon Zest, Sour Sweet, Sunny Flare, and Sugarcoat. All of them were wearing casual clothes and looked at Sunset and Twilight together. "Hey, Sunset! How's it going, girl?" Indigo waved from her recliner. "Sah, dude?" Lemon plucked her headphones from her head once Sunset came into the room. "Oh. Hello, you five." Sunset pulled up a chair from the wall and sat down, laying Twilight down in her laps once she sat down. "What brings you here?" "We just wanted to see how you were doing." Sugarcoat pushed her glasses to her face. "Ever since you came back from Camp Everfree, the rest of the Rainbooms told us that you were feeling a bit upset. So, we decided to exploit the loophole in your sentence and comfort you and Twilight." "Clever as always, Sugarcoat." Sunset smiled. "I take it you're getting the highest marks in Crystal Prep now that Twilight's, well... too young to be in an academy?" She pointed down to her. "She's getting straight A's in almost every subject." Sunny Flare lifted the cup of tea in her hands and gave it a small sip. "That and none of the students need to push themselves so hard now that Cinch is out of the picture. It's like we've all been freed from our cages; to roam in a world where we can pursue knowledge at our own leisures." "You have to admit, Sunny can wax poetic," said Cadence in the background as she helped Shining Armor with the washing up. "That's why she's got the best marks in CPA's drama class. If I didn't know any better, I say that she was Shakespeare's long-lost cousin or something." "Yeah..." Sunset idly nodded at Cadence. "Anyways, how's our favourite Littlebolt doing?" Lemon Zest stood up and gently tousled Twilight's hair. "Littlebolt?" Sunset cocked an eyebrow. "She came up with the nickname on the way here. Twilight was still a Shadowbolt when she opened that little trinket and became that adorable little monster, so, yeah." Indigo joined Lemon. "Honestly, I think that she's the only Littlebolt on the planet, but you never know. One of us could make a device that sucks up magic, then when we release it, we could turn into cute little babies with demon wings and a badass horn like that." "Sorry to crush your dreams, Indigo, but Twilight came up with that fancy thing. The chances of us doing what Twilight did are less than of us winning the lottery. And you know how hard it is to win that rip-off cash-grab." Sour Sweet crossed her arms. "Still, though, it would be cute to be a little squirt again. Just crawling around, drooling, and making your parents' lives a living hell as you try to have fun, stripping them of having any chance of it." "No. No more magic babies." Sunset shook her head and held Twilight close. "I already messed up because I took Twilight with me to Camp Everfree. I'm not about to let any of you five repeat my mistakes and suffer the same fate as Twilight and Gloriosa Daisy." "Alright, alright, alright! We get it! Geez, the Rainbooms were less depressing than that when they told us about little Glori." Indigo took a few steps back and pushed her arms out. "Still, though, it's a nice thought." "Yes, but we all have to grow up and move on, Indigo." Sunset gently rubbed Twilight's back and watched her begin to close her eyes. "That's the point of starting out as a baby. You're only like that for a few years, then when you begin to walk and talk, everything gets harder and harder. You get away with less stuff than you could before and the lessons you face at school can be quite taxing on your brain." "True. It has been nineteen years since the five of us had what Twilight's got right now." Sunny Flare nodded and put her tea down. "She's got it easy, though. No-one in the history of the human race has had the privilege of being a baby two times in their life." She walked over and gave Twilight a gentle rub on her cheek. "She's gotta live it up while she still can, because once she grows up, she won't even remember a thing about the freedom she used to have. It'll be lost in a tidal wave of ageing as she climbs back up the ladder, re-joins Crystal Prep Academy, and hopefully have a better time than when she used to work for Abacus." "Hear, hear." Sugarcoat nodded and cracked a small smile. "None of us want Twilight's second foray into the teenager world to be as harsh as it was with ex-Principal Cinch." "Yeah. We don't want a sweet, adorable, sickening little monster like her in the hands of someone like Principal Bitch." Sour Sweet shook her head and gave Twilight a peck on the forehead. "Aww... She's so cute that I could throw up my breakfast." "I hope you don't, Sour." Sunset stood up and carried Twilight towards the kitchen. "It's time for Twilight to have lunch and I'd never forgive you if you spoiled her appetite." "Can we help her with her lunch?" Lemon Zest shook her hips so fast that if she had a tail, it would be wagging like crazy. "I'd love to see little Twilight get her face messy with her baby food." "I suppose you could help, Lemon." Sunset smiled as she unwrapped Twilight from the high chair and plucked the pacifier from her mouth. "You could help get Twilight's bottle warmed up while I'm feeding her." "Can I help?" Indigo chimed in. "Sure." Sunset nodded. "Someone's gotta keep Twilight entertained while I get her food and open it up." She began to open the cabinets up and rummage around. "You can keep Twilight happy can't you, Indigo?" "No problem!" Indigo put her hands to her side and puffed out her chest. "A Crystal Prep Shadowbolt can handle any challenge." She loudly proclaimed before leaning in to Twilight. "Hey, kid. How's it hanging?" Twilight giggled and fired a small beam of blue light at Indigo's face, causing her buzzsaw hairstyle explode into a poofy mess that stuck out in all directions. She waved her arms and pulled her high chair tray towards her, shuffling around in her seat. "Real funny..." Indigo shoved her hands into her hair and furiously re-styled it back into her buzzsaw style. "You're lucky that you're a baby and that it's super easy to get my hair like this." While Indigo messed around with Twilight, Sunset was busy shuffling little phials of herbs and spices around as she tried to find the baby food. Despite the fact that she was now a part of the Sparkle family, she was still trying to figure out where all of the food was properly stored. Lemon Zest, on the other hand, had already found the milk in the fridge and poured it into a bottle, sticking it into the microwave once she had applied a rubber top to it. "So, you want me to play with your face?" Indigo asked, raising one of her eyebrows at Twilight. When she was met with baby talk, she just shrugged. "Alright. I'll take that as a yes." She reached in for her little cheeks and gave them a gentle pinch, wiggling around. "Now where's that little smile I love so much?" She forced the corners of Twilight's mouth up, making a large toothless grin. Once she let go, Twilight began to laugh again. "There it is! There's Twily's little smile!" "Alright, Twilight. Grub's up!" Sunset came back with a few jars of baby food and a small plastic spoon. She set the jars down, opened them up, and dipped the spoon inside one of them. "Thanks for the help, Indigo." "No prob, Sunset." Indigo stepped aside. "Anything for my favourite Littlebolt." "I still think that the nickname sounds ridiculous!" Sour Sweet called from the living room. "Says you!" Both Indigo and Lemon said in perfect sync. "Open up, Twilight..." Sunset cooed and lifted the spoon towards Twilight's mouth, slipping it in gently. She waited for her to swallow the food but noticed that she wasn't. "Hey, c'mon, girl. This is good for you. We don't want another visit from Mr. Tickle now, do we?" She lifted her other arm and flexed her fingers. Twilight swallowed the food in her mouth, clapping her hands together as she waited for the next mouthful. Sunset gave her another spoonful, and she eagerly put the spoon in her mouth, inhaling the mush whenever it was presented to her. It didn't take her long to finish a jar, but her speed had allowed for her to get some of the food on her face. As she felt it dribble down her cheeks, she began to rub it into her skin, laughing as she painted herself with her food. "Twilight. Don't play with your food..." Sunset took a baby wipe from the packet and slid it across Twilight's face, removing the stains that she had been playing with. "There we go. There's a good girl." She then proceeded to feed Twilight with food from another jar. "You're a fast little eater, aren't you?" Twilight simply nodded and took another mouthful of food. When the spoon came out of her mouth that time, she lifted both of her hands and reached out for the jars of baby food. Auras enveloped them and with a yank of Twilight's tiny hands, she pulled the entire jar over to her and put her lips around it, drinking from the food and getting a lot of it on her nose and mouth. "Twilight! No!" Sunset stumbled forward and pulled the jar out of Twilight's mouth while she was halfway through. "You're gonna make yourself sick if you eat your food like that." "Still, though. You've gotta give her some credit." Lemon Zest took the heated bottle out of the microwave once it beeped and flashed. "You don't see many babies eat food from the jar itself." "Well, there's a good reason for that." Sunset cleaned up Twilight again and lifted her out of the high chair. "Babies have smaller tummies than that of a grown man or woman like the five of us. If she'd emptied her jar, she would've either been really fat or made herself throw up with all the excess gunk she was slurping. That's why spoon-feeding exists; to stop babies from eating more than their weight in food." "But that doesn't mean she can't have a bottle too, right?" Lemon Zest held the hot bottle in her hand and passed it over to Sunset. "A baby's gotta drink too, right?" "That's exactly right." Sunset put the rubber nipple of the bottle into Twilight's mouth, watching her suckle gently on it and receive a reward of warm milk. "Even though Twilight looked like she was about to eat the entire jar, that doesn't mean she can't drink her fill as well. She needs to balance out eating and drinking just as much as we do." Twilight cooed gently as she continued to suck on the bottle. Every suck she took was rewarded with milk and she eventually took it out of Sunset's hand and held onto it as she jiggled her legs around. Her wings fluttered gently and her horn and cyan mask hummed with light as she drank almost half of the contents. She began to close her eyes as she drank, slipping away into her own little world as the warm and sweet taste danced around in her mouth before sliding down her throat. If she could've spoken, then she would've said that the drink was the best in the world and that everyone should try it out, but being a baby, all that she could do was drink and babble as she finished the bottle off. "All gone." Sunset took the bottle out once it was empty and slung Twilight over her shoulder. She gave the baby a few pats on the back, hearing her let out a loud burp shortly afterwards. "There we go, Twilight. Now you're full and ready to get back to playing with your toys." "Hey. Not that it's any trouble, or anything, but do you think that we could all watch Twilight play with you, Sunset?" Sunny Flare walked into the kitchen. "We all want to know that she's in good hands after the Friendship Games out, and we'd really like to offer a helping hand for how we treated you and your school back then." "It's perfectly fine, Shadowbolts." Sunset put the high chair and jars away, while putting the bottle into the sink. "You didn't mean to say all those things about us back then. You were just under Cinch's impression, and you let her rules mould you all into the rival school archetype." She carried Twilight into the living room. "Still, I'm sure that the five of you were still nice girls to be with even before the Friendship Games. You might've just needed a push in the right direction, that's all." "Alright!" Indigo fist-pumped and watched as the other Shadowbolts all stood up and circled around Sunset and Twilight. There was a brief silence for a few moments until Sugarcoat broke it by saying, "So, which one is her room?" Sunset just cracked a small smile and turned towards the stairs again. "Follow me, girls." Sunset and the Shadowbolts all went up the stairs together, almost huddled up to each other as they formed a hexagonal pattern. Despite the fact that Sunset had told the Rainbooms to leave her alone so that she could recuperate, she was still happy to know that they were still looking out for her, even if they had decided to send the Shadowbolts over to help her ease the pain. Sunset wanted to thank the girls for the deed, but with Twilight beginning to shake herself around in her grasp, Sunset knew that duty was calling and that she was the one to answer. New PlaymatesSunset lead the Shadowbolts up to the nursery and walked inside with Twilight in her arms. The whole group was met with a welcoming shade of bright baby pink as they all walked in. The toys were fairly scattered, with very clear paths leading to the changing table and crib. Sunset went over towards the blocks and set Twilight down by them, watching as she immediately reached out for them and began to play. "So, Sunset? Can I ask you a question?" Sour Sweet raised a hand once Twilight was lost in her playtime. "Sure. Ask away." Sunset Shimmer shrugged. "Has Twilight ever been a" —She leaned in close to Sunset and whispered in her ears— "problem at times?" "Well..." Sunset looked down at Twilight, who drooled and babbled as she plucked blocks from the ground and began to spell something out with them. "If I said no, then it'd be a bit too obvious that I was lying. Yes, I'm afraid that Twilight has been a bit wacky at times." "And judging by the wings and horn, it wasn't about what food she liked, if she'd soiled her diapers, or if she didn't want to go to sleep." Indigo squatted down and put her hands on her knees as she watched Twilight's block words come to fruition. "Knowing Twilight and all that magic stuff at the Friendship Games, I wouldn't be surprised if she was a bit hard to deal with at times." "A bit hard? That's the understatement of the century." Sunset crossed her arms. "Let's just say this. If you have a magic-filled baby with massive wings like this, then be prepared for inter-dimensional travel, crazy outburts of energy that could prove dangerous if you touch it, and even your house being turned into some weird set from a kid's TV show." She watched Twilight finish off the words, smiling and giggling once she put the last block down. "If anything, the regular baby stuff isn't that hard to deal with for me." "I wish that we could study Twilight in this state, but given that she is a baby, it wouldn't be right to take her from you." Sugarcoat walked over to Twilight and brushed her hair through the baby's long and lustrous locks of purple and black. "Which is a shame, because I have a feeling that this magic, used in the right way, would be able to revolutionize the world in so many ways." "Yeah. We could use magic to make houses and buildings in days, rather than years. We'd be able to learn how to fly without airplanes, teleport, create things with our imaginations! The possibilities are endless!" Sunny Flare grinned and put both of her hands to her cheeks. She let out a girly chuckle before taking a few deep breaths. "Excuse me for that. I sometimes act like a giddy toddler when I think about what Twilight's magic could do to help the world out." "Get real, Sunny Flare." Lemon Zest nudged her shoulder and gave her a coy glance. "You want to learn how you can use Twilight's magic to have fun. I can't really blame ya for that. Sunset and her friends can grow wings, pony ears, and bigger hair. The stuff I could do with longer hair..." Lemon grinned and drifted away into her own thoughts. "Oh. She's such a little sweetheart isn't she?" Sour Sweet picked Twilight up and rubbed her tiny belly. "Shame the rest of the world isn't cuddles and hugs for her." "So. What else is new?" Sunset asked as Twilight opened her wings and flapped out of Sour's hold and landed in the playpen. "Any social events coming up at Crystal Prep or something like that?" "Well... come to think of it, there is something going on that we've got our eyes on." Sunny Flare pulled out her phone, opened up the internet app, and scrolled down to show an advert. "Seems like what you girls did is really sparking interest." "What? What is it, Sunny?" Sunset came up to her and gazed down at the phone. "There's going to be a music video competition in a couple of weeks with prize money on the line. The proceeds for entry all go towards helping Camp Everfree stay afloat." Sunny Flare began. "Bring as many friends as you want and shoot the best music video you possibly can. The best entry will receive a prize of ten-thousand dollars. You can use any formatting and editing tools you want when making the video." "Sounds like fun. Plus, we'd be able to help your friend Timber out." Lemon Zest put her arm around Sunset's neck and gave her a smile. "Crystal Prep's got some of the best gear for editing stuff. We'll provide editing, while you and your friends could come up with the song, set, and other important stuff." "Well. Timber does need some help, given that he's gotta deal with Filthy Rich and Gloriosa. I'll let the other girls know once you all head home." Sunset nodded and zoomed in on the application forms. "This contest could be just what he needs to save the camp from the debt he's in." "Ah, yes. I heard everything from the Rainbooms. Didn't they say that along the way, Gloriosa got consumed by magic as well and turned into a little baby like Twilight?" Sugarcoat lifted a brow at Sunset. "Yeah. But it's kind of a long story and I wouldn't want to bore you with that kinda stuff." Sunset recoiled and ran her fingers through her hair. "Plus, it's kinda the reason why I'm spending the week away from the girls. Things got out of hand and I don't think I'm ready to face them again after I brought Twilight with me and ended up turning Gloriosa into a baby because of it." She snapped her head backwards and grunted. "Look. I don't want to stay on this subject for too long. Can we talk about the contest some more instead?" "Sunset. You're avoiding the question because it hurts you, doesn't it?" Sugarcoat adjusted her glasses and stared deep into Sunset's eyes. "Listen to me. There will always be moments like this where people get hurt. But you have to remember that you're not at fault here. You had no idea that it would go down that route." "I know, but don't you think that I deserve at least some slap on the wrist for my stupidity?" Sunset tilted her head to the side. "I brought Twilight, a magical baby, to a non-magical area to try and let her have some fun and quality time with me and the others. And all that got me was more problems than leisure time." "I know that, but don't you think that you should tell us exactly what happened?" Sugarcoat folded her arms in front of her chest. "There's no point in us helping you out if we don't even know what the problem is." "Look, Sugarcoat. You and your friends are still young. You've still got a lot to learn about magic." Sunset Shimmer hung her head, took a deep breath, and looked up at the girls again. "What happened at Camp Everfree goes beyond the boundaries of what we've come to understand..." Twilight watched Sunset Shimmer explain everything to the Shadowbolts. She cooed and tilted her head as she heard everything her mother said to the girls. But Twilight was a restless little girl. She wanted to play. She tried to fidget her arms and legs around and play with the toys in the playpen, but she quickly came to realize that she was alone in the pen. She took a look down at her tiny hands and whimpered like a dog. As she took one more glance out, she saw the bright hairs and bodies of the Crystal Preppers, and her eyes lit up on the spot. Twilight crawled over towards the playpen bars and grabbed onto them as tightly as she could. She pointed her horn at the five Shadowbolts and began to charge a spell. Instead of magical energy being drawn from thin air, she instead created magical auras around the teenagers and absorbed them into her horn, laughing and speaking in baby talk all the while. Finally, once she had charged everything up, she turned around at the empty playpen and fired five bright beams down onto it, causing small pillars of light to erupt from where she had shot her magic. "So anyway, that's it. The magic that I brought to Camp Everfree not only landed Timber Spruce with a potential courtroom case, but also another dent in his budget," said Sunset Shimmer. "Doing this competition is going to help Timber not only save the camp, but also give him a good head start when caring for baby Gloriosa Daisy. Now then, I hope that sinks in and that you'll all help me out with this." "Sunset. After the Friendship Games, you can consider us friends for life." Indigo Zap put her hand on Sunset's shoulder and gave her a smile. "Sure, we might not be as good as the Rainbooms, and that we might be a bit rough around the edges, but once you get to know us, we're all goo—" Before Indigo could even finish her sentence, a cavalcade of baby talk erupted from the playpen. Instead of Twilight's voice, there were more voices coming from it as well. There were some whines, giggles, and other noises as well, but there was mostly chatter inside the pen. "Uh, Sunset? What happened in there?" Sour Sweet turned her head towards the playpen. "I don't know..." Sunset also turned her eyes towards the pen and walked over towards it. She poked her head over the bars and looked down at the sight. "Uh oh." "Uh oh? What do you mean, uh oh?" Lemon Zest ran over with the other Shadowbolts towards the playpen. "Sunset, you're scaring us. What's going on in—" she looked inside "—there?" Inside the playpen, Twilight was now playing with five brand new babies, all of whom shared the same hair, skin, and eye colours as the Crystal Prep Shadowbolts. They all wore Twilight's purple and pink outfit, but were lacking in any wings, horns, or glowing neon masks. Instead, they were all just playing with stuffed animals, suckling on pacifiers, and crawling around with smiles on their faces. "Whoa!" Sunset jumped backwards and tripped over some building blocks. She landed hard on her rear end and felt a surge of pain shoot up her body. "What happened in there? How did Twilight create more babies?!" "Why are you so surprised by this?" Lemon Zest turned towards Sunset. "I think it's kinda cute. The little baby us-es are so super-duper adorable." She shook her fists with a massive grin plastered on her face and turned back to the pen. "Aw... Look at little me playing with those balls. I just wanna take her home and play with her all day!" "I must admit, this is rather heartwarming." Sugarcoat reached down towards her little clone and picked her up. She pulled her infant duplicate out of the pen and held it close to her chest. "It even has a heartbeat and everything. Twilight Sparkle has the power to clone us and make baby versions of ourselves so that she doesn't get lonely... How clever—especially considering that babies are incapable of thought and just play instead." "Indeed." Sunny Flare watched her baby self suckle on a bright pink pacifier. She picked her copy up and held her up to her chest. "Most babies can't talk, remember things, or even count or spell. So for an infant to have the power to create life like this is a miracle in itself. Like I'e said. I'm always easily impressed by Twilight's feats and what she could do when she grows up again." "Hey, little girl. It's me, you. No, not me as in me, I mean me as in you." Indigo Zap was holding her baby copy in her hands, looking into her eyes with a delicate smile. "Man. Am I talking to myself or is a grown-up version of me speaking to a baby me? It's kinda confusing, y'know?" "Ga ba boo baa li wa Lemon Zest. Ooo ga wa ma pabada?" Lemon Zest babbled down at her baby double. She heard her giggle, clap her hands together, and reach up for her nose. "Alright. I'll be honest here, everyone. I've got no idea what I just said and I don't think I understand exactly what she's saying either." Indigo and her baby self couldn't help but snicker at Lemon. "Maybe Pinkie Pie should teach you some baby talk," said the older version. "Given that you're here speaking to a smaller and cuter version of yourself, I think some lessons wouldn't hurt." "It'd also help when trying to deal with Twilight." Sour Sweet bounced her infant copy on her legs. "Though I don't know how I'd be able to learn all of it and speak in baby talk while trying to keep happy. This damn bipolar syndrome of mine is gonna make it REAL HARD to deal with kids." "Wait. Now that I think about it, both us and these babies are the same people." Sunny Flare looked down and watched her baby self giggle, still sucking deftly on the pacifier as she looked around. "Now, I might be diving a bit out of reality here, but doesn't this technically mean that we're causing paradoxes by taking care of ourselves?" "It might be possible." Sugarcoat watched her baby copy reach down and pick up a rattle, which she began to shake vigorously. "Normally, it's highly impossible for you to speak with yourself, as it would cause a rupture in the timeline. Even speaking one word to your other half could end up changing the future massively." Sugarcoat let the whole room fall silent for a few moments while they watched their baby duplicates play and cuddle in their embraces. Nothing out of the ordinary happened—even when the Shadowbolts were hugging themselves. "How odd. Nothing's happening. I thought that we would be plagued by paradoxes by now." "It's completely impossible for paradoxes to happen here." Sunset Shimmer brushed some hair out of her face. "Twilight Sparkle created the baby copies of yourselves. They didn't just appear out of some alternate universe and say that the fate of the world was in balance in some weird baby talk-language that everyone understands." Sunset reached down to baby Lemon Zest and brushed her hair. "They were created from Twilight's magic, so it might be possible that they're just illusions that'll vanish once she has a nap. Believe me. It's happened before. Once it's naptime for Twily, everything just goes poof. Magic gone." "So, as long as Twilight stays awake, the baby us-es are still here?" Indigo Zap asked. "Yes. I would believe so." Sunset nodded and picked Twilight up out of the playpen. "Because she used her magic, there's no risk of a paradox whatsoever. You five can all touch, cuddle, dress, and play with your baby selves as much as you want and there'd be absolutely no chance that the world ends. At least, that's what I think." Sunset rubbed the back of her neck. "It's the first time that Twilight's created new babies to play with, so I can't be sure that they'll vanish once she naps. Like I've said; it's possible, but it's not guaranteed." "Then, in that case, we should start playing with them." Sugarcoat set baby Sugarcoat down into a small baby bouncer and watched as she began to bounce in it. "It's the first and probably only time that we'll get to play with ourselves and it won't be seen as weird or awkward when someone comes barging in." "Was that a sex joke, Sugarcoat?" Sour Sweet's eyes shot wide open at Sugarcoat's remark. "If it was, then you've got guts. Speaking about sex in the presence of babies isn't something that I'd do—even with my disorder." "Oh, lighten up, Sour Sweet. They're babies. They won't understand." Sugarcoat smiled and tousled the hair of her little copy. "I could teach them about all three of Newton's Laws and they'd just drool, suck their thumbs, or crawl away. I highly think that a mere sex joke will stick in their brains at this young an age." "Aaaand, moving swiftly on from that, this is great!" Lemon Zest got down on her hands and knees and let her baby copy crawl off, soon following her towards the stuffed animals. "Now that Twilight did this spell, we can complete the group." "What group?" Sunset asked. "The Crystal Prep Littlebolts!" Lemon Zest threw her arms into the air. "They're the smallest, youngest, most playful, and the cutiest little Crystal Prep babies you've ever seen! Baby Twily, Baby Sunny, Baby Indy, Baby Sweet, Baby Sugar, and Baby Lemon—that being me, of course. No. not me me, I mean her me. Man. Indy was right. It is confusing—are the Crystal Prep Littlebolts!" Sunset couldn't help but let a hearty laugh as the other babies began to play. Her heart melted at the sight and she set Twilight down to play along with the other babies. "Alright. We've got an hour or so before naptime, so why not live it up? Go, Twilight. Go and play with your newest best friends; the Crystal Prep Littlebolts!" The Road AheadSunset and the Shadowbolts were all playing together with their little duplicates. While it had originally come as a shock to the system for all of them—Sunset Shimmer especially—they had very quickly adapted to there being baby versions of themselves because of Twilight's magic. Through their smiles and silly faces, they were deep in thought on just how powerful Twilight's magic really was—or how powerful it would become in the future. "Aww! Mini me is so cute!" Lemon Zest gushed over how her baby copy was climbing her body. She watched the baby then reach up and take Lemon's headphones off of the top of her head and try to wear them, only to have them fall down and land on the teenager's legs. "I just wanna take her home right now and cuddle her!" "Lemon Zest, she's a magical clone created by Twilight's magic." Sugarcoat spoke in her usual deadpan accent, while at the same time, brushing her infant double's tiny hair. "I wouldn't get too attached to her." "Yes. If Twilight's magic disappears when she goes to sleep, then she might end up causing these little baby doppelgangers to vanish as well." Sunny Flare turned towards Lemon Zest. "Enjoy the time that you have with these babies at the moment, but when Twilight falls asleep, just be prepared to say goodbye to them all." "Yeah, I know, I know," said Lemon, watching her little version pick up the headphones again and put one of the speakers to her ears. At the same time, teenage Lemon turned the music on and made sure to turn down the speakers so that her tiny copy didn't have her ears blasted out of her head. "You know what the funny thing is? I downloaded a bunch of nursery rhymes because I wanted to treat Twilight to them. Y'know, 'cause she's a baby. But I never thought I'd be using them on myself. Literally." Sunset couldn't help but chuckle as she brought Twilight over to the Lemon Zests. She set Twilight down with Lemon and helped her towards the other speaker on the headphones. Now, both babies were listening to the soothing songs, and they both ended up giggling with each verse. Indigo Zap was watching baby her playing with a ball. She watched her throw the ball with her tiny arms up towards the Crystal Prep girl, laughing as she caught it with one sweep. As Indigo gently lobbed it back, baby Indigo caught it and laughed, wildly wiggling her legs as she celebrated her mediocre accomplishment. "Y'know, Sour? She's pretty cute for a kid." Indigo gave her baby a pat on the head as she watched her crawl off towards another part of the room. "Yeah. All of them are." Sour Sweet swooned, smiling at how her baby was sticking a building block into her mouth. "So young. So innocent. So unaware of the hellish and tedious futures that await them..." "Geez, always gotta end it with a back-handed comment, eh, Sour?" Indigo's mood fell when Sour patted her baby self on the back and turned to face her. "You've gotta get that stuff worked out, girl." "I know, I know! I'm sorry if my medication does jack, alright?!" She threw her arms down as the muscles in her forehead flexed. As soon as Sour watched Indigo recoil, she put a hand to her head and let out a sigh. "Sorry, sorry. I'm still a bit on edge. My medication seems to be doing less and less each day, and I'm not sure exactly what to do about it." "Hey, hey. Take it easy, Sour." Indigo came over and gave Sour a small hug. "You'll pull through this. I know you will. You've always managed to make it through a day at Crystal Prep without punching someone, so that kinda counts towards you getting better." "Hmm... I suppose." Sour looked up, her face beginning to melt with grief as she let out another deep sigh. "Indigo. Do you think that there's a cure for being bipolar?" she asked. "And be honest with me. Don't try and lie to make me feel better." "Well, I don't think there's one right now, but they're surely working on one." Indigo brushed her hand over Sour's shoulders. "But moping about these things is just gonna make everything worse. Just try to think about the good stuff in your life, y'know? Forget about the bad. It's only there for a short while." "But when the bad stuff happens, it usually stings more painfully than the good stuff makes us happy." Sour sat down and crossed her legs. "I just don't know where to turn, Indigo. Can't the students at Crystal Prep do something about this?" "Look, as bright as we are, we can't come up with a cure for these kind of diseases." Indigo shook her head. "If we did, then we'd be the talk of not only the town, but the rest of the planet! Plus, we'd practically get diplomas on the dot for that." She let a small smile creep onto her face as she envisioned a Crystal Prep that cured Sour's ailments. It soon dissolved once she focused on Sour again. "Look, just don't let it get to you right now. Just have fun with the little us-es and you'll soon forget about this problem." "Speaking of playing, I'm really having fun doing it with little me." Sunny Flare was strewn about on her belly, playing pattycake with the baby double of herself. Her legs kicked the air as she rhythmically struck baby Sunny's hands. "Who knew that playing with yourself could be so therapeutic?" As Indigo and Sour watched the whole thing, they couldn't help but smile and plucked their babies up from the ground, holding them gently. As they felt their babies begin to snuggle up to their bodies and coo softly, it felt like they had immediately forgotten about the world around them. All of the other noises that they could hear were negated, as they focused solely on listening to their tiny selves. To them, they wanted nothing else in life. This was their perfect moment. Dean Cadence knocked on the door and said, "Sunset? Are you in there? I need to speak with you." "Oh, I'll be right there, Aunt Cadence," said Sunset, setting Twilight down on the padded flooring to play with the others. "You be good for the Shadowbolts while I'm gone, alright, Twilight?" Twilight simply cooed and gave Sunset an innocent smile, nodding her head as she watched her walk out of the door and meet Cadence. Once she was out of the door, she turned back to the others and lit up her horn, as a small smile grew on her face. "So, what did you want to talk to me about, Cadence?" Sunset closed the door behind her and turned to face Cadence. "Is this about Twilight?" "No, it's not about Twilight, Sunset." Cadence held a clipboard and pen in her arms, with some documents emblazoned with a seal from the city board. "It's about the trials." "Trials? What trials?" Sunset tilted her head at the papers on Cadence's clipboard. "Well, as you know, ex-principal Cinch is going to be tried on suspicion of blackmail, thanks to you, your friends, and the five Crystal Prep girls with you today." Cadence tapped the paper with the clicker end of the pen. "As you may or may not know, a courtroom battle needs both a defense attorney and a prosecutor. We've already got both sides covered, but we'd like to ask you and the rest of your friends to be witnesses." Cadence watched Spike climbing the stairs. "In fact, everyone who was at the Friendship Games is going to testify in court. I hope that it's not an issue for you." "Oh, no, Cadence. It's not," said Sunset. "Principal Cinch had it coming. I'll be glad to speak out against her." "Good." Cadence turned the paper toward Sunset and handed her the pen. "I just need you to sign your name here and then you'll be ready for the case." "Already done." Without a moment to think it over, Sunset took the pen and wrote her name down, handing everything back to Cadence once she was finished. "Is that all, or is there more?" "Well, yes there is." Cadence took the first sheet and slid it underneath the one below it. It was another court paper, with the same symbol from before. "A Mr. Filthy Rich is suing Camp Everfree's staff for physical violence against him, and according to the documents he's provided, everyone there's going to be a witness as well. You and the others were at Camp Everfree, weren't you?" As soon as Sunset heard those words, she felt like she had been slashed all over with a blade so cold that it froze her wounds as soon as they had appeared. Her heart began to pound as she thought about Timber and Gloriosa's fate if they were to lose against Filthy Rich. Hastily, she reached for the pen again, trembling as she frisked the second summons. She tried to swallow, but she threw up in her mouth instead. "I'm guessing you need some time alone." Cadence just had to look at Sunset's face to know that something was wrong. "I can always come back later if this isn't a good time." "No!" Sunset swung her hands in front of her face. "I mean, yes. No, wait! I mean, I... I-I, ugh! Just let me see the papers." She took them from Cadence's hands. After giving them a more through glance-over, Sunset began to sweat as she put the ink end of the pen towards the paper. "Look, Cadence, there's more to this thing than meets the eye." "Oh? Then what is it, Sunset?" Cadence asked, leaning in slowly. "There's no need to hide it from me. Nothing you say is going to get you or Twilight in trouble. I'll make sure of it." "It's not Twilight and I that's bothering me about this," Sunset started, mustering up what little courage she had left after seeing the papers. "It's mainly about Timber and Gloriosa. Something happened to them that caused Filthy Rich to take out a lawsuit against them and the camp." She looked away and felt her face droop. "And if I told you about it, it would make almost no sense, wouldn't it?" "Sunset." Cadence put her hand on Sunset's chest. "We've seen Principal Cinch take the biggest fall from grace in the history of Crystal Prep, seen Twilight Sparkle be turned into a magical monster baby, and we've taken you into the family as one of our own because of all of this. I'm sure that we'll be able to make some sort of sense out of what you have to say." Sunset inhaled as much air as her lungs would take in, and exhaled an equally large amount as she rubbed her forehead with her fingertips. "Basically, when Twilight went over to Camp Everfree with me, she used magic to take me to Equestria," she began. "After a while, we managed to make it back home, but let's just say that Twilight wasn't the easiest to deal with—even back home." "I can imagine." Cadence looked back at the door and thought about Twilight. "That magic of hers is unlike anything this world's ever seen. It's like something straight out of a movie." "Yeah. But anyway, when we got back home, let's just say that—and I'm not putting this down as it being definite—Twilight did something to Gloriosa, and when we were back at the camp, she turned into a magical baby as well; as if Twilight's condition was contagious if she had just the right spell." "But Twilight's only a baby! How could she have known what spell to use to turn Gloriosa into one?" Cadence lifted a brow. "Ugh! I haven't even thought this through and I'm already confused. You could say that I've been replaced by an evil shapeshifting queen who wanted to ruin my life by turning into me and ruining my one chance at a stable relationship and it would make too much sense!" "Like I said. You wouldn't understand, even if I tried to explain it to you." Sunset looked down at the papers again. "Magic here's a bit different than it is back home. We have ponies in Equestria who can channel it; keep it stable. But here in this other world, there's no unicorns, no magical artefacts, nothing like that, and yet it's still happening right before our eyes. That's as close as I'll ever get to explaining it and I've still got no proof." She face-palmed and slowly rubbed her face down. "All we can do is brace ourselves for the next outbreak and take it as it comes." She began to sign the next document, but did it slowly as she recalled the moments that she witnessed Gloriosa attack Filthy Rich. "Timber Spruce is all alone now that his sister's been youthened. He's got no way of paying Camp Everfree, no way to stand up to Filthy Rich in court, and no way that he can win without our support. I got him into this mess by bringing Twilight with me, and now I'm gonna get him back out again." She underlined her name and gave the completed documents back to Cadence. "You look a bit frazzled, Sunset." Cadence took the signed papers away from Sunset. "Are you sure you're feeling alright?" "Look. The reason that the Shadowbolts are here today is because my friends are trying to make me believe that I'm not at fault here, yet I was the one who brought Twilight with me to the camp." Sunset put her forehead against the wall and groaned. "I've ruined Timber's life with Gloriosa being turned young. I brought magic with me when we all wanted to get away from it, and now it's put us in this mess. I told the rest of the Rainbooms that I wasn't ready to face them again until I'd calmed down, and I'm really starting to worry that I'll never be able to face them again—especially if Timber ends up losing the camp to Filthy Rich in this courtroom battle." "Sunset. Your friends aren't going to think of you any different if you lose." Cadence patted Sunset's back and watched as some small tears began to trickle down from her cheeks and hit the floor. "Your friends are always going to be there for you, no matter what. And even if they do leave you, they're not your only friends." She pointed towards the door again. "Indigo, Sour, Sunny, Lemon, and Sugarcoat are all in there today because they supported you. They wouldn't have come down to see you if you weren't friends with any of them. I suppose that, in a way, I'm glad that the Friendship Games happened this year. Sure, it was a bit crazy with what went down, but in the end, you ended up making friends with the enemy team. That's gotta account for something, right?" "Look. I'm glad that you're helping me out with this, aunt Cadence, but I really think that I need some time with Twilight." Sunset turned away from the door and started to walk back towards the nursery. "I just need to de-stress and think about this with a clearer mind. Otherwise, I might end up doing something really bad." "Alright. Well, I'll let you get back to it." Cadence began to walk down the stairs. "Dinner's gonna be a little late tonight. Shining Armor's gotta do some patrol work for the city after the recent crime increase." "Thanks for letting me know." Sunset waved Cadence off before she put her hand back on the handle. She opened the door and saw a rather peculiar sight. Twilight had severed gravity in the room. Furniture, toys, and even the other Shadowbolts were suspended in the air, just floating about with their little ones held tightly in hand. While she was trying to catch some of the floating toys, the others were trying to get back onto the ground, but with little success. "Twilight? What did I just say about being good?" Sunset muttered, jumping into the room to try and catch her little monster. With a single dive, she caught her and landed face-first on the ground, placing her on the ground like a football player would plant a touchdown. "Mama!" Twilight squealed, and lit up her horn in ecstasy. With a single wave of black and blue energy, gravity was restored, and a resounding noise of crashing nursery equipment burst throughout the room. "Thank goddess you're back, Sunset." Sunny Flare stood up and rubbed her rear end, trying to eliminate the pain that flared through her butt cheeks. "We thought that we were gonna be like that forever." "Not that I would've minded." Lemon lifted a finger. "Mini-me liked flying like that." She held the giggling baby Lemon up as proof. "Are you alright, Sunset?" Sugarcoat just had to look at Sunset's face to know that she had been shot in the metaphorical heart. "You seem a bit downtrodden about something." "No. No. I'm fine," lied Sunset. "I just need to take some time off and play with Twilight more. The courtroom cases are coming up soon, and I don't want to go into them feeling like a complete wreck." "You mean Cinch's trial?" asked Indigo. "Well, I get that you wanna get to the point like that, but I don't see how you're worried about that. Seems like a pretty open and shut case to me." "Indy, she obviously doesn't mean Cinch's trial." Sour Sweet scoffed. "That witch is gonna get burned at the stake in court. Just sit back and enjoy the chaos..." "She's talking about Timber Spruce vs Filthy Rich." Sugarcoat crossed her arms, almost suffocating her baby duplicate in the process. "I overheard the whole thing." "You heard?!" Sunset almost sprung into the air. "But why would you do that?!" "The Rainbooms told us all about what happened," Sugarcoat pushed her glasses to her face. "They said that you were a nervous wreck and that you needed cheering up. That's why we're all here today, Sunset. We're acting as your friends, seeing as how you shut the door on them when you needed them the most." "They also said that, in the case you turn into a crying mess, that we could all come together and help you feel happier," Lemon squeaked, smiling eagerly. "And since all of these babies are here, I think I've got the perfect idea..." "Oh dear..." Sunny Flare grimaced, watching the other Shadowbolts do the same. "What? What is it now?" Sunset asked. "Whenever Lemon Zest gets an idea, you can tell that things are gonna get out of hand pretty quickly." Indigo Zap broke the silence and walked over to Lemon. "She once had the crazy idea to have some kind of prep rally when the Friendship Games came round, and if it weren't for Cinch, the whole of Crystal Prep might've had a second Mardi Gras." "Hey! It's not my fault that Cinch was three steps ahead of me that day!" Lemon pouted, stomping and leaning forward like a spoilt princess. She soon composed herself and stood upright again, looking at all of the Shadowbolts and their babies with a wide smile on her face. "And besides, this is a good idea. This is gonna get Sunset over here a big goofy grin on her face." "You kinda sound like Pinkie Pie, Lemon." Despite her mental state, Sunset couldn't help but smile at Lemon's enthusiasm. "Alright, Lemon Zest. Let's see what you've got for an idea." "Alright. Now listen up. This is a great plan." Lemon Zest brought the other Shadowbolts and Sunset close into a huddle together. Lemon's Plan and Twilight's Intervention"That's the stupidest idea that I've ever heard!" Sugarcoat was the first one to break out of the huddle once Lemon's plan swirled around in her mind. "Oh, c'mon, Sugarcoat. Learn to look on the bright side of things." Lemon tipped her hand with a giddy smile plastered on her face. "It's a foolproof way to cheer Sunset up!" "But even if Twilight were to go along with this, what's the betting she wouldn't be able to fix it all afterwards?" Sunny Flare lifted a finger. "Twilight's magic only fades away when she goes to sleep, and the way you want us all to play with her might make her so excited that she won't ever want to have a nap!" "Not to mention that Twilight's just a baby, Lemon Zest." Sunset held Twilight close to her chest and listened to her spout off some baby gibberish and mouth farts. "Her mind's a bit of a wacky place, y'know. And her magic might do something completely different to what you have planned. Believe me—I know." "Still, it's the best way what we can cheer you up, Sunset." Lemon Zest patted Twilight's back, watching her let off a tiny burp. "You've been a bit of a debbie downer ever since you got back from Camp Everfree, and you did kinda sound like you were upset over Timber's trial against Filthy Rich. And besides, it's fun to play with babies, isn't it?" "Again, I must add logic to this and say that Sunset is right." Sugarcoat almost tripped over her baby duplicate as she laid a hand on Twilight. "Baby minds are the most uncontrolled of all. While children have great imaginations and can think about things, a baby can do nothing but imagine. Hence why parents have to do everything for them when it comes to food, drink, and changes." "And given that Twilight's got all of that magic inside of her, her imagination might be a little more out there..." Sour Sweet tugged at her collar. "Heck, I'd say this little squirt's mind is like a whole other world in itself. I'm a little tempted to dissect her right now and see what's in that little magic-soaked brain of hers." "AND, moving swiftly on..." Sunset yanked Twilight away from Sour, glaring at her before turning to the others. "Look. I appreciate the situation, Lemon Zest, but what you're asking is almost impossible. I'm all for anything that'll make me happy, but I think you could've thought of something much better than this." "C'mon, Sunset! Lay offa Lemon a bit." Indigo Zap stood in front Lemon and held her arms out to the sides. "It's a good idea. Plus, you don't need to worry about it. If you want Twilight to go to sleep, then we can help her go to sleep. It's not that hard." "Will you two just listen to yourselves?" Sunny Flare tilted her head. "You're saying that we should play with magic, even after the Friendship Games ended. I thought we'd learned our lesson from following the beat of Cinch's drum." "For the record, it would be the funnest thing we'd ever done since the Friendship Games." Lemon squeaked. "You never know until you try, y'know..." "And what if we don't want to know?" Sour Sweet lifted a brow, rolling up the sleeves on her shirt. "What if we just make Sunset happier through just playing with the babies as normal? Then how silly would you feel?" "Girls, girls, girls! There's no reason to start an argument like this." Sunset let Twilight fly onto her shoulders. Then, she pushed both sides away from each other. "Look. Let's just drop this whole thing and go back to what we were doing before Cadence came in, alright?" But it was too late, both sides were bickering and fighting over their differing opinions. Any input Sunset would've had was quickly lost within a hailstorm of howling Shadowbolts as they both tried to prove that their way was the right way. Feeling like she would be unable to help them calm down, she simply hung her head and looked over at Twilight. "It's such a shame, Twilight." She sighed and rocked her gently. "They want to help me out, but they're letting the silliest of things get to them. It's just like what happened back at the Battle of the Bands." She watched as Twilight drooled and stared back at her innocently. "If only we could get them to calm down and see things from a new perspective..." And she sat down on her haunches. Twilight looked all over the room for something that she could use to make herself feel happy. Toys, blocks, and the other baby clones of the Shadowbolts caught her eyes, but it still wasn't enough to spark something within her. She was just about to give up when the little baby Lemon Zest tossed a book in her general direction. Twilight flipped through the pages and eventually stopped on a picture showing a tiny naked human with antenna poking out of the top of their heads, with large transparent butterfly wings poking out of their backs. Small twinkling stars were dotted around the mythical creature, as if to represent that they were magical. Her eyes lit up, and Twilight couldn't help but giggle as she lit up her horn once again and charged up a spell. "Twilight?" Sunset watched Twilight gather up her magic. "Oh no! No! No! No!" Sunset tried to grab Twilight's horn to stop the spell, but it was too late, as light blue lightning shot out of Twilight and collided with all five of the grown-up Shadowbolts, making them writhe and contort as if they were being exorcised by a holy priest. "Twilight! I didn't want any more magic tod—" Before she could finish, however, Twilight looked up at Sunset and caused a loose bolt to strike Sunset directly in the face, causing her to scream as well "—aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAGGGH!" The six teenagers could only let the pain envelop their bodies as Twilight's magic worked on them, beginning to transform them. They grew a few inches shorter before a series of magical orbs consumed all of the girls and detonated with a series of magnificent blasts of bright rainbow-coloured light, which illuminated the room and caused all of the babies to shield their eyes. Sunset Shimmer was the first one to wake up once the spell came to its' conclusion. She struggled to get onto her feet, but she could already feel that many things about her had changed. She couldn't feel any of her clothes and she felt much lighter overall. A pair of glistening wings poked out of her back, reflecting every colour of the rainbow beneath them. A bright yellow aura pervaded her and she could feel a horn on her forehead. "Wh-what happened?" Sunset got onto her feet and tried to look around. "Wait. What am I?!" She hastily tapped her body and felt her bare flesh jiggle with each tap. "And where's my clothes?!" She saw that her black leather jacket and her blue and yellow skirt were strewn about on the floor, and she thought that they looked at least twenty times bigger than usual. Before she could walk on, she saw Twilight, but now she was the size of a giant. She looked at the magical demon baby and felt fear gripping at her for the first time since she'd seen her. Her body grew cold and she couldn't help but hold her jaw wide open as she stared at the massive infant that she once used to care for. "Twilight! What's going on?" It was only now that Sunset had noticed that her voice sounded much higher and squeakier, as if she had inhaled some helium. "And why am I so tiny? What did you do to us?" Twilight picked up the book and pointed to Sunset, holding up the picture of the magical creature she had been examining earlier. She tapped the picture and babbled excitedly, wiggling her arms and legs while laughing at what she had done to the teenagers. "A pixie?" Sunset looked at the picture closely and wiggled her backside. Surely enough, she felt the wings shake with her movements, and patted them with the backs of her hands. "Did you turn us all into pixies, Twilight?" She tiptoed forward, trying to cover up her nether regions. Twilight nodded and grabbed Sunset, crumpling her wings at the same time. She gave her tiny mother a big goopy kiss on the head before playing around with her wings, straightening them out again. She turned towards the rest of the nursery and gently tried to flip Sunset off, cooing something to her as she urged her to look around. "Twilight! I'm not a bird!" Sunset pouted and held her fists to her hips, puffing out her face at her. She heard the baby giggle once more as she turned back and began to flap her wings. "Laugh now, Twilight, but once we turn back to normal, we're gonna have to start introducing time-outs and a bad baby corner..." Sunset indignantly flew off. As Sunset floated over the colossal nursery, she saw the other babies were still playing with toys, too distracted to see the magical flying creature above them. Sunset was now no bigger than a finger, so she would have to take extra care. All of the objects in the room now looked intimidating and unnerving, as any one of them at any time could crush her, and then Twilight would be without her mama forever. "Indigo? Lemon? Sugarcoat? Are any of you there?" Sunset's tinny voice called out as she combed the area. Despite how well she knew Twilight's room and the toys in it, trying to find the Shadowbolts now was like trying to find needles in a haystack. "C'mon, girls! You should stick out like sore thumbs!" Eventually, Sunset found a naked Lemon Zest, lifting up a block over her head. She heard the tiny green-haired teen-turned-pixie let out a small cheer before she carried the building block over to her baby counterpart, who picked it up and put it in her mouth. "Lemon Zest! Thank Celestia you're alright!" Sunset swooped down to both Lemon Zests and waved to the pixified one. "I thought the babies would've played with you too much for sure..." "Sunset! You're super cute!" Lemon tackled Sunset and gave her a massive hug, her voice more high-pitched than ever. "And my voice! I'm super cute as well! This is much better than what I had planned! Ooh! Ooh! What about the other Shadowbolts? Are they super-tiny and cute now too?" "I don't know." Sunset shook her head. "So far, you're the only one I could find." "Then let's go look for the others together!" Lemon bounced on the spot and fluttered her wings. "Wheeeeee! I feel like a little kid again!" "Don't get too used to it..." Sunset said under her breath as she took to the air and flew behind Lemon Zest. "Once Twilight has naptime, we'll turn back to normal, and the baby Shadowbolts will all disappear." Lemon and Sunset looked towards Sour Sweet and Sugarcoat's baby clones, only to see that they were suckling and drooling all over two more pixies, who flailed and kicked their tiny legs as they both grabbed onto the lips of the babies and pulled themselves out, coated in drool as they fell to the ground and spread the spit all over the floor as they tried to get up. "EWW! GROSS!" Indigo cried out as she tried to shake off the drool. "I've never been this dirty before!" "Oh, shut it, Indigo. At least you don't sound like you've turned into some sappy saturday morning cartoon character!" Sour Sweet squeaked, feeling the goop on her body squelch as she tried to clean herself up too. "Of all the places I've been, I never wanna go back inside a baby's mouth like that..." "Sour Sweet! Indy!" Lemon Zest waved her arms and shot down towards the two spit-clad pixies. "You're alright! We thought for sure that those babies would've eaten you alive..." She looked up at the two massive babies and watched as they crawled off towards pacifiers and put them in their mouths, sucking on them rhythmically. "Lemon?" Indigo Zap tried to get back on her feet, but slipped and slid over the drool. "Wh-whoa!" She exclaimed as she fell onto her back, burying her back in the spit again. "Thank goddess. We never thought you'd come and help us out." Sour Sweet shook herself down like a dog to get rid of all of the spit, splashing some in the faces of the other three pixified teens. "Wait. Where's Sugarcoat and Sunny?" "There they are!" Lemon pointed them out, and they were both in the mouths of baby Sunny and Indigo, but the babies sucking on them crawled over towards the playpen and tried to climb it, only to lose their grip and fall onto their diapered rumps. "And it looks like they're in trouble! I'll go and save them!" She darted off and pulled both of the other Shadowbolts out of the other babies' mouths, hanging them down so that the drool would just slide off of their bodies and drizzle all over the ground. "Oh gross! They're so sticky when they're like this! Eww! Yuck!" She felt both of them slip out of her grasp and fall, but they were both over Twilight's crib, so both Sugarcoat and Sunny Flare landed on a giant pink pillow, festooning it with saliva. "Lemon?" Indigo flew up with the others towards Sunny and Sugarcoat on the pillow. "Why did you just drop 'em like that?! They could've gotten hurt!" "I'm sorry, Indy..." Lemon blushed and crossed her legs. "It's just that they were so icky because of that baby goop and I couldn't hold on to them because they were super-slippery. It was like they'd just turned into fish!" "You're really lucky that we landed on a pillow, Indigo." Sunny Flare clutched the pillow's fibers to support herself. She shook her right hand once she stood upright and cleaned off the goo quickly. "If that were on something solid, we would've been done for." "Hold on, Sunny." Sugarcoat held her hand up at Sunny's mouth. "What are we?" She patted her tiny body and felt the wings on her back. "And why are we so small? We're even smaller than the babies now." "No shit, sherlock..." Sour muttered under her breath. "It's because we're super-duper itty-bitty cutesy-wutesy pixies now!" Lemon flitted into the air and performed some front flips in mid-air. "Wheeeeeeeee! I don't wanna turn back now!" "Pixies, huh?" Indigo looked over at the massive wings and gave them a quick pet with her hands. "Well, it isn't the weirdest thing that's happened since the Friendship Games. Plus, I kinda like these wings. I always wanted to fly on my own as a kid, but I never got the chance." "Well, Indigo, you and Lemon Zest might be happy, but the rest of us are still miserable about being like this." Sunny Flare put her hands over her mouth. "I... uh mean that you might be smiling now, but... no, wait, hang on a second. This is all fun and..." She slapped herself and let her cheeks fall. "Oh, you've gotta be joking me. Even our voices sound tiny too? How am I supposed to hand out sophisticated insults if I sound like I inhale balloon gas on a daily basis?" "Not to worry, Sunny. If what Sunset said is true, then we should be back to normal once Twilight has a nap." Sugarcoat came up to Sunny and wrapped an arm around her. "All we can do now is try and stay alive until Twilight sleeps. Speaking of which, Sunset? When is naptime for Twilight, usually?" "Well, I haven't really thought of tha—" "Hold on, Sunset." Lemon Zest covered Sunset's mouth and looked at Sugarcoat. "Can you talk again?" "Lemon? What's the point of thi—" Lemon Zest laughed as loud as she could, falling onto her back and waving her arms. "You sound so funny when you've got a squeaky voice, Sugarcoat!" She guffawed and wiped some tears from her eyes. "Funny? Do you think this is a joke to you?!" Sugarcoat tightened her hands into fists. "It's hilarious!" Lemon squealed and rolled on her bare tummy, punching Twilight's crib bedding as she did so. "Just ignore her. She's having way too much fun with this." Sour Sweet took Sugarcoat's hand and walked her away from the hysterical Lemon Zest. "Now, what were you going to say, Sunset?" "Well, I was gonna say that Twilight doesn't have any real naptime." Sunset walked towards the bars of the crib and looked out at Twilight and the other babies, all playing without anyone to look after them. "She just goes to bed whenever she feels tired. And usually, I have to give her a helping hand to settle down, as she can get a bit easily distracted with the thought of more playtime." "So... basically, you have to go out there into a world of giant babies and speak to one super-baby with magical powers to go to sleep? And you don't have any real naptime schedule?" Sour Sweet cocked a brow. "Forgive me for saying this, but that's really stupid, Sunset." "Sour!" Sugarcoat grabbed Sour Sweet's arm and twisted it around. "Gah! Let go! Let go!" Sour cried, trying to free herself from Sugarcoat's grab but with no avail. "One of my secret talents is that I've taken up martial arts." Sugarcoat might've been without her glasses in her tiny form, but she could still see Sour Sweet clear as day. "You might be one of the biggest hotheads at Crystal Prep Academy, but that doesn't mean that I won't be kicking your butt into next year, Sour Sweet. Do. Not. Make. Me. Angry. Or. Unnerve. Our. Friends. Understand?" Sour gave a meek nod and collapsed onto her rear end as Sugarcoat let her go. "I apologize for Sour's outburst, Sunset." She turned towards Sunset and stood on the edge of the crib. "Despite Cinch being fired, let's just say that her attitude still needs a bit of a rework." "I forgive her. She can't help being who she is." Sunset looked back at Sour Sweet as she went over to Sunny Flare and Indigo Zap. "If her name's Sour Sweet, then we expect her to be nice and cruel at the same time. It's not her being bipolar or anything like that." "Well, I'm glad that you think that way, Sunset." Sugarcoat gave her a small smile. "It's not fair to be born with a personality that makes it hard for you to make friends. We're all doing what we can to help Sour Sweet overcome it, but every day has its' fair share of challenges—" she looked back at the other bolts "—for her and for us." "Hmm... I hope that she manages to overcome it." Sunset looked back at Sour Sweet, who hung her head and let a small tear drip down her cheeks. "But let's not think too much about that. Now, we need to figure out how to make Twilight go to sleep." "Yes, Sunset. The question now, though, is how?" Sugarcoat sat down and hung her legs over the edges of the bedding. "Because these babies do get excited very easily, and now that we're pixies, they'll probably want to chase us and play with us, shaking us around, trying to eat us, or whatever else babies do with their toys." Both of the girls looked out into the distance as the other Shadowbolts calmed down and joined them. Even Lemon Zest, who had finally broken out of her fit of laughter, had caught her breath and now sat with the others on Twilight's crib. But no matter what they came up with, all six of them knew that they would have to leap from their cradle and get Twilight to sleep, one way or another. Author's Note In case you're wondering, the idea of the Shadowbolts being turned into pixies is kinda my way of saying that this is what the Breezies would look like in the human world if Twilight's baby magic made them into Breezies. I am a bit half-tempted to have them make one more trip to Equestria so that they can see that they really are Breezies, but Autum Breeze was right. The Equestria arc in the LOE arc was hollow, and I feel that going back would just waste time and lose readers, so I'll not be doing that. Other than that, I hope that you all have a nice day and that you make sure to share this story with all of your friends and followers. Maybe with 200 upvotes, we can get this story back into the featured box again after so long... Babies and Pixies Don't MixTwilight saw Sunset and all of the other pixie-fied girls staring out into the rest of the nursery. Cooing and smiling, she fluttered her wings and flew over to them, while at the same time, unintentionally blowing them all away with each flap. But when she saw them hanging on for dear life, fighting against the force of her miniscule gusts, Twilight couldn't help but giggle and clap her hands. "Twilight!" Sunset flapped her wings as hard as ever she could, trying desperately not to splat against the wall and turn into a pixie pancake. "Stop that! I'm very delicate!" Twilight eventually landed in the crib right in front of the wind-battered pixies, drooling as she hunched her body down and reached out for Sugarcoat. "H-hey! Watch it!" Sugarcoat squirmed and wriggled around in Twilight's grasp, but she couldn't free herself from the giant purple hand. Seconds later, she found her entire top half wedged into Twilight's mouth, saliva drizzled down as it smothered her and made her feel sticky all over. She groaned and shivered, kicking her legs about in an attempt to slide out of the infant's mouth, before she was spat out and landed with a coat of spit all over her. "Sugarcoat!" Sunny Flare flitted over and reached an arm out for her, only to have her own hand covered in the gooey drool too once Sugarcoat took it and stood upright. "Eww! Gross!" "Sucked on by a magical baby..." Sugarcoat groaned as she shook herself down in a feeble attempt to remove most of the residue. "This is a new personal low for me..." "Twilight! Bad!" Sunset stomped up to Twilight with her hands balled up into fists and her forehead lines bent into waves. "We don't treat our aunties like pacifiers in this house!" She pouted and puffed out her chest. "Now, apologize to Sugarcoat right now, missy!" But Twilight lit up her horn and levitated Sunset into the air. Using her magic, she brought her mama close to her chest and hugged her tightly, suffocating Sunset Shimmer with each second. Cooing and babbling in incoherent baby gibberish, Twilight flailed her stumpy feet, banging against the tiny crib mattress. The shockwaves caused all of the Shadowbolts to fall to their bellies with loud thumps. "Twuhlughmmph!" Sunset's cries were muffled behind Twilight's arms. "Lmmmphmmmphm mmph!" "Sunset!" Indigo Zap flew as fast as her new wings could carry her and tried to pull Sunset out of Twilight's grip. She strained and struggled until her face turned dark blue, and when Twilight finally let go, they both catapulted out into the air. "WHOA! THIS WOULD BE AMAZING IF I WEREN'T SO TINY!" Twilight guffawed as Sunset and Indigo crashed against the ceiling and fell towards the ground. She reached up for the two tumbling pixies and lit up her hand with a bright purple aura. Her little hand created a ghostly arm that stretched out and grabbed Sunset and Indigo, and shook them up as Twilight wiggled her own hand. "TwIiIiIiIiLlLlLlLlLgHt!" Sunset was jiggled around so much that it was almost impossible for her to speak normally. "StOoOoOoOoOoP tHiIiIiIiS!" "Hey. We're magical pixies now, so shouldn't we have, oh, I don't know... MAGIC?!" Sour Sweet screamed from the crib's mattress. "Oh yeah! Totally forgot about that." Lemon Zest rubbed her hands together and made herself glow brightly. Her entire body twinkled and shone as she channeled magic inbetween her fingers. "Alright, tiny me. Let's see what this new body can do..." Lemon shot out a trail of green mist at Twilight, making her float into the air. As her magic got a good grip on the oversized magic baby, she had to use both of her hands to keep her suspended in the air. Groaning and gritting, Lemon Zest started to step forward with her arms out, as if she was pushing a massive stone block. Twilight flew out of the crib and back down to the ground, where the other babies gave her a massive group hug, pushing their cheeks into hers as they nuzzled and squeezed her. Sunset and Indigo fell back down to the crib normally and landed on their wings, bouncing into the air. They tossed and turned on the bounce and landed face-first into the fluffy mattress. As they tried to stand up, they were still shaken up by the shocks of landing and felt their knees wobble and wiggle. Just as they were about to fall again, Sunny and Sour helped prop them back up just as their legs gave way. "Are you two alright?" Sunny Flare rubbed Sunset and Indigo's faces. When she brushed their foreheads, she could feel the heat on the back of her hand. "Oh my. You two seem to have been through some intense Gs. Maybe you should just take a rest on the pillow over there." "It does look pretty comfy..." Lemon Zest's eyes drifted over towards the pillow and could see just how soft and welcoming that it was. She felt like just flying over there, chilling out, and grabbing some Z's while she was at it. She let out a loud yawn and waved her hand over her mouth. "Actually, don't mind me, girls. I'm just gonna take a load off. Wake me up if something bad happens." And she glided over the crib and onto the pillow, curling up into a tiny ball as she fell fast asleep. "Typical Zest. Always dozes off." Indigo Zap watched as her bestest friend in the whole world was just napping on a massive pillow. "If she weren't good at being awesome, I'd call her a slacker." "That sounds a little bit harsh, doesn't it?" Sunset tilted her head. "So? Crystal Prep isn't as lovey-dovey as Canterlot High is." Indigo Zap put her hands on her leaf-shrouded hips. "Listen, Sunset. I know that your school's all full of happy smiling people who just get on with their daily jobs without any bother like that, but at Crystal Prep, we gotta work our asses off. And at the end of the day, we're still groaning when we have to drag them back onto those seats—even without Cinch running the show anymore!" "Indigo, I think that the only one complaining about Crystal Prep is you." Sour Sweet crossed her arms. "Honestly, I love going there. It's so much fun to study, make friends, and enjoy the suffering of freshmen when it comes to gym class and Mr. Sombra's screwed-up regime of sit-ups, push-ups, and upside-down chin-ups!" "Really? I would've thought that you would complain about Crystal Prep too, Sour Sweet." Sunset cocked an eyebrow. "You don't really seem to be the most stable when it comes to emotions, so I can imagine that some of the tiniest little things would make you mad." "If I had a dollar for every time someone told me that, I'd be rolling in dough by this point..." Sour grumbled and huffed. "Anyway..." Sugarcoat walked past Sour and Indigo and stepped up to Sunset. "Sunset. If you're still worrying about the trials, don't. Hesitation will only make it worse for you." "Sugarcoat, only half of that day's gonna be bad for me." Sunset sighed, sat down, and rubbed the tips of her fingers across the mattress. "I'm with all of you on getting Cinch a guilty verdict, but when Timber's trial comes, I don't think I'm gonna be able to save him. The truth is that Gloriosa hurt Filthy Rich with her new magic, and now there's not a whole lot I can do to win it for them both." "Even so, you have to tell the truth." Sugarcoat's eyes widened as she tenderly rubbed her arm down Sunset's back. "Lying will only make it worse. If the court asks you to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, you have to obligate and agree. I know that it's a bitter pill to swallow, but the truth always is." "Easy for you to say." Sunset turned her back to Sugarcoat. "You use the truth like it's a pencil on paper. Here, the truth is going to get Timber and Gloriosa's camp torn to pieces. I can't do it. I won't do it. I'm not going to let Timber and Gloriosa down like this!" "Sunset. You're lying to yourself." Sugarcoat grabbed Sunset and twisted her around. Her glare was so sharp that Sunset thought that her eyes were going to get impaled. "Lying is one thing, but when you lie to yourself and change because of it, then it makes you a worse person in the long run. Stop it. Be who you are. Don't be afraid to tell the truth, and don't let anything stop you from being as honest and open as possible." "Sugarcoat. As much as I appreciate your tough love, I'm really not in the mood for it right now." Sunset broke out of Sugarcoat's hold and flew off out of the crib. "I've gotta check on Twilight and the others. You're welcome to come and help me out if you want." As Sugarcoat watched Sunset fly off into the vast expanses of Twilight's nursery, the other Shadowbolts approached from behind and watched Sunset fly off to tend to her demon daughter. The silver-haired teen turned to the others and asked, "What? Too much?" "Yep. Too much." Indigo shook her head at Sugarcoat. Eventually, a loud cry rung out across the room, very quickly reaching the ears of all of the Shadowbolts. It even woke Lemon Zest, who jumped up from the pillow and made karate chops and kicked thin air as she scrambled off of her butt and onto her feet. "It's okay, Twilight. I'm here..." Sunset zipped over to Twilight, who was crying and moaning loudly. An acrid stench rose up from her diaper, and it wrapped around Sunset's nose. "Ew!" She jolted backwards, pinching her nose shut. "How am I supposed to change her while I'm so tiny?" As Twilight continued to bawl, magic began to form in her hands again. She raised them up to the ceiling and caused a sudden updraft to throw Sunset to the ceiling, nailing her directly on the light fixture at the top. If her body were any bigger, she would have shattered the lightbulb into pieces. "Ow..." Sunset groaned as she pushed her back straight again, hearing a slight cracking noise. "Just how powerful is this kid anyway?" "I dunno, but I don't wanna see you in pain like that, Sunset!" Indigo Zap zoomed through the air and caught Sunset as she fell once more. "C'mon, girl. We'll get Twilight changed. Don't know exactly how, though, but we'll do it." "How, Indigo?" Sunset was lifted down towards Twilight. She held her ears shut so as not to let the deafening wails of Twilight pop them. "Look at us! We're tinier than the babies now! How are we supposed to take her clothes off, get her into a new diaper, and dress her back up when we can be crushed by one of her thumbs?!" "I don't know! That's why I said it, didn't I?!" Indigo exclaimed as the other Shadowbolts glided down towards them both. Indigo sighed, set Sunset down on the floor, and facepalmed. "Look, Sunset. I know that we're not the best when it comes to childcare, but ya gotta at least give us a chance, y'know..." "Indigo, you can barely take care of your own plants." Sunny Flare cocked a brow and tilted her head. "How do you expect to handle Twilight and the other babies?" "Cut me some slack, Sunny! Geez!" Indigo snapped her head towards the ceiling and walked off. "Kick a gal for trying to show interest in something she's never done before..." "Sunset does have a point, Indigo." Sugarcoat folded her arms. "Twilight's much bigger now that we're so tiny. Changing her is going to be an arduous task for all of us." "Especially considering you have to take the squirt's clothes off first, then carry her giant butt up to that changing, lay her down, get that massive stench-filled diaper off, and oh, did I mention the fact that she's SCREAMING OUR EARS OUT?!" Sour shrieked and made claw gestures with her hands. "Magic or no magic, there's nothing we can do that can stop a baby Twilight from making us all die from bleeding ears!" As the Shadowbolts all bickered and complained, Twilight felt the mushed poop in her diaper as she shuffled around, still wailing and sobbing. Unable to cope with it anymore, she simply flapped her wings and flew off, still with a poop-filled diaper sagging behind her. She tried to open the door and ended up pushing down the handle with her tiny feet. Now, free from her room, Twilight flapped off, leaving a trail of tears behind her. As Lemon Zest watched the others throw words and insults out at each other, she couldn't help but watch. Shivers ran through her hands and feet the whole time, and a new sensation began to build up inside of her. A fiery flame ignited in her heart and she clutched the air, bending the muscles in her forehead and flexing the ones in her arms as she stomped forward towards the other Shadowbolts. "Look, girls. Girls. GIRLS!" Lemon Zest pushed each of the Shadowbolts onto their butts and hung her head. "This. Is. Not. Who. We. Are. Anymore. Do you WANT to go back to the pre-Friendship Games personalities we used to have?!" "Whoa..." Sour Sweet watched as Lemon Zest's hair covered her eyes. When she bent herself down to get a look at her eyes, all that she could see was a seething golden gleam in her pupils. "I'm just gonna shut my mouth and fly away..." And she ran away, tripping over her own legs as she tried to get as far away from Lemon as possible. "Yeah. You'd better run alright." Lemon hissed with venom in her voice. It had been an eternity to her since she had felt so much anger and spite inside of her. "Think you're so tough, Sour Sweet? If there weren't children in the room, I'd show you a whole 'nother layer of hell..." "Yeah... Suddenly, I really wanna chill around the others." Indigo Zap backed up and bumped right into her infant self's foot. The second her gazes locked with her baby clone, she was stuffed into her mouth. "But not like this!" She mumbled from within baby Indigo's mouth. "Anything but this!" "Uh... Lemon Zest?" Sunset saw the fires in Lemon's pupils and lightly rapped on her shoulders with a finger. She could just see from Lemon's shuddering and shaking that she wasn't a normal teenage girl anymore. "Hey. We'll get through this. No need to worry." Letting off a big sigh, Lemon Zest stopped jiggling and turned to face Sunset. Small droplets of water formed at the bottom of her eyes. "It's not Twilight I'm worried about, Sunset. It's the Shadowbolts," she said. "Are we really that mean and cruel to each other?" "Hey. No-one's perfect, Lemon Zest." Sunset put her hand to Lemon's heart and looked her in the eyes like a mother. "Trust me, my friends and I were just like the Shadowbolts are now. We were disjointed, broken, and not good friends to start, but thanks to Princess Twilight back home in Equestria, we're much better friends than ever before." "Technically, if we're going by the harsh truth, you were once a ruthless and hateful school bully, but you quickly devolved into a friend once Twilight Sparkle and her friends ruined your chance at ruling the world and by zapping you with a magical beam of light." Sugarcoat adjusted her tiny glasses. "You stay out of this!" Sunset snapped at Sugarcoat, causing her to jerk backwards. Then, she returned her sights to Lemon Zest. "Sorry about that, Lemon. But it's all true no matter what way you wanna look at it. We all start off confused, angry, or just alone. but if you and your friends just try being nicer, embracing friendship more, and just learn to give a little leeway to the people around them, then I'm sure that they'd be able to make lots of new friends." "Sunset, I wish that we could be as good as you and your friends are, but the problem we have is that we've still got a few teeny tiny little bite-size bits of Cinch's old ways inside of us." Lemon Zest looked at the others. "Sugarcoat's still got her harsh honesty, Sour's still struggling with her bipolar syndrome, Sunny's just not got enough character, and Indy still gets a little bit too into things sometimes." "Well, none of them are really ways Cinch told you to behave." Sunset shook her head. "I'm sure that, despite being a bit cold-hearted and iron-fisted, Cinch wouldn't teach you all how to hate others and act so negatively towards them. It's just the way you all want to act, and you're all free to go ahead and do that. We're not gonna try and stop you from being who you are; even if you're more rough around the edges than most people." "B-but..." Lemon tried to say something else, but Sunset's arms coiled around her shoulders. "Hey. Don't worry about it, Lemon Zest." Sunset gave her a gentle pat on the bag and hugged her tightly. "I know that you're a good-hearted person; even if you have little... moments like that." Sunset smiled. "You're just as sweet and innocent as Pinkie Pie. Wouldn't be able to hurt a fly." "Looks like you're a poet and didn't know it, Sunset." Lemon stifled a giggle behind her hand. "But you're right. Even if the rest of my friends are negative nancies, I'm not gonna end up going back to the way I was back at Cinch's Crystal Prep." Balling her hand up, her smile grew ever wider. "In fact, I'm gonna try my hardest to stay away from being a meanie-bo-beanie and be more of a kinder, sweeter, and much more bubbly Lemon Zest!" "Good for you." Sunset patted Lemon's back. "Now, let's focus on trying to get Twilight cha—" but when she turned around, she saw that Twilight had gone and that the other babies were now beginning to crawl out of the room through the open door "—AAAAAHHHHHH! THIS IS A DISASTER!" Sunset took to the air and zipped through the nursery, She went so fast that by the time she had flown out of the room, she was already beginning to pant and gasp for breath. "C'mon, girls! We've gotta hurry!" Lemon Zest grabbed onto Sugarcoat's arms and Indigo Zap's legs, pulling them through the air. "The babies are breaking loose! We gotta stop 'em from falling on their heads and getting dumb!" As Lemon carried her two teenage anchors with desperation washing over her body, Sunny Flare and Sour Sweet saw what had happened and took off after them. They all knew that unsupervised infants was a recipe for disaster, tears, and chaos; something that they had all had quite enough of for one day. Little HelpAuthor's Note Just to prove that I'm not dead, here's another chapter! It's a cute little chapter involving babies, pixies, a little bit of magic, and cute little Baby Midnight Sparkle. See ya in the next chapter! Little Help Twilight still wailed as Sunset and the pixiefied Shadowbolts flew up to her. She moaned and groaned as the smell emanating from her diaper began to grow more and more pungent with each passing second. "Ssh..." Sunset flew over to Twilight and rubbed her face delicately. "Mama's here, Twilight. No need to cry anymore." Twilight sniffled as Sunset rubbed her miniscule hand across her face. She opened her teary eyes and looked down at her. She reached out for her and delicately grabbed her, petting her gently and pulling her into a tight hug. Twilight babbled and gurgled contently as she pressed Sunset against her body. "Nngh... Okay, sweetie. That's enough," Sunset squeaked as she flew out of Twilight's hands. "Mama needs to give you a quick change. We don't want you to be stuck in a smelly diaper for too long." She flew down to the other Shadowbolts. "Girls, can you help me out here?" "This is the last thing I wanted to do today." Sugarcoat deadpanned as she took Twilight's tiny clothes off and started to rip open the straps on her diapers. "The worst part of taking care of a baby just got even harder..." "Oh, get over it, Sugarcoat." Indigo Zap opened the back of the diaper up and watched the other Shadowbolts helping her out. "Plus, it's not that hard." "Yeah! I mean, we're super-duper itty-bitty now, but we have magical powers too!" Lemon giddily performed some backwards loops and lit up her hands. "I just wish we could keep 'em when Twilight turns us back. It'd be great to fly through the city like that." "Lighten up, girl. I'm sure that she'll give us those superpowers some other day," said Indigo. "Alright. Now... how do we lift Twilight from here" —she pointed to the changing table, which seemed like a massive mountain in the distance— "to there?" "We can all just carry her. How hard can it be to lift a baby?" Sour Sweet flapped down to Twilight's body and tried lifting her up from the tummy. She strained and struggled as she tried to lift Twilight up into the air, to which the baby just giggled and flailed her arms. "Okay..." Sour breathed heavily. "Apparently, it's very hard to lift a baby." "You're doing it wrong, Sour Sweet." Sunny Flare flapped over. "Surely, the trick is to" —she tried lifting Twilight up as well, but with almost no change— "Work... together on... this! C'mon, girls! Give me... a little help here!" The other girls coiled their hands around Twilight's little waist and tried lifting her up into the air. They all strained and struggled. It was as if they were lifting a massive steel ball that had fallen from a water tower out of harm's way. But eventually, they did manage to haul Twilight into the air and carry her over to the table. "Gah! I don't think I've ever lifted something that hard in my entire life! And she's just a baby!" Sunny Flare gasped for breath and thrust her hand up to Twilight's face, prompting more laughter from the magic-infused infant. "Just take a deep breath, Sunny. She's not that hard to deal with." Sunset Shimmer gently pushed Twilight down onto her back. "It's just the fact that her magic can get a little bit crazy cuckoo sometimes. Other than that, she's jut as easy to deal with as any other baby." She leapt off of the edge and pulled the draws open. "Lots of hugs, kisses, playtime, and mother-daughter time are just the thing to curb her little outbursts." "Either that or your own magical powers." Sugarcoat smirked a little. "Alright. Now... This might be a challenge." Sunset set the diaper down and saw Twilight still laden out on her back. "Girls. Can you lift her up without me? I kinda need to get this under her." "Are you kidding me?!" Indigo slapped her forehead. "We JUST got her up here! Can't we just put the diaper on her right now?" "Indigo, any and almost all mothers KNOW that the diaper has to be slid underneath the baby's butt." Sugarcoat groaned and got into position, sliding her hands underneath Twilight's back. "Now assume the position already, will ya?" "Seriously, once I'm back to normal, you owe me big time, Sunset." Indigo flapped her wings and landed at the other side of Twilight. She put her hands underneath Twilight and began to try and carry her up, with the other Shadowbolts coming to her aid. "One. Two. Three. LIFT!" "Easy. Easy..." Sunset watched as the Shadowbolts slowly lifted Twilight up. Once she was a few feet above the table, Sunset slid the diaper right where Twilight's bottom was and put the diaper down delicately. "Okay. That's good. You can let her go now." The Shadowbolts dropped Twilight down and Sunset watched as they were about to start folding up the ends. Just as they were about to meet, Sunset remembered something and quickly broke them apart with some of her new pixie powers. "Whoa, there, everyone. She needs powder first," said Sunset. "You don't wanna give her a rash, do you?" And she flew down to another drawer. "Wait, you could've just magically lifted her up all this time?!" Indigo steamed, spewing smoke out of her ears. "No. Even with this new power, I can't use this power to lift Twilight up myself." Sunset flew into the drawer and came out with the bottle of baby powder. "Plus, we don't even know what this stuff does! Every time magic comes into play, I find it harder and harder to understand! God, I just wish magic came with an instruction manual or something like that!" "If it did, then things'd be a little bit too boring," said Lemon Zest as she put Twilight down on a newly-powdered diaper. "And besides, Twilight isn't really one to follow the rules. Especially now that she's this cute little bundle of joy." "Just... not when her magic's going cuckoo, that's all." Sunny Flare rubbed the back of her head. "We just need to figure out a way to learn Twilight's tells and cut-outs." Sugarcoat held out her hand to conjure up some magic, and easily managed to put the ends of the diaper together and seal it up tight. "If it's true that all the magic disappears when she falls asleep, then we just need to figure out a way to do that and we should be back to normal." "Thing is, Sugarcoat, Twilight is very excitable." Sunset lifted Twilight up and watched as Lemon Zest and Indigo Zap put her back in her magenta outfit and let her fly off to another part of the nursery. "Whenever she uses her magic or finds a toy she really likes, chances are she'll never wanna stop using it; even when I'm trying to calm her down." She walked over to the edge of the table and watched as Twilight started using her magic to levitate some blocks around her face. "Her magic, coupled with her baby-like instincts and lust for fun and playtime makes it really hard for me to keep her in check; even with the rest of my friends helping me out." "True, but at the same time, we can all take advantage of that." Sugarcoat put her fingers to her chin and stroked it. "Think about this, girls. Because she's so young, she'll want to play with whatever she can find. As long as we do it right, she won't be much of a hassle." "Sugarcoat, as good an idea that sounds, Twilight has magic now." Sunny Flare pointed at Twilight, who was firing tiny little beams of black and blue energy at the flying blocks, causing them to quickly transform into a blanket, a rattle, and a teddy bear. "If she's excited, then her magic could spike and everything could just go out of control again." "Don't forget about all of these little squirts." Sour Sweet fluttered down to her infantile duplicate and landed delicately on her head. "If Twilight does use magic, then these other us-es could really be in danger. Sure, they're a bunch of hooey created out of thin air as some sick and twisted fantasy of hers, but it definitely won't look good on your resume to know you killed five babies; fake or not." "But if they were created by Twilight's magic, then all we'd need to do is put her to sleep and they'd just disappear." Sunset flew down to Twilight and flapped up to her face. Her wings tickled Twilight's nose and made her laugh once again, wiggling her arms as she grabbed Sunset and stuffed her in her mouth, with her head sticking out of it. "But knowing her... that's gonna be a bit of a problem." "Ah, lighten up, Sunset. All you need is a bit of TLP!" Lemon leapt off of the table and picked up a little bear and brought it up to Twilight's face. "Tubular Lemon Zest Playtime!" Silence fell across the room as Sunset and the other Shadowbolts just gave Lemon Zest blank stares. Some of them cocked their brows while others turned their heads. "It's a working acronym, girls. Geez. Try to kick a gal for lightening the mood." She hid behind the teddy bear and used her arms to control its' arms. "Yoohoo! Hello, Twilight!" She tried to put on a deep voice, but her tiny pixie-like body didn't make it convincing. "Do you wanna play with me?" Twilight, fooled by the bear, squealed and clapped her little hands, giving Sunset the opportunity to fly out and land on Twilight's hair, holding on to her cyan horn. "Well, Twilight?" Sunset asked, leaning down over her head. "You wanna play with the teddy bear? Does my widdle cutie wanna play with the teddy?" She cooed, making Twilight too as well. "You do? Well, go on then. You'll have lots of fun with Mr..." "Cuddles McStuffikins the Third. The proud baron of the Kingdom of Huggles and Snuggles," said Lemon in her teddy-bear voice. "What shall we play first? I quite fancy a little gave with some spelling blocks over there." She manipulated the toy to point towards the lettered bricks. "Alright then! Come on, Twilight! Let's play with Cuddles!" Sunset gently tugged on Twilight's hair and lead her over to the blocks, with Lemon and her teddy following close beside them. Indigo, Sunny, and Sugarcoat still watched from on the changing table as Sunset and Lemon Zest played with Twilight. They were still lost for words at the sight of two tiny pixies controlling a baby with wings and a glowing mask and horn. "You, uh, alright there, Sugarcoat?" Indigo turned towards her and crossed her arms. "I don't think you've been this quiet since the Friendship Games..." "I could say the same thing about you, Indigo," Sugarcoat replied, finally breaking her silence. "You're always going on about hyping everyone up for something or being an obnoxious little pain on the ears, but now you're at a loss..." She knelt down and looked up at Indigo. "Just as I am." "It's a powerful little thing, isn't it?" Sunny stepped up to her friends and patted them on the shoulders. "To know that you want to say something but can't, out of pressure, confusion, or just awe." "Yes." Sugarcoat nodded. "Even I, someone so astute and knowledgeable, can get tripped up by such a thing as silence. Though I don't show it facially, I know that, deep down in my heart, that this is something that's shaking me to my very core." She looked down at her feet. "Ever since the Friendship Games, everything we know has been turned on its' head. Fiction and non-fiction are beginning to merge and my perception on reality is beginning to change with it. How long can we live in this little fairytale before the realism we once had begins to disappear once and for all?" "O...kay?" Indigo just shrugged and held her mouth open at Sugarcoat. "You lost me at 'astute and knowledgeable', Sugarcoat." Sugarcoat wanted to take offense at Indigo's remark, but after seeing everything about Twilight turning into a magic baby, shooting magic out on a whim, and turning her and the other Shadowbolts into pixies, all she could do was smile and tap her acquaintance's shoulders. "Never change, Indigo." "Hey, girls! You wanna come help us out a little?" Lemon Zest called over from the blocks, which were now being swarmed by all six of the babies. She herself was trying to take the bear away from Twilight and the baby double of Sugarcoat, who were now fighting over it. "Things're starting to get a little bit cray-cray here!" "Don't you have magic, Lemon?" Sugarcoat adjusted her glasses as she turned towards the squabbling infants. "Just use it to beguile them and they should stop." "Y'think I can just make magic happen while my hands are trying to keep Cuddles McStuffikins the Third from being assassinated?!" Lemon struggled against the babies, trying to push the bear up and out of their hands. "Now c'mon! Help a sister out!" Indigo saw the action and knew that she had to act. Though the mission was a bit weird to her, she knew full well what she had to do. She took a few steps back, limbering up for a run, then darted forward and threw herself off of the changing table, gliding down and landing beneath the bear like a superhero would. "Don't worry, Lemon. I totally got your back, girl." Indigo rubbed her hands together and caused light-blue auras to form around them. Thrusting them out to both sides, she made a pair of magical hands and used them to tickle the babies' armpits. "Cuddles McStuffikins will live to be cuddled another day, or my name isn't Indigo Zap!" As Indigo tickled baby Sugarcoat and Twilight's armpits, she watched as both of them giggled and tried to swat the hands away giddily, letting go of Cuddles in the process. Lemon then took the time to get him out of harms way by flying him over the room and into the toy box by the wall. "There you go, Cuddles." Lemon put him into the box and closed it up quickly. "The baroness won't have to worry about you anymore. Now, you should go and get something to eat." And she flew back off to handle the rest of the babies. As Lemon was about to make it back to Sunset, she ran into her own infantile copy of herself. Both of them looked each other in the eyes and before the fairy one could escape, the giant baby duplicate grabbed her and shook her around like a tiny rattle, making little chuckles as she did so. "Hold on, Lemon! I'm on my—" Before Indigo could even do anything, her own infant double picked her up and began to suck on her, leaving her legs hanging out of her mouth "—Hey! I'm not a pacifier! I'm you, me!" "Typical." Sugarcoat groaned and started to use some magical projections of her own. Using her newfound powers, she flew over to the babies and conjured up a projection of a bunny, skipping through the room. She then made another one and had it go wherever the other one didn't. "Come now, children. Let the rabbits distract you..." At first, the babies didn't notice the rabbits bounding around the place. The first one that did was the baby Sunny, who drooled at the sight of the rabbit and cooed softly, crawling after it. Soon after she began, the infant Lemon Zest let go of her pixie-fied other and went after the rabbit instead, babbling all kinds of incoherent baby talk as she pursued the spectral bunny. "You know what they say: Chase two rabbits and they'll both escape." She watched as Twilight, Indigo, and Sour followed after the second rabbit while her own baby mirage went after the first one. "Babies are so frail. They get distracted by the most simplest and insignificant things. That's what makes them so easy to control. You just need to know what makes them tick." Sugarcoat lead her fake rabbits to corral the infant Shadowbolts and Twilight around the room. She watched as Lemon, Sour, Indigo, and Sunset flew away from their month-old titans and flew back onto the sanctuary of the changing table. Once she saw they were back, she lead the rabbits towards each other, causing the babies to all move in together. Then when they were in close proximity, Sugarcoat slapped her hands and the rabbits collided with each other, exploding in a blast of light and twinkling stars which made her audience laugh once again and fall onto their backs. "And that, my friends, is how you control babies." Sugarcoat turned to Sunset and the other pixies and flew back to their side. She was met with a tiny round of applause from Lemon and Sunset, who were both just as enamored with the act as their children were. "That... was... amazing!" Lemon flittered on the spot and plastered a grin on her face. "How did you do that, Sugarcoat?" "I'd like to know too." Sunset took a step forward. "How were you able to just make a pair of rabbits out of thin air and use them to your advantage? I mean, you just got your magic today..." "What can I say? I'm a fast learner." Sugarcoat smirked. "A VERY fast learner, might I add." Sunny lifted a finger. "When she was told to research Beethoven for a music class project, she read a book on him and was able to recite it from acknowledgement to bibliography the very next day." "That's... a little bit disturbing." Sunset's pupils dilated into tiny pinpricks. "Anyway..." Sour rolled her eyes. "Now that we've got the babies calmed down, we should probably all put 'em to sleep while we can. Strike while the iron's hot, may hay while the sun shines, whatever you wanna call that hokey little saying, just do it now, before they get all hyper again." "Well. That's where our next problem comes into play." Sunset put her hands together and breathed in. "How are we gonna carry SIX babies from there—" She pointed to the infants and then to the crib where Twilight slept "—to there and tuck them all in comfortably?" She turned to the Shadowbolts. "Any suggestions?" The Shadowbolts were once again washed over with a wave of silence. They tapped their feet on the table twisted their wrists, tapped their foreheads, and even started pacing back and forth. Not one of them had the answer, though. Sure, they did have their magic, but that only fixed one problem. And they knew that they needed to take care of both problems in one fell swoop. "I just wish my friends were here right now." Sunset herself groaned as she sat down and folded her legs. "They'd know what to do." Unleash the Magic"Unleash the magic, free the magic, now!" The students of Crystal Prep chorused as Twilight Sparkle took her steps forward to compete in the final event of the Friendship Games; the event that would seize them all another consecutive win against Canterlot High and its students. Twilight quietly took steps forward, being driven by the echoes of her peers as she approached Sunset Shimmer and her friends. She held up the locket that she had used to gather all of the stolen magic and looked upon it one more time, almost taken by the electronic light that swung around the centre. "Imagine all I'll learn by setting it free..." Twilight had always been one to have a vast knowledge on multiple different subjects, but now that magic had been introduced to the fold, she was partially curious just to see what this new magic could do. "Now winning these games depend on me." Sunset Shimmer watched Twilight place her hand on the locket and wrap her fingers around the clamps. Alarm bells rang in her head as she watched her new potential friend about to unleash something that she had no control or understanding of. She coiled her fingers into fists and ran towards her friends. "And what doors might open if I try to use it?" Twilight took one last deep breath and slowly began to prise the device open. Slowly but surely, she saw a radiant purple and white light begin to spill out of the opening crack. "But the magic's what I really want to see..." "Twilight, NO!" Spike bolted through the legs of the other Crystal Prep students and ran towards Twilight. He and Sunset Shimmer had the same thoughts running through their heads; neither of them wanted to see Twilight use magic for a purpose other than to win the Friendship Games. "NOW!" declared Luna and Cadence, signalling the beginning of the last event of the Games. Twilight ripped the device open, allowing the magic to fully be unleashed. A massive purple blast knocked everything close to her down onto their knees and arms—including her own principal and a few of her fellow students. As the locket quietly landed on the ground, a glowing ball appeared before Twilight, lifting her into the air with it as it slowly began to consume her. Everyone else could only watch with multiple mixed feelings as they saw Twilight Sparkle, the girl who had gathered up stolen Equestrian magic, be hoisted skyward and devoured by a rapidly enlargening ball of purple and white light. They saw her anguish and heard her cries for help as she hopelessly tried to reach out for her acquaintances at Crystal Prep, but alas, she was fully stolen away into the light. The orb shook and shuddered as it flickered between white and black, before it finally exploded in a majestic gleam of light. Everyone else could see nothing else through the gleam and had to shield their eyes due to the sheer intensity of it. Once they saw it begin to die down, they pulled their arms and hands clear from their faces. "What the heck just happened?!" Crystal Prep's Sour Sweet was the first to break the silence between the humans. "I'm not sure, but whatever we've done, I don't think it's good..." Indigo Zap slowly crawled closer towards the diminishing light. "Twilight? Are you there? C'mon, girl, you've still got us a Friendship Games to win!" "Indigo? I'm not so sure Twilight's there anymore..." Sunny Flare hobbled over and tapped on Indigo's shoulder, pointing towards the centre of the light. Eventually, the light broke off entirely, revealing a rather bizarre and alien sight. There, standing between the Rainbooms and Shadowbolts was a baby-sized girl with long black and purple hair sticking up high into the air. She wore a cyan face mask with a small horn of the same colour poking out of her forehead, with a pair of small black raven wings protruding out of the back of her shoulder blades. She wore magenta gloves and boots, a bright purple dress, and crimson baby shoes with white soles. "What in the world is that thing?!" Principal Abacus Cinch lunged a finger at the infant, twitching her eyebrows at the sight. Suddenly, the baby let out a loud cry that pierced the ears of all of the students and staff, deafening them without any effort. They all had to put their hands over their ears to keep their eardrums from bursting. Sunset Shimmer took a rolling dive and picked the baby up, gently beginning to rock her in her arms. "Twilight... I'm so sorry about this," she began to soothe the monstrous infant. As she patted the back of Twilight's head, she looked up at Cinch with fire in her eyes. "That thing as you so put it is the result of your stupid and crazy dreams, Principal Cinch!" "Such a foul tongue. Have you no respect for your elders?!" Cinch flexed the fingers in her right hand and glared right back at Sunset Shimmer. "And besides, this never would've happened if your side had just played fair instead of resulting to witchcraft such as magic to win the Friendship Games!" "Hey! No-one threatens Sunset Shimmer in the presence of a baby—even if it is a figurative and literal little monster!" Pinkie Pie stomped up to Cinch and got up in her face, forcing the old principal to lean back. "If these are the elders we're supposed to respect, then I think I'd rather be a big, old meanie-pants instead!" "I don't have to take such nonsense from a brat from Canterlot High!" Cinch pushed Pinkie onto the ground. "You're the ones we're supposed to ground into the dirt year after year! Nothing is ever going to stop that!" "Actually, Cinch, I must disagree with you." Sugarcoat readjusted her eyebrows and walked up to Twilight Sparkle. "What? You're defecting against me, now of all times?" Cinch watched Sugarcoat approach Twilight and place her hand on the baby's cheek. "Twilight Sparkle was the candidate for the final event of the Friendship Games," Sugarcoat examined the baby Twilight from all angles, watching her now giggle as she cuddled up in Sunset's embrace. "If this magical occurrence was legitimate and Twilight is indeed an infant, I'm afraid that disqualifies her from the Games." She looked up at Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and all of the pupils of Canterlot High. "Without someone to represent Crystal Prep in the last event, we have no choice but to forfeit our position. Ergo, that means that we have lost the Friendship Games this year, and Canterlot High are the winners." Murmurs and whispers sprung up from all of the students from both schools as Sugarcoat's words sank in. No matter how much the students wanted to believe that it wasn't real, there was no error in Sugarcoat's reasoning. "I guess it's for the best, really." Indigo Zap finally stood up and rubbed Twilight's head. "We did kinda act like jerks back there and forced Twi to go through with this thing." "As much as I hate to admit it, Sugarcoat and Indigo are both right." Sour Sweet gruffly shrugged her shoulders and looked at both Sunset and Twilight. Her heart melted at the sight of the baby and she exhaled through her nostrils. "Though she is super-duper adorable, we can't win the Friendship Games with a baby representing us." "Blasphemy! Ridiculousness! Falsehood!" Cinch could only splutter words as she watched her own students go against her. "This is simply a travesy, I tell you! I call shenanigans on this putrid and vile school!" "Call it whatever you want to, Cinch, but it ain't gonna change." Applejack walked up to the Crystal Prep girls and crossed her hands as she looked Cinch in the eyes. "Face it. Ya'll let your own ambitions get to ya. You wanted to win this thing so badly that you didn't really take Twilight's view on the situation into account." "If Twilight wanted to say no, you could've respected her decision like any moral human being would, but you wanted to win the Friendship Games instead, and now Twilight Sparkle is an adorepulsive monster because of it." Rarity pointed at Twilight, who now began to suck on one of her thumbs. "Adorepulsive?" Fluttershy asked as she wrapped an arm around the baby. "It's a combination of adorable and repulsive. I taught it to her the other day." Pinkie Pie raised her finger and smiled. "Whatever it is, it is still an affront to us all!" Cinch snarled and cracked her knuckles. "I hate this baby. I hate Canterlot High! And I hate all of you for defecting against my unbreakable and perfect wills!" She turned to the other students and stomped her foot. "How dare you side with such hideous creatures after they snatched us of a clean and perfect victory! You should all be asha—" "Save it, Cinch. We heard you talking about cancelling Twilight's application to Everton before you drilled those thoughts into her mind." Sugarcoat yanked hard on Cinch's shoulders, forcefully turning her to back to the group. "Not only are you a sore loser, but you have a potential blackmail case on your hands." She turned towards the crowd of CPA students. "I'm sure that, while we may be perfectionists, we would never want to be associated by a criminal, correct?" The students all nodded and glared at Cinch with fire in their eyes. "Monster!" One of them called out. "Witch!" Another yipped. "We're not gonna believe your lies anymore, Cinch!" A third student added before a chorus of boos flooded down on Cinch. "You brought this on yourself, you hear me?!" Cinch's strong hatred did not change as she watched her entire school rebel against her. No matter how strong she thought she was, she was not about to be dissuaded and dragged down by her own students. "Unbelievable. SWINES! DEFECTORS! COWARDS! ALL OF YOU! I'M GOING TO BE TAKING YOUR FEEBLE INSURGENCY UP WITH THE SCHOOL BOARD! YOUR TIME AT CRYSTAL PREP IS FINISHED! DO YOU HEAR ME?!" "If anyone's time is up, I'd say it's yours." Sugarcoat held an open phone in her hand and closed it up, slipping it back into her pocket. "We've just sent out a word to the police about you blackmailing Twilight. It's time to face the music, Principal Abacus Cinch. You. Lost. Accept it." "Being a loser's one thing, but being a downright crazy lady and saying that we'll all get expelled is another thing, Cinch." Lemon Zest took her headphones off and held them in her hands. "I'd say you're doing us a real solid here. It's better to be kicked out of school than to spend our time in it with you!" "Yeesh. When Lemon Zest's headphones come off, she's like a whole different person." Sour Sweet leaned in close to Sunset's ears and whispered into her ears. "I'd hate to see her when she's angry. But on the other hand, it might also be interesting..." As the students finally stopped jeering Cinch, police sirens blared as a single car rolled up and appeared before the school. Two policemen climbed out of the car and walked over to the principal, who was now starting to sweat as she looked around for any potential means of escape. "Abacus Cinch. We got a report that you were suspected on blackmail." One of the cops came up to Cinch and lowered his brows as he unfurled his police badge. "Care to say anything?" "Shining Armor, please think before you do this." Cinch looked into his eyes and clasped her hands together. "You were my best and brightest pupil! You won me the Friendship Games before, can't you do something about this?" "No. The law comes first in everything, Cinch." Shining Armor grabbed Cinch, turned her around, and slammed on a pair of handcuffs onto the elder's wrists. "Even in the Games." "This can't be happening..." Cinch's body grew cold as Shining Armor began to bring her towards the car. "Principal Abacus Cinch, you're under arrest on suspicion of blackmail," Shining said as he walked her down. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say and do can be used against you in a court of law. Further more, everyone here today is a witness in this crime and shall appear to testify against you." "You think this is over, you maggots?!" Cinch growled as she was pulled towards the car. " I'm fifty-five years old and you're just adolescents! I'm far superior to you in every way! DO YOU THINK THAT YOU'RE ALL SAFE FROM ME?! I WILL HAVE MY VENGEANCE ON ALL OF YOU FOR THIS INJUSTICE OF SUPERIORITY!" She was thrown in the car by Shining Armor and his assistance and driven off into the distance. "Well, I was not expecting that at all." Principal Celestia walked up to the Rainbooms and Shadowbolts as the police car disappeared. "But, nonetheless, it looks like we have our winners." "Yes." Luna held up a trophy and brought it over to Celestia. "Here you go, sister. I believe that this was what you wanted?" "It is, Luna." Celestia tousled Vice Principal Luna's hair. "The winners of this year's Friendship Games are Canterlot High and the Wondercolts!" Everyone from both schools let out a massive cheer as Celestia held the trophy high into the air. Any remaining tension between the two of them had been lost in their celebrations. Arms her thrown up high as the students of both school ran up to each other and shook hands, smiling and exchanging other pleasantries. As everyone else cheered and clamoured around Celestia and Luna, the Rainbooms and Shadowbolts' attention was focused on Twilight Sparkle. The former prodigy, now day-old monster baby, gently cooed as Sunset held her gently. The eleven teenage girls couldn't even focus on celebrating the downfall of Cinch with the matters now at hand. "We won the Friendship Games, but at what cost?" Sunset looked back at the delighted crowd of students. "Not only was it an unfair win, but we also lost Twilight in doing so. Does this really count as a victory?" "Well, whatever the case, Cinch is gone and you've opened our eyes for the first time." Sunny Flare looked up at the Rainbooms and cracked a smile. "Things are going to change at Crystal Prep a lot thanks to your help, Sunset Shimmer. And I must apologise for our rather outlandish and cruel behaviour earlier." "I hope that you can accept our apologies and bury the hatchet between our two schools." Sugarcoat also smiled and held out her arm towards the girls. "I know that none of the things we did were in any case the right ones, but I just want to let you know that we are no longer enemies. And, maybe, we can grow to become friends instead." "Well, I don't know if we can really be friends just like that, but I think we can work something out." Rainbow Dash lifted one of her brows and eyed up the girls. "May take some time though, just saying." "Well, I think it'd be great to be friends." Fluttershy walked forward and shook hands with all five of the Crystal Prep Shadowbolts. "It's much nicer than having to play against each other." "Totally!" Lemon Zest slid up to Pinkie Pie and gave her a wide smile. "Besides, I saw that party you put on earlier. It was pretty wild once you got into the mix, girl!" "Thanks! I aim to please." Pinkie Pie tipped her hand forward and puffed out her chest. "Thanks for the gesture, girls." Rarity nodded at the Crystal Prep girls. "I suppose that I could look into something, given that you did stand up against that rotten Abacus Cinch." "Besides, what did make you want to stand up to that old hag?" Applejack asked, tilting her head at the Shadowbolts. "When we saw what had happened, I guess." Indigo Zap took another look at the baby. "None of us wanted to lose, but at the same time, we knew that it wouldn't be fair to put a baby into the Games. Cinch played us all like musical instruments, and little baby Twilight was a wake-up call." "It was time for us all to wake up and smell the coffee; to come to terms with the fact that what we had done was wrong." Sour Sweet came up to the Rainbooms. "Winning the games is one thing, but to cheat was just plain wrong. Plus, that little pint-size over there wouldn't have lasted a second playing the Friendship Games." "Don't mind Sour Sweet." Indigo Zap gently massaged Sour's shoulders. "She's had some sorta weird bipolar syndrome since she was born. She's actually really nice once you get to know her. Much like I can be a great gal outside of Crystal Prep, y'know?" As the other Rainbooms began to accept the Shadowbolts' requests to be friends, Sunset still had her eyes fixated on Twilight Sparkle. As she looked down at the serene baby, she couldn't help but frown. She wanted to make amends after what she had said at the Tri-Cross Relay, but now she would never get the chance to do it. Hanging her head, a single tear slipped from Sunset's eyes as she brought Twilight back to her chest. "I'm so sorry for what I said, Twilight. I never meant for any of this to happen, just as you never meant to take magic into your own hands." Sunset looked down at the baby and tried to avoid getting poked by the horn coming from the demon's forehead. "I just hope that you'll forgive me for what I did to you. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not even when I leave Canterlot High, but I just want you to know that I apologise for my actions and that I hope that we can still be friends." Author's Note And, voila! The first chapter's done! Baby Midnight Sparkle story is a go people! I came up with this idea on the fly after almost a week of sitting down and writing other stories. This cover art you're seeing is actually made by a guy named TopWanted, and it was all done in crayon as well. So make sure to give him some praise as well, for he is a very talented man with just crayons at his disposal. And as always, have a nice day! The Wrong Everfree ForestSunset and Twilight fell through a vortex above the Everfree forest and tumbled through the leaves and branches. As their bodies collided with the hardened natural mass, they finally ended up landing hard on the ground in a dense thicket with barely any light to lead them, with Twilight bouncing off of Sunset's belly to cushion the fall. "Ow..." Sunset shakily stood up and blinked as she began to look around the forest. She could see all of the leaves hanging from the branches perfectly fine as well as some more foliage further on into the darkness. "Did someone catch the number of that truck?" She said to herself as she tried to shake off a stinging sensation that pounded away at her brain. "Well, at least you're safe, right, Twilight?" As Sunset waited to hear Twilight's voice, all that she heard was the silence of the forest as she turned around. Twilight had vanished into the forest and was now nowhere to be seen. A few giggles could be heard, but other than that, there was absolutely nothing else. "Twilight? C'mon, girl. Not again..." Sunset groaned as she listened out for the infant's cooing. Pricking up her now-ponified ears, she slowly trotted towards the noise of Twilight's laughter and moved on from there. "At least we didn't get far. We're still in the Everfree Forest, so I can just grab you and get back to camp. No problem at all..." She pushed some of the bushes and plants away as she pursued her little sister. As she broke through the thresholds of plantlife and trees, she eventually caught a brief glimmer of Twilight's body. She saw her flapping her tiny wings and began to run after them, almost tripping over roots as she tried to keep up with her. Just as she skidded on the tips of her hooves to try and catch her, she dropped her jaw to find that Twilight was further ahead of her than she had originally thought. "Twilight! Wait up!" Sunset galloped after Twilight, not even realising that she was a pony once again. All that she cared about was the well-being of the human world's Twilight Sparkle. Even with all of the magic that she had taken in at the Friendship Games, she was still a baby both mental and physical. And such a form also inherited the weaknesses and lack of mental power as an ordinary infant, so she believed that without her, she would be completely vulnerable to everyone and everything around her. "Don't go too far! Mama won't be able to protect you if you don't!" But Twilight was still laughing as she floated through the air. She too had seen her arms and legs transformed into horse legs and felt that her nose was now a tiny foal's muzzle. Her wings, face mask, and horn still remained the same, though, and she was now poised on exploring the new world that she found herself in. "Twilight! If you keep going, you're going to end up being attacked by something!" Sunset began to sweat as her breathing became heavy. Despite her new equine body in place of her frail human one, she still had the same handicap of being unable to run for long distances without getting fatigued. "Just come back to Mama and we can go see your aunties at Camp Everfree again!" All of a sudden, a muffled snarl echoed through the bushes around both Sunset and Twilight. Figures jumped and darted through the darkness as they passed Sunset and focused on Twilight. Glowing green dots for eyes burst from the leaves as sharp fangs made out of wood were bared from each of the silhouettes' mouths. One pounced out of the leaves and looked ready to rip the baby limb from limb. "TWILIGHT! LOOK OUT!" Sunset reached out in desperation as she watched the monster shoot out of the forest and drive its' claws through the air, getting closer to Twilight with every millisecond. As the beast tried to bite down on Twilight, she simply fluttered her wings a small amount and barely avoided being bit or scratched. The sudden gust of wind had thrown her off, though, and she had trouble controlling herself as she somersaulted through the air and flew over Sunset's head. "Twilight!" Sunset stopped running and immediately turned back, trying to catch Twilight as she rolled and inched closer towards the ground. "Easy. Easy... Come to mama..." She tried to guess where Twilight would land as she tumbled out of control and broke past the line of leaves above her. She bit her lip and made a diving leap, catching Twilight just as she was about to hit the ground. "Gotcha!" Twilight landed daintly in the cup of Sunset's hoof and watched as the monster that had attacked her was now joined by two identical beasts. All made out of tree branches and leaves, they all snarled as their fierce gazes locked with that of hers and Sunset's. Twilight's lips quivered as she stared at the beasts and she raised her hands close to her face as she watched them slowly stomp up towards her. "Timberwolves? What are they doing here?" Sunset's eyes widened as she too examined the aggressive beasts that had tried to kill her and Twilight. "But wait... That can only mean that I'm back in Equestria!" She looked down at her hooves and saw that her claims were validated. With a small tap on the horn that poked out of her head, it merely served to prove her point. "Twilight must've brought us here with that toy of hers." Twilight however began to tear up as the monsters moved closer and closer to her. In her infantile state, she had no idea what to make of the creatures, but the unbridled terror in her eyes was purely visible when the Timberwolves snarled and got close enough to where they could eat her in one bite. With nothing else left to do, Twilight cried as loud as she could, lighting up her horn and hands as she pushed the creatures away. As the Timberwolves jumped high into the air and tried to eat both Twilight and Sunset, the magic-pumped baby screamed loudly and fired a strong aqua pillar of light from her three illuminated appendages, blasting all three of the wolves into the air and out of the forest, disintegrating into ashes as they hit the clouds. "Twilight!" Sunset looked up and watched Twilight crying, albeit a little bit softer than earlier. She pried her from her hoof and lifted her up with her magic, rocking her gently by her furry chest. "There, there. No need to cry. I'm here now and I'll make sure that you don't get into any more trouble." Twilight's tears streamed down her face and dropped onto the ground. The soft and gentle swings through the air did give her a sense of comfort as she looked up into Sunset's eyes. Her wails were now reduced to simple whispers as she frantically reached out for Sunset and hugged her neck, babbling something into the pony's ears as she pushed her cheeks against hers. "Mama..." she cooed. "Don't worry, Twilight. Mama's here." Sunset stood up and walked deeper into the forest, gently holding Twilight close to her with her magic. "Now, don't run off, or you'll lose me again, alright?" She watched Twilight nod her head before planting her tear-ridden face onto Sunset's again. "Good. Now let's see if we can find some way out of this place and get back to the human world." As Twilight peaked out into the darkness, she wrapped her wings around her tiny body and huddled up against Sunset, shaking and shuddering as she braced herself for another attack. Her horn lit up in response to her actions and a small purple pacifier appeared around her mouth that she immediately began to suck on. The rubber bulb that now plugged up her mouth soothed her lightly, and the more that she bobbed it in and out, the more relaxed that she became. She still held tightly onto Sunset and climbed onto her back, but her eyelids began to droop as she fell into her caretaker's fur. Meanwhile, back in the human world, the Rainbooms were all gathered around the totem pole as they watched Gloriosa and Timber handling everyone else's activities. From rock climbing, to sailing, and even to baking, they saw a variety of different things to do in the forest. However, that wasn't what had captured their interest. "Hey, girls? Has anyone seen Sunset and Twilight?" Applejack asked as she began to scan the campers for any sign of their missing friends. "Ever since that whole deal with Gloriosa and Filthy Rich, the two of 'em have just up 'n' vanished into thin air!" "I'm not sure, Applejack." Rainbow Dash's eyes shot from student to student as she tried to find Sunset and Twilight. "They can't have gotten that far, right? I mean, c'mon! Camp Everfree's not gonna let anyone go missing like that!" "I dunno, Dashie. I've told some pretty spooky campfire stories the last few times I was here." Pinkie Pie tipped her hand as she pulled her shirt down by her waist. "Something in the forest might've snatched them up and is probably cooking them in a pot to serve with a side of salad while topping them with salt and pepper!" "Pinkie Pie! Don't be ridiculous!" Rarity spluttered and almost lost her balance as she pushed her hand off of the pole. "Sunset Shimmer would never deliberately get lost in a place like this. The forest isn't too expansive, and Timber and Gloriosa would've known if they had wandered out of the camp's boundaries." "But Rarity, don't forget that Twilight has that magic rattle on her." Fluttershy slowly raised her finger and looked into Rarity's eyes. "We don't know what Twilight can do now that she's a baby, so it could be possible that she accidentally pulled herself and Sunset into Equestria. And if that's the case, then I don't know how she's going to get back here in time." "Fluttershy, if Twilight and Sunset went missing, then Gloriosa and Timber would've raised the alerts by now." Rarity tipped her hand in front of Fluttershy's face. "Don't worry about it, girl. Sunset's going to be alright. She saved the world from three evil sirens, so I'm sure that she and Twilight are fine wherever they are." "Yeah, but I'm still not entirely comfortable with the idea of Sunset and a powerful demon baby all alone with no-one to help 'em." Applejack turned towards Fluttershy and Rarity and cocked brows at both of them. "What if you were in that scenario? How unsafe would you feel trying to juggle the needs of a magical baby with weird powers and nobody would be able to help?" "Well, when you put it like that, I suppose that I would feel quite unsettled." Rarity's body grew cold as she envisioned the scenario that Sunset was in, only with her instead. "Gosh. I sure hope that the poor dear's alright, lost like that without any food, water, or spas within a mile radius! We've gotta do something!" "But what can we do?" Applejack turned towards the lake and looked out to the trees on the other side. "We don't have the power to keep up with Twilight. She's a baby using all of our magic. We're just ordinary teenage girls again without her." "Well, I guess the only thing that we can do now is pray." Fluttershy knelt down and put her hands together. She closed her eyes and looked into the afternoon sky, watching as the clouds covered up the sun. "If we all put our hearts into seeing Sunset get back safely, then I know that we can—" "Attention, campers!" Gloriosa's voice rang out on the camp's speakers. "We're about to begin opening workshops for anyone who wants to do something while they're here! We have cooking, crafts, and even animal care on the roster! So come on down!" "COOKING?!" Pinkie bounced into the air as high as she could, stretching out her legs before landing with a massive smile on her face. "Count me in!" Without any other responses, she dashed off to the cooking workshop, leaving nothing but a trail of dust behind her. "Fluttershy, I appreciate the gesture, but we can't just sit around and pray for Twilight and Sunset to come back the whole time that we're here." She squatted down and helped Fluttershy back onto her feet. As she did, she noticed that some hair had dropped down into Fluttershy's eyes as she began to frown. "Oh, dear, I know that you're concerned about them, but we can't mope all the time. We came to Camp Everfree for a fun little getaway, right? Shouldn't we balance our worries with the fun stuff we can do here?" "Yeah. Besides, you don't wanna remember Camp Everfree as the place where Twilight and Sunset got lost." Applejack gently stroked Fluttershy's back as the group walked off. "We can pray at night before we go to bed if they don't show up by then, but I don't think they'll be lost for that long. Just trust us on that." "Well... alright then." Fluttershy resigned and walked with them, letting off a small sigh as she brushed the hair out of her eyes. "I just hope that they get back soon. There's all kinds of scary things in the woods like thorns, cliffs, and mean predators. Oh, what if they get hurt? I don't want to see little Twilight covered in cuts and scratches!" "Fluttershy. Chillax." Rainbow Dash began to massage Fluttershy's shoulders. "Sunset'll come back faster than you know it. She's a strong girl. Now c'mon! We've gotta have fun while we still can!" "OK." Fluttershy dropped her hands and gave a small grin as she looked into Rainbow Dash's confidence-filled eyes. Oh, Twilight, Sunset, where are you? Please don't get lost in the Everfree Forest! We all miss you already! Despite what her face was saying, her mind was the complete polar opposite; she just chose not to show it as she continued down the path with the rest of the Rainbooms.
The AftermathSunlight streaked through the clouds as the Games came to an end. The students had all calmed down and taken down the bleachers and banners for their separate schools. The events of the last event had been completely forgotten about as two students retrieved the pennants and handed them back to Luna and Cadence, who took them and laid them down on the ground. The Rainbooms and Shadowbolts were all huddled around Twilight Sparkle, who was now sitting and learning how to crawl. Everything that their former friend had used to be had now been washed away with the magic and now she was back at square one with this infantile stage. She slowly put her hand on the ground and did the same with the other, learning how to crawl. "So, now what are we going to do with a baby Twilight?" Indigo was the first one to break the silence as Sunset picked Twilight back up. "She can't stay like this forever, right? We're still besties!" "Well, I'm sorry to break it to you girls, but we can't fix her." Sunset Shimmer petted Twilight, combing her pillar of black, purple, and pink hair as she slid her fingers through and across it. "Whatever she—whatever Cinch did, there's no way we can turn her back without the Magic of Friendship." "So? Then call it out or something and change her back!" Sour Sweet demanded. "This whole baby thing is going to make me die! Of fangirling, that is!" She pinched Twilight's cheeks. "She's soooo cute!" Twilight giggled at Sour Sweet's actions and clapped her hands, reaching out for the Crystal Prep student and flailing around in Sunset's grasp as she did so. "It doesn't really work like that." Sunset shook her head and handed Twilight over to Sour Sweet. "We used to have the Magic of Friendship before the Games began, but one by one Twilight sucked it out of us with that weird locket thing over there." She pointed her thumb over her shoulder towards the empty and powerless device. "Without it, we're just as normal as you five are. And all of that magic now lives in Twilight Sparkle." "So... does that mean we can't fly anymore?" Rainbow Dash hobbled up to Sunset and looked into her eyes, putting her hands together. "I'm sorry, Dash, but you'll never see those wings of yours ever again." Sunset put her hand on Rainbow's shoulders and began to wipe the tears from Rainbow's eyes. "Not unless a miracle happens and Twilight learns how to control and share the magic inside herself." "Aww, man! That really sucks!" Rainbow Dash slumped down onto her butt and curled up into a ball. "And I was really enjoying flying in the sky like pony-me does..." "I'm more interested to see what you girls are going to do now that Twilight Sparkle's been turned into a baby." Sugarcoat's eyes were locked with that of Twilight's who reached out and stole her glasses, rattling them in her hand. The teenage girl took them back and slipped them back onto her head. "The sensible thing is definitely to contact her parents, of course, but what you've said about magic could put them all at a potential risk. They might not be ready for the newfound power that their once-more infant daughter has." "And with that magic in the hands of a baby, it could come up at any given time..." Rarity took Twilight and gently rocked her in her arms. "Even if we are able to keep her happy and healthy, something as small as a sneeze could unleash some truly horrible magical powers. She might look adorable, but she does have a lot of demonesque features about her." "Rarity hit the nail on the head there." Sunny Flare spoke up and cast her gaze down on Twilight, who eagerly reached out to play with the hairclip on Sunny's hair. "Twilight's not only been age-regressed, but she's got all of the stolen magic that we all wanted to be released. Now, I'm no expert on the subject, but I'm definitely sure that with all of that magic, it's going to be very unpredictable what will happen when she uses it." "So, what are we gonna do, then?" Lemon Zest leaned over Twilight's face and almost bumped into her. "If she's got those freaky-deaky magical powers, then we should leave her in the hands of someone who knows all about it, right?" "Well, there isn't anyone here who knows about magic more than we do." Pinkie bounced over to Lemon Zest and took Twilight out of Rarity's arms. "Sure, the other CHS students have been told about it, but they're not really as smart as me, Sunset, and the others. Plus, Pound and Pumpkin could use a new playmate back home." She brought Twilight to her face and made silly faces, sticking out her tongue at the infant in the hopes of trying to amuse it. "Who's a cute demon baby? You are! Yes you are! Yes you are!" Twilight laughed vigorously at Pinkie Pie's whimsy and grabbed onto her face. Her giggles illuminated her horn and hands and caused magic to spring up around them. Black and blue auras grabbed Pinkie and lifted her up into the air as Twilight's wings glided her down to the ground. As she shook her limbs around, Pinkie was shaken like a ragdoll for a few seconds before the baby put both of her hands to the ground, causing her teenage captive to smash into the ground and ingest some grass and dirt. "Whoa. I did not see that one coming..." Indigo Zap took a few steps backward when Twilight's magic faded away. "Hello, girls. Am I interrupting anything?" Luna walked up to the group of girls and looked down at Twilight. "I trust that Twilight Sparkle is doing alright?" "Yeah. She's been doing pretty good," Sunset lied as the thought of an infant Twilight using magical power began to seep into her mind. "So, what's gonna happen to her now that she's been turned into... this?" Fluttershy picked Twilight up and brought her to Luna. "She can't stay here forever and we don't know how to change her back without magic." "Hmm..." Luna took a close look at Twilight, mainly raising interest at the sight of the wings sprouting out of her back, and the illuminated face mask and horn that shone a gentle shade of cyan. "I've already alerted her parents about the whole thing. They'll be coming to collect her shortly." "Are you really sure that's a good idea, Luna?" Sunset tilted her head and eyed up the baby Twilight Sparkle. "We just saw her lift Pinkie Pie in the air like a toy and shake her around before throwing her down into the ground!" "To be fair, though, the grass at Canterlot High is super yummy." Pinkie Pie plucked out a few more blades of grass and slipped them into her mouth like potato chips, swallowing after chewing them thoroughly. "A baby with magic?" Luna's brow shot up as she touched the tip of Twilight's horn and began to rub it. The result of her actions caused her fingers to be afflicted with a burn as the light shone brighter. "Gah! Well, I can't entirely say she's an ordinary infant, that much is clear." "So, what should we do about it, then?" Cadence walked up to the group of girls. "Twilight's parents are coming down any second now and we're dealing with some kind of weird super-baby with weird magical powers. How are Mr and Mrs. Sparkle going to be able to handle something like this?" "If they were to be given that baby, a number of different outcomes could happen." Sugarcoat crossed her arms and looked at Cadence and Luna. "Twilight might end up killing them with her power, for one. That much magic in that tiny body could be catastrophic if not tamed. And without parents, Twilight would probably die of other means shortly after. Secondly, if her parents found out, they could call the authorities to take Twilight away and have her cut open and experimented on. And three, her parents and family might even abandon her once they hear the whole story." She took her glasses off and rubbed them on her tartan skirt. "In each of these possibilities, it's a lose-lose for Twilight. As much as it is cruelty, her parents are unfit to raise a demon-like magical baby." "But then, what can we do?!" Applejack shouted as she swung her arms over to Twilight. "If Twi's parents give up on her, die, or have her taken away by the cops, then it's gonna be sad for all of them!" "I don't think that there's anything we can do if Twilight goes off with her mom and dad!" Indigo shook her head. "Someone's gotta take care of that kid and it's gotta be someone who knows how to use magic!" "But who? No-one in Canterlot High or Crystal Prep knows the slightest bit about this whole magic stuff!" Cadence's resolve shattered as she looked out at the girls warning cries of desperation. "Whoever's going to have that baby is in for a whole world of trouble and chaos! They might never lead a normal life ever again!" Both the grown-ups and the teens slung words back and forth between each other as they discussed the best course of action on how to raise Twilight. Many of their words clashed with each other as they tried to get their views out and what should be done, but all in all, their words were getting them nowhere with their words. Sunset looked back and forth between the two groups. Sugarcoat's points still stood proud and Twilight's parents would have a real hassle trying to deal with their magical daughter. But at the same time, she knew that the magic inside Twilight could still be tamed and controlled. She took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts before walking in between the two groups. She pushed both of her arms out and took Twilight away from Luna, silencing the bickering humans. "I'll do it," she spoke confidently as she leaned Twilight's head back. "Sunset? Are you perfectly state-of-mind right now?" Luna broke the momentary silence as she looked deeply into Sunset's eyes. "That little one might be the Twilight Sparkle of Crystal Prep, but she's still taken in a lot of magic since the Friendship Games." "I know that. But you're all right." Sunset looked back and forth between the teenage girls and the principals and dean. "Twilight's new powers need to be controlled and tamed before any of this spirals out of hand. Her parents won't be able to learn how to do it, but I've dealt with this stuff before." "Are you sure that you're up for this, Sunset?" Rarity inquired as she stepped forward. She was within range of both Twilight and Sunset and had to avoid being poked in the chest by Twilight's horn as the baby now looked to the ground below her. "This is a far cry from both your tantrum at the Fall Formal and the Battle of the Bands. Magic is being wielded by a newborn; a baby. Who knows what kind of madness might ensue from this?" "I know the stakes, but we don't have a choice in the matter." Sunset brushed Rarity's chest and took a deep breath. "There's too much at stake here, and besides, we've already pointed out the risks of giving her back to her parents. If anything, I'd say that this is the best shot we have of being able to control Twilight and her new magic." "I'm sure that I don't have to remind you, but you've never even considered the prospect of having children, Sunset Shimmer." Celestia pointed out and looked down at her student. "Raising them is a lot of hard work. And you don't even have the knowledge or education needed to take care of one, let alone the toys, furniture, and food that can feed her." "That's why, with all due respect, Principal Celestia, I would like to enroll in your Sex Ed course as well and use Twilight for my test." Sunset rubbed Twilight's belly, hearing her blow a raspberry and slide a chuckle out of her tiny lips. "I'm fully aware that I'll also have to take her in every other day just to make sure that my grades aren't falling behind either." "Not many teenage mothers are seen in this country in times like these, but if you're willing to take up responsibility for Twilight Sparkle and her well-being, I will make sure that you are not overwhelmed with other school work." Celestia smiled and tousled Sunset and Twilight's hair. "Only if you're willing to commit yourself to looking after her, though." "I promise, Principal Celestia." Sunset nodded and gave the staff a grin of her own. "Twilight's in good hands." Before anyone could say or do anything else, a purple sports car rolled up at the statue to Canterlot High. From inside, a man and a woman climbed out and walked over to Celestia and the group. The woman had white and purple hair with lavender skin, while the man had both dark blue hair and skin. "Dean Cadence, we got a call that Twilight Sparkle had suffered from something terrible," said the man. "We've called her brother, Shining Armor as well. As soon as he's done with his job, he'll be coming here as well." "Night Light. Twilight Velvet. I'm not sure that the two of you will understand me when I say this, but your daughter, Twilight Sparkle, has changed." Dean Cadence stepped aside, revealing the baby Twilight in Sunset's arms. "We are still unsure on what to do, but we do know that magic has overwhelmed your daughter and turned her back into a newborn." "Twilight?" Both Night Light and Twilight Velvet chorused at the child and watched her flutter her eyelids as she looked at the two newcomers. "The students also witnessed that even in this infantile state, your daughter has some immense magical powers that I fear could disrupt your family and cause harm to everyone around her." As Luna spoke, she didn't realise that Twilight's horn and hands lit up, causing tiny pieces of the ground around them to float into the air and dance around. "One of the students at Canterlot High, Sunset Shimmer, has agreed to take care of your daughter if you two are unwilling to look after her yourself." "Unwilling? Why would you ever think we'd want to give Twilight up?" Night Light picked Twilight up and turned her towards him. "It's like you said. We wouldn't get it, but we're not about to just throw her away just because she's somehow turned into this... thing." "We were all just worried that Twilight's power could become a bit too much of a problem to deal with." Celestia walked up to the parents and saw Twilight hurling the rocks out over to the houses on the other side of the road. They smashed into the glass and against the walls of the rooms that they had infiltrated. "As you can see, her magic is a bit unstable in this form." "What are we going to do, honey?" Twilight Velvet's eyes flew over Twilight Sparkle's and linked with her husband's. "We can't take care of a magical baby." "True, but I'm also not about to lose Twilight either!" Night Light brought Twilight close to her chest and hugged her. "Sure, she's our little shooting star again, but how do you think giving her up makes any of this OK?" "If I may, I might have a solution that might please everybody." Sunset Shimmer raised her finger and came back up to Twilight and her family. "I've already said that I would take care of Twilight if you didn't want to, but if you feel that you'll both crack under the pressure of handling a baby with magic, then I'd gladly volunteer to be your personal caretaker." "Caretaker?" Both of the parents parroted and exchanged glances before letting Sunset continue. "What this means is, that as a caretaker, I would be able to stay at your house and help you raise Twilight back into a teenager again." Sunset tipped and tilted her hands as she addressed both Night Light and Twilight Velvet. "In addition to being an extra pair of hands to keep the house tidy and clean, I could also look after Twilight while you can't and help her to control her magical powers. Furthermore, I would eliminate the need for a babysitter in case the entire family needs to go out somewhere and leave her alone, so that's an extra benefit." She gently lifted Twilight up and patted her back, causing a little burp to escape from the infant's mouth. "Of course, you don't have to accept. It's just a suggestion." Both of Twilight's parents were deep in thought after Sunset had posed the offer to them both. They were still having a lot of trouble being able to come to terms with the fact that their own daughter had been transformed into a baby with otherworldly powers that none of them had heard of before, but at the same time, they were also beginning to see just how Sunset's help would lessen the stress that they would potentially have. "Well, as much as I'm scratching my head with this whole thing, I'd say you've got a deal." Night Light held out his hand and saw Sunset take it and shake it. "You can start right now, if you'd like." "Thank you, sir. You won't regret this." Sunset smiled and let go of Night Light's hand, giving him back Twilight. "I promise that Twilight'll grow up just how you want her to." As everyone watched the whole event, they just now saw that the buses from Crystal Prep were beginning to pick the students up and take them back to their school. Many of the uniformed students had already began making their way back towards the buses, leaving the Shadowbolts for last. "Well, as much as this is a heartwarming scene, I'm afraid we must be going now." Sugarcoat walked towards the bus and gathered her personal belongings. "I'll be sure to stay in touch about little Twilight." "Gotta go. This school hates us being late, Cinch or no Cinch." Sour Sweet followed after Sugarcoat and clambered up the steps. "Catch ya on the flipside, Pinks and friends!" Lemon Zest slid on up to Twilight and rubbed her cheeks one last time. "And a super-special goodbye to you, Twi!" And with that, she ran back onto the bus, letting the sound of her headphones cut out the world around her. "This is the beginning of a new Crystal Prep." Sunny Flare nodded as she too began to climb onto the bus. "Hopefully, things won't be so tense between our two schools. Have a good day, Rainbooms of Canterlot High. May our paths cross again soon." "See ya!" Indigo Zap ran on board and sat herself on one of the seats on the front row, waving back at the girls as the vehicle closed its' doors and departed Canterlot High. "I guess I'd better get going as well." Sunset Shimmer walked towards the car and climbed into the back, holding Twilight gently in her chest. "Her magic's gonna be wild if I'm not there to protect her." "You're doing the right thing, Sunset." Applejack came up to Sunset and gave her a warm smile and a nod. "We'll be sure to help out however we can as well. Just give us a call if something comes up and we'll be raring to go!" "Thanks, girls. You're the best." Sunset grinned back and closed the car door, buckling herself and Twilight into the seats as Night Light and Twilight Velvet walked up to Shining Armor. "I came here as soon as I heard what had happened!" Shining had to catch his breath as he stopped at Twilight Velvet and Night Light's feet. "Where's Twilight? What happened to my little sister?!" "We'll explain when we get home, Shining Armor." Twilight Velvet got in the car and rolled down the window. "But just so you know, Twily's safe. She's with us now." "Just make sure to get home as soon as you can and we'll fill you in on the details." Night Light nodded as he ignited the car's engines and drove off down the road. Shining Armor could only watch as his parents left him behind. He shook his head and took in some deep breaths as he looked up at Dean Cadence, Principal Celestia, and Vice-Principal Luna. "Do any of you know what happened?" "Honey, as much as I can feel your concerns, I don't think you'll understand it without Sunset Shimmer's help." Dean Cadence slid the back of her hand across Shining Armor's face and looked into his eyes. "You see, Twilight Sparkle isn't really herself anymore..." Author's Note That button up there is a Patreon button. If you click on it, you can donate to my Patreon Page and get a whole slew of great rewards for pledging. You can see behind-the-scenes thoughts and sneak peeks of new stories and chapters being developed, you can earn free story editing and a free one-shot or story of your choice, but most importantly, you can support me and help me by pledging at least $1 dollar a month to keep me going. As always, have a very nice day and I'll be seeing you all soon!
ExplanationsThe Sparkle family car drove up the path and stopped outside the garage doors. The engines cut off as the car came to a scraping halt at the end of the line. The doors opened on all sides and Twilight Velvet, Night Light, and Sunset all climbed out, making sure to take Twilight with them before they shut the doors and locked the vehicle. The house itself was a wide two-story detatched building with white brick walls and five windows on the front. There was a normal wooden door with a golden knocker perfectly placed in a simple square arch. The pathway leading up to the door was made out of cream-coloured tiles with a vibrant garden stretching out to the left. Flowers of all different shapes and sizes grew around the walls of the front yard, and a plain doghouse for Spike sat daintly at the corner. "Twilight? I'm not sure if you remember this place, but you're home." Sunset gently poked Twilight's nose and heard her giggle as she walked up the path towards the door. "No-one's ever going to hurt or push you ever again. You're with your family now and they're going to take good care of you." Twilight could only babble baby talk as she looked at the house and garden. Her hands drifted off towards each direction and she constantly tried to reach out and grab whatever she could lay her eyes on. At times, she would also struggle and shake around in Sunset's hold to break free and crawl over to each object of interest, but Sunset made extra sure to keep a tight hold on her so that she didn't wander off or get hurt. The family all walked in and Sunset carried Twilight through the door and shut the door behind her with the tips of her shoes. She saw a small kitchen to her left and a large lounge with a widescreen TV on the right. Trophies, photos, and other keepsakes could be seen in a nearby glass display while books and coasters were neatly laid out on a small black coffee table. "So, where's her room?" Sunset turned to Night Light and Twilight Velvet as she held their daughter gently in her arms. After the events of the Friendship Games, she wanted Twilight to get some rest and relaxation as soon as possible. "Go upstairs, first door on the right." Night Light pointed towards the staircase. "Just take a look at that room when you get up there, because once we've got everything sorted out, it's going to be completely re-decorated." "Alright. Thanks." Sunset gave Night Light a small nod and slowly walked up the stairs, balancing Twilight in her arms. Her short trip up to the next floor ended with her opening the door by pushing the handle down with her arm. Sunset walked into Twilight's room and was met with a sight that she should have seen coming from the first time she had met her. Scientific formulas and equations were scribbled down on paper sprawled all across the desk. She had a bright window which poured in sunlight onto her bed and the middle of the room. There was a large mirror at the side of the wall and a computer at the far end. As for the bed itself, it was a simple shade of white with blue bed sheets and a plain pillow. "I know it's not really your style now, Twilight, but you used to love this stuff when you were all grown up." Sunset brushed Twilight's hair as she laid the baby down on the ground. "Don't worry, though. Your mom and dad are gonna fix this place up as quickly as they can." Twilight's eyes darted around the room, shooting across from the desk, to the bed, and the computer. She let more infantile gibberish spill from her mouth as she put her hand to it. Then, she giggled and lit up her hands and the tip of her horn, glowing as her wings flapped and lifted her into the air. "Uh oh. This isn't good." Sunset watched Twilight conjure her magic and fly into the air. She was already backing up to the door in case the baby unleashed a lethal and destructive spell. "I just hope it's not too bad..." With a loud squeal, Twilight clapped her hands, causing a massive flash to consume the room and leave Sunset blinded by the magic's radiance. When the light began to fade, Twilight's room had undergone a drastic change. Everything that used to be in it had been completely removed from existence and replaced with stuff to cater to Twilight's new form. There were baby toys littered across the pink-padded floor, bright and colourful cartoon animals on the walls, a changing table where the computer used to be, and a pink crib in place of the massive bed. A large chest could be seen where the mirror used to hang and even more vibrant toys could be seen inside. "What the...?" Sunset rubbed her eyes and almost popped them out when she saw the new room. She knew that Twilight was now a magical baby, but she still had no idea of the lengths of her power. "How did you do that, Twilight?" She ran over to her and knelt down to her tiny head. Twilight merely crawled off towards a nearby stuffed animal in the shape of a ragged blue horse with button eyes and blue polka-dot pants. She brought the plush to her face and gave it a cuddle, wiggling around on her butt as she did so. Sunset could only crack a smile smile as she watched the infant Twilight playing with the doll. The more and more she looked at her former opponent, the more her guard was let down. Despite the fact that Twilight's body was now home to all of the stolen magic at the Games, she had rarely seen her do anything destructive with it since she came home with her family. Her thoughts then shifted to what Twilight could actually do with the magic if she had more control over it. She initially dreaded to think of what would happen if that magic found it's way into the former Crystal Prep student's teenage body and overwhelm her, but the idea of the Magic of Friendship being inside a baby's body instead of a teenage or adult body now piqued her curiosity. "Sunset? Are you alright?" Night Light opened the door. "We heard a loud noise coming from upstairs. Is Twilight al—" He barely even had the time to finish his sentence as he saw Twilight's newly-transformed nursery "—right?" "Mr. Night Light!" Sunset jumped when she saw him standing in the door. "I can explain everything!" "Well, I don't really think that there's a need for that now, is there?" Twilight Velvet looked around at the room. "I mean, I'm still eager to know what happened to suddenly turn Twilight's room into this, but there's still no harm in it, right? We needed a nursery to house the little one, so there's no point in questioning things that help our situation." "I'd like an explanation too, if that's alright with you." Night Light walked towards Sunset and looked her in the eyes. "Do you know what happened to Twily's room?" "Well, I suppose I could explain everything to you and the family, but it's a bit of a long story..." Sunset rubbed the back of her head and began to blush lightly as she brought her right hand to her chin. "You may not even understand most of it. Just thought I'd let you know right now." Before anyone else could say anything, Shining Armor bolted up the stairs and put his hand on the door as he leaned down and wheezed for breath. "I'm home!" He barely mustered up a shout with what little air he had in his lungs. "Now, what happened to Twily?" "Shiny, you shouldn't run up the stairs like that." Dean Cadence followed Shining up the stairs and stood by his side. She was still wearing the clothes she had on since the Friendship Games. "It's not good for you to strain yourself—even if you're Canterlot PD's best officer." "Sorry. I just heard that something terrible happened to Twilight, but I was busy taking Cinch in that I barely had time to check my messages." He got back up and brushed himself down, taking off his jacket. He folded it up and walked into the room, looking around at all of the new colours and designs. "Alright. First of all, what happened to her room? We're not due for another child, are we, Cadence?" Cadence could only let a tiny chuckle slip. "You never know, Shining. Love's a complicated thing." Shining Armor raised a brow at Cadence before he looked around the room. It didn't take him long to find Twilight sitting by the blocks, proceeding to place them around herself to spell out a word. "Twily?" He reached out his hand towards the infant and gently tapped her shoulder. "Mr. Armor, this is probably going to sound confusing to you, but—" "I know. I know." Shining's voice deepened as he took a look back at Sunset. "Something horrible's happened to my little sister." He turned back to the baby and picked her up, turning towards him. When he looked into her glowing eyes, he knew just who he was holding. "T-T-Twilight?!" Shining almost dropped his sister in surprise when he saw her wings, mask, and horn. The coos that Twilight spewed didn't give him as much of a shock as the rest of her body did. "What in the name of God happened to you?!" "I suppose I should start from the beginning." Sunset took Twilight from Shining Armor's hands and showed her off to the family. "The Friendship Games were going as planned. The students were getting rallied up to compete in the events and everyone was getting ready for another year of heavy competition," she paused as Twilight gave off a high-pitched giggle. "But Twilight Sparkle had some weird locket in her possession on the day of the games, and one by one, she sucked the magic out of me and my friends as we Pony-Up'd." "Pony-Up?" Cadence raised her left hand. "What does that mean?" Sunset let a groan slip. "Like I said, it would be confusing and you probably wouldn't understand it. But basically, after what happened at the Fall Formal and Battle of the Bands at Canterlot High, me and my friends discovered that we could grow pony ears, wings, and tails by using something called the Magic of Friendship." "I think you're going to need to simplify this a bit, Sunset." Shining Armor put his hand on Sunset's shoulder. "You lost me after you mentioned Canterlot High." "I'm afraid that I can't really simplify it for you anymore, Mr. Armor." Sunset shook her head and held onto Twilight as she began to get restless. "I'm not even from this world. I'm from a pony-filled world named Equestria." "Wait, wait, wait." Twilight Velvet pushed her hand out towards the ground. "You're telling me that you're some kind of weird alien?" "I suppose." Sunset shrugged at Velvet. "So, what? Does this mean you're going to probe us and cut us open now?" Night Light meekly lifted his finger. "What?! No!" Sunset stumbled backwards. "Where in the world did you get that idea from? I'm not an alien from outer space! I'm an alien pony who walked into the human world with a magical mirror that stands outside Canterlot High!" "What?" Shining Armor was still unable to grasp anything that Sunset had said. "You know what, just forget it. We have magic, Twilight stole it from us, that's all that matters." Sunset let out an exasperated huff and put Twilight down, watching her crawl away towards another part of the room before continuing. "The Games were tied, and Cinch and the other Crystal Prep students heard about what Twilight did to us. They took the opportunity to push Twilight against the wall and force her to cough it up," she said. "They were probably afraid of losing and wanted to use it as a last resort, but I can't help but think that there's something else that Cinch never mentioned..." "Well, Twilight did mention she had plans to move on to the Everton Independent Study Program when I saw her in Crystal Prep." Cadence nodded and walked up towards Sunset. "It's a place where students were devoid of classes, and were able to teach themselves any subject on the most advanced degree possible. But at the same time, I was concerned that Twilight would be all alone in taking that next step, as technically, there aren't any rooms or social places for her to make any friends." "Well, whatever the case, I don't think she's gonna be able to go there anymore." Shining looked down at his baby sister, who now poked her head into the toy chest and scraped her horn against the wood as she did so. "At least, not at her current age." "Maybe Twilight took part in the Games because she was forced into it." Sunset put her hand to her head and looked down at the ground. "It all makes sense. She didn't have the physique to take part in any of the events, and she struggled a lot in the relay event. Perhaps Cinch abused her power as principal and threatened to blacklist Twilight from going to Everton." "The charges do say that she's in prison for blackmail, so it's entirely possible." Shining Armor looked back at Sunset and tipped his hand. "And to think, I used to be on good terms with her. She's not the Abacus Cinch I remembered from my days at CPA." "Hold on a sec. You used to go to Crystal Prep?" Sunset jabbed a finger at Shining Armor and raised one of her brows. "And graduated valedictorian." He puffed out his chest and gave a smug grin. "Crystal Prep can make anyone's dreams come true, just so long as you pay your dues and respect the gift you're given." "Alright, alright. Let's not get carried away here, Shiny." Cadence massaged Shining Armor's shoulders and pushed his chest back in. "We've still got to hear about how Twilight got turned into a baby and just how strong her supposed magic is." "Thank you, Cadence." Sunset nodded and took a few steps back to the corner of the room. "When Twilight fell to Crystal Prep's peer pressure, we all tried to swoop in and stop her. But it was too late. The locket was opened, and magic took Twilight over. She was consumed, and turned into what she is now." Sunset pointed to the baby Twilight, who now poked her head out of a puddle of toys and blankets. "Crystal Prep had to concede defeat, and Cinch was absolutely furious about it. Then you came along to arrest her, didn't you, Mr. Armor?" "Please, Sunset. When I'm off-duty, just Shining Armor is fine." He waved his hand in front of his badge. "But I still don't get how a baby like Twilight has magic inside of herself." As if to answer his question, Twilight fluttered her wings and lit up her horn, grabbing the toy animal she had been playing with earlier. She reached out for the plush and a pink and blue aura appeared around it. She magically lifted it up to her chest and gave it another cuddle as she floated back to the ground. "Whoa..." Shining was in awe at his little sister's minute accomplishment. He had seen many things in his job as a police officer, but he had never seen a winged baby pick up a doll with magic and play with it like that. "How did she do that?" "Simple." Sunset sat down by Twilight and petted her head as she found a pacifier laying by her legs. She picked it up and popped it into Twilight's mouth, seeing her suck on it rhythmically. "Twilight has all of me and my friends' magic inside. It's raw and uncontrolled, so I'm not entirely sure what she could do with it if it gets stronger." She gave the baby a gentle pat on the back. "That's why I chose to be your caretaker. I'm going to try my best and keep Twilight's magic in check so that it doesn't get too out of hand." As Twilight continued to suck on the amber nipple of the pacifier, a small, yet audible hissing noise could be heard from her crotch. Her dress became warm as a dark patch appeared on her pants. She looked down and poked at it, feeling the moisture on her little fingers. "Did she just pee herself?" Sunset examined the damp patch and picked Twilight up off the ground. She saw that the patch had spread to the floor as well. "Oh, boy. Do any of you know how to handle a baby Twilight that peed herself?" "I believe I do." Twilight Velvet took Twilight Sparkle out of Sunset's hands and carried her over to the changing table. She laid the baby down on the aqua-coloured padding and slipped the shoes and pants off, revealing her tiny legs and toes. "Whenever she pees or poops like that, make sure that you change her as soon as possible." Velvet retrieved a diaper and baby powder from the drawers and proceeded to apply both of them to Twilight's bottom. "I'll do it this time, since you don't have any experience with children." Sunset watched on as Twilight Velvet powdered her daughter's bottom with the baby powder and slid the diaper underneath her. She took all three ends and stuck them all together, tightening the waistband around the side and applying an adhesive strap so that the diaper wouldn't come undone. She then took a tiny safety pin and slid it into the fabric so that Twilight wouldn't be able to tug on the padded undergarment and pull it off. "There we go." Velvet picked Twilight up and lifted her into the air, hearing another chuckle fall from her lips. "And that, Sunset Shimmer, is how you change a baby." "Good to know." Sunset watched Velvet put Twilight down onto the floor. "We'll give her one more hour of playtime." Velvet looked out at the sunset and placed both of her hands behind her back. "After that, she's got to go straight to sleep." "OK, well how do I do that?" Sunset asked, showing a feint bit of eagerness as her gaze drifted back to the baby Twilight. "I'll give you a helping hand with putting Twilight to sleep," Cadence's voice was as soft as butter as she addressed Sunset. "I've been handling babies and kids for many years. I'm sure that we can put to sleep when the time comes." "Well, we'll leave her with you now, Sunset." Velvet walked through the door and down the stairs. "Come on, honey," she said as she passed by Night Light. "We've still got a lot of things to do before we go to bed." "Coming, dear." He walked out the door and turned back to Sunset, Shining Armor, and Cadence. "There's gonna be so many subscription cancellations tonight. I don't think I can keep up with it all..." Shining Armor and Cadence walked out of the room as well, taking one last look at Twilight and Sunset. They both held hands and looked each other in the eyes, mentally asking each other about the future of both themselves and their daughter. They closed the door and walked down the stairs, leaving Sunset alone with Twilight. "Well, Twilight. Guess you're with me now, huh?" Sunset sat down and put the baby on her lap. She felt the diaper pressing against her as she sat Twilight up. "What do you want to do now? Auntie Sunset's here to make sure you're alright." Twilight sucked on the pacifier for a few more seconds before she took it out and dropped it. She crawled over to Sunset, put her hands on her face, and climbed up to her ear. Babbling peacefully, she leaned in and whispered a single word, "Mama."
Playtime with Midnight"Wh-what did you call me?" Sunset tumbled onto her back once Twilight had whispered into her ears. Despite her jerky movement, she managed to keep Twilight from falling off and hurting herself. "Mama! Mama!" Twilight babbled and crawled over to Sunset's face. She slapped her hands on Sunset's cheeks and wiggled them around as she laughed loudly. "No, Twilight. I'm not your mama." Sunset picked Twilight up and got back up onto her feet, bending her legs as she stood upright and rubbed her back. "Your mama and dada are downstairs. I'm just their caretaker. If anything, I'm more like a nana than a mama." Twilight shook her head and reached out for Sunset. "Mama," she whined again. "Twilight, let's just focus on you playing for now." Sunset began to carry Twilight over to another part of the room and stopped at a small bookcase. "Look, Twilight. Books! Don't you like reading these?" She reached in and pulled out a small book with bright baby-appealing colours on it and showed it off to Twilight. "Do you want to read this one?" Twilight tilted her head at the book and put her hand in her mouth as Sunset showed the book to her. Her mind was still only developing, so many of her abilities of speech and cognative thought had vanished into thin air. Sucking tenderly on her hand, she used her other one to reach out for the book and take it out of Sunset's hands. "Alright then. I take that as a yes on the books." Sunset sat Twilight down on the padded floor and opened the book up for her. "Heck, if you want, I could even read it out for you." Twilight's eyes scrolled over the first page of the book. There were pictures of coloured shapes inside ranging from triangles, to circles and a few squares. She brought her hand out of her mouth and laid both of them on the ground as she flopped onto her stomach. Another chuckle escaped her mouth as she looked at the beguiling shapes and colours inside. Man. Even as a baby, Twilight sure does love reading... Sunset thought to herself as she watched Twilight independently flip the page over once she got bored of the first lot of pictures. I wonder just how many books she would be able to read once she grows back up. Twilight cooed as her attention was well and truly captured on the book. She dragged her right index finger across the sides of the shape and poked the middle, not even noticing that she was bringing her left thumb back into her mouth. Her lips pursed around her finger and she once more found herself sucking on it as she turned the page once again. Then, Twilight illuminated her horn and fired a single bolt down on the book. The magic hit the pages and caused them to ripple. She reached into the pages and pulled out a shape that was identical to the ones she had been examining in the book. She clapped her hands and fished out more shapes, until she had picked out each and every one of them. I still don't know how her parents are gonna be able to handle her when I'm not here... Sunset simply stood by and observed Twilight playing with her new plastic shapes. She saw her bash them together and levitate them into the air, her smile never fading as she manipulated her toys. I mean, sure, she hasn't done anything really bad, but who's to say that that'll change when I go back to Canterlot High? Before Sunset could continue, Twilight dropped her toys and flapped her wings. The baby flew into the air and illuminated her hands and horn once again. She put them altogether, causing a small magical orb to appear in front of her and grow in size. "Uh, Twilight?" Sunset poked her head around from the orb and saw Twilight feed it magic as it flied off of her body. "What are you doing?" Twilight only smiled and made the orb as big as her body. The magic streamed off of her body and bore itself into the core of the ball of light. Once it took in enough magic, it exploded in a small burst of light and blinded both Twilight and Sunset. Once the light died down, Twilight fell to the ground and bounced on her diapered butt. She crawled forward and saw a small purple rattle with a pink star on it appear in front of her. The new toy glowed and shimmered faintly as it floated a few inches off of the ground. She reached out for the rattle and picked it up, giving it a tiny shake. "What was all that about?" Sunset pulled her arm from her face and readjusted her eyes again. When she could see normally again, she saw Twilight lightly shaking the rattle in her hand. "All of that magic for just a rattle? Why? Why would she charge up a powerful spell just to get a rattle out of it?" As if to answer Sunset's question, Twilight shook the rattle more vigorously and spun it around in a circle. Magic gathered and coiled around the top half as her horn glistened. With a loud cheer, Twilight flicked her wrist and swung her rattle down, shooting another magical beam at the wall. Once the beam struck the wall, it caused a small purple portal to appear in place of it. On the other side of the portal, it showed a gateway towards a large room with crystalline pillars and six equally shiny thrones. Each one of the thrones showed the Cutie Marks of Twilight Sparkle and her five friends. "What the heck?" Sunset slowly stepped towards the portal, leaning in to get a better view of the room. "Is that... Equestria? But, it doesn't look like any place I've ever seen before." Just as Sunset was beginning to take the throne room in, Twilight shook her rattle again, causing the portal to close. Sunset almost had her head chopped off as she pulled it out of the vanishing portal. She turned back and watched Twilight shaking the toy lighter this time. "Hmm. So that rattle can make portals to Equestria?" Sunset walked closer to Twilight and reached out for the rattle. She watched Twilight crawl off to another toy in the room before she could touch the rattle. "I'd better make sure to tell her parents before I go. I don't want them to have to deal with a magic baby that can also open portals to another world." Suddenly, a knocking noise came from the door and Sunset went off to open it. She pulled down the handle and saw Dean Cadence standing on the other side, dressed up in a simple pink t-shirt with a pair of navy blue jeans. "Oh. Hello there." Sunset opened the door and let her walk inside. "You must be Shining's, uh..." "I'm his wife. My full name is Mi Amore Cadenza, but you can just call me Cadence if you want." She said, tousling Sunset's hair as she walked into the room. "I know that you come from Canterlot High, Sunset. Am I right?" "Y-yeah..." Sunset was hesitant to say as she watched Cadence walk over towards Twilight. "Why did you want to know that?" "Because I was always told that Canterlot High students were nothing more than loud, obnoxious, and disruptive according to Cinch." Cadence knelt down and saw Twilight stacking blocks into a tower. "Now that she's in prison, I want to see if she was wrong all this time. So far, you've been very supportive and helpful when it came to this whole magic crisis, so that is a good start." "Well, first of all, I want to say that everything Cinch thinks of Canterlot High and its' students is one-hundred percent wrong." Sunset crossed her arms and looked out the window. "She's nothing more than a witch who was afraid of losing, was boastful in her victories, and had absolutely nothing good inside of her. She deserved everything she got back at the Friendship Games. All that was missing was a broomstick, her green-wart covered face, a magic wand, and an oversized cauldron." Cadence chuckled at Sunset's joke and sat down beside Twilight, crossing her legs. "You know, Sunset, I have to commend you for your maturity and kind heart. Normally, a teenager would be reluctant when it comes to taking care of a kid. Whether it was some kind of early pre-twenties pregnancy, doing it for money, or if they were doing a favour for one of their friends. But for you to take care of Twilight, who's not only a baby, but a magic-infested baby who could potentially re-shape the world if her powers got unleashed, now that is some real devotion." She gave Twilight a pat on the back, hearing her let out a tiny burp. "The students of Crystal Prep could learn a lot from you and your friends." "Yeah. There were five in particular who stood up against Cinch when Twilight turned into a baby at the Games." Sunset nodded and walked over to Cadence. "Indigo Zap, Sugarcoat, Sunny Flare, Sour Sweet, and Lemon Zest, I think." "Oh! I know those five." Cadence's face lit up when she heard the names. "They've got the highest marks in their classes. The other Crystal Prep students are having trouble just keeping up with them. Especially Sugarcoat. She spends all of her free periods in the library, so she's very well educated." "I'd say she's more hyper-educated, if that means anything." Sunset nodded. "She seems to be just as smart as Twilight, only, much more monotone. She doesn't have a problem with her emotions, does she?" "No, no. She's part of CPA's drama club, so she's very capable of showing some emotion." Cadence carried Twilight over towards the toy chest and pulled out a teddy bear. "But we're not here to talk about the Crystal Prep girls now, are we?" "Yeah. We're here to care for Twilight. Make sure her magic doesn't get too out of hand." Sunset sat down by Twilight and closed her eyes. "And to do that, we've gotta make her... Smite!" She stuck out her tongue and scrunched her cheeks together, making a silly face. Twilight squealed and reached out for Sunset as she pulled the corners of her mouth out and continued to contort and flex her face in various different ways, all of which pleased the baby even more. All of her laughter made Twilight's horn light up and cover Sunset in a magical aura. "Uh oh..." Was all that Sunset could say as Twilight began to shake her around the room, waving her arms around and kicking her little legs. "Twilight! What are you doing?" Cadence snapped her head at the baby, who was undeterred by the grown-up's words. "Put Sunset down right now! We were having a lovely conversation before all of this." "Try to calm her down!" Sunset instructed as she was dunked into the toy chest and then pulled straight out. "And do it fast! I don't think I can last like this!" "Alright!" Cadence nodded and began to rub Twilight's belly in a circular motion, pulling up the clothes around it so she could reach her arm inside and reach the flesh. As she rubbed, she did hear Twilight's guffaws whittle down into giggles. "There, there, Twilight. You've worked yourself so hard today. Now it's time for some rest..." Cadence reached down and found a pacifier, popping it into Twilight's mouth. She watched her begin to suck on it and stop moving. Sunset's aura vanished and she fell to the floor, crumpled up like a ragdoll. She groaned and winced at all of the pain she had accrued from Twilight's magic and snapped the bones in her back into place as she stood back up. She came back over to Twilight and saw her calmly sucking on her pacifier. "Talk about a live wire. That was crazy." "Are you alright?" Cadence came up to Sunset and checked out her bruises. "You look pretty bad. Should I get a first-aid kit?" "No, no. It's fine." Sunset looked down at the black marks on her skin where Twilight's toys had dug into the most. "Compared to the stuff I've seen at Canterlot High, this is nothing. I'm more concerned about Twilight's energetic behaviour." "I see you've still got a lot to learn about babies, huh, Sunset?" Cadence immediately felt Twilight begin to wet her diaper, so she carried her over towards the changing table. "I'm meant to be taking Principal Celestia's Sex Ed class once I get back to Canterlot High, seeing as how I'm Twilight's caretaker." Sunset stood next to Cadence so she could get a better vantage point on how to change a diaper. "Hopefully, it should help me with how to look after her." "Well, the thing with babies is that it's complicated to know just what's going to happen." Cadence powdered Twilight's bare butt and slid a new diaper beneath her, disposing of the old one straight away. "Because their minds are just developing, it's physically impossible for them to keep a single thought for long. Ergo, they jump from so many different things that it's almost like playing a game of leapfrog with them sometimes." "How much experience do you have with kids?" Sunset asked as she watched Cadence wrap the diaper around Twilight's waist and secure it properly with the adhesive strap and pin. "Oh, I've had a lot." Cadence picked Twilight up and laid her down in the crib. She pulled the blankets over Twilight and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. "Before I worked at Crystal Prep, I took up a job as a part-time babysitter. First, it was for the money, but over time, I learned just how wonderful kids can be, so I decided to look after them for the memories too." "Do you have any kids of your own?" Sunset looked up at Cadence once Twilight had been laid to bed. "Well, recently, I took a pregnancy test and it came out positive." She nodded and walked back over towards the teddy bear. She picked it up and gave it back to Twilight, who wrapped it around her arms. "As soon as it comes, I leave my job as dean of Crystal Prep so I can take care of my new son or daughter." "Speaking of which, we've still gotta put Twilight to bed." Sunset gave Twilight a rub on the forehead and saw her eyelids flutter. She let out a yawn and stretched her arms up into the air before giving her bear another cuddle. "Aw. Aren't you just an adorable little monster?" Twilight lightly smacked her lips together as she snuggled up into the bed. Her face mask and horn vanished as she began to snore, and the rattle that she had been using earlier disappeared as well, along with all of the shapes that she had taken out of the book. Tiny snores found their way out of her mouth this time as she fell deeper and deeper into a state of slumber. And when she sleeps, all of her toys disappear too? Sunset turned her head to see the things Twilight had made vanish completely. But then, why does the room still stay baby-like? Shouldn't that turn back into her normal bedroom as well? I really need to figure out just what little Twilight can do... "Isn't it a wonder to see a sleeping baby?" Cadence asked, looking down at the sleeping Twilight. "It just makes you wonder what sort of fun-filled adventures they're having in their dreams, doesn't it?" "Yeah, I guess so." Sunset shrugged but couldn't take her eyes off of Twilight. "Well, it's been great and all, but it's getting late now and I've gotta get home." She walked over towards the door. "I'm sure that you don't want me to overstay my welcome, so I'll just be on my way. "Well, actually, since you're a caretaker and all, I wouldn't mind it if you stayed in our house until she's grown-up." Cadence followed after Sunset and quietly turned off the lights, shutting the door behind her as she followed after Sunset. "Do you live somewhere, Sunset?" "Well, yeah, I do. But I have to pay rent every month or the landlord kicks me out." Sunset looked back at Cadence as she followed her down the stairs. "And as kind as your offer sounds, I don't want to seem like too much of a burden..." "Not at all. We'd love to have you around." Cadence nodded and clasped her hands together. "Twilight's a baby now, and her father has a job. Not to mention Shining Armor being on the force and me working as Crystal Prep's dean. I'm sure that you'd be a great choice to keep her happy, healthy, and safe while we're gone." "But I've also got my own work at Canterlot High to attend to as well." Sunset tipped her hand. "I might be your caretaker, but I've also gotta make sure that my grades don't fall behind either. I can't take Twilight into school with me, either, as handling an infant and schoolwork at the same time is physically impossible." "You don't have to worry a thing about that, Sunset." Twilight Velvet had been listening to the conversation from the living room and now joined both her and Cadence. "I'll be sure to take care of Twilight on your school days, then when you stay here, you can help me out." "Well, thanks for the offer, but I'm not really sure that I'd be much help, really." Sunset shook her head and turned away from Twilight. "I appreciate the offer, but I'd just be another mouth to feed. I don't want you to deal with that and all of the stuff you've got already. That'd be too much—even for all of you." "Sunset, I'm not going to force it on you, but the offer's still there if you choose to stay with all of us." She watched Sunset gather her stuff and open the front door. "And besides, the landlord you've got is already eating a large chunk of your money each and every month. With us, there wouldn't be any of that. You'd get a nice home, a great family, and you'd be able to look after Twilight as well. It's a great offer. What would be the point of turning it down other than a harder life and constant payment, when that money could be going towards stuff that you really like?" As Sunset looked back at the Sparkle family, she felt a weird sensation writhing in the pit of her stomach. She wanted to say no to them all, but something inside of her was telling her to accept the opportunity. She then thought about her real mother and father. Considering that she hadn't seen her real family since she ran away from Equestria, she began to feel a pang of loneliness well up inside of her. Eventually, tears began to fall from her eyes as she dropped the bag, took off her coat, turned around, and threw herself into Twilight Velvet, giving her a massive hug. "Thank you. Thank you so much for this. I promise that I won't be a hassle." "I'm sure that you won't be." Twilight Velvet hugged Sunset back and looked her in the eyes, wiping away the rest of the tears. "Welcome to the family, Sunset Sparkle." Author's Note You know, I was considering whether or not to make Sunset Shimmer stay over at the Sparkles' household and have them take her in when making this chapter. I had a little bit of a battle with myself as I jumped from the two options. In the end, I decided to make it so, and voila! Sunset is now Sunset Sparkle. As for the Rainbooms and Shadowbolts, they are going to be in the next chapters, so don't you worry if you think I've made them character tags for nothing. They're going to get to know each other better and become better friends as time goes on, as well as show just how much things are going to change between the two schools. And, as for Pony Twilight, I'm sure that I can find some way to weave her into this little story of mine as well... Have a great day, everyone!
Tension LiftedThe next day, the Wondercolts were all gathered at the portal of Canterlot High with a large wicker basket. Pinkie Pie set it down and opened it up, pulling out a large towel with a red and white checkerboard pattern. She flicked it and set it down gently on the ground before plopping her butt down on it with her legs crossed. "I still can't believe you girls want a picnic after all that's happened." Sunset carried Twilight in her arms and put her down on the towel before sitting down as well. "It's like you've completely forgotten about the events of the Friendship Games." "Oh no, Sunset. We haven't forgotten." Rarity shook her head and put her hand by her side as she sat down as well. "How could we ever forget the day that an adorepulsive little monster was born?" She bent herself down and pinched Twilight's cheeks. "Isn't she just the cutest?" "Totally!" Pinkie Pie couldn't take her eyes off of Twilight as she fished out some plates and food from the basket. "I mean, I was gonna invite her anyway as a show of good faith between Canterlot High and Crystal Prep to show that there's no hard feelings, but now that she's super-duper itty-bitty and young, I thought that this'd be a great day for her to meet her aunties instead!" "You're still gonna find a way to fix her though, right?" Rainbow Dash tapped on Sunset's shoulder and pointed over to Twilight, who was now beginning to play with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. "I'm really starting to miss my wings..." She slumped her shoulders and used her other finger on her back, rubbing it across where the wings would have been if she had been able to use her magic. "Rainbow Dash, I don't think you'll ever see those wings again unless Twilight just happens to learn all of her magic and use it to fix you and the others," Sunset's tone of voice sounded calming, but she too did miss having magic of her own. Now that she was just as mortal as the rest of the people in her world, she was now unable to handle Twilight as safely as she thought. "All we can do now is pray that Twilight's baby magic doesn't get too out of control." "Oh, I don't think it's all that bad." Fluttershy smiled as she patted Twilight's belly and tickled it, hearing laughter fall from her little lips. "She's got all of our magic, yes, but she's still a baby. As long as we take care of her properly and raise her up to control it better, we should all be fine." "Yes. Provided that you know how to deal with a baby demon's magical powers." The girls all turned to see Sugarcoat and the rest of her friends approaching the Rainbooms. Instead of wearing their Crystal Prep uniforms, the five of them wore bright and expressive clothes with similarly coloured shoes. They all looked down at the girls with smiles and all squatted down around them. "Sup, girls?" Indigo asked as she poked her head through Pinkie and Fluttershy's shoulders. "How's the kid doing?" "She's fine." Sunset nodded and turned towards Indigo. "What are you all doing here?" "Ah, c'mon, Sunset. We would never leave you and the other girls with a magical baby on your hands." Lemon Zest threw herself onto the ground and almost touched her nose against Sunset's with how close she was to her. "Besides, we're friends, aren't we? The Friendship Games are over. Crystal Prep and Canterlot High aren't on bad terms anymore." "I... suppose." Sunset backed off and saw Lemon's head retract back. "Plus, you haven't even had time to get to know us yet." Sunny Flare sat down beside Applejack and Rainbow Dash. "We're probably still total strangers from CPA until now. So let's start with the introductions, shall we?" "Ooh! Ooh! I love making new friends!" Pinkie squealed and beamed as the other Crystal Prep girls sat down to form a large circle of eleven girls. "I suppose I should start, since I brought up the idea. My name is Sunny Flare." She held out her arm and began shaking the other girls' arms. "It's a pleasure to meet you all, dears." "Very nice to meet you too, Sunny Flare." Rarity shook her hand, reaching over Twilight to do it. "My name is Rarity. A pleasure to make your acquaintance." "Uh, girls, I hate to interrupt, but I'm not gonna sit here and listen to us all saying our names for this long." Sour Sweet raised a finger and grabbed the attention of the whole group. "Besides. We've still got an adorable little baby to take care of and I want to start playing with her as soon as possible!" "What a way to kill the moment, huh?" Indigo shot a mini-glare at Sour before she turned to the girls and stretched out her hand. "Hi. Name's Indigo Zap." "Rainbow Dash." She began to bump fists with Indigo. "Sugarcoat." She adjusted her glasses. "Applejack." She tipped her hat and grinned at the girls. "Pinkie Pie!" She threw confetti into the air. "Lemon Zest!" She crossed her arms and laid her chin on them as she pointed her middle and index fingers out. "Sour Sweet," Her voice seemed to be both strong and tough, yet kindly and calm at the same time. "Fluttershy," she whispered just loud enough so that the others could hear them. "And I'm sure you all know me by now. My name is Sunset Shimmer." She smiled and picked Twilight up, giving her a gentle cuddle as she patted her diaper. "Or, if you like, you can call me Sunset Sparkle now." "Huh? Sunset Sparkle?" The group all spoke in perfect harmony as they cocked their brows at Sunset. "Yeah. Twilight's mom and dad took me in last night." Sunset's smile grew as she began to talk about her new family. "Actually, after the picnic, I was going to take all of my stuff from my old apartment and bring it all over to their house. If you'd all like to come, I could really use a helping hand." "I'm sure that we can work something out," Sugarcoat said with eagerness in her voice. "Crystal Prep's been closed until the board finds a new principal, so we've all got plenty of time on our hands." "Cinch was arrested on such short notice, that the head honchos are having to work overtime to find the right replacement." Lemon Zest nodded and shuffled forward slightly. "Really, anyone we get is going to be better than that old fart—even if they're a really dark and brooding or big-muscled and loud-mouthed guy, they're gonna be miles better than Cinch." "I just hope so." Sugarcoat's brows twitched as she looked around the courtyard. "Because at least our new principal won't be some someone who blackmails, pressurises, and makes the students feel miserable and compete in the Games just to try and save their winning streak." There was a brief silence from the group before Pinkie broke it by saying, "Wow. That's a lot to take in when you say it all at once." "I know. I get that a lot." Sugarcoat cracked a small smile and looked over at Pinkie Pie. "I hope that it doesn't bother you or your friends that I'm straight to the point." "Oh, it ain't no bother, Sugarcoat," said Applejack as her eyes met with that of the Crystal Prep girl. "If anything, I'd say you're like another me, minus the whole cowgirl attitude." "Really?" Sugarcoat leaned in towards Applejack. "Then in that case, I wouldn't mind getting to know you over some sandwiches and cheap juice from concentrate." "Speaking of food, who wants some?" Pinkie Pie pulled out almost the entire contents of the basket with both of her hands and laid them out in a circle around the girls. "Sorry I didn't make extra. I didn't account for our new Crystal Prep friends joining us today." "It's no trouble at all, Pinkie Pie." Sunny Flare gave Pinkie a small smile and took a single cheese sandwich from the centre of the towel and placed it in front of her. "You weren't to have known we were coming today, so we'll let you off of the hook." She tore the sandwich in half and handed out one of the halves to Rarity. "Come on, girls! Tuck in!" Indigo Zap pulled out a packet of potato chips and ripped it open, beginning to pick out the contents inside before handing the bag to Rainbow Dash. "Want some? Anything for a new friend." "Nah. I'm good." Rainbow Dash picked up a cupcake and bit into it. She wiped the mess off of her face and licked it off of the back of her hand as she looked at Indigo. "Thanks for the offer, though." The girls then began to eat the rest of the food, sharing stories with each other as Pinkie and Lemon Zest began to pour the drinks into cups and hand them out. They also took turns in taking care of Twilight, playing with her body and giving her little nibbles of the food as she was passed around the group. Eventually, the portal behind them all rippled and a full-grown version of Twilight came running through, grinding to a screeching halt in front of the girls. "I'm so sorry I didn't get her sooner! I didn't get your messages until just now because I was stuck in this crazy time-travel loop and honestly, it was the weirdest thing that ever happened to me!" Twilight then took a look at the girls, who all stared at her bug-eyed as she took deep breaths and brushed her dress down. "What happened? How has the girls' magic changed?" "Uh, hello?" Sugarcoat tilted her head at the grown-up Twilight. "Who are you?" "I'm Twilight Sparkle." She looked over at Sugarcoat briefly before her gaze turned towards Sunset and her friends. "I'm sorry to rush this, but I'm a friend of Sunset Shimmer and her friends. I'm sure that we'll have time to meet again once we're done." "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down, Twilight. Everything's fine." Sunset put her hand on Princess Twilight's chest and looked up into her eyes. "No-one died at the Friendship Games, there wasn't any monsters to fight, and everything's just fine." She then heard baby Twilight's whines as she kicked around in Fluttershy's hold. "Except for one small thing..." "What the heck...?" Adult Twilight squinted her eyes and looked closely at the baby, making sure not to stab herself on the tip of her horn. "When did you get a kid, Sunset? Have I missed something big?" "Well, actually, I can explain everything." Sugarcoat stood up and walked over to Princess Twilight. "But I'm not even sure that you can explain how there are two of you." "Oh, I'm sure that I can—" Twilight stopped when she realised what Sugarcoat was saying "—wait, what? What do you mean there's two of me?" "OMG! She's totally clueless!" Lemon Zest gawked at the other Twilight. "She doesn't know about the other her that attended Crystal Prep Academy?" "Crystal Prep Academy? Other me? What in the world is going on here?" Pony Twilight was unable to comprehend everything that the girls had said. But before she could say anything else, baby Twilight let out a sneeze that fired a large blue beam of magic into the sky and pierced a whole in the clouds, causing them to break up and dissipate into nothingness. Pony Twilight jumped at the sight and almost fell back through the portal that she had come out of. "Sunset? Why does this baby have magic?!" Twilight was unable to maintain her composure any longer. "Twilight. This baby is the human you. I'm sure that you've managed to figure it out by now, right?" Sunset Shimmer held baby Twilight up close to her full-grown pony counterpart. "Anyway. At the Friendship Games, she sucked the Magic of Friendship out of us using some weird locket and was forced to use it to try and win it for Crystal Prep." "None of us could've guessed what was going to happen and then, boom!" Rainbow Dash clapped her hands together and threw them out wide, barely missing Pinkie Pie and Indigo Zap in the process. "Twilight of Crystal Prep went from being the shy egghead she used to be into that cute little demon baby in Sunset's hands." "I can see that!" Twilight had to rub her eyes just to make sure that she wasn't seeing things as she examined baby Twilight's mask and horn. "But how in the heck does using stolen magic equate to being turned into a baby and having that magic live inside of you? It makes no sense!" "I don't know either, but we can't use our magic to Pony-Up anymore, and now we're just as normal teenage girls as when you first met us back at the Fall Formal." Sunset tipped her hand and made sure not to drop the baby. "We can't fix this unless we get our magic back, and knowing what a baby's like, I'm not sure we'll ever get it back." Twilight could only watch as her baby doppelganger put her hand in her mouth and began to suck on it, cooing as the eyes of the two counterparts locked with each other. "Hmm... Well, there's nothing I can do in this world, considering that my magic doesn't come out like yours does. Without your magic to work in sync with mine, I can't use my own to restore my other self back to normal." "Ah, don't worry about it, Twilight. We've been pretty good handling the little baby you." Pinkie Pie bounced over to Pony Twilight and wrapped her arm around her shoulders. "And besides, it's not like Equestria has any super-babies like this one." "Y-yeah. I suppose you're right, Pinkie," Twilight lied, remembering all too well the incident with her niece, Flurry Heart back in the Crystal Empire. I just hope that Sunset and the girls keep her magic in check. The last thing we need is another crisis like that in this world. It would be almost impossible to repeat what we did back in Equestria... "Pardon me for potentially forcing you to make a return home, other Twilight, but I don't think that having two of you in the same world is a good thing." Sunny Flare took Twilight and held her away from Pony Twilight. "Two of the same person meeting each other is a paradox, whether or not they're different ages. A paradox could cause the world to break apart, or cause this world's version of you to get even stronger. And either one of the outcomes might be too much for this world to handle." Sunset's eyes dilated to pinpricks when Sunny's words sunk in. "She's right, Twilight. I'm sorry to say this, but I think it's time for you to go. We can continue this conversation later through the book, alright?" "Oh. I see." Twilight hung her head and slid the tips of her toes across the ground. "I guess I'll be going then." She turned towards the portal and took one last look back at the girls. "Twilight, don't say it like that. You're gonna make us feel bad." Indigo Zap walked over to Twilight and slid her hand down the princess's cheeks. "No. No, you're all right. I don't want to be responsible for making the situation worse..." She stood through the portal, vanishing into the rippling glass. "Feel free to talk to me any time or pop over to Equestria if you want." And with that, she disappeared, leaving nothing behind her as she left. "Twilight. No... Please come back." Sunset reached out for the portal but pulled her hand down as she saw the ripples begin to stop. "We didn't want you to leave like this." "Sunset, I know that you wanted to see Equestria's Twilight again, but Sunny Flare does make a very valid point." Rarity massaged Sunset's shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. "We've already got a magical baby version of her to deal with, so a paradox would just cause everything to get worse." "Don't worry, Sunset. The only thing you've got to worry about now is loud wailing at night, poop-ridden diapers, and some bruises and cuts from dealing with that little snot-nosed kid." Sour Sweet's expression switched on the fly during her sentence. "Aw, don't worry about it. I'm sure that you've got this all under control." "Not to mention, you've got the ten of us to help out." Lemon Zest nudged Sunset's arm with her elbow. "Trust me, Sunset. Together, we've got this." "Yeah, but I still kinda feel like we kicked the other Twilight out like that..." Sunset hung her head and looked back at the portal once again. "I didn't want her last trip to this world feel like a bad one. Now she's gonna have to think that we forced her out without letting her say goodbye." "If it's possible, I can make sure that we make a trip to Equestria and give her an apology." Sugarcoat walked over to the portal and pushed her finger through it, watching it disappear in the light. "If it's where this whole magic thing came from, then I'm sure that it could also warrant some answers on how to control it as well." "Yeah. We never meant to give Twilight the bum's rush, but we were just concerned about the fate of the world with both of them being here at once," Indigo added. "She'll get over this, right?" "Yeah! Y'know, I'm sure that Twilight'll be eager to talk once we make it up to her." Rainbow Dash walked over to Sunset. "In fact, do you have that book on you, Sunset? I wanna say sorry now." "I don't have the book on me right now, Rainbow Dash, but I'll be sure to let her know that we weren't being cruel to her when I write the note." Sunset looked up and pulled her head out of its' slump. "Still, I would say that we've all still got some things to learn about friendship—even if there's two Twilight Sparkles we've got to take into account." "Especially when one of them's a super-baby with magical powers that other babies would only dream of!" Pinkie Pie chimed and held Twilight high, looking like she was ready to score a touchdown in a football game. "Pinkie! Be careful with her! You don't know what she'll—" before Sunset could finish, she saw the diaper begin to turn brown at the bottom "—do." The infant Twilight felt the poop in her diaper and began to tear up. She whimpered and snuffled as she looked at the group of girls and let out a high-pitched whine that resonated across the school. The noise was so loud that all of the windows shattered like glass and even the glass dome at the school's roof broke into millions of glass shards and cascaded down onto the room inside. "Does anyone have a fresh diaper?" Sunset tried to shout over Twilight's loud cries but none of her words were audible over the noise. She could only watch as Pinkie Pie set her down and began to dig into her basket for one. "I'm just glad Equestria's Twilight doesn't have to deal with this kind of stuff..."
A Magical ReunionThe Rainbooms and Shadowbolts all walked towards the park, with Sunset holding Twilight gently in her arms as they stepped across the rock-strewn path. They all saw luscious green grass shimmering in the sunlight, with the leaves on the trees rustling gently in the afternoon wind. There was a fountain just up ahead, with many benches surrounding it. Most of them were already occupied by other people talking to each other about many different topics. Many of them paid no mind to the eleven girls as they walked around the fountain and made their way towards the grassy knolls. "I'm still not sure how you were able to do that back there, Pinkie." Sunset turned her head towards Pinkie Pie as she bobbed Twilight in her arms. "How did you know to pack extra diapers in case Twilight used hers?" "Well, after being Pound and Pumpkin's caretaker for many long and stressful months, I've learned to be extra-careful when it comes to dealing with babies in the outside world." She flashed a grin at Sunset as she gently swung the basket in her hand. "Heck, if I can, I end up changing anyone's diapers when I'm not working. Save the parents the trouble, if you know what I mean." "Is she always prepared like that?" Indigo Zap asked, whispering in Sunset's ears. "She's Pinkie Pie. It's best not to question it." Sunset gave Indigo a gentle grin. When Twilight laid her eyes on the grass, she babbled and pointed it out, waving her arms and tugging at Sunset's chest as she tried to grab her attention. "What is it, Twilight?" Sunset bent her neck down and stared at her. She watched her point towards the grass again and looked out towards it. "Do you wanna be put down here?" She walked over towards the grass and slowly lowered her arms, placing Twilight down on the grass before sitting down herself. "Now, don't run off. Your aunties still want to spend some time with you." "Yeah, kid. We've still gotta play with you more." Indigo Zap sat down with Twilight and rubbed her tiny belly, making her giggle loudly. "Aw, aren't you just a little bundle of joy?" "Hey, Indy. Stop hogging all the fun!" Lemon Zest jumped down and landed on her butt next towards Indigo. She flopped onto her stomach and gave a goofy smile to the kid, sticking her tongue out at her. "Such a cute little girl like Twily doesn't need the love of one auntie. She needs all of 'em!" "Ooh! I wanna play with Twily too!" Pinkie landed on her chest as well and bent her legs so that her toes were pointing skyward. She picked the laughing baby up and tickled her. "Who's a good super-baby? You are! Yes you are. Coochie-coochie-coo!" "Don't give her too much stimulation, girls." Sugarcoat walked over towards the girls and squatted down on the tips of her toes. "An over-excited baby usually pees themselves very quickly. And I'm sure that despite Pinkie Pie's smart thinking and resourcefulness, not even she can keep up with Twilight if you give her too much fun." "Sugarcoat, for a baby, when is it EVER too much fun?" Sour Sweet raised a brow and tipped a hand towards her. "Hey! At least one of us has to be responsible, right?" Sugarcoat eyed up Sour Sweet as she stood back up again. As they all clamoured around Twilight, they sat down or got onto their knees as they formed another circle around the baby. They all looked down on her with harmless wide eyes as they watched her try to stand up but wobble and fall onto her diapered butt repeatedly. All of them grinned and a few shared laughs as they watched her try to stand up again and again. After a few minutes more, the girls all watched Midnight begin to flap her wings, gradually getting faster and faster. Soon, they were flapping just fast enough to lift her off of the ground and almost up to the heads of her mother and aunts. She chuckled again and brought her hands to her chest as she flapped around the girls. "Y'know, it's weird how she can fly properly, but she can't stand up or walk." Rainbow Dash's eyes were glued to Twilight's circular motions as she finally landed in Rainbow's laps. She began to blush as she scooped her up and brought her to her face. "Gotta say, though, I do find it a little cute." "Looks like someone's becoming smitten, aren't you, Rainbow Dash?" Rarity teased and let a small chuckle escape. "Wh-what?! No I'm not!" Rainbow jumped at Rarity's words and almost dropped Twilight as she fumbled around with her. "I'm just... proud of her is all." "Admit it, Rainbow. You did blush as you picked Twilight up." Applejack grinned and crossed her legs and snickered under her breath. "Girls!" Rainbow whined as she watched the other girls begin to share a laugh with each other. "I'm not good with kids, you know that!" "I dunno, Rainbow. You look pretty good with Twilight." Sunset couldn't help but suppress her own laughter as well. "Maybe I should invite you to my house as a babysitter when I can't take care of Twilight." "Sunset! You too?" Rainbow's eyes shot open at the sight of Sunset joining in with the rest of the group's merriment. "It's not funny! Stop it!" As if to answer Rainbow Dash's prayers, Twilight lit up her horn and began to channel magic around it. As she giggled, her hands began to light up as well. She toddled into the middle of the circle and sat down just as her horn crackled. With a last little giggle, lightning shot out onto the chests of all eleven of the girls, turning their laughter into cries and groans as the energy struck them in their chests. The magic seeped into all of their bodies and auras of light appeared around them. All of a sudden, they grew pony ears on the tops of their heads and hair extensions that streaked out of the backs. Tails grew out of their butts and stuck out like sore thumbs. Finally, some of them grew wings while others grew horns. As they tried to stay awake, the energy made them feel heavy, and they all collapsed onto their chests as the spell finally came to an end. "Ugh... Did someone catch the number of that truck?" Indigo Zap came too and felt something make her fingers wet. The moisture knocked her awake instantly and she yanked them out of Twilight's mouth. "Ew! Baby spit!" "What happened?" Fluttershy came to next and looked around, not noticing her new pair of wings that flapped idly in the wind. "Did Twilight do something?" "I'm not sure what happened, Fluttershy, but I feel incredibly light-headed..." Sunset rubbed her forehead and felt the horn that had grown out of her forehead. She immediately noticed and stumbled backwards, squashing her new tail underneath her weight. "Whoa! When did I Pony-Up?" "Pony-Up?" Rainbow Dash threw herself forward and checked her back by giving it a few taps. Surely enough, she felt the blue feathers sprouting out of her shoulder blades and pumped her fist into the air. "Yes! I can fly again!" She shot up into the sky, doing a forward roll before landing back down by the others. "Woohoo!" "Pony-Up? Is that what you did back at the Friendship Games?" Sugarcoat got up to her feet and looked at all of the Rainbooms. She examined all of their new body parts and came up to them, not even noticing the horn popping out of her own head. "How is this even possible? Didn't you say that Twilight drained you of this sort of magic?" "Yeah. But from the looks of it, she decided to give it back." Pinkie Pie was brushing her new hair gently with the tips of her fingers. "And from the looks of things, she decided to give some magic to you girls too! You all look great!" "Share it? What are you on abou—" Lemon stopped once she felt the wings on her back. She turned her head to get a better look at them and gave them a test shake "—whoa. That. Is. So. AWESOME!" "Magic?" Sour Sweet took a good look at her back and saw her own wings grow out of them. "No! I can't look like a circus freak! I'm too good to be a monster! Although, I guess that on the plus side, at least I've still got my looks..." Her face softened the more she touched and poked at the feathers. "So, Indigo and Sour get wings? What do I get?" Sunny Flare began to feel around herself and eventually felt the tip of her brand new horn. She turned her eyes up and looked at the horn. "A unicorn horn? Interesting. What does it do?" "Wait, since when did we get horns in a Pony-Up?" Sunset gave her horn a few gentle knocks with the back of her finger. "I don't remember that..." Twilight simply spoke incoherent gibberish as she crawled up to Sunset and pulled at her legs. She was trying to say something to the girls but didn't have the teeth necessary to properly convey her message. "Huh? What's up, Twi?" Rainbow Dash asked, picking the baby up and handing her back to Sunset. "What're you trying to say?" "She's saying that she wanted to play with us some more, and so she gave us all a bit of her magic so we could make it even more fun." Pinkie Pie bounced over and stretched her arm, showing Twilight off to the group. "More fun? I don't see how—" Indigo stopped herself when she realised what Pinkie had said "—wait. You speak baby, Pinkie?" "Yep. After babysitting Pound and Pumpkin back at Mrs. Cake's place, I know enough to get by." Pinkie raised her finger and turned back towards Twilight and bent her knees. "Ga. Goo-goo, bah, a pabawa appa Pinkie Pie. Ga goo wah ba boo woo wah?" Twilight giggled at Pinkie's baby-esque language and spoke some more, leaning in close so that she could heard everything that she was saying. Once she got out what she needed to say, she put her back against Sunset's chest again and gave an innocent smile to the group. "She says that her magic's very unstable as a baby and she doesn't even know how to control it properly," Pinkie said as she walked back up to Twilight and heard her whisper some more. "In fact, Twilight just uses whatever magic comes to her at random. She could make us big, small, open portals to other worlds, do a weird role-reversal spell on families to switch their ages around, all kinds of weird and wacky things." "How did you get all of that from random baby nonsense?" Sugarcoat tilted her head and stared at Pinkie with her jaw wide open. "She's Pinkie Pie." The Rainbooms all spoke in perfect sync at Sugarcoat. "Don't question it." Twilight cooed and babbled some more to Pinkie, who did the same in an attempt to make a proper communication. For the first time since she had unleashed the magic and transformed into the magical infant she was today, she had never had someone who understood her language and knew what she was saying. She was lost in her conversation with Pinkie, who's grin was just as wide and silly as hers was. "Y'know, now that I think about it, I wouldn't mind playing with that kid with my new pair of wings." Indigo flexed her wings and prepared to take flight. "Plus, I'd like to see just what you and the others can do with those horns, Sunset." "Well... it has been a long time since I've actually used my horn." Sunset looked up and began to gather some magic into it. "Sure. Why not? Let's see if I can still remember some of my old tricks." "Twilight! Where are you?!" The girls stopped what they were doing and saw Spike approach them, looking around while calling out for his old friend. His muscles were twitching and his tail swung back and forth rapidly. "Spike?" Sunset walked towards the dog and tapped his back, causing him to yelp and turn on the balls of his paws. "Whoa, there. Easy, boy. We're not gonna hurt you." "Spike!" Twilight squealed and used her magic to pull him into the air. She gave him a big hug, squeezing him as tightly as she could as she began to nuzzle his neck. "Twilight? Is that you?" Spike wiped his eyes with his paws and saw an infant version of Twilight sitting before him. They shot wide open as he leaned in closer to her. "What happened to you? How did you get so young?" "I think the better question to ask is where were you, Spike?" Sunset asked as she picked the dog up and set him back down on the ground. "And why aren't you with the other Twilight back in Equestria? Doesn't she need you to clean the castle?" "Castle? I'm sorry. I don't really follow." Spike scratched the back of his ears, scraping out a nit as he did so. "Who are you, anyway? I remember you from the Friendship Games, but I never really got your name before." "It's Sunset. Sunset Sparkle." She put her hand on her chest and sat down, letting Twilight crawl off towards Spike. "So, I take it that you're this Twilight's Spike, right?" "I'm not sure what you mean by this Twilight, but my name's definitely Spike." He nodded, prancing up to Sunset. "We never got our questions answered, though. What's Twilight doing looking like a baby? And why does she have that weird horn and glowing mask?" "You mean you don't remember, Spike?" Sunset cocked a brow. "The Friendship Games? Cinch pushed Twilight against the wall, right?" "Oh, I remember that, but that large white burst was so powerful that it knocked me against the wall of Canterlot High." Spike rubbed his head, wincing as he felt the pain he had accrued. "I was unconscious for a while and the next thing I knew, it was nighttime. Everyone had gone home and the Friendship Games were over." He sat down and curled his tail. "I spent the whole morning looking for Twilight. But I didn't think that she'd be back home with her family—or with someone just as kind." "You've been out for a while, little doggie, weren't you?" Lemon Zest roosted down by Spike's side. "Let me fill you in. Twilight got turned into a magical baby with kooky powers. Cinch got real mad and we had to forfeit the Games to Canterlot High. Cinch lashed out and got arrested, and Sunset here became Twilight's new big sister and caretaker thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Sparkle." She pinched his cheeks. "I wish I could explain it in more detail, but you are just so adorable! I just wanna eat you right up, Spikey-wikey!" "I... guess?" Spike felt uncomfortable around Lemon Zest and went back to looking at Sunset. "Anyway, It's good that Cinch got what she deserved in the end, but at the same time, I feel bad for Twilight. She didn't deserve to go through this; not when she was so close to going to Everton." "Well, it's good to have you back, Spike." Sunset gave him a gentle rub on the top of his head, sifting her hands through his fur as she did so. "Twilight could always use some new friends to play with. Plus, I'd like to see you round the house some more myself." "Also, I think we deserve to say sorry to you, Spike." Sunny Flare walked up to Spike with the other Shadowbolts behind her. "We were so focused on winning that we didn't take anyone else's feelings into account on that whole magic situation. I just hope you can forgive us for our actions back at the Games." "Hey, if Cinch got thrown in jail for what she did, I'd say that you're all forgiven in my books." Spike pushed his paw off of his chest and grinned at the Shadowbolts. "Plus, I think it's better to get to know who you're up against better than just having to beat them without thinking about it." "Yeah. It's been much better getting to know they Canterlot High Wondercolts than it ever was to play against them." Indigo crossed her arms and nodded, looking back at Sunset's friends. "They're great pals outside of Canterlot High and I'm really gonna enjoy our new friendship with them." "Me too." Sour Sweet walked up to Indigo. "Sure, they're just runts from Canterlot High, but they're much better than those other weaklings there. Plus, some of them are actually pretty nice once you get to know them." "With some proper guidance from a level-headed and sophisticated Crystal Prep student such as myself, I'm sure that these six girls will leave their school feeling much more successful." Sugarcoat pushed her glasses closer to her face as she looked back at the Rainbooms. "Further, now that the bad blood between both of the schools has been metaphorically washed out, there's much more opportunities opening up for the students of our two schools to bond better." "Plus, that Pinkie Pie girl is actually pretty funny." Lemon Zest pointed over to Pinkie. "I mean, she's bubbly like me, she's got some real funny moments of herself, and just a few moments ago, she spoke fluent baby to Twilight and had a real conversation with her. How cool is that?" "Huh." Spike stared at Pinkie, who shook her arm violently at him. "And they say kids today haven't got any skills." "Anyway, Spike, we're so glad to have you back." Sunset walked Spike over to the Rainbooms. "Let me introduce you to the rest of my friends. I'm sure they'll all be happy to see you." "Sure thing, Sunset." Spike followed behind Sunset, with the Shadowbolts all following behind him in turn. "Anyone who's a friend of Twilight is a friend of mine. Even if they almost ended up destroying the world in the process of trying to win the Games." Sunset came back to the Rainbooms and showed Spike off to them. She watched them all gathering around the small and shake his paw, almost forgetting entirely about Twilight as they all focused on him. As the girls began exchanging pleasantries with the small dog, Sunset simply stood back and smiled. Spike took all of the affection as he turned back and saw Twilight gently bouncing in Sunset's arms. After being separated from her at the Friendship Games, he was finally back with her. Even though she was now a baby imbued with the Magic of Friendship, he was still going to try his hardest to stay by her side and make sure that she didn't have to feel lonely anymore. Author's Note
Midnight's MagicThe Rainbooms and Shadowbolts were tending to Twilight in the park with Spike sitting right by her side. As the humans all made sure that she was happy and clean, she simply babbled and pulled Spike into a tight hug, pressing him against her belly. "Man, this kid gets excited pretty easily." Indigo smiled as she gave Twilight a little tickle on the belly. "I know that I'm not really a fan of kids, but I gotta make an exception here." "Yeah. You could say that..." Spike began to choke for breath in Twilight's hug and began to shake and thrash about. He felt her grip loosening and he climbed off of her and took a few steps to the side. "I mean, I still don't get how she turned into a magical demon baby, but she's still pretty cute." "Uh-huh! She's the cutesiest little thing I've ever seen!" Pinkie Pie wiggled her butt as she clasped her hands together and fluttered her eyebrows. She dropped down onto her knees and came up close to Twilight. "Boo goo ga liwa, Twilight? Boo goo ga liwa?" Twilight sat back up and pointed over towards the clouds, lighting up her horn for a spell. As she reached out and tried to touch them, she unintentionally launched magic from her fingertips, ensnaring the cloud within a cage of blue energy. When Twilight clenched her fingers again, the cloud disappeared from the sky and then reappeared around the entire group and a decently large portion of the park. "I guess she wants to play with the clouds." Pinkie Pie got back up onto her feet and drove her arms into the cloud mass around her. "Y'know, despite the fact that we all have magic, I've never really touched one of these things before. Are they really as plushy and cuddly as my preschool teacher used to say they were? I must have these answers!" And before anyone else could say or do anything, Pinkie hurled herself into the white mist and almost vanished from sight instantly. "Alright. Now if I could be the one to say the proper response, WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!" Sour Sweet shouted through the clouds and felt the white fluff slip into her lips. "Well, Pinkie Pie did say that Twilight's magic was erratic and unpredictable." Sugarcoat tried to find her way through the clouds but saw nothing but white. She constantly had to keep taking her glasses off and de-mist them with her shirt. "But I do have to agree with you, on that, Sour Sweet. This is bizarre. It's like nothing I've ever seen before..." "I think it's safe to say that the Friendship Games were just the beginning." Sunset Shimmer nodded and brushed the clouds away to regroup with Sugarcoat. "Twilight's gonna have to grow up. And a girl like her concealing all of that magic? It's not going to be easy for her to fit in." "Even so, we should try to learn more about her magic while she's still young," Sunny Flare's voice cut through the air. "She's a baby, so her magic might still be developing in her current state. If we can identify and learn more about it before she grows up, we could have a better grasp on how we can control and regulate it once she becomes a toddler, an elementary school kid, and then when she gets back to our age again." "What's there to learn?" Pinkie Pie burst out of the air and tapped Sunset's back, causing her to jump. "I've been learning pretty fine from the kid herself. She doesn't know what she can do but she's still just as much a baby as little Pound and Pumpkin back at Mrs. Cake's place. And if I've learned something from the eight months I've worked as a part-time babysitter, it's that when kids have fun, it's almost impossible to control them—Kinda like me!" All of a sudden, Twilight's giggles were audible through the cloud-ridden air. The girls heard the shakes of a rattle and the sounds of roaring winds. They turned to face the baby and saw that a portal had appeared in front of her, sucking the clouds into it. They watched her shake the rattle some more, opening more portals all around her with various different landscapes in the centre of the purple vortexes. "Whoa! What the heck?!" Indigo Zap recoiled at the sight of the portals. "What's going on here?" "I saw this before." Sunset walked up to Twilight, who still shook the rattle as she picked her up. "Twilight's magical power also includes the ability to open portals to Equestria. While I'm not really sure how she does it, I do know that these portals don't last long. Just make sure that no-one falls into them in the meantime." "I remember seeing these too. But last time, they just came out of nowhere whenever Twilight sucked the magic out of your friends." Spike walked forward, looking at all of the different portals to Equestria. He saw deserts, forests, snow-capped mountains, and the sea before another portal appeared by his feet. He put his paw down just as the vortex was opening and nearly fell into it. "Whoa, whoa, help!" "Hang on, Spike! I got this!" Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and shot over towards Spike, scooping him up just as his other feet left the ground. She gently patted his head and held him close. "There. Next time, don't step towards a portal, alright?" "In my defence, I didn't know that Twilight was gonna open a portal there." Spike looked up towards Rainbow Dash. "Goo wah wah ba, Twilight?" Pinkie Pie spoke in baby to Twilight once again. "Apa boo woo gah gi lu wa?" Twilight responded with some infant gibberish of her own and showed the rattle off to Pinkie, pointing at her Cutie Mark emblazoned onto it. She gave Pinkie Pie a demonstration, firing a portal onto a tree. "Well, what's she saying, Pinkie?" Sunset asked, leaning in close to Pinkie's lips. "This is a magic rattle that only Twilight can play with." Pinkie Pie pointed towards it and let Sunset get a better look at it. "Twilight says she can do all kinds of wonderful things with it, but so far, all she's ever got out of it is portals to Equestria." "And you got all of that out of a baby's mouth, speaking her language like you've studied it your whole life," Sugarcoat deadpanned. "Why do I get the feeling that if the government saw you with that baby Twilight, they'd take you away for examination and not her?" "Silly, Sugarcoat, I'm Pinkie Pie." She pinched Sugarcoat's cheeks and scooped up some leftover remnants of the cloud and turned it into a little platform for her to float around on. She laid down on it and gently kicked her legs. "I know lots of things. Not the meaning of life, mind you, but I've had plenty of weird and kooky experiences in the past." "That still doesn't explain how your random gibberish infantile prattle can be used to communicate with Twilight." Sugarcoat looked her firmly in the eyes. "What's your secret?" "There's no secret, Sugarcoat. You've just gotta spend a lot of time with these babies." Pinkie drifted over to Twilight and blew a raspberry into the baby's stomach. "Once you listen to them enough, their language is a snap. It's not just the classic goos and gahs like you're probably thinking of. It's much bigger than that!" She threw out her arms to emphasise her point. "Sugarcoat, it's best not to question Pinks." Lemon Zest walked up to Pinkie and wrapped her arm around her neck. She gave the CHS girl a noogie before letting her go. "She's a fun kid. Kinda like me but without the rockin' beats. And it's like she said. When kids have fun, it's hard to control 'em." "Well, whatever she does, as long as we have a way ta talk with Twilight, ah couldn't care less about the details." Applejack crossed her arms and gave Pinkie a smile as she walked up to her and Twilight. "Speaking of which, Pinkie, do ya think ya could get some extra info on that there magic she's got?" "Of course, Applejack." Pinkie nodded at Applejack and turned back towards Twilight. "Ga, Twilight. Boo bah gah hi ooboo wah mawa la ba fa goo, appo loo wa gi ra poowada?" Twilight responded to Pinkie's gibberish with even more baby talk. She crawled over towards the edge of Sunset's arms and climbed onto Pinkie's shoulders, gently pulling her ear open as she gave the girl her answer. Once she was done, she simply dropped her arms and drooled as her smile returned to her face. "Alright." Pinkie took a deep breath and arched her arms. "Twilight's magic is like a freaky-deaky combination of all of our magic. While it's unstable in her super-cute baby form, she thinks that it'll develop over time. But knowing that she's a baby, I think it's safe to say that that topic's still up for debate," she said. "Right now, she just uses whatever comes to her mind. Kid's show? She'll make it into a reality. Shapes and colours? Soon gonna be in her hands. Heck, if she wants to turn any of us into babies, she could do it with the clap of her hands!" "That... sounds worrying." Sunset picked Twilight back up and gently rocked her. After hearing Pinkie's explanation, she wanted to put Twilight to sleep as fast as possible so that she wasn't tempted to do anything major. "Is there any way to control this?" "Twilight said that her magic goes away whenever she sleeps." Pinkie continued, giving Twilight a rub on the head as she did so. "So if she got some new toys, turned any of us into super-duper cute diaper-pooping babies, or even opened some of those weird glowy portals, they'll all disappear once she falls asleep." "Interesting." Sunny Flare walked up to Twilight and placed her fingers on her rattle, feeling that it was warm to the touch and lighter than she had expected it to be. "I mean, the whole magic business at the Friendship Games was strange enough, but here, I feel like we've only just scratched the surface of what your magic is, Rainbooms." "I have to agree with Sunny on that." Rarity came up to Sunny and placed her hand on her shoulder. "I mean, we could Pony-Up out of the blue during the Friendship Games, but we've yet to learn what all of that magic can do in someone who hasn't used magic before." She turned to face Twilight, who was now beginning to droop her eyelids. "Who knows what little Twilight could do when she grows up?" "Well, I don't think we should concern ourselves with the future just yet." Fluttershy reached into Pinkie's basket and pulled out a pink pacifier. She walked over to Twilight and placed the amber teat of the soother into her mouth, watching her suck on it rhythmically. "Right now, we just have to make sure that Twilight's safe and sound. We'll work out the magic part later." "Speaking of which, I need to get her home." Sunset gently brushed Twilight's hair as she turned away from the girls. "It was nice to talk with you all, but I think that Twilight needs to get home. A sweet little girl like her needs her naps, but she also needs them in the luxury of her little crib back home." "Alright. Catch ya later, Sunset!" Indigo waved Sunset off. "If ya need anything else, just give us a call!" "I will, Indigo." Sunset waved back at the group of friends. "And tell your other friends at Crystal Prep that I wish them all well for the future!" "Sure thing!" Indigo called back as Sunset began to walk off towards the road. "Hey, Sunset! Next time we see each other, why don't I teach you how to speak baby?" Pinkie ran over to Sunset and followed her as she left the others behind. "I'm sure you're gonna need it for dealing with that super-cute bundle of joy there." "Y'know... Why not, Pinkie?" Sunset smiled at Pinkie and gave her a gentle nod. "You seem to be quiet fluent in the language so I'm sure that I could learn a thing or two from you." "Okie-dokie-lokie!" Pinkie cartwheeled up to Twilight and gave her a gentle wave goodbye. "Gah-goo, Twilight!" Twilight gave Pinkie a wave of her own before she fell asleep. The horn and mask around her face vanished as she began to snore lightly in Sunset's arms, sucking on the pacifier as she curled up to Sunset's breasts. Sunset gave the girls one more wave as she finally left the park and arrived at a crossing. She pushed the button and waited for the lights to turn green. Once the cars stopped, she walked across the road and began to travel down the street towards Twilight's house. Twilight, your magic never ceases to surprise me. Sunset grinned at the slumbering Twilight and rubbed her belly with the tip of her finger. She pulled up the dress around her chest and made circular motions across Twilight's body, making her suck on the pacifier at a slower rate. Once you grow up, I'm going to have to teach you how to control your magic a bit more. But until then, I'm here for you, twenty-four-seven, three-hundred and sixty-five. Twilight took the pacifier out of her mouth and whispered, "Mama..." before putting it back in and placing her hands on Sunset's chest. "You said it, little sis." Sunset leaned down to Twilight and gave her a gentle kiss. "Mama or big sister, I'll always keep you out of harm's way..."
Going AwayThe next day, Sunset and Twilight were playing together in the bedroom. Sunset herself was moving a stuffed animal and imitating a voice for it, causing Twilight to giggle and clap her hands, reaching out for the toy herself. Through the whole game, both Sunset and Twilight looked each other in the eyes and smiled. They both felt the bond between them getting deeper and stronger the more that they spent time with each other and they had a feeling that it wouldn't stop any time soon. "Mama! Mama!" Twilight squealed and crawled over to Sunset, climbing up into her chest. She gave her a big hug, causing the side of the horn to dig into Sunset's chest. "Yeah, Twilight. I'm your mama alright," Sunset lied as she pulled Twilight out of her chest and tousled her hair. "And no matter what, you won't have to face this thing alone." All of a sudden, Sunset felt the phone in her pocket vibrate. She put Twilight down and picked the phone up out of her pocket and opened up an application. Once it had loaded up, she saw a list of messages that she had either sent or received. She saw that the most recent one was from Pinkie Pie, so she tapped on it and the phone enlarged what Pinkie had sent to her. Hey, Sunset. Canterlot High's got enough money to go to Camp Everfree tomorrow thanks to the Friendship Games. Everyone's gonna be going away for the week so that they can get some fresh air and do some cool new stuff. You can choose whether you want to bring little baby Twily with you, but no matter what you do, I bet that we'll all have lots of fun together! See you soon! "Hmm..." Sunset stared at the message for a brief moment and frowned before she closed the phone and put it away. Thing is, would Twilight cope well without me? She bounced the girl on her knees. I mean, ever since that whole outburst at the Friendship Games, she's seen me as her mother. If I just left her like this, she might start crying and won't stop until I come back. And a girl of her abilities, it would make mom's job as a parent much harder. What should I do? Twilight wiggled her legs and cooed as she crawled up to Sunset again. She climbed up Sunset's body and used her hands to pull her cheeks and wiggle them around. She squished them together to make it look like Sunset was going to kiss someone and crawled up to press her face against hers. Once she felt Sunset do a real kiss, she giggled once more. If cuteness was a weapon of mass destruction, Twilight would be wanted by every military force on the planet. Sunset smiled and wrapped her arms around Twilight's tiny body, giving her a small hug. Who knew that becoming an all-powerful demon baby at the hands of your peers at Crystal Prep could be such a good thing? "Sunset? Are you decent?" Dean Cadence opened the door to Twilight's nursery and walked inside. "Don't worry. You're not in trouble. I just wanted to see how Twilight was doing." "She's fine, Cadence." Sunset set Twilight down and let her crawl off. She brushed herself down and stood before Cadence. "What's up?" "It's about Twilight's magic." Cadence walked over to Twilight and watched her begin to play with some blocks. She squatted down and patted the infant on the back as she picked the first one up. "Now, I'm not saying that it's getting out of control or that we're sick of it. I just wanted to know how long she's going to have it is all." "Well, you see, Cadence, Twilight's magic works a lot differently than ours did back at the Friendship Games." Sunset walked over to Twilight and pointed down to her. "We used to Pony-Up out of random and expose our magic, but it didn't really allow us to do stuff like she does." She showed Dean Cadence Twilight's glowing horn, which she was using to take some blocks that were out of her reach. "Twilight can use whatever magic she comes to mind. She can make the things she sees on TV and in books a reality. She can use a rattle to open up portals to Equestria, and she can get everything that she wants without any real effort or concentration. To make it easier for you, her limits are her imagination." "Is it... contagious?" Cadence was hesitant to reach her arm out as she said it. "No. No. Partially." Sunset shook her head and brushed the parts of her body that would change if she did transform. "While others can get a taste of her magic, it doesn't allow them to do exactly what she does. The only changes that the others get are wings or horns, pony ears, a tail, and longer hair. That's all." "So, what do you think I would get?" Cadence asked, leaning in closer to Twilight. "Y'know, when I was a kid myself, I always had dreams that I was a pegasus, flying through the air with such grace." "Well, I guess what you would get depends on your counterpart in Equestria." Sunset turned to face Cadence and tipped her hand towards her. "So whatever pony-you looks like, then that's what you would get. You might even get both wings and a horn if you're lucky." While Cadence and Sunset were talking to each other about her magic, Twilight stopped playing with her blocks and put her hands on the floor. She gave it a little poke and cooed again—this time at the bounciness of the padding. After a few more test pokes, she stood up and tried to jump. She wobbled both as she stood up and tried to land on her feet again. She tumbled to the floor and flopped onto her back, giggling lightly as she did so. Twilight put her finger to her mouth and thought about how she could bounce higher. Once she got an idea, she cooed silently and chuckled, lighting up her hands and horn. With a squeal, she blasted a high concentration of her magic at the floor, causing a bright white light to shine from it. "Hold on, Cadence. What's she doing?" Sunset broke off from the conversation and watched the floor light up. Before she could say anything, she began to sink into the ground. "Whoa!" She exclaimed as she fell down onto her butt and was launched upwards, as if she had fallen onto a giant trampoline. Twilight giggled as she tumbled and rolled down to the middle of the floor. Her horn disappeared and reappeared repeatedly so that it didn't sink into the bouncy surface and rip. Once she made it, she bounced high into the air and laughed wildly as she kept on bouncing on the magical surface. "How is she doing this?" Cadence asked as she threw out her arms to hold her balance. Despite being close to Twilight and Sunset, she was still able to stand firmly without falling over. "Is this what you meant by her limits being her imagination, Sunset?" "Yeah. I suppose." Sunset bounced and tried to reach out for Twilight, but kept on missing her every single time. Whenever she thought that she got close, Twilight's wings flapped, giving her more height before she fell right back down and bounced again. "Whatever Twilight wants to do, she does it. And if she wants to turn her nursery into a giant trampoline then she can." "Someone's gonna have to learn how to control her magic soon..." Cadence said as she stepped back towards the wall to avoid being launched into the air. As Twilight fluttered in the air, she lit up her horn as she fell right back down to the ground. With a quick flash of light, everything else aside from her, Sunset, and Cadence had vanished from the room. With no other toys to keep them from getting hurt, Twilight continued to bounce around, laughing and giggling all the while as she evaded Sunset's hands. "Bouncy! Bouncy!" Twilight said as she continued to play with her trampoline floor. She almost bounced to the roof of the room and banged her head, but her horn kept her from colliding with it every time. "Playtime!" "Alright, Twilight. Just come to mama..." Sunset kept her feet planted on the trampoline floor as she waited for Twilight to fall back down. With a somersault, she grabbed Twilight and landed on her butt, sliding back down to the centre of the room. "Gotcha!" Twilight shook all around in Sunset's hold, laughing like a maniac as her horn and hands lit up once again. As she shook her arms and legs, the floor straightened up and went back to normal, and all of her toys and baby furniture came back as well. "There we go, Twilight. Wasn't that fun?" Sunset gently rubbed the top of Twilight's head and rubbed her belly as she cradled the girl in her arms. "Next time, give me a head's up if you're gonna use your magic, OK?" Twilight was still laughing and shaking her limbs before she felt her diaper turn warm. She immediately stopped and felt the hot mush pressing against her skin. She looked up at Sunset and began to wimper, tears filling her eyes as her lips quivered. "Oh boy... Did you use your diaper, Twilight?" Sunset could already smell the repugnant stench strike her nostrils. She scrambled to her feet and ran over to the changing table. "Don't worry about it. Mama's here. Mama's here..." She laid Twilight down on the table, took off Twilight's tiny trousers and shoes, and ripped the diaper open. The fumes that had come from her poo sprung up and struck her nose. "Oh, sweet Celestia!" Sunset had to hold her nose to cope with the smell. "How are baby poops this smelly? Good grief!" "You might need some help with that, Sunset." Cadence walked over to the changing table and saw Sunset begin to back off as the smell danced around her nose. She immediately took the soiled diaper and opened a bin, tossing the browned undergarment inside. "The stench is revolting the first few times. You'll get used to it eventually." "Sweet goddess. Sweet goddess..." Sunset fanned her nose with her right hand as she tried to shake the smell off. Once it eventually left her, she went over to the door, opened it up, and took in some fresh air before walking back into the room. "How do parents put up with that? It's, like, the worst thing I think I've ever smelt!" "Well, it's something that all mothers and fathers have to put up with." Cadence pulled out a new diaper and proceeded to pick up a bottle of baby powder. She applied it both to Twilight's tiny bottom and to the brand new diaper before she slid it underneath her body. "And it's something that I'm gonna deal with a lot once our new baby gets born." "Have you decided on a name yet?" Sunset walked back over to Twilight and saw that Cadence had almost finished with the diapering procedure. "I was thinking on Gleaming Shield if it's a boy and Flurry Heart if it's a girl." Cadence picked up the edges of the diaper and made them all meet in the centre. She tightened the waistband, applied the adhesive strap, and added a small pin so that it all held together before she picked Twilight up and gave her back to Sunset. "Hey! Maybe she and Twilight could be playmates together someday. Doesn't that sound great?" "Yeah." Sunset smiled and nodded. "It'd be nice for Twilight to have some new babies to play with. Right now, she only has me. Well, that, and Pinkie Pie's trying to arrange a playdate for her and those two twins Mr. and Mrs. Cake have." "Alright," Cadence smiled. "Is there anything else going on with you or Twilight?" At that, Sunset froze up and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She turned it on and showed the text message she had got earlier to Cadence. As she let the dean read exactly what it said, her mind had a million different thoughts running through her head. She and Twilight had been inseparable since the end of the Friendship Games, and now there was something that was going to split them apart. "Well... I'm gonna be going away for a while." Sunset swallowed heavily and put the phone away once again. "Starting tomorrow, to be exact." "I can see. A school-organised field trip to Camp Everfree, is it?" Cadence put her hand on Sunset's shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Hey. Why so down? You're gonna have a great time there. Everyone at Crystal Prep has great memories of that place—even me and Cinch." "Really?" Sunset asked. "Yeah. In fact, when Cinch was in her teen years, she used to love stretching her legs on one of Camp Everfree's nature hikes. She said that they worked wonders on her physique and core strength." Cadence slowly pushed out her arm as she looked Sunset in the eyes. "I'm sure that you and your friends at Canterlot High are gonna have fun." "Yeah, but that's the problem." Sunset looked down at the ground and clasped Twilight harder. "See, if I'm gonna be going away, that just leaves you and the rest of the family to look after Twilight. And correct me if I'm wrong here, but I don't think that any of you have any experience in dealing with magical super-babies like her..." "No, we don't, but that doesn't mean we're not gonna try." Cadence shook her head and patted Twilight's with the palm of her hand. "Don't you worry about it. We'll all take good care of the little one while she's away." "Thank you for your help, but there's something else as well." Sunset turned her head back up at Cadence and held Twilight higher. "Twilight thinks that I'm her mama instead of mom. She might start worrying where I am and start crying if I'm not there. Her magic might go crazy if she starts to cry and I just don't want any of you getting hurt because I left her alone for the week." "Well, I'm not going to stop you from taking her with you to Camp Everfree, but I'm not so sure that you'll have all of the supplies to last a week with her." Cadence patted Twilight's diaper, hearing a small crinkle resonate from it as she did so. "Diapers, baby food, and other stuff doesn't really last long for a whole week when you're out at a place like Camp Everfree, and you might run out before the week's up and need to improvise, so it's not really recommended. But still, like I said, I'm not going to say no and take her off of your hands." "Now that leaves me with a real dilemma..." Sunset turned Twilight around and saw her use her magic. She levitated a pacifier from the ground and popped it into her mouth, starting to suck on it lightly. "Should I take Twilight with me to Camp Everfree, or should I leave her behind with you, mom, and dad?" "I'll happily go with whatever decision you make, but you also need to remember that it's also yourself you need to take into account." Cadence began to walk towards the door. "I'll leave you alone to think about it. With a decision like this, it's best not for me to get involved. But no matter what decision you make, you and your friends are going to enjoy Camp Everfree." "Yeah. Nothing but fun, fun, fun..." Sunset saw Cadence leave the room and close the door behind her. Once silence fell in the nursery again, Sunset walked over towards the tiny bookcase and sat Twilight down on her laps. She went through the different books that she could read to her while she heard her bobbing the pacifier in and out of her mouth with every suckle. She found the book and opened it up, showing both the text and the pictures inside. Oh, Twilight? What am I going to do? She asked herself mentally as she began to read the book to Twilight, spooling her hair around her fingers. Is it really worth spending a week away from you to have fun with my friends? Do I really want to go to Camp Everfree if it means leaving you behind? Help me out here, will you? Friends or family. Which one's more important? Once Sunset came to another page, Twilight turned around and hugged Sunset, still sucking on the pacifier as she dug her head into her chest. The quiet and muffled coos that she made were still audible as she curled her fingers up and latched on to her mother. She did this for a while before Sunset pulled her out and turned her back to the book. Author's Note Well, now. I'm going to leave this all up to you guys to decide. Should Sunset Shimmer leave for Camp Everfree with her friends for the week and leave Twilight behind? Or should she take her with her and go through so many resources and potentially run out? The choice is yours. Also, I do apologise for the pacing in some of these chapters. Sometimes, with Age-Regression fics, you tend to get an idea and focus so much on the cuteness of the baby-fied victim that you forget to stretch it all out and leave some important things melded in there. And with a baby Midnight Sparkle, I get so many ideas for her magical playtimes that I often forget about the important stuff like Pony Twilight and paradoxes, or how the portal just somehow works again or stuff like that. And I promise that I WILL sort those all out in the future. But until then, I hope that you all have a nice day and I'll see you all soon.
Camp EverfreeSunset Shimmer sat on a bus with many of her friends from Canterlot High on nearby seats around her. She carefully held Twilight close to her chest as her feet knocked against the backs beneath her as they travelled down the road and into what looked like a forest. As she played with her, she also drew the attention of many of the girls on the vehicle, who couldn't help but glance over towards the two of them and smile. "Are you sure you're gonna be alright fer the week, Sunset?" Applejack asked, tapping Sunset's shoulders. "I mean, Twilight's just a baby. The supplies that Mr and Mrs. Sparkle gave ya might not last that long." "Don't worry about it, Applejack." Pinkie Pie jumped over and opened up one of her own bags, causing lots of other baby supplies to poke out of the top. "I came fully prepared. Nothing's too good for this little cutie. Isn't that right, Twilight?" "I still don't get why they decided to let you take Twilight away for the week." Fluttershy walked over and knelt down before Sunset and Twilight. "Doesn't that seem a little irresponsible?" "Mom and Dad fully trust me with Twilight, Fluttershy." Sunset nodded and tousled Twilight's hair. "Since they recently took me into the family as well, I also count as being her big sister now. And besides, they decided that it was better for me to get to learn more about Twilight's magic so that we can find a better way to control it. Plus, she never gets to go outside these days, so I think taking her along to Camp Everfree with us would do wonders on her." "Yeah. And you're giving her parents a real load off for the week." Rainbow Dash turned her head back from her seat. "Now that Twilight's out of the way, I'm sure they've got plenty of time to do what they like." She saw everyone shoot her miniature glares. "What? It's true, though!" "Apart from that, I'm sure that we're all gonna have a good time. That is, if you don't mind getting dirt under your nails and leaves stuck in your hair." A pink-skinned girl in a yellow jacket and trousers turned back from the front. "For me, camping's always been a nightmare. Even though I come from a rich family, I still find it hard to deal with nature." "Don't worry about it, Di. You've got me with you this week." A girl with silver hair and skin scooted up to her side and wrapped her arm around her. "Besties forever, right?" "Yeah. Thanks, Silvs," she said, turning towards her friend. "I just hope the camp's got some good Wi-Fi. I don't want my boyfriend to think I'm forgetting about him." "What about you, Sunset?" The silver girl leaned over the back of the seats. "Do you have a very special someone in your life?" "Not really, Silver." Sunset shook her head and turned to face Silver. "I mean, I used to have Flash Sentry back when I was a power-crazed ringleader, but now, I'm just fine as I am. Plus, I've gotta take care of little Twilight here when her parents aren't around, so I don't have much time to look for one in the first place." "Well, if you ever have some spare time, just give me and Diamond Tiara a call and we'll do our best to hook you up with someone nice." Silver smiled and handed her a small card before turning back towards the front of the bus. "Heck, we'd do anything if it means we get to spend time with that little cutie you've got there." "Yeah. Thanks, girls..." Sunset Shimmer simply returned her gaze to the windows and held Twilight up so that she could see as well. Trees, plants, and all kinds of wildlife passed by their eyes as the bus continued to drive down the path. Eventually, the bus slid into a parking zone and stopped so that everyone could get a good view of the campsite. Everyone gathered their belongings and walked off of the bus in an orderly fashion, inhaling the scent of the camp through their nostrils as their feet touched the ground. Verdant green trees ringed around a lake that glistened in the sunlight. A line of tents with different gems on the doors could be seen on the left side of the vehicle while a kitchen building was visible on the right. The grass was dew-ridden and freshly cut, with each blade just barely grazing against the girls' feet. Rarity stepped off of the bus and inhaled the fresh air, stretching her arms out as she did so. "Ahh, lovely day for camping, isn't it?" "Yeah. The air smells great." Sunset walked up to Rarity, caressing Twilight against her chest. "I bet Twilight's gonna have a lot of fun here at Camp Everfree, aren't you, Twilight?" Twilight merely looked up at Sunset and giggled, wiggling her hands as she tried to grab her caretaker's chin. Her horn vanished as she tilted her head up and then reappeared as she brought her head back down. "Ah know that we're potentially bringing another magical mishap by bringing that little'un with us, but I'm sure that it's nothing we can't handle, right?" Applejack booped Twilight's nose and heard her laughter continue. "Yeah. We've handled all kinds of magical goings-on before, so I'm sure that taking care of an adorable baby Twilight in the middle of a camp should be a snap!" Pinkie clicked her fingers. "Oh, I'm sure that it'll be easier than what we've done before. And a little bit more fun." Fluttershy walked up to the girls with her hands wrapped around the straps of her backpack. "Twilight's gonna love it here with us in the cool breeze and fresh air." "Plus, there's plenty of nature walks we could take her on so that she could see just how lush this place is." Applejack looked out towards the trees. "Yep, there's all sorts of things we can do here at Camp Everfree." "Yeah! We can roast marshmallows by campfires and tell spooky stories to each over!" Rainbow Dash flexed her fingers and hunched her shoulders. "Or, if that's a bit too much, we could always have a race around the campsite if you're up for it." "I see what you mean." Sunset smiled as the other Rainbooms began to discuss what they could do together at Camp Everfree. "I don't get it!" Sunset's ears picked up on the voice and turned to see a boy and girl have a quarrel. Both of them were dressed in laid back clothing, with the boy wearing a simple shirt and trousers while the girl wore a floral dress around her whole body, with sandals crafted out of trees. She walked over to the quarrelling teenagers and kept her distance so that she wasn't intruding. "honestly, Gloriosa, you don't need these things." The boy reached over and tried to take seven different crystals off of the girl's neck. "I don't care what you can do with those geodes, you can't get any more power from them." "You lie, Timber!" Gloriosa spat back, covering all seven of the gems in the palms of her hand. "I can save this camp. I just need to find more of those things! Surely, if we crack the altar open there'll be more, right? Just give me more time, OK? I got this." "No. You clearly haven't." Timber hung his head and let a small sigh slip. "Look, Glori, I know that you like this camp, but I feel like you're just going about this the wrong way. Maybe if we just tell people about what he's going to do, then people'll surely donate to our cause." "Timber, you have your way of saving this camp and I have mine." Gloriosa turned her back to him and looked down at the gems around her neck. "If you want to get people to send their life savings then that's fine, but I just think of these things as a last resort for if we can't get the money we need..." "Uh, hi." Sunset walked up to Timber and Gloriosa and waved to the both of them. "I'm sorry to intrude, but I heard you two arguing and I thought I might as well see what's up." "Oh, hey." Timber's tension immediately left his face as he saw Sunset and Twilight stand before them. "I didn't see you there. Are you with the kids from Canterlot High?" "Yeah. We just got here a few minutes ago, actually." Sunset nodded and motioned towards the students of CHS as they all chatted among themselves. "I don't suppose that there's a camp counsellor or member of staff that we can see, is there?" "You're looking at one of 'em." He held out his hand for a handshake. "Hi. Name's Timber Spruce. Nice to meet ya." "Wait, you?" Sunset's eyes opened slightly at Timber's gesture. "But you're just a teenager like me. How are you in charge here?" "We're a bit understaffed at the moment. Plus, this place is kinda part of my family's lineage." He shook hands with Sunset. "It'd be a travesty if I left it alone, right?" "I... guess?" Sunset eyed up Timber as she ended the handshake and looked into his eyes. Twilight turned her gaze up to Timber as well and gave him a smile, cooing as she tried to reach out and touch him. "Hey there, kid." Timber came down to Twilight and tousled her hair, taking extra care not to touch her horn in the process. "Who are you dressed up as? Can you speak?" "Oh. That's not a dress-up, Mr. Spruce. This is all real." Sunset said, holding Twilight with both of her arms again. "I'm sure you wouldn't understand." "Oh, I'm sure that I might have some grasp on the situation..." As he spoke, his eyes shifted back to Gloriosa. He gave her a small glare before he went back to Sunset and Twilight. "Sorry about that. You were saying?" "Not to be rude, but I didn't come up to the two of you just so I could tell you about my baby girl." Sunset retracted Twilight from Timber and gave her back a tender rub. "I came to see why you and Gloriosa were arguing. What's going on?" "Well, see here's the—" "Timber. This is mine." Gloriosa slapped Timber's mouth shut with the back of her hand and pushed him away. "Before I get into what happened, I want to know how you got that weird baby there." "As I said with Timber, you wouldn't understand a thing." Sunset Shimmer shook her head. Before anyone could say anything else, Twilight's face recoiled at Gloriosa. She whimpered and shied away into Sunset's body. She let out a frightened coo and pushed her hands out, causing a sudden gust of wind to burst out of her horn and hands. The resulting blast sent Gloriosa careening into the lake, just beyond the edge of the dock. As Gloriosa pulled her head from the water, Twilight was seen laughing. Her illuminated hands and horn were on full display as she made small walls made of water crash into the girl again and again, as if she was being sandwiched by them. This went on and on until Sunset pulled Twilight away and tickled her belly, causing the water to die down. "What the heck was that?" Timber asked, coming up to Twilight and Sunset. Sunset sighed and hung her head. "I was going to try and keep it secret for the week, but I guess there's no point in trying to hide it, is there? Basically, something happened at the Friendship Games that turned a rival school's girl into a baby with magical powers. Since no-one else chose to take care of her, her family picked her up and I'm now her caretaker-slash-big-sister." "That's an awful lot to take in in just one sitting." Timber came up to Twilight and examined her horn. "But... now that you mention it, she doesn't really seem like an average baby playing dress-up..." "I'm sorry that you had to get mixed up in this, Mr. Spruce." Sunset turned Twilight to face her and gave her a little pat on the belly. "I'll take full responsibility for what happened to Gloriosa." "Nah. It's alright." Timber watched Gloriosa climb out of the water and shake herself down like a dog. "Y'know, since you came out with your magical mishaps, I think I should let you in on something. My sister's not entirely normal either." "What? But she's just as much of a teen as you are." Sunset watched Gloriosa get tended to by some of the students. She watched them dry her off and take her to get some new clothes. "How could she possibly have magic?" "Well, those gems around her neck? They're what's causing it." Timber pointed out the seven crystals draped around Gloriosa's collar as she walked off. "She has all seven now, and all that she can do is cause vines to grow around her like some kind of weird comic book character. Nothing like what your baby sister can do, but it's still something out of the ordinary." "Is that what you two were arguing about earlier?" Sunset asked. "Yeah. She wants to stop this camp from being bought out by the mogul Filthy Rich and thinks that those crystals are a last resort." Timber brushed the back of his head as he watched Gloriosa walk inside a boathouse. "When in reality, the best way to get rid of him is to keep on paying him the rent every month. She's just gotten a bit desperate because we're low on funding this month. That's all." "You should definitely tell people that this place is trying to be bought out." Sunset tugged on the back of Timber's shirt. "Think about it. This place is a historical landmark. People will come running to save it, even if it means they have to chain themselves to trees to stop the loggers from cutting down the campsite." "Are you sure about that?" Timber wasn't entirely sold on Sunset's idea. "Trust me, they will." Sunset then saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon out in the crowd of students. "And look. That girl over there is called Diamond Tiara. She happens to be Mr. Rich's daughter. I'm sure that if she hears about what her dad's doing, she'll practically beg him to stop." "Well, nothing too serious has happened yet, but if we do get desperate, I'll come and ask your friends for help." He began to walk off to follow Gloriosa, waving back to Sunset as he left her behind. "I've gotta go. Apart from me, she's the only other member of staff we've got here. Enjoy your time, though. At Camp Everfree, we want to give you an experience you won't forget." "Bye." Sunset waved Timber off and saw that Twilight was waving him off as well. She gave Twilight another gentle cuddle as she walked off with her and regrouped with the rest of her peers. Something tells me that this trip to Camp Everfree's gonna be more interesting than I expected...
The Wolf of CanterlotAuthor's Note If any of you are worried about the pacing, then I heavily apologise for that. But you see the thing with stories like this, I find it hard to keep a consistent pace with how much I want to cram the baby stuff in. With stuff like this, you always have to prioritize the shenanigans with the babies/foals that you've made, and that often leaves you very little time to work in some serious crises, or if you do, tell them more than show. And also, I know that some people are going to be negative again, but you know what? I don't even care. This is not meant to be a serious story in any way, shape, or form. It's simply a story about a girl who gets turned into a baby and has lots of magical mishaps. Inconsistencies, differences, and various other changes are made in stories like this. It also helps that this story is also AU, because that also justifies the changes that people make. But anyway, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter and have a great day! The Wolf of Canterlot The CHS students were all picking out cards for which tents that they would be sleeping in during their time at Camp Everfree. One by one, they dipped their hands into the box and fished out a different gem type that was identical to the designs on the tent doors. "Hey, uh..." Gloriosa walked up to Sunset with a new set of clothes and partially damp hair. "I'm sorry. What's your name?" "Sunset. Sunset Shimmer." She said, turning to face Gloriosa as she held Twilight gently in her grasp. "Look, before you say anything, I just want you to know that I'm sorry you got wet earlier. I didn't know that Twilight would want to— "No, no. It's fine, Sunset." Gloriosa shook her head, flicking off some last blobs of water as she swung around the seven crystals around her neck. "I know that we kinda got off on the wrong foot when we started, but I want you to know that I'm sorry for my behaviour. I'm just so stressed out about losing this camp that I kinda overreacted and lost my temper with Timber. I shouldn't have made such a bad first impression on you." "Hey, it's alright, Gloriosa." Sunset held her hand while delicately balancing Twilight in her free arm. "I have to look after a magical super-baby nonstop. And while she is super-cute, her power can be incredibly out of control sometimes. If there's anything that we can do to help you out, just let us know, OK?" "It's just that, these geodes that I found are supposed to contain vast magical energy, but so far, all that I've been able to do is make some small vines grow here and there." She turned towards a bush and raised her hand, causing a single vine to appear out of the top. "See, I love this camp so much and I want it to continue for years on years, but I'm short on money and Filthy Rich is threatening to tear this place down if I don't pay up the rent in time." "Wait, what?!" Diamond Tiara's ears pricked up just as she was about to reach into the box. She walked up to Gloriosa and Sunset and stood before them. "My daddy's going to tear this place down?" "Your... daddy?" Gloriosa cocked her head at Diamond. "I'm sorry, little one, but who are you?" "Diamond Tiara. Eldest daughter of Filthy and Spoiled Rich." She said, crossing her hands. "Listen, I know that my daddy does a lot of things to keep on lining his pockets, but I don't think he would ever want to tear down an official historic landmark. He always listens to what I have to say, so I'm just gonna give him a quick call and see whether or not he's serious about this whole thing." "Are you sure you'll be able to make the call in a place like this, Diamond?" Sunset asked, turning towards her. "I mean, Camp Everfree's pretty far from the mainland and I doubt that Timber and Gloriosa installed any wi-fi here." "Well, I don't think she needs to worry about that." Timber pointed out towards the parking area. "He's right here!" Sunset, Diamond, Timber, and Gloriosa watched as a long black limo with silver-plated doors rolled up and parked itself right next to the bus. One of the doors on the side opened and a pair of black trouser legs poked out of it. From the car, a well-groomed man with luscious black hair and brown skin walked up to the group. He wore a blue business suit and polished black shoes. He wore cufflinks on the wrist parts of his suit and a tight buckled belt around his waist. "Gloriosa Daisy!" He loudly proclaimed as he brushed down his chest with the back of his hand. "Such a pleasure to see you again. I trust that you're working hard to get the money you owe me?" "In case you must know, Filthy Rich, it's hard to come by money these days when people just bring their own camping gear." Gloriosa crossed her arms and stared into his eyes. "Most of the time, our income comes from a few minor sources." "I can tell. This camp's practically falling apart at the seems." He turned towards the docks and saw it collapse as a student laid one of their fingers on it. "Gloriosa, let me tell you a little trick that I learned in the world of corporations. A place is only as successful as it is well-maintained. Whenever something goes wrong at one of my businesses, I simply splash out a few thousand dollars to have the team fix it, and wouldn't y'know it, more moolah comes flooding in." He leaned in close and flashed her a toothy grin. "What I'm trying to say here is that you've gotta spend money to make it, dear." "You're one to talk! Look at you! You're a multi-millionaire!" Gloriosa threw her hands out towards Filthy Rich. "You're practically monopolising every business you've ever laid your hands on! We're out here, working ourselves to the bone, and what do we have to show for it?" "Gloriosa, there's no such thing as a bad business." He tousled her hair and watched her face turn bright red. "But there something called a failed business. You've still got some time, but I do expect you to have the cash in hand when next we meet." And with that, he went back towards the limo. "Daddy! Wait!" Diamond Tiara ran up to him and tugged on his hand. "Diamond Tiara?" Filthy Rich stopped cold in his tracks as he saw his daughter holding on to him. "Why, what are you doing all the way out here?" "I'm here with CHS on a special field trip." She showed off Sunset Shimmer and the other students at Canterlot High as they all began to unload their things by their tents. "Daddy, is it true that you're going to rip this place down if Gloriosa doesn't pay up?" "Diamond, as much as I love you, I'm afraid that you can't argue with money." He knelt down and looked her in the eyes. "Aw, now don't feel so bad, dear. You yourself hate camping, remember? Remember the times when you got attacked by those hornets? Or what about the time the campfire spread too far due to some horrible kid's prank?" He gently massaged her shoulders as she hung her head and sighed. "I'm practically doing you a favour here, darling. Soon, this horrible place'll be gone and replaced with a spa. You love those, don't you?" "Yeah, I know, but I think that what you're doing seems a little bit wrong." Diamond Tiara took in a deep breath and put her own hand on Filthy Rich's shoulders. "Despite how rinky-dink and out of the way it is, this place is still a historical landmark. It's protected by the National Historic Preservation Law that's been going on for well over fifty years now. Aren't you kinda breaking the law by doing this?" "Diamond, Diamond, Diamond. I would never do something like that." Filthy Rich shook his head and looked out to the trees himself. "But you see, that rule only applies to the whole forest. If I were to log every tree and tear this place down, then yeah, it'd be a criminal offence. I'm simply gonna trim the weeds a little. Nothing to worry about." "Daddy. Just please promise me that you don't push Gloriosa too hard in future, alright? She's doing the best that she can and she does sound pretty desperate..." She looked back at Gloriosa and watched her flutter her eyelids innocently. "Just give her and the rest of us some time, alright? We'll make this camp wonderful and raise the money without having to give it up." "Darling, I—" "C'mon! Please...?" Diamond widened her eyes and looked into her father's clasping her hands together as tightly as she could. "Well..." Filthy Rich's mind was abuzz with thoughts. Maybe he had been a bit too hard on Gloriosa and Timber. Given that they were working in the forest and didn't have any reliable or consistent source of income, he could see how they were lacking in funds. He took a deep breath and stood back up. "Alright. I am a bit of a sucker to see just how people pull things off just in the nick of time. I hope that you do me proud, Diamond Tiara." "You have my word." She bowed before him and helped him back into the car. She closed the door and waved him off as his car travelled out of the camp and back towards the city. "That... went a lot better than I had expected." Timber Spruce walked up to Diamond with both Gloriosa and Sunset behind him. "But if I could just ask you something, Diamond, how exactly do you plan on making the money we need in time?" "I've been with my daddy for long enough now to learn all of his secrets. I can practically run a lemonade stand and make it the most successful one of them all." She proudly puffed out her chest and examined her nails. "In the meantime, you should all keep on running the camp. I'll be in touch now and again with all of the details. Same goes for you, Sunset. Twilight especially needs some time to play at Camp Everfree." "Yeah, I think I can see that." Sunset could already feel Twilight squirm and wiggle in her hold as she tried to keep her secure. She eventually couldn't keep up as she opened her wings and flapped towards the ground and began to crawl off. "Well, I'll leave you all to it. I've got a little monster to catch." And she walked off to follow Twilight and make sure that she didn't get herself into danger. "Before you do, Sunset, I just want you to know that I'm always here if you want to talk." Gloriosa followed after Sunset with a feint grin on her face. "If there's anything that you or your friends need here at Camp Everfree, I'm on it. I hope that we give you a trip you won't forget." "Thanks, Gloriosa." Sunset gave her a brief look back. "I might be late to start in the activities, given that Twilight's magic can be a bit cuckoo sometimes, but I know that you'll your best." "Thank you. I won't let you down." She nodded and went back to the other CHS students, rallying them up with Timber as Diamond Tiara followed after them. "Oh, and just so you know, you're free to go anywhere in the camp. Just make sure that you can find your way back as well!" Sunset saw Twilight crawl through a bush and followed after her, breaking through into a dense thicket of towering trees which blotted out the sunlight. She could barely see her, but she heard her giggles and followed after her, deeper into the forest. She snapped a number of twigs and rustled some branches as she chased after the infant, straying further and further off from the campsite with every step that she took. "Twilight? Come on, girl, don't make me have to get lost!" She ran through more of the pathless wood and saw Twilight crawling towards a stream. She watched her put her hand in it and coo, laughing as she began to play with the miniscule trail of water. "There you are. Don't run off like that, alright?" She picked Twilight up and brought her to her face. "You almost had me worried for a second." "Mama! Play!" Twilight pointed down to the stream of water and babbled smiling as she pivoted her body near the edge of Sunset's arms. "Twilight, you can play later." Sunset turned away from the stream and began to walk back the way that she had came. "Right now, we need to get back to the camp. Everyone's waiting for us—even your aunties." "Aw." Twilight hung her head and lit up her horn. She materialized her rattle and gave it a few small shakes as she simply sat back and let Sunset carry her off. "Play..." "And besides, there's much more fun things to do than just splashing around in a stream." Sunset smiled and looked down at Twilight. "I could take you on a boat ride, or go on a long walk with you. There's lots of things we can do together. You've just gotta be patient, is all." "Fun..." Twilight unintentionally groped the air with her free hand as she tried to find something to play with. After giving her rattle a few more shakes, she squealed and pointed her finger up. "Fun!" She vigorously shook her hands as her horn lit up, then, with a flick of her right hand, a portal appeared around Sunset's feet. "Twilight! No!" Sunset tried to reach out for the rattle, but it was too late as a portal now appeared around her feet. She immediately felt the ground around them disappear as their bodies fell through the purple-rimmed vortex to Equestria. "Someone HELP US!" She screamed before they both fell through the gateway and vanished entirely.
A Castle for MidnightSunset and Twilight cut through the dense growth that plagued the Everfree Forest, using their magic to illuminate the way. And by they, it was really just Sunset Shimmer using her horn as a light while Twilight slept peacefully on her back, pacifier bobbing in and out of her mouth in a small rhythm. "I just hope we can find a way back home soon..." Sunset looked back and saw Twilight wiggle her hooves in the air as she snuggled into her back, feeling the comfort of her clothes and diaper contorting around her. "Twilight's not meant to be here. It could cause a chain reaction of events if she met her pony self." As Twilight Sparkle cooed and wriggled around in her slumber, a small white wisp flew out of her horn and danced around Sunset Shimmer like a firefly. For a few moments, the tiny ball of light attracted the undivided attention of the yellow unicorn before it shot off ahead, through some more branches and bushes. "What the...?" Sunset slowly stepped forward and followed the wisp's light, completely unshaken by the fact that she had stepped into a small patch of mud. Her pace grew from a single trot to a canter, then to a gallop as she chased after the light, securing Twilight as she charged ahead. "What do you want to show me, little light?" The light swirled around various trees, illuminating the forest in ways that Sunset had never imagined before. Areas that had been once blanketed by darkness were now fully visible and shone like diamonds in a jewellery shop. Flowers bloomed and small streams of water glistened when the small orb hovered over them. Even animals, both predator and prey alike were revealed by the shine of Twilight's little wisp, with the monsters all retreating when the light struck their eyes. Sunset kept up the chase, sweat dripping from her forehead as she continued to follow the light through the Everfree Forest. Leaves and exotic fruits tumbled off of their branches as she darted past them. Roots beneath her feet posed no problem as she gracefully weaved her way over and around them in her pursuit. Her speed shook Twilight around lightly, but a light-blue aura protruding from her horn kept the infant from falling off. Whatever was going on, Sunset Shimmer wanted answers, and she wanted them immediately. Eventually, both of the ponies burst from the forest and now came towards a small path leading out towards a rope bridge that—despite the amount of cracks in the wood and texture of the rope itself, looked sturdy enough to hold a pony and foal at the same time. The light that they had been chasing went over the bridge and spiralled around the ruins of an old castle, sprinkling twinkling specks of light down on it. "Here? Is this where you want me to go?" Sunset asked the light and walked towards the start of the rickety rope bridge. Despite how aged the castle was, Sunset could still see that it hadn't fallen completely into disrepair and that there was a clear entrance to it. "Twily? Wakey-wakey. Mama's got something to show you..." She looked back and gave Twilight a small nudge with her hoof. "Mama?" Twilight yawned and turned over onto her belly, holding onto Sunset's neck as she rubbed her eyes and smacked her lips, almost dropping her pacifier in the process. When she saw the dark and gloomy castle, her eyes went wide and she recoiled, whimpering as she began to shiver and shake. Cooing baby gibberish, her grip on Sunset tightened as she buried her face back into her caretaker's fur. "Aww, c'mon, Twilight. It's not that scary." Sunset pulled Twilight off of her back and gave her a hug, patting her back as she looked into her little sister's eyes. "As long as Princess Sillyface is here to protect you, no monsters are gonna hurt you." And just like that, she stuck out her tongue and lifted the corners of her mouth, blowing a small raspberry into Twilight's stomach. She watched as the baby giggled and waved her hooves around with a goofy grin plastered onto her face, as if all of her previous fears had been washed away entirely. "See? It's not so bad, right? Now you stay with me, and everything'll be just fine." She put Twilight back onto her back and began to walk out towards the first rung of the rope bridge. Slowly, Sunset placed her first hoof on the bridge, hearing the loud, ghoulish noises of the creaking wood ring in both her ears and Twilight's. She began to question how strong it was and whether or not it would be able to hold both of them. Taking a gulp, she put her other hooves on the bridge, hearing an entire chorus of wood under hoof as she bit her lips and anticipated the worst to happen. A few seconds passed, with each one seeming to drag on for an eternity as she awaited her fate. Much to her relief, the bridge managed to hold, and after taking a deep breath, she began to walk forward towards the ruins of the castle. Twilight could only sit and look at the castle, her eyes focused on the crumbling towers and lack of a stable roof as Sunset walked her closer and closer to it. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see a shingle fall from the top of the castle and smash against the ground, breaking into lots of miniature pieces. As all of those sights danced vividly from her spot, she held her hooves to her face, conjuring a bright pink bubble dome around her, shielding her vision from the outside world. Once the dark sights were replaced with the lighter, more peaceful ones from within her magic, her smile instantly returned as she began to try to touch everything she could see. "Oh, Twilight. It's alright." Sunset rubbed the top of the dome spell as she made it to the end of the rope bridge and touched solid ground once again. Using a spell of her own, she plucked the foal from her back and proceeded to walk into the castle. "Being scared is a natural part of life—even for a baby like yourself. But that's why mama's here for you. She's going to protect you from all of these mean and nasty things until you grow up and learn to fight them yourself..." As Twilight felt herself being lifted from her sister's backside, the spell around her dissipated, bringing her back to the castle and the derelict ruins of what it used to be. She could see stairs with faded red carpets, remnants of old tapestries hanging from the walls, and a pair of thrones sitting in pieces at the end of the room at the top of a barely-standing bunch of stairs. All she could do was coo and tip her head to the side as she drunk it all in, putting her hoof right on her lips as the pacified she had been sucking on vanished entirely. "Twily. This is a castle. See? Castle." Sunset held Twilight out and showed her around the place. "Pretty princesses and powerful rulers would sit on these thrones and make important decisions that could change the fate of their kingdom. Princesses like you someday, my little monster." She gave Twilight a playful boop on her muzzle, seeing her squeal and grin once again. "Now, castles also have libraries with more books. They might not be as bright and playful as the ones you're used to, but I'm sure that they'll give us some answers if we just look around. Twilight babbled as she looked around, reaching out for the rocks and rubble that littered the floor. As she reached out towards them, her horn fired a blue and black bolt that struck them, turning the wreckage into large building blocks with an array of colours, letters, numbers, and symbols planted on them. Her magic's pretty strong, even in Equestria. Sunset watched Twilight zap more and more of the destroyed castle, making more baby toys and bright aesthetics that distracted her from her ride on the big pony's back. I don't know what's harder now: Looking after her as a baby, or when she's old enough to attend elementary school again... As she walked off into a corridor, she still heard Twilight laugh and fire off more magic bolts, which in turn made even more of the castle infant-friendly. Sunset and Twilight crept through the cramped corridor before coming towards a library that was barely in a better state than the rest of the castle. Books were still sprawled everywhere with some of them organised in the wrong places, some had been burnt and charred to the point where everything had disappeared on them, and some were buried from the top to the spine in dust and spiderwebs. A large table could be seen in the middle of the room, which spread out to the length of the giant bookcases along the walls. "Alright. Now one of these books should be the one that I need to get us back home." Sunset walked ahead and began to pull book after book from the walls, lining them up on the tables. "You stay right here and don't do anything funny, Twilight. Mama needs to concentrate in getting you back home to your aunties at Camp Everfree..." And with that, she blew all of the dust off of one of the books and opened it up, rapidly scrolling through page after page. Twilight Sparkle watched as Sunset Shimmer skimmed the books rapidly in an attempt to find a transportation spell that could get them back home to the Human World. All of the words on every page made no sense to her and when she tried to read one of them out, she ended up heavily mispronouncing it or just speaking in baby talk entirely. Still, she watched as her caretaker took more of these books and proceeded to toss them away after failing to find the spell. "I know that it's an ancient ruin of a castle, but surely there's gotta be a spell, incantation, or chant here that can get me and Twilight home before the campers begin to worry." Sunset took more books and opened them up wide, jumping her head from page to page as she desperately tried to find what she needed. "I've just gotta keep looking. Now, if I were a spell that could cause me to leave Equestria and go back to a world full of giant apes with clothes on, where would I be?" Twilight reached out for one of the books with her horn glowing once again. As she tried to read out the notes and paragraphs, she ended up sucking all of the words off of the book before transforming it with a white flash of light. As if by magic, the tome from centuries ago had been morphed into a small, yet colourful book for babies like her. She was about to reach out for it, but something else had washed over her mind. She had the urge to play—not just with Sunset Shimmer, but with the castle itself. Looking around, she flapped her wings and floated above the table with her mind already beginning to run wild with ideas. She reached her hooves out in a star formation as her horn began to shine like a spotlight and hum louder and louder. Just as she watched Sunset pull her head from the books, Midnight fired off bolts in all directions, lighting up the walls and floor of the castle elegantly and shooting off into the sky. "Twilight! What are you doing?!" Sunset tried to fire magic bolts at her to try and stop the giggling baby, but nothing seemed to work as they were refracted by Twilight's own magic and were bent out towards the trees. You don't know what your magic's capable of! Twilight! Think before you do anything stupid! Raising her hooves high into the air, Twilight's horn bathed the entire castle in a pillar of radiant white light. The collapsed area around the castle was slowly being filled up with magically-crafted landmass, burying anything that had been visible previously. The rope bridge that once served as the only access point to the castle disappeared in a puff of light blue smoke. As for the castle itself, it began to change colour and wobble like an inflatable toy in the light as Twilight's magic began to transform it. Doodles and child-friendly images appeared on the castle's walls as a roof and front door now appeared. With one last burst of light, the ruins had been fully changed by her magic. Sunset's vision had been turned completely white and her hearing had been severed momentarily as she tried to re-adjust herself to the world after Twilight's powerful spell. She tried to stand up and look around, but the ground beneath her wiggled, as if she was standing on a floor made of jelly. Unable to stand up, she slipped and fell onto her back, bouncing up and down on the floor as she tumbled onto her haunches. The room around Sunset had been entirely changed. Bright hues of yellow, pink, and blue flooded the walls as shapes, numbers, and letters were seen all over the walls. There were baby toys, blocks, and plush animals of all shapes and sizes littered around the place, with some of them pressing themselves against her body. Every book that was on the walls had been made into baby books, some telling nursery rhymes, others that were pop-up books, and some that showed more shapes and colours on each page. Small currents of magic drifted through the air as Twilight's laughter echoed throughout the room. "Twilight..." Sunset's eyes twitched as she looked at the infantile room around her. "What in Equestria have you done?! And for that matter, where are you?!" Twilight was by the end of the room, playing with a couple of small plush toys. Using her magic, she made them all stand up and give her a hug, with her responding in kind to them. Giggling and cooing peacefully, Twilight felt like she was in a state of pure wonder. Her imagination had finally come to life and was now on full display in her newly-transformed castle. "Mama! Pway!" Twilight turned and saw Sunset approach her. Waving her hooves and wings, she flapped high into the air and flew off, ready to see just what else her mind had done to the old castle. "Twilight..." Sunset watched the raven-winged baby fly off and tried to chase after her, but found herself unable to run on the inflatable floor that wobbled with every footstep. For now, she was only able to bounce-walk after the foal, making sure that she wasn't tripping on any of the toys. "What I wouldn't give for a life without magic now..." She groaned and walked out of the room, dreading what her little monster's magic had done to the rest of the castle. Author's Note As of today, I now have Garry's Mod on my PC. It does work, just so you know. Everything's in ship-shape and all hunky-dory peachy clean. I just need to work out a few kinks and learn the ropes of how this sandbox game works and then I should be ready for fun times galore. And also, I've downloaded all of the Equestria Girls packs, with many different character and player models for me to screw around with in the sandbox modes. And while that's all well and good, my favourite ones: the Crystal Prep Shadowbolts, are only character models for now. Until the player models come out, the best things I can do with them is make them have reproduce by pressing them against each other with my physics gun. But soon, Lemon Zest and the others will be Player Models, and the world of Prop Hunt, Guess Who, Deathrun, and Hide and Seek will change forever... As for the chapter, the usual stuff applies. Comments, favourites, upvotes, all that good stuff is welcome here. As is a click on the Patreon button below to donate and support the official release.
A Magic Baby's ImaginationWhen Sunset made it to the throne room, her eyes immediately shot open with how drastically Twilight's magic had changed it. The walls around her were now simulating a sunny day in a grassy field with clouds, animals, and even the sun itself bearing a smile at her. The floor was just as bouncy and unstable as the one in the library and was coloured with each colour on the rainbow, with a few extra ones splattered in for more vibrancy. The thrones in the room still stood, but they were inflatable as well, made entirely out of shaped balloons of all sizes and colours. Twilight was seen climbing the wobbly stairs up towards the throne, babbling and mumbling in baby talk as she tried to take a seat on one of the transformed chairs. Whenever she lost her balance and tumbled back down, her horn disappeared as she rolled towards the bottom, her back colliding with the floor once again. "Twilight? Please, just listen to me for once." Sunset walked across the floor, keeping her balance on the wobbly surfaces as she picked Twilight up and held her close. "This castle must be thousands of years old. It's not right just to turn it into a magical world for babies like you." As she rubbed the foal's belly, she looked around and grimaced at the walls and ground. "If Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were here, they'd be very disappointed with you. Now let's get you to sleep so that we can change all this back and find a way back home." Twilight fussed and shook around in Sunset's grip, a frown starting to appear on her face as she unfurled her wings, slapping Sunset in the face with them as she broke free from her sister's grasp. Giggling at her freedom, she fluttered off towards yet another room, curious to know what else her magic had done to transform the other rooms of the castle. "Twilight! No! Bad girl! Come back here!" Sunset chased after Twilight, galloping into the next room after the raven-feathered foal. "Come back to Mama and have a nap!" As Sunset ran through the next corridor, she had to manoeuvre around scatterings of building blocks, balls, open books, and other toys that littered the passage. Where there would usually be torches to illuminate the deeper parts of the castle, there were now bright and colourful rainbow-coloured orbs that shone radiantly and lit up the walls, floor, and even her own skin as she pushed onward. "If this is what Twilight can do as a baby, I don't think I even want to know that she could do as a teenager..." Sunset said to herself as sweat poured down her forehead. As she let the thoughts of Twilight grow up all over again run through her mind, she pushed through a pair of pink foam strips that acted as doors and came into another room. What should have been a tower concealing a spiral staircase was now a cylindrical mess of bright lights and baby-appealing shapes and colours were seen all over the walls as the staircase had been turned into a large slide. Sunset was about to grab Twilight, but because she had been galloping, she crashed into the large purple rubber wall and bounced around like a pinball before sliding down the slide, pulling Twilight along with her as they both shot down the ride, twisting and turning to the left as they picked up speed. "Whoa!" Sunset exclaimed as she got faster and faster before coming to the end of the slide, shooting through another passage with bright lights and baby stuff sprinkled everywhere. She heard Twilight squeal and clap her hooves together as the two of them pushed the toys away and came to a stop outside another door with letters on it. "At least you're having fun, you little troublemaker..." She could only give Twilight a pat on the head as she jumped out of Sunset's hold, laughing like a maniac. Once Twilight calmed down, she looked up at the new door and reached up for it, putting a magical aura onto it. She pushed out to try and open it, and without any effort, the two doors opened up to reveal yet another room that was geared towards her tastes. When she saw what was on the other side of the door, she flew through, leaving Sunset to stand back up and follow her inside. The next room was just as bright and eye-straining as the rest of the castle, with even more shapes, letters, and numbers adorned all over the walls. Only this time, the room seemed to be split in half. On the right side of the room, there was nothing more than balls in an expansive ball pit, ranging from every colour in existence. As for the other side, there were building blocks covering almost all of the ground. Some huge, some small, and some the size of Sunset herself. "So, this is what a baby's imagination can do, huh?" Sunset looked around and saw Twilight chortle even more as she reached out to start playing with the multitude of blocks. She watched her sister build a tower with her hooves while her horn began to construct a small fort made out of them. "I would be impressed if it weren't for the fact that Twilight's turned an old ruin into some weird and wacky world to satisfy her need for playtime." Twilight clapped her hooves together and smiled at her tower, taking more blocks from around her and piling them on top of one another, muttering more incomprehensible gibberish and making mouth farts as she continued her work. Then, just as she was about to place another block on the tower, she instead examined it and put it into her mouth, sucking on it as she flopped onto her back and looked up at the ceiling. "Aw, Twilight, you know I could never stay mad at you..." Sunset walked over to Twilight and squatted down towards her, giving the baby a kiss on the face. "Such a sweet little thing you are. So full of magic but with no idea on how to use it. I just wish we could've gotten to know each other better at the Friendship Games..." "Mama..." Twilight spat out the block and reached up for Sunset, flapping her wings as she lifted herself up and hugged the unicorn. She pressed her face against Sunset's body and cooed gently, rubbing her cheeks up and down against the soft fur. "There, there, Twilight. I'll always be here for you, no matter what happens." Sunset hugged Twilight back, looking her in her tiny pinprick eyes as she looked up and reached out to grab her face. As Twilight's little hooves got close, Sunset gave her a light boop on the nuzzle, hearing her laugh once again. "And for the record, I'm still trying to get you to bed, if that's all the same with you. So, do you want to follow mama back to the library so she can read you a bedtime story?" "Nuh-uh!" Twilight shook her head and looked out towards the room, reaching out for the blocks and ball pit balls again. "Pway! Wan pway wid mama!" "Play? But Twilight, the girls at Camp Everfree miss you!" Sunset rubbed Twilight on the back of the head as she tried to get her to fall asleep. "We should get you to bed, then find a way to get back home in time so that Gloriosa, Timber, Diamond, and the others don't start panicking about our disappearance." "Nuh-uh! Pway wid dem hewe!" Twilight magically conjured up her rattle and launched a magical bolt at one of the blocks. A portal opened, showing a clear way back to Camp Everfree, with the campers gathering at a dock which was beyond repair. "Pwaytime!" With another shake of her rattle, she fired another bolt of magic through the portal which was about to hit the heads of the girls. "Twilight! What are you doing?!" Sunset watched as Twilight hurled the bolt of magic and made it vanish through the portal. "No! Stop it! We don't need to abduct your aunties when we can just go to them! Now c'mon! Let's get out of here while we still can! I'm sure that your magic will vanish once you leave this world and go back home, right?" Just as Sunset was about to take a step forward towards the portal, she immediately felt a strong wind blasting out of it, flinging both her and Twilight's manes back. Even against the strong force of air, she was still holding her ground and inching closer and closer home. "C'mon! We're almost there! We'll be back in time for smores, scary stories, nature walks, everything!" Sunset gritted her teeth and began to struggle as she was now within touching distance of the portal back to the human world. With one last push, she was about to leap through when she saw what Twilight's magic was doing on the other side. At Camp Everfree, the resulting spell that Twilight had fired that caused the strong winds to blow was now trying to suck up the Rainbooms, along with Timber Spruce, Gloriosa Daisy, and Diamond Tiara. The powerful suction ripped up grass, the ruined docks, and even some plants and water around them, but still the humans managed to hold their grounds, clutching onto trees and other objects around the camp to hold them down. "What's going on?!" Rainbow Dash asked as she shouted over the noise of the roaring winds. "I didn't know that Camp Everfree was gonna be hit by a windstorm!" "Neither did I! And we practically run the place!" Gloriosa responded, her body wiggling helplessly in the air as she held onto a tree branch. "Everyone! Get out of here while you still can! Call for some help or someone to get us out of this mess!" "Girls! Look at the vortex!" Pinkie Pie looked back and saw what was happening on the other side. Sunset Shimmer was fighting against the wind as hard as she could with Twilight holding onto her fur as tightly as she could. "It's Sunset and Twilight! They're in Equestria!" "Sunset? Twilight? Whatever are they doing there?!" Rarity looked back at the portal to try and see what was going on, but in doing so, she lost her grip and started flying towards it. "Oh no! GIRLS! SAVE ME! I CAN'T GO TO A HORSE-FILLED WORLD! THEY'LL THINK I'M NAKED!" "Rarity!" Rainbow Dash reached out for her, but as she did, the force of the vortex got stronger and stronger. With the amplified suction, it ripped all eight of the humans from where they were clutching and yanked them into the air and straight into Twilight's new castle. Screams rang out from all of them as they vanished through the portal and disappeared from the face of the human world. Once they left, the gateway died down and the wind instantly reverted back to a cool summer's breeze. "We're almost there, Twilight!" Sunset was about to put her hoof through the portal back to Camp Everfree, but she was suddenly knocked away when Rarity came hurtling out of the other side, transforming into a unicorn with three diamonds for a Cutie Mark as she face-planted into the bright floor. "No!" Sunset slammed against one of the large blocks and rubbed her head as the pain caught up with her. When she came back to her senses, she saw Rarity sprawled against the floor as a pony instead of a human teenager. "Wha? Rarity? What are you doing here?" "Sunset? Is that really you, darling?" Rarity tried to stand up on two legs, but then ended up wobbling as she tried to maintain her balance. "Ooh! What the? Have I put on weight? What's going on here?" Before anyone else could say anything, the rest of the Rainbooms flew through the portal and landed in a heap on top of each other as ponies instead of humans. The pile that they had started was then swiftly brought to an end when Gloriosa, Timber, and Diamond Tiara bumped into them, spreading them out across the floor. "Oh no, oh no, no, no, no, no!" Sunset's eyes shot open as she watched the others all land and readjust themselves to the new world that they had landed in. "No, this isn't right! We're all not supposed to be here! Why are we all together in this castle?" "Pwaytime! Pwaytime! Fun!" Twilight broke out of Sunset's hold and toddled over towards the new group of ponies, lifting them all up with her magic. She sat them all down and let them look around as she closed the portal with her magic. "Twilight! Twilight! Stop it!" Sunset got up and picked Twilight up, scooping her up at light speed as she watched the baby let go of the ponified humans, causing them all to fall to the ground like ragdolls. "I know that you're a baby and you can't control your magic yet, but stealing our friends from the human world is NOT OK! If you weren't so cute, I would be spanking those butt cheeks of yours right now, little missy!" "Stealing? Sunset, I don't really get what you're—" Rainbow Dash stopped when she felt her new wings poking out of her back. She stood up, gave them a little poke, and tried to flap them. "Whoa. This. Is. AWESOME! I CAN FLY AGAIN! WOOHOO!" And with that, she shot into the air and performed a number of loop-de-loops and spins above everyone else's heads. "Fly? What does that mean?" Gloriosa got onto her feet and noticed that she wasn't a human being anymore. Instead of arms and legs, she now had four giant hooves poking out of her new body with a Cutie Mark depicting a large flower on her haunches. "Wh-what?! I'm a horse?! THIS CAN'T BE!" "We're all horses!" Pinkie Pie looked at her new body while everyone else had a look at their own. Everyone that had come through the portal had lost any sense of their humanity and now stood as an equine version of themselves, winged, horned, or neither for Timber, Gloriosa, Diamond, Pinkie, and Applejack. "But I gotta say, we do look pretty good like this." "Good?! I'm some kind of kid horse compared to you!" Diamond Tiara's cheeks burned red as she looked at herself in comparison to the rest of the Rainbooms. "I'm roughly your age, maybe even exactly your age. So why does this world decide that I should be in elementary school again?" "I think the better question would be to decide what you are all doing here." Sunset felt a shiver down her spine as she turned towards the door. She took a heavy gulp and looked up at a pony she knew all too well. There, standing before her and her friends from the human world, was Princess Celestia. Her mane flowed elegantly as she walked up to her and Twilight, before gazing out at the other ponies again. Accompanying her were Equestria's Twilight Sparkle and her five friends, who all looked took one glance at the Rainbooms and immediately took up battle positions. "Changelings. Stay behind us, Princess Celestia. We've got this." Pony Twilight's horn flared up as she charged in front of Celestia and threw her hooves out in front of her. "Oh, Pony Twilight, hi! I... wasn't really expecting to see you so soon. Here. In this nursery castle. Alone. With some friends that baby you pulled here." Sunset let out a meek chuckle and began to sweat, knowing that deep down inside, things had gone from worse, to absolutely chaotic in an instant. Oh, goddess, what do I do?! Author's Note I'm sorry if this chapter feels a little bit jumbled up or if it's a bit too rushed or anything like that. I just had to get my creative juices flowing in order to make a new chapter. Now, let me make this perfectly clear, they ARE going to make it back to Camp Everfree in time. Whether or not Gloriosa-Gaia will happen when they get back is still a mystery, but I do still have something lined up for her and baby Midnight, so make sure that you stay for that when it happens. So, with all that said and done, have a good day!
Playdates and Paradoxes"Now, Twilight, before you do anything rash, I can explain everything." Sunset Shimmer trotted up to Pony Twilight as she balanced Baby Twilight on her back. She took a brief look around the giant room and thought about how she was going to be able to explain the rest of the castle to the group of equines. "Okay. Maybe not everything, but most of it. That's good enough, right?" "My first question, Sunset, is how you were able to get back here without any of us noticing." Celestia walked past Twilight and her friends and knelt down before her, brushing her furry cheeks. "And, allow me to go a little bit off-topic here, but you look incredible. You haven't aged a day since you ran off for that other world." "Well... I have been growing up a little in the human world." Sunset blushed and gently rubbed the floor with the tips of her hooves. "Uh, yeah, that's great and all, but I think we still need to get to the point here." Rainboom Rainbow Dash fluttered her wings and flew up to Sunset and Celestia. "First of all, why are there two of us? Who does this imposter think she is anyway?" She glared at Pony Rainbow Dash. "Me the imposter?!" Pony Rainbow spluttered and flew towards Rainboom Rainbow, almost bringing her hoof towards her doppelganger's chest. "You're one to talk, Changeling! Did Chrysalis send you after being upset about the wedding to spy on us? To make sure that we were weak and unprepared for her revenge?" "What are you talking about?!" Rainboom Rainbow shook her head vigorously as she stared down her pony counterpart. "Changelings? Queen Chrysalis? I'm a human girl living in a human world, attending Canterlot High and captaining all the major sports teams! There aren't any queens and kings where I'm from! Only presidents!" The two Rainbow Dashes snarled at each other, their eyebrows lowering every passing second as their internal fires burned hotter and hotter. Their muscles tightened as they wound up their hooves for a fight, and they both flew back and charged at each other. But just as they were about to strike, two magic auras held both of them back and sat them down. One coming from Celestia, and the other coming from Sunset. "Rainbow Dash! Stop!" They both said to them. "What do you think you're doing?" "Trying to put this jerk in her place!" Both Rainbows whined and dropped their forelegs slightly. "Now c'mon, me! Let's go!" The glow from Celestia's horn brightened as two golden webs appeared around both Rainbow Dashes, ensnaring them completely. Once they were scooped up in the magic netting, they were thrown to the ground and shackled down with another spell that prevented them from so much as thrashing in their confinement. "Twilight? Now is about as good a time as any to recap what you've learned." Celestia turned back to her former pupil and looked her in the eyes. "Do you remember when Sunset Shimmer first stole your crown and disappeared to the other world?" "Yes. I was told to go in alone to retrieve it." Twilight nodded and focused her gaze entirely on Celestia. "But I don't see why you would want to bring this up now." "Do you remember why you were told to go alone?" Celestia raised a brow at the humans-turned-ponies that got up and examined their new bodies. "You said that the balance would be altered if me and my friends went with me, creating havoc on a level that not even we could be able to control," said Twilight. "But they're here now. I don't suppose that the whole thing works the other way around?" "Twilight. Sunset. this is very important, so come here." Celestia walked out towards the edge of the ball pit and sat down, beckoning her former students to approach her. She watched both Pony Twilight and Sunset Shimmer follow her and sit down on their haunches. "There is a reason why there are doubles of you and your friends in the other world. A reason that could very well re-shape the fabric of both worlds as we know it." "Believe it or not, you two, but I too made a small voyage to this other world when we first discovered the portal." Celestia let the events of the past play back in her mind. "And much like the both of you, I had trouble trying to come to terms with standing on two legs, acting like those creatures do, and learning how to act normal. I suppose that it's common with ponies who make their first trip to that new world, but I did discover something else on my travels. "When I went into this building, this Canterlot High School as it were, I saw many people there all learning, socialising, and having the same level of friendliness as the ponies of this world do. I simply shrugged it off for the while as I didn't want to be a bother or say or do anything that could upset their peaceful natures. So, most of my time, I spent exploring. "But then I came to an office in this school and saw my copy. Principal Celestia. A bit of a step down from the title of princess, but one that still commanded a high level of authority and leadership in a place such as that." Princess Celestia smiled as she thought back to the first time she encountered her own counterpart. Suddenly, that smile withered down into a small frown. "However, it wasn't all sunshine and happiness for me after that." "What do you mean, Princess Celestia?" Pony Pinkie Pie burst out of the ball pit and rubbed Celestia's shoulders. "No-one, not even you should have to feel like everything's gloomy and miserable. That'd be just terrible!" "When I touched my human self, I caused a rip in the fabric of existence. Giant spacial cracks opened up in this world that began to rip everything apart." Celestia shivered as the sounds of screaming teenagers began to echo inside of her. "I can still remember them fleeing the building and running for help, all because I simply touched my duplicate. It was then that I decided that the balance of the worlds shouldn't be tipped—despite our curiosities." She opened her eyes and patted Pony Twilight on the face. "That's why I sent you alone back then. I didn't want you to meet your human self and cause the same chaos that I did." "Whoa..." Twilight Sparkle watched as Celestia got up and hung her head as the story came to its' climax. She would never have guessed just how big of an issue that it would be if she had taken her friends back when Sunset first stole the crown. "I... I'm sorry for everything that happened, Princess Celestia." "It's alright, Twilight. There's nothing for you to feel sorry for." Celestia trotted past her and Sunset. "The blame was mine to bear alone. I touched my other self. I caused them harm. I should be the one to feel sorry, not you." She mainly looked at Gloriosa and Timber as she walked over to the others. "Now then, knowing that this world already has the Spirits of Harmony, we cannot allow any of you to touch your clones. Otherwise, we end up ripping the fabric of existence like I did before. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack. Can I trust you to keep your hooves to yourself and not touch your Equestria doubles?" "You can count on us!" Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack nodded. "Tch. I guess." Pony Rainbow grunted as the web around her and the human world copy was removed. "Hey! What about us?" Diamond Tiara spoke up, breaking through the legs of the rest of the crowd. "Diamond Tiara. There is a pony version of you in this world, so just like the rest of your entourage, I would advise that you don't come into contact with her if you want to keep this world safe. Understood?" "Is the other me just as much of a pint-size as I am?" Diamond asked, shaking her legs around. "Because I'm clearly seventeen years old, not seven." "Why does it matter if the other you is seven, Diamond Tiara?" Gloriosa shrugged. "It very clearly matters, Gloriosa. I don't want to be represented by some little ball of fluff straight out of kindergarten!" Diamond turned towards Gloriosa and tried to turn her body, but ended up tripping over her own legs and fell onto the inflatable surface. "Look. The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can save your camp from my daddy and forget this ever happened, OK?" "Well, I'm sure that we won't be seeing your double any time soon, Diamond Tiara." Pony Twilight trotted over towards Gloriosa, Timber, and Diamond. "As for your two friends, I don't think that I've ever seen them before. My name is Twilight Sparkle. Princess of Ponyville in this world, and—" She leaned in close to the three of them "—apparently, a magical demon baby thanks to a human version of Abacus Cinch..." "My name is Timber Spruce." He held out his hoof and shook Twilight's. "And this gi—uh, pony" —his cheeks flushed red— "next to me is Gloriosa Daisy." He swallowed some air and took a deep breath. "We both run Camp Everfree in the Everfree Forest. Not that there is one in this world, but it's just good to know, I guess." "Well, it's nice to meet you both, even if I don't really belong in your world anymore." Twilight glided the tip of her hoof on the floor as she looked up at Gloriosa and Timber. "I'm sure that, on a less weird circumstance, we could've become friends." "Yeah. I'm pretty sure that we could've..." Gloriosa saw Baby Twilight fussing around on Sunset's back, looking around at all of the stuff. The more and more that she stared at her—more precisely, at her horn and the rattle in her hands—the more a small smirk formed on her mouth. Well, at the very least, if we can't make the money to save the camp, we at least have a fail-safe for when Filthy Rich decides to rear his ugly head in Camp Everfree again... "Is something wrong, Gloriosa?" Twilight covered her vision of the baby. "You seem a bit spaced out." "Huh?" Gloriosa immediately snapped out of her train of thought and had trouble putting a straight face back on. "Oh! Oh, no, Twilight. I'm fine. No need to worry about me. Totally not planning any kind of plan at all." She gave a weak chuckle as she took a few paces back. "But I am very interested in that little baby you sitting on Sunset's back." "Oh, human me?" Twilight turned back and saw her copy just sitting there babbling incoherently as she tried to think of something to do, wiggling around as she got comfortable on her big sister's back. "Yeah, I'm just as interested as you are, Gloriosa. How does consuming Equestrian magic like that turn you into a baby with magical powers? I mean, when Sunset used it, she became a horrific demon-creature too, but at least she was full-grown. But when Crystal Prep pushed her against the wall, it turned her into a baby demon instead of a teenage one. How curious..." When Baby Twilight saw her pony equivalent, she opened her mouth and let out a long coo. She reached her arms out and tried to grab her, crawling over towards the edge of Sunset's rump as she inched closer and closer towards her. She let out a whine as the pony evaded her grasp once again. "Twilight? What is it?" Sunset picked Baby Twilight up and rocked her gently. "Pway..." Twilight reached out for the pony copy of herself again. "Wanna pway wid pwetty auntie." She struggled out of Sunset's grasp and opened her wings as she flew. As she got closer and closer, her big smile grew wider and wider. "Pwaytime!" "TWILIGHT! NO!" Sunset ran after Baby Twilight as fast as she could on the bouncy inflatable floor. She made a diving leap to try and stop the two Twilights from touching, but as she got inches away from her, the baby wrapped her hands around Princess Twilight's chest, causing her to jump erratically from her spot. The world around the group of ponies rumbled as the two Twilights had their bodies pressed together. The intense vibrations caused everyone to tumble onto their stomachs once again. Baby Twilight herself flapped her wings away just in time to avoid being crushed by the weight of her bigger self. "Oh no!" Celestia's eyes and jaw opened widely as she saw the events unfold before her eyes. "The two Twilights touched! The balance is broken! Our world is about to become wracked with paradoxes!" As if to confirm Celestia's cue, massive purple cracks began to open up in the walls and air around the ponies. Black and blue lightning spat out of the ruptures, transforming everything that they touched. Building blocks and plastic balls rapidly changed from one thing to another as bolt after bolt of lightning struck. While they did eventually revert back to normal, the rips were still open and firing unpredictable blasts in all directions. Baby Twilight looked around at everything that was going on around her. She could see all of the rips opening up and turning her peaceful world into one that kept constantly changing. The joyful and pleasant atmosphere began to fade as her toys began to disappear and get replaced with other objects. She whimpered and toddled around, watching everything fall apart around her before she fell onto her butt. Tears welled up in her eyes and she eventually started to wail loudly. "Twilight!" Sunset heard her baby sister's tears and got back up to her feet, evading the paradox energy that was spilling out of the cracks as she galloped over and picked up the infant in her magic and rocked her gently. "Don't worry. I'm here. I'm here... Mama's going to protect you..." "Mama! Scawy magic!" Baby Twilight pointed to the cracks that launched out more and more black and blue lightning. "Make it go away!" She cried and hugged Sunset as tightly as she could, burying her eyes in her soft yellow fur. "No need to cry, Twilight. I'm right here. Mama's here. No need to cry." She patted Twilight on the back and rubbed her gently as she got back up to her feet and lifted the tearful baby onto her back. "Celestia! How do we break the paradoxes?" "There's only one way we can fix this, Sunset." Celestia began to sweat as she climbed back onto her hooves and struggled to keep her balance on the inflatable floor while also dealing with the many bolts of lightning that were being fired out of the cracks. "We need to get human Twilight back to her own world! Only then will everything go back to normal!" "Then we'd better get going! And fast!" Sunset walked back over to Celestia and fought against the wind as the magic in the room began to spiral out of control. "C'mon, everyone! Let's get us home!" Without another word, the ponies began to file out of the paradox-filled room and climb back up the slide that Sunset and Baby Twilight had slid down in the first place. One after another, they squeezed through the door and ran as fast as their hooves would carry them on the rubber floor, with both Rainbow Dashes and Fluttershies flying as fast as their wings would take them. Gloriosa was the last to leave the room, but a single bolt of lightning struck the necklace with her seven geodes on it and sent electricity coursing through her body. She jittered in place for a few seconds before her mane and tail stood up once the shock died down. "Gloriosa!" Sunset turned back and saw her get struck by the paradox. "Are you alright?" "Y-yeah, I'm fine." Gloriosa struggled to get back onto her hooves and had to hold on to Sunset in order to get back up again. "Let's just get moving. I don't wanna be hit by that kinda stuff again." "Hear hear." Sunset helped Gloriosa stand upright again before her and the rest of the group took off up the wobbly slide and made their way towards the higher floors. As Gloriosa ran, her crystals began to glow slightly as she followed after the rest of her friends. One by one, they all lit up and twinkled briefly as small magical glows appeared around them. The magic trickled out and around Gloriosa's body, gradually getting sucked into it without her noticing. Then, the glowing stopped, and the gems went back to being normal pieces of rock dangling precariously around her neck.
Home in Time for the SurpriseThe group of ponies all charged up the wobbly stairs and squeezable walls, nimbly dodging paradox rifts and lightning bolts as they all burst out into the massive rubber foyer. As they came back into the massive hall, they watched as the lightning bolts spit out in all directions, striking every portion of the ground and walls as the noises roared in everyone's ears. "We need to find a way back to Camp Everfree, fast!" Sunset said, stepping towards the front of the group as Baby Twilight cowered on her stomach with her head burrowed into the pony's neck. She looked back at the infant demon and picked her up, giving her a cuddle. "Oh, don't worry, Twilight. Mama's here. Mama's here. She's not gonna let you get hurt..." "We should get back to my castle!" Princess Twilight spoke up as she fired bolts at the open rifts, slowly beginning to close them off one by one. "The portal there should still work if you've kept the book back at your world!" "Do you think so?" Sunset fired a volley of spells from her horn as she began to close up the rifts as well, sweating as she tried to keep up with the opening and closing rips in the fabric of reality. "Sunset, as long as your book's back there, the portal's gonna open up nice and smoothly." Twilight flapped her wings and flew around, casting more and more laser beams at the paradoxes. "And once we get you all back home safe and sound, everything here's gonna go back to normal." "Yeah, if you consider normal being that we're gonna take care of a super adora-cute baby demon with magical powers who could cause something even more worse than these big massive holes in the world." Equestria Pinkie gave an adorable smile as she bounced over towards the blocks and started to hurl them at the cracks. "Take this, you big, mean cracks!" She threw the blocks and watched them disappear into the rifts, only for them to fly back out and slam right into her head. "No. When I say take this, you're supposed to keep them." She rubbed her head and walked over to the cracks, shoving the blocks inside. She watched them fall back out. "No. I said take them. Take them!" All this amounted to was her inserting the building blocks again and again, only for them to come straight out and tumble onto the floor. "You really are meanies, not obeying the 'Take This' rule..." "Pinkie Pie! Stop it!" Rainbow Dash slapped the blocks out of Pinkie's hooves as she pulled her away from the rifts and splits in the air. "We've just gotta get out of here! No time for playing with weird magic stuff!" "Rainbow Dash is right. We must return to Twilight's castle immediately." Celestia brushed some hair out of her face as she struggled to aid the other ponies in sealing the fissures. "Once we get the people from the other world back home, these paradoxes will stop appearing altogether." "That is, if we can get home like this." Sunset Shimmer wobbled on the bouncy ground and almost tripped over the other baby toys as she tried to make it towards the door while also dealing with the cracks. She couldn't do all of the tasks at once and ended up falling onto her face and bouncing forward. "C'mon, everyone! Give me a hand, won't you?" Gloriosa and Timber galloped forward towards Sunset, narrowly skimming the edges of the shooting spells as they rushed forward to give her some aid. They both picked her up and made sure that she hadn't had all of the air knocked out of her from the impact on the floor. As they checked her body and gave her a nod, they all moved towards the door. "Follow us!" Sunset Shimmer beckoned to the rest of the ponies as she, Gloriosa, and Timber charged through the besieging bolts of thunder and energy as they got closer and closer towards the front door. The other ponies stood watching the whole thing unfold before their eyes. Every fissure that closed, only for a new one to open and pick up the slack in terms of magic expulsion. They waited for a clear run to the exit, watching as the electricity coiled through the room, bouncing around on the rubber walls, floor, and ceiling. "Oh, c'mon! I'll go then!" Diamond Tiara grunted and galloped as fast as her tiny body could take her. Making sure that she balanced herself on the rubber pathways that led towards the door, she found herself straight in the middle of a web of paradox energy. "Whoa!" She ducked underneath a bolt and barely managed to jump over one that slid underneath her legs. "That was a close one..." After Diamond Tiara's run through the energy, the other ponies began to follow suit, with the Rainbooms and Main Six pushing through the storm. Close behind them were Celestia and Twilight, who were doing all that they could to hold back the endless streams that spilled out of each and every crack. Ahead of the group, Gloriosa ran next to Sunset and Baby Twilight, not noticing that the geodes around her neck were beginning to pulsate lightly with bright energy. As the sweat ran down from her forehead as she burst out of the rubber castle and down onto hard ground, she galloped off towards the bottom of the hill and far away from the unfurling disarray behind her. As Baby Twilight pulled her head out of Sunset's fur again, she glanced over and saw Gloriosa's gems glowing. Raising a hoof to her cheeks, she wriggled over towards the edge and reached out for the seven glimmering crystals. As her hoof came close into contact with them, her horn lit up and a small stream of baby-blue mist poured out of it and flew up into the stones. She watched as the fog vanished into the seven crystals. The glowing stopped as Twilight finally touched it, babbling something out as she tried to get a good grip on the jewels. "H-hey!" Gloriosa almost jumped at the sight of Baby Twilight touching her, and quickly raised her hoof over the geodes, pressing them hard against her chest. As she did so, the mist poured back out of them and sank into her pores, causing a sudden sharp pain to appear in her chest. She let out a loud groan and almost fell onto her chest as she knelt down and gritted her teeth together. "Gloriosa!" Sunset skidded on the backs of her hooves as she looked at Gloriosa curl up in agony. She turned around and went back to her, putting her hoof on her back as she tried to alleviate the pain. "Are you alright? Can you still walk?" "I... I don't really know, Sunset." As Gloriosa looked up at Sunset, her vision became blurry as the magic inside of her began to dance and curl around her body. "You should just go on without me." "Come on, Gloriosa! Don't give up on us now!" Timber Spruce ran around the other side and picked his sister up, draping her around his body. "Sunset! Give me a hand!" "OK!" Sunset picked up the other half of Gloriosa Daisy and wrapped her around her neck and back, lifting Twilight up as she did so. "Got her! Now let's keep going!" "Let's go!" Sunset turned back and watched as the other ponies fled from the castle and regrouped with them in the afternoon sun. Once they all gathered around, they looked back at the multi-coloured inflatable castle and watched as more and more cracks appeared in the air above it. "Everypony! Come together!" Princess Twilight stretched her hooves out towards the entire group, bringing them close in together. "I'm gonna take us back to my castle in the blink of an eye. Now, if you're new to teleportation, you might feel sick at first, but you'll soon get used to it." "Teleportation? You can't really do that, right?" Diamond Tiara watched as Twilight gathered energy in her horn and closed her eyes. "That's the kind of stuff you'd see in those cheap sci-fi movies where a light beam comes down and the cast all get edited out of the world and down into the new one." But as Diamond Tiara came to the end of her sentence, a bright flash engulfed the whole group, replacing them with nothing but thin air as they vanished. A few twinkles of magical energy lingered, but they soon faded away as quickly as they had appeared. Back in Twilight's castle, another flash, similar to the one in the Everfree Forest, caused the entire group of ponies to materialise at the portal to Canterlot High. Most of the ponies came out OK, but the others had their manes and tails sticking up, with their eyes twitching as they tried to re-orient themselves with where they were. "We're here!" Rainboom Rarity smiled as she looked around the portal room. "And—whoa. This is new. I don't think I've ever seen a place as beau—" before she could finish, she gagged as vomit began to climb up her throat and into her mouth "—actually, hold that thought. I'll be right back." And with that, she charged over towards the door and threw up out of the room, coughing as she brushed the slop from her mouth. "I'm just glad that everyone's back in one piece." Twilight brushed her forehead as she looked at the whole group of ponies, smiling as she saw the frizzy half brush their hairs down and wobble on their feet as they adjusted themselves. "Now then, let's fire up this portal and send you all home." "Even if we go through the portal, isn't that just going to take us back to Canterlot High instead of Camp Everfree?" Rainboom Applejack walked over towards the portal and felt the edge with her hooves. "Everyone there's gonna be worried sick about us if we're not there soon, and Filthy Rich is soon gonna be tearing that place down if we're not fast enough." "There's a Filthy Rich in your world?" Twilight raised an eyebrow at Rainboom Applejack. "Yeah. And for Gloriosa, he's been piling her hard with debt since we couldn't pay him back recently." Timber Spruce nodded and took Gloriosa onto his back, letting Sunset put Baby Twilight on her back again. "If we don't meet his deadline, the whole camp's coming down. That's what we're trying to avoid." "That sounds awful." Twilight sighed as she compared the Filthy Rich of the human world to the one in Equestria. Shaking her head, she swallowed and took a deep breath. "Well, I can't guarantee you anything, but I do hope that you and everyone else at Camp Everfree pulls through. It's just not right for a campsite to be ripped down by someone—even if the place is in debt." "Well, even if we do get taken back to Canterlot High instead of Camp Everfree, I'm sure that someone'll be willing to pick us up once they realise where we are." Sunset nodded as she walked over towards the portal. As she placed her hand on the glass pane, she watched as the whole thing rippled as stars leapt up from the rim around her hoofprint. "Man, it's been ages since I've seen this thing, huh?" "Yeah." Twilight gave Sunset a few pats on the back, making sure not to touch Baby Twilight by accident and cause more paradoxes to appear. "Well, good luck to you, Sunset. I hope that you and your friends save Camp Everfree in the end." "Shame. We were only just getting to see this place and now we're gonna have to go?" Rainboom Fluttershy scrolled her eyes around the room and gave her wings a small flutter. "And I was beginning to like being a pony." "Oh, I'm sure that we can find some way for you to come back and visit some time." Equestria Fluttershy walked up to her double and shot a small smile at her. "That is... after we find a way to stop the paradoxes from popping up." "Thank you. I really appreciate that." Rainboom Fluttershy grinned at her double. "You're welcome. Anything for a good friend," said Equestria Fluttershy. "Gloriosa. Wake up." Timer Spruce waved his hooves in front of Gloriosa's closed eyes and whispered into his ears. "We're soon gonna be back at Camp Everfree, alright? Soon we'll get to save our home from Filthy Rich's grubby hands." "Yeah. Come on, Glori. Wakey-wakey." Diamond Tiara leapt up onto Timber's back and walked all over Gloriosa's back. "No sleeping when we've got a camp to save, right?" "Y-yeah." Gloriosa found opening her eyes to be much more of a labour than usual. Normally, she would be able to shoot her eyes straight open whenever they were closed, but because of everything that she had gone through, and due to all of the magic that had sunk into her body, her eyelids were incredibly heavy, even for her standards. "Hey. Is it weird that my eyes won't open?" She whispered smoothly as she felt the air in her lungs begin to dwindle. "Hey. What's wrong with Gloriosa?" Sunset Shimmer heard Gloriosa's fading voice and walked over. "C'mon, girl. We're about to go home. Can't you wake up?" "Sunset? I... I..." As Gloriosa mustered up the courage to open her eyes, the pain that returned to her chest began to erupt at a colossal rate. She let out a scream as she thrashed her head around and tried to wake up. "SOMEONE HELP ME! GET ME BACK TO CAMP EVERFREE!" She cried. "Gloriosa!" Sunset watched the pony scream and flail on Timber's back, shifting her weight all over the place, almost falling off on a couple of occasions. "We've gotta go now!" As Baby Twilight watched as Gloriosa struggled and thrashed around on Timber's back, she shuffled back and almost fell off of Sunset's back altogether. Grabbing onto Sunset's neck with her left hand, she clenched the fingers in her right hand together. With a little whine, her rattle appeared and charged up energy at the tip. Twilight sat back up and unintentionally swung her rattle down, causing another portal to appear right in front of the mirror. "What the?" Celestia could only watch in awe as a swirling purple hole appeared, showing off Camp Everfree on the other side and the other humans who were running around, looking for Timber and Gloriosa. "Is that the Camp Everfree you're talking about?" "Yes... That's it." Sunset could only stare slack-jawed as she stepped forward towards the portal. "Girls! Jump through quickly! Little Twilight's portals don't last long, and we might not get another shot at a quick ticked back to the camp!" The Rainbooms nodded and barrelled themselves through the portal, waving their goodbyes to their doubles as they burst through the open hole and came out of the other side as humans again. "Timber! Gloriosa! Diamond! Come with me!" Sunset held out her hoof as she watched the other ponies come close to the portal and leap through. She could only watch Gloriosa's tears begin to fall as she went through the other side and came out as a human along with Timber and Diamond Tiara. "Celestia, as much as it's been fun, I really have to go now." Sunset stepped towards the portal and reached her hooves through it. As she was about to fall through the other side, she watched as Celestia gave her a small grin, to which she responded with a smile of her own. "I'll be back someday. I promise." As Celestia watched Sunset jump through the portal with Baby Twilight and saw it close, she whispered, "I know you will. My faithful student." The Rainbooms, Timber, Gloriosa, and Diamond Tiara all fell down onto the grass of Camp Everfree, immediately attracting the attention of the searching students. They all called their names and ran over to them, checking if they had broken anything and that everything was still in place. Some of them even wiped the sweat off of their brows and gave them all smiles as they helped them back onto their feet. Sunset Shimmer landed on her feet, with Twilight holding onto her neck with both her arms and legs. She stood up straight again and saw some of the other students from Canterlot High come over and give her aid, giving both her and Twilight a quick examination before they let them walk off and see how the others were doing. "We're back. In Camp Everfree." Sunset looked at the ring of trees surrounding the lake once again and felt the rocks by her shoes. She pulled Twilight off of her back and held her gently in her arms, tickling her chest. "Looks like I have to thank you for once, you little rascal, you. If it weren't for your magic, mama and her friends would've been gone forever." She heard Twilight giggling as she tickled her stomach with her index finger in gratitude. Gloriosa's screams died down as well to simple groans as she slowly got onto her feet, wobbling as she tried to regain her posture. As she stood back up, magic surged all around her and formed an aura around her. The seven geodes that hung from her neck shone as bright as headlights as they shook around and clashed with each other like clacking balls in an office apartment. "Uh... Gloriosa? Are you alright?" Sunset walked over to her, seeing the magic spill from her body as clear as day. "I don't know anymore, Sunset." Gloriosa opened her eyes at Sunset, revealing that they were bright blue with pure white irises. "Please help me..." "Whoa! What's up with your eyes?!" Sunset recoiled and almost dropped Twilight onto the ground at the sight of Gloriosa's eyes. "I—" before Gloriosa could get another word out, she was consumed by a bright pillar of green and blue light and stretched her arms out to the side as her geodes began to resonate and shine even brighter "—AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" "Gloriosa!" Everyone at Camp Everfree cried out as they watched her become consumed by the light. A small earthquake hit the camp shortly after the pillar of magic came crashing down on Gloriosa, causing vines to burst out of the ground and slither across the ground like snakes towards the girl in the light. They danced around the light and spiralled upwards, forming a cylindrical shape as they began to cocoon Gloriosa inside. "Somebody! ANYBODY! HEEEEELLLLPPPP MEEEEEEEE!" She cried out as the vines finally encapsulated her and began to squeeze her together in the glow of the light. The vines on the outside soon turned into a large sphere, holding Gloriosa on the inside. Every single piece of flora bathed in the light and began to light up just like the jewels on her neck, forming a rainbow of colours. Light shimmered off of every tendril and burst out towards every corner of the lake and forest, illuminating every part of Camp Everfree. "What's going on?" Sunset put her hands to her eyes and fought against the light as she tried to make out what was going on. Just as she could get a glimpse of the events unfurling before her, a massive explosion of magic blew her onto her butt along with the other students of CHS. When everything died down and went back to normal, purple vapours poured down on the group of high-schoolers, with gem pieces tinkling all around them on the floor. The cocoon of vines melted away and broke into ashes, leaving nothing around it. Something burst out of the inside, letting out a small whine that faintly resembled that of an infant. "Wait. You don't mean..." Sunset got back up and walked forward towards the ruptured plants and rubbed her eyes as she adjusted to the light. "Oh no." There was another baby coming out of the cocoon, with long blue hair that resembled the ocean. Her arms were completely covered up with long brown sleeve and glove combos that almost resembled branches. It wore a green dress around it with red flowers growing out at the waist and more vines draped around her chest and hips. She wore long green stockings with more vines curling around each of her legs, with a small daisy coming out of the top of each foot. The last discernible feature was a red mask that hung around the infant's eyes, with nothing more than green dots in pitch-black, looking around at everything around it. "Gloriosa?" Timber slowly hobbled forward towards the baby, squatting down so that he could get a closer look at her. "Is that... even you?" The baby simply blew a raspberry with her lips and babbled incoherent nonsense as she clapped her hands together, crawling out of the cocoon towards the other students. "What happened to her?" Sunset played the question back over and over in her head as she watched the baby crawl up to her and Twilight. "And more importantly, what is she?" Author's Note So. Baby Gloriosa-Gaia. I'll just let that sink in for a while. Now then, I heard that many people were complaining about the whole paradoxes thing in the last few chapters, and I perfectly understand that. Not many people know how to write paradoxes properly, and I will admit to being one of those people. I just did what Doctor Who did when Christopher Eccleston was the Doctor and Rose Tyler was his companion. I wasn't trying to do anything rash or stupid, just follow along with the canon of the movies in the fact that Celestia herself states that bad stuff will happen if the two copies of each other were to touch. But if you liked this chapter and are excited for the debut of little baby Gloriosa-Gaia, then please feel free to let me know in the comments section below. And let me know what you want me to do with her. Whether she sees Timber as her dad now, or Sunset as her mom, or whatever else, please feel free to voice your opinions. And again, sorry if this seems a little bit thrown together, but I was trying to avoid any unsavoury moments involving more paradox butchering. Have a nice day!
Little Gaia EverfreeEveryone could only watch in awe as the infant Gloriosa crawled across the grass spouting baby talk as she tried look around the camp. After they had all wanted to get away from the magic, the fact that one of the members of Camp Everfree's staff was now a baby, caused their hairs to stand on end as their eyebrows and muscled tensed up. No-one had any words for what had happened to her, and everyone just stood frozen to their spots as they just gawked at the blue-haired baby. "Hi there!" Pinkie finally broke the silence by sliding up to Gloriosa, squatting down, and picking her up in her arms. "Ba ba goo gaa, Pinkie Pie. Ooo ba ba wa li wi ooo goo gah?" Gloriosa simply looked at Pinkie's eyes and reached out for her nose, gently booping it with her fingers as she waved her arms in front of her. She giggled upon touching the pink teen's nose and babbled some more so that Pinkie could have a conversation with her. "She's Gloriosa, alright." Pinkie Pie turned towards the rest of the Rainbooms and showed her off. "Whatever freaky-deaky magic turned her into a baby, she kinda likes it. Says it makes her feel warm and fuzzy inside." "I'm so confused..." Timber scratched his head as he regrouped with the other girls, looking down at Gloriosa in Pinkie's arms. "First of all, how did she get turned into a baby like this; second, why did she scream in pain when we were bringing her back to Camp Everfree; and third, HOW DO YOU KNOW HOW TO UNDERSTAND BABY TALK, PINKIE PIE?!" He threw his arms out and shook them as he tried to figure out what was happening before his eyes. "Silly, Timber. I can answer all of those questions." Pinkie Pie gave Gloriosa to Rarity and flashed Timber a toothy grin. "One, magic did it; two, magic did it; three, I've been taking care of little babies Pound and Pumpkin for an awful long time now, so baby talk is practically a whole 'nother language for me. You should take it up too. It's a great way to learn how to communicate with your kids at an early age." "Pinkie Pie. The first answers you gave weren't really all that specific." Sunset Shimmer put her hand on Pinkie's shoulders and looked towards Timber behind her. "I have to apologise for Pinkie. She can get a little bit... weird sometimes." "Yeah, but we've gotten used to it." Rainbow Dash put her arms behind her head and grinned. "Besides, she's actually pretty funny once you get used to how random she is." "Anyway, I'm really sorry about what happened to your sister, Timber." Sunset Shimmer's mouth contorted into a frown as she put her hand on Gloriosa's belly and heard her giggling again. "I'm not really sure about whether or not there's a cure for what happened and I feel that I'm partially responsible for all of this." "What do you mean you're responsible for all of this?" Timber asked, watching Sunset Shimmer grow less and less confident as she hung her head and eyed her toes. "None of this was your fault, Sunset. You had problems with magic. I get that. So did Gloriosa. I warned her not to use those stones, but she just took all of 'em anyway. She was going to just get herself and all of the guests hurt if she went too far." "Timber, I appreciate you trying to cheer me up, but just look at what Gloriosa's become now." Sunset Shimmer jabbed a finger at Gloriosa, who fussed and wriggled around in Rarity's hold as she tried to touch the ground. "Now that she's a baby, you're the ONLY member of Camp Everfree's staff left. Filthy Rich is going to be back soon and if you don't have the money in time, everything's going to fall apart. You'll lose the camp, you'll have to move to the city, and most importantly, your family's entire lineage is going to be destroyed without her helping you out." "Sunset, just calm down for a second." Timber watched as Sunset slumped her shoulders down in front of her and flopped onto her haunches. "I get that you're upset and worried about me and the camp, but that doesn't mean the experience has to be ruined for you or your friends at Canterlot High. Even if this might be the last time you ever come to the camp, I just wanted to make sure that your stay was at least enjoyable if not memorable." Sunset didn't respond and merely looked over at Gloriosa, who finally broke free of Rarity's hands and fell towards the ground. Seconds before she hit, vines rapidly burst up from the earth and formed a small slope to cushion the fall. She slid down it and landed before Sunset, looking up at her as she tugged at her trousers. She picked the baby up and handed her back to Timber. "Look, Sunset, we're not entirely out of this yet." Timber picked up Gloriosa and held her in his arms. He put her close to her chest and felt her nuzzle into his chest and coo gently. "We've still got Diamond Tiara with us and she says that she's been with Filthy Rich for practically all her life. I'm sure that we can find some way to raise the money we need in time." He looked down at the baby, who in return, gazed into his eyes and beamed, reaching up for his face with her tiny arms. "And, come to think of it, Glori's actually pretty cute like this." "Yeah. She's super-duper adora-cute!" Pinkie Pie bounced up to Gloriosa and played with her cheeks. "Who's a good Gloriosa Daisy? You are! Yes you are. Coochie coochie coo!" As she tickled Gloriosa's belly, she heard the baby laugh like a maniac as she thrashed around in Timber's arms. "Pinkie Pie's right." Fluttershy stepped forward and put her hand on Gloriosa's chest as she bent down and gave her a smile. "She looks rather cute like this. I almost don't want to see her grow up again." "Come on 'round, girls! Say hi to little Gloriosa Daisy!" Pinkie Pie beckoned to the rest of the Rainbooms flexing her arms in and out to attract the girls' attention. "That's right, c'mon! Give her a little wave, play with her face, try talking in baby if you can, just anything to make her happy, really." The girls all gathered around Gloriosa and looked down on her. All of their faces instantly melted into smiles as they gushed at the sight of the blue-haired infant and began to play with her face and watch her smile with every action they did. As they all saw as she raised her tiny arms at them, they didn't realise that there were vines growing around them all. "Uh, girls?" Timber saw the vines wiggle and squirm around the group of teenagers. "You might wanna get out of there before one of you gets hurt." "Why, Timber? What could possibly..." Sunset turned around and saw the vines fencing the Rainbooms off from the rest of the camp. "Wait, what?!" She stepped back and bumped into Rarity, almost knocking Gloriosa out of her friend's grip as she gazed at the plantlife. "Huh?" Pinkie Pie pulled her head up from Gloriosa and looked at the rings of vines around her and her friends. "What's up with this forest? I don't remember these things being here." "Well, whatever's up, I don't really seem to like it." Rainbow Dash tried to push the vines away, but no matter how much force she put into separating the vines from each other, they wouldn't budge an inch. "Hey! Why won't they move?! Girls! Give me a hand with this!" The other Rainbooms came over to Rainbow Dash and added their strength to her own, putting their own hands on the vines as they tried to pull them apart from each other. Even with all of the added arms and legs being used on the ring of brown vines, nobody was making any process and began to sweat as their efforts proved to be fruitless. Some even grinded and grit their teeth together as they grunted and groaned in their attempts to pry the vines away, but it still didn't help them much. As the girls tried to break free, Twilight fluttered off of Sunset's shoulders and flew down to Gloriosa, who was now sitting in the middle of her walls of flora. She flew down towards her and got on all fours as she tapped on her shoulders and attracted her attention. Once she saw Gloriosa turn to face her, she began conversing with her in infantile gibberish. Gloriosa responded with her own slew of baby talk as she crossed her legs and smiled at Twilight. She tipped and tilted her hands as she had a conversation with the raven-winged baby and giggled from time to time as they let words fly at each other. As she spoke, her hands glowed green and twinkled in the sunlight as she wobbled on the spot and placed her hands on the ground. Twilight saw Gloriosa expel magic into the ground and watched as it sparked all around her and the other Rainbooms. The spread of green lightning in the ground soon struck the vines, causing them to retract back into the earth and disappear from sight altogether. After that, she smiled even wider and clapped her own hands, sending black and blue bolts of magic into the air and into the sky, where they too disappeared from sight shortly afterwards. "Mama! Mama" Twilight called for Sunset and waved her arms around, trying to grab the attention of her big sister. Once she saw Sunset come over and pick her up, she pointed down towards Gloriosa. "Pway!" "What's that, Twilight?" Sunset leaned in closer to Twilight's mouth and almost put her ears to the infant's mouth. "Pway wid hew!" Twilight pointed down to Gloriosa, who was picked up by Timber Spruce. She turned around and wiggled around in Sunset's grip and wiggled her fingers towards her. "Wanna pway wid hew! Pway! Pway!" Sunset smirked at Timber as she brought Twilight over to him and Gloriosa. "Looks like Twilight's got herself a new playmate, huh, Timber?" "Looks that way." Timber watched Twilight fly out of Sunset's hold and flutter up to Gloriosa, holding her tiny hands as they both went back down to the ground and crawled off. "Still, I don't know what to do about this. Gloriosa's my sister, and now she's a baby again. What's gonna happen between me and her? Am I gonna be her dad?" "I wouldn't put it past her, but you know how babies are." Sunset Shimmer watched both Gloriosa and Twilight crawl off towards the tents, planting their hands and kneecaps down one after the other as they moved across the grass. "Once they have a mama or dada, they just get really clingy with them. It's really up to Gloriosa to decide who her mom or dad is." "That's not really what I'm worried about." Timber put his hand on Sunset's shoulder as he looked towards the two playing babies as they sat down and began to play pattycake with each other. "I'm more worried about how this is gonna affect us paying off Filthy Rich's debt. Now that she's a little infant, she's going to need supplies, toys to keep her busy, and lots of other stuff that's gonna rip a lot of money out from under us." "Well, I don't think that you should worry about the supplies for now." Sunset simply smiled as the two infants continued to high-five each other and clap their hands together as they kept their rhythm up. "I can supply you with some of mine for the time that we're here. After all, a problem shared is a problem halved, right?" "Really, Sunset?" Timber asked. "You would really give me some of your stuff because of what happened to Gloriosa?" "Of course I would, Timber." Sunset nodded and took a deep breath. "We weren't to know that Gloriosa was holding magic, or that it would turn her into a magical baby like Twilight is now. But what use is there dwelling on the past when the future's what we have to look forward to?" She turned towards Twilight and Gloriosa and walked up to them, kneeling down as she kept her gaze focused on Timber as the other girls. "Even when all of this stuff's been said and done and even after the Friendship Games happened with Principal Cinch getting locked up for blackmail, there's still gotta be someone to clean up the mess afterwards, right? Maybe it's asking a bit too much to be given a magic baby that isn't like the regular ones we see playing with their parents, but that's doesn't mean that we can just leave them alone, right? Even babies with the power to re-shape the world need all of the love and affection they can get from us, so who are we to deny them their right to grow up and have a good life?" "When you put it like that, you're right, Sunset." Timber grew a smile as he walked up to her and slung his arm around her shoulders. "Y'know, you would make a great president with that attitude." "Yeah!" Pinkie Pie ran over to the two of them and burst out from behind them. "Imagine it: President Sunset Shimmer; the kindest, most forgiving, and smartest person in the White House! You'd be great at it, Sunset!" "Alright, Pinkie Pie, dear. Let's not get too carried away with Sunset Shimmer and her many accolades." Rarity massaged Pinkie's shoulders and pulled her away from Sunset and Timber. "But she is right on what she said. Even if infants could potentially destroy the world, they still need to be raised the right way. That's why we're all trying our best to help Twilight grow back up so that she can be a beloved member of society again." "You're all really that devoted to her, aren't you?" Timber Spruce raised an eyebrow as he looked down at Twilight as she gave Gloriosa a hug and pulled her in close to her chest. He watched as his little sister now gave Twilight a hug of her own before he knelt down and picked her up again. "Well, that's really inspired my confidence as well." He ruffled her hair and saw her look up at him. "Well, sis, looks like I'm gonna be taking care of you for a while, huh?" "Big bwubba!" Gloriosa babbled and planted her face into Timber's body, wrapping her hands around his hips as she brushed her head against him. "Aww... isn't that adorable?" Fluttershy smiled and gushed at how Gloriosa gave Timber all of her affection as the two of them cuddled together with each other. "Big brother? So, I'm not your dad, Gloriosa?" Timber asked. "Nope! Big bwudda forevew!" Gloriosa shook her head and threw her arms up in delight. Everyone could only watch as Timber held Gloriosa and walked off with her, Twilight, and Sunset as they all made their way towards another area of the camp. Now that there were two magic babies, the campers were all beginning to think about the future, and all of the possible outcomes that would come in the future with Timber taking care of Gloriosa, and how she would grow a relationship with Twilight. With their many thoughts running through their minds, they didn't even feel the cold wind blowing through their hairs and blowing the girls' skirts up.
Gaia and the WolfTwilight and Gloriosa were playing together in the office, using their unique magical powers to lift themselves into the air while Timber and Sunset looked over the paperwork that had been strewn about on the desk. While the babies were giggling through their playtime together, both of the teens were counting up the numbers to try and find exactly how much that the camp owed Filthy Rich. "I still don't know how you're going to be able to manage the camp, pay off Filthy Rich, then find a way to make the money for the next time he comes around." Sunset twirled a pen in between the fingers on her right hand. "And that's only the start. Gloriosa's been turned into a baby capable of harnessing nature." She pointed towards the two babies and watched Gloriosa lift her fingers, causing vines to burst up through the floorboards and create a small slide for her and Twilight to ride. "Are you sure that you're not biting off more than you can chew here, Timber?" "You could say that again." He let out a weak chuckle and looked at the total cost of Filthy Rich's debt. "How am I supposed to make that much money and keep Gloriosa happy at the same time?" "I can't really give an answer to that." Sunset walked past the desk and picked Twilight up, brushing her hair gently. "I only started taking care of Twilight a few weeks ago and she's still got a lot of tricks up her sleeve. Heck, most of the time, I can't even keep up with the crazy stuff she's done." "Mama." Twilight reached up for Sunset's head and grabbed her chin. "What is it, sweetie?" Sunset looked down at Twilight, almost scraping her eye on the tip of the light-blue horn. Twilight felt a rumbling sensation in her belly and patted it with her left hand. She babbled incoherently at Sunset, but her body language was perfectly understandable. "Oh. You're hungry?" Sunset was quick to identify Twilight's needs. "I'm sure I can handle that." She looked up at Timber, who was still buried within his paperwork. "Uh, Timber? Do you mind if I just take a moment outside? Twilight's a bit peckish." "How long will you be gone?" Timber pulled himself from the documents and watched as Sunset pushed the door open. "I'm just curious, is all. Gloriosa might use some of her new powers while you're out with Twilight." "I'll only be a few minutes." Sunset walked out of the door and carried Twilight out with her. "Just try not to let her get too coo-coo crazy, alright? We don't want an even bigger debt than we already have." "I'll try not to." He let out a small little grin which immediately melted into a frown as Sunset closed the door. He slumped his head down onto the desk and groaned as he rubbed his temples. "What have we gotten ourselves into?" Gloriosa slid down to the bottom of her newly-formed vine slide, giggling all the while with her arms out to the sides. As she rode it, her hands were generating more vines, which coiled around the room, wrapping whatever they could touch up in moss covered foliage. At the end of her little trip, she wobbled and put her hands on the ground, causing more vines to burst up around her and Timber. "How does she have this power?" He grimaced as he leaned over the desk and picked Gloriosa up, listening to her giggle as she was raised into the air again. Sunset Shimmer's friends were all gathered outside with the other Canterlot High students, deep in their discussions about what was to befall the camp. After watching Gloriosa become consumed by magic and shrink down into a baby, their thoughts on the future were very mixed. Some began to sweat as they thought about the end of the world, while others scratched their chins and puzzled how the magic really worked. "I still think that we should give Timber some lessons on how to raise a child." Rarity shrugged her shoulders as her gaze drifted from one Rainboom to another. "Handling a baby is a very time-consuming task—be it a magical one or not." "On top of managing the camp, ah'd say that Timber's gotten himself into a whole heap'a work." Applejack turned her eyes towards the hut and watched as Sunset and Twilight came out of it. "Not to mention Filthy Rich's little debt that needs paying off. Ah reckon this might be the last time we ever come to Camp Everfree, girls." "What?!" Pinkie pushed through Applejack and Rarity. "You can't say that, Applejack! This isn't the way our trip's meant to end! It's supposed to have cake, candy, streamers, and a happy ending! There's no need to be a giver-upper this late into our stay!" "Pinkie, I appreciate the vote of confidence, but do you know how hard it is to manage a baby?" Fluttershy slowly hobbled forward and tugged on Pinkie's shoulders. "Believe me, Fluttershy. I do know." Pinkie lowered her brows. "Back home, Pound and Pumpkin have been driving me and the other Cakes crazy! It's almost like they're born ninjas or something now!" "Oookay?" Flutters lifted her brows and tilted her head at Pinkie's remark. "But you're right, handling kids is no easy feat no matter what they can do. If Timber Spruce can't juggle all of these tasks at once, then the whole camp will have to close down forever." "I highly doubt that it will close down." Diamond Tiara approached the Rainbooms with Silver Spoon close behind her. "Although I will admit that having Gloriosa become altered into some magical baby like Twilight was a bit of a weird turn of events, I've still got an ace up my sleeve for making the money we need." "Trust me, girls. You're gonna love this." Silver Spoon opened up her backpack and pulled out a massive map showing Camp Everfree and some other areas around it. "Me and Diamond Tiara were looking at the map that my dad packed for me, and it turns out that there's a small town not too far from here. If we can raise awareness that Camp Everfree's under fire, the people there will surely swoop in and help." "But how are we possibly gonna be able to let the people know that Camp Everfree's under Filthy Rich's foot in time?" Applejack looked at the map. "I don't know about you girls, but it was still a bit of a ride to get into the woods, let alone to the camp. It'll take a half hour if we're gonna make it to the town." "Plus there's still the question of what method we'll be using to warn them that Camp Everfree's closing down." Rarity raised her finger as she walked up to the two CHS students. "Are we going to be using flyers? A town crier? A little bit of a fashion parade through the town?" "Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! We could use candy and cake to lure them to Camp Everfree and tell them about the trouble that we're all in!" Pinkie Pie waved her arms frantically and pulled out some cupcakes drizzled with frosting and sprinkles. "That always gets me to go places. And half the time, I always accept. Anything for them if they bribed me with candy!" "Uh, Pinkie, let's probably not do that, darling." Rarity patted Pinkie's chest and pulled her arms back down to her hips. "Anyway, it's a good idea, you two, but we seem to be missing the key component to getting to this village in the first place." "Yeah, we need a car of some sort!" Rainbow Dash threw her arms down in front of her. "And we can't just steal the school bus and leave everyone stuck here. It's wishful thinking, kids, but we need to find a way that's super-fast and super-easy to do, alright?" "Kinda digging yourselves a grave here, ladies." The girls all turned around to see Filthy Rich, dressed in his usual blue suit and tie with black shoes. He had a small grin on his face as he crossed his hands behind his back and walked up to the girls with a small hunch. "Hello, daddy." Diamond Tiara turned and waved at Filthy Rich. "What are you doing here?" "Well, seeing that the end of the month's fast approaching, I wanted to see just how Gloriosa and Timber were getting along with their little debt." He tousled Diamond Tiara's hair, almost knocking off the earpieces that she wore. "But I'm sure that with you leading the operation now, there shouldn't be any more problems, right?" "Nope! None!" Her entire forehead turned moist as she waved her hands in front of him and put on a massive fake smile. "Timber and Gloriosa are just going smoothly. Nothing to worry about at all!" "Hmm..." Filthy Rich's smile began to disappear as he watched Diamond Tiara try to fake that there was a problem. "Y'know, Diamond Tiara, whenever I ever see on of my employees do that to my face, it's a sure-fire guarantee that something's gone wrong. Whether it's a paper jam in the printer, a spilled watercooler which caused some injuries, or even if we get audited, that face and gesture just sells me on the truth." He leaned in close to her face. "What's happened? And don't you lie to me, Diamond Tiara. I'm your father and the C.E.O. of some of Canterlot's biggest and most influential companies." "Sunset!" Timber burst out of the hut with Gloriosa in his hands. "You've gotta help me!" "Hey! Timber!" Filthy Rich shouted over to Timber as he run across the camp, causing the ragged teenager to trip and roll forward onto his back, with Gloriosa laughing on his stomach. "What're you playing at, boy?" "Now's not a good time, Filthy Rich!" Timber scrambled to get back onto his feet as Filthy began to walk up towards him. "Gloriosa's just pooped herself and I don't know how to handle a baby!" "Have you finally cracked your skull open on one of those nature walks, Timber? There aren't no babies here at Camp Everfree." Filthy raised his brows as he watched Timber get back onto his feet. "And where's Gloriosa? I think I should be speaking to her instead, seeing as how she holds a grudge for me." "Mr. Rich, with all due respect, we're all kinda busy right—" "Not now, Applejack. I'll discuss your trades with Granny Smith later." He pushed Applejack onto the ground with the palm of his hand. "Right now, I really need to speak with—" He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Gloriosa in Timber's grasp. "Huh. What do you know? There is a baby at Camp Everfree. Since when did you and Gloriosa decide to adopt someone, Timber?" "Filthy, it's not what it looks li—" "For heaven's sake, son. Call me Mr. Rich." He folded his arms in front of him and looked down at Timber and Gloriosa. "Anyway, why would you try and adopt a child when you're up to your eyes in debt? Seems like you've just given up on Camp Everfree as a whole." "No! I'd never give up on my grandparents' camp!" Timber held Gloriosa tightly in his hands. "In fact, I would've paid you back as soon as possible, but one thing led to another and now—" "Boy, I haven't climbed my way up the corporate ladder through debt and problems." He shook his head and looked down at Gloriosa. "Y'know, I was once as weak and smarmy as you were, Timber. Kids at school just called me filthy and didn't use the rich part of my name when I was young. But you want to know how I managed to climb my way up?" "Sir, if you could just let me expla—" "Hard work, punctuality, and not letting myself get distracted by small things like this." He pushed Gloriosa's head back with a single jab of his finger, causing her face to scrunch up. "You've got yourself fourty-eight hours to hand over the debt, or this place is getting logged from the inside out." He watched Timber snarl and tighten up the muscles in his forehead as he balled his hands into fists. "Now, don't look at me like that. I was especially generous when Gloriosa failed to pay up the debt. I gave her more time, what more do you want from me? To do your taxes as well?" As Gloriosa watched Filthy Rich shoot words off and interrupt Timber at every turn, she begin to let out small tinny growls. She pouted and pressed her lips together as hard as she could as magic began to warp around her tiny hands. She opened and closed them, seeing vines curl up around her and Timber. Nodding down at her new weapons, she looked up at Filthy and blew a large raspberry, jabbing her hands at him. The vines instantly barrelled into Filthy Rich and sent him hurtling head-first into his car. The collision of nature against metal caused a massive dent in the side of it, which caused the car's alarm system to blare and attract everyone's attention. Gasps and shocked faces watched as Filthy Rich fell down onto the ground. "Daddy!" Diamond Tiara ran over to Filthy Rich with tears beginning to fall from her eyes. "Gloriosa!" Timber picked Gloriosa up and turned her face towards him. "What did you do?!" Gloriosa spoke in baby talk with her hands shaking as she glared at Timber Spruce. She made fists and banged them together as she went on a long tantrum, finally ending as she turned herself back around and blew another raspberry at Filthy, thrusting her finger out at him. "Gloriosa! We do NOT hurt people! Even if they're trying to shut down the camp!" Timber retorted with a small outburst of his own. "Are you stupid?! First the geodes, now hurting Filthy Rich, you're out of control! You're not the same sister I used to know!" Gloriosa recoiled at Timber's cutting words, raising her hands in front of her face as he looked into the fires in her brother's eyes. Within seconds, her anger had completely disintegrated as she quivered in his grip. Her lips trembled and tears began to fall as she began to let out a small whimper. Soon enough, Gloriosa began to cry as loud as she could, turning away from her brother. "I heard a car alarm!" Sunset Shimmer came rushing out of her tent with a small bottle in Twilight's mouth. "Is anything wro—" She saw what had happened straight away "—Mr. Rich! Oh my goddess!" She ran over to the dented car and watched as Diamond Tiara helped Filthy Rich stand up. "Daddy! Are you alright?" Diamond pulled Filthy Rich's arm over her shoulders. "I can call an ambulance straight away!" She pulled out her phone and began punching in the number to call the hospital. "What happened, Mr. Rich?" Sunset came over to Filthy and picked his other half up from the battered part of the car. "Miss Shimmer..." Filthy Rich gave out a small cough as he got back up on his feet, wobbling from the impact. "I don't know what happened with Timber and that magical demon baby he's got, but I'm calling the police. This whole place is coming down!" "Mr. Rich. Please just reconsider!" Sunset began to tend to his wounds, putting Twilight down onto the floor. "No. No I won't." He limped around the car towards the driver's seat, opened the door, sat down, and turned the engines on. "I hope Timber's said his prayers. Because the courthouse won't be too happy to hear this." He turned towards Diamond Tiara. "Get in the car, sweetie. We're gonna go home straight away." "Daddy, I don—" "Diamond Tiara! Get your ass in this car or you're grounded until graduation day, missy!" Filthy Rich roared, tightening his grip on the driver's wheel. Sighing in defeat, Diamond Tiara climbed into the car and buckled herself in tightly, closing the door as she did. "I'm sorry, Sunset. I didn't mean for this to happen..." "Say your prayers, Camp Everfree!" Filthy shouted back as he drove off down the path and away from the campsite, leaving a cloud of smoke and dust in his wake. Sunset's hands twitched and wobbled at what she had just witnessed. Filthy Rich had been assaulted by Gloriosa Daisy's new magical powers, and now Camp Everfree was going to be charged with a lawsuit. Her breathing became heavy as she turned towards the rest of her friends as they in turn looked towards Timber and Gloriosa. Still crying, Gloriosa wormed her way out of Timber's grasp and curled up into a ball, causing a cocoon of vines to seal her up from the outside world. As she watched the teens all try to pick her up, she turned back towards the ground, causing sharp thorns to materialise on the outside of the web that she had made. "Well, we're screwed..." Rainbow Dash was the first one to break the silence.
A Flower in the Everfree Forest"I didn't mean for Filthy Rich to get hurt!" Timber stood with the Main Six around the tiny ball of thorns that cocooned Gloriosa. "I didn't even think that he'd be coming back so soon—or that Gloriosa would've freaked out like that!" "Timber, there's nothing that we can do about any of this now." Sunset Shimmer turned her eyes towards Gloriosa, who was still wailing away withing her thorny dome. "None of us were expecting Gloriosa to go crazy like that and hurt Mr. Rich, but now he's gone and there's no way that we can stop this." "Yes. A court case is hard to deal with—especially if it's a case of assault and battery." Rarity crossed her arms and shook her head gently. "Gloriosa might seem like a baby, but Filthy Rich's testimony is going to bring up a lot of things in the courtroom battle." "You might get some points for being cute and innocent because it was a baby's doing, but still, the big, bad, chief justice isn't going to like having to deal with this." Pinkie squatted down and gave the spiked ball a gentle tap on the non-thorny parts, causing even more thorns to grow around it. "But we can deal with that later. Right now, there's a cute little ball of joy that's being a real frowny-pants right now and we've gotta help her cheer up!" "Pinkie! Don't dodge the issue like that!" Rainbow Dash threw her arms out to the sides as she watched Pinkie stand upright again. "We've gotta stop Filthy Rich from going through with this! It could mean the end of Camp Everfree as we know it!" "Not to mention the fact that since Gloriosa's got magic like Twilight does, she could cause some real harm to the people if they try to take this place away." Sunset held Twilight gently in her arms and felt her long hair tickle her chin as she gave her a gentle rub on the back. "Sure, she can only manipulate plantlife at the moment, but if she keeps this up, she could end up weaponising the entire forest!" "And even if we do manage to win, Filthy Rich could end up buying out Camp Everfree and shut it down immediately." Applejack tugged at her collar and looked out towards the camp's exit. "It's a tough old situation we've got here. There aren't really many options for us in the case of making everything right for once... The girls all started talking to each other at once, shooting words out of their mouths as they tried to figure out a way of handling the situation. But despite their ideas, none of the girls could make either of them out due to the pace of their speech and how their words were intersecting with one another to create a nonstop cloud of noise and incoherent gibberish. "Gah! All this to take in at once. It's... it's too much!" Timber grabbed the sides of his head as his eyes began to dilute. He spluttered and stammered briefly before he let out a massive scream and ran off deep into the forest, silencing the Rainbooms instantly as they turned to see him disappear. "Timber! Wait up!" Sunset Shimmer broke off from the group clutching Twilight close to her chest as she pursued Timber Spruce. "You think we should go after her?" Applejack pointed towards Sunset and Timber. "Nope! First, we've gotta stop little Gloriosa from hurting anyone else!" Pinkie Pie dashed off, then returned one second later carrying some massive garden shears in her hands. "And to do that, we've gotta get this sweet little baby out of these icky thorns and bring a smile back to her face!" And without another word, Pinkie Pie began snipping away at the ball of sharp flora. "But Pinkie, we can't just let Timber and Sunset down!" Fluttershy stretched her arms out in the distance that Timber and Sunset had run to as she kept her eyes fixated on Pinkie. "I'm sure that Gloriosa will calm down soon." "Fluttershy. I've dealt with Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake many times before, and I've come to a scientific conclusion." Pinkie managed to break through the thorns and retrieve a sobbing Gloriosa from within. "Babies only stop crying when they start laughing. We just need to let Gloriosa visit the raspberry monster, and everything should be fine." She bent her neck down and blew a massive raspberry onto Gloriosa's chest. But despite this, she was still crying her eyes out. "Or not..." "Did you really expect it to work like that, Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash cocked her brow and tilted her head. "Kinda." Pinkie shrugged and sat down on the grass cross-legged, rocking Gloriosa back and forth in her arms. "She is a baby, y'know." "A baby who just got shouted at by her big brother." Fluttershy walked over to Pinkie Pie and sat down with her. "She doesn't need fun at a time like this. If anything, what she needs now is someone to love her." She reached over Pinkie's legs and plucked Gloriosa out of them. She brought the crying baby into her embrace and gave her a cuddle. "There, there, Gloriosa. It's not all that bad. I'm here." Gloriosa looked up into Fluttershy's face and saw a warm smile beam down onto her body. Her tears didn't stop, but they were reduced down to little snuffles and whimpers as she babbled in baby talk. She reached around Fluttershy's hips and hugged her as tightly as she could, pressing her face into the teenager's belly. "See, Pinkie? Laughter isn't always the best medicine when it comes to dealing with babies." Fluttershy shut her eyes and felt as Gloriosa's body against hers. She patted the baby and heard her let out a small burp before her coos resumed. "Sometimes, the best thing for someone her age is love and cuddles." "I still stand by the notion that my method is better." Pinkie Pie stood back up as she watched Fluttershy lift Gloriosa into the air. "But whatever method works to get Glori to calm down is fine by me." "Let's just hope that we can keep her that way." Rainbow Dash patted Gloriosa on her head. "We've already got one little monster as it is. Two might just be a little too much for us..." "Hear, hear." Rarity tickled Gloriosa's armpits, hearing her giggle loudly. "I'm all for caring for infants, but I just feel like one magical baby is enough for this life." The other girls all clamoured around Gloriosa, smiling and cooing at her as they tried her best to keep her from having another tantrum of fit of tears. What they were doing worked as Gloriosa tried to give them all a hug, ensnaring them in a massive ring of ivy that got tighter as she pressed herself against them. "Sunset..." Rarity choked for air. "I hope you're back soon." "Timber! Wait!" Sunset burst through each individual bush that Timber went through, trying to keep up with him while also caring for Twilight at the same time. Because of all the roots around the trees, she needed to watch her footing most of the time so that she didn't trip up. "I'm sure that there's a way to fix this!" "No there isn't!" Timber shouted back as his breathing got heavier. "Filthy Rich has won! There's no way we can beat him in court!" "Don't feel so defeated! There is a way that we can make this all right again!" Sunset too began to feel the strain of her pursuit weighing her down. Her entire body felt warm and she felt herself wearing down from exhaustion, but still, she pushed on ahead. "Just give us all a chance and we'll stop him from suing you!" "How are we gonna get him to stop when he's already left?!" Timber asked as he dived through another thick wall of leaves and plants. "Just leave me alone! I'll handle everything else myself like I always do!" Sunset stopped at the towering barricade of leaves and twigs and only caught a glimpse of Timber sink through it and run off deeper and deeper into the woods. She tried to make out where he was going, but because the leaves were so hard to see through, it was impossible to see which direction he went, if he had even decided to move at all. "Darn it, Timber. Don't give up on yourself because of this..." Sunset Shimmer stepped back away from the leaves and looked down at Twilight, who just sat quaintly in her hands. "Twilight? I know that you can't understand what I'm saying, but do you think that you could give me a hand with these leaves?" Little Twilight simply nodded and looked towards the leaves. Cooing, she put her hand in her mouth for a few seconds as she tilted and turned her head. As she looked down at the ground, she saw a group of ladybugs scuttling on the ground. Upon seeing them, she squealed and reached down to grab one of them, unknowingly firing a beam of blue and black energy out of her horn that collided with the massive shrubbery and caused it to implode and burst leaves in all directions—some even into Sunset's mouth, which caused Twilight to look back up at her caretaker and giggle at the sight. Sunset spat out the leaves and looked at the small building at the end of the path ahead of her and Twilight. They both watched as Timber Spruce ran inside and shut the door behind him. "Timber? Why would you want to run all the way out here when we're offering to help?" She slowly walked forward and gently held onto Twilight. She walked up to the building and saw that the forest had done a number on the place. Bricks were missing from the walls and ivy climbed the walls and was creeping its' way up towards the roof. The glass on the front door, despite remaining intact, had gathered so much dust and grime that it was practically impossible to see inside. As Sunset put her hand on the door, she could feel how cold it was straight away. It was as if no-one had touched this place for years. "Timber?" Sunset opened the door and walked through. "Are you in there? C'mon. There's no need to feel bad..." The inside of the place was much different than Sunset had been anticipating. Despite the holes in the wall and the peeling paint, she could still make out bright and cartoon-like worlds for the wallpapers, with many different pictures on each. There were open fields with children playing in them, a city with cars going down the roads, and even a princess's castle with all kinds of fairy-tale related beings plastered on to the walls, with the front door serving as a cupboard that had its' hinges snapped off. Scattered around the floor were toys of various different shapes and sizes that also suffered from a lack of care and were beginning to fade and lose their colours. Despite all of this, they were still usable after all of these years with only a couple of fractured and broken items that people had forgotten to throw away. All of these rested on an even dustier floor, with some blankets and pillows clustered up by the walls. In the middle of it all, Timber Spruce merely sat with his legs crossed and his back turned towards Sunset and Twilight. "Y'know, when I was a little kid, my parents dealt with debts of their own that almost cost them Camp Everfree." Timber sighed but still didn't turn towards Sunset and Twilight. "With inflation, location, and how there were less and less people coming in every so often, it was hard to find a suitable amount of cash to keep the place up and running." He brushed his hand against the floor, collecting a large quantity of dust. "And when my parents gave birth to Gloriosa, things only got much harder for us. Now they had to feed two babies and keep the place from being bought out. "I can still remember this place, even though it's been years since this place had any sort of use." Timber looked around at the toys laden around the room. "When my mom and dad got the idea to open this building up to the public as a small day-care, Gloriosa was a bit concerned. More and more kids came in and they were using all of her favourite stuff. She always hated it when everyone kept taking her toys for the whole day. At least, that's what I heard from my parents. "Then, as we grew up, my parents decided to downsize a bit and decommission this place to try and save some money." Timber slumped his shoulders as he stood back up. "We just left it here to stand for years on end in this part of the woods. We left it be, silent, alone, and with no purpose. And now, this is what's going to happen to Camp Everfree. Once Filthy Rich converts the place into a leisure resort to line his pockets more, the rest of the forest is going to become neglected and silent. The energy and purity that this place once had is going to just disappear. And now, it's completely unavoidable." "Timber. Don't think for a second that we can't turn this whole thing around." Sunset Shimmer walked up to him and gently squeezed his left shoulder. "We've dealt with magical problems before. Back at the Battle of the Bands and Friendship Games, magical occurrences happened that almost ended up doing much worse things than people trying to sue us." "Yes, but Filthy Rich was physically assaulted by Gloriosa and her magic." Timber turned to face Sunset and tipped his hand. "It doesn't care whether or not he's going to be able to prove it with his words. The bruises on his chest are going to be all of the evidence that he needs to get Camp Everfree closed down for good. And now that he's already left, we're finished." He pulled Sunset's hand off of his body and turned to face the walls again. "I might as well just send you and your Canterlot High friends back home now, so that you're not here to see the lawyers when they confirm that there's gonna be a court case." "Timber Spruce," Sunset started, puffing out her chest. "I've faced stuff beyond whatever your imagination could come up with. If Filthy Rich wants to take this whole thing to court, then I'm not going to back down. We'll fight by your side as witnesses in your favour if needs be, but I can't just let you run away and wallow like this while your sister is crying and the other campers are suffering because of it." She set Twilight down onto one of the pillows and squatted beside Timber. "Even if the odds might seem against you, that's no reason for you to throw in the towel like that. Even the most impossible odds can be beaten. I know this because I was there. Even when my friends were squabbling and arguing, I was able to keep them from killing each other and actually helped them come to their senses and save the world. And I know that I can do the same for you, Gloriosa, and Camp Everfree." She held her hand out towards Timber. "Just give me a chance. Would you do that for me?" Timber Spruce looked down at Sunset's hand and turned his head up to see the smile on her face. He thought about everything that had befallen Camp Everfree and what had happened to Gloriosa Daisy. Every event danced through his mind one after the other as he visualised it and the possible futures that could have arisen from taking Sunset's hand. In the end, he finally conceded and let out a big sigh as he slowly reached out a shaky hand and grabbed on to Sunset's. "Alright, Sunset," Timber said. "I suppose that it can't get any worse from here on out, right?" "Yeah. We've already gone through the storm, so we should have a better chance of making this all right." Sunset turned towards the door and picked Twilight up just as she was about to toddle off and play with some of the pale old toys in the room. "And who knows? Once this all comes to an end, you could use this room for Gloriosa again. I'm sure that she'd love it." "Yeah. Provided that we clean the place up a bit first." Timber let a weak chuckle escape his lips. "I'm pretty sure that even as a baby, she remembers this place being much brighter and happier." The two of them shared a little laugh as they walked out the door and began the long trek back towards the campsite, to brace themselves for the future. Neither of them knew what was going to happen, but they both knew that they would face it together.
Leaving Camp EverfreeSunset Shimmer was in her tent, packing up all of her things while Twilight sat on the bed, wiggling her tiny legs. Their time had run out for the Camp Everfree trip and a pang of guilt welled up in Sunset's heart. She wanted to have saved the camp had she known that it was in danger, but in between being taken to Equestria, seeing Gloriosa turn into a baby with magical powers, and when Filthy Rich got assaulted, she knew that there was no hope for saving the camp now. "Oh, Timber..." Sunset folded her clothes and stacked them up in her suitcase, flattening them down so that she had enough room for the rest of the supplies she had brought with her. "I only wish that I could've done more to help." Twilight cocked a brow at Sunset and babbled, crawling forward as she reached out and tugged at Sunset's sleeve. "Hmm? What is it, Twilight?" Sunset was pulled from her packing as she picked Twilight up. Twilight tried her best to speak, but it still came out as baby talk that was almost impossible to understand. She pointed towards the exit of the tent and at Gloriosa especially. "You wanna play with Gloriosa?" Sunset took a brief look out of the tent and saw Gloriosa quietly sucking on her thumb as Timber walked by the tents. "Just give me a minute, Twilight. I've gotta get everything packed away." And she put Twilight on the ground. Twilight decided to crawl off out of the tent while Sunset continued to pack her clothes, supplies, sunscreen, and other items away. She pushed through the threshold and out into the sunlight, where she started to chase after Gloriosa and Timber, flapping her wings in order to gain speed. Gloriosa hung in Timber's arms, looking out at the world as she sucked on her tiny thumb. As she looked around, she cooed gently and reached out for it all with her free hand. She didn't even notice Twilight fly towards her as she closed her eyes and groggily continued to suckle. Twilight dive-bombed down onto Timber's shoulders, causing him to jump and fall onto his back. Once he was on his rear end, Twilight crawled over his body and hobbled over to Gloriosa, giggling as she crawled over to her in return. "Twilight?" Timber's eyes widened as she watched her playing patty-cake with Gloriosa. "What're you doing here? Isn't Sunset supposed to be looking after you?" Twilight didn't respond, as she was too busy playing her game with Gloriosa, clapping her hands together with her as they tried their hardest to follow a rhythm, but which ended with them laughing even more. "Aww... Look at the little Twily and Glori." Pinkie Pie picked up both babies and slung them in her arms, blowing raspberries into both of their bellies. "Aren't they just the cutesie-ootsie-wootiest pair of little monsters?" "Oh, hi, Pinkie." Timber stood up again and rubbed the back of his head. "Look, again, I'm sorry that your time at Camp Everfree had to end like this. If there's anything that I can do to make it up to you and your school, I'll do it. "Oh, don't worry about that, Timber." Pinkie nuzzled the two babies and gave them both gentle kisses. "We've dealt with stuff like this before back at Canterlot High, so it doesn't surprise us anymore. Plus, these two little sweethearts are the cutest thing to ever come out of it." She smiled and almost knocked Twilight and Gloriosa's heads together as she brought them close to her chest. "Igga ga baa boo, Twilly and Glori? Igga ga baa boo?" Both of the babies nodded and grabbed onto Pinkie's nose and cheeks, wobbling towards her and planting kisses on her face. "See? They agree with me." Pinkie handed Gloriosa back to Timber while she continued to cuddle Twilight in her grip. "Twilight especially." "Twilight? You out here?" Sunset Shimmer came out of her tent with her backpack and suitcases packed. "C'mon, girl. It's time to go!" "Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Sunset! Over here!" Pinkie Pie ran over towards Sunset but tripped on a branch and threw Twilight over towards her. "Head's up! Flying baby!" Without any time to think, Sunset dropped her cases and was about to grab Twilight, but was met with a wingbeat of black feathers that sent her onto her backside, causing Twilight to fall onto her stomach. Sunset couldn't help but let a small laugh slip too as she picked Twilight up and held her gently. "Hey there, ya little scamp." Sunset tousled Twilight's mane and gave her a little kiss. "Where've you been off to?" "No, silly." Pinkie Pie jumped back onto her feet and slid up next to Twilight and Sunset. "You've gotta speak baby. It's the only language she understands at the moment." "Pinkie Pie, I don't even know half of the stuff that comes out of your mouth sometimes." Sunset cocked a brow at Pinkie. "How am I supposed to speak to Twilight if I end up speaking like a baby?" "Oh, it's simple, really. You've just gotta spend a few months or so babysitting with me. It's a cinch to pick up the language." Pinkie nodded. "I'll give you an easy one to start off." She took a deep breath and turned Twilight towards her. "Ga baa bi wa wa goo, Twilight?" Twilight chuckled again and replied with some more baby talk, putting her little hands on Pinkie's arms. "Alright. To translate what we've just said: How are you doing, Twilight? I'm doing fine, Auntie Pinkie. I made friends with cute little girl over there. Thanks for asking." Pinkie made a squee as she gave Twilight back to Sunset. "I still don't know how you're able to do that." Sunset slipped a carrier onto her chest and slipped Twilight into it, before squatting down to pick her suitcases up. "You're gonna have to give us all a proper lesson in baby talk one day, Pinkie." "Oh, I will. It's a great resource to have when you're caring for uber-cute, super adorable, and really tiny babies like Twily here." Pinkie started to walk off. "I'll see you on the bus, Sunset. I've gotta help Rarity and Fluttershy get their stuff on the bus. And believe me, if you thought that I was weird, you should've seen how many dresses were in Rarity's cases..." "Alright. I'll see you there, Pinkie." Sunset waved her off and watched Gloriosa bounce in Timber's hold. "You need any help with her, Timber?" "No. I'm pretty good with handling kids." Timber Spruce shook his head and watched Gloriosa stick her finger back into her mouth. "I've had to spend some semesters as a clown to entertain the elementary school kids." He sighed as he brought Gloriosa close to his chest. "Still, I just hope that you're right in saying that you'll help me in the courtroom case." "Timber. You NEED to stop being so worried about that." Sunset Shimmer walked towards him. "We've battled monsters worse than this. Beings from another dimension. We're not going to have any trouble with a courtroom case." "And if we do, then we'll just use the Magic of Friendship to set everything right." Rainbow Dash approached from the distance. "Hey, you two. Did I miss anything?" "No. Not really," said Sunset. "Are you almost done packing, Rainbow Dash?" "Already done. The stuff's on the bus. I always get my bag on first so that it's got the coolest place to chill." She put her hands to her hips. "But doesn't that mean it'll also be the last one off of the bus?" Sunset tilted her head. Rainbow froze up. "Uh... I'll be right back..." And without another word, she darted off towards the bus, leaving nothing but dust behind her. "Well. That happened." Timber took a small breath of air. "Anyways, I can't express just how sorry I am that your time here at Camp Everfree was ruined by me and Gloriosa. We didn't mean for Filthy Rich to get hurt like that." "I'm also sorry that Twilight had to take us to Equestria as well." Sunset patted Twilight's hair down and rocked her back and forth. "Her magic can get a little coo-coo crazy now and again. I didn't want to go back there so soon, but she wanted to play with her magic and we didn't have any time to jump out of the way in time. One thing led to another and I just couldn't keep up. I should've just left her home with her parents." Sunset sat down. "I'm such an idiot. I tried to get away from Equestrian Magic for one week, but I brought Twilight with me to Camp Everfree. Now because of her, Gloriosa's a magic baby, Filthy Rich is injured, and Camp Everfree's right in his crosshairs. Some friend I am, huh?" "Sunset. It's not your fault. It's mine." Timber Spruce leaned down and put his hand on her shoulders. "I should've shown Gloriosa that there were better ways to save the camp, but she was so stubborn and adamant in her own ways that we ended up arguing. We should've been working together and closed the camp down until we had enough money to pay off the debt, but now we're both suffering because of it. I'm gonna be in court, and she's gone back to being in diapers!" "No. You're not the one who made the big oopsie. I did." Sunset stood back up and hung her head. "I brought magic to Camp Everfree. I turned Gloriosa into a baby. I'm the one responsible for her using her powers to hurt Filthy Rich. If anyone should stand in court for this, it should be me. Not you or Gloriosa." "Sunset..." "No. Don't try to talk me down, Timber. I know what I did." She started to walk away. "I'll leave you and Gloriosa alone now. You both seem like you need some time together." "Sunset, wait!" Timber began to walk along with her. "Don't be like this! You're not the one to blame for this! I know this because you and your friends are such kind-hearted people!" He watched her toss her suitcases and backpack onto the bus, along with the carrier around her chest. "Look. Before you go, I just want you to know that both of us never meant for this to happen. That's the one thing that we can agree on." He grabbed onto her hand as she started to climb the stairs. "If we can't save Camp Everfree, can we at least become friends? I don't want to face the rest of my life alone. I've lost my mom and dad, I've lost my sister to magic, and now I'm about to lose Camp Everfree too. Please, Sunset." His voice became desperate as he put his hand on his chest. "Just give me something to fall back on. I've already lost too much already..." It took Sunset a few moments to let everything Timber said sink into her mind. After everything that had happened, she still felt guilty for everything. She was the one who brought Twilight with her, yet he was going to break the fall. She thought that he must have been insane, risking himself for her. But the more that she looked into his eyes, the more that she could believe that his intentions were pure and that he genuinely felt sorry for her. Finally, she reached out her hand and gave Timber a small smile. "Timber. I accept your apology." Sunset let a small tear slip from her eyes. "If you ever want to find me, just come to Canterlot High. I'll be there with all of my friends." "Alright. I'll be sure to check it out." Timber put his hand on Sunset's chest and slid his finger down Twilight's chest. "But in the mean time, you shouldn't get yourself down. We're both equally to blame for everything that's happened. But you shouldn't beat yourself up over any of this." "And you shouldn't be too worried about the court case either." Sunset walked up the steps. "No matter what happens, we'll all be fighting your corner and trying our hardest to get you a not-guilty verdict." She heard the bus's horn honk loudly, signalling that they were about to depart. "See you there, Timber." "You too, Sunset." He watched Sunset take her seat on the bus and saw as the vehicle drove away from the camp, crunching the rocks beneath it as it went through the gates, leaving Timber and Gloriosa behind. "You too." Sunset pressed her hand against the window and watched as they broke through the trees of the forest and returned to the road. She sighed again and held Twilight as she took a peak herself and squealed at all of the sights. "Sunset, dear. What's wrong?" Rarity asked, leaning in closer to her. "I just. I wanted to help him out somehow, but... I couldn't." Sunset turned towards Rarity. "I wanted to do something. Anything. But I just felt too defeated to raise my hand to help. I couldn't help out with Gloriosa, to stop Filthy Rich from leaving like that, or just to save the camp in general." "Sunset. Stop being such a downer." Applejack put her hand on Sunset's chair. "None of us knew that Gloriosa was gonna turn into a magic baby; or that she'd get cranky and hurt Filthy Rich like that." "Yeah! None of us could've guessed that she'd go psycho and hit him like that." Rainbow Dash leaned over from her side of the bus. "But we still could've prevented it all." Sunset looked down at Twilight, who babbled some more. "And it's all because I brought Twilight with us. None of this would've happened if I'd just left her with her parents." "Sunset. Don't blame Twilight for even a second." Fluttershy peaked over her chair and gave Sunset a gentle rub on the forehead. "Twilight's just a baby. She can't control herself. Babies do what they want, when they want, and with whatever they want. If she wanted to use her magic, then she wanted to use her magic. And it's all because a baby's mind is so active, that it's almost impossible for them to think—even for a second." "Yeah! And if she wanted to take you to Equestria for a little mini-adventure on the side, that wasn't because she wanted to go, but rather because she was just doing what her little baby mind wanted to do." Pinkie nodded. "It's just like when Pound and Pumpkin play together in their room. I don't know what they're gonna do, but I know that they do it because their little minds want to do it because they think that it'll be fun for them." "And if Gloriosa wanted to use her vines to hurt Mr. Rich, then that was only because she's a baby. She can't control what she does." Applejack crossed her arms. "Heck, when Applebloom was still in diapers, she did some of the most wacky things I'd ever seen. And every time I asked Granny Smith about it, she said that she was just a baby and that she was having fun." "Look, I know that you're all trying your hardest to be supportive, but it doesn't change the facts." Sunset Shimmer shook her head and sank back into her seat. "Now, when I get back home, I'm going to spend all of my time with Twilight. I'm not gonna answer any of your texts, e-mails, or Mystable requests. I need some time alone, so that I can recover from this little trip." "Alright, Sunset. We respect your decision." Rarity nodded and patted Sunset's shoulders. "I respect your decision, Sunset." "It's for the best, anyway. We have been through an awful lot together." Fluttershy put her head back against her own seat. "It's good to have some time off every now and again." "You sure that's the right thing to do, sugarcube?" Applejack lifted one of her eyebrows. "I'm CERTAIN that it's the right thing." Sunset glared into Applejack's eyes. "I NEED some time off from you all. I need some time off from all of this. My life isn't all about Equestrian Magic, you five, or anything that we get up to at Canterlot High. We have our own houses, we have our families, so we should all just respect each others' opinions and move on. "Alright. I'm just asking." Applejack shrugged and slipped back into her seat. The other Rainbooms all returned their eyes to the windows as Sunset Shimmer quietly closed her eyes and drifted off into sleep. After what she had to endure at Camp Everfree, she just wanted to go away from everything. She wanted somewhere safe to be. Somewhere far away from everything where she and Twilight could play together in peace. And as she entered the world of her dreams, she began to visualise the perfect place. Author's Note And with that—much to the delight of a lot of viewers—the Camp Everfree Arc is OVER! The next chapter will involve Sunset and Twilight playing together at the house, with the Crystal Prep Shadow Five dropping around for a visit so that they can see how their favorite Littlebolt is getting on. And, just for clarification, Lemon Zest came up with the title of Littlebolt. See you all then.
The Cutest of the LittleboltsThe next day, Sunset and Twilight were playing together. Sunset was giving Twilight all of the toys that she could find, while Twilight cooed and babbled as she used them. She shook them, fiddled with them, and sometimes put them in her mouth, sucking deftly on them. "Oh, Twilight. You're such a cute little baby, aren't you?" Sunset picked Twilight up and booped her nose. "Yes, you are. Yes, you are." She tickled her little armpits, hearing her squeal and laugh, thrashing her arms and legs around. "You know I'm never gonna leave you, right? Mama Sunset's always gonna be here for you, Twilight." Twilight reached up for Sunset's face, grabbed onto it, and spoke in baby talk. She was glad to have Twilight, and her tone of voice perfectly conveyed her feelings towards her. After she was done, she slipped her thumb into her mouth and one of the toys with her free hand. "Well, we've still got a few more minutes before lunch." Sunset took a quick glance at the phone in her pocket. "What do you want to do until then, Twilight?" Twilight turned around and scanned the room with her little eyes. She saw a little pink blanket on the ground and pointed towards it, dropping the toy out of her hand as she tried to fly off of Sunset's arms. As she lifted her finger up, her horn glowed bright, illuminating the blanket and lifting it into the air. As she pulled her arm back by her side, Twilight's magic made the fabric float over towards her. "Aw..." Sunset's heart melted at the sight. "Does my little Twilight want to be wrapped up?" She nuzzled Twilight's face and set her and the blanket down on the floor. "Alright then. Just hold still for a second." Sunset Shimmer grabbed both sides of the blanket and held them high. Then, she pulled both ends around Twilight and began to wrap her up in a soft pink cocoon, making sure to wrap her wings up as well. Once Sunset was done, she picked the now blanketed Twilight up and walked over towards a pacifier, plopping it into Twilight's mouth. "Twilight, if cuteness could kill, you would be considered a weapon of mass destruction." Sunset swooned as she watched Twilight snuggle into her woollen confines, sucking on her pacifier. "You would, wouldn't you? You little devil." She chuckled. Suddenly, a few knocks came from the nursery door. It opened shortly after, with Cadence standing on the other side. "Sunset? Do you have a minute?" she asked. "Yeah." Sunset walked over towards Cadence with Twilight pressed against her body. "What is it, Cadence?" "There's a few people in the living room that want to see you." Cadence turned towards the stairs. "Come on. We'll both go down together." Sunset and Cadence both walked down the stairs together, leaning against the rails. Once they got to the bottom, they turned to the left and went into the living room. Once inside, the first thing that they saw, sitting down on the couches and chairs were Indigo Zap, Lemon Zest, Sour Sweet, Sunny Flare, and Sugarcoat. All of them were wearing casual clothes and looked at Sunset and Twilight together. "Hey, Sunset! How's it going, girl?" Indigo waved from her recliner. "Sah, dude?" Lemon plucked her headphones from her head once Sunset came into the room. "Oh. Hello, you five." Sunset pulled up a chair from the wall and sat down, laying Twilight down in her laps once she sat down. "What brings you here?" "We just wanted to see how you were doing." Sugarcoat pushed her glasses to her face. "Ever since you came back from Camp Everfree, the rest of the Rainbooms told us that you were feeling a bit upset. So, we decided to exploit the loophole in your sentence and comfort you and Twilight." "Clever as always, Sugarcoat." Sunset smiled. "I take it you're getting the highest marks in Crystal Prep now that Twilight's, well... too young to be in an academy?" She pointed down to her. "She's getting straight A's in almost every subject." Sunny Flare lifted the cup of tea in her hands and gave it a small sip. "That and none of the students need to push themselves so hard now that Cinch is out of the picture. It's like we've all been freed from our cages; to roam in a world where we can pursue knowledge at our own leisures." "You have to admit, Sunny can wax poetic," said Cadence in the background as she helped Shining Armor with the washing up. "That's why she's got the best marks in CPA's drama class. If I didn't know any better, I say that she was Shakespeare's long-lost cousin or something." "Yeah..." Sunset idly nodded at Cadence. "Anyways, how's our favourite Littlebolt doing?" Lemon Zest stood up and gently tousled Twilight's hair. "Littlebolt?" Sunset cocked an eyebrow. "She came up with the nickname on the way here. Twilight was still a Shadowbolt when she opened that little trinket and became that adorable little monster, so, yeah." Indigo joined Lemon. "Honestly, I think that she's the only Littlebolt on the planet, but you never know. One of us could make a device that sucks up magic, then when we release it, we could turn into cute little babies with demon wings and a badass horn like that." "Sorry to crush your dreams, Indigo, but Twilight came up with that fancy thing. The chances of us doing what Twilight did are less than of us winning the lottery. And you know how hard it is to win that rip-off cash-grab." Sour Sweet crossed her arms. "Still, though, it would be cute to be a little squirt again. Just crawling around, drooling, and making your parents' lives a living hell as you try to have fun, stripping them of having any chance of it." "No. No more magic babies." Sunset shook her head and held Twilight close. "I already messed up because I took Twilight with me to Camp Everfree. I'm not about to let any of you five repeat my mistakes and suffer the same fate as Twilight and Gloriosa Daisy." "Alright, alright, alright! We get it! Geez, the Rainbooms were less depressing than that when they told us about little Glori." Indigo took a few steps back and pushed her arms out. "Still, though, it's a nice thought." "Yes, but we all have to grow up and move on, Indigo." Sunset gently rubbed Twilight's back and watched her begin to close her eyes. "That's the point of starting out as a baby. You're only like that for a few years, then when you begin to walk and talk, everything gets harder and harder. You get away with less stuff than you could before and the lessons you face at school can be quite taxing on your brain." "True. It has been nineteen years since the five of us had what Twilight's got right now." Sunny Flare nodded and put her tea down. "She's got it easy, though. No-one in the history of the human race has had the privilege of being a baby two times in their life." She walked over and gave Twilight a gentle rub on her cheek. "She's gotta live it up while she still can, because once she grows up, she won't even remember a thing about the freedom she used to have. It'll be lost in a tidal wave of ageing as she climbs back up the ladder, re-joins Crystal Prep Academy, and hopefully have a better time than when she used to work for Abacus." "Hear, hear." Sugarcoat nodded and cracked a small smile. "None of us want Twilight's second foray into the teenager world to be as harsh as it was with ex-Principal Cinch." "Yeah. We don't want a sweet, adorable, sickening little monster like her in the hands of someone like Principal Bitch." Sour Sweet shook her head and gave Twilight a peck on the forehead. "Aww... She's so cute that I could throw up my breakfast." "I hope you don't, Sour." Sunset stood up and carried Twilight towards the kitchen. "It's time for Twilight to have lunch and I'd never forgive you if you spoiled her appetite." "Can we help her with her lunch?" Lemon Zest shook her hips so fast that if she had a tail, it would be wagging like crazy. "I'd love to see little Twilight get her face messy with her baby food." "I suppose you could help, Lemon." Sunset smiled as she unwrapped Twilight from the high chair and plucked the pacifier from her mouth. "You could help get Twilight's bottle warmed up while I'm feeding her." "Can I help?" Indigo chimed in. "Sure." Sunset nodded. "Someone's gotta keep Twilight entertained while I get her food and open it up." She began to open the cabinets up and rummage around. "You can keep Twilight happy can't you, Indigo?" "No problem!" Indigo put her hands to her side and puffed out her chest. "A Crystal Prep Shadowbolt can handle any challenge." She loudly proclaimed before leaning in to Twilight. "Hey, kid. How's it hanging?" Twilight giggled and fired a small beam of blue light at Indigo's face, causing her buzzsaw hairstyle explode into a poofy mess that stuck out in all directions. She waved her arms and pulled her high chair tray towards her, shuffling around in her seat. "Real funny..." Indigo shoved her hands into her hair and furiously re-styled it back into her buzzsaw style. "You're lucky that you're a baby and that it's super easy to get my hair like this." While Indigo messed around with Twilight, Sunset was busy shuffling little phials of herbs and spices around as she tried to find the baby food. Despite the fact that she was now a part of the Sparkle family, she was still trying to figure out where all of the food was properly stored. Lemon Zest, on the other hand, had already found the milk in the fridge and poured it into a bottle, sticking it into the microwave once she had applied a rubber top to it. "So, you want me to play with your face?" Indigo asked, raising one of her eyebrows at Twilight. When she was met with baby talk, she just shrugged. "Alright. I'll take that as a yes." She reached in for her little cheeks and gave them a gentle pinch, wiggling around. "Now where's that little smile I love so much?" She forced the corners of Twilight's mouth up, making a large toothless grin. Once she let go, Twilight began to laugh again. "There it is! There's Twily's little smile!" "Alright, Twilight. Grub's up!" Sunset came back with a few jars of baby food and a small plastic spoon. She set the jars down, opened them up, and dipped the spoon inside one of them. "Thanks for the help, Indigo." "No prob, Sunset." Indigo stepped aside. "Anything for my favourite Littlebolt." "I still think that the nickname sounds ridiculous!" Sour Sweet called from the living room. "Says you!" Both Indigo and Lemon said in perfect sync. "Open up, Twilight..." Sunset cooed and lifted the spoon towards Twilight's mouth, slipping it in gently. She waited for her to swallow the food but noticed that she wasn't. "Hey, c'mon, girl. This is good for you. We don't want another visit from Mr. Tickle now, do we?" She lifted her other arm and flexed her fingers. Twilight swallowed the food in her mouth, clapping her hands together as she waited for the next mouthful. Sunset gave her another spoonful, and she eagerly put the spoon in her mouth, inhaling the mush whenever it was presented to her. It didn't take her long to finish a jar, but her speed had allowed for her to get some of the food on her face. As she felt it dribble down her cheeks, she began to rub it into her skin, laughing as she painted herself with her food. "Twilight. Don't play with your food..." Sunset took a baby wipe from the packet and slid it across Twilight's face, removing the stains that she had been playing with. "There we go. There's a good girl." She then proceeded to feed Twilight with food from another jar. "You're a fast little eater, aren't you?" Twilight simply nodded and took another mouthful of food. When the spoon came out of her mouth that time, she lifted both of her hands and reached out for the jars of baby food. Auras enveloped them and with a yank of Twilight's tiny hands, she pulled the entire jar over to her and put her lips around it, drinking from the food and getting a lot of it on her nose and mouth. "Twilight! No!" Sunset stumbled forward and pulled the jar out of Twilight's mouth while she was halfway through. "You're gonna make yourself sick if you eat your food like that." "Still, though. You've gotta give her some credit." Lemon Zest took the heated bottle out of the microwave once it beeped and flashed. "You don't see many babies eat food from the jar itself." "Well, there's a good reason for that." Sunset cleaned up Twilight again and lifted her out of the high chair. "Babies have smaller tummies than that of a grown man or woman like the five of us. If she'd emptied her jar, she would've either been really fat or made herself throw up with all the excess gunk she was slurping. That's why spoon-feeding exists; to stop babies from eating more than their weight in food." "But that doesn't mean she can't have a bottle too, right?" Lemon Zest held the hot bottle in her hand and passed it over to Sunset. "A baby's gotta drink too, right?" "That's exactly right." Sunset put the rubber nipple of the bottle into Twilight's mouth, watching her suckle gently on it and receive a reward of warm milk. "Even though Twilight looked like she was about to eat the entire jar, that doesn't mean she can't drink her fill as well. She needs to balance out eating and drinking just as much as we do." Twilight cooed gently as she continued to suck on the bottle. Every suck she took was rewarded with milk and she eventually took it out of Sunset's hand and held onto it as she jiggled her legs around. Her wings fluttered gently and her horn and cyan mask hummed with light as she drank almost half of the contents. She began to close her eyes as she drank, slipping away into her own little world as the warm and sweet taste danced around in her mouth before sliding down her throat. If she could've spoken, then she would've said that the drink was the best in the world and that everyone should try it out, but being a baby, all that she could do was drink and babble as she finished the bottle off. "All gone." Sunset took the bottle out once it was empty and slung Twilight over her shoulder. She gave the baby a few pats on the back, hearing her let out a loud burp shortly afterwards. "There we go, Twilight. Now you're full and ready to get back to playing with your toys." "Hey. Not that it's any trouble, or anything, but do you think that we could all watch Twilight play with you, Sunset?" Sunny Flare walked into the kitchen. "We all want to know that she's in good hands after the Friendship Games out, and we'd really like to offer a helping hand for how we treated you and your school back then." "It's perfectly fine, Shadowbolts." Sunset put the high chair and jars away, while putting the bottle into the sink. "You didn't mean to say all those things about us back then. You were just under Cinch's impression, and you let her rules mould you all into the rival school archetype." She carried Twilight into the living room. "Still, I'm sure that the five of you were still nice girls to be with even before the Friendship Games. You might've just needed a push in the right direction, that's all." "Alright!" Indigo fist-pumped and watched as the other Shadowbolts all stood up and circled around Sunset and Twilight. There was a brief silence for a few moments until Sugarcoat broke it by saying, "So, which one is her room?" Sunset just cracked a small smile and turned towards the stairs again. "Follow me, girls." Sunset and the Shadowbolts all went up the stairs together, almost huddled up to each other as they formed a hexagonal pattern. Despite the fact that Sunset had told the Rainbooms to leave her alone so that she could recuperate, she was still happy to know that they were still looking out for her, even if they had decided to send the Shadowbolts over to help her ease the pain. Sunset wanted to thank the girls for the deed, but with Twilight beginning to shake herself around in her grasp, Sunset knew that duty was calling and that she was the one to answer.
New PlaymatesSunset lead the Shadowbolts up to the nursery and walked inside with Twilight in her arms. The whole group was met with a welcoming shade of bright baby pink as they all walked in. The toys were fairly scattered, with very clear paths leading to the changing table and crib. Sunset went over towards the blocks and set Twilight down by them, watching as she immediately reached out for them and began to play. "So, Sunset? Can I ask you a question?" Sour Sweet raised a hand once Twilight was lost in her playtime. "Sure. Ask away." Sunset Shimmer shrugged. "Has Twilight ever been a" —She leaned in close to Sunset and whispered in her ears— "problem at times?" "Well..." Sunset looked down at Twilight, who drooled and babbled as she plucked blocks from the ground and began to spell something out with them. "If I said no, then it'd be a bit too obvious that I was lying. Yes, I'm afraid that Twilight has been a bit wacky at times." "And judging by the wings and horn, it wasn't about what food she liked, if she'd soiled her diapers, or if she didn't want to go to sleep." Indigo squatted down and put her hands on her knees as she watched Twilight's block words come to fruition. "Knowing Twilight and all that magic stuff at the Friendship Games, I wouldn't be surprised if she was a bit hard to deal with at times." "A bit hard? That's the understatement of the century." Sunset crossed her arms. "Let's just say this. If you have a magic-filled baby with massive wings like this, then be prepared for inter-dimensional travel, crazy outburts of energy that could prove dangerous if you touch it, and even your house being turned into some weird set from a kid's TV show." She watched Twilight finish off the words, smiling and giggling once she put the last block down. "If anything, the regular baby stuff isn't that hard to deal with for me." "I wish that we could study Twilight in this state, but given that she is a baby, it wouldn't be right to take her from you." Sugarcoat walked over to Twilight and brushed her hair through the baby's long and lustrous locks of purple and black. "Which is a shame, because I have a feeling that this magic, used in the right way, would be able to revolutionize the world in so many ways." "Yeah. We could use magic to make houses and buildings in days, rather than years. We'd be able to learn how to fly without airplanes, teleport, create things with our imaginations! The possibilities are endless!" Sunny Flare grinned and put both of her hands to her cheeks. She let out a girly chuckle before taking a few deep breaths. "Excuse me for that. I sometimes act like a giddy toddler when I think about what Twilight's magic could do to help the world out." "Get real, Sunny Flare." Lemon Zest nudged her shoulder and gave her a coy glance. "You want to learn how you can use Twilight's magic to have fun. I can't really blame ya for that. Sunset and her friends can grow wings, pony ears, and bigger hair. The stuff I could do with longer hair..." Lemon grinned and drifted away into her own thoughts. "Oh. She's such a little sweetheart isn't she?" Sour Sweet picked Twilight up and rubbed her tiny belly. "Shame the rest of the world isn't cuddles and hugs for her." "So. What else is new?" Sunset asked as Twilight opened her wings and flapped out of Sour's hold and landed in the playpen. "Any social events coming up at Crystal Prep or something like that?" "Well... come to think of it, there is something going on that we've got our eyes on." Sunny Flare pulled out her phone, opened up the internet app, and scrolled down to show an advert. "Seems like what you girls did is really sparking interest." "What? What is it, Sunny?" Sunset came up to her and gazed down at the phone. "There's going to be a music video competition in a couple of weeks with prize money on the line. The proceeds for entry all go towards helping Camp Everfree stay afloat." Sunny Flare began. "Bring as many friends as you want and shoot the best music video you possibly can. The best entry will receive a prize of ten-thousand dollars. You can use any formatting and editing tools you want when making the video." "Sounds like fun. Plus, we'd be able to help your friend Timber out." Lemon Zest put her arm around Sunset's neck and gave her a smile. "Crystal Prep's got some of the best gear for editing stuff. We'll provide editing, while you and your friends could come up with the song, set, and other important stuff." "Well. Timber does need some help, given that he's gotta deal with Filthy Rich and Gloriosa. I'll let the other girls know once you all head home." Sunset nodded and zoomed in on the application forms. "This contest could be just what he needs to save the camp from the debt he's in." "Ah, yes. I heard everything from the Rainbooms. Didn't they say that along the way, Gloriosa got consumed by magic as well and turned into a little baby like Twilight?" Sugarcoat lifted a brow at Sunset. "Yeah. But it's kind of a long story and I wouldn't want to bore you with that kinda stuff." Sunset recoiled and ran her fingers through her hair. "Plus, it's kinda the reason why I'm spending the week away from the girls. Things got out of hand and I don't think I'm ready to face them again after I brought Twilight with me and ended up turning Gloriosa into a baby because of it." She snapped her head backwards and grunted. "Look. I don't want to stay on this subject for too long. Can we talk about the contest some more instead?" "Sunset. You're avoiding the question because it hurts you, doesn't it?" Sugarcoat adjusted her glasses and stared deep into Sunset's eyes. "Listen to me. There will always be moments like this where people get hurt. But you have to remember that you're not at fault here. You had no idea that it would go down that route." "I know, but don't you think that I deserve at least some slap on the wrist for my stupidity?" Sunset tilted her head to the side. "I brought Twilight, a magical baby, to a non-magical area to try and let her have some fun and quality time with me and the others. And all that got me was more problems than leisure time." "I know that, but don't you think that you should tell us exactly what happened?" Sugarcoat folded her arms in front of her chest. "There's no point in us helping you out if we don't even know what the problem is." "Look, Sugarcoat. You and your friends are still young. You've still got a lot to learn about magic." Sunset Shimmer hung her head, took a deep breath, and looked up at the girls again. "What happened at Camp Everfree goes beyond the boundaries of what we've come to understand..." Twilight watched Sunset Shimmer explain everything to the Shadowbolts. She cooed and tilted her head as she heard everything her mother said to the girls. But Twilight was a restless little girl. She wanted to play. She tried to fidget her arms and legs around and play with the toys in the playpen, but she quickly came to realize that she was alone in the pen. She took a look down at her tiny hands and whimpered like a dog. As she took one more glance out, she saw the bright hairs and bodies of the Crystal Preppers, and her eyes lit up on the spot. Twilight crawled over towards the playpen bars and grabbed onto them as tightly as she could. She pointed her horn at the five Shadowbolts and began to charge a spell. Instead of magical energy being drawn from thin air, she instead created magical auras around the teenagers and absorbed them into her horn, laughing and speaking in baby talk all the while. Finally, once she had charged everything up, she turned around at the empty playpen and fired five bright beams down onto it, causing small pillars of light to erupt from where she had shot her magic. "So anyway, that's it. The magic that I brought to Camp Everfree not only landed Timber Spruce with a potential courtroom case, but also another dent in his budget," said Sunset Shimmer. "Doing this competition is going to help Timber not only save the camp, but also give him a good head start when caring for baby Gloriosa Daisy. Now then, I hope that sinks in and that you'll all help me out with this." "Sunset. After the Friendship Games, you can consider us friends for life." Indigo Zap put her hand on Sunset's shoulder and gave her a smile. "Sure, we might not be as good as the Rainbooms, and that we might be a bit rough around the edges, but once you get to know us, we're all goo—" Before Indigo could even finish her sentence, a cavalcade of baby talk erupted from the playpen. Instead of Twilight's voice, there were more voices coming from it as well. There were some whines, giggles, and other noises as well, but there was mostly chatter inside the pen. "Uh, Sunset? What happened in there?" Sour Sweet turned her head towards the playpen. "I don't know..." Sunset also turned her eyes towards the pen and walked over towards it. She poked her head over the bars and looked down at the sight. "Uh oh." "Uh oh? What do you mean, uh oh?" Lemon Zest ran over with the other Shadowbolts towards the playpen. "Sunset, you're scaring us. What's going on in—" she looked inside "—there?" Inside the playpen, Twilight was now playing with five brand new babies, all of whom shared the same hair, skin, and eye colours as the Crystal Prep Shadowbolts. They all wore Twilight's purple and pink outfit, but were lacking in any wings, horns, or glowing neon masks. Instead, they were all just playing with stuffed animals, suckling on pacifiers, and crawling around with smiles on their faces. "Whoa!" Sunset jumped backwards and tripped over some building blocks. She landed hard on her rear end and felt a surge of pain shoot up her body. "What happened in there? How did Twilight create more babies?!" "Why are you so surprised by this?" Lemon Zest turned towards Sunset. "I think it's kinda cute. The little baby us-es are so super-duper adorable." She shook her fists with a massive grin plastered on her face and turned back to the pen. "Aw... Look at little me playing with those balls. I just wanna take her home and play with her all day!" "I must admit, this is rather heartwarming." Sugarcoat reached down towards her little clone and picked her up. She pulled her infant duplicate out of the pen and held it close to her chest. "It even has a heartbeat and everything. Twilight Sparkle has the power to clone us and make baby versions of ourselves so that she doesn't get lonely... How clever—especially considering that babies are incapable of thought and just play instead." "Indeed." Sunny Flare watched her baby self suckle on a bright pink pacifier. She picked her copy up and held her up to her chest. "Most babies can't talk, remember things, or even count or spell. So for an infant to have the power to create life like this is a miracle in itself. Like I'e said. I'm always easily impressed by Twilight's feats and what she could do when she grows up again." "Hey, little girl. It's me, you. No, not me as in me, I mean me as in you." Indigo Zap was holding her baby copy in her hands, looking into her eyes with a delicate smile. "Man. Am I talking to myself or is a grown-up version of me speaking to a baby me? It's kinda confusing, y'know?" "Ga ba boo baa li wa Lemon Zest. Ooo ga wa ma pabada?" Lemon Zest babbled down at her baby double. She heard her giggle, clap her hands together, and reach up for her nose. "Alright. I'll be honest here, everyone. I've got no idea what I just said and I don't think I understand exactly what she's saying either." Indigo and her baby self couldn't help but snicker at Lemon. "Maybe Pinkie Pie should teach you some baby talk," said the older version. "Given that you're here speaking to a smaller and cuter version of yourself, I think some lessons wouldn't hurt." "It'd also help when trying to deal with Twilight." Sour Sweet bounced her infant copy on her legs. "Though I don't know how I'd be able to learn all of it and speak in baby talk while trying to keep happy. This damn bipolar syndrome of mine is gonna make it REAL HARD to deal with kids." "Wait. Now that I think about it, both us and these babies are the same people." Sunny Flare looked down and watched her baby self giggle, still sucking deftly on the pacifier as she looked around. "Now, I might be diving a bit out of reality here, but doesn't this technically mean that we're causing paradoxes by taking care of ourselves?" "It might be possible." Sugarcoat watched her baby copy reach down and pick up a rattle, which she began to shake vigorously. "Normally, it's highly impossible for you to speak with yourself, as it would cause a rupture in the timeline. Even speaking one word to your other half could end up changing the future massively." Sugarcoat let the whole room fall silent for a few moments while they watched their baby duplicates play and cuddle in their embraces. Nothing out of the ordinary happened—even when the Shadowbolts were hugging themselves. "How odd. Nothing's happening. I thought that we would be plagued by paradoxes by now." "It's completely impossible for paradoxes to happen here." Sunset Shimmer brushed some hair out of her face. "Twilight Sparkle created the baby copies of yourselves. They didn't just appear out of some alternate universe and say that the fate of the world was in balance in some weird baby talk-language that everyone understands." Sunset reached down to baby Lemon Zest and brushed her hair. "They were created from Twilight's magic, so it might be possible that they're just illusions that'll vanish once she has a nap. Believe me. It's happened before. Once it's naptime for Twily, everything just goes poof. Magic gone." "So, as long as Twilight stays awake, the baby us-es are still here?" Indigo Zap asked. "Yes. I would believe so." Sunset nodded and picked Twilight up out of the playpen. "Because she used her magic, there's no risk of a paradox whatsoever. You five can all touch, cuddle, dress, and play with your baby selves as much as you want and there'd be absolutely no chance that the world ends. At least, that's what I think." Sunset rubbed the back of her neck. "It's the first time that Twilight's created new babies to play with, so I can't be sure that they'll vanish once she naps. Like I've said; it's possible, but it's not guaranteed." "Then, in that case, we should start playing with them." Sugarcoat set baby Sugarcoat down into a small baby bouncer and watched as she began to bounce in it. "It's the first and probably only time that we'll get to play with ourselves and it won't be seen as weird or awkward when someone comes barging in." "Was that a sex joke, Sugarcoat?" Sour Sweet's eyes shot wide open at Sugarcoat's remark. "If it was, then you've got guts. Speaking about sex in the presence of babies isn't something that I'd do—even with my disorder." "Oh, lighten up, Sour Sweet. They're babies. They won't understand." Sugarcoat smiled and tousled the hair of her little copy. "I could teach them about all three of Newton's Laws and they'd just drool, suck their thumbs, or crawl away. I highly think that a mere sex joke will stick in their brains at this young an age." "Aaaand, moving swiftly on from that, this is great!" Lemon Zest got down on her hands and knees and let her baby copy crawl off, soon following her towards the stuffed animals. "Now that Twilight did this spell, we can complete the group." "What group?" Sunset asked. "The Crystal Prep Littlebolts!" Lemon Zest threw her arms into the air. "They're the smallest, youngest, most playful, and the cutiest little Crystal Prep babies you've ever seen! Baby Twily, Baby Sunny, Baby Indy, Baby Sweet, Baby Sugar, and Baby Lemon—that being me, of course. No. not me me, I mean her me. Man. Indy was right. It is confusing—are the Crystal Prep Littlebolts!" Sunset couldn't help but let a hearty laugh as the other babies began to play. Her heart melted at the sight and she set Twilight down to play along with the other babies. "Alright. We've got an hour or so before naptime, so why not live it up? Go, Twilight. Go and play with your newest best friends; the Crystal Prep Littlebolts!"
The Road AheadSunset and the Shadowbolts were all playing together with their little duplicates. While it had originally come as a shock to the system for all of them—Sunset Shimmer especially—they had very quickly adapted to there being baby versions of themselves because of Twilight's magic. Through their smiles and silly faces, they were deep in thought on just how powerful Twilight's magic really was—or how powerful it would become in the future. "Aww! Mini me is so cute!" Lemon Zest gushed over how her baby copy was climbing her body. She watched the baby then reach up and take Lemon's headphones off of the top of her head and try to wear them, only to have them fall down and land on the teenager's legs. "I just wanna take her home right now and cuddle her!" "Lemon Zest, she's a magical clone created by Twilight's magic." Sugarcoat spoke in her usual deadpan accent, while at the same time, brushing her infant double's tiny hair. "I wouldn't get too attached to her." "Yes. If Twilight's magic disappears when she goes to sleep, then she might end up causing these little baby doppelgangers to vanish as well." Sunny Flare turned towards Lemon Zest. "Enjoy the time that you have with these babies at the moment, but when Twilight falls asleep, just be prepared to say goodbye to them all." "Yeah, I know, I know," said Lemon, watching her little version pick up the headphones again and put one of the speakers to her ears. At the same time, teenage Lemon turned the music on and made sure to turn down the speakers so that her tiny copy didn't have her ears blasted out of her head. "You know what the funny thing is? I downloaded a bunch of nursery rhymes because I wanted to treat Twilight to them. Y'know, 'cause she's a baby. But I never thought I'd be using them on myself. Literally." Sunset couldn't help but chuckle as she brought Twilight over to the Lemon Zests. She set Twilight down with Lemon and helped her towards the other speaker on the headphones. Now, both babies were listening to the soothing songs, and they both ended up giggling with each verse. Indigo Zap was watching baby her playing with a ball. She watched her throw the ball with her tiny arms up towards the Crystal Prep girl, laughing as she caught it with one sweep. As Indigo gently lobbed it back, baby Indigo caught it and laughed, wildly wiggling her legs as she celebrated her mediocre accomplishment. "Y'know, Sour? She's pretty cute for a kid." Indigo gave her baby a pat on the head as she watched her crawl off towards another part of the room. "Yeah. All of them are." Sour Sweet swooned, smiling at how her baby was sticking a building block into her mouth. "So young. So innocent. So unaware of the hellish and tedious futures that await them..." "Geez, always gotta end it with a back-handed comment, eh, Sour?" Indigo's mood fell when Sour patted her baby self on the back and turned to face her. "You've gotta get that stuff worked out, girl." "I know, I know! I'm sorry if my medication does jack, alright?!" She threw her arms down as the muscles in her forehead flexed. As soon as Sour watched Indigo recoil, she put a hand to her head and let out a sigh. "Sorry, sorry. I'm still a bit on edge. My medication seems to be doing less and less each day, and I'm not sure exactly what to do about it." "Hey, hey. Take it easy, Sour." Indigo came over and gave Sour a small hug. "You'll pull through this. I know you will. You've always managed to make it through a day at Crystal Prep without punching someone, so that kinda counts towards you getting better." "Hmm... I suppose." Sour looked up, her face beginning to melt with grief as she let out another deep sigh. "Indigo. Do you think that there's a cure for being bipolar?" she asked. "And be honest with me. Don't try and lie to make me feel better." "Well, I don't think there's one right now, but they're surely working on one." Indigo brushed her hand over Sour's shoulders. "But moping about these things is just gonna make everything worse. Just try to think about the good stuff in your life, y'know? Forget about the bad. It's only there for a short while." "But when the bad stuff happens, it usually stings more painfully than the good stuff makes us happy." Sour sat down and crossed her legs. "I just don't know where to turn, Indigo. Can't the students at Crystal Prep do something about this?" "Look, as bright as we are, we can't come up with a cure for these kind of diseases." Indigo shook her head. "If we did, then we'd be the talk of not only the town, but the rest of the planet! Plus, we'd practically get diplomas on the dot for that." She let a small smile creep onto her face as she envisioned a Crystal Prep that cured Sour's ailments. It soon dissolved once she focused on Sour again. "Look, just don't let it get to you right now. Just have fun with the little us-es and you'll soon forget about this problem." "Speaking of playing, I'm really having fun doing it with little me." Sunny Flare was strewn about on her belly, playing pattycake with the baby double of herself. Her legs kicked the air as she rhythmically struck baby Sunny's hands. "Who knew that playing with yourself could be so therapeutic?" As Indigo and Sour watched the whole thing, they couldn't help but smile and plucked their babies up from the ground, holding them gently. As they felt their babies begin to snuggle up to their bodies and coo softly, it felt like they had immediately forgotten about the world around them. All of the other noises that they could hear were negated, as they focused solely on listening to their tiny selves. To them, they wanted nothing else in life. This was their perfect moment. Dean Cadence knocked on the door and said, "Sunset? Are you in there? I need to speak with you." "Oh, I'll be right there, Aunt Cadence," said Sunset, setting Twilight down on the padded flooring to play with the others. "You be good for the Shadowbolts while I'm gone, alright, Twilight?" Twilight simply cooed and gave Sunset an innocent smile, nodding her head as she watched her walk out of the door and meet Cadence. Once she was out of the door, she turned back to the others and lit up her horn, as a small smile grew on her face. "So, what did you want to talk to me about, Cadence?" Sunset closed the door behind her and turned to face Cadence. "Is this about Twilight?" "No, it's not about Twilight, Sunset." Cadence held a clipboard and pen in her arms, with some documents emblazoned with a seal from the city board. "It's about the trials." "Trials? What trials?" Sunset tilted her head at the papers on Cadence's clipboard. "Well, as you know, ex-principal Cinch is going to be tried on suspicion of blackmail, thanks to you, your friends, and the five Crystal Prep girls with you today." Cadence tapped the paper with the clicker end of the pen. "As you may or may not know, a courtroom battle needs both a defense attorney and a prosecutor. We've already got both sides covered, but we'd like to ask you and the rest of your friends to be witnesses." Cadence watched Spike climbing the stairs. "In fact, everyone who was at the Friendship Games is going to testify in court. I hope that it's not an issue for you." "Oh, no, Cadence. It's not," said Sunset. "Principal Cinch had it coming. I'll be glad to speak out against her." "Good." Cadence turned the paper toward Sunset and handed her the pen. "I just need you to sign your name here and then you'll be ready for the case." "Already done." Without a moment to think it over, Sunset took the pen and wrote her name down, handing everything back to Cadence once she was finished. "Is that all, or is there more?" "Well, yes there is." Cadence took the first sheet and slid it underneath the one below it. It was another court paper, with the same symbol from before. "A Mr. Filthy Rich is suing Camp Everfree's staff for physical violence against him, and according to the documents he's provided, everyone there's going to be a witness as well. You and the others were at Camp Everfree, weren't you?" As soon as Sunset heard those words, she felt like she had been slashed all over with a blade so cold that it froze her wounds as soon as they had appeared. Her heart began to pound as she thought about Timber and Gloriosa's fate if they were to lose against Filthy Rich. Hastily, she reached for the pen again, trembling as she frisked the second summons. She tried to swallow, but she threw up in her mouth instead. "I'm guessing you need some time alone." Cadence just had to look at Sunset's face to know that something was wrong. "I can always come back later if this isn't a good time." "No!" Sunset swung her hands in front of her face. "I mean, yes. No, wait! I mean, I... I-I, ugh! Just let me see the papers." She took them from Cadence's hands. After giving them a more through glance-over, Sunset began to sweat as she put the ink end of the pen towards the paper. "Look, Cadence, there's more to this thing than meets the eye." "Oh? Then what is it, Sunset?" Cadence asked, leaning in slowly. "There's no need to hide it from me. Nothing you say is going to get you or Twilight in trouble. I'll make sure of it." "It's not Twilight and I that's bothering me about this," Sunset started, mustering up what little courage she had left after seeing the papers. "It's mainly about Timber and Gloriosa. Something happened to them that caused Filthy Rich to take out a lawsuit against them and the camp." She looked away and felt her face droop. "And if I told you about it, it would make almost no sense, wouldn't it?" "Sunset." Cadence put her hand on Sunset's chest. "We've seen Principal Cinch take the biggest fall from grace in the history of Crystal Prep, seen Twilight Sparkle be turned into a magical monster baby, and we've taken you into the family as one of our own because of all of this. I'm sure that we'll be able to make some sort of sense out of what you have to say." Sunset inhaled as much air as her lungs would take in, and exhaled an equally large amount as she rubbed her forehead with her fingertips. "Basically, when Twilight went over to Camp Everfree with me, she used magic to take me to Equestria," she began. "After a while, we managed to make it back home, but let's just say that Twilight wasn't the easiest to deal with—even back home." "I can imagine." Cadence looked back at the door and thought about Twilight. "That magic of hers is unlike anything this world's ever seen. It's like something straight out of a movie." "Yeah. But anyway, when we got back home, let's just say that—and I'm not putting this down as it being definite—Twilight did something to Gloriosa, and when we were back at the camp, she turned into a magical baby as well; as if Twilight's condition was contagious if she had just the right spell." "But Twilight's only a baby! How could she have known what spell to use to turn Gloriosa into one?" Cadence lifted a brow. "Ugh! I haven't even thought this through and I'm already confused. You could say that I've been replaced by an evil shapeshifting queen who wanted to ruin my life by turning into me and ruining my one chance at a stable relationship and it would make too much sense!" "Like I said. You wouldn't understand, even if I tried to explain it to you." Sunset looked down at the papers again. "Magic here's a bit different than it is back home. We have ponies in Equestria who can channel it; keep it stable. But here in this other world, there's no unicorns, no magical artefacts, nothing like that, and yet it's still happening right before our eyes. That's as close as I'll ever get to explaining it and I've still got no proof." She face-palmed and slowly rubbed her face down. "All we can do is brace ourselves for the next outbreak and take it as it comes." She began to sign the next document, but did it slowly as she recalled the moments that she witnessed Gloriosa attack Filthy Rich. "Timber Spruce is all alone now that his sister's been youthened. He's got no way of paying Camp Everfree, no way to stand up to Filthy Rich in court, and no way that he can win without our support. I got him into this mess by bringing Twilight with me, and now I'm gonna get him back out again." She underlined her name and gave the completed documents back to Cadence. "You look a bit frazzled, Sunset." Cadence took the signed papers away from Sunset. "Are you sure you're feeling alright?" "Look. The reason that the Shadowbolts are here today is because my friends are trying to make me believe that I'm not at fault here, yet I was the one who brought Twilight with me to the camp." Sunset put her forehead against the wall and groaned. "I've ruined Timber's life with Gloriosa being turned young. I brought magic with me when we all wanted to get away from it, and now it's put us in this mess. I told the rest of the Rainbooms that I wasn't ready to face them again until I'd calmed down, and I'm really starting to worry that I'll never be able to face them again—especially if Timber ends up losing the camp to Filthy Rich in this courtroom battle." "Sunset. Your friends aren't going to think of you any different if you lose." Cadence patted Sunset's back and watched as some small tears began to trickle down from her cheeks and hit the floor. "Your friends are always going to be there for you, no matter what. And even if they do leave you, they're not your only friends." She pointed towards the door again. "Indigo, Sour, Sunny, Lemon, and Sugarcoat are all in there today because they supported you. They wouldn't have come down to see you if you weren't friends with any of them. I suppose that, in a way, I'm glad that the Friendship Games happened this year. Sure, it was a bit crazy with what went down, but in the end, you ended up making friends with the enemy team. That's gotta account for something, right?" "Look. I'm glad that you're helping me out with this, aunt Cadence, but I really think that I need some time with Twilight." Sunset turned away from the door and started to walk back towards the nursery. "I just need to de-stress and think about this with a clearer mind. Otherwise, I might end up doing something really bad." "Alright. Well, I'll let you get back to it." Cadence began to walk down the stairs. "Dinner's gonna be a little late tonight. Shining Armor's gotta do some patrol work for the city after the recent crime increase." "Thanks for letting me know." Sunset waved Cadence off before she put her hand back on the handle. She opened the door and saw a rather peculiar sight. Twilight had severed gravity in the room. Furniture, toys, and even the other Shadowbolts were suspended in the air, just floating about with their little ones held tightly in hand. While she was trying to catch some of the floating toys, the others were trying to get back onto the ground, but with little success. "Twilight? What did I just say about being good?" Sunset muttered, jumping into the room to try and catch her little monster. With a single dive, she caught her and landed face-first on the ground, placing her on the ground like a football player would plant a touchdown. "Mama!" Twilight squealed, and lit up her horn in ecstasy. With a single wave of black and blue energy, gravity was restored, and a resounding noise of crashing nursery equipment burst throughout the room. "Thank goddess you're back, Sunset." Sunny Flare stood up and rubbed her rear end, trying to eliminate the pain that flared through her butt cheeks. "We thought that we were gonna be like that forever." "Not that I would've minded." Lemon lifted a finger. "Mini-me liked flying like that." She held the giggling baby Lemon up as proof. "Are you alright, Sunset?" Sugarcoat just had to look at Sunset's face to know that she had been shot in the metaphorical heart. "You seem a bit downtrodden about something." "No. No. I'm fine," lied Sunset. "I just need to take some time off and play with Twilight more. The courtroom cases are coming up soon, and I don't want to go into them feeling like a complete wreck." "You mean Cinch's trial?" asked Indigo. "Well, I get that you wanna get to the point like that, but I don't see how you're worried about that. Seems like a pretty open and shut case to me." "Indy, she obviously doesn't mean Cinch's trial." Sour Sweet scoffed. "That witch is gonna get burned at the stake in court. Just sit back and enjoy the chaos..." "She's talking about Timber Spruce vs Filthy Rich." Sugarcoat crossed her arms, almost suffocating her baby duplicate in the process. "I overheard the whole thing." "You heard?!" Sunset almost sprung into the air. "But why would you do that?!" "The Rainbooms told us all about what happened," Sugarcoat pushed her glasses to her face. "They said that you were a nervous wreck and that you needed cheering up. That's why we're all here today, Sunset. We're acting as your friends, seeing as how you shut the door on them when you needed them the most." "They also said that, in the case you turn into a crying mess, that we could all come together and help you feel happier," Lemon squeaked, smiling eagerly. "And since all of these babies are here, I think I've got the perfect idea..." "Oh dear..." Sunny Flare grimaced, watching the other Shadowbolts do the same. "What? What is it now?" Sunset asked. "Whenever Lemon Zest gets an idea, you can tell that things are gonna get out of hand pretty quickly." Indigo Zap broke the silence and walked over to Lemon. "She once had the crazy idea to have some kind of prep rally when the Friendship Games came round, and if it weren't for Cinch, the whole of Crystal Prep might've had a second Mardi Gras." "Hey! It's not my fault that Cinch was three steps ahead of me that day!" Lemon pouted, stomping and leaning forward like a spoilt princess. She soon composed herself and stood upright again, looking at all of the Shadowbolts and their babies with a wide smile on her face. "And besides, this is a good idea. This is gonna get Sunset over here a big goofy grin on her face." "You kinda sound like Pinkie Pie, Lemon." Despite her mental state, Sunset couldn't help but smile at Lemon's enthusiasm. "Alright, Lemon Zest. Let's see what you've got for an idea." "Alright. Now listen up. This is a great plan." Lemon Zest brought the other Shadowbolts and Sunset close into a huddle together.
Lemon's Plan and Twilight's Intervention"That's the stupidest idea that I've ever heard!" Sugarcoat was the first one to break out of the huddle once Lemon's plan swirled around in her mind. "Oh, c'mon, Sugarcoat. Learn to look on the bright side of things." Lemon tipped her hand with a giddy smile plastered on her face. "It's a foolproof way to cheer Sunset up!" "But even if Twilight were to go along with this, what's the betting she wouldn't be able to fix it all afterwards?" Sunny Flare lifted a finger. "Twilight's magic only fades away when she goes to sleep, and the way you want us all to play with her might make her so excited that she won't ever want to have a nap!" "Not to mention that Twilight's just a baby, Lemon Zest." Sunset held Twilight close to her chest and listened to her spout off some baby gibberish and mouth farts. "Her mind's a bit of a wacky place, y'know. And her magic might do something completely different to what you have planned. Believe me—I know." "Still, it's the best way what we can cheer you up, Sunset." Lemon Zest patted Twilight's back, watching her let off a tiny burp. "You've been a bit of a debbie downer ever since you got back from Camp Everfree, and you did kinda sound like you were upset over Timber's trial against Filthy Rich. And besides, it's fun to play with babies, isn't it?" "Again, I must add logic to this and say that Sunset is right." Sugarcoat almost tripped over her baby duplicate as she laid a hand on Twilight. "Baby minds are the most uncontrolled of all. While children have great imaginations and can think about things, a baby can do nothing but imagine. Hence why parents have to do everything for them when it comes to food, drink, and changes." "And given that Twilight's got all of that magic inside of her, her imagination might be a little more out there..." Sour Sweet tugged at her collar. "Heck, I'd say this little squirt's mind is like a whole other world in itself. I'm a little tempted to dissect her right now and see what's in that little magic-soaked brain of hers." "AND, moving swiftly on..." Sunset yanked Twilight away from Sour, glaring at her before turning to the others. "Look. I appreciate the situation, Lemon Zest, but what you're asking is almost impossible. I'm all for anything that'll make me happy, but I think you could've thought of something much better than this." "C'mon, Sunset! Lay offa Lemon a bit." Indigo Zap stood in front Lemon and held her arms out to the sides. "It's a good idea. Plus, you don't need to worry about it. If you want Twilight to go to sleep, then we can help her go to sleep. It's not that hard." "Will you two just listen to yourselves?" Sunny Flare tilted her head. "You're saying that we should play with magic, even after the Friendship Games ended. I thought we'd learned our lesson from following the beat of Cinch's drum." "For the record, it would be the funnest thing we'd ever done since the Friendship Games." Lemon squeaked. "You never know until you try, y'know..." "And what if we don't want to know?" Sour Sweet lifted a brow, rolling up the sleeves on her shirt. "What if we just make Sunset happier through just playing with the babies as normal? Then how silly would you feel?" "Girls, girls, girls! There's no reason to start an argument like this." Sunset let Twilight fly onto her shoulders. Then, she pushed both sides away from each other. "Look. Let's just drop this whole thing and go back to what we were doing before Cadence came in, alright?" But it was too late, both sides were bickering and fighting over their differing opinions. Any input Sunset would've had was quickly lost within a hailstorm of howling Shadowbolts as they both tried to prove that their way was the right way. Feeling like she would be unable to help them calm down, she simply hung her head and looked over at Twilight. "It's such a shame, Twilight." She sighed and rocked her gently. "They want to help me out, but they're letting the silliest of things get to them. It's just like what happened back at the Battle of the Bands." She watched as Twilight drooled and stared back at her innocently. "If only we could get them to calm down and see things from a new perspective..." And she sat down on her haunches. Twilight looked all over the room for something that she could use to make herself feel happy. Toys, blocks, and the other baby clones of the Shadowbolts caught her eyes, but it still wasn't enough to spark something within her. She was just about to give up when the little baby Lemon Zest tossed a book in her general direction. Twilight flipped through the pages and eventually stopped on a picture showing a tiny naked human with antenna poking out of the top of their heads, with large transparent butterfly wings poking out of their backs. Small twinkling stars were dotted around the mythical creature, as if to represent that they were magical. Her eyes lit up, and Twilight couldn't help but giggle as she lit up her horn once again and charged up a spell. "Twilight?" Sunset watched Twilight gather up her magic. "Oh no! No! No! No!" Sunset tried to grab Twilight's horn to stop the spell, but it was too late, as light blue lightning shot out of Twilight and collided with all five of the grown-up Shadowbolts, making them writhe and contort as if they were being exorcised by a holy priest. "Twilight! I didn't want any more magic tod—" Before she could finish, however, Twilight looked up at Sunset and caused a loose bolt to strike Sunset directly in the face, causing her to scream as well "—aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAGGGH!" The six teenagers could only let the pain envelop their bodies as Twilight's magic worked on them, beginning to transform them. They grew a few inches shorter before a series of magical orbs consumed all of the girls and detonated with a series of magnificent blasts of bright rainbow-coloured light, which illuminated the room and caused all of the babies to shield their eyes. Sunset Shimmer was the first one to wake up once the spell came to its' conclusion. She struggled to get onto her feet, but she could already feel that many things about her had changed. She couldn't feel any of her clothes and she felt much lighter overall. A pair of glistening wings poked out of her back, reflecting every colour of the rainbow beneath them. A bright yellow aura pervaded her and she could feel a horn on her forehead. "Wh-what happened?" Sunset got onto her feet and tried to look around. "Wait. What am I?!" She hastily tapped her body and felt her bare flesh jiggle with each tap. "And where's my clothes?!" She saw that her black leather jacket and her blue and yellow skirt were strewn about on the floor, and she thought that they looked at least twenty times bigger than usual. Before she could walk on, she saw Twilight, but now she was the size of a giant. She looked at the magical demon baby and felt fear gripping at her for the first time since she'd seen her. Her body grew cold and she couldn't help but hold her jaw wide open as she stared at the massive infant that she once used to care for. "Twilight! What's going on?" It was only now that Sunset had noticed that her voice sounded much higher and squeakier, as if she had inhaled some helium. "And why am I so tiny? What did you do to us?" Twilight picked up the book and pointed to Sunset, holding up the picture of the magical creature she had been examining earlier. She tapped the picture and babbled excitedly, wiggling her arms and legs while laughing at what she had done to the teenagers. "A pixie?" Sunset looked at the picture closely and wiggled her backside. Surely enough, she felt the wings shake with her movements, and patted them with the backs of her hands. "Did you turn us all into pixies, Twilight?" She tiptoed forward, trying to cover up her nether regions. Twilight nodded and grabbed Sunset, crumpling her wings at the same time. She gave her tiny mother a big goopy kiss on the head before playing around with her wings, straightening them out again. She turned towards the rest of the nursery and gently tried to flip Sunset off, cooing something to her as she urged her to look around. "Twilight! I'm not a bird!" Sunset pouted and held her fists to her hips, puffing out her face at her. She heard the baby giggle once more as she turned back and began to flap her wings. "Laugh now, Twilight, but once we turn back to normal, we're gonna have to start introducing time-outs and a bad baby corner..." Sunset indignantly flew off. As Sunset floated over the colossal nursery, she saw the other babies were still playing with toys, too distracted to see the magical flying creature above them. Sunset was now no bigger than a finger, so she would have to take extra care. All of the objects in the room now looked intimidating and unnerving, as any one of them at any time could crush her, and then Twilight would be without her mama forever. "Indigo? Lemon? Sugarcoat? Are any of you there?" Sunset's tinny voice called out as she combed the area. Despite how well she knew Twilight's room and the toys in it, trying to find the Shadowbolts now was like trying to find needles in a haystack. "C'mon, girls! You should stick out like sore thumbs!" Eventually, Sunset found a naked Lemon Zest, lifting up a block over her head. She heard the tiny green-haired teen-turned-pixie let out a small cheer before she carried the building block over to her baby counterpart, who picked it up and put it in her mouth. "Lemon Zest! Thank Celestia you're alright!" Sunset swooped down to both Lemon Zests and waved to the pixified one. "I thought the babies would've played with you too much for sure..." "Sunset! You're super cute!" Lemon tackled Sunset and gave her a massive hug, her voice more high-pitched than ever. "And my voice! I'm super cute as well! This is much better than what I had planned! Ooh! Ooh! What about the other Shadowbolts? Are they super-tiny and cute now too?" "I don't know." Sunset shook her head. "So far, you're the only one I could find." "Then let's go look for the others together!" Lemon bounced on the spot and fluttered her wings. "Wheeeeee! I feel like a little kid again!" "Don't get too used to it..." Sunset said under her breath as she took to the air and flew behind Lemon Zest. "Once Twilight has naptime, we'll turn back to normal, and the baby Shadowbolts will all disappear." Lemon and Sunset looked towards Sour Sweet and Sugarcoat's baby clones, only to see that they were suckling and drooling all over two more pixies, who flailed and kicked their tiny legs as they both grabbed onto the lips of the babies and pulled themselves out, coated in drool as they fell to the ground and spread the spit all over the floor as they tried to get up. "EWW! GROSS!" Indigo cried out as she tried to shake off the drool. "I've never been this dirty before!" "Oh, shut it, Indigo. At least you don't sound like you've turned into some sappy saturday morning cartoon character!" Sour Sweet squeaked, feeling the goop on her body squelch as she tried to clean herself up too. "Of all the places I've been, I never wanna go back inside a baby's mouth like that..." "Sour Sweet! Indy!" Lemon Zest waved her arms and shot down towards the two spit-clad pixies. "You're alright! We thought for sure that those babies would've eaten you alive..." She looked up at the two massive babies and watched as they crawled off towards pacifiers and put them in their mouths, sucking on them rhythmically. "Lemon?" Indigo Zap tried to get back on her feet, but slipped and slid over the drool. "Wh-whoa!" She exclaimed as she fell onto her back, burying her back in the spit again. "Thank goddess. We never thought you'd come and help us out." Sour Sweet shook herself down like a dog to get rid of all of the spit, splashing some in the faces of the other three pixified teens. "Wait. Where's Sugarcoat and Sunny?" "There they are!" Lemon pointed them out, and they were both in the mouths of baby Sunny and Indigo, but the babies sucking on them crawled over towards the playpen and tried to climb it, only to lose their grip and fall onto their diapered rumps. "And it looks like they're in trouble! I'll go and save them!" She darted off and pulled both of the other Shadowbolts out of the other babies' mouths, hanging them down so that the drool would just slide off of their bodies and drizzle all over the ground. "Oh gross! They're so sticky when they're like this! Eww! Yuck!" She felt both of them slip out of her grasp and fall, but they were both over Twilight's crib, so both Sugarcoat and Sunny Flare landed on a giant pink pillow, festooning it with saliva. "Lemon?" Indigo flew up with the others towards Sunny and Sugarcoat on the pillow. "Why did you just drop 'em like that?! They could've gotten hurt!" "I'm sorry, Indy..." Lemon blushed and crossed her legs. "It's just that they were so icky because of that baby goop and I couldn't hold on to them because they were super-slippery. It was like they'd just turned into fish!" "You're really lucky that we landed on a pillow, Indigo." Sunny Flare clutched the pillow's fibers to support herself. She shook her right hand once she stood upright and cleaned off the goo quickly. "If that were on something solid, we would've been done for." "Hold on, Sunny." Sugarcoat held her hand up at Sunny's mouth. "What are we?" She patted her tiny body and felt the wings on her back. "And why are we so small? We're even smaller than the babies now." "No shit, sherlock..." Sour muttered under her breath. "It's because we're super-duper itty-bitty cutesy-wutesy pixies now!" Lemon flitted into the air and performed some front flips in mid-air. "Wheeeeeeeee! I don't wanna turn back now!" "Pixies, huh?" Indigo looked over at the massive wings and gave them a quick pet with her hands. "Well, it isn't the weirdest thing that's happened since the Friendship Games. Plus, I kinda like these wings. I always wanted to fly on my own as a kid, but I never got the chance." "Well, Indigo, you and Lemon Zest might be happy, but the rest of us are still miserable about being like this." Sunny Flare put her hands over her mouth. "I... uh mean that you might be smiling now, but... no, wait, hang on a second. This is all fun and..." She slapped herself and let her cheeks fall. "Oh, you've gotta be joking me. Even our voices sound tiny too? How am I supposed to hand out sophisticated insults if I sound like I inhale balloon gas on a daily basis?" "Not to worry, Sunny. If what Sunset said is true, then we should be back to normal once Twilight has a nap." Sugarcoat came up to Sunny and wrapped an arm around her. "All we can do now is try and stay alive until Twilight sleeps. Speaking of which, Sunset? When is naptime for Twilight, usually?" "Well, I haven't really thought of tha—" "Hold on, Sunset." Lemon Zest covered Sunset's mouth and looked at Sugarcoat. "Can you talk again?" "Lemon? What's the point of thi—" Lemon Zest laughed as loud as she could, falling onto her back and waving her arms. "You sound so funny when you've got a squeaky voice, Sugarcoat!" She guffawed and wiped some tears from her eyes. "Funny? Do you think this is a joke to you?!" Sugarcoat tightened her hands into fists. "It's hilarious!" Lemon squealed and rolled on her bare tummy, punching Twilight's crib bedding as she did so. "Just ignore her. She's having way too much fun with this." Sour Sweet took Sugarcoat's hand and walked her away from the hysterical Lemon Zest. "Now, what were you going to say, Sunset?" "Well, I was gonna say that Twilight doesn't have any real naptime." Sunset walked towards the bars of the crib and looked out at Twilight and the other babies, all playing without anyone to look after them. "She just goes to bed whenever she feels tired. And usually, I have to give her a helping hand to settle down, as she can get a bit easily distracted with the thought of more playtime." "So... basically, you have to go out there into a world of giant babies and speak to one super-baby with magical powers to go to sleep? And you don't have any real naptime schedule?" Sour Sweet cocked a brow. "Forgive me for saying this, but that's really stupid, Sunset." "Sour!" Sugarcoat grabbed Sour Sweet's arm and twisted it around. "Gah! Let go! Let go!" Sour cried, trying to free herself from Sugarcoat's grab but with no avail. "One of my secret talents is that I've taken up martial arts." Sugarcoat might've been without her glasses in her tiny form, but she could still see Sour Sweet clear as day. "You might be one of the biggest hotheads at Crystal Prep Academy, but that doesn't mean that I won't be kicking your butt into next year, Sour Sweet. Do. Not. Make. Me. Angry. Or. Unnerve. Our. Friends. Understand?" Sour gave a meek nod and collapsed onto her rear end as Sugarcoat let her go. "I apologize for Sour's outburst, Sunset." She turned towards Sunset and stood on the edge of the crib. "Despite Cinch being fired, let's just say that her attitude still needs a bit of a rework." "I forgive her. She can't help being who she is." Sunset looked back at Sour Sweet as she went over to Sunny Flare and Indigo Zap. "If her name's Sour Sweet, then we expect her to be nice and cruel at the same time. It's not her being bipolar or anything like that." "Well, I'm glad that you think that way, Sunset." Sugarcoat gave her a small smile. "It's not fair to be born with a personality that makes it hard for you to make friends. We're all doing what we can to help Sour Sweet overcome it, but every day has its' fair share of challenges—" she looked back at the other bolts "—for her and for us." "Hmm... I hope that she manages to overcome it." Sunset looked back at Sour Sweet, who hung her head and let a small tear drip down her cheeks. "But let's not think too much about that. Now, we need to figure out how to make Twilight go to sleep." "Yes, Sunset. The question now, though, is how?" Sugarcoat sat down and hung her legs over the edges of the bedding. "Because these babies do get excited very easily, and now that we're pixies, they'll probably want to chase us and play with us, shaking us around, trying to eat us, or whatever else babies do with their toys." Both of the girls looked out into the distance as the other Shadowbolts calmed down and joined them. Even Lemon Zest, who had finally broken out of her fit of laughter, had caught her breath and now sat with the others on Twilight's crib. But no matter what they came up with, all six of them knew that they would have to leap from their cradle and get Twilight to sleep, one way or another. Author's Note In case you're wondering, the idea of the Shadowbolts being turned into pixies is kinda my way of saying that this is what the Breezies would look like in the human world if Twilight's baby magic made them into Breezies. I am a bit half-tempted to have them make one more trip to Equestria so that they can see that they really are Breezies, but Autum Breeze was right. The Equestria arc in the LOE arc was hollow, and I feel that going back would just waste time and lose readers, so I'll not be doing that. Other than that, I hope that you all have a nice day and that you make sure to share this story with all of your friends and followers. Maybe with 200 upvotes, we can get this story back into the featured box again after so long...
Babies and Pixies Don't MixTwilight saw Sunset and all of the other pixie-fied girls staring out into the rest of the nursery. Cooing and smiling, she fluttered her wings and flew over to them, while at the same time, unintentionally blowing them all away with each flap. But when she saw them hanging on for dear life, fighting against the force of her miniscule gusts, Twilight couldn't help but giggle and clap her hands. "Twilight!" Sunset flapped her wings as hard as ever she could, trying desperately not to splat against the wall and turn into a pixie pancake. "Stop that! I'm very delicate!" Twilight eventually landed in the crib right in front of the wind-battered pixies, drooling as she hunched her body down and reached out for Sugarcoat. "H-hey! Watch it!" Sugarcoat squirmed and wriggled around in Twilight's grasp, but she couldn't free herself from the giant purple hand. Seconds later, she found her entire top half wedged into Twilight's mouth, saliva drizzled down as it smothered her and made her feel sticky all over. She groaned and shivered, kicking her legs about in an attempt to slide out of the infant's mouth, before she was spat out and landed with a coat of spit all over her. "Sugarcoat!" Sunny Flare flitted over and reached an arm out for her, only to have her own hand covered in the gooey drool too once Sugarcoat took it and stood upright. "Eww! Gross!" "Sucked on by a magical baby..." Sugarcoat groaned as she shook herself down in a feeble attempt to remove most of the residue. "This is a new personal low for me..." "Twilight! Bad!" Sunset stomped up to Twilight with her hands balled up into fists and her forehead lines bent into waves. "We don't treat our aunties like pacifiers in this house!" She pouted and puffed out her chest. "Now, apologize to Sugarcoat right now, missy!" But Twilight lit up her horn and levitated Sunset into the air. Using her magic, she brought her mama close to her chest and hugged her tightly, suffocating Sunset Shimmer with each second. Cooing and babbling in incoherent baby gibberish, Twilight flailed her stumpy feet, banging against the tiny crib mattress. The shockwaves caused all of the Shadowbolts to fall to their bellies with loud thumps. "Twuhlughmmph!" Sunset's cries were muffled behind Twilight's arms. "Lmmmphmmmphm mmph!" "Sunset!" Indigo Zap flew as fast as her new wings could carry her and tried to pull Sunset out of Twilight's grip. She strained and struggled until her face turned dark blue, and when Twilight finally let go, they both catapulted out into the air. "WHOA! THIS WOULD BE AMAZING IF I WEREN'T SO TINY!" Twilight guffawed as Sunset and Indigo crashed against the ceiling and fell towards the ground. She reached up for the two tumbling pixies and lit up her hand with a bright purple aura. Her little hand created a ghostly arm that stretched out and grabbed Sunset and Indigo, and shook them up as Twilight wiggled her own hand. "TwIiIiIiIiLlLlLlLlLgHt!" Sunset was jiggled around so much that it was almost impossible for her to speak normally. "StOoOoOoOoOoP tHiIiIiIiS!" "Hey. We're magical pixies now, so shouldn't we have, oh, I don't know... MAGIC?!" Sour Sweet screamed from the crib's mattress. "Oh yeah! Totally forgot about that." Lemon Zest rubbed her hands together and made herself glow brightly. Her entire body twinkled and shone as she channeled magic inbetween her fingers. "Alright, tiny me. Let's see what this new body can do..." Lemon shot out a trail of green mist at Twilight, making her float into the air. As her magic got a good grip on the oversized magic baby, she had to use both of her hands to keep her suspended in the air. Groaning and gritting, Lemon Zest started to step forward with her arms out, as if she was pushing a massive stone block. Twilight flew out of the crib and back down to the ground, where the other babies gave her a massive group hug, pushing their cheeks into hers as they nuzzled and squeezed her. Sunset and Indigo fell back down to the crib normally and landed on their wings, bouncing into the air. They tossed and turned on the bounce and landed face-first into the fluffy mattress. As they tried to stand up, they were still shaken up by the shocks of landing and felt their knees wobble and wiggle. Just as they were about to fall again, Sunny and Sour helped prop them back up just as their legs gave way. "Are you two alright?" Sunny Flare rubbed Sunset and Indigo's faces. When she brushed their foreheads, she could feel the heat on the back of her hand. "Oh my. You two seem to have been through some intense Gs. Maybe you should just take a rest on the pillow over there." "It does look pretty comfy..." Lemon Zest's eyes drifted over towards the pillow and could see just how soft and welcoming that it was. She felt like just flying over there, chilling out, and grabbing some Z's while she was at it. She let out a loud yawn and waved her hand over her mouth. "Actually, don't mind me, girls. I'm just gonna take a load off. Wake me up if something bad happens." And she glided over the crib and onto the pillow, curling up into a tiny ball as she fell fast asleep. "Typical Zest. Always dozes off." Indigo Zap watched as her bestest friend in the whole world was just napping on a massive pillow. "If she weren't good at being awesome, I'd call her a slacker." "That sounds a little bit harsh, doesn't it?" Sunset tilted her head. "So? Crystal Prep isn't as lovey-dovey as Canterlot High is." Indigo Zap put her hands on her leaf-shrouded hips. "Listen, Sunset. I know that your school's all full of happy smiling people who just get on with their daily jobs without any bother like that, but at Crystal Prep, we gotta work our asses off. And at the end of the day, we're still groaning when we have to drag them back onto those seats—even without Cinch running the show anymore!" "Indigo, I think that the only one complaining about Crystal Prep is you." Sour Sweet crossed her arms. "Honestly, I love going there. It's so much fun to study, make friends, and enjoy the suffering of freshmen when it comes to gym class and Mr. Sombra's screwed-up regime of sit-ups, push-ups, and upside-down chin-ups!" "Really? I would've thought that you would complain about Crystal Prep too, Sour Sweet." Sunset cocked an eyebrow. "You don't really seem to be the most stable when it comes to emotions, so I can imagine that some of the tiniest little things would make you mad." "If I had a dollar for every time someone told me that, I'd be rolling in dough by this point..." Sour grumbled and huffed. "Anyway..." Sugarcoat walked past Sour and Indigo and stepped up to Sunset. "Sunset. If you're still worrying about the trials, don't. Hesitation will only make it worse for you." "Sugarcoat, only half of that day's gonna be bad for me." Sunset sighed, sat down, and rubbed the tips of her fingers across the mattress. "I'm with all of you on getting Cinch a guilty verdict, but when Timber's trial comes, I don't think I'm gonna be able to save him. The truth is that Gloriosa hurt Filthy Rich with her new magic, and now there's not a whole lot I can do to win it for them both." "Even so, you have to tell the truth." Sugarcoat's eyes widened as she tenderly rubbed her arm down Sunset's back. "Lying will only make it worse. If the court asks you to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, you have to obligate and agree. I know that it's a bitter pill to swallow, but the truth always is." "Easy for you to say." Sunset turned her back to Sugarcoat. "You use the truth like it's a pencil on paper. Here, the truth is going to get Timber and Gloriosa's camp torn to pieces. I can't do it. I won't do it. I'm not going to let Timber and Gloriosa down like this!" "Sunset. You're lying to yourself." Sugarcoat grabbed Sunset and twisted her around. Her glare was so sharp that Sunset thought that her eyes were going to get impaled. "Lying is one thing, but when you lie to yourself and change because of it, then it makes you a worse person in the long run. Stop it. Be who you are. Don't be afraid to tell the truth, and don't let anything stop you from being as honest and open as possible." "Sugarcoat. As much as I appreciate your tough love, I'm really not in the mood for it right now." Sunset broke out of Sugarcoat's hold and flew off out of the crib. "I've gotta check on Twilight and the others. You're welcome to come and help me out if you want." As Sugarcoat watched Sunset fly off into the vast expanses of Twilight's nursery, the other Shadowbolts approached from behind and watched Sunset fly off to tend to her demon daughter. The silver-haired teen turned to the others and asked, "What? Too much?" "Yep. Too much." Indigo shook her head at Sugarcoat. Eventually, a loud cry rung out across the room, very quickly reaching the ears of all of the Shadowbolts. It even woke Lemon Zest, who jumped up from the pillow and made karate chops and kicked thin air as she scrambled off of her butt and onto her feet. "It's okay, Twilight. I'm here..." Sunset zipped over to Twilight, who was crying and moaning loudly. An acrid stench rose up from her diaper, and it wrapped around Sunset's nose. "Ew!" She jolted backwards, pinching her nose shut. "How am I supposed to change her while I'm so tiny?" As Twilight continued to bawl, magic began to form in her hands again. She raised them up to the ceiling and caused a sudden updraft to throw Sunset to the ceiling, nailing her directly on the light fixture at the top. If her body were any bigger, she would have shattered the lightbulb into pieces. "Ow..." Sunset groaned as she pushed her back straight again, hearing a slight cracking noise. "Just how powerful is this kid anyway?" "I dunno, but I don't wanna see you in pain like that, Sunset!" Indigo Zap zoomed through the air and caught Sunset as she fell once more. "C'mon, girl. We'll get Twilight changed. Don't know exactly how, though, but we'll do it." "How, Indigo?" Sunset was lifted down towards Twilight. She held her ears shut so as not to let the deafening wails of Twilight pop them. "Look at us! We're tinier than the babies now! How are we supposed to take her clothes off, get her into a new diaper, and dress her back up when we can be crushed by one of her thumbs?!" "I don't know! That's why I said it, didn't I?!" Indigo exclaimed as the other Shadowbolts glided down towards them both. Indigo sighed, set Sunset down on the floor, and facepalmed. "Look, Sunset. I know that we're not the best when it comes to childcare, but ya gotta at least give us a chance, y'know..." "Indigo, you can barely take care of your own plants." Sunny Flare cocked a brow and tilted her head. "How do you expect to handle Twilight and the other babies?" "Cut me some slack, Sunny! Geez!" Indigo snapped her head towards the ceiling and walked off. "Kick a gal for trying to show interest in something she's never done before..." "Sunset does have a point, Indigo." Sugarcoat folded her arms. "Twilight's much bigger now that we're so tiny. Changing her is going to be an arduous task for all of us." "Especially considering you have to take the squirt's clothes off first, then carry her giant butt up to that changing, lay her down, get that massive stench-filled diaper off, and oh, did I mention the fact that she's SCREAMING OUR EARS OUT?!" Sour shrieked and made claw gestures with her hands. "Magic or no magic, there's nothing we can do that can stop a baby Twilight from making us all die from bleeding ears!" As the Shadowbolts all bickered and complained, Twilight felt the mushed poop in her diaper as she shuffled around, still wailing and sobbing. Unable to cope with it anymore, she simply flapped her wings and flew off, still with a poop-filled diaper sagging behind her. She tried to open the door and ended up pushing down the handle with her tiny feet. Now, free from her room, Twilight flapped off, leaving a trail of tears behind her. As Lemon Zest watched the others throw words and insults out at each other, she couldn't help but watch. Shivers ran through her hands and feet the whole time, and a new sensation began to build up inside of her. A fiery flame ignited in her heart and she clutched the air, bending the muscles in her forehead and flexing the ones in her arms as she stomped forward towards the other Shadowbolts. "Look, girls. Girls. GIRLS!" Lemon Zest pushed each of the Shadowbolts onto their butts and hung her head. "This. Is. Not. Who. We. Are. Anymore. Do you WANT to go back to the pre-Friendship Games personalities we used to have?!" "Whoa..." Sour Sweet watched as Lemon Zest's hair covered her eyes. When she bent herself down to get a look at her eyes, all that she could see was a seething golden gleam in her pupils. "I'm just gonna shut my mouth and fly away..." And she ran away, tripping over her own legs as she tried to get as far away from Lemon as possible. "Yeah. You'd better run alright." Lemon hissed with venom in her voice. It had been an eternity to her since she had felt so much anger and spite inside of her. "Think you're so tough, Sour Sweet? If there weren't children in the room, I'd show you a whole 'nother layer of hell..." "Yeah... Suddenly, I really wanna chill around the others." Indigo Zap backed up and bumped right into her infant self's foot. The second her gazes locked with her baby clone, she was stuffed into her mouth. "But not like this!" She mumbled from within baby Indigo's mouth. "Anything but this!" "Uh... Lemon Zest?" Sunset saw the fires in Lemon's pupils and lightly rapped on her shoulders with a finger. She could just see from Lemon's shuddering and shaking that she wasn't a normal teenage girl anymore. "Hey. We'll get through this. No need to worry." Letting off a big sigh, Lemon Zest stopped jiggling and turned to face Sunset. Small droplets of water formed at the bottom of her eyes. "It's not Twilight I'm worried about, Sunset. It's the Shadowbolts," she said. "Are we really that mean and cruel to each other?" "Hey. No-one's perfect, Lemon Zest." Sunset put her hand to Lemon's heart and looked her in the eyes like a mother. "Trust me, my friends and I were just like the Shadowbolts are now. We were disjointed, broken, and not good friends to start, but thanks to Princess Twilight back home in Equestria, we're much better friends than ever before." "Technically, if we're going by the harsh truth, you were once a ruthless and hateful school bully, but you quickly devolved into a friend once Twilight Sparkle and her friends ruined your chance at ruling the world and by zapping you with a magical beam of light." Sugarcoat adjusted her tiny glasses. "You stay out of this!" Sunset snapped at Sugarcoat, causing her to jerk backwards. Then, she returned her sights to Lemon Zest. "Sorry about that, Lemon. But it's all true no matter what way you wanna look at it. We all start off confused, angry, or just alone. but if you and your friends just try being nicer, embracing friendship more, and just learn to give a little leeway to the people around them, then I'm sure that they'd be able to make lots of new friends." "Sunset, I wish that we could be as good as you and your friends are, but the problem we have is that we've still got a few teeny tiny little bite-size bits of Cinch's old ways inside of us." Lemon Zest looked at the others. "Sugarcoat's still got her harsh honesty, Sour's still struggling with her bipolar syndrome, Sunny's just not got enough character, and Indy still gets a little bit too into things sometimes." "Well, none of them are really ways Cinch told you to behave." Sunset shook her head. "I'm sure that, despite being a bit cold-hearted and iron-fisted, Cinch wouldn't teach you all how to hate others and act so negatively towards them. It's just the way you all want to act, and you're all free to go ahead and do that. We're not gonna try and stop you from being who you are; even if you're more rough around the edges than most people." "B-but..." Lemon tried to say something else, but Sunset's arms coiled around her shoulders. "Hey. Don't worry about it, Lemon Zest." Sunset gave her a gentle pat on the bag and hugged her tightly. "I know that you're a good-hearted person; even if you have little... moments like that." Sunset smiled. "You're just as sweet and innocent as Pinkie Pie. Wouldn't be able to hurt a fly." "Looks like you're a poet and didn't know it, Sunset." Lemon stifled a giggle behind her hand. "But you're right. Even if the rest of my friends are negative nancies, I'm not gonna end up going back to the way I was back at Cinch's Crystal Prep." Balling her hand up, her smile grew ever wider. "In fact, I'm gonna try my hardest to stay away from being a meanie-bo-beanie and be more of a kinder, sweeter, and much more bubbly Lemon Zest!" "Good for you." Sunset patted Lemon's back. "Now, let's focus on trying to get Twilight cha—" but when she turned around, she saw that Twilight had gone and that the other babies were now beginning to crawl out of the room through the open door "—AAAAAHHHHHH! THIS IS A DISASTER!" Sunset took to the air and zipped through the nursery, She went so fast that by the time she had flown out of the room, she was already beginning to pant and gasp for breath. "C'mon, girls! We've gotta hurry!" Lemon Zest grabbed onto Sugarcoat's arms and Indigo Zap's legs, pulling them through the air. "The babies are breaking loose! We gotta stop 'em from falling on their heads and getting dumb!" As Lemon carried her two teenage anchors with desperation washing over her body, Sunny Flare and Sour Sweet saw what had happened and took off after them. They all knew that unsupervised infants was a recipe for disaster, tears, and chaos; something that they had all had quite enough of for one day.
Little HelpAuthor's Note Just to prove that I'm not dead, here's another chapter! It's a cute little chapter involving babies, pixies, a little bit of magic, and cute little Baby Midnight Sparkle. See ya in the next chapter! Little Help Twilight still wailed as Sunset and the pixiefied Shadowbolts flew up to her. She moaned and groaned as the smell emanating from her diaper began to grow more and more pungent with each passing second. "Ssh..." Sunset flew over to Twilight and rubbed her face delicately. "Mama's here, Twilight. No need to cry anymore." Twilight sniffled as Sunset rubbed her miniscule hand across her face. She opened her teary eyes and looked down at her. She reached out for her and delicately grabbed her, petting her gently and pulling her into a tight hug. Twilight babbled and gurgled contently as she pressed Sunset against her body. "Nngh... Okay, sweetie. That's enough," Sunset squeaked as she flew out of Twilight's hands. "Mama needs to give you a quick change. We don't want you to be stuck in a smelly diaper for too long." She flew down to the other Shadowbolts. "Girls, can you help me out here?" "This is the last thing I wanted to do today." Sugarcoat deadpanned as she took Twilight's tiny clothes off and started to rip open the straps on her diapers. "The worst part of taking care of a baby just got even harder..." "Oh, get over it, Sugarcoat." Indigo Zap opened the back of the diaper up and watched the other Shadowbolts helping her out. "Plus, it's not that hard." "Yeah! I mean, we're super-duper itty-bitty now, but we have magical powers too!" Lemon giddily performed some backwards loops and lit up her hands. "I just wish we could keep 'em when Twilight turns us back. It'd be great to fly through the city like that." "Lighten up, girl. I'm sure that she'll give us those superpowers some other day," said Indigo. "Alright. Now... how do we lift Twilight from here" —she pointed to the changing table, which seemed like a massive mountain in the distance— "to there?" "We can all just carry her. How hard can it be to lift a baby?" Sour Sweet flapped down to Twilight's body and tried lifting her up from the tummy. She strained and struggled as she tried to lift Twilight up into the air, to which the baby just giggled and flailed her arms. "Okay..." Sour breathed heavily. "Apparently, it's very hard to lift a baby." "You're doing it wrong, Sour Sweet." Sunny Flare flapped over. "Surely, the trick is to" —she tried lifting Twilight up as well, but with almost no change— "Work... together on... this! C'mon, girls! Give me... a little help here!" The other girls coiled their hands around Twilight's little waist and tried lifting her up into the air. They all strained and struggled. It was as if they were lifting a massive steel ball that had fallen from a water tower out of harm's way. But eventually, they did manage to haul Twilight into the air and carry her over to the table. "Gah! I don't think I've ever lifted something that hard in my entire life! And she's just a baby!" Sunny Flare gasped for breath and thrust her hand up to Twilight's face, prompting more laughter from the magic-infused infant. "Just take a deep breath, Sunny. She's not that hard to deal with." Sunset Shimmer gently pushed Twilight down onto her back. "It's just the fact that her magic can get a little bit crazy cuckoo sometimes. Other than that, she's jut as easy to deal with as any other baby." She leapt off of the edge and pulled the draws open. "Lots of hugs, kisses, playtime, and mother-daughter time are just the thing to curb her little outbursts." "Either that or your own magical powers." Sugarcoat smirked a little. "Alright. Now... This might be a challenge." Sunset set the diaper down and saw Twilight still laden out on her back. "Girls. Can you lift her up without me? I kinda need to get this under her." "Are you kidding me?!" Indigo slapped her forehead. "We JUST got her up here! Can't we just put the diaper on her right now?" "Indigo, any and almost all mothers KNOW that the diaper has to be slid underneath the baby's butt." Sugarcoat groaned and got into position, sliding her hands underneath Twilight's back. "Now assume the position already, will ya?" "Seriously, once I'm back to normal, you owe me big time, Sunset." Indigo flapped her wings and landed at the other side of Twilight. She put her hands underneath Twilight and began to try and carry her up, with the other Shadowbolts coming to her aid. "One. Two. Three. LIFT!" "Easy. Easy..." Sunset watched as the Shadowbolts slowly lifted Twilight up. Once she was a few feet above the table, Sunset slid the diaper right where Twilight's bottom was and put the diaper down delicately. "Okay. That's good. You can let her go now." The Shadowbolts dropped Twilight down and Sunset watched as they were about to start folding up the ends. Just as they were about to meet, Sunset remembered something and quickly broke them apart with some of her new pixie powers. "Whoa, there, everyone. She needs powder first," said Sunset. "You don't wanna give her a rash, do you?" And she flew down to another drawer. "Wait, you could've just magically lifted her up all this time?!" Indigo steamed, spewing smoke out of her ears. "No. Even with this new power, I can't use this power to lift Twilight up myself." Sunset flew into the drawer and came out with the bottle of baby powder. "Plus, we don't even know what this stuff does! Every time magic comes into play, I find it harder and harder to understand! God, I just wish magic came with an instruction manual or something like that!" "If it did, then things'd be a little bit too boring," said Lemon Zest as she put Twilight down on a newly-powdered diaper. "And besides, Twilight isn't really one to follow the rules. Especially now that she's this cute little bundle of joy." "Just... not when her magic's going cuckoo, that's all." Sunny Flare rubbed the back of her head. "We just need to figure out a way to learn Twilight's tells and cut-outs." Sugarcoat held out her hand to conjure up some magic, and easily managed to put the ends of the diaper together and seal it up tight. "If it's true that all the magic disappears when she falls asleep, then we just need to figure out a way to do that and we should be back to normal." "Thing is, Sugarcoat, Twilight is very excitable." Sunset lifted Twilight up and watched as Lemon Zest and Indigo Zap put her back in her magenta outfit and let her fly off to another part of the nursery. "Whenever she uses her magic or finds a toy she really likes, chances are she'll never wanna stop using it; even when I'm trying to calm her down." She walked over to the edge of the table and watched as Twilight started using her magic to levitate some blocks around her face. "Her magic, coupled with her baby-like instincts and lust for fun and playtime makes it really hard for me to keep her in check; even with the rest of my friends helping me out." "True, but at the same time, we can all take advantage of that." Sugarcoat put her fingers to her chin and stroked it. "Think about this, girls. Because she's so young, she'll want to play with whatever she can find. As long as we do it right, she won't be much of a hassle." "Sugarcoat, as good an idea that sounds, Twilight has magic now." Sunny Flare pointed at Twilight, who was firing tiny little beams of black and blue energy at the flying blocks, causing them to quickly transform into a blanket, a rattle, and a teddy bear. "If she's excited, then her magic could spike and everything could just go out of control again." "Don't forget about all of these little squirts." Sour Sweet fluttered down to her infantile duplicate and landed delicately on her head. "If Twilight does use magic, then these other us-es could really be in danger. Sure, they're a bunch of hooey created out of thin air as some sick and twisted fantasy of hers, but it definitely won't look good on your resume to know you killed five babies; fake or not." "But if they were created by Twilight's magic, then all we'd need to do is put her to sleep and they'd just disappear." Sunset flew down to Twilight and flapped up to her face. Her wings tickled Twilight's nose and made her laugh once again, wiggling her arms as she grabbed Sunset and stuffed her in her mouth, with her head sticking out of it. "But knowing her... that's gonna be a bit of a problem." "Ah, lighten up, Sunset. All you need is a bit of TLP!" Lemon leapt off of the table and picked up a little bear and brought it up to Twilight's face. "Tubular Lemon Zest Playtime!" Silence fell across the room as Sunset and the other Shadowbolts just gave Lemon Zest blank stares. Some of them cocked their brows while others turned their heads. "It's a working acronym, girls. Geez. Try to kick a gal for lightening the mood." She hid behind the teddy bear and used her arms to control its' arms. "Yoohoo! Hello, Twilight!" She tried to put on a deep voice, but her tiny pixie-like body didn't make it convincing. "Do you wanna play with me?" Twilight, fooled by the bear, squealed and clapped her little hands, giving Sunset the opportunity to fly out and land on Twilight's hair, holding on to her cyan horn. "Well, Twilight?" Sunset asked, leaning down over her head. "You wanna play with the teddy bear? Does my widdle cutie wanna play with the teddy?" She cooed, making Twilight too as well. "You do? Well, go on then. You'll have lots of fun with Mr..." "Cuddles McStuffikins the Third. The proud baron of the Kingdom of Huggles and Snuggles," said Lemon in her teddy-bear voice. "What shall we play first? I quite fancy a little gave with some spelling blocks over there." She manipulated the toy to point towards the lettered bricks. "Alright then! Come on, Twilight! Let's play with Cuddles!" Sunset gently tugged on Twilight's hair and lead her over to the blocks, with Lemon and her teddy following close beside them. Indigo, Sunny, and Sugarcoat still watched from on the changing table as Sunset and Lemon Zest played with Twilight. They were still lost for words at the sight of two tiny pixies controlling a baby with wings and a glowing mask and horn. "You, uh, alright there, Sugarcoat?" Indigo turned towards her and crossed her arms. "I don't think you've been this quiet since the Friendship Games..." "I could say the same thing about you, Indigo," Sugarcoat replied, finally breaking her silence. "You're always going on about hyping everyone up for something or being an obnoxious little pain on the ears, but now you're at a loss..." She knelt down and looked up at Indigo. "Just as I am." "It's a powerful little thing, isn't it?" Sunny stepped up to her friends and patted them on the shoulders. "To know that you want to say something but can't, out of pressure, confusion, or just awe." "Yes." Sugarcoat nodded. "Even I, someone so astute and knowledgeable, can get tripped up by such a thing as silence. Though I don't show it facially, I know that, deep down in my heart, that this is something that's shaking me to my very core." She looked down at her feet. "Ever since the Friendship Games, everything we know has been turned on its' head. Fiction and non-fiction are beginning to merge and my perception on reality is beginning to change with it. How long can we live in this little fairytale before the realism we once had begins to disappear once and for all?" "O...kay?" Indigo just shrugged and held her mouth open at Sugarcoat. "You lost me at 'astute and knowledgeable', Sugarcoat." Sugarcoat wanted to take offense at Indigo's remark, but after seeing everything about Twilight turning into a magic baby, shooting magic out on a whim, and turning her and the other Shadowbolts into pixies, all she could do was smile and tap her acquaintance's shoulders. "Never change, Indigo." "Hey, girls! You wanna come help us out a little?" Lemon Zest called over from the blocks, which were now being swarmed by all six of the babies. She herself was trying to take the bear away from Twilight and the baby double of Sugarcoat, who were now fighting over it. "Things're starting to get a little bit cray-cray here!" "Don't you have magic, Lemon?" Sugarcoat adjusted her glasses as she turned towards the squabbling infants. "Just use it to beguile them and they should stop." "Y'think I can just make magic happen while my hands are trying to keep Cuddles McStuffikins the Third from being assassinated?!" Lemon struggled against the babies, trying to push the bear up and out of their hands. "Now c'mon! Help a sister out!" Indigo saw the action and knew that she had to act. Though the mission was a bit weird to her, she knew full well what she had to do. She took a few steps back, limbering up for a run, then darted forward and threw herself off of the changing table, gliding down and landing beneath the bear like a superhero would. "Don't worry, Lemon. I totally got your back, girl." Indigo rubbed her hands together and caused light-blue auras to form around them. Thrusting them out to both sides, she made a pair of magical hands and used them to tickle the babies' armpits. "Cuddles McStuffikins will live to be cuddled another day, or my name isn't Indigo Zap!" As Indigo tickled baby Sugarcoat and Twilight's armpits, she watched as both of them giggled and tried to swat the hands away giddily, letting go of Cuddles in the process. Lemon then took the time to get him out of harms way by flying him over the room and into the toy box by the wall. "There you go, Cuddles." Lemon put him into the box and closed it up quickly. "The baroness won't have to worry about you anymore. Now, you should go and get something to eat." And she flew back off to handle the rest of the babies. As Lemon was about to make it back to Sunset, she ran into her own infantile copy of herself. Both of them looked each other in the eyes and before the fairy one could escape, the giant baby duplicate grabbed her and shook her around like a tiny rattle, making little chuckles as she did so. "Hold on, Lemon! I'm on my—" Before Indigo could even do anything, her own infant double picked her up and began to suck on her, leaving her legs hanging out of her mouth "—Hey! I'm not a pacifier! I'm you, me!" "Typical." Sugarcoat groaned and started to use some magical projections of her own. Using her newfound powers, she flew over to the babies and conjured up a projection of a bunny, skipping through the room. She then made another one and had it go wherever the other one didn't. "Come now, children. Let the rabbits distract you..." At first, the babies didn't notice the rabbits bounding around the place. The first one that did was the baby Sunny, who drooled at the sight of the rabbit and cooed softly, crawling after it. Soon after she began, the infant Lemon Zest let go of her pixie-fied other and went after the rabbit instead, babbling all kinds of incoherent baby talk as she pursued the spectral bunny. "You know what they say: Chase two rabbits and they'll both escape." She watched as Twilight, Indigo, and Sour followed after the second rabbit while her own baby mirage went after the first one. "Babies are so frail. They get distracted by the most simplest and insignificant things. That's what makes them so easy to control. You just need to know what makes them tick." Sugarcoat lead her fake rabbits to corral the infant Shadowbolts and Twilight around the room. She watched as Lemon, Sour, Indigo, and Sunset flew away from their month-old titans and flew back onto the sanctuary of the changing table. Once she saw they were back, she lead the rabbits towards each other, causing the babies to all move in together. Then when they were in close proximity, Sugarcoat slapped her hands and the rabbits collided with each other, exploding in a blast of light and twinkling stars which made her audience laugh once again and fall onto their backs. "And that, my friends, is how you control babies." Sugarcoat turned to Sunset and the other pixies and flew back to their side. She was met with a tiny round of applause from Lemon and Sunset, who were both just as enamored with the act as their children were. "That... was... amazing!" Lemon flittered on the spot and plastered a grin on her face. "How did you do that, Sugarcoat?" "I'd like to know too." Sunset took a step forward. "How were you able to just make a pair of rabbits out of thin air and use them to your advantage? I mean, you just got your magic today..." "What can I say? I'm a fast learner." Sugarcoat smirked. "A VERY fast learner, might I add." Sunny lifted a finger. "When she was told to research Beethoven for a music class project, she read a book on him and was able to recite it from acknowledgement to bibliography the very next day." "That's... a little bit disturbing." Sunset's pupils dilated into tiny pinpricks. "Anyway..." Sour rolled her eyes. "Now that we've got the babies calmed down, we should probably all put 'em to sleep while we can. Strike while the iron's hot, may hay while the sun shines, whatever you wanna call that hokey little saying, just do it now, before they get all hyper again." "Well. That's where our next problem comes into play." Sunset put her hands together and breathed in. "How are we gonna carry SIX babies from there—" She pointed to the infants and then to the crib where Twilight slept "—to there and tuck them all in comfortably?" She turned to the Shadowbolts. "Any suggestions?" The Shadowbolts were once again washed over with a wave of silence. They tapped their feet on the table twisted their wrists, tapped their foreheads, and even started pacing back and forth. Not one of them had the answer, though. Sure, they did have their magic, but that only fixed one problem. And they knew that they needed to take care of both problems in one fell swoop. "I just wish my friends were here right now." Sunset herself groaned as she sat down and folded her legs. "They'd know what to do."
Unleash the Magic"Unleash the magic, free the magic, now!" The students of Crystal Prep chorused as Twilight Sparkle took her steps forward to compete in the final event of the Friendship Games; the event that would seize them all another consecutive win against Canterlot High and its students. Twilight quietly took steps forward, being driven by the echoes of her peers as she approached Sunset Shimmer and her friends. She held up the locket that she had used to gather all of the stolen magic and looked upon it one more time, almost taken by the electronic light that swung around the centre. "Imagine all I'll learn by setting it free..." Twilight had always been one to have a vast knowledge on multiple different subjects, but now that magic had been introduced to the fold, she was partially curious just to see what this new magic could do. "Now winning these games depend on me." Sunset Shimmer watched Twilight place her hand on the locket and wrap her fingers around the clamps. Alarm bells rang in her head as she watched her new potential friend about to unleash something that she had no control or understanding of. She coiled her fingers into fists and ran towards her friends. "And what doors might open if I try to use it?" Twilight took one last deep breath and slowly began to prise the device open. Slowly but surely, she saw a radiant purple and white light begin to spill out of the opening crack. "But the magic's what I really want to see..." "Twilight, NO!" Spike bolted through the legs of the other Crystal Prep students and ran towards Twilight. He and Sunset Shimmer had the same thoughts running through their heads; neither of them wanted to see Twilight use magic for a purpose other than to win the Friendship Games. "NOW!" declared Luna and Cadence, signalling the beginning of the last event of the Games. Twilight ripped the device open, allowing the magic to fully be unleashed. A massive purple blast knocked everything close to her down onto their knees and arms—including her own principal and a few of her fellow students. As the locket quietly landed on the ground, a glowing ball appeared before Twilight, lifting her into the air with it as it slowly began to consume her. Everyone else could only watch with multiple mixed feelings as they saw Twilight Sparkle, the girl who had gathered up stolen Equestrian magic, be hoisted skyward and devoured by a rapidly enlargening ball of purple and white light. They saw her anguish and heard her cries for help as she hopelessly tried to reach out for her acquaintances at Crystal Prep, but alas, she was fully stolen away into the light. The orb shook and shuddered as it flickered between white and black, before it finally exploded in a majestic gleam of light. Everyone else could see nothing else through the gleam and had to shield their eyes due to the sheer intensity of it. Once they saw it begin to die down, they pulled their arms and hands clear from their faces. "What the heck just happened?!" Crystal Prep's Sour Sweet was the first to break the silence between the humans. "I'm not sure, but whatever we've done, I don't think it's good..." Indigo Zap slowly crawled closer towards the diminishing light. "Twilight? Are you there? C'mon, girl, you've still got us a Friendship Games to win!" "Indigo? I'm not so sure Twilight's there anymore..." Sunny Flare hobbled over and tapped on Indigo's shoulder, pointing towards the centre of the light. Eventually, the light broke off entirely, revealing a rather bizarre and alien sight. There, standing between the Rainbooms and Shadowbolts was a baby-sized girl with long black and purple hair sticking up high into the air. She wore a cyan face mask with a small horn of the same colour poking out of her forehead, with a pair of small black raven wings protruding out of the back of her shoulder blades. She wore magenta gloves and boots, a bright purple dress, and crimson baby shoes with white soles. "What in the world is that thing?!" Principal Abacus Cinch lunged a finger at the infant, twitching her eyebrows at the sight. Suddenly, the baby let out a loud cry that pierced the ears of all of the students and staff, deafening them without any effort. They all had to put their hands over their ears to keep their eardrums from bursting. Sunset Shimmer took a rolling dive and picked the baby up, gently beginning to rock her in her arms. "Twilight... I'm so sorry about this," she began to soothe the monstrous infant. As she patted the back of Twilight's head, she looked up at Cinch with fire in her eyes. "That thing as you so put it is the result of your stupid and crazy dreams, Principal Cinch!" "Such a foul tongue. Have you no respect for your elders?!" Cinch flexed the fingers in her right hand and glared right back at Sunset Shimmer. "And besides, this never would've happened if your side had just played fair instead of resulting to witchcraft such as magic to win the Friendship Games!" "Hey! No-one threatens Sunset Shimmer in the presence of a baby—even if it is a figurative and literal little monster!" Pinkie Pie stomped up to Cinch and got up in her face, forcing the old principal to lean back. "If these are the elders we're supposed to respect, then I think I'd rather be a big, old meanie-pants instead!" "I don't have to take such nonsense from a brat from Canterlot High!" Cinch pushed Pinkie onto the ground. "You're the ones we're supposed to ground into the dirt year after year! Nothing is ever going to stop that!" "Actually, Cinch, I must disagree with you." Sugarcoat readjusted her eyebrows and walked up to Twilight Sparkle. "What? You're defecting against me, now of all times?" Cinch watched Sugarcoat approach Twilight and place her hand on the baby's cheek. "Twilight Sparkle was the candidate for the final event of the Friendship Games," Sugarcoat examined the baby Twilight from all angles, watching her now giggle as she cuddled up in Sunset's embrace. "If this magical occurrence was legitimate and Twilight is indeed an infant, I'm afraid that disqualifies her from the Games." She looked up at Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and all of the pupils of Canterlot High. "Without someone to represent Crystal Prep in the last event, we have no choice but to forfeit our position. Ergo, that means that we have lost the Friendship Games this year, and Canterlot High are the winners." Murmurs and whispers sprung up from all of the students from both schools as Sugarcoat's words sank in. No matter how much the students wanted to believe that it wasn't real, there was no error in Sugarcoat's reasoning. "I guess it's for the best, really." Indigo Zap finally stood up and rubbed Twilight's head. "We did kinda act like jerks back there and forced Twi to go through with this thing." "As much as I hate to admit it, Sugarcoat and Indigo are both right." Sour Sweet gruffly shrugged her shoulders and looked at both Sunset and Twilight. Her heart melted at the sight of the baby and she exhaled through her nostrils. "Though she is super-duper adorable, we can't win the Friendship Games with a baby representing us." "Blasphemy! Ridiculousness! Falsehood!" Cinch could only splutter words as she watched her own students go against her. "This is simply a travesy, I tell you! I call shenanigans on this putrid and vile school!" "Call it whatever you want to, Cinch, but it ain't gonna change." Applejack walked up to the Crystal Prep girls and crossed her hands as she looked Cinch in the eyes. "Face it. Ya'll let your own ambitions get to ya. You wanted to win this thing so badly that you didn't really take Twilight's view on the situation into account." "If Twilight wanted to say no, you could've respected her decision like any moral human being would, but you wanted to win the Friendship Games instead, and now Twilight Sparkle is an adorepulsive monster because of it." Rarity pointed at Twilight, who now began to suck on one of her thumbs. "Adorepulsive?" Fluttershy asked as she wrapped an arm around the baby. "It's a combination of adorable and repulsive. I taught it to her the other day." Pinkie Pie raised her finger and smiled. "Whatever it is, it is still an affront to us all!" Cinch snarled and cracked her knuckles. "I hate this baby. I hate Canterlot High! And I hate all of you for defecting against my unbreakable and perfect wills!" She turned to the other students and stomped her foot. "How dare you side with such hideous creatures after they snatched us of a clean and perfect victory! You should all be asha—" "Save it, Cinch. We heard you talking about cancelling Twilight's application to Everton before you drilled those thoughts into her mind." Sugarcoat yanked hard on Cinch's shoulders, forcefully turning her to back to the group. "Not only are you a sore loser, but you have a potential blackmail case on your hands." She turned towards the crowd of CPA students. "I'm sure that, while we may be perfectionists, we would never want to be associated by a criminal, correct?" The students all nodded and glared at Cinch with fire in their eyes. "Monster!" One of them called out. "Witch!" Another yipped. "We're not gonna believe your lies anymore, Cinch!" A third student added before a chorus of boos flooded down on Cinch. "You brought this on yourself, you hear me?!" Cinch's strong hatred did not change as she watched her entire school rebel against her. No matter how strong she thought she was, she was not about to be dissuaded and dragged down by her own students. "Unbelievable. SWINES! DEFECTORS! COWARDS! ALL OF YOU! I'M GOING TO BE TAKING YOUR FEEBLE INSURGENCY UP WITH THE SCHOOL BOARD! YOUR TIME AT CRYSTAL PREP IS FINISHED! DO YOU HEAR ME?!" "If anyone's time is up, I'd say it's yours." Sugarcoat held an open phone in her hand and closed it up, slipping it back into her pocket. "We've just sent out a word to the police about you blackmailing Twilight. It's time to face the music, Principal Abacus Cinch. You. Lost. Accept it." "Being a loser's one thing, but being a downright crazy lady and saying that we'll all get expelled is another thing, Cinch." Lemon Zest took her headphones off and held them in her hands. "I'd say you're doing us a real solid here. It's better to be kicked out of school than to spend our time in it with you!" "Yeesh. When Lemon Zest's headphones come off, she's like a whole different person." Sour Sweet leaned in close to Sunset's ears and whispered into her ears. "I'd hate to see her when she's angry. But on the other hand, it might also be interesting..." As the students finally stopped jeering Cinch, police sirens blared as a single car rolled up and appeared before the school. Two policemen climbed out of the car and walked over to the principal, who was now starting to sweat as she looked around for any potential means of escape. "Abacus Cinch. We got a report that you were suspected on blackmail." One of the cops came up to Cinch and lowered his brows as he unfurled his police badge. "Care to say anything?" "Shining Armor, please think before you do this." Cinch looked into his eyes and clasped her hands together. "You were my best and brightest pupil! You won me the Friendship Games before, can't you do something about this?" "No. The law comes first in everything, Cinch." Shining Armor grabbed Cinch, turned her around, and slammed on a pair of handcuffs onto the elder's wrists. "Even in the Games." "This can't be happening..." Cinch's body grew cold as Shining Armor began to bring her towards the car. "Principal Abacus Cinch, you're under arrest on suspicion of blackmail," Shining said as he walked her down. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say and do can be used against you in a court of law. Further more, everyone here today is a witness in this crime and shall appear to testify against you." "You think this is over, you maggots?!" Cinch growled as she was pulled towards the car. " I'm fifty-five years old and you're just adolescents! I'm far superior to you in every way! DO YOU THINK THAT YOU'RE ALL SAFE FROM ME?! I WILL HAVE MY VENGEANCE ON ALL OF YOU FOR THIS INJUSTICE OF SUPERIORITY!" She was thrown in the car by Shining Armor and his assistance and driven off into the distance. "Well, I was not expecting that at all." Principal Celestia walked up to the Rainbooms and Shadowbolts as the police car disappeared. "But, nonetheless, it looks like we have our winners." "Yes." Luna held up a trophy and brought it over to Celestia. "Here you go, sister. I believe that this was what you wanted?" "It is, Luna." Celestia tousled Vice Principal Luna's hair. "The winners of this year's Friendship Games are Canterlot High and the Wondercolts!" Everyone from both schools let out a massive cheer as Celestia held the trophy high into the air. Any remaining tension between the two of them had been lost in their celebrations. Arms her thrown up high as the students of both school ran up to each other and shook hands, smiling and exchanging other pleasantries. As everyone else cheered and clamoured around Celestia and Luna, the Rainbooms and Shadowbolts' attention was focused on Twilight Sparkle. The former prodigy, now day-old monster baby, gently cooed as Sunset held her gently. The eleven teenage girls couldn't even focus on celebrating the downfall of Cinch with the matters now at hand. "We won the Friendship Games, but at what cost?" Sunset looked back at the delighted crowd of students. "Not only was it an unfair win, but we also lost Twilight in doing so. Does this really count as a victory?" "Well, whatever the case, Cinch is gone and you've opened our eyes for the first time." Sunny Flare looked up at the Rainbooms and cracked a smile. "Things are going to change at Crystal Prep a lot thanks to your help, Sunset Shimmer. And I must apologise for our rather outlandish and cruel behaviour earlier." "I hope that you can accept our apologies and bury the hatchet between our two schools." Sugarcoat also smiled and held out her arm towards the girls. "I know that none of the things we did were in any case the right ones, but I just want to let you know that we are no longer enemies. And, maybe, we can grow to become friends instead." "Well, I don't know if we can really be friends just like that, but I think we can work something out." Rainbow Dash lifted one of her brows and eyed up the girls. "May take some time though, just saying." "Well, I think it'd be great to be friends." Fluttershy walked forward and shook hands with all five of the Crystal Prep Shadowbolts. "It's much nicer than having to play against each other." "Totally!" Lemon Zest slid up to Pinkie Pie and gave her a wide smile. "Besides, I saw that party you put on earlier. It was pretty wild once you got into the mix, girl!" "Thanks! I aim to please." Pinkie Pie tipped her hand forward and puffed out her chest. "Thanks for the gesture, girls." Rarity nodded at the Crystal Prep girls. "I suppose that I could look into something, given that you did stand up against that rotten Abacus Cinch." "Besides, what did make you want to stand up to that old hag?" Applejack asked, tilting her head at the Shadowbolts. "When we saw what had happened, I guess." Indigo Zap took another look at the baby. "None of us wanted to lose, but at the same time, we knew that it wouldn't be fair to put a baby into the Games. Cinch played us all like musical instruments, and little baby Twilight was a wake-up call." "It was time for us all to wake up and smell the coffee; to come to terms with the fact that what we had done was wrong." Sour Sweet came up to the Rainbooms. "Winning the games is one thing, but to cheat was just plain wrong. Plus, that little pint-size over there wouldn't have lasted a second playing the Friendship Games." "Don't mind Sour Sweet." Indigo Zap gently massaged Sour's shoulders. "She's had some sorta weird bipolar syndrome since she was born. She's actually really nice once you get to know her. Much like I can be a great gal outside of Crystal Prep, y'know?" As the other Rainbooms began to accept the Shadowbolts' requests to be friends, Sunset still had her eyes fixated on Twilight Sparkle. As she looked down at the serene baby, she couldn't help but frown. She wanted to make amends after what she had said at the Tri-Cross Relay, but now she would never get the chance to do it. Hanging her head, a single tear slipped from Sunset's eyes as she brought Twilight back to her chest. "I'm so sorry for what I said, Twilight. I never meant for any of this to happen, just as you never meant to take magic into your own hands." Sunset looked down at the baby and tried to avoid getting poked by the horn coming from the demon's forehead. "I just hope that you'll forgive me for what I did to you. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not even when I leave Canterlot High, but I just want you to know that I apologise for my actions and that I hope that we can still be friends." Author's Note And, voila! The first chapter's done! Baby Midnight Sparkle story is a go people! I came up with this idea on the fly after almost a week of sitting down and writing other stories. This cover art you're seeing is actually made by a guy named TopWanted, and it was all done in crayon as well. So make sure to give him some praise as well, for he is a very talented man with just crayons at his disposal. And as always, have a nice day!
The Wrong Everfree ForestSunset and Twilight fell through a vortex above the Everfree forest and tumbled through the leaves and branches. As their bodies collided with the hardened natural mass, they finally ended up landing hard on the ground in a dense thicket with barely any light to lead them, with Twilight bouncing off of Sunset's belly to cushion the fall. "Ow..." Sunset shakily stood up and blinked as she began to look around the forest. She could see all of the leaves hanging from the branches perfectly fine as well as some more foliage further on into the darkness. "Did someone catch the number of that truck?" She said to herself as she tried to shake off a stinging sensation that pounded away at her brain. "Well, at least you're safe, right, Twilight?" As Sunset waited to hear Twilight's voice, all that she heard was the silence of the forest as she turned around. Twilight had vanished into the forest and was now nowhere to be seen. A few giggles could be heard, but other than that, there was absolutely nothing else. "Twilight? C'mon, girl. Not again..." Sunset groaned as she listened out for the infant's cooing. Pricking up her now-ponified ears, she slowly trotted towards the noise of Twilight's laughter and moved on from there. "At least we didn't get far. We're still in the Everfree Forest, so I can just grab you and get back to camp. No problem at all..." She pushed some of the bushes and plants away as she pursued her little sister. As she broke through the thresholds of plantlife and trees, she eventually caught a brief glimmer of Twilight's body. She saw her flapping her tiny wings and began to run after them, almost tripping over roots as she tried to keep up with her. Just as she skidded on the tips of her hooves to try and catch her, she dropped her jaw to find that Twilight was further ahead of her than she had originally thought. "Twilight! Wait up!" Sunset galloped after Twilight, not even realising that she was a pony once again. All that she cared about was the well-being of the human world's Twilight Sparkle. Even with all of the magic that she had taken in at the Friendship Games, she was still a baby both mental and physical. And such a form also inherited the weaknesses and lack of mental power as an ordinary infant, so she believed that without her, she would be completely vulnerable to everyone and everything around her. "Don't go too far! Mama won't be able to protect you if you don't!" But Twilight was still laughing as she floated through the air. She too had seen her arms and legs transformed into horse legs and felt that her nose was now a tiny foal's muzzle. Her wings, face mask, and horn still remained the same, though, and she was now poised on exploring the new world that she found herself in. "Twilight! If you keep going, you're going to end up being attacked by something!" Sunset began to sweat as her breathing became heavy. Despite her new equine body in place of her frail human one, she still had the same handicap of being unable to run for long distances without getting fatigued. "Just come back to Mama and we can go see your aunties at Camp Everfree again!" All of a sudden, a muffled snarl echoed through the bushes around both Sunset and Twilight. Figures jumped and darted through the darkness as they passed Sunset and focused on Twilight. Glowing green dots for eyes burst from the leaves as sharp fangs made out of wood were bared from each of the silhouettes' mouths. One pounced out of the leaves and looked ready to rip the baby limb from limb. "TWILIGHT! LOOK OUT!" Sunset reached out in desperation as she watched the monster shoot out of the forest and drive its' claws through the air, getting closer to Twilight with every millisecond. As the beast tried to bite down on Twilight, she simply fluttered her wings a small amount and barely avoided being bit or scratched. The sudden gust of wind had thrown her off, though, and she had trouble controlling herself as she somersaulted through the air and flew over Sunset's head. "Twilight!" Sunset stopped running and immediately turned back, trying to catch Twilight as she rolled and inched closer towards the ground. "Easy. Easy... Come to mama..." She tried to guess where Twilight would land as she tumbled out of control and broke past the line of leaves above her. She bit her lip and made a diving leap, catching Twilight just as she was about to hit the ground. "Gotcha!" Twilight landed daintly in the cup of Sunset's hoof and watched as the monster that had attacked her was now joined by two identical beasts. All made out of tree branches and leaves, they all snarled as their fierce gazes locked with that of hers and Sunset's. Twilight's lips quivered as she stared at the beasts and she raised her hands close to her face as she watched them slowly stomp up towards her. "Timberwolves? What are they doing here?" Sunset's eyes widened as she too examined the aggressive beasts that had tried to kill her and Twilight. "But wait... That can only mean that I'm back in Equestria!" She looked down at her hooves and saw that her claims were validated. With a small tap on the horn that poked out of her head, it merely served to prove her point. "Twilight must've brought us here with that toy of hers." Twilight however began to tear up as the monsters moved closer and closer to her. In her infantile state, she had no idea what to make of the creatures, but the unbridled terror in her eyes was purely visible when the Timberwolves snarled and got close enough to where they could eat her in one bite. With nothing else left to do, Twilight cried as loud as she could, lighting up her horn and hands as she pushed the creatures away. As the Timberwolves jumped high into the air and tried to eat both Twilight and Sunset, the magic-pumped baby screamed loudly and fired a strong aqua pillar of light from her three illuminated appendages, blasting all three of the wolves into the air and out of the forest, disintegrating into ashes as they hit the clouds. "Twilight!" Sunset looked up and watched Twilight crying, albeit a little bit softer than earlier. She pried her from her hoof and lifted her up with her magic, rocking her gently by her furry chest. "There, there. No need to cry. I'm here now and I'll make sure that you don't get into any more trouble." Twilight's tears streamed down her face and dropped onto the ground. The soft and gentle swings through the air did give her a sense of comfort as she looked up into Sunset's eyes. Her wails were now reduced to simple whispers as she frantically reached out for Sunset and hugged her neck, babbling something into the pony's ears as she pushed her cheeks against hers. "Mama..." she cooed. "Don't worry, Twilight. Mama's here." Sunset stood up and walked deeper into the forest, gently holding Twilight close to her with her magic. "Now, don't run off, or you'll lose me again, alright?" She watched Twilight nod her head before planting her tear-ridden face onto Sunset's again. "Good. Now let's see if we can find some way out of this place and get back to the human world." As Twilight peaked out into the darkness, she wrapped her wings around her tiny body and huddled up against Sunset, shaking and shuddering as she braced herself for another attack. Her horn lit up in response to her actions and a small purple pacifier appeared around her mouth that she immediately began to suck on. The rubber bulb that now plugged up her mouth soothed her lightly, and the more that she bobbed it in and out, the more relaxed that she became. She still held tightly onto Sunset and climbed onto her back, but her eyelids began to droop as she fell into her caretaker's fur. Meanwhile, back in the human world, the Rainbooms were all gathered around the totem pole as they watched Gloriosa and Timber handling everyone else's activities. From rock climbing, to sailing, and even to baking, they saw a variety of different things to do in the forest. However, that wasn't what had captured their interest. "Hey, girls? Has anyone seen Sunset and Twilight?" Applejack asked as she began to scan the campers for any sign of their missing friends. "Ever since that whole deal with Gloriosa and Filthy Rich, the two of 'em have just up 'n' vanished into thin air!" "I'm not sure, Applejack." Rainbow Dash's eyes shot from student to student as she tried to find Sunset and Twilight. "They can't have gotten that far, right? I mean, c'mon! Camp Everfree's not gonna let anyone go missing like that!" "I dunno, Dashie. I've told some pretty spooky campfire stories the last few times I was here." Pinkie Pie tipped her hand as she pulled her shirt down by her waist. "Something in the forest might've snatched them up and is probably cooking them in a pot to serve with a side of salad while topping them with salt and pepper!" "Pinkie Pie! Don't be ridiculous!" Rarity spluttered and almost lost her balance as she pushed her hand off of the pole. "Sunset Shimmer would never deliberately get lost in a place like this. The forest isn't too expansive, and Timber and Gloriosa would've known if they had wandered out of the camp's boundaries." "But Rarity, don't forget that Twilight has that magic rattle on her." Fluttershy slowly raised her finger and looked into Rarity's eyes. "We don't know what Twilight can do now that she's a baby, so it could be possible that she accidentally pulled herself and Sunset into Equestria. And if that's the case, then I don't know how she's going to get back here in time." "Fluttershy, if Twilight and Sunset went missing, then Gloriosa and Timber would've raised the alerts by now." Rarity tipped her hand in front of Fluttershy's face. "Don't worry about it, girl. Sunset's going to be alright. She saved the world from three evil sirens, so I'm sure that she and Twilight are fine wherever they are." "Yeah, but I'm still not entirely comfortable with the idea of Sunset and a powerful demon baby all alone with no-one to help 'em." Applejack turned towards Fluttershy and Rarity and cocked brows at both of them. "What if you were in that scenario? How unsafe would you feel trying to juggle the needs of a magical baby with weird powers and nobody would be able to help?" "Well, when you put it like that, I suppose that I would feel quite unsettled." Rarity's body grew cold as she envisioned the scenario that Sunset was in, only with her instead. "Gosh. I sure hope that the poor dear's alright, lost like that without any food, water, or spas within a mile radius! We've gotta do something!" "But what can we do?" Applejack turned towards the lake and looked out to the trees on the other side. "We don't have the power to keep up with Twilight. She's a baby using all of our magic. We're just ordinary teenage girls again without her." "Well, I guess the only thing that we can do now is pray." Fluttershy knelt down and put her hands together. She closed her eyes and looked into the afternoon sky, watching as the clouds covered up the sun. "If we all put our hearts into seeing Sunset get back safely, then I know that we can—" "Attention, campers!" Gloriosa's voice rang out on the camp's speakers. "We're about to begin opening workshops for anyone who wants to do something while they're here! We have cooking, crafts, and even animal care on the roster! So come on down!" "COOKING?!" Pinkie bounced into the air as high as she could, stretching out her legs before landing with a massive smile on her face. "Count me in!" Without any other responses, she dashed off to the cooking workshop, leaving nothing but a trail of dust behind her. "Fluttershy, I appreciate the gesture, but we can't just sit around and pray for Twilight and Sunset to come back the whole time that we're here." She squatted down and helped Fluttershy back onto her feet. As she did, she noticed that some hair had dropped down into Fluttershy's eyes as she began to frown. "Oh, dear, I know that you're concerned about them, but we can't mope all the time. We came to Camp Everfree for a fun little getaway, right? Shouldn't we balance our worries with the fun stuff we can do here?" "Yeah. Besides, you don't wanna remember Camp Everfree as the place where Twilight and Sunset got lost." Applejack gently stroked Fluttershy's back as the group walked off. "We can pray at night before we go to bed if they don't show up by then, but I don't think they'll be lost for that long. Just trust us on that." "Well... alright then." Fluttershy resigned and walked with them, letting off a small sigh as she brushed the hair out of her eyes. "I just hope that they get back soon. There's all kinds of scary things in the woods like thorns, cliffs, and mean predators. Oh, what if they get hurt? I don't want to see little Twilight covered in cuts and scratches!" "Fluttershy. Chillax." Rainbow Dash began to massage Fluttershy's shoulders. "Sunset'll come back faster than you know it. She's a strong girl. Now c'mon! We've gotta have fun while we still can!" "OK." Fluttershy dropped her hands and gave a small grin as she looked into Rainbow Dash's confidence-filled eyes. Oh, Twilight, Sunset, where are you? Please don't get lost in the Everfree Forest! We all miss you already! Despite what her face was saying, her mind was the complete polar opposite; she just chose not to show it as she continued down the path with the rest of the Rainbooms.
