Author's Note

Craziness, exposition, and continuity! All for the price of one!

Was Sunset out of character here? I kind of feel like when I wrote this, she was.

Turning Sugar Sour

Sugarcoat wasn’t like the rest of her peers at CPA. While most of them lived under the illusion that they should try and have fun when doing their job, she found that fun was something that derailed the purpose. Fun had no implications to her job if it compromised or made it harder for her in any sense of the word. Regardless of this, she was stuck with the burden of raising a baby Sour Sweet until Wheeljack could fix the device and alter it to age her back to normal again. It was a hard task, but she knew that she just had to grin and force it for as long as she could until it was all over.

“Suga…” Sour whined and reached her tiny arms up for Sugarcoat’s face.

Sugarcoat sighed. “What is it, Sour?”

Cooing and moaning gently, Sour patted her belly, which rumbled upon doing so. She tried to pull Sugarcoat’s shirt away from the collar and reveal her breasts.

“Okay, that’s enough of that.” Sugarcoat quickly concealed herself again and whisked Sour away, prompting some whines from the hungry baby. “Sunny Flare? Did you remember to get her a high-chair?”

“Is Sour getting hungry?” Sunny’s ears pricked up when she heard Sugarcoat walking towards the kitchen. “Alright. I’m on my way over.”

Sugarcoat laid Sour Sweet down on the breakfast bar as she went over to the shopping bags. Rummaging through the contents, she eventually found the jars of mushed up baby food and plucked them out, setting them down on the counter. She turned back and was about to set Sour Sweet down, but saw that Sunny Flare had already taken the liberties. With her job snatched away, Sugarcoat picked out a spoon and opened the first jar.

“I think Sour may like this. It has all of the nutrients that a healthy baby needs. And I think I’ll warm up her milk.” Sunny said as she went to grab her baby bottle.

“Note to self, remember to use this experience and take it into account when having children of my own someday.” Sugarcoat mumbled to herself as she took the first spoonful of food and walked over to Sour Sweet.

“Okay Sour. You wanted some food? We’ve got you some food.” Sugarcoat said. “How’s the milk coming Sunny?”

“Just set it for two minutes.” Sunny pounded the buttons and started the microwave up. “That should give us enough time to feed her.”

“Good.” She looked over to the lounge. “Indigo? Are you planning on coming out of the closet any time soon?”

“And have to deal with that little monster? No WAY!” Indigo opened the door and threw two consecutive knifehands in front of her face. “Even if this is a babysitting thing, I’m not going near Sour Sweet. Baby super-soldier or not!” And she went back into the closet.

“Maybe she’s just not comfortable… coming out.” Lemon snickered with both hands cupping her mouth, trying to keep herself from bursting out laughing.

“Don’t you even start it Lemon!” Indigo yelled from in the closet. “You know I’m not like that! I don’t bend that way!”

“The new Dumb and Dumber movie’s looking great, eh, Sugarcoat?” Sunny Flare gave a sadistic smirk at Sugarcoat.

Sugarcoat just scrunched her mouth and nose. “I’m just happy none of them are cracking jokes about Smallfoot bending that way. Or really… any bending jokes at all.”

“Suga! Sunny!” Sour started getting impatient, and banged her tiny hands against the tray of the chair, stomach rumbling with every hit.

“Hang on sweetie, food’s coming.” Sunny spoke in a warm voice. She took the spoon from Sugarcoat and brought it to her face. “Open wide, dearie.”

“Wait… something just occurred to me. Babies may not like everything we offer them,” said Sugarcoat. “Maybe we should have considered wearing masks so we don’t get any spit ups.”

“We’re not going to go and try and get masks right now Sugarcoat. Let's just try and deal with what we can do. Maybe she might like this kind of meat.” Sunny moved the spoon closer to Sour’s mouth.

Sour opened wide and allowed Sunny to feed her the spoonful of food. She took one bite, and almost instantly, she spat it back out in her face. “Yucky!” She said, wiping the residue off of her chin and onto the tray.

“Can’t say I didn’t expect that to happen.”

Sunny just scowled and wiped some of the food off from her face. “Okay… so she doesn’t like that. Do we force it to her, or do we feed her something else?”

“Sunny! Wan dat!” Sour Sweet leaned forward and pointed to a jar of applesauce.

Sunny turned her head and looked at the jar of applesauce. “Maybe she’ll like that. At least it's healthy, that’s a good thing. I hope.” Dipping her spoon in it, she took the applesauce up to Sour.

Sour cooed at the food and put it in her mouth. She swashed it around in her mouth, smiling as she finally swallowed and clapped her hands, giggling at the taste of the applesauce.

“Well we know she likes that.” Sunny smiled, feeling relieved. “That’s some good news.”

But it quickly went away when Sour Sweet peed in her diaper. She laughed as her diaper turned from clear white to damp and soggy in the center.

Sugarcoat and Sunny just groaned and slammed their foreheads with the palms of their hands.

“Suga! Sunny! Food!” Sour demanded, still hungry and wanting more, even with a wet diaper.

“I’ll go get a fresh diaper… This is not how I wanted to spend my Saturday.” Sunny groaned. “Hopefully Smallfoot doesn’t find out about this and try to murder us.”

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie and the Cake Twins were down in the kitchen, with Smallfoot standing at the door. The Cakes were strapped into their own high-chairs while Pinkie got the bottles and baby food prepared simultaneously, humming a little tune to herself as the Cake Twins grinned at her every move.

“Hey Pinkie, have you ever thought about having kids someday?” Smallfoot asked. “Like if you ever wanted to settle down, have a family?”

“Of course, silly!” Pinkie grinned and got two spoons of baby food ready. “Babies are the best! They’re cuddly, giggly, funny, and most of all, super-duper adorable!”

“Well, not according to our Crystal Prep friends. I talked with them about the subject matter once, they didn’t seem to find having kids too appealing. Well, except for Lemon.” Smallfoot replied.

“Oh, the Crystal Prep girls are always rough around the edges.” Pinkie fed both Pound and Pumpkin, hearing them giggle as they swallowed. “I’m sure they’ll come around soon.”

“Maybe… or they’ll stick to not wanting to do anything with kids at all.” Smallfoot rubbed the ground with the tips of her feet. “From the stories I’ve been told, they don’t seem too fond of having kids. Well, except for Sour.”

“Well, if you do wanna have kids someday, you’ve come to the right place.” Pinkie Pie gave a smile as she took some food, did a backflip, and fed the Cake Twins another spoonful each. “Nana Pinkie Pie is on the job. I do babysitting, imaginary babysitting, and I teach how to babysit kids too! All for the low, low fee of absolutely nothing!”

“With a price like that, you must get an awful lot of clients.” Smallfoot smirked.

“Oh, I’m not in it for the money.” Pinkie shrugged. “I just love to see babies babbling, playing, and just having fun with what little time they have. After all, you’re only a baby for two years. Then, all the hard work comes in, and that’s no fun at all.” She smiled. “And besides, mom and dad pay me an awful lot in terms of allowance…”

“I see.” Smallfoot said as looked to the two babies smiling. “Aw... “

Pinkie Pie then heard an audible hissing noise. For a second, she thought that Pound or Pumpkin might have wet themselves, but when her own groin got warm and damp, she ended up blushing. “Oopsie!”

“You wear diapers too, Pinkie?” Smallfoot lifted a brow when she saw Pinkie’s white undergarments.

“Only when I have to babysit.” Pinkie smiled and walked off to the table. “Something I’ve learned is that when a babysitter wears diapers too, the babies do tend to connect a little more with ‘em. Plus, how could you say no to this padding? It’s super comfy!”

“Shouldn’t have pounded that last energy drink huh?” Smallfoot asked. “I heard that stuff’s not good for you.”

“Eh, it’s no trouble.” She took some diapers out of the nearby slot. Two for Pound and Pumpkin and one for herself. “Oh, Smallfoot? Do you mind taking over for me? This might take a while…”

“I’ve got it. Just… just go." Smallfoot said rubbing her face.

Smallfoot turned her attention to the two babies who stretched their arms out, trying to reach her.

“Aww… aren’t you two a couple of cuties?” Smallfoot smile got wider as she leaned in closer.

Pumpkin and Pound Cake both giggled as they still tried to reach for her.

“You two need hugs?”

Pound reached his arms up, making the symbol for uppies. No sooner had he done it than Pumpkin mimicked his actions, cooing and babbling incoherent nonsense with a big goofy grin on her face.

Smallfoot just giggled and she went to pick up the two babies, holding them in both arms. Both of them leaned their heads in and hugged Smallfoot, trying to wrap their arms around her.

As Pinkie changed herself, she watched Smallfoot holding the two babies. Her heart melted at the sight and she couldn’t help but smile. “Aww… Smallfoot’s gonna be great with kids. She and Sour should totally have some.”

Smallfoot just giggled and she held them close.

“You two are real sweethearts, you know that?”

As soon as Pinkie got her new diaper on, the microwave beeped rhythmically. Leaping up from the table, she pulled her skirt up and skipped towards the microwave.

“Time to drink up, you two!” She sing-songed and plucked two warm bottles of milk out of the microwave.

Smallfoot carefully walked towards Pinkie, still holding the babies in her hands. “You two want a drink?”

They nodded and reached out for Pinkie’s bottles of milk. Once they took them off her, they popped them into their mouths and slowly began to drink. Their eyelids drooped as they felt the warm milk trickling down their throats and into their bellies.

“Um… is this normal, Pinkie? Are they supposed to be acting like this?” Smallfoot asked.

“Well, yeah.” Pinkie nodded. “Babies usually take naps like this. Bottles of milk and pacifiers are really good for them whenever they wanna take a one-way ticket to dreamland. Wish I could join ‘em, but I’m in my teens. I can’t have baby dreams anymore.”

The two babies fell asleep, with a quarter of the milk left in both of their bottles. Snoring gently, Pinkie Pie picked out two pacifiers and slowly slid the rubber bulbs into their mouths, watching them bob them in and out as they drifted off into their dreams.

“Aw… aren’t they adorable when they’re asleep?” Pinkie asked.

“Honestly, I find Sour adorable when she’s sleeping. But this is cute too.” Smallfoot grinned.

Once the Shadowbolts had cleaned Sour up and got her bottle ready, they thought that it would be the end of their troubles. But Sour, still giggling, took the bottle in both of her hands and squeezed it as tightly as she could, spraying some of the milk into Sugarcoat’s face.

Scowling, Sugarcoat wiped the milk from the sides of her face and took her glasses off to clean them.

“I really hope that Sour won’t know nor remember any of this when she’s back to normal.” Sugarcoat said, wiping her glasses. Her vision was too blurred to see Lemon Zest sliding a cellphone into her pocket.

“Well I’m not sure about you girls, but I need to step outside for a brief moment. I’ve got to clear my head. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Sunny said, as she walked away from the kitchen.

Walking towards the door, she carefully slipped out and slid it shut, sighing in relief. At least she was far from their tiny terror for a few moments.

“Hm… I wonder how the new trainees are doing. Maybe I should check up on them.” Sunny Flare’s idea soon vanished once she thought about it. “No. Bad idea. I can’t leave Sour alone by herself. Besides their results are none of my business. I’ll let Indigo pester Sunset about this.”

“Pester me about what, Sunny?” Sunset stood right by the door.

“I’m not dead yet!” Sunny jumped so high she was sure to hit the ceiling. She landed with a wobble back on her feet and recomposed herself, sighing as she took some deep breaths. “Ah, oh. Sunset, sorry. I didn’t see you there. W-What are you doing here? I thought you were training the new recruits.”

Sunset groaned. “I was…”

“It didn’t go very well… did it?” Sunny asked.

“No, it didn’t. Road Rage and Wasp did alright, but… I think you know who missed the mark.”

Sunny cringed. “Strongarm and Tracks… again?”

“Yep.” Sunset crossed her arms. “Honestly, I want those two to do well, but they’re really just getting in each other’s way and it’s starting to annoy everyone else.”

“Well, maybe it wasn’t bad this time,” said Sunny. “How was it?”

Sunset pulled out a small little pad from her coat. “Accounting all of the results from Professor Von Joy… they’ve defied orders, left teammates behind, constant arguing on the field of battle, and they didn’t look at every position where the enemy was. Overall, if Optimus and I were hostages in that situation, they would have blown up Optimus, me, themselves, and their teammates outside.”

“Well, what do you expect from a former police academy cadet and a shallow out-goer? Or even a defector for that matter?” Sunny cocked a brow. “Newbies, defectors or not, they’ll never be real Autobots.”

Sunset raised a brow. “Sunny. Do you really need to be that harsh with Road Rage? She said she was sorry, and she devoted herself to the Autobots. She didn't even do anything bad right now.”

“Yeah, but Road Rage basically scarred Smallfoot for life by siding with those pirates.” Sunny folded her arms.

Sunset looked at Sunny with a raised brow. “Sunny. Everyone deserves a chance of redemption. Even those who were pirates. Besides, it was her own decision to join us. Well… with some encouragement, she joined us. Sour’s, Overload’s… it was someone’s encouragement, I don’t know who’s!”

“If you believe everyone deserves a chance at redemption, then why did you just leave Megatron to die on that godforsaken rock in space?” Sunny’s eyebrow remained raised. “That’s what we at Crystal Prep call being a hypocrite.”

“You're really bringing that up right now? I didn’t leave him out there! That was Starscream’s doing, all I did was throw him off a building that wasn’t even high! Besides, how could I have known that he was thrown out there…” Sunset paused for a moment and she noticed something on Sunny’s shirt. “Sunny. Are you cooking?”

“What?! N-no!” Sunny couldn’t hide the stains Sour Sweet had put on her. “Just… uh… um…”

“Sunny, you know there’s no use trying to lie to me.” Sunset showed off her crystal. “I can read your memories, remember?”

“I was… I had a bit of a mishap when I was trying to pour myself a drink and Lemon Zest went crazy in the kitchen.” Sunny chuckled lamely.

“Uh huh. Yeah.” Sunset hastily grabbed Sunny’s arm and delved into her memories. Within seconds, she saw the Shadowbolts walk into Wheeljack’s room, with him showing off his new device, and with Sour Sweet suffering the brunt of the beam.

Sunset pulled back and gasped. “No… Sunny. You better tell me the truth. Is Sour Sweet okay or not?”

Defeated, Sunny hung her head. “No. No she isn’t. Wheeljack’s new device turned her into a baby and we can’t turn her back until he repairs it.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Did you think about telling someone about this? Maybe letting the others know about this pretty glaring issue?”

“SIDESWIPE AND BUMBLEBEE ARE TERRIFIED OF BABIES!” She screamed. “WE DIDN’T WANT TO RISK ANY OF THE OTHER AUTOBOTS BEING TERRIFIED OF A BABY IN THEIR HIDEOUT!”

Sunset flinched back as Sunny screamed her lungs out.

“Okay, look… I’ll keep this a secret, but, eventually you girls are going to have to tell the truth to everyone.” Sunset put a hand on Sunny’s shoulder. “Especially Smallfoot. She can’t be kept in the dark forever you know.”

“No! If Smallfoot hears about Sour Sweet as a baby, she’ll be so depressed that I don’t know what she’ll do!” Sunny’s eyes shot open. “She could have a Rarity moment, or drown her sorrows into cry-fighting. Or even worse… she might end up joining the Decepticons!”

Sunset stared at Sunny with a deadpan look on her face. “Sunny, do you really think depression is her one main emotion?”

“Hey! Depression does horrible things to you! Just look at Sugarcoat!” She threw her hands to the door. “Sugarcoat doesn’t smile because she’s always super-depressed about the world and how bad it’s gotten politics-wise!”

Sunset raised her hands. “Whoa, whoa… calm down. Lets not go there, okay? Look… I promise I won’t say anything to Smallfoot. But if I don’t, you have to. She’s going to find out sooner or later. Oh… and one more thing…” Sunset smirked. “If you want me to stay hidden about this… you have to be nice to Strongarm and Tracks…”

“That’s not so bad.” Sunny said.

“... And Wasp…”

“I actually like Wasp." Sunny replied.

“And… Road Rage,” Sunset said with a smug grin. “Oh, and don’t say anything mean to her, okay? She’s having a hard enough time trying to dealing with everyone giving her a hard time, she doesn’t need any constant reminders of her pirate life.”

“Alright, Sunset.” Sunny hung her head and twiddled her fingers. “I won’t be mean to the new recruits anymore.”

“Thank you, Sunny.” Sunset nodded. Unexpectedly, she opened her arms up for a hug. “Does someone need a hug? You look exhausted.”

“A hug would be nice…” she sniffled.

Sunset smiled and she pulled Sunny in for a hug, patting her on the back. “It’ll be okay, Sunny, I know it.”

“I hope so…” Sunny rubbed Sunset’s back while hugging her.

“Look… if things get out of hand, it's okay to tell people.” Sunset’s hug finally came to an end. “You don’t need to hide stuff like this if you can’t do it on your own. It's okay to ask for help.”

“We’ve never really asked for help before…” Sunny sniffled.

“Really? Never? Not even when you were younger?”

“When you go to Crystal Prep, Principal Cinch drills the notion into your head that help is a waste of time and not beneficial to anyone.” Sunny Flare hung her shoulders down.

“Oh. I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.” Sunset felt her heart sinking into the pits of her stomach.“But it's okay. Look, things are different now. Principal Cinch is in prison where she belongs, and she can’t order you around anymore. It's okay to ask for help if you need it.”

“Well… can you help us, then?” Sunny asked.

“Hmm…” Sunset scratched her chin. “I suppose I can try to help. Sure.”

“Thank you.” Sunny smiled and wiped a tear from her eyes.

Sunset just smiled and pulled Sunny into another hug, rubbing her back.

Sunny turned back to the lounge door and opened it up. When she saw what had happened inside, her jaw was agape.

“What… the heck… happened?” Sunset asked.

“Sour… Kim Possi… Super-baby…” Sugarcoat’s hair was a complete wasteland. The fabric holding it altogether had fallen out, making her hair droop down her legs like a Rapunzel wannabe. She ran out of breath and fainted before the girls, revealing Sour Sweet watching TV.

“Ya see?! Babies are TERRIFYING!” Indigo called out from the closet again.

Sunset scratched her chin as she thought. “Have you girls thought about calling Pinkie? She’s pretty good with handling babies.”

“Not even she can deal with this little monster…” Lemon Zest hung from the ceiling fan, pointing a finger down at Sour Sweet.

“She can deal with two babies at once, not to mention myself as a demon, Twilight as a demon, a nature-obsessed demon, and three seahorse sirens.”

“Were you, Twilight, or those three sirens demon babies too?” Sunny asked with her hairs standing on end.

“Um… no. They were giant monsters who wanted them dead and tried to kill them. And that’s including myself back then.”

“Look, I just…” Sunny Flare wanted to argue more, but lost her will fight. “Never mind.”

Teletraan-1? Play Kim Possible Season 4 Episode 19: Nursery Crimes.” Lemon Zest sighed. “We need at least ONE successful babysitting job today…”

“Is a spy cartoon really the best option here? What are you girls trying to show me?” Sunset tilted her head.

“THAT THERE’S A WAY TO HANDLE THESE KIDS, BUT WE DON’T KNOW JACK ABOUT DOING IT!” Lemon cried.

Sunset was so startled by Lemon’s yell, she could feel the sound waves throwing her against the door.

“What have I gotten myself into?” Sunset groaned and rubbed her head.