Author's Note

Fluffy!

Smallfoot's Little Sourball

Smallfoot held Sour Sweet close to her face, looking down at the sheer, unbridled joy that washed over her baby-fied girlfriend. Smallfoot couldn’t help but crack a smile at how adorable she thought Sour was in this state, while the Bolts just stared at her in shock.

“Aw, who’s a little sweetie?” Smallfoot asked.

“She’s… not… mad?” Sunny gasped.

“Give her a few minutes. Then she’ll ram us down like a possessed killer car from the 1950s!” Lemon gulped.

“Mama!” Sour Sweet giggled and reached for her face, hugging it tightly.

Smallfoot giggled in return, “Sweetness, come on…” She carefully moved Sour’s hands away from her face, but Sour just kept trying to reach for her.

“You sure she’s not mad?” Indigo Zap climbed out of the closet and watched Sour and Smallfoot playing together. “I thought for sure we were gonna get our butts kicked…”

“She… she doesn’t look mad.” Sugarcoat said.

“You think she’ll be mad at us since you got the Dinobots to tackle her?” Sunny asked.

“Girls. What did you all think was gonna happen?” Smallfoot turned to the Shadowbolts, still holding Sour in her arms.

Sunny gulped. “Well, we…” she sighed in defeat and hung her head. “We thought you were going to kill us for not telling you what happened to her and we thought you’d defect to the Decepticons.”

Smallfoot stood still for a moment, and she raised a brow.

“Sunny. You’ve known me for how many months, six, seven? In that time that you’ve gotten to know me, did you get any indication that I had interest in defection?” Smallfoot cocked a brow.

“No. Purely because I know for a fact you hate the Decepticons nonstop war and murder.” Sugarcoat adjusted her glasses. “Why join those who would abuse, hurt, and slaughter the bots you love?”

“Exactly. I would never join the Cons over something like this. Yes, I might be a little upset that I’m the last to know about this, and I am a little angry none of you thought to tell me about this, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to change sides over something like this.”

“We have a very different set of thinking.” Sunny Flare fumbled with her hair. “Because Principal Cinch treated us like slaves, we’ve gotten very negative towards everything. Sure, it might look like we’re living the high life at CPA, but in truth, we were treated like prisoners out in the middle of nowhere…”

Sour just kept giggling in Smallfoot’s arms while they were talking.

“Well, you girls don’t need to worry about me defecting or anything like that. I promise.”

“Wow, really?” Lemon asked.

Smallfoot nodded. “I promise.”

“Mama?” Sour tugged at Smallfoot’s arms. “Wanna pway.”

Smallfoot giggled. “Okay sweetness, I’ll play with you.” She looked to the girls. “I think maybe you girls should probably clean up a bit. I’ll keep this little sweetie occupied.”

“Little sweetie my foot…” Indigo huffed. “She hates us!”

“Uh girls?” Sugarcoat interrupted. “Is anyone else noticing that Sour is acting a little calmer than usual?”

“Pway…” Sour drooled softly as she watched the bolts clean up the mess she had made.

Smallfoot just carried her over on the couch, cradling her in her arms. But even as she held them, the Bolts couldn’t help but watch. Smallfoot was handling Sour a billion times better than any of them were doing in the past few hours.

“Mama?” Sour looked up at Smallfoot. “Me wuv yoo… Wanna be wid yoo fowevew…”

Smallfoot smiled. “I love you too my little sweetness.” She held her close and hugged her, nuzzling her cheek.

“I hate babies…” Indigo groaned as she cleaned everything up, watching Sour and Smallfoot nuzzle each other.

“It's kind of cute though,” Lemon said. “You know… now that she’s not making us go through a personal hell.”

“That’s the understatement of the millennium .” Sugarcoat scoffed.

“I’m just happy she’s not demanding us to play.” Indigo said, wiping down a counter. “But seriously, why is it that the minute Smallfoot shows up, she starts acting calm?”

“Because Sour thinks I’m her mama, Indigo.” Smallfoot patted Sour’s hair, listening to her soft giggles. “Pinkie told me that babies are much calmer in their mom or dad’s presence.”

Sunny sighed. “Why didn’t we just bring Smallfoot over in the first place… and, wait. What were you even doing over at Pinkie Pie’s?”

“Oh, that… I uh… I was taking lessons about taking care of a baby from Pinkie.” Smallfoot chuckled. “The Cake Twins, I think.”

Sugarcoat blinked. “So you were watching over two babies and getting lessons about handling babies, while we were dealing with one? That seems… convenient.”

“Kinda. Plus, it was super-adorable to see those sweet little angels Pound and Pumpkin…” Smallfoot gushed.

Indigo rolled her eyes .”Well it wasn’t adorable for us trying to hide her from everyone around here. Do you know how hard it is to hide a baby from over who knows how many Autobots?”

“Do you know how hard it is not to make a sound in a closet when you’re hiding from a psychotic criminal who can smell your scent?” Smallfoot asked.

“... No.” Sunny replied.

“Sour didn’t mean any harm, I’m sure. You girls just didn’t have any lessons like I did.” Smallfoot put Sour Sweet on the ground and let her toddle off to the toys. “This is why Crystal Prep needs to have a little nursery or something. So that you can all learn how to deal with kids like this.”

“No!” The girls all said in unison at a quiet volume so they wouldn’t make Sour cry.

“It’d really be a big help. And it’ll open up another way for students at CPA to graduate.” Sunset nodded. “Canterlot High has something like that, so why can’t Crystal Prep?”

“Because in our experience, we’ve just gone through hell and back again, and none of us have any gentleness built.” Sugarcoat said with a deadpan look on her face.

“Oh, so you had one bad experience, Sugarcoat. That’s no reason to give up altogether.” Sunset whipped out her phone. “In fact, I think I’ll speak with Principal Cadence at CPA and see if she can have one installed. I’m sure it’ll help a lot.”

Indigo sighed. “If you want, I guess…”

Lemon was about to speak when she glanced back over to the couch where Smallfoot and Sour were sitting. There, she could see a children’s program was put on which Sour was enjoying from her little giggles.

“Oh, I remember this show! I saw this back when I was a little kid, oh those were the good times…” Lemon sighed.

“Yeah. Though, I do wonder why they never bothered upgrading it.” Indigo shrugged. “Aside from CGI in the reboot, not much changed.”

“Wait. Sour actually likes Thomas the Tank Engine?” Sunny asked.

“She told me this was one of her favorite shows when she was a little girl.” Smallfoot called back. “In fact, back in the 90s, I managed to rig up a television station and I saw a bit of this show too.”

“Really?” Sugarcoat asked. “You… a cyborg… a teenage cyborg, as well, actually sat down and watched this?”

“Hey, you can complain when you’ve been marooned for 30 years on a planet you’ve never stepped foot on.” Smallfoot snapped. “You get pretty bored without any Decepticons around.”

“Well, Decepticon combat’s one of the only things I know I can win at.” Sugarcoat sighed and turned her head, glasses glinting in the room’s light. “They always showcase their weaknesses and we exploit them. Simple as that.”

Smallfoot looked down at Sour in her arms and she nuzzled her as she held her. Sour’s little giggle was downright adorable.

“You’re a little sweetie pie aren’t you? Yes you are…” Smallfoot gushed, nuzzling Sour.

“Wuv mama…” Sour hugged her once again. “Wanna be wike dis fowevew. No wanna gwow up.”

“Aw, sweetness… you’re going to grow up someday. But it’ll be okay. Because I know you will grow up to be an amazing woman.” Smallfoot said, kissing her forehead.

“Wanna pway wike dis fowevew, mama.” Sour Sweet twiddled her tiny fingers. “Me bad gwown up. But me baby? Good Souw. Mama no wan bad Souw.”

“Sour. I assure you, you would be an amazing grown-up. I think you might even be better as a grownup. There is so much that you don’t know you can do when you’re older.” Smallfoot said, carefully adjusting herself so she could get a little more comfortable, and still trying to make sure Sour stayed comfy.

“Aw…” Sunset said.

“Yeah… Sunny. How long until Wheeljack’s done?” Sugarcoat asked.

“He said just under an hour when we started to run back to base.” Sunny looked down at her wrist. “Hope he can hold it off, though. I’m kinda loving seeing Sour and Smallfoot like this.”

“Well I have conflicting opinions.” Sugarcoat said.

“You’re just mad because she got drool in your hair and she tried to open up your shirt.” Indigo said.

“I am not mad!” Sugarcoat snarled.

Smallfoot stared back at the girls. “I’m surprised none of you have killed each other by this point. Imagine how it would be like to be stuck in each other’s bodies…” Smallfoot shuddered.

“That just sounds like a ridiculous plot from a cartoon. Or a fanfiction.” Sugarcoat said.

“Mama? Me wan paci.” Sour Sweet pointed to a pacifier by the toys. “Yoo get it fow me?”

“Hang on sweetness, I got it.” Smallfoot said. She carefully set Sour down on the couch and walked over to the toys and found her pacifier. Then walking back over, she carefully picked Sour up and set her back in her lap and gave her the pacifier to suck on.

Sour plopped the pacifier into her mouth, and she cooed at the taste of the amber nipple. Bobbing it up and down autonomously, Sour closed her eyes and curled her arms and legs, brushing up against Smallfoot tenderly as her breathing got lower and lower. The extra comfort made her close her eyes and brush her fingers against Smallfoot’s hips, almost like she was falling asleep.

Smallfoot smiled and she gave Sour a kiss on the forehead. “Goodnight, my little sourball.”

“Ni ni, Mama…” Sour mumbled through her pacifier, then continued suckling as she drifted off to dreamland.

“Shh…” Smallfoot carefully picked her up, and she slowly walked over to the crib. She set her down, and she pulled the covers over her to keep her warm. Then as soon as she was tucked in, she slowly rocked the crib side to side, aiding her little sourball on her trip to the dream world.

“Now I wanna be a baby too…” Lemon Zest smiled at the sight. “You think we can get Wheeljack to use the device on us when this is over?”

The girls all snarled at Lemon Zest and gave her cold glares.

“I’d rather have to deal with that Psuedo con that Fluttershy and Bumblebee told us about that was back at the Everfree Forest...” Sugarcoat said. “...While naked.”

“You’re no fun, Sugarcoat.” Lemon Zest turned away. “Maybe this is why Mr. Svengallop thinks you’re gonna make no friends at CPA.”

“You say that again, Lemon Zest, and you’ll find out how fun I can be…” she silently threatened.

“Ahem.” Smallfoot said, clearing her throat quietly. “Sour is asleep. If you’re going to fight, at least take it outside.”

“Good idea.” Indigo Zap pushed the other Shadowbolts out by herself. “Let’s go, girls. We have a lot to talk about…” She shoved them out of the room and stepped out, closing the door behind her so that Sour and Smallfoot could be together.

But before the girls could speak, Smallfoot cracked the door open and she glared at them.

“Soon as she’s back to her sweet and sour self again… all of us are going to need to have a little talk about today.” Smallfoot said.

“Smallfoot. As leader of the Autobots, I believe I can deal with this predicament.” Optimus Prime crossed his arms. “I know the Shadowbolts caused you harm."

“Uh-uh, nope. I can handle this. They did this to my girl, I’m the one who should talk.” Smallfoot said, closing the door.

“You have your own priorities, Smallfoot.” Optimus pointed back to Sour. “She needs you.”

Smallfoot opened the door again. “Optimus… please? Can I just handle this? I’m sure Strongarm and Tracks are probably fighitng again. Besides, there's just one problem... where's Sideswipe and Bumblebee?”

“Bumblebee, Sideswipe. What's your location?” Optimus activated his wrist-comm.

“Not now!” Bumblebee called back. “A little busy right now! Sideswipe, duck!”

“No one recognizes me!?” An angry voice yelled. “I ate a whole city!”

Optimus changed the video feed. “Red Alert, Hot Shot. I wish to require your assistance.”

“I’m sorry sir! I’m a bit Busy!” Red Alert yelled. “Hot Shot, stay still! I can’t fix you if you keep flinching!”

“Y’know, you’re not like the Red Alert I used to know.” Hot Shot grinned goofily. “You’re a little hotter than he is…”

“Hey! My heart goes to Inferno! Just let me fix your leg! And quit making Mrs Doubtfire jokes!”

“It’s just a Spider Tank blast. I’ll shake it off.” Hot Shot wiggled his leg. “Isn’t that right, Jolt?”

A tiny red Mini-Con with helicopter blades looked at him from a nearby counter. “You nearly died, Hot Shot! How are we supposed to link up into Overdrive if I don’t have an Autobot to power up?”

“Chill, little guy! Chill! It’s fine!”

“Should have stayed on Cybertron…” Red Alert muttered.

Optimus just hung up again, and looked back to the girls. “Very well Smallfoot. You may handle this situation on your own. I will go see how Strongarm and Tracks are holding up.”

Optimus just stomped away, leaving the girls along with Sunset Shimmer and Smallfoot.

“Y’know, Shadowbolts, I think you were all acting like children today.” Smallfoot crossed her arms. “Turning Sour into a baby, keeping it from me, trying to lie, and getting the Dinobots to attack me? That’s pretty childish, even for you…”

“We know… and we’re sorry.” Sunny said.

“Well, next time something like that happens, tell me. You don’t know, I can help.” Smallfoot said.

“Hang on, Smallfoot. I think I have an idea on how we should punish them.” Sunset smiled and activated Sunny’s Pip-Boy. “Wheeljack. Are you there?”

“What are you talking about, Sunset?” Smallfoot tilted her head.

“If they’re going to act like children, then they should be children themselves.” Sunset smirked. “So, once Wheeljack fixes Sour, we have him turn the other bolts into babies too. Then, they have to stay that way for an entire day. Is that a good punishment?”

“Sunset. Come on, that’s a little mean. I think handling four babies is going a bit far. Why not…” Smallfoot gave a smug smirk. “How about this… they have to bathe ALL of the Autobots for a week.”

“Don’t the Autobots have their own showers?” Sunset asked.

“Yeah, but they’re not strong enough to get every spot clean. But with an additional hand…” Smallfoot said, with a smug grin.

“Y’know, normally, I’m against punishing, but I have to agree that Sunset’s idea sounds a little better.” Wheeljack spoke from the wrist-comm. “Plus, I upgraded the showers last week. So now, every Autobot can get an optimal wash with none of the fuss.”

“Alright, alright…” Smallfoot thought. “But I still think turning them into infants is going a bit far. Something that isn’t too far…”

“It’s a play on words, Smallfoot. It’s what humans do when they take sayings and use them in reality.” Sunset smiled. “You either act your age, or become the age you’re acting, as we say.”

Smallfoot blinked. “Oh. Still think the infant change is too far.”

“Y’know, it’s not that bad a punishment when you think about it…” Lemon Zest scratched her chin. “What do you think, girls?”

“Hell. No.” Sugarcoat said. “I will literally streak at night than that. Besides, won’t that just make more hell for Smallfoot? She can’t handle four at once.”

“But my friends can.” Sunset punched in some numbers. “Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy can help out.”

“It’s either this, or risk being kicked out of the alliance, have our privileges removed, and become sitting ducks for the Decepticons, Sugarcoat.” Sunny glared at her.

“How about this.” Smallfoot spoke. “Two weeks. They can’t join on any missions dealing with the Decepticon prisoners that crashed from the Alchemor, AND they’ll have to move around without any giant robots helping them walk from place to place.”

“I’m sure they’ll have something planned for those two weeks.” Sunset Shimmer crossed her fingers. “Y’know, when I was a bully at CHS, I always made the students do punishments fitting to their crimes. Can’t I do the same for the Shadowbolts? They were asking for it…”

“Like what? Cleaning? Doing your laundry? Making sure there’s no inappropriate videos of you on the internet?” Smallfoot said.

“No. I made geeks write a praise page after one of them slammed me. I had jocks do all the manual labor in CHS when they outdid me in gym class, and don’t even get me started on the Drama students…” Sunset turned away. “Let’s just say… some of them gave up drama altogether when they did the play I picked for them.”

“You know, as much as I hate to say it… I’ll take it.” Indigo said.

“Me too.” Lemon said.

“Oh, fine… Still a better punishment than being a baby.” Sugarcoat said.

Smallfoot sighed. “Alright, you’ve got yourself a two-week probation. Just promise me that you aren’t going to hurt them....”

“I promise, Smallfoot, no physical harm is going to come to them.” Sunset said. “At the least, they’ll probably just take it as community service.” As she took the Bolts away, she muttered under her breath, “I still think my idea is better, though…”

“You know I heard that.” Smallfoot said.

“I know. I know.” Sunset still walked down the corridor.

Smallfoot turned back to the Bolts. “Okay. So now that’s over… promise me if something like that happens to her, you’ll tell me?”

“We will…” The Bolts droned in harmony, like zombies out of a horror movie.

“Good. Now come here,” Smallfoot said, bringing them all in for a hug. “I’m just happy that she’s okay, and that no one is dead.”

“Yeah…” Lemon struggled to find her breath. “Uh, Smallfoot? You’re crushing us to death…”

“Oh come on, what’s wrong with hugs?” Smallfoot tightened her grip, nuzzling them.

“I take it back. I think I prefer Sunset’s punishment…” Sugarcoat squeaked as she felt things inside her begin to snap.

Smallfoot stopped and she let go of them. “Okay. But before this day is done, you need to do something else. You need to tell her what happened.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if she didn’t know?” Sunny asked.

“You girls are going to be doing community service for two weeks, I think she’d like to know why you are gonna be busy for a good chunk of time.”

“I guess…” Indigo just didn’t want to say anything else. She was now pondering the pros and cons of Sunset’s punishment in comparison to the one she and her friends had.

“Couldn’t we just tell her we decided to rob a bank?” Sugarcoat asked.

Smallfoot huffed. “That’s not funny.”

“Sugarcoat, I think we need to book you a therapist.” Sunny glared at her. “This mean, brutally honest you NEEDS. TO. GO. You’re only making everyone mad.”

“And what’s wrong with that?”

Smallfoot scrunched her head. “I keep questioning myself why you all are friends.”

“Well you’re a cyborg dating a human, but you don’t see us harp on you about that every day!” Indigo snapped.

“With attitudes like that, you four would make better Decepticons than Autobots…” Smallfoot groaned and put her hand to her forehead.

The Bolts just turned away, not wanting to fight anymore. The mere mention of them being Decepticons was more than enough to break their psyche and make them withdraw. Slowly opening a mini-Groundbridge, they tossed their devices to Sunset and Smallfoot before walking away, out of the base.

Smallfoot looked back to Sunset. “You sure they’ll be okay? I don’t want them to quit the team, I like them.”

“I’m sure they’ll be fine. In fact, since they’re gone… I actually had a bit of a plan to try and teach them a little more about friendship so they could get along better,” Sunset said.

“Wait, so this whole punishment fiasco...“ Smallfoot said.

“Is true. All of it.” Sunset folded her arms. “I would tell you the story, but it’s better my friends do it instead.”

“No, I meant about teaching them friendship. Did you mean, you were going to try and teach them some friendship lessons while they’re on probation?” Smallfoot asked.

“Yes, I did. But I think they still need Principal Cadence’s help more than mine.” Sunset quick-dialed Cadence. “They need to know that Principal Cinch is wrong, and they don’t have to be so cold-hearted like this. So, I’m gonna speak with Principal Cadence and arrange them all private one-to-one sessions, so we can see why they’re so negative, what we can do to help, and if we can mold them into better people.”

Smallfoot shrugged. “Not a bad plan. But… they still need to tell Sour what’s going on. And why they’re gonna stay behind when she goes on missions with us.”

Sunset gave a smug look. “And go on more romantic dates with you?”

Smallfoot blushed. “Y-Yeah... “

Smallfoot looked back down the hall for a moment. “I should probably keep an eye on Sour. Wheeljack should be done with the device in… who knows how long. Call me when he’s done?”

“That won’t be an issue, you two.” Wheeljack drove up in vehicle form to Sunset and Smallfoot. “I saw everything up to when you kicked ‘em out. The machine is up and running and ready to go.”

“Perfect!” Smallfoot said. “Wait… before you turn her back… can I get a photo with her? I want something to remember from this day.”

“Of course.” Wheeljack shrugged. “It’s not like the Decepticons are gonna attack any time soon.”

Smallfoot smiled. “Yes!”

“Make sure you give it a nice caption. Make it a treat for her when she wakes back up.” Wheeljack smiled as Smallfoot went back into the lounge with a camera.

Smallfoot held baby Sour in her arms on the couch while Sunset held a camera.

“You ready?” Sunset asked.

“Is the flash off?”

“One sec.” Sunset tapped the lightning bolt and clicked it off. “Good to go.”

“Perfect!” Smallfoot grinned.

“Smile.” Sunset held the camera out, trying to get the best shot of Sour and Smallfoot. She clicked the button and took a picture, handing the phone to Smallfoot.

“It's beautiful Sunset.” Smallfoot smiled.

“You ready for her to come back to the land of the teenagers yet?” Wheeljack asked.

“Mmm… Maybe five more minutes.” She watched Sour, still sleep sucking on her pacifier.