Author's Note

And here it is folks, the final chapter is done, I hope you all enjoyed what you have read, I had a lot of fun working with Shadowmane on this, this was an absolute joy to write, and I hope I can work with him on another project in the near future.

So be sure to leave likes and comments, and be sure to check out Shadowmane's work as well, I'm sure you'll love his stuff.

Thanks, and peace!

Waking Up Older

Sour Sweet’s eyes slowly opened up to the bright light of a morning sun. But as she looked around, she noticed she wasn’t in the base, nor at one of the other Bolts’ houses. There were posters of her favorite cartoon, Mighty Morphers, on the walls, with a bulletin board covered with drawings and pictures with pushpins attached and a computer on a nearby desk.

She looked over to the nightstand. Her alarm clock, a picture of her and Smallfoot cuddling close together on a starry backdrop, and a little gold necklace sat delicately before her. She wasn’t in Wheeljack’s lab.

Sour Sweet yawned and pulled herself up, stretching her arms. Looking down, she found herself in her favourite pajama shorts and tank top. How she got them on, though, was a mystery. She was about to ponder further when a knock on the door got her attention.

“H-Hello?” Sour wearily rubbed her eyes.

The door opened up, and entered in a gray-skinned girl with red hair, a plaid button-up t-shirt, and blue short jeans. In her hands, she had a tray with breakfast foods.

“Morning, baby.” Smallfoot chuckled as she walked through the door.

Sour smiled back. It was nice to see the sight of her girlfriend in the morning. “Morning, Big Rig. What are you doing here?”

“I made you breakfast.” Smallfoot said as she walked over to the bed. “Orange juice, pancakes, and I managed to make bacon without burning myself.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet of you,” Sour said, as she let Smallfoot rest the tray on her bed. “What’s the occasion?”

“Does there need to be an occasion?” Smallfoot asked, moving close to her girl and nuzzling her cheek. “Can’t I just do something nice for you?”

Sour giggled. “Yes.”

Smallfoot gave her Sour Sweet a big hug, sighing in relief as her head flopped down over her shoulders. Sour didn’t know how to act. She’d given her lots of hugs before, but this one was longer than usual.

“Um… are you okay?” Sour asked.

“I’m just happy that you’re okay,” Smallfoot whispered.

“Why wouldn’t I be okay?” Sour cocked an eyebrow

Smallfoot’s eyes bulged open. Now she would have to tell her. “Well… uh… I’m not sure how to explain. Do you remember anything from yesterday?”

“Uh… no. I remember I was in Wheeljack’s lab, I was hit with a bright beam, and then… nothing. Wait… am I dead?!”

“No! No, baby!” Smallfoot waved her arms in front of her face, trying to calm her down. “You’re not dead! I promise.”

“Well… if I’m not dead, then what happened?” Sour tilted her head.

“Well… Uh, how do I put this lightly…?”

The other Shadowbolts were in the city, heads drooped low as they twiddled their fingers. It had only been a day since the Autobots revoked their privileges and thrown them to the Decepticons, but they thought that it had been forever. Now, coiled to their average teenage girl devices, Indigo, Sunny, Lemon, and Sugarcoat barely did anything other than breathing and walking as they strolled down the pathway.

“Y’know, Sugarcoat, I’m a little upset at you.” Lemon Zest leered at Sugarcoat. “We could’ve just done Sunset’s punishment and be back in the base tomorrow, but thanks to you and your stupid brutal honesty, we’re on probation for two weeks!”

“Lemon. Shut up.” Sugarcoat barely even moved her face. “I want nothing more to do with you and the others until the next two weeks pass.”

“Then why are you still walking with us?” Indigo Zap stared blankly at her.

“Because this is the fastest way to get home.” Sugarcoat broke off from the group and crossed the road, leading to another sidewalk. “If any of you speak to me at Crystal Prep during our punishment, so help me, I will ruin your life.”

“Geez. Someone’s being a real negative nancy, aren’t they?” Sunny just watched as Sugarcoat turned the corner and disappeared down another street. “While I can see her anger, I still think that Sunset’s punishment is a little less brutal, all things considered. Plus, I have to give her bonus points on it being a play on words.”

“Yeah, but still, I think this is better for us.” Indigo Zap kicked the ground with her feet. “I mean, maybe Sunset and her friends might’ve taken pictures of us and sent them to everyone at Crystal Prep if we’d gone with her idea. Then, we’d be ruined for life.”

“Dearie, do you really think Sunset would be that callous?” Sunny turned towards Indigo Zap and tipped her hand. “She’s Optimus Prime’s most trusted Rainboom. I don’t think she’d try something as underhanded as taking snapshots of us as babies and sending them off to everyone at CPA.”

“Anymore,” Lemon chimed in, only to get glares from Sunny and Indigo. “What?” She shrugged.

Indigo huffed. “Look. Let’s just take this as it comes, girls. I’m pretty sure that we can find something else to do for the next two weeks. We’re Crystal Prep girls, for crying out loud. We’re basically loaded with cash.”

“Yeah. And I’m pretty sure that the Rainbooms are always looking for help in Canterlot High or some other place.” Lemon hung her head again, knowing full well how lackluster it would be. “Still wish Sugarcoat was a little more open to new things, though…”

“She’s a lost cause, dearie. Get over it.” Sunny Flare gently massaged Lemon’s shoulders as the group turned the corner and arrived at the mall. “Sugarcoat isn't going to change, so I say we should just leave her as it is. While we move on and get more friends, she’s still going to remain a shallow and empty shell, devoid of anything a normal teenager has.”

Indigo Zap blinked with a frown. “Dark.”

“I’m sorry… WHAT!?” Sour freaked.

Sour Sweet, Smallfoot and Sunset Shimmer were gathered at a public place later in the day. Smallfoot tried to explain a few details, but she had no luck. So with an invite to Sunset Shimmer, the three of them went to an ice cream parlor to talk about the events that had gone on yesterday.

Needless to say, Sour Sweet was still trying to process everything that Sunset had told her. If her face could stretch any wider, her jaw would be smack hit against the floor.

“Just… wow.” Sour said, as she slumped back in her seat. “So… I was a baby. Literally.”

“Yes.” Sunset nodded.

“I uh… I didn’t cause you guys any problems, did I?” Sour bashfully asked.

Sunset and Smallfoot’s eyes bounced off each other as they were in silence.

“No, of course not!” Sunset said.

“You were no trouble at all!” Smallfoot lied.

Sour cocked an eyebrow up as she looked at the two of them.

“Okay, you were a little bit of trouble for your Crystal Prep friends, but they thought they could handle you by themselves without even thinking about getting some help.” Sunset said. “I think Smallfoot handled you the best out of all of us.”

“Why do you say that?” Sour asked.

Smallfoot chuckled nervously and blushed a bit. “I may have… taken a few lessons from Pinkie Pie about raising babies. I know we talked about the possibility of whenever we might have kids, so I thought about getting a few lessons from Pinkie on the subject so I could be prepared should we have some.”

“That’s so coincidental it’s almost unbelievable.” Sour crossed her arms. “When you say the others had problems, what do you mean by that? Was Indigo crying? I’d LOVE to see Indigo crying.”

“Well, I wouldn’t really call it crying, moreso, she hid in a closet because of how out of control you were as a kid.” Sunset twisted her right wrist. “But yeah. She was pretty miserable about it.”

“Nice…” Sour made a small fist pump and cracked a small smirk. “Anyway, moving on. Was I… cute?”

“The cutest little bundle of joy ever, sourball.” Smallfoot smiled and patted Sour’s shoulders.

“So, where are the others now?” Sour asked. “I’m pretty sure that they should be right here, saying that they were all stupid and that they’re sorry for letting me turn into a baby and all that other sappy junk.”

“The others are on probation for not telling anyone about the situation and thinking they can handle it on their own.” Smallfoot crossed her arms.

“Much to my disgust, seeing as how my punishment is far less brutal than Smallfoot’s.” Sunset shook her head. “The Shadowbolts are nice deep down. It’s not fair that they’ve all got two weeks on the bench when they could’ve just had one day in your shoes and that be the end of it.”

“Sunset. I appreciate your feelings, but the Autobots don’t get anywhere without tough love.” Smallfoot stood up as she looked down at Sunset. “I can’t tell you the number of bots we have to re-evaluate and punish these days because of some small things like a seat in the dining room, or which boy should be with which girl. The Shadowbolts need to learn that we’re tough on all fronts. It’s the only way to stop Megatron and the Decepticon scourge.”

“Yeah, but still, it’s not right to just kick them out for two weeks over a stupid accident.” Sunset frowned. “If anything, Wheeljack should be at fault here for not calibrating the machine’s power properly. He turned Sour Sweet into a baby, not the Shadowbolts.”

“Hey, Wheeljack has plenty of screw-ups when it comes to being a scientist.” Smallfoot prodded Sunset in the belly. “I can’t even tell you the number of chips he tried to create when Megatron tried cyberforming the Earth with the Ferrotaxis and Insecticons…”

Sunset blinked. “Wait, what?”

Smallfoot looked back. “Oh, right. That was something that happened way back in the 80s.”

“Still, I gotta agree with Sunset here.” Sour Sweet stepped forward. “Plus, I would’ve loved to see Sugarcoat’s smug little face when she’s two days old. I can already imagine everyone at CPA flooding the blog post with tons of comments!” She laughed, only to be shut down by Sunset and Smallfoot, who both glared at her. “What? It’s a joke, girls. Learn to take one.”

“Sweetness, let’s not talk too much about that. Let’s try and think more about the future, alright?” Smallfoot sat down next to her and pulled her close nuzzling her cheek.. “You’ve been through alot and you probably wanna do something fun. Maybe there’s something at the mall you’d like to buy?”

“I don’t know babe, I guess… I guess right now I don’t really want to do anything.” Sour said, as she slumped. “Are there any Decepticon signals? Maybe there’s another Decepticon prisoner we could round up from the Alchemor.”

“We’ve checked, we haven’t found any so far. But knowing a few of them, they’re probably out hiding.” Sunset replied.

Sunset felt her phone vibrating in her pocket and she pulled it out. “Uh, can you two give me a moment?”

“Go right ahead.” Smallfoot replied.

Sunset answered the phone. “Hello?”

“Sunset! We’ve got another Decepticon signal!” Rarity cried on the other end.

“I got it. Where is he?”

“Um, well... I think he might be racing down the streets very soon. Where are you?”

“I’m at I Scream You Scream Ice Cream parlor. Why?”

“Well…”

Sunset, Sour and Smallfoot turned their heads as the sounds of screeching tires along the road. Around the corner was a drag racing type of car, with streaks of green and white. A turbo was sticking out in the middle of a hood and flames were spewing out the back of the vehicle.

“Illumination through acceleration!”, the car yelled as it sped on by.

Sunset looked as it sped down the road. “Sorry, girls. Duty calls. You two going to join us?”

“Actually, Sunset, if it's all the same to you… I think I might just want to spend the day with my partner.” Sour held Smallfoot’s hand.

“I-I’d like that as well,” Smallfoot blushed, making Sour giggle.

Sunset giggled back. “Alright, lovebirds. Stay safe, okay?”

“We will.” They both chorused.

Sunset opened up the door to her power suit, which was in a truck form, and she pulled out onto the street to follow the skid marks of the racing fugitive.

As soon as she left, Smallfoot looked back to her girlfriend and pulled her closer, letting Sour rest her head on her shoulder.

“So… You were a mother for a few hours. That’s something new,” Sour said.

“I-I guess so…” Smallfoot stuttered.

Sour smiled and looked at Smallfoot in her beautiful turquoise eyes. “You know… if we do stay together and do get married… I think you’d be a great mother.”

Smallfoot blinked. “You really think so?”

“Mmmhmm.” Sour pecked her on the cheek. “Thank you for taking care of me while I was… out.”

Smallfoot kissed her back. “It's not a problem, baby. And you know… you’re adorable as a baby.”

Sour’s cheeks heated up.

“But, in all honesty… I’m happy to have the girl I love back to her normal, sweet… and adorable self.” Smallfoot said, kissing her cheek.

“Smallfoot…” Sour blushed.

“You’re adorable, and you know it.” Smallfoot giggled.

The two lovebirds just sat at their little booth at the ice cream parlor, enjoying each other’s company and the sweet sensation of yummy ice cream. Sour was back to normal, Smallfoot had success of raising a child, and everything was back the way it was.

Things couldn’t have been any sweeter.