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     Equestria Girls In Disguise: Little Sour Sweetie      
                      -by FourShadow-                      
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                   Experiment Gone Wrong                   
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Author's Note
And so chapter one of the collaboration, begins!
Experiment Gone Wrong
It was the beginning of a Saturday morning. The birds were chirping, the sun was out, and the grass was a healthy shade of bright green.
Over at Sunny Flare’s house, all of her friends laid around her room scrolling through websites on their phones absently. There wasn’t any Decepticon activity going on or any form of adventure to be found or occurred. And most of their Autobot friends were out busy with other jobs or activities that the girls couldn’t do. Sunny Flare laid flat on her bed, Sugarcoat took a beanbag chair, Indigo Zap sat in one of the chairs hanging upside down, and Lemon Zest laid on the ground on her chest with her face buried into a pillow.
“So… no calls from the Autobots?” Indigo pulled her head out of the pillow and groaned, looking up at the others.
“Nope.” They all chorused, one after the other.
“No assignments from Optimus Prime or the others?” Sugarcoat asked next.
“Nope,” repeated the girls.
“Ugh…” Lemon Zest groaned and slung her phone against the ground. “Come on girls... Can’t we go to the mall or go for a walk, or, I dunno, ANYTHING?!”
“Maybe we could go to the mall.” Indigo Zap pulled her body up and gazed at Lemon. “What do you say, girls?”
“Too much people. That and I am in no mood to be crushed by angry mobs who try to buy everything off the shelves,” Sunny Flare replied. “Black Friday or not, malls aren’t my favourite place to be most of the time.”
Indigo’s eyes rolled, groaning as she gazed back at her phone. “Hey uh, where’s Sour?”
“Where else would she be?” Sugarcoat asked, pushing her glasses to her face.
“Let me guess…” Sunny Flare scratched her chin. “She’s either cuddling with Smallfoot on the couch, watching an action movie from the 1980s, or going to get more medicine from the pharmacy, if I had to make some guesses.”
The door slammed open revealing a smiling Sour Sweet. “Hey, girls! What’s up?”
“Hey, Sour. I didn’t know you’d be coming over. I thought you had plans with Smallfoot.” Sunny turned her head and gave her a friendly smile. She slipped her phone into her pocket.
“Actually, Smallfoot had plans with Pinkie Pie today.” Lemon Zest shook her head. “She’s going to be hanging out with her all day. Something about transformer kids, I think?”
“Transformer kids?” Indigo raised a brow and turned herself upright. “Why’s that?”
“Uh… You wouldn’t really be interested.” Sour Sweet raised a brow towards Indigo. “Anyways, what’s going on here?”
“There’s nothing to do!” Lemon whined, slapping her hand to her face. “The Autobots are all busy, we can’t decide on what to do, and it’s just plain boring today! Not even my kicking beats are making this day anymore exciting!”
“Oh...” Sour just had to take one glance at the other Shadowbolts to see how bored they were. Their eyes lazily drifted across their screens as they browsed the contents of the web pages on their phones. “It’s one of those days, isn’t it? Believe me, I know how that feels…” She looked down at her shoes and propped herself against the wall.
Eventually, Sugarcoat put her phone away and looked at the other Shadowbolts. “Want to see if Wheeljack’s got a new invention?”
The girls took a brief moment of silence before Indigo Zap finally broke it and shrugged. “Eh. Why not? Better than sitting around doing nothing.”
“Yeah!” Lemon’s face lit up as she jumped to her feet. “Let's see what’s cooking in Wheeljack’s lab!”
“I think the expression is more like what’s being built, Lemon Zest,” said Sugarcoat, as everyone got up and followed Sour out of the bedroom. “Cooking usually refers to food or chemistry. And, as far as I know, Wheeljack’s an inventor. Not a chemist or chef.”
“I shudder to think of Wheeljack as any form of chef,” said Sunny Flare. “Energon might be good food for the Autobots, but I don’t really think it’s our cup of tea.”
Once they were outside, the girls opened a Groundbridge portal. Upon arriving to the other side, they found themselves walking onto the same familiar orange metallic floor that was built into the Autobot base.
“Alright, so… I have no idea where Wheeljack’s lab is.” Lemon looked down the corridors, which all seemed to be identical to each other. She was met with glares from all the others. “Hey! I’m not a scientist! I’ve never been in his lab before.”
“But you have been here before.” Sugarcoat lifted a finger. “Many times as a matter of fact. Teletraan-1 can attest to that. Can’t you, old friend?” Sugarcoat turned to the giant aquamarine supercomputer behind them.
“Affirmative.” Teletraan-1 belted out. “Lemon Zest has been here approximately one-hundred and eighty-six times in the past few months. Wheeljack’s laboratory should be ingrained into her matrix by now.”
“I’m still trying to get the hang of this place, alright?!” shouted Lemon. “Feels like it keeps changing every single day.”
“I’m sure that if the other Autobots were here right now, they would have given you a map or something to help you remember,” said Teletraan-1.
“Speaking of which, where is everyone anyway?” Indigo Zap asked, looking around.
“I’m afraid everyone’s busy today. With a lack of activity going on, everyone is taking some time for some much needed peace,” a voice said, walking up to Teletraan-1.
“Good to see you again, Ratchet.” Sunny gave him a bright smile.
“You too, girls.” Ratchet smiled back and gave a nod. “It’s good to seem some human pals in the base every once in awhile.”
“Say. Uh, any word from our own guardians?” Indigo asked.
“I’m afraid not.” Ratchet shook his head. ”Hound, Highbrow, Blaster, and Outback are all busy today.”
“Is Optimus gone too?” Sugarcoat gazed into Ratchet’s eyes. “Or are he and the other Autobots preoccupied?”
“Optimus is busy with Sunset, helping train our new recruits.” Ratchet walked up to Teletraan-1 and brought up a video feed of Sunset and Optimus training the new bots and humans. “Needless to say, I’m still praying for the day that Strongarm and Tracks don’t bicker about something not worth fighting about.”
“I think everyone is praying for that day Ratchet,” Sunny Flare nodded and crossed her arms.
“And what about Wheeljack?” Sugarcoat asked. “He’s the reason we came over here, you see. To find out if we could help him with whatever experiments he’s conducting.”
“Wheeljack is over in the laboratory. But I highly suggest you stay back.” Ratchet took down the video feed and turned to the others. “The amount of things that blow up and get thrown around in there is enough to harm someone. Namely, humans.”
The girls all looked at each other, biting their lips as they shuddered on the spot. They had too many days like that at Crystal Prep as it was.
“Alright. Thank you, dude.” Indigo Zap ran down one of the corridors, but then promptly came back. “Uh, where is it?”
“Back down that corridor, turn right at the end, then it’s the fifth door on your left.” Ratchet pointed to her.
“Thanks, dude.” Indigo turned and walked off with the other Shadowbolts close behind her. “C’mon, girls. Let’s go!”
“Now, let me see if I’ve figured out this algorithm correctly…” Wheeljack stood at a machine, using a little welding device on his shoulder to harden a metal device, while at the same time, punching in some commands on the keyboard beneath it. He was surrounded by lots of other Cybertronian tech of all shapes and sizes. Some big and some small, but all made out of metal and Energon. “A quadruple system rewrite shouldn’t be a problem for an Autobot of my brilliance. But still, it never helps not to be too careful.”
“Wheeljack, dude! What’s up?” Lemon Zest shouted as she slid through the doors.
The sudden arrival of Lemon and the Shadowbolts caused Wheeljack to jump, sending his welder up and across, burning a blue slash of heat across the machine’s chassis. He slid it back into his shoulder and turned to greet the girls.
“Hey, girls,” he smiled behind his mask. “I didn’t expect any visitors today.”
“We’re bored and have nothing to do.” Sugarcoat walked up to the workbench with a smile. “We thought maybe you would want a hand with something.”
“Actually…” He hung his head and put his hand around his mask before snapping it back up to the others. “I’d appreciate the help. I’m working on a new invention.”
“What does it do?” Indigo asked, walking up to the machine with the small bulged gash.
“And for that matter, what’s its purpose and where should I stand if it doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do and blows up?” Sour Sweet lifted a finger.
Wheeljack shook his head. “Don’t worry, girls. It's not going to blow up this time. At least, I hope.” He took a look at where his welder had slashed the steel. “Anyways, I’m trying to make a device to help some of the older Bots around here. It’s a molecular re-formatting device capable of taking the rusty, grimy, and out of date Autobots, and making them feel like they just came off the assembly line again. I’m mainly using it to help Trailbreaker, Ironhide, Hound, and a few other oldies on my list.”
“Hey! Hound’s in perfect shape!” Indigo stomped her foot.
“I know, I know. I was just using him as an example.” Wheeljack walked back to the machine. “But the point is, this should help some of the old Bots feel young again. I haven’t tested it yet, but I’m hoping it’ll work. I just need a few more pieces. Can you girls hand them to me while I finish coding it?”
“Sure. We can help out.” Indigo’s eyes rolled. “If they don’t weigh as much as a thousand suns like the last time you wanted our help…”
“I promise you, they’re light as feathers.” Wheeljack nodded. “I just need a few more pieces. There should be some on the workbench over in the corner.” He pointed it out. “Can someone hand me the wrench?”
Sour was the first to pass the first tool to him. “Here you are.”
“Thank you, Sour. Now, I just need one more tool to weld this down. Can someone grab the welding nozzle?”
Lemon zipped over to the bench and came back in a rush, passing the tool down to Wheeljack.
“Sweet! Thanks, Lemon.” Wheeljack used both of the tools on his shoulders as his arms continued punching in source code for the machine. “Now I just need to make some final adjustments.”
“Wait. Do you have any test subjects to use it on?” Indigo asked. “Or have you been using it on rotten fruit?”
“Well, Indigo, truth be told, this will be the first time I use this machine.” He said. “Which is why this code needs to be perfect. We don’t want anything turned into ash; especially not you girls.”
“Yeah. It wouldn’t be ideal for us to be charred up like that.” Sunny Flare felt cold just thinking about being turned to dust.
“Well, let's turn it on!” Indigo smiled, beaming from ear to ear.
“Just gotta punch in these last digits…” Wheeljack’s fingers tapped fast on the keys as he finalized the code for the device. “Aaaaand.... Done! We should be in business.” With a final push of the enter key, the beam on the top came to life, arching itself, poised to strike. “Let’s test it out on that rusty old pile of weapons in the corner. I was meaning to repurpose them into more tools, but I figured that this works just as well.” With a few more button prompts, he pointed the device at the crate of damaged and broken weapons.
The machine began to hum and whine gently, building up energy as Energon swirled around the rings of the barrel. A bright light began to build in the end of the barrel as Wheeljack typed in the commands for the weapon to fire. After a brief charge up, the gun opened fire, striking the box directly. But no sooner had it sprung to life when the gunshot so powerfully, that the device moved back a few inches with the incredible power of the blast.
“Whoa!” Indigo and Lemon jumped at the sight of the laser as it wobbled on its’ stand. They looked at the other Shadowbolts and saw the fear in their eyes straight away. “Duck and cover!”
Indigo and Lemon were already on their stomachs, but the other three were hesitant to make their moves. The wide arcs of the laser made it difficult for them to find an opening to get to safety. Everything the beam touched was reverted, either into separate parts, or made even shinier with much less dirt, grime, or oil.
Sour Sweet, Sugarcoat, and Sunny Flare all found an opening at last and ran for it, but as they were about to make it through, the beam slammed straight down into Sour’s chest, pushing her to the ground.
“SOUR!” The Shadowbolts cried out as they watched their friend suffer the punishment of Wheeljack’s new machine.
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no!” Wheeljack hastily programmed the machine to stop firing, almost smashing the enter key once he was done. But the machine wouldn’t stop, and so with immediate action, Wheeljack made a swing at the machine, slicing the pieces in half, destroying into nothing but spare parts.
As the Shadowbolts watched the beam die down at last, they watched as Sour Sweet’s cries of anguish and pain began to dwindle. They watched her body shrink and her clothes change as years of her life shredded away in the blink of an eye. Last of all, they heard her voice get higher and higher pitched as the laser finally stopped.
“What the heck?” Sunny crawled forward towards Sour, still stunned from the aftermath of Wheeljack’s tinkering.
Sour Sweet was now dressed in a tiny pink t-shirt, with her hair hanging low down her head. Her body was now no bigger than the other Shadowbolts’ chests and her fingers and toes were on full display. The last change made was that a white diaper was seen around her butt in place of her trousers.
“Sour Sweet?” Indigo Zap stood up with her legs quivering, hobbling towards what remained of her. “Is that you?”
“O… M… G!” Lemon’s frown quickly melted into a smile as she came over to Sour Sweet as well. “Sour. You’re a baby!”
“Well… I certainly didn’t expect that to happen.” Wheeljack’s mask slid back into his head as he walked up to Sour Sweet as well, watching as she gazed up at the group with wide eyes before sticking her fingers into her mouth.

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                       A Tiny Sweet                        
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Author's Note
Chapter 2 commences! And seriously check out Shadowmane's work, he's really good :twilightsmile: https://static.fimfiction.net/images/emoticons/twilightsmile.png
A Tiny Sweet
The girls and Wheeljack stared with their mouths agape at the state of Sour Sweet on the ground. Instead of the girl they knew and loved to hang with, they were now facing a tiny little infant, toddling around the room cutely.
“Wha… Wait… What… How… When…” Sunny Flare spazzed her arms, trying to come up with something to say, while at the same time, trying to hold onto her sanity. “What just happened!?”
“Sour just got turned… into a baby,” Sugarcoat replied, but her blunt tone of voice had melted away completely as she pushed her glasses closer to her eyes.
“Well… I’ll admit, this isn’t something I thought I’d see today...” Wheeljack, still without his facial mask, walked up to Sour Sweet and knelt towards her. “All her vitals are still in order, but they’re much less powerful now…”
“Well, duh!” Indigo zipped up to him. “She’s been turned into a baby, Wheeljack! Of course her stuff isn’t as strong anymore!”
“Great. So the machine worked, but now Sour’s a baby. That’s just peachy...” Sunny grumbled. She turned her head to the side and her eyes widened as she saw the machine that turned their friend into an infant was now in pieces. “Oh, great. And now we can’t even get her back to normal too. If Smallfoot finds out about this, we’re screwed six ways from Sundance.”
Wheeljack looked back and slid his face mask back on as he began to assess the damage. “Hmm… The frame’s buckled. With the amount of force it exerted, we’re lucky it’s not beyond repair.” He scratched his chin. “I’ll be able to repair it. But it’ll take some time.”
“Gee, you think?” Indigo snapped.
“Indy!” Lemon Zest immediately grabbed Indigo’s shoulders and squeezed tight.
“Gah! OK,OK! Get offa me!” Indigo Zap squirmed out of Lemon’s hold and calmed down in seconds.
“How long exactly, Wheeljack?” Lemon tiptoed up to him
“That depends.” Wheeljack crossed his arms. “How long can you keep Smallfoot occupied?”
“THIS ISN’T FUNNY, Y’KNOW!” Indigo burst out. “IF SMALLFOOT COMES BACK AND SEES SOUR SWEET AS A BABY, SHE’LL BE SO HEARTBROKEN THAT I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT SHE COULD DO!
“Uh… is everything alright in there?”, a voice from the hallway called out.
The Shadowbolts and Wheeljack turned to see Sideswipe and Bumblebee standing in the doorway. They both came into the lab and approached the CPA girls.
“We heard something blow up… again. Is everyone okay?”, Sideswipe asked.
“Uh… yeah! Everything’s fine!” Lemon Zest jumped and tried to hide Sour Sweet. “What are you two doing here? Aren’t you two doing something with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy?”
“Actually, Rainbow Dash has a soccer meet today. I’d thought I’d let her do her job,” Sideswipe replied, “No need for a bunch of soccer players to be distracted by an Autobot. In other words, I’ve got nothing to do today.”
“Okay, but what about Fluttershy?” Sugarcoat asked.
“Fluttershy’s gone away for the weekend with this girl called Tree Hugger.” Bumblebee tipped his mechanical hand. “She said something about protesting against a forest being used as a filming ground for a movie. I wanted to help out, but she said that I might end up drawing too much attention.”
“Oh, uh, that’s cool,” Indigo stammered. “So… you two gonna watch the new recruits fail their course? I’m betting Strongarm and Tracks are gonna screw it up again.”
“There’s no such thing as a bad Autobot, Indigo.” Sideswipe shook his head. “There’s the good ones, and then there’s the ones that’re still learning the ropes.”
“In other words?” Indigo raised a brow.
Bumblebee tilted his head, “I’m not even sure there’s any other words, those two just need to learn to not argue over every single thing. But… it could be entertaining to see how they fold well with our other newbies. Hopefully working with someone who used to be a pirate and someone who was framed won’t be too difficult.”
Lemon shuddered. “Sorry. Whenever you say pirate, you make me think of Overload and those pirate bots…” She still heard the swing of Mjolnir as Overload’s visage flashed in her mind.
“Talk about pirates. They are the worst excuse. Heck, they don’t even dress like real pirates,” Sideswipe huffed. “Where’s the eye patches? Where’s the peg legs? All the talk of ‘Aargh’ and ‘claiming the booty’?”
“Or the robot parrots, for that matter?” Bumblebee added.
The girls stared at the bots for a few seconds.
“I’m not sure where the robot parrots come from… but when we met them, they didn’t have any parrots. Or monkeys.” Sugarcoat shook her head. “They had an Insecticon and a porcupine, but no parrots.”
The girls were about to talk, but Sour Sweet, cooing and babbling, squeezed through Sunny’s legs, and right up to Sideswipe and Bumblebee.
“AHHHHHH!” Sideswipe let out a lady-like scream and jabbed a finger. “WHAT IN THE NAME OF ULTRA MAGNUS IS THAT THING?!”
Lemon snickered, “Did you just scream like a little girl?”
The tiny Sour Sweet just stretched her arms out, trying to reach for the shiny red robot. The two bots’ eyes bulged right out of their sockets.
“Sideswipe… I think we might have taken some bad Energon.” Bumblebee began to back up. “Maybe we should clear our heads. Hopefully a drive in the desert will help…”
“Yeah. Or maybe Optimus or Teletraan-1 have some Decepticon fugitives for us to handle…” Sideswipe shuffled backwards as well.
When they were both out the door, they ran off as fast as they could, hastily transforming into vehicle mode along the way.
“What’s the matter with those two?” Wheeljack turned his head back to Sour Sweet. “She’s harmless. And a little cute at that…” he listened to Sour giggling as Sugarcoat picked her up.
“Have they even see a real Earth baby before?” Sunny Flare asked.
“Look, even if they haven’t we can’t let Smallfoot know about this. No matter what!” Indigo Zap stomped forward. “Smallfoot and Sour Sweet are pretty close. If she discovers that her girl is now a baby, she could end up being a blubbering mess, drowning herself in ice cream while watching those ooey-gooey soap operas…”
“Or worse, she’ll try and kill us all because we’re responsible for her being this,” Sunny replied.
“Or maybe Smallfoot will try to kill Wheeljack since he’s the one who made the machine in the first place”, Sugarcoat deadpanned.
“That’s highly impossible.” Wheeljack shook his head. “Plus, my calculations show that one punch from an Autobot or Decepticon can prove fatal against humankind. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why humans send armies and war vehicles to deal with us…”
The baby Sour looked up at Sugarcoat and raised her hands, beginning to smush and pull Sugarcoat’s face, laughing all the while.
“Wheeljack, listen up and listen up straight. You’re gonna fix that machine so we get Sour back to normal before the day is up.” Lemon Zest came up to Wheeljack with her hair draped over her face and a malicious glint in her eyes. “I don’t know how long or how hard it is. I’m NOT letting Smallfoot get traumatized by a baby Sour Sweet, or letting her try to kill us. Ya got that?!” As she flipped her hair up, her teeth all looked like they had been sharpened.
“Girls? What’s happening to her?” Wheeljack turned to the other Shadowbolts. “Is this normal when Lemon Zest is angry?”
“I… I’m not even sure,” Indigo stared slack-jawed at her friend, imagining a fire appearing around her body.
“There is one other thing. If Sideswipe and Bumblebee alone freak out just from seeing Sour, we can’t let anyone else in this entire base find out.” Sugarcoat finally pulled Sour away from her face. “Optimus, Ratchet, Road Rage, Pipes, Von Joy, Pathfinder, no one. Not a single Autobot, Dinobot, Protectobot, Aerialbot, Rust Renegade, or a Guardian Gobot.”
“But what about Teletraan-1? He sees everything in this entire base, he’s gonna blab,” Indigo stated.
“True.” Wheeljack nodded. “But, he’s pretty limited when it comes to stuff like gossiping. If we can get Sour Sweet back home without anyone noticing, then we’ll at least keep the non-AI Autobots from having a panic attack.”
“Wait! Smallfoot and Sour share the same house! We can’t keep her there!” Indigo jolted. “What if she walks in and sees Sour isn’t home? She’s gonna ask. And you know how terrible we are at making excuses. Especially you, Sugarcoat…”
“Lies are a cancer, Indigo Zap.” Sugarcoat lowered her brows. “If you lie, you dig yourself a grave that you will never be able to climb out of. The truth is the ONLY way to a better life.”
“It’s not just Smallfoot freaking out we have to worry about.” Sunny Flare brushed  
Sour’s hair. “The trip through the Groundbridge might make her feel sick. Or worse, it might leave her with some pretty weird side-effects…”
Wheeljack sighed, “Then I guess we’re hiding her here. Wait… you girls have that entire lounge. It’s basically like an entire apartment. What if you kept her there?”
“We have a lounge?” Lemon tilted her head. “It looks more like something out of some weird Sci-fi movie…”
Sugarcoat facepalmed, “Lemon, do you not remember playing video games with Blaster and our cassettes?”
“Oh yeah…” Lemon replied. “Yeah, now I do. Outback made a lot of cocktails in that kitchen. Too bad we’re not old enough to drink ‘em…”
“It’s better than nothing, I suppose.” Wheeljack folded his arms. “But remember that Teletraan-1 still has eyes on the place. He’s gonna see every second that you’re in there. You’ve just gotta make sure that the other Autobots don’t come in and freak out like Sideswipe and Bumblebee did.”
“We’ll try,” Sunny replied, then mumbled under her breath, “This isn’t going to be easy… I just know it.”
“Aw, come on, Sunny. We can move like ninjas!” Indigo performed some quick flips and darted from cover to cover. “They won’t suspect a thing!”
“Let's just hide her already.” Sugarcoat said, looking down on the baby Sour. She tried reaching for her face again and giggled as Sugar gently pushed her arms away. “I feel like death by cuteness being a real thing might be sooner than we expected…”
Indigo was the first to step out of the room. She snapped her head left and right, checking the hallways. All clear from anyone. But she could still hear voices from some of the other rooms and the clanking of their feet against the floor. Trying to get to the lounge would be harder than anticipated.
“Okay, I think the coast is clear, but we’ve got to be quiet. There are still bots around,” Indigo replied.
“But what if the bots see us sneaking around?” Sunny whispered. “How are we gonna hide Sour if someone catches us?”
“Or if Sour starts crying or playing loudly?” Sugarcoat added. “There’d be no hiding her if they can hear her.”
“Let's just try to hide her the best we can,” Lemon said. “The last thing we need is a bunch of Autobots screaming like girls over a cute little baby like Sour Sweet.”
Sour reached up and began to pull Sugarcoat’s pigtails towards her. She stuffed the massive strands of hair into her mouth and began suckling on them, unfazed by the amount of hair in her mouth.
Lemon couldn’t help but smile. “She is actually kind of cute as a baby.”
“Maybe for you, but I’ll be glad when we can forget all about this.” Sugarcoat pulled her hair out of Sour’s mouth and felt the saliva dribbling down off of her pigtails. “Ew… This is beyond gross.”
“Auntie Suga…”, the baby spoke, drooling ever so slightly as a smile crept onto her face.
Lemon just grinned some more. “Awww… she’s so adorable! She thinks you’re her aunt! Wait, does that make us all aunts?” Lemon asked.
Carefully holding Sour in her arms, Sugarcoat crept out of the room with Lemon Zest, who were then followed by Sunny and Indigo Zap.
“Okay, the lounge should be three doors down the right corridor. We just got to get on by without anyone noticing us.” Indigo Zap put herself against the wall as they came to a junction, and peaked across all three lanes on the lookout for any Autobots.
“Play…” Sour Sweet began to get restless, and wiggled around in Sugarcoat’s grip.
“Sour. Hold still.” Sugarcoat tightened her grip. “Once we get to the lounge, you can play as much as you want. Just don’t move. Alright?”
The girls carefully walked down the hallway, but they froze when they saw a red Autobot running down the hallway with a crazed grin on his face and laughing hysterically. But then they looked back and saw a silver Autobot with an angry look on his face.
“I’m going to put you back together so I can tear you apart, you little scrapheap!”
“You got to catch me first, Bluestreak! Hahaha!”
The silver Autobot was close to the girls, but he didn’t pay attention to them.
“Hi, girls!” Bluestreak called out as he ran past them.
The Shadowbolts charged off, screaming as they darted away from the two bots, desperately trying to avoid them panicking at the sight of an infant in the Autobot Base.
Thankfully, the two robots were gone, and none of them looked back to notice a strange appearance in one of their members.
Sour bounced up and down with every pace Sugarcoat ran, squealing with a massive smile on her face as she clapped her hands together, almost wobbling out of Sugar’s hold altogether.
“At least she likes the run!” Lemon called out.
The girls all slowed down their run as they saw the robots were gone. Thank goodness.
“Okay, that was a close call. Hopefully… oh come on!” Indigo groaned as she saw another Autobot coming towards them.
“Girls. How are you all doing?” Arcee came up to the Bolts.
“Sorry, Arcee. Can’t talk.” Lemon Zest walked past him. “We just got orders from Optimus Prime about a potential dead zone in the base. He wanted us to investigate because, uh…” she stomped her feet, trying to think of something. “It’s… gonna EMP any Autobot that tries to get in. Yeah.”
“Oh. Alright.” Arcee watched the Bolts slip by her. “Make sure it’s not too long. There’s a football match on tonight and I’ve bet on my team to win. I just wanna make sure they can deliver.”
“Uh, catch up later!” Indigo ran off.
Arcee looked back at the bolts as they came to the end of another corridor and caught a brief glimpse of a baby Sour Sweet in their arms. She stared and rubbed her eyes, before going off to another part of the base.
“EMP? Really, Lemon?” Sugarcoat asked.
“If there’s one thing Cinch’s science classes taught me, it’s that EMPs can really screw up even the biggest of machines,” said Lemon Zest. “The reason Sunset’s against using ‘em to beat the Decepticons is because she’s worried it’ll fry Optimus and the Autobots too and turn them into scrap.”
Sugarcoat stared at Lemon while the baby in her arms continued to play with her hair.
“Girls… can we talk about this later? We’re almost to the lounge area, just one more door to pass and hopefully we can hide her. Let's just hope there’s no one coming out of that room, or no one easily distracted.”
That part was the good news for them. The bad news was that Sour Sweet’s tiny body was beginning to unload a stinky poop. It wasn’t long before her pristine white diaper grew a mushy, stinky, squishy brown spot; one that began to warm Sour’s tiny groin up. As her little legs squelched in the poop-ridden diaper, she began to sniffle. Tears formed in her eyes as she finally began to cry, then scream loudly as the smell of her ruined diaper hit her nose and the noses of all the other Shadowbolts.
“Ugh… come on, let's get her into that room, NOW.” If there was one thing Indigo hated more than anything, it was crying babies.
The girls all rushed into the lounge and the doors closed behind them.
“Okay… first thing…” Sunny started to catch her breath as she watched the Bolts set Sour down on the ground. “We’re gonna have to ask Wheeljack to open a Groundbridge so we can get some baby supplies.”
“And fast!” Lemon said, holding her nose. “This smell is worse than the stinkiest garbage on trash day!”
“I hope Smallfoot is having a better time than we are right now…” Sunny said.

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                   Parenting Is Fun/Hard                   
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Parenting Is Fun/Hard
On the outside world, Pinkie Pie and Smallfoot were walking down the streets of Canterlot, hand in giant robot hand. As the sunlight streaked down onto their skins and the grass gave way to their feet, both of them couldn’t help but smile.
“I really appreciate you helping me Pinkie. But are you sure you’re okay with this?” Smallfoot lifted a metal brow. “You don’t got anything else to do today that you rather do? Wouldn’t you rather hang out with Jazz?”
“Nah. Besides, Jazz is too busy with Optimus and the others.” Pinkie shrugged. “That, and it’s a ton of fun to get out of the office every once in awhile.”
“Uh, I don’t think that Optimus’s base really counts as an office, Pinkie.” Smallfoot twisted the servos of her arm.
“Yeah it does!” Pinkie chided. “It’s got all those computers, dusty old corners, and lots of junky emails about getting your hard drive en—”
“—Okay, too much information, Pinkie!” Smallfoot replied quickly. “But if we can change the subject, where exactly are we going?”
“Oh, well I was going to head home and take care of the Cake Twins while Mr. and Mrs. Cake go out to get more stock for the coffee shop.” Pinkie pulled out a fluffy pink wallet with a picture of both Pound and Pumpkin’s faces. “Aww… I always get fuzzy when I see these two together.”
Smallfoot’s green eyes squinted as she looked at the picture. A smile crept on her face. “Aww…”
“Hey. That’s made me have a thinky-pink moment!” Pinkie smiled and turned to Smallfoot. “Do Transformers have babies?”
Smallfoot scratched her chin, “I… I don’t know. I’m not even sure if bots from Gobotron have babies. But I do remember some guys from Lithone who had kids...”
“And… might it be possible for you to have kids?” Pinkie fluttered her eyelashes innocently. “I mean, you are a girl Gobot…”
Smallfoot blushed. “Well, I’m not sure we can uh… well, reproduce as you humans can. And that’s coming from a cyborg. But, no I don’t think I can have kids. Maybe by adoption, I can, but as the natural way goes… uh… no.”
“Aw, c’mon, sourball.” Pinkie Pie winked at and nudged Smallfoot in the shoulder. “Just because you’ve got cyborg parts doesn’t mean you’re all machine…” Her face floated back into an innocent smile. “That’s why Optimus Prime and the Autobots exist.”
“I may not be an entire machine. That much is true.” Smallfoot nodded. “I’m partially human like you, just not exactly 100% human,” Smallfoot replied, lightly tapping her armor. “Metal skin, not flesh. And I highly doubt I’ve got reproductive organs.”
“Well, do you have a magical opening chest trick that’ll prove if you have those things?” Pinkie leaned in close to Smallfoot’s chest.
“Uh…” Smallfoot stammered, “I’ve got lasers that pop out of my headlights?”
“No, I mean… never mind,” Pinkie replied. “If you still wanna see me playing with two cute little bundles of joy, I’m game, Smallfoot.”
Smallfoot grinned, “Actually, that’s one of the reasons I wanted to hang out with you. I’ve been talking with Sour for a bit, and part of me wondered what it would be like if either one of us were actual parents. So, uh… I wanted to ask if maybe, since you’ve got experience with babies, that maybe you could teach me some stuff?”
“Of course I’d love to teach you!” Pinkie’s face lit up almost instantly. “What do you wanna learn first?”
“I… I’m not even sure. I guess I want to learn as much as I can. If it’s not too much for you, that is.” Smallfoot replied.
“Hey. It’s no trouble, Smallfoot.” Pinkie came up to the door. “After all, babysitting is a piece of cake!”
“It’s official. I’m NEVER babysitting any kids ever again.”
Sour Sweet simply giggled as she crawled off without a diaper, as Indigo Zap snarled and leapt to her feet, beginning to chase after her. The teenage girl was about to scoop her up, but she tripped on another sprinkle of poop, causing her to tumble over Sour Sweet and smash into a steel wall. She was about to continue crawling around, but Indigo’s tumble turned on a TV to a kids show, grabbing Sour’s attention instantly.
Indigo laid back on one of the couches and groaned, using a wet towel to wipe her face clean.
She turned her head to see the rest of the girls came running through the door with bags hanging from her shoulder. They had just returned from a quick run through a Groundbridge and back to a store to grab some baby supplies. Her eyes could only bulge as she saw the state the room was in.
Indigo Zap clambered to her feet like something out of a horror movie, hobbling over to Sunny with flames in her eyes. ”You… you owe me, BIG TIME.”
“I’m sorry, it was a full crowd. We barely got out with someone trying to kill us,” Sunny explained.
“There was even an old lady who kept whacking me with her purse,” Lemon whined.
“Do you know what hell is, girls?” Indigo’s eyes twitched as her teeth gritted. She stepped aside and pointed at Sour. “THAT… THING is the scariest monster I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Sour simply laughed, clapping her hands at the shenanigans on the screen.
Sugarcoat tilted her glasses down. “How is a small baby a monster exactly?”
“Teletraan-1? Play them the footage.” Indigo hung her head and walked towards the couch.
“As you wish, Indigo Zap.” Teletraan-1 generated a video feed before the Shadowbolts, showing them every second that Indigo dealt with Sour. Starting with the mishaps of failing to change a diaper, to a rather long game of trying to catch an energetic little baby.
The girls jaws gaped as they couldn’t believe their eyes. Crystal Prep’s star athlete couldn’t even catch a single toddler.
“Be afraid, girls. Be VERY afraid.” Indigo Zap squatted down to Sour Sweet and put a finger on her head, prompting another giggle. “Forget dragons, forget magic, even zombies are less scary than this little monster.”
The girls stared awkwardly for a moment before speaking.
“Okay, I understand that babies are a bit of a challenge, but they can’t be that hard. Right?” Lemon asked.
“You ever seen that Kim Possible episode where she has to deal with those babies, Zesty?” Indigo asked, with silence following. “Think that, but just with one, and she’s not trained like some kinda baby-super-soldier.
Sugarcoat raised an eyebrow. “Indigo, do you mind clearing that up for me? I haven’t seen that episode, and I’m not even sure how much of a terror you’re describing.”
“I think Teletraan-1 does a better job than I do, Sugarcoat,” said Indigo.
Sugarcoat still stared at Indigo awkwardly, blinking a few times in between.
Indigo sighed. “Whatever. You got the supplies, right?”
“I think we do.” Sunny Flare looked back at everything. “We got the towels, the diapers, powder, some toys… did anyone remember to get warm milk or baby bottles?”
Sugarcoat scrunched her eyes. “Lemon Zest was supposed to get that…”
“Oh come on, I tried! I was nearly killed trying to get it!”
“Look, I’ll go back to the store and get those two. Hopefully no one will kill me on the way out.” Sugarcoat groaned.
“Sugar? You’re not mad at me, are you?” Lemon asked.
Sugarcoat looked back at Lemon with a deadpan look on her face. “No, I’m upset because Chestnut Magnifico can't cover her motel bill.”
With no other response, Sugarcoat stepped out of the room, leaving the three girls alone with the baby.
The show eventually ended and Sour turned back to the other girls, cooing and babbling gibberish as she crawled towards them.
“GAH! NOT AGAIN!” Indigo screamed in a pitch so high that she might as well have been a sound effect. Diving behind the couch, she shivered and clutched the edges as Sour toddled to her friends. “May goddess have mercy on your souls, girls…”
“Come on, Indy. She’s not that bad,” Lemon said, reaching down towards Sour. She picked her up and smiled at her. “Hey, little girl. It’s me. Auntie Zesty.”
“Auntie Zesty…” Sour cooed as she tried to reach for Lemon’s face.
“Coochie, coochie, coo!” Lemon began to tickle Sour Sweet, making her squeal and flail around, laughing all the while.
Sunny couldn’t help but smile. “She is kind of cute.”
“Not if you’re me, she’s not…” Indigo sunk behind the couch.
“I think she likes me.” Lemon grinned.
With a quick drive to the Sweet Shoppe, the place that Mr. and Mrs. Cake worked, Pinkie stepped out and Smallfoot converted back into her alternate form.
“I think you’re going to need to shrink down again.” Pinkie Pie craned her head up at Smallfoot’s large body.
Smallfoot smirked, and she pulled out a small little device from her back. “I’ll set it for… how about two or three hours?”
Pinkie grinned, “Works for me.”
“Okay.” She slipped the device onto her chest and set the countdown timer. “Shrinking down… now!”
The device zapped Smallfoot, and her body began to shrink down to the same height as Pinkie Pie. As soon as it finished, the noise began to whir down. Now Smallfoot was around the same height as Pinkie Pie.
“Better than ramming right through the shop as a walking giant.” Smallfoot walked through the door with Pinkie in front of her.
When the two of the, entered the cafe, the sweet smell of delicious baked goods filled the air and coiled around their noses, trapping them in a cage of marvellous pastry scents.
“Mmm! Smells like fresh cake!” Pinkie grinned from ear to ear.
“I wish I could smell that.” Smallfoot smirked.
“But you can eat though, right?” Pinkie turned her head to Smallfoot, almost banging her head against the door frame as she walked towards the stairs.
Smallfoot nodded. “Yep. I love Earth food! Just don’t let me have too much ice cream. Or milkshakes.”
Pinkie tilted her head with confusion.
“I uh… I tend to eat a lot of ice cream whenever I’m really depressed. Like uh… like the time when I found out Road Rage came here on Earth and my trauma with her back on Cybertron kicked back up again.” Smallfoot blushed on both cheeks.
“Just like Rarity!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I remember when we had to shoot this music video a while back, she went to this bar once and I could just smell the ice cream in her mouth when she came back.”
“Ooo...kay?” Smallfoot tilted her head.
“Uh, long story!” Pinkie leapt to the top of the stairs. “Anyways… wait, why did you get depressed over Road Rage?”
“She was, uh… my ex.” She looked away and began to reflect on her past. “But, that stuff is long over, and we’re good now.”
“That’s great! Now come on!” Pinkie beckoned her cyborg friend.
Smallfoot walked towards the open doorframe, and smacked the top of her head against it. “OW!” she groaned, rubbing where she had bumped it. “Should have gone in a little smaller…”
Carefully moving up the stairs, she found Pinkie Pie standing at the top in another room. As she walked in, the sounds of two babies cheering hit her ears as well.
Smallfoot had a big grin on her face as she saw the two babies. One wore a blue onesie and had black hair, while the other was in a pink one with golden hair and a blue bow in said hair.
“Awwwww… they’re so adorable!” Smallfoot squeaked.
“Smallfoot, say hello to Pound and Pumkpin. The Cake Twins!” Pinkie scooped them both up and held them against her chest.
“Awww... “ Smallfoot said as she walked over and beamed at the two babies. Her own eyes sparkled as she looked at the two in her arms. “Oh! Do you want me to hold one? Give you a free hand?”
Pinkie was about to say something, when the stench of messy diapers hit her nose. “Ooh! Actually, you can help me, Smallfoot.” And she handed Pumpkin to her. “We’ve gotta give these two babies a quick change before they stink up the place!”
“Sure thing. That’s what I’m here for, right?” Smallfoot followed Pinkie to the changing table and mimicked every action she did, from undressing Pumpkin, to opening the messed diaper and tossing it into the trash.
“How’s that?” Smallfoot asked.
“Good.” Pinkie pulled out two more diapers from the pack below. “But that’s the easy part. The hard one is actually putting a new diaper on the babies.”
Smallfoot nodded. “I understand.”
“First, we’ve gotta make sure that the diapers are powdered up nice and soft.” Pinkie took a bottle of baby powder and squirted it down onto the new diaper. “We don’t want either of them to get a rash.”
Smallfoot repeated the same actions as Pinkie Pie, making sure she followed every step that was instructed to her.
“Now that we’ve powdered them up, slide the diapers under their little butts, then pick the bottom end up like this.” Pinkie held it up and placed it against Pound’s tiny waist.” Hold it down gently, grab the ends, and make ‘em all kiss like this.”
“Uh, I don’t think these things can kiss, Pinkie.” Smallfoot chuckled meekly as she did the steps herself.
“Now. Last part. Make sure to pull the waistbands on your new diapers super tight so that they fit snugly around the baby’s waist.” Pinkie pulled hers. “And last but certainly not least, we give them a super-cute sticky strap!” Pinkie applied one to Pound’s diaper like a post-it note. “Pound’s has clouds on it because I know how much he loves to fly.”
Smallfoot nodded. Once again, without any errors, she pulled through on all of Pinkie’s instructions.
“Okay, I think I’ve got Pumpkin’s diaper all set,” Smallfoot replied. She finished by adding a sticky strap with lots of teddy bears on it.
“You’re a natural, Smallfoot.” Pinkie smiled and picked Pound up. “I’d say handling babies is gonna be a snap for you and Sour.”
“Maybe.” Smallfoot picked up Pumpkin and looked to the ceiling. “Huh. Wonder what she’s doing now…”
Sugarcoat had jumped through the Groundbridge portal, having finally finished doing the shopping she needed. All she would have to do is try and make it back to the lounge again without being caught.
Carefully tip-toeing down the hall, she checked every corridor for anyone that was near. But as she made a turn around a corner, she found herself looking up at a bipedal figure taller than her, with blue legs and a red chest.
“Sugarcoat.” Optimus stood proudly before her. “What brings you here to our base?”
Sugarcoat’s eyes widened. “Optimus. I thought you were training the new recruits.”
“Sunset told me she could handle it. And I have every faith in her that she will train them well.” He nodded. “But going back to you now. May I repeat my question?”
“My friends tried to help Wheeljack with an experiment, but it went a bit out of hand and now we’re cleaning up the mess.” Sugarcoat wasted no time. “I can’t tell you anymore, as I want to be respectful to the other girls in keeping it a secret from Smallfoot in particular.”
“I’m afraid I do not understand.” Optimus replied. “But are you girls okay?”
“Yes. We are all well.” Sugarcoat pushed her glasses closer to her face.
Without anything else to say, Sugarcoat walked past the Autobot leader with hesitancy.
“Hmm…” Optimus said to himself.
“Before you start thinking about it, we’re dealing with a harmful energy wave that’s fatal to Autobots but not to humans.” Sugarcoat piped up from the other end of the corridor. “Arcee inquired about it too and Lemon Zest tried to lie by saying it was an EMP, even though an EMP is considered an explosion and not confined to a small area of the base.”
Optimus raised a brow as Sugarcoat continued to scramble away, but he just turned his head around and walked off.
As soon as the coast was clear, Sugarcoat came back into the same lounge where the others were.
And found that Indigo Zap was hidden away in a corner while Sunny Flare had fizzled hair and Lemon Zest was trying to get her headphones back from Sour Sweet, who wasn’t giving them up no matter what moves the two of them made.
“What… the heck… happened?” Sugarcoat asked.
“Your guess is as good as mine, Sugarcoat.” Indigo came out of the corner. “I was hiding away for most of it.”
“Sugarcoat. I hate to admit it, but Indigo Zap was right.” Sunny tried to brush her hair back into her traditional bowl-cut. “Sour Sweet is terrifying.”
“She’s not terrifying, Sunny!” Called Lemon as she got her headphones back, only for Sour to swat them off and pick them from the air. “Oh, c’mon! I just got ‘em back!”
“Great. I leave you girls for ten minutes, and then this happens.” Sugarcoat grumbled, plucking Sour from Lemon Zest and handing her back her headphones. “My little sister is easier to deal with than this, and she’s five. How the three of you can’t handle an infant is beyond me.”
Indigo huffed. “I wish Wheeljack’s machine turned you into a baby, Sugarcoat. Then we wouldn’t get salt poured into the wound every ten seconds…”
“You would still get salt from Sour, you know.” Lemon added.
“Yeah, but at least Sour Sweet has a good side to her.” Indigo argued. “Sugarcoat doesn’t care about anything just as long as she can point things out like the rude girl she is…”
“You got something to say to me?” Sugarcoat gritted her teeth. “Say it again. Only, I’ll bring a Dinobot on your butt.”
“SHUT. UP.” Lemon Zest strangled Sugarcoat with one hand as her evil side came back. “Don’t. You. Dare. Sugarcoat.”
“GIRLS!” Sunny yelled. “Is it really worth trying to kill each other over this!? I don’t like this as much as you do, but we can’t be trying to kill each other this. As far as I’m concerned, Wheeljack is the one who’s at fault here! He’s the one responsible! We just have to put up with this as much as we can, and make sure her partner doesn’t find out, and if any of you got any problems with this, I will call all of the Dinobots out on you!”
Everyone fell silent. And they remained that way for a long while. Sugarcoat was dropped back onto the ground as an uncomforting void of silence washed over all of them. No-one dared say anything else, make a snappy retort, or try and win the argument.
“Maybe she’s right. What are we getting mad about?” Indigo finally broke the silence. “I mean, so Sour’s a baby. It's not her fault. We can do this. We’re the Crystal Prep Shadowbolts, for pete’s sake! We can handle a baby, no sweat!”
“Correction. I can handle a baby.” Sugarcoat sat down, patting Sour on the back. “Indigo hid behind a corner, Sunny Flare must have had difficulties as well, and Lemon Zest lost her headphones to Sour. It’s time to show you noobs how a REAL teenager looks after a baby.”
“I give her half an hour…” Sunny grimaced.
“I’ll give her eleven minutes…” Indigo added.
“I wonder what Smallfoot’s doing now. You think she’d be good with handling a baby?” Lemon asked.
“The only thing I’d be curious about is whether she’ll murder us for not telling her what happened,” Sunny said, “But part of me does wonder how Sour will see Smallfoot. She obviously sees us as her aunts.”
“Let’s not think about that.” Sugarcoat shook her head. “Now. Let me show you all how it’s really done.”
Author's Note
Oh, Sugar, Sugar, Sugar... :derpytongue2: https://static.fimfiction.net/images/emoticons/derpytongue2.png

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                    Turning Sugar Sour                     
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Author's Note
Craziness, exposition, and continuity! All for the price of one! :derpytongue2: https://static.fimfiction.net/images/emoticons/derpytongue2.png
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.

//-------------------------------------------------------//
            All The Tools, But Still Struggling            
//-------------------------------------------------------//
All The Tools, But Still Struggling
Back in Canterlot, the Cakes’ babies had fallen asleep in each of the girls arms. Smallfoot held onto Pumpkin Cake, while Pinkie Pie held onto Pound Cake.
“So how many times a day do babies need naps?” Smallfoot asked, peering down into Pumpkin’s shut eyelids.
“I dunno.” Pinkie shrugged. “Usually, when I was a baby, mom and dad put me to bed whenever I got sleepy.”
“But these two have already fallen asleep. And I’m no expert, but shouldn’t we find them something more, comfy to sleep in?” Smallfoot asked.
“Well, that’s why there’s a crib here, silly!” Pinkie carried Pound over to the crib and set him down gently, tucking him under the covers. “Go on, Smallfoot. Pumpkin needs some of that comfy crib on her body too.”
Smallfoot just chuckled lightly and she moved over to the other crib, and gently set Pumpkin down into the bed. Once she was set, she grabbed the covers of the blanket and pulled it over the sleeping baby.
“Now remember, Smallfoot. Gentle motions.” Pinkie began to rock the crib back and forth towards her. The slow motions caused Pound Cake to snore quietly, cooing as he exhaled. “If you go too fast, you risk waking them up again. And that’s no fun at all; especially when they just got to bed…”
“Understood.” Smallfoot replied, slowly moving away from the crib so her body wasn’t leaning over it. With one red hand grabbing onto the side, she slowly moved it back and forth, rocking the baby to sleep. “How long should they sleep for, exactly? A nap isn’t like a whole recharge session, is it?”
“Nope. Naps don’t usually last long, which is good, because usually, babies are restless, bouncy, and fun-loving balls of chaos if they don’t sleep properly.” Pinkie smiled. “But don’t get naptime confused with bedtime. They’re TOTALLY different things. I can’t imagine the number of times I’ve made that mistake and gave them a nap late at night when really, they should’ve been asleep instead. Let’s just say Mr. and Mrs. Cake had horrible bed hair that day…”
Smallfoot had a bit of a shocked look on her face. “Um… okay?” Smallfoot took a glance down and she took a look at Pumpkin Cake who yawned for a moment before quietly snoring.
“Aw…” Smallfoot smiled. “Okay, that’s adorable.”
“That’s the same for all babies,” said Pinkie. “But when they don’t get naps, they get pretty kooky. In fact, I feel really sorry for anyone who’s trying to deal with a baby who doesn’t get naps…”
Which was EXACTLY the case for the Shadowbolts and Sunset. The TV was off, but they still sweated frantically, trying to keep control of one Sour Sweet. The room was close to being a pigsty. Tables had been turned, stuff had been fallen off the floor, and Sour Sweet was still evading capture by crawling around, under, and on top of the Shadowbolts’s heads. And whenever one of them got close, she grabbed onto them and continued to slip and wiggle around them.
“Okay… I’ll admit… this is a lot harder than I thought it would be.” Sunset said, head leaning back against the cushion of the couch in defeat.
“This would be easier if SOMEONE didn’t cower in the closet!” Sugarcoat snapped.
“Hey! Screw you, Sugarcoat!” Indigo shouted. “I’m blocking you from Mystable, tearing up our photos together, and gonna start bullying you if you don’t shut up about it!”
“You don’t have the guts, you like me.” Sugarcoat replied.
No reply came from the closet. Until a few seconds later.
“Okay, you got me there, but I’m not dealing with that little monster!”
Groaning, Sunny Flare walked out of the room and activated the Pip-Boy around her waist. She moved to the list of contacts and scrolled the knob down until she found Wheeljack’s name. She pressed it, and a video feed opened up, allowing her to see Wheeljack.
“Wheeljack. PLEASE. FOR THE LOVE OF ULTRA MAGNUS tell me that you’ve fixed the device.” Sunny moaned. “Sour Sweet’s IMPOSSIBLE to deal with. Indy’s in the closet, Sugarcoat’s showing emotion, and Lemon Zest is crying in the corner!”
“Don’t push me, Sunny!” Wheeljack yelled as he looked into the monitor. “These things can’t be done with just a push of a button!”
“Then can’t you just, oh, I don’t know, clone yourself?!” Sunny’s eye twitched as she formed a fist with her right hand. “Two Wheeljacks could be better than one, y’know!”
“I tried that cloning experiment years ago, it went nowhere! Scared the living daylights out of Pathfinder, though. That was funny.” He let a miniscule chuckle slip from his mask.
“That wasn’t funny, Wheeljack!” A voice yelled.
“Oh cool it, lady! That was hilarious!” Wheeljack snapped his head towards the voice, then turned back to the screen. “Anyways. We’re really behind schedule on this. I’ve had to rework the algorithm ten times already to just get the right energy flowing from the device. I only JUST got started on repairs to the frame.” His welder lit up again. “How is it that fixing stuff is always harder than breaking it?”
Sunny scrunched her face. “Look, just do what you can and do it fast! I don’t know where Smallfoot is, but if she or anyone else finds out what happened, we’re all going to be in serious trouble. I don’t even want to know what Optimus might say.”
“Look. Optimus is an empathetic bot.” Wheeljack folded his arms. “One of the reasons he would rather imprison Megatron over killing him is because he’s not a cold-hearted killer like the Decepticons. You need to show some control and respect, missy.”
“How can I possibly do that?” Sunny waved her arms up in anger.
“First of all, with this,” Wheeljack pushed a button, and mist sprayed out of Sunny Flare’s Pip-Boy and right into her nostrils, making her cough and stumble backwards. “While you were asleep, I programmed, updated, and modernised your wrist communicator with a lot of different features. This one should help you calm down. It only activates during times of extreme anxiety, or when I push this button.”
“Wheeljack, I’m just trying to get her to stop moving, I’m not trying to catch an escaped criminal. How is any of this stuff going to work?”
“I have a feature for that. It’s called Cyber Net.” Wheeljack smiled. “Go into the Apps button on your wrist communicator, and you’ll get a little chrome disc. You can customise the size and power of the net, as well as choose whether or not you want to knock the target into stasis, and whether or not it’ll be lethal.”
Sunny looked down at her wrist communicator, and followed what Wheeljack said, looking for the controls. “You know, I think you have WAY too much freetime on your hands.”
“What can I say? I love surprising people. Even Optimus was surprised when he saw the upgrades I made to his stuff.” His mask disappeared, revealing the grin.
“Did any of them blow up?” Sunny asked, raising a brow.
“No. I would never use any lethal upgrades on Optimus Prime!” He waved his hands in front of his face. “That’d make me seem like a Decepticon!”
Sunny just shook her head and continued to look on her wrist device. “Okay, I think I’ve found it. How do I get Sour to go towards it?”
“Just set something down on top of the trap, then activate it by pushing the screen,” Wheeljack said. “Set some food, a toy, or even those little bulb things that babies like. Then, when Sour Sweet puts her hand down on it, push the button, and she’ll be trapped.”
Sunny sighed. “Its at times like this I wish we had Steeljaw right now. But… I suppose this is worth a try. I’ll try it out.”
“Alright. Oh, and, I’ve re-optimised the calming gas to your new stress levels. The gas’ll now spray more often when you’re angry, sad, confused, or just really, really crazy. Now, I need to get back to work on the machine. Wheeljack out.” His mask came back on before the video link was cut, taking Sunny back to her upgraded Pip-Boy.
“Okay… let's hope this works.” Sunny sighed.
She turned herself around and came back into the room, now with all of her collective thoughts. “Girls. I have an idea on how we can get her to stop moving.”
“If your plan is to let the Dinobots in so they scare the living daylights out of her, that’s a bad idea on EVERY account.” Sugarcoat gruffly crossed her arms.” “I’m not even sure what she’ll think of dinosaurs.”
“No, that’s not my suggestion, and that’s a terrible idea. Wheeljack gave me something in my Pip-Boy that should help keep Sour in one place. We just need to set some bait to get her to go for it.”
“Bait? Like the Crocodile Hunter?” Lemon Zest came out of the corner, wiping her eyes clean.
“I believe so. We just need to get some of her favorite things down to the one spot, and then the minute she’s in, we close it! She’ll basically be in a little cage. I hope.”
“I would say that’s also terrible, but at this point, we’re out of ideas.” Indigo came out of the closet. “We’ve tried being silly, serious, and even caring, and that’s not working out for ANY of us.”
“But what could we set the trap with?” Sugarcoat lifted a brow. “And how will we know what she likes and whether or not she’ll go for it?”
The girls took a look over at the corner, hearing the happy cooing from Sour. She was too occupied with her toys to even pay attention to what they were doing. She just kept playing with her little toy truck that she rolled back and forth.
“Heh, at least the little truck makes her happy. Didn’t know she would like that.” Lemon said.
“Then let’s let that be our trap.” Sunny tiptoed over to Sour Sweet and slinked around her back, taking another of the toy cars. “I just hope she doesn’t know what we’re doing.”
“Won’t taking it from her make her mad? I don’t think anyone wants to deal with another crying baby again.” Sugarcoat asked.
“She’s a baby. They don’t get mad.” Sunny Flare set the trap down and put the toy on top of it. “They get fussy, messy, smelly, and upset. They don’t learn how to be angry until they’re at least five years old, according to Mr. Svengallop at Crystal Prep.”
“Well, it’s worth a try.” Sunset said, trying to stand up on her feet. “Should we hide so she doesn’t get distracted?”
“No. We should stand around and act like we’re on a set for a movie.” Sugarcoat said with a deadpan look. “Of course we should hide, you idiots!”
Sunset scowled at Sugarcoat. “Okay, I really don’t need that attitude from you.”
“Oh, grow up, Sunset.” Sugarcoat flipped her hair.
“Can we focus!? Please?” Sunny interrupted with a huff, grabbing both of their attention.
Sugarcoat blinked for a moment. “Sorry. We better hide before she wants to play with us instead.”
They all ducked behind the couch and looked out at the trap, leaving Sour Sweet alone. Poking their heads under, around, and over the upholstery, they all watched as Sour stopped playing with the toy truck and crawled off to another part of the room.
“Come on… take the bait…” Sunny whispered to herself.
The girls waited for a sign. Anything that would let them know that the trap had gone off. But in the few seconds they waited… the trap didn’t go off.
Instead, Sour Sweet looked around the room, at the isolation she was in. She had never been alone as a baby; even if it was only for today, and now, no-one was here for her to be her punching bag, or even try to control her. Tilting her head, she looked around and babbled, as if she was asking where they were.
“Um… shouldn’t something be happening?” Lemon whispered.
“I think this may have been a mistake.” Sugarcoat replied.
In the end, Sour moaned as she crawled faster, looking around for someone to play with or make chaos, but she could find nothing. Nothing but toys and loneliness. In the end, she let a small tear fall from her eyes as she started to sob, cry, and then wail, getting louder and louder each second.
“Oh no…” Lemon groaned. “Wish we had someone as a mom to calm her down.”
Sugarcoat scrunched the top of her eyebrows, just taking in the failure of their situation. “Okay… let's just be glad Smallfoot can’t see any of this.”
“Oh, for goddess’s sake…” Sunset burst from the couch and walked out into view. “Sour! Come here, girl!” She sing-songed in a sweet voice, instantly silencing the baby.
Sour stopped, and she looked at Sunset. A small smile came to her face as she started to crawl towards her.
“Yes. That’s it, Sour. Come to nana Sunset…” She slowly side-stepped and lead Sour towards the trap, making sure not to go too fast. “You don’t have to be alone. I’m here for you.
Sour kept on crawling towards Sunset, trying to chase after her.
“She’s taking the bait… come on... “ Sunny whispered, holding her finger over the button to close the trap shut.
“Do you wanna play, Sour?” Sunset pointed down to the car on the trap. “Look! Toys! We know how much you love toys…”
As Sour kept on crawling towards the trap, Indigo finally decided to poke her head out from the closet and take a close look to see the situation. But what she didn’t see was that one of the toys she was playing with earlier was right near the door. Instead, she looked back and moved towards the little toy truck and began playing with it instead, giggling.
“Wait, you wanna play with that?” Sunset lifted a brow at Sour playing with the red truck. “But it’s so… bulky and bright on the eyes. Don’t you wanna try something else?”
But Sour giggled and shook her head, rolling the toy around on the ground once more, making mouth farts like it had a motor.
“You know… it’s scary how much that red truck reminds me of a certain, you know who…” Sugarcoat said. “Why did we even buy her that toy?”
“We have all the tools, but we’re still struggling.” Lemon Zest groaned and slapped her face. “I feel like I’m on an episode of Hell’s Kitchen right now.”
“Just be happy there isn’t an angry British guy yelling at you and calling you a donkey.” Sunny muttered.
“Alright, that’s it. No more Mrs. Nice Indigo Zap!” She snarled and ran out, taking the trap out from underneath the toy. Very hastily, she put it on Sour’s back. “NOW, SUNNY!”
Sunny, with a quick response, pressed the button. Microscopic chrome balls extended out and formed a grid around Sour Sweet, generating a light blue hard-light field that sealed her in. Sour tried to break out, but she couldn’t push her fingers through the light.
“Whew… finally. We caught her.” Lemon sighed.
“Yeah, but I think it could’ve been handled a little better.” Sunset crossed her arms as she watched Indigo Zap lift the closed trap up. “Don’t you have a daycare at Crystal Prep where you can learn how to do this sort of thing?”
“Pfft. Please. Do you honestly think there’d be something about being a nice caretaker at CPA?” Indigo asked.
“That’s what Principal Cinch wants you to believe, but she’s doing twenty years in Tartarus Penitentiary for blackmailing poor Twilight.” Sunset’s face tightened up. “Shouldn’t that be a wake-up call for you girls to clean up your act, be nice, and don’t follow the rules of a self-absorbed hag who only wants to win at things?”
“There’s one thing you forgot Sunset. Cinch blackmailed us too. Remember our little second redo? Autobots posing as humans? Huh?” Indigo muttered under her breath.
Sunset just glared at Indigo. “What’s wrong with you? Seriously. What. Is. Wrong. With. All. Of. You? Are you born evil or something?”
Indigo just took a moment to breathe in and out. “Okay… maybe we could try and loosen up a bit on this. And maybe we can be nicer.”
“No. I need to get this off my chest, because I know you’re not gonna listen.” Sunset crossed her arms and stamped her feet. “You don’t care about others, Sugarcoat, Indigo’s a Rainbow Dash clone, Sunny Flare’s just doing nothing most of the time, and Sour Sweet is bipolar! Can’t you all just be like the Rainbooms for once?!”
The Shadowbolts all stared at Sunset with their mouths agape for a short while.
“That’s cold, you know.” Lemon said.
“But… she does have a point. We could try and be a little nicer here. Why are we even getting bent out of shape?” Sunny finally closed her mouth. “I thought Wheeljack was to blame for Sour being in this state, but really, it’s all of us, because we’re not good friends at all.”
“We all just want Sour to be back the way she is, ” Sugarcoat said. “I don’t want her to be stuck like this forever.” Out of the corner of her eye, there was a small visible tear that could be seen rolling down her cheeks.
Lemon looked at Sugarcoat with a frown. “Sugarcoat? You okay?”
“I… I have to get some air!” She struggled with swallowing her breath as she ran out of the lounge, opened a mini-Groundbridge, and warped out of the base.
Sunset sighed. “Okay. Look… I understand you girls want Sour back, so do I. But right now… we need to work on being better friends. Fighting with each other and getting angry isn’t helping us. Can we at least try to be better friends?”
“We can try, but I don’t know if we’ll be any good at it…” Indigo Zap walked over to the crib and put the trap—which was still open—down onto the mattress.
“You don’t know that unless you try. It's not hard.” Sunset said with a warm voice.
“Is there any classes we should take on friendship, or do we just have to get zapped by some magical rainbow-beam from you and your friends?” Sunny asked.
Sunset let out a small giggle. “It’s nothing like that. It's really simple. You girls just need to start on grounds where you can get to know each other better, that’s all.”
Everybody starts as strangers.  
Cold, distant, and alone  
But sure enough, you find someone like you  
And all your pain will be gone.
I started out like all the others  
I was hard, shallow, and scared  
But then Princess Twilight came along  
And I was soon more than prepared!
All the Bolts just stared at her as she sang.
It’s Not That Hard To Make A Friend  
You just need to stick by them to the end  
And through your love and devotion  
You’ll be filled with emotion
It’s Not That Hard To Make A Friend  
Just care about it, and you’ll see  
That everyone can be filled with friendship  
Including you and me!
As Sunset sang, Lemon Zest soon ended up tapping her feet to the beat of the song and lightly nodded her head.
I watched them all at CPA  
And it seemed like they were miles away  
But as the time passed on, and I played all my songs  
I saw a little something change
That day the Friendship Games  
Which I admit, we are to blame  
When magic joined the fight  
Something changed in me  
And we all ran hurriedly  
To save the students ‘cause we knew it was riiiiiiiight
Lemon soon leaped over to Sunset, standing by her side.
It’s Not That Hard To Make A Friend  
Just fight for them until the very end  
Even if the odds are against you  
A friend can always help you see it through
It’s Not That Hard To Make A Friend  
And ‘til the end of time  
You’ll find that friendship isn’t a lesson  
But it’s been something passed down the line
Even if things are going right for you  
Tests, bills, fights or your face is askew  
You just have to remember  
That your friends are always gonna be there for you
And even when we have our falling outs  
And when are heads are filled with many doubts  
We always make it up in the end  
And that’s one of the joys of being a friend!
It’s Not That Hard To Make A Friend  
Even when we drive ourselves down the bend  
And when we fight and forgive  
We’re glad our friendship can live
It’s Not That Hard To Make a Friend  
And when you really try  
You’ll know that friendship is the greatest joy  
For both you and I.
You’ll know that friendship is the greatest joy  
For both you… and I
“So you see, girls?” Sunset grinned. “Friendship can be done. All you need to do is care and it’ll work out.”
“I suppose we could try.” Indigo smiled.
“Only one problem… where did Sugarcoat go?” Sunny asked. “Teletraan-1! Sugarcoat took a Groundbridge portal, right?”
“Affirmative.”
“Okay, and… do you know where she went?” Sunny asked nervously. “We need to talk to her. And, I’ve got to apologize to her for how I’ve been acting. And for the insults.”
“Sugarcoat took a Groundbridge to the Sweet Shoppe in Canterlot.” Teletraan-1 showed the girls the co-ordinates. “There are two registered life-forms there. Named Pinkie Pie and Smallfoot. At the moment, they are dealing with two individuals, with similar vitals to Sour Sweet.”
The Shadowbolts all widened their eyes in shock.
“That’s… not… good.” Indigo said.
“Maybe she won’t be able to find ‘em.” Lemon popped up from the background. “She doesn’t know about Pound and Pumpkin living in the Swee Shoppe, so we should be good for now.”
“Or maybe they’ll find her. I’ve got to get over there and stop her… and apologize. Can you girls keep watch for a bit?”
“I can. Just go. I think it's time I stood up to my fears and took some initiative here.” Indigo said with pride. “While I’m gone, I hope you can get Sour Sweet to sleep. Maybe rock that trap or something until she closes her eyes?”
“I suppose it’s worth a shot.” Lemon replied.
Indigo said her goodbyes, and she rushed out of the lounge, leaving the three girls behind. Opening up her own mini-Groundbridge, she leapt through the portal, leaving nothing behind.
“Alright, Sour. Auntie Zesty’s here, and she’s gonna make sure you have a good nap.” Lemon Zest walked up to the trap, picked it up, and rocked Sour back and forth in the trap as gently as she could. “There’s a good girl. Go to sleep now. You’ll wanna have a happy nap now, won’t you?”
Sour Sweet just spoke in more baby-talk, giggling as she looked up at Lemon.
“Let me help you with that, Lemon Zest.” Sunset smiled and looked Sour in the eyes like a mother would. “She’ll need the comfort of someone she likes to go to sleep better.”
“Hehe, what if she thought that Smallfoot was her mother?” Lemon snickered.
Sunset and Indigo just stared at her, not even laughing.
“Eh… too soon?”
“Definitely too soon,” said Sunset.
Author's Note
Oooh, drama! :derpytongue2: https://static.fimfiction.net/images/emoticons/derpytongue2.png

//-------------------------------------------------------//
                Struggling To Say Something                
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Struggling To Say Something
Sugarcoat came out of the other side of the mini-Groundbridge at the entrance to the Sweet Shoppe. Fighting back the tears in her eyes, she tightened her right hand into a fist and walked into the shop. She was still stung hard by Sunset’s words but tried her hardest to hide it, forcing a grin as hard as she could.
She came into the Sweet Shoppe and found that there was no-one inside and no-one running the counter either. Tilting her head, Sugarcoat’s face fell instantly. It was like she had walked into a haunted shop as her footsteps echoed against the walls.
With no one around, she took a seat at the couch, still struggling to keep herself together. But the sound of the bell dinging and the door opening got her attention.
“Sugarcoat, why did you run off like that?” Sunny Flare asked. “You had us all worried.”
Sugarcoat didn’t reply, but instead looked away, not wanting to show her any quivering lips or tears.
“C’mon, Sugarcoat. This isn’t like you at all.” Sunny sat down by Sugacoat, watching as she scooted away from her. “Usually, you’re not afraid and you stand your ground pretty well. So why back down now?”
“Sunny… I don’t want to talk about this.” Sugarcoat simply said. “I just left, simple as that.”
“Running from your problems is only gonna make things worse.” Sunny Flare took Sugarcoat’s hands and held them close to her face. “What’s wrong? Talk to us.”
Sugarcoat sighed. “Sunny… what’s wrong with us? We can’t even talk to each other without snapping at one another or getting mad just because of our quirks.”
“We’re not the best of friends, Sugarcoat. I agree with you on that,” Sunny started. “But times change. We saw EVERYTHING that’s happened at CHS. If those girls can go from being dysfunctional to being besties, then why can’t we adapt as well?”
“Look at us, Sunny. Indigo Zap is just overly competitive, Sour is sweet and… sour at the same time, I’m blunt, Lemon Zest is loud and obnoxious and you’re… you’re… I got nothing.” Sugarcoat slapped her forehead and groaned. “The point is, how can we even work together if we keep fighting with each other over every single thing?”
“Maybe we’re just… bad people.” Sunny Flare rubbed her fingers against the surface of the table. “And that’s a good thing.”
“Good?” Sugarcoat rubbed her eyes. “What part of us being bad people is a good thing?”
“I get that we’re not really good friends, but at the same time, what fun is there in us being perfect?” Sunny asked. “If we’re really supposed to live up to the Rainbooms’ examples, then we’re just destroying everything that makes us who we are. And besides, you can’t be happy-go-lucky ooey-gooey best friends every day, right?”
“If you’re trying to cheer me up, it’s not really your best performance, Sunny,” said Sugarcoat.
“Dysfunction isn’t healthy, yes. But at the same time, being too friendly with each other is just as bad.” Sunny Flare sighed and fiddled with her Pip-Boy. “I guess in a way, those Rainbooms are like the Avengers and we’re like the Guardians of the Galaxy. In the sense that we do go for each other’s throats, but we can still get the job done and do it good.”
“Sunny, think about it. We’re still fighting, Sour is still a baby, Wheeljack still hasn’t finished fixing what turned her into a infant in the first place, the war with the Autobots and Decepticons is still going, and we’re keeping all of this a secret from Sour’s cyborg girlfriend!” As her facial muscles tightened, sweat began to form on her forehead. Very quickly, she took a deep breath and calmed down. “Pardon me, but this not looking good.”
“What did you say?” Smallfoot stood in the middle of the staircase. She had been listening in on the conversation. “What was that about my Sourball?”
Sunny’s pupils shrank to pinpricks. “We’re dead.”
Smallfoot stood standing, staring down at the both of them with green eyes.
“Um… how long were you there?”
“All I heard was something about keeping a secret from Sour Sweet’s ‘cyborg girlfriend’.” Smallfoot approached the two Bolts. “Granted that fits me perfectly, but something seems a little off right now…”
“It’s nothing, Smallfoot! We’ve just, uh… well…” Sugarcoat desperately flailed her hands in front of her face and tugged on her collar.
“We’ve been keeping a secret about what to get you for Christmas!” Sunny blurted.
“Girls. I know that’s a lie from here.” Smallfoot crossed her arms. “You’re not really that good at hiding the truth from me.” She slowly walked towards them and moved her hands on her hips. “What exactly are you hiding from me?”
Sunny’s Pip-Boy began to ring, and the video feed showed Wheeljack again. “Sunny? Are you there? I’ve got an update on the machine’s progress.”
“Uh… great! Just give me a moment real quick…” Sunny scrambled to try and turn the Pip-Boy off. “Smallfoot, can we talk about this later? Me and Sugarcoat have to hurry and get you and Sour something nice.” She darted out of the table, leaving a cloud of smoke behind her.
The very second she tried to go to the door, Smallfoot swooped in at the last moment and stood in front of the door.
“No, uh uh, I don’t think so. You’re not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on. What is so important that you have to hide from me?” Smallfoot took a short moment to think, then looked back at Sunny. “Did you set my books on fire?”
“Huh? There are books on fire?” Pinkie poked her head out from the counter. “Oh, Twilight’s not gonna be happy about that…”
“No, we didn’t set any of your books on fire.” Sunny replied.
“Besides, it’s MUCH more complicated than you think.” Sugarcoat added
Smallfoot raised an eyebrow. “What can you possibly say that’s so confusing, girls? The Autobots don’t have secrets to hide, y’know.”
“Well we did find a secret… I think your ex-girlfriend Road Rage may have a small crush on Arcee.”
Smallfoot rolled her eyes. “She actually told me about that. Can’t blame her.”
“Hey, uh, is this a bad time?” Wheeljack spoke up from the wrist communicator. “I can always call you girls back.”
“Wheeljack. Come in. This is Smallfoot.” She took Sunny’s arm and looked down at the communicator. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing’s going on, Smallfoot, I can assure you. I just set some of my equipment on fire again, that’s all. Scared the heck out of Hotspot though.”
“Wheeljack. Not you too.” Smallfoot lowered her brows. “Girls. Tell me what’s wrong right now. This isn’t like you.”
Sugarcoat and Sunny shared worried looks. If they told her now, who knew how she’d react. Their vision began to blur as only Smallfoot stood above them, getting bigger and bigger every second as the rest of the world vanished around them. Her eyes turned from green to dark purple as she stared down on them both.
“What do you have to say for yourselves?” Smallfoot’s voice was dark and twisted, like she had been turned to a Decepticon, yet at the same time, remained an Autobot in form.
As Sunny and Sugarcoat tried to say something, they heard Sour Sweet’s cries ringing in their ears, getting louder and louder with each passing second. They frantically looked around in the dark purple abyss, but there was nothing but a Smallfoot that might as well have been a god with how large she was growing.
“Speak now, wretches!” Smallfoot’s voice finally warped and had a venomous accent to it, as her Autobot insignia went up in flames and was replaced with a Decepticon logo. “WHAT HAPPENED TO MY SOUR SWEET?!”
Sugarcoat and Sunny Flare fell to their knees, closing their eyes as they tried to fight back their own illusions. But even now, they couldn’t blot out Sour Sweet’s wails, or escape the gaze of the colossal Smallfoot standing before them. Balling their hands into fists, tears began to fall from their eyes as more and more visions filled their heads.
“You let Smallfoot join the Decepticons? What kind of girls are you?" Rainbow Dash grabbed both of the girls by the throats.
“Ah say we chuck ‘em into space.” Applejack crossed her arms. “Won’t do us any good if we’re gonna have traitors among us…”
“You lied to us, Sunny and Sugarcoat.” Sunset had flames in her eyes. “You’re just as bad as the Decepticons…”
“And all because you didn’t tell Smallfoot that Sour Sweet was turned into a human child.” Optimus Prime joined the scorners. “What a miserable way to go out.”
“No… please stop! Sunny Flare had two waterfalls of tears flowing out of her eyes. “It’s not our fault!”
“We never meant to do any of this!” Sugarcoat cried. “It was just an accident!”
“Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar!” Everyone in her field of view chanted, their voices getting louder and louder every second as the girls tried one more time to break out of their haunt. They were about to get flattened by a barrage of fists until they finally screamed and broke back into reality.
“ALRIGHT! ALRIIIIIIGHT!” Sunny Flare cried at the top of her voice. “Smallfoot. We turned Sour Sweet into a baby by accident when we tried to help Wheeljack out!”
“Please don’t join the Decepticons over this! We’re sorry we ever lied to you!” Sugarcoat had never been so broken before in her entire life. “What have we done? What have we done?!”
Smallfoot stood silently for a moment, staring at Sunny Flare and Sugarcoat for a few moments without saying a word.
“How long has this been going on today?”
“Uh… huh?” Sunny whimpered, both her lips quivering.
“How long did this happen?”
“Um… a few hours ago.” Sugarcoat’s tears made the tiles beneath her wet and slippery.
“And how many people know this happened?”
“All four of us, Wheeljack, Sunset Shimmer… and possibly Sideswipe and Bumblebee, they got freaked out really bad.”
Smallfoot tapped her foot for a moment. “And let me guess… you’ve tried to contain the problem by yourselves and it didn’t work, and you girls just kept on fighting with each other over not knowing how to handle it?”
“Y-Yes…” Sunny sniffled.
Smallfoot took a moment to think, and then looked around for a brief moment, thinking of what to do. She began to fiddle around with the devices on her arm, bringing up a separate video feed with Ratchet on the other side.
“Ratchet. I’d like to request a Groundbridge back to base.” Smallfoot spoke in a calm voice. “I have something I need to do.”
“Understood. I’m activating Teletraan-1’s Groundbridge systems now. It should be in your position shortly.”
Smallfoot nodded and she walked towards the door and stepped outside, onto the empty street, ready for when it would arrive. She didn’t even see the Shadowbolts still crying on the floor.
“Huh. She took that a lot better than I thought she would.” Pinkie tilted her head.
“W-What…” Sunny said, staring out the window. “Oh no… oh no no no no no no no… she’s going to freak!”
“S-She’ll freak out more when she finally sees Sour.” Sugarcoat replied. “Come on, we’ve got… we’ve got to stop her!”
“If it’s gonna help you two out, I was about to say that the machine’s coming along pretty nicely.” Wheeljack tapped on the glass. “I should have the device finished in just under an hour. “
“That’s good Wheeljack, but don’t let her find our lounge! We can’t let her see Sour!”
“The Autobot base’s defence matrix only works against Decepticons. And if I change it up, then Optimus would be furious.” Wheeljack went back to the machine. “Not much I can do to stop her, I’m afraid.”
“Then use yourself as a door! I don’t care if you have to put her in stasis cuffs or tackle her to the ground, just don’t let her get there!” Sugarcoat yelled.
“Do you want Sour Sweet turned back to a teenager or for me to stop Smallfoot?” Wheeljack lifted his brows. “I can’t do both, y’know. Take your pick, girls.”
Sugarcoat slapped her forehead and just groaned in annoyance, running with Sunny out the door.
The portal opened up in front of Smallfoot, ready for her to step on through. She slowly began to walk on through, and Sunny and Sugarcoat chased after her, leaving Pinkie Pie alone in the Sweet Shoppe.
Smallfoot walked through the other side, entering in the Autobot base. And as she did, the size that she had become was slowly deteriorating, turning her back into her real size.
“Oh this is bad…” Sugarcoat panicked. “How are we gonna stop her?”
“I got an idea, but this is pretty bad.” Sunny replied. She looked up ahead and got the attention of one of the Autobots.
“Hey, Grimlock! Smallfoot says the Dinobots have inferior brains compared to hers!” Sunny yelled.
“What?!” Grimlock blew steam out of his mouth. “Me Grimlock no like being insulted! Me Grimlock teach Smallfoot a lesson!” And he charged at her.
Smallfoot’s eyes lowered. “Oh… scrap.”
The Dinobot charged forward, and tackled Smallfoot to the ground. It wasn’t long until some of the other Dinobots came running in and soon they started to join in, dogpiling on the Guardian Gobot.
“Why did you do that?” Sugarcoat tilted her head. “Did we need to get them mad?”
“It’ll buy us some time, alright? Now shut up and let’s send Sour Sweet off to kindergarten, elementary, and high school all at once!” Sunny darted to the lounge.
“Smallfoot’s going to be mad.” Sugarcoat replied darting after her.
Shortly after Sunny and Sugarcoat left for the lounge, a series of blaster shots rung out, causing the Dinobots to stop attacking Smallfoot.
“Grimlock, Slag, Sludge, Swoop, Snarl! That’s enough!” Optimus called out, making them all disperse. Once they all left, he picked Smallfoot up and brushed her down. “Are you alright, Smallfoot?”
“I’m fine,” Smallfoot winced, stretching. “Didn’t like the tackle, but it kind of pales in comparison to the other pain I got in the war.”
“Teletraan-1? Can you identify what caused the Dinobots to attack Smallfoot like that?” Optimus turned his head to the ceiling.
“Sugarcoat and Sunny Flare insulted the Dinobots and pinned it on Smallfoot.” Teletraan-1 burst out. “They said that it was to buy them some time for something. I am yet unable to process what they mean by that.”
“Buy time?” Optimus scratched his chin. “Hmm...” And he transformed into truck mode. “Smallfoot. You better get repaired. I need to investigate what's going on.” And he drove off at high-speed down the tunnels after the bolts.”
“I’m fine, Optimus! In fact...” Smallfoot transformed into her pickup mode. “Maybe my new baby lessons with Pinkie Pie are about to pay off.”
She rolled down the base, following after Optimus.
They both dashed past Sunny Flare and Sugarcoat, almost hurling them into the walls with their slipstreams as they charged to the lounge.
“Yeah. We’re dead alright.” Sugarcoat recovered her balance and continued running. “Sunny? You got a good epitaph ready?”
“Just keep moving!” Sunny Flare ignored Sugarcoat.
Optimus and Smallfoot came to a halt, stopping in front of the lounge door and both converted into their alternate forms.
“I think I have a good idea on how to handle this.” Smallfoot stated, looking at her leader. “But I think maybe I’m going to need to shrink down back to human size again." Smallfoot knocked on the lounge door. “Lemon. Indigo. I know you both are in there. Open up.”
“You’ll never take us alive, cops!” Lemon cried from the other side.
Smallfoot groaned. “She really needs to tell the difference between me and Strongarm.”
Smallfoot took the few moments and she pulled out the shrinking device once again. Pressing the button, she shrunk down once again, down into a human size again.
She knocked on the door once again, still waiting for a reply. “Girls. Come on, open up.”
“No!” Indigo called out. “Sunny and Sugarcoat told us to keep the door locked from you, Smallfoot. We’re not gonna let you join the Decepticons in a fit of rage, shock, or whatever other bad emotions there are!”
Smallfoot slapped her forehead. “Do you honestly believe I’ll join the Cons with a stunt like this? I wouldn’t join the Cons if you tied me up and hanged me upside down from the Empire State Building.”
“You don’t know, man! Shock can do pretty nasty things to you!” Lemon Zest added.
“Girls. Sunny and Sugarcoat already snapped. I know. Just let me, I can handle this.”
“Never!” Indigo screamed.
“If you don’t open this door, I’m just going to blast it down. I may be small, but it doesn’t mean I don’t have my fist beams.”
No reply.
“Teletraan-1. Deactivate the manual lock system for the lounge and set it to automatic,” said Optimus.
“Affirmative. Doors opening now,” said Teletraan-1
“Thank you.” Smallfoot smiled as the doors opened up for her. “That’s very kind of you.”
She slowly walked in, and she stopped to look at the state around her. The entire place was a complete pigsty. Books and plates were everywhere, the TV had been smashed and was now playing nothing but static, and the couches had been overturned and had their upholstery ripped up.
“Man, and I thought rockstars lived a messy life.”
“Smallfoot, whatever you do, please don’t murder us in our sleep!”
“Do you girls honestly believe I’m going to murder you? I’m not going to do that.” Smallfoot said, putting her hands on her hips. “What do you take me for, Starscream?”
“The place doesn’t look good.” Optimus took one look inside and saw the chaos. “Stay on your guard, Smallfoot.”
“Yeah, that’s what happens when you leave for five minutes.”
She slowly walked forwards and she stopped when she heard the sounds of a baby giggling. Looking down, she could see baby Sour Sweet was crawling and giggling, trying to go where Lemon Zest was.
“Get it away from me!” Lemon tried to swat Sour Sweet away. “She’s caused more damage than Blitzwing in hurricane season!”
“Hey, Sour? My little sweetie?” Smallfoot asked.
Sour stopped going after Lemon Zest, and she became silent. She turned around and she saw Smallfoot, who was looking at her.
“Mama?” Sour asked.
“Where did the infant come from?” Optimus gazed at Sour Sweet.
“That would be Sour. As a baby.”
Sour slowly moved herself around and was now facing Smallfoot’s direction.
“Come here sweetie, It's okay.” Smallfoot said in a gentle voice.
“Mama!” Sour said in a happy voice. She hastily crawled over to her and made the sign for uppies.
“Oh, come here my little sweetness...” Smallfoot smiled as she picked her up, and held her in her arms.
Sunny Flare and Sugarcoat arrived at the entrance to the lounge just to see Sour Sweet being lifted up by Smallfoot.
“Yep. Time for us to get the tombstones.” Sunny Flare’s mouth hung open as her pupils shrunk ever smaller.
Author's Note
"This is going to be juicy". -- Knockout

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                Smallfoot's Little Sourball                
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Author's Note
Fluffy! :rainbowkiss: https://static.fimfiction.net/images/emoticons/rainbowkiss.png
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.

//-------------------------------------------------------//
                      Waking Up Older                      
//-------------------------------------------------------//
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.